Re: [Photopia] What I would--and wouldn't--change (spoilers)

["Avrom Faderman" <Avrom_Faderman@email.msn.com>]

Andrew Plotkin wrote in message ...
>Avrom Faderman (Avrom_Faderman@email.msn.com) wrote:
>
>> Spoilers abound in what follows;  I'll be discussing the game in detail.

Medium-mild spoilers for "Losing Your Grip" have been added, as have itsy
bitsy teensy weensy spoilers for "Spider and Web."
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>I see what you're trying to do.
>
>I wonder, though, if it wouldn't cause nearly as strong a negative
>reaction. "I acted differently, and it caused this change in the story
>later, but was it a *real* difference? No! It was a one-sentence change in
>the text! (Or whatever.) It didn't have any impact on what *actually
>happened.*"


I think a well-placed word or two can do wonders.  That wasn't *all* I was
advocating, but it would be a great start...

>
>(This is a hypothetical reaction, not my own. Anyone?)
>
>(Although I *do* tend to see text-only plot differences as somewhat
>unsatisfying. _Spider And Web_ does this, for example, and I'm not
>completely happy with the results. On the other hand, I'm also not happy
>with the way _Grip_ handles it -- splitting into two scenes that rejoin
>later.)


I must admit "Spider and Web" had me stymied well before the ending (three
rooms with alarms have me stumped...I'll prolly post a spoiler request some
point soon;  I had been so proud of getting through So Far all-but-on-my-own
I was trying to resist), so I can't comment.

What "Grip" does wouldn't always work, but I think the technique worked
masterfully in "Grip" (though "Grip" was less masterfully written than
"Photopia" in general, I think) and I think it could work masterfully
here--the episodic nature of the stories is the key.

One thing I thought "Grip" did less than perfectly was this:  While there
are two places the player can dramatically influence the next episode, in
only one of them is it (so far as I can tell) at all logical.  If there was
a reason why your hiding place had to do with your next psychic "fit," the
game didn't make it clear.  Obviously, Photopia is so carefully assembled
that splits like that should have real significance.

At the other extreme, you want to keep the effects reasonably subtle
(demanding little *&!@, ain't I?).  The Marie/Jeffrey split in "Grip"
suffered (although only slightly) from the exact opposite malady as the
Hospital/University split;  the decision the player made was representative
of a very obvious and slightly cliched dichotomy of personalities.  Perhaps
this is in some way related to the "show, don't tell" dictum--the language
in the party interlude was so obvious that it skirted *telling* the player
things (although it never did so absolutely explicitly).

That's asking a *lot*, though.  A simple textual change would obviously be
vastly easier (it wouldn't require writing whole new scenes, for one thing),
and I think it would be very effective.

Avrom