Cheeseshop
From IFWiki
 Comedy  One-room |
| Cheeseshop | |
|---|---|
| |
| Author(s) | David Welbourn |
| Release date(s) | 2002 |
| Authoring system | JotaCode, Inform 6, and TADS 3 |
| Platform(s) | ifMud, Z-code 5, and TADS 3 |
| Language(s) | English |
| License(s) | Freeware |
| Multimedia | |
| Color effects | none |
| Graphics | none |
| Sound/Music | none |
| Ratings | |
| Cruelty scale | Polite |
How It Begins
You are Mr. Mousebender, carrying... well, it doesn't matter, really. What matters is that you wish to purchase some cheese, and luckily, you are standing outside a cheeseshop, Ye Olde Cheese Emporium, whose door to the south beckons you to enter.
Notable Features
- Based on the Cheeseshop sketch by Monty Python's Flying Circus. References to other Monty Python sketches are also scattered about the game.
- Most of the game is a conversation between the PC and the shopkeeper. The conversation is ask-tell, but usually BUY <topic> is the same as ASK SHOPKEEPER ABOUT <topic>. The flow of the conversation is modelled as a state diagram.
- Music is represented in text and is unusually presented every turn before all other responses to the PC's actions rather than afterwards.
- In the JotaCode version:
- The player's gender, the day, and the time, are used to customize the responses. For example, a male player is called "sir" and a female player is called "ma'am".
- Multiple players can be in the shop simultaneously, and any of their actions is treated as the PC's action. Also, players can come and go from the shop freely. The game resets itself to the beginning only when a player enters the shop and the shop is not otherwise occupied.
- The shop has a second entrance/exit that is not in the ported versions.
- Examining the shopkeeper at the end of the game reveals who else finished the game.
- In the TADS 3 version:
- The music is "enhanced" with liberal use of HTML style tags.
Author's Comments
- The Z-code port was released hot on the heels of another cheese-themed game: Silence of the Lambs 2 (The Thief of Bad Gags; 2002; Z-code). I quickly and shamelessly added any cheeses mentioned in that game and added them to mine.
- Many thanks to Søren J. Løvborg for his assistance in answering my many questions about TADS 3 and making the TADS 3 port possible.
- My copy of the TADS 3 version may be corrupted or too old; I couldn't get it to run on my machine when I last tried.
Versions
JotaCode original
- Cheeseshop (David Welbourn; c.Nov-2001; JotaCode).
The version is not downloadable. To play this version, one must log onto ifMud. (You can do this with a guest account; you don't need to sign up with your own account.) From Dorm A, go up to Long Hall, south twice to Edifice Towers, east then southeast to Lycanthros Village, then south to actually enter the cheeseshop.
Z-code port
- Cheeseshop (David Welbourn; 2002; Z-code 5).
- Release 2 / Serial number 021230 / Inform v6.21 Library 6/10
- IFID: ZCODE-2-021230-DCFC
IFID links: IFDB - Download cheeseshop.z5 from the IF Archive
- Or download cheeseshop.z5 from the author's site.
TADS 3 port
- Cheeseshop (David Welbourn; TADS 3).
- IFID wanted. (Please replace this line with a babel template.)
- Download cheeseshop.t3 from the author's site.
Links
General info
- Homepage.
- Cheeseshop (archived) - at Baf's Guide.
- Cheeseshop - at IFDB.
- Cheeseshop - at ifwizz interactive fiction (in German).
Reviews
- Cheeseshop - at IF Ratings.
- Cheeseshop - at IFReviews.org.