Past raif topics: Game Mechanics: part 1

This is part one (of two) of a collection of Past raif topics to do with the mechanics of IF games, such as puzzles, game world physics and navigation.

The rest may be found at Past raif topics: Game Mechanics: part 2.

If you add or change any of the sections on this page, remember to update the entry on the Past raif topics page as well.

Puzzles

See also => IF Theory: Puzzles & winnability
See also => Puzzles in Interactive Fiction (D.G. Jerz) .. IF Roundtable: The Art of the Puzzle (IFMud transcript)
See also => Nalian Language Puzzle in The Edifice (XYZZY News article) .. Plenty Annoyed (frustrating puzzles) (Brass Lantern)
See also => Puzzles in the IF Gems review quotes collection (also in the IF Archive)
See also => Puzzle .. Best_Puzzles ..Best_Individual_Puzzle (IFWiki articles)

• What is & is not a puzzle (Nov 1999)
• When is a puzzle a puzzle (May 1999)
• Puzzle classification (May 1993)
• Puzzle categories (four types) (Aug 1995)
• Puzzle categories (Jan 2006)
• Types of puzzles (Mar 1997)
• Types of puzzles (list of 30) (Feb 1998)
• Cryptographic puzzles (Nov 2005)
• Linguistic puzzles (Oct 2005)
• IF puzzle compendium / classic puzzles (Jul 2003, RGIF)
• "Mechanical" puzzles / being able to visualize complex objects (Feb 2005, RGIF)
• Puzzle design (Jul 2002)
• Puzzle design (Apr 1998, RGIF)
• Designing puzzles (Mar 1995)
• How to create puzzles (Oct 1994, RGIF)
• What makes a puzzle good (Aug 1998)
• What makes a good puzzle ? (May 1996)
• The problem with puzzles + identifying with PC (Nov 1998)
• Problem with puzzles + internal PC conflict (Apr 1994)
• What kinds of puzzles are appropriate in IF / riddles (Aug 2004, RGIF)
• Must puzzles always be original / unique ? (Sep 1996)
• Puzzles: What to do / not to do (Apr 1998)
• Bad puzzles (baseball puzzle) (Sep 2006, RGIF)
• Logical puzzles / solving by brute force ("+=3" demo game) (Nov 1994)
• Logical puzzles ("+=3" demo game) #2 (Nov 1994)
• Logical puzzles ("+=3" demo game) #3 (Nov 1994)
• Realistic / "every day" puzzles (Jan 2006)
• Common sense puzzles (Jun 1998)
• Depending on common knowledge + instructions for making a bomb OK in a game ? (Jul 1996)
• Hard puzzles (Nov 1997)
• Quantifying puzzle difficulty (Jul 1994)
• Puzzle difficulty and arbitrariness ("Balances" demo game) (Nov 1994)
• User-selected difficulty levels (Jan 1993)
• Obscure puzzles & multiple solutions (Apr 1997)
• Puzzle fairness ratings (Feb 2007)
• Alternative solutions to puzzles + sense of wonder (Nov 1992)
• Time limits in puzzles (May 1999)
• Puzzle fairness & PC character (Sep 2002)
• Puzzles / the player will get it wrong (Apr 2000)
• Randomised & optional puzzles (Dec 2002)
• Puzzles which cannot be spoiled by Undo + disabling Undo (Aug 1996)
• Indicating something is not a puzzle (May 2003)
• Locational puzzle theory (Oct 2001)
• (Goal / obstacle) vs (puzzle / solution) pairs (Jan 2002)

Mazes

See also => Where mazes came from by Stephen Granade
See also => Mazes in the IF Gems review quotes collection (also in the IF Archive)
See also => Maze (IFWiki article)

• Mazes considered harmful (Oct 1994)
• Mazes, for or against ? (Sep 2000)
• Anyone like mazes ? (Aug 1996, RGIF)
• Illogical puzzles + mazes (Jul 1999)

Hints and walkthroughs

See also => Hint .. Walkthrough .. Invisiclues .. Fake spoiler (IFWiki articles)
See also => Invisiclues for Infocom games
See also => Getting Help (hints & solutions) .. Writing Walkthroughs (Brass Lantern articles)
See also => Cheat, Beg, Wheedle, Cajole (XYZZY News article)
See also => David Welbourn's game walkthroughs .. if-archive/solutions
See also => Hints and Walkthroughs in the IF Gems review quotes collection (also in the IF Archive)

• Puzzles and hints (Jun 2003)
• Hints in adventure games (Dec 1993)
• Hint craft (notebook in Delightful Wallpaper) (Jan 2007, RGIF)
• Hint approaches (Jan 2006)
• Gradual hints vs a sledgehammer (Oct 2001)
• How explicit should hints get? (Mar 2006)
• Helping a stuck player (Jan 2006)
• Hint systems / making hints hard to get vs penalizing player (Jan 2002)
• Best hint system? (Jan 2006)
• Hint systems (Feb 1998)
• Universal Hint System (UHS) (Apr 1994)
• Invisiclues hint system (Jun 1998)
• Hints / including hints with games (Aug 1996)
• Disadvantages of in game help / hints (Dec 1999)
• Hint menus (Feb 1999)
• Format of printed hint booklets (Sep 1998)
• Adaptive hints / puzzle DAG (Apr 1994)
• Context sensitive hints + responses to "Clever Author" essay (Jim Aikin) + (Jan 2007)
• Interactive hints (proposal) (Dec 1992)
• Walkthroughs + encrypting hints (Dec 1992)
• Walkthroughs (Nov 2004, RGIF)
• Walkthrough contents (May 2005)
• Walkthroughs format / not a substitute for hints (Nov 2004, RGIF)
• Walkthroughs & randomness (Nov 1996)
• How to avoid looking at cheats / walkthroughs (Feb 1997)
• Do walkthroughs spoil IF games ? (Aug 2000, RGIF)
• Walkthroughs - author's persective (Jan 2007)
• Automatic walkthrough mode (Feb 2006)

Red herrings & decoration objects

See also => Red Herrings in the IF Gems review quotes collection (also in the IF Archive)
See also => Red herring .. Blue Herring Pattern (IFWiki articles)

• Red herrings / unnecessary objects (May 1993)
• Red herrings (Apr 2003)
• Unimportant items / realism & red herrings (Jun 1999)
• Giving everything a description (Jan 2001, RGIF)
• Interaction with irrelevant objects (Apr 1995, RGIF)
• Atmospheric messages acting as red herrings (Sep 1994)
• Atmosphere vs red herrings (Jan 2006)
• Gratuitous objects (Sep 1994)
• Most memorable red herrings (Sep 2000)

Scoring

See also => Scoring in the IF Gems review quotes collection (also in the IF Archive)
See also => Score .. Rank .. Last lousy point (IFWiki articles)

• Opinions on scoring (Feb 2002)
• Non-numerical scoring (Dec 1996)
• Non-scoring games (Dec 1996)
• Alternatives to scoring / victory conditions (Aug 1992)
• Diary of accomplishments instead of score (Aug 1992)

Game physics / world model

See also => Liquid Modelling .. Desiderata for a Physical Simulation Library (Emily Short)
See also => Darkness .. Light source (IFWiki articles)

• Adventure interface, physics (Feb 1993)
• Real life physics + AI (May 1998)
• Game physics (MUD) (Apr 1993)
• Simplified / naive physics for adventure games (Dec 1992)
• Advantages & disadvantages of "dumb" world models + default objects (Apr 2007)
• World model / liquids, mass objects, etc (Feb 2000)
• Handling divisible substances (Apr 2005)
• Liquids (Aug 2003)
• Dealing with liquids (Sep 2000)
• Liquids and Inform (Mar 1995)
• Liquids & divisible materials (Apr 1993)
• Water as object / mixing with things (May 2002)
• Volume & displacement (Sep 2003)
• Taking the bottom object from a pile (Jan 2001)
• Breaking / burning objects (simulationism in IF games) (May 2002)
• Weather (Jul 2004)
• Handling darkness (May 1994)
• Darkness in IF / varying levels of light (May 1994)
• A game in the dark + context sensitive pronouns (Jan 1997)
• Light sources / determining if an object is in the light (May 1994)
• Modelling light & sound / "A under B" (Nov 1992)
• Spatial relationships in text based games (in/on/under) (Dec 1993)

Simulation / world limits

See also => Past raif topics: IF Theory: part 1#Mimesis / game consistency & completeness
See also => Problems in IF Simulationism (Emily Short)

• Simulationism (May 1994)
• IF realities / simulationism (Nov 1993)
• Simulation and IF (summary) (Oct 2005)
• Simulationism (footprints in the snow) + IF libraries (Sep 2005)
• Simulation and world consistency / interaction checking program (Sep 2005)
• Simulationist IF / Deus Ex article (Oct 2001)
• Simulationist IF + IF in the news (Feb 2001)
• Simulation (Boogum system) / detailed environment desirable ? (Feb 1995)
• Simulating the real world (Feb 2001)
• World models + parsing (May 1991)
• Why do you always miss when you "throw" something ? / world model (Jan 2003, RGIF)
• World representation / continuous vs discrete locations (Jan 1992)
• Continuous space vs rooms + how to garble a sentence (Oct 1991)
• Continuous space instead of "rooms" in IF / "forward 5 metres" (May 1996)
• Simulationism + NPC personalities (May 1998)
• Fun vs full simulation (need to eat, sleep, etc) (Oct 1994)
• Realism vs fun ("Amnesia" game) (Jan 1993)
• Realistic world models + "go to" command (Jan 2000)
• NPC intelligence in a simulationist environment (Oct 2001)
• How much detail / infinite universes (Sep 2004)
• Boundlessness (Feb 2005)
• Borders of the game world (Dec 2005)
• Commands not usually implemented in a game (Nov 2003, RGIF)
• Things players try (Feb 1999)
• Things not allowed to do in a game (Mar 2005)
• Commands available to player (Mar 2005)

Modelling actions & objects - general

• Simulation / decomposing actions into subactions (Sep 1999)
• Categories of verbs (Jul 2003)
• "Thing" hierarchy / TADS properties (Dec 2002)
• Breaking up an object / having car & doors as separate objects (Inform) (Aug 1996)
• Conflict resolution of character actions (NPC/PC or NPC/NPC) (Oct 1994)
• PC & NPCs taking turns / simultaneous actions (Jun 2005)
• Classes of verbs / hierarchy of actions (Feb 2007)
• Modelling object interactions (Inform 6/7) - phases, etc (Feb 2007)

Implicit and multiple actions

See also => Implicit Actions in the IF Gems review quotes collection (also in the IF Archive)

• Automatic performance of implied actions (Jan 1999)
• Implicit actions + time actions take (Mar 1998)
• Turns taken for commands with multiple objects / free "look" (Sep 2000, RGIF)
• Multiple commands on one line (Feb 2006, RGIF)
• Auto-take for objects required to be "held" (Inform) (Feb 1997)
• How much autopilot (Sep 2002)
• Level of automation / "First picking up ..." (Jan 2001)
• Automatic "examine" when object taken (Dec 1998)

Visibility / scope of objects

See also => Scope .. Sense-passing (IFWiki articles)

• Scope (May 1997)
• Scope rules (Aug 1996)
• Scope rule ideas (Inform) (Jul 1996)
• Body parts in scope or not (Feb 1998)
• Scope of items carried by NPCs / internal & external things on an object (Oct 1994)
• Sense passing (Sense 2.0) (Nov 1999)
• Sense passing (Jan 2000)
• Seeing inside adjacent rooms (Nov 1992)
• Visibility / line of sight / surfaces with "inside" & "outside" (Prolog) (Sep 1996)

Containers & inventory limits

See also => Inventory Limits in the IF Gems review quotes collection (also in the IF Archive)
See also => Inventory .. Inventory management puzzle .. Sack object (IFWiki articles)

• Player holding capacity (infinite vs realistically limited) (Sep 2000, RGIF)
• Containers (Mar 2002)
• Realistic containers & vehicles (Apr 1990)
• Implementing a sack object (TADS) (Dec 1996)
• Implementing a tiny container (Inform) (Aug 1995)
• Inventories (Jan 2001)
• Inventory limits (Jan 1999)
• Opinions on scoring + inventory limits (Feb 2002)

Time

See also => Waiting in the IF Gems review quotes collection (also in the IF Archive)

• Indicating passage of time (Feb 2002)
• Giving the illusion of a long journey (Dec 2000)
• Time / game events at particular times & places (Jul 1995)
• Free actions & meta commands (Mar 1997)
• TimeSys timekeeping system (HTML TADS) (May 1999)
• Time actions take + implicit actions (Mar 1998)
• Actions that take more than one turn + when should "all" be allowed (Mar 1994)

Time limits

See also => Time Limits in the IF Gems review quotes collection (also in the IF Archive)
See also => Timed puzzle (IFWiki article)

• Time limits in puzzles (May 1999)
• Save/Restore puzzles (time limits) (Feb 1999)
• How long to make a time limit (Apr 1995)
• IF criticism - examine & time limits (Apr 2003)

Mapping

• Approaches to mapping / still enjoying the game (Jul 2004, RGIF)
• Mapping programs & manual mapping (Nov 2002, RGIF)
• Mapping tools / advantages of pen & paper (Mar 2002, RGIF)
• TADSMap for HTML TADS (Sep 2002)
• Mapping tools vs in game maps (Aug 2002)
• Map creation (Dec 2001)
• Mapping (Jan 2004)
• ASCII maps (Mar 1994)
• Auto generated Maps (Mar 2005)
• Automapping in HTML TADS (Apr 2000)
• Automap (Inform) (Feb 1999)
• Mapping / open source (Jan 2004)
• Mapping tools / common map format (Mar 2002)
• Mapping tools (Mar 2002)
• Map editor ideas (authoring tool) / generating skeleton code (Jun 1996)
• Non-graphical mapping systems (spreadsheat, etc) (Sep 2004, RGIF)

Compass directions / navigation

See also => Compass .. Navigation (IFWiki articles)

• "Rat in control" experiment (Apr 2003)
• Compass directions (Nov 1996)
• Compass directions + types of player (Feb 1999)
• Directions and navigation + PCs who can drive cars properly (Nov 2006, RGIF)
• Navigation / using compass directions (Feb 2000, RGIF)
• Navigating with compass directions / IF pet peeves (Oct 2000, RGIF)
• Compass directions / cultural coordinate systems (Oct 2000)
• Extended compass directions (NNE, NorthUp, degrees, etc) (Sep 2005)
• Not using compass directions (Feb 2002)
• Compass & relative directions (Aug 2001)
• Left and right vs NSEW (May 1999)
• Alternatives to NSEW (Jul 1999)
• Navigation + review criteria (Earth and Sky 3) (Jan 2005, RGIF)
• Directionless IF / named exits (Jun 2002)
• Shipboard directions #1 (Aug 1999)
• Shipboard directions #2 (Aug 1999)
• Directions on board a ship (Nov 2002)
• Directions in a 3D environment (Dec 2001)
• Directions in space / zero gravity (Nov 1996)

Locations, movement & exits

See also => Exits and Mapping in the IF Gems review quotes collection (also in the IF Archive)
See also => Past raif topics: Game Mechanics: part 1#Compass directions / navigation

• Showing exit directions (compass rose / prompt) (Nov 2006, RGIF)
• Modelling outdoor areas (Jun 2001)
• Physical traversal of landscape (Sep 1997)
• Handling large areas (desert, etc) (May 1995)
• Large geographies / zoned areas (May 2001)
• New movement system / sectors vs rooms + can IF be 3D ? (Nov 1996)
• Sector based scoping (Nov 1996)
• Travelling in a large setting (May 1999)
• Handling big rooms (Sep 2004)
• Scale / rooms with many exits (Dec 2001)
• Multiple exits in the same direction (Aug 2001)
• Multiple doors on the same wall (Jan 2001)
• "Absurd returning" exits / North + South = not the same room (Apr 1992)
• Sublocations within a room / "go to window" (Sep 1996)
• PC direction facing (Jan 2003)
• "Forward 5 metres" / continuous space instead of rooms (May 1996)

Randomness

See also => Randomness in the IF Gems review quotes collection (also in the IF Archive)
See also => Random (IFWiki article)

• Randomised & optional puzzles (Dec 2002)
• Walkthroughs & randomness (Nov 1996)
• Randomness in games + serious games ("beyond empathy") (Sep 1994)
• Invoking a sense of danger without using randomness (Feb 2006)
• Random map generation (Feb 2002)
• Random atmospheric messages (Sep 1994)

Death

See also => Death in the IF Gems review quotes collection (also in the IF Archive)
See also => Death .. Sudden death (IFWiki articles)

• Death, failure, mindsets, dramatic tension (Jan 2003)
• Restart, death and "lives" (Nov 1998)
• Death in IF games (Jul 1992) .. see also => Death .. Sudden death (IFWiki articles)
• Killing the PC (Apr 1994)
• Instant death + starvation (Mar 1995)
• Dying during a flashback in an IF game (Sep 2002)

Past raif topics: Game Mechanics: part 2