The Battle of Walcot Keep: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:02, 15 January 2010

Genre
wanted

2004 IF Art Show
Honorable Mention

The Battle of Walcot Keep

Author(s)	Steve Breslin, Eric Eve, Lindsey Hair; illustrated by Michael Bechard
Publisher(s)	n/a
Release date(s)	13-Jun-2004
Authoring system	TADS 3
Platform(s)	TADS 3
Language(s)	English
License(s)	Freeware
Multimedia
Color effects	none
Graphics	optional
Sound/Music	none
Ratings
Cruelty scale	Cruelty to be determined

Theoretical Study

This game is probably more important as a theoretical study than a conventional play piece. It explores a number of key programming and structural features of IF, emphasizing complex spaces, and AI agents. The game is multi-threaded, but the player (as a ghost) cannot influence the outcome. Even while the game challenges the felicity of report for multiple NPC actions per turn, the game also makes aesthetic statements about agency and the role of PC as observer.

Earlier IF featured monadic rooms, but this game features a very open space: guards firing arrows from towers, attackers swinging on ropes from one room to another. It anticipates Steve Breslin and Eric Eve's Tads-3 Connected Space extension, which breaks even further away from monadic rooms.

All of the action is animated by the Reactive Agent Planner, an NPC-AI system adapted for Tads-2 by Nate Cull, and expanded by Steve Breslin for Tads-3.

How It Begins

The first thing that happens in the game is that the player-character dies. He then, as a ghost, observes a medieval battle between NPCs, across a spatially complex area.

Notable Features

Complex space, visually connected rooms.
Thoroughgoing automated NPC behavior.
Multi-threaded.
Possibly the first multi-threaded game whose resolution cannot be influenced by player action.
Possibly a critique of agency or critique of multi-threaded game design.

Versions

Version 1.0

The Battle of Walcot Keep (Steve Breslin, Eric Eve, Lindsey Hair; 13-Jun-2004; TADS 3).
- IFID: TADS3-8C62B521737A41DF404DC1E3C7D97976
  IFID links: IFDB
- Illustrated by Michael Bechard
- 2004 IF Art Show: Honorable Mention
- Download battle.t3 from the IF Archive

Links

The Battle of Walcot Keep (archived) - at Baf's Guide.
The Battle of Walcot Keep - at IFDB.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{game infobox|title=The Battle of Walcot Keep|image=|author=[[Steve Breslin]], [[Eric Eve]], [[Lindsey Hair]]; illustrated by [[Michael Bechard]]|publisher=n/a|released=13-Jun-2004|authsystem=[[TADS 3]]|platform=TADS 3|language=English|license=[[Freeware]]|color=none|graphics=optional|sound=none|cruelty=TBD}}
+==Theoretical Study==
+This game is probably more important as a theoretical study than a conventional play piece. It explores a number of key programming and structural features of IF, emphasizing complex spaces, and AI agents. The game is multi-threaded, but the player (as a ghost) cannot influence the outcome. Even while the game challenges the felicity of report for multiple NPC actions per turn, the game also makes aesthetic statements about agency and the role of PC as observer.
+Earlier IF featured monadic rooms, but this game features a very open space: guards firing arrows from towers, attackers swinging on ropes from one room to another. It anticipates Steve Breslin and Eric Eve's Tads-3 Connected Space extension, which breaks even further away from monadic rooms.
+All of the action is animated by the Reactive Agent Planner, an NPC-AI system adapted for Tads-2 by Nate Cull, and expanded by Steve Breslin for Tads-3.
 ==How It Begins==
@@ Line 8: / Line 15: @@
 ==Notable Features==
 * Complex space, visually connected rooms.
+* Thoroughgoing automated NPC behavior.
 * Multi-threaded.
-* The player (as a ghost) cannot influence the outcome.
+* Possibly the first multi-threaded game whose resolution cannot be influenced by player action.
+* Possibly a critique of agency or critique of multi-threaded game design.
 ==Versions==