From: khan@mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu (Scott Coleman)
Subject: Re: Adventure Construction Set
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 22:46:11 GMT

mikkelson@breakr.enet.dec.com (snopes) writes:


>In article <BrwrsF.8tp@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, 
>  tmkk@uiuc.edu (Khan) writes...

>>How would you (all) feel about an MSDOS version of Ali Baba or Heracles?
>>How about a version which allowed multiple machines to participate in
>>the game? But wait, there's more! What if this hypothetical game used either
>>serial ports, network connections, or combinations of both, to link the
>>machines together? Suppose the number of machines which could play were
>>limited only by the number of available ports and/or the number of available
>>playable characters? NOW how much would you pay? Is this beginning to
>>sound like a Ginsu ad? ;-)

>I'll take an MS-DOS version of Ali Babi (or an Ali Baba-like game), even
>without all the extra frills.  I'm not sure why we'd need the capability of
>having multiple machine hook-ups, unless you're planning a game in which some
>users are supposed to be able to move and act without the other players knowing
>about it.  Not that that's a bad idea, but the original Ali Baba was a 
>cooperative rather than a competitive effort.  (Although you *could* kill off 
>your fellow players, if you really felt like it.)  Why don't you elaborate on
>what you have in mind?

This whole concept arises from the question "what do I do now that I've
rescued the Princess unaided without attacking a single living thing and
gotten the congratulatory message from Stuart Smith?"

The main reason for the multimachine capability is so that people separated
by some distance can still play "together," whether that distance be across 
the office on a Novell LAN (SHHH!! Don't tell the boss! ;-) or across the
country via Compu$erve's MTM Gaming facility (for example) or even around the
world via the Internet. Or perhaps a multiline BBS could connect two callers
together for a game. The flexibility of allowing multiple machines via 
multiple connection media would be a first in IBM PC gaming history, as far 
as I know. Some of Dan Bunten's games promise to allow connection via modem 
or network, but at present they only do modem (as evidenced by the recent 
Global Conquest, which I purchased for a friend; it needs some sort of driver 
before it will connect via a network, and the driver isn't available yet 
according to the docs). Of course, you could also simply play on one machine 
and pass around the joystick(s), just like the old days. ;-)

As for the game itself, I'd be interested to know how folks think an Ali Baba
type game could be expanded to become more enjoyable, given the above sort of
connectivity capability. What sorts of things would you add? Suppose you
could find magic potions which, if swallowed, can increase your strength or
make you run faster or heal your wounds (or maybe poison you!) How about the
option to play either cooperatively OR competitvely? Perhaps the game would
randomly select a task to be accomplished by each group, and the first group
to complete their task would win? Perhaps the tasks would be interrelated
such that when one team advances the other is retarded, sort of like a tug
of war? Or each team could purposely set up obstacles which would hinder
the progress of the other team?

I'm interested in a sort of brainstorming session, to see what sorts of 
interesting things people come up with. Who knows, I might even be 
inspired and implement the sucker. ;-)

So, let's hear it from all you Ali Baba/Heracles/Stuart Smith fans out there!



--
Scott Coleman                                                    tmkk@uiuc.edu

Free Advice: It is inadvisable to read Bush's lips at an official banquet.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games