I often wonder about the logic of puzzles in TA, and how designers often make the mistake of assuming the required command for a given situation will be fairly obvious to a player, just because it's obvious to them, forgetting that it's obvious to them because they're the ones designing the game.

For that reason, I'd like to offer this situation, and simply ask, "What would you be most likely to input as a command at this juncture?"

Premise:

Aftermath is a survival game based on the computer game DayZ (minus the zombies). The area has been evacuated due to a virus, but a handful of people (including 'you') missed the boat and must now fend for themselves. A public notice tells of a safe haven, and it is your aim to get there in what has rapidly become a dog eat dog landscape.

Okay, here's the scenario in question. Feel free to air any views, but what I'm really looking for is what command you would most likely use. I'm not going to divulge the outcome of your commands, as I expect the scene will stay in the game, but knowing what kind of command people are likely to give will aid me enormously in constructing other puzzles.

If the hint is too obvious (which I suspect it is) then a quick note on how vague I could have been without making it impossible to work out, would be welcome

Thanks.

----------------------

A dirt road comes in from the east here, intersecting the path which runs north to the distant buildings.

Listening ... a noise? A vehicle approaching from the east?

Heavy shrubbery here would provide good cover.

>

Break bush. Get bush. Light bush branch on fire. Swallow lit branch. Blow fire east.

... lol

I'd have one command to:

hide behind bush; hide in bush; hide under bush; take cover in bush; take cover behind bush; take cover under bush; hide behind shrubbery; hide in shrubbery; hide under shrubbery; take cover in shrubbery; take cover behind shrubbery; take cover under shrubbery

and one command to:

listen; listen to car; listen to vehicle; listen to auto; listen to automobile; listen east; listen to east; listen eastward; listen towards east

and I'd have commands to:

call Roger the Shrubber
and
give shrubbery to Ni; give shrubbery to Knights of Ni
and
say it

=)

>hide

...plain and simple, and variations thereof would be the first thing to come to mind. >listen and of course being able to examine the shrubbery would be something players might try first, so I'd suggest not making the event too tightly timed, especially if it leads to an immediate game over.

Really though, this is me speaking as a person who's played a lot of IF games. There are certain commands that have become almost standard, and 'hide' is a recognizable one. (If it was 'dive into bushes' or 'crawl behind bushes' or something similar specifically required, that's where things would get annoying and difficult..)

Xan, you've been drinking, haven't you? Be honest now

Marz. All I'll say it great minds think alike

Seriously, though, you've both given me some great insight into the player, and reminders of a couple of things I didn't include for this scene.

One thing neither of you have mentioned, is if the hint is too obvious, and whether I could have got away with something a little more subtle. I would really like to avoid groans of, "Too easy!" from anyone playing.

Thanks!

No. Not drinking. I wish, but Shrubbery always reminds me... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69iB-xy0u4A

I only added the multiple different lines in the command line as a kind of cover all.

Here is a room description from X1 (Which need to be played more, by the way!! =):


"There is a lot of sand here, some of it forming some sand dunes.

You hear some voices, but no matter how hard you try, you cannot tell what direction they are coming from.

Back to the west you see a cliff rising up from the horizon. If you look toward the south, you see a few small mounds peaking up from the desert floor. A sandy, blown over path appears to continue to the east. The desert appears to expand endlessly in all other directions."

Here is a description that appears AFTER looking at the sand dune: "There is a sand dune here that is about three feet tall and five feet wide - yep... it's big enough to hide a human body!"

The player needs to hide behind the dune to avoid detection from the nasty 'Dingoes' AND to find a key ingredient for nabbing a particularly important key. So, it might be a little more difficult simply because the player has to observe the dune to catch the obvious hint that it is large enough for a person to hide in/behind.

Another from game 2 was something like there was a potted plant with oddly dense leaves that was referenced several different ways. Turns out the plant was placed there to hide something on the wall.

How you have it written, yes, too easy IF you want it not to be. I guess it depends on how easy you want it to be, but as is I'd say it's like a 1.5/10 on the hard scale. Absolute first thing that popped into my mind.

Mmm, love the idea of the hint being given on 'x' of the object.

Thanks again.

From reading that, my inclination is certainly to hide in the shrubbery, and I think "HIDE IN BUSH" is the first command I'd attempt.

But something like this could be good for near the start of the game, just to tip the player off that hiding in/behind things in the environment is something that can ever be done in your game, then use it in a not-so-obvious puzzle later on.

On the other hand, this example might be less obvious in the actual game than it is here on the message board. Even though you summarized the story, this is still a little out of context. All we've got is the sound and the bush. Just as an example, if this occurs more than a few minutes into the game, the player probably has a few items in their inventory, and they might consider using an item, but those of us reading about it here knew it couldn't have anything to do with items since you didn't list any.

Thanks, Cyllya.

You're correct in thinking that the player will have a few items by then, but certainly no weapon, which is the only thing I can imagine a player would think could be logically used at such a juncture. They should also be aware (if they've bothered reading the intro and public notice at the start of the game) that they're entering a dog-eat-dog society.

I may add a few 'are you sure?' type hints if they try to make the wrong decision.

"Hide in shrubbery" or the more generic "enter shrubbery" or if you want to allow annoyingly creative answers, "crawl into shrubbery".