Re: The Magic of IF Prose

Ally <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> 
> As a player/reader, however, I very often *cannot* identify with 
> whatever role I'm supposed to slip into. No amount of "you" can 
> make me become something I'm not and/or do not want to be.
> 
<snip>
> 
> If it touched me, I'll rearrange the story in my head anyway, 
> inserting (a version of) myself into it, facing whatever things 
> the author's thought up on my own terms... -- but treat me as if I 
> *were*, say, a protagonist out of "Pulp Fiction" or "Space 
> Troopers", and then expecting me to act *like* that character -- 
> with no chance to deviate from the tracks laid out for me -- agh. 
> I dunno. 

I have always enjoyed games that bridge the gap between giving you a
specific character and treating you as a generic protagonist. In my
game "Gourmet" I tried to write in this style. You have a specific
character -- a somewhat overeager aspiring chef -- but you are never
told what gender, race, or age you are, or in fact much of any
information about yourself that doesn't relate to your cooking
ambitions. Likewise the location of your restaurant is never
specified, and I even took some pains to (not entirely successfully)
remove Americanisms from my writing.

The idea being, the story provides you with some indications of
character, but you are free to insert yourself into them. This ability
to bridge the gap between "solid character" (movies/fiction) and
"nameless protagonist" (Myst/laser tag) is I think something unique
and interesting about IF, and a style I quite enjoy.

When I play games with a strong character, I tend to have the opposite
problem-- I get too into the character I'm supposed to be, and often
miss puzzles because I'm not thinking like an adventure gamer, but
like my character.