7.2. Liveliness

| Chapter 7: Other Characters |

| 7.2. Liveliness

A character who sits still in a chair and does nothing is much less convincingly alive than one who seems to be pursuing some sort of personal agenda. There are all sorts of ways to achieve this, but the least challenging is by introducing some random change to descriptions, and by giving a character some very simple routine behavior to carry out.

For instance, we'll often want the characters in a room to be described doing different things every time we look at them. Camp Bethel shows how this may be done.

Every turn rules lend some sprightliness to otherwise-silent characters, as well:

> Every turn when the player can see Mrs MacGillicuddy:
> say "Mrs. MacGillicuddy vacuums around [a random fixed in place thing which is in the location]."

We might expand on this by providing a whole table of things for Mrs MacG. to cycle through, or a text variation effect that gives her different activities every turn, as in

> Every turn when the player can see Mrs MacGillicuddy:
> say "Mrs. MacGillicuddy [one of]vacuums around the furniture[or]tries to remove gum from the underside of the desks[or]causes a racket by testing the smoke alarm[or]makes a pointed comment or two about them as sit by idly while someone works her fingers to the bone[as decreasingly likely outcomes]."

This is no great innovation in characterization by itself, but it does at least remind the player that the character is alive and moving about, even when he isn't paying attention to her.

Annoyotron Jr demonstrates a character who actively tries to get our attention, and whose routine of behavior changes just slightly if we show signs of having reacted to him.

Lean and Hungry implements a classic thief, a character who doesn't interact with the player much except to pick up valuable objects he finds left around the map. Later we will see rather more advanced ways to make characters act on their own goals and plans, but this kind of simple behavior is easily rigged as part of an every turn rule.

Finally, Text Foosball extends the every-turn-rule idea to create an opponent who joins us in a randomized game of table soccer.

With animal characters, this kind of repetitive, semi-random behavior is often adequate: we don't expect animals to talk, or pursue steady goals, or to take an interest in what we do in their presence (unless it involves a food they like to eat).

For people, we are likely to need an assortment of additional techniques.

See Animals for a domestic cat and dog

67
| Example Camp Bethel Creating characters who change their behavior from turn to turn, and a survey of other common uses for alternative texts. |
WI

153
| Example Annoyotron Jr A child who after a certain period in the car starts asking annoying questions. |
WI

76
| Example Lean and Hungry A thief who will identify and take any valuable thing lying around that he is able to touch. |
WI

140
| Example Text Foosball A game of foosball which relies heavily on every-turn rules. |
WI

Suppose we want a game of foosball in which our opponent acts every turn, but does different things depending on where the ball currently lies. We can put together a sequence of every-turn rules to account for this, as follows: "Text Foosball" The Lounge is a room. "The Lounge is appointed with everything necessary to rest and relaxation: a vending machine, a potted palm, a stack of Entertainment Weekly issues from 1993, and -- your pride and joy -- a foosball game." The foosball game is scenery in the Lounge. Understand "table" or "football" or "foozball" or "fussball" or "soccer" as the foosball game. The game is a supporter. On the game is a small white ball. The ball can be still, approaching, receding, or unreachable. The description of the ball is "Currently [small white ball condition]." After printing the name of the small white ball, say " ([small white ball condition])". When play begins: now left hand status line is "You: [score]"; now right hand status line is "Joey: [Joey's score]". Some tiny men on sticks are part of the game. Understand "handles" as the tiny men. The description is "Okay, a couple of the tiny men have had their feet broken off, and the table surface itself is a bit warped, and the ball resembles a quail egg in respect of shape and color. This makes for a game of unusual randomness, but skill is overrated." Instead of attacking or pulling or pushing the game when the ball is unreachable: say "You give the table a good shove, and the ball moves ever-so-slightly."; now the ball is still. Instead of taking the white ball: say "You'd forfeit the game if you did that." Instead of turning the tiny men when the ball is unreachable: say "The ball has somehow gotten to a mystical point on the table where it cannot be reached, no matter what. Close inspection reveals that this point has been marked in chalk with a tiny X. Not that that does any good." Instead of turning the tiny men when the ball is approaching: if a random chance of 2 in 3 succeeds: if a random chance of 1 in 2 succeeds, now the ball is receding; otherwise now the ball is still; say "[if the ball is still]Thunk. [otherwise]Thwack! [end if]You keep the ball from reaching its goal! Now it is [small white ball condition]."; otherwise: let Joey score. To let Joey score: now the ball is still; now Joey's score is Joey's score + 1; say "The ball rolls neatly into your goal, despite your efforts. "; if Joey's score < score, say "You put the ball back in the center with a snap. No reason to worry yet; you're still ahead. Joey looks determined, though."; otherwise say "After allowing a moment or two for Joey's gloating to pass, you replace it at the center." Instead of turning the tiny men when a random chance of 1 in 13 succeeds: if the ball is unreachable, continue the action; now the ball is unreachable; say "You hit the ball off-center and it rolls sluggishly into a little dip in the surface of the foosball table. "; if Joey's score > 7, say "'You did that on purpose!' Joey exclaims indignantly."; otherwise say "You and Joey exchange glances. This is never good." Instead of turning the tiny men: say "You madly rotate the tiny men on sticks! "; if a random chance of 1 in 2 succeeds: say "Hoorah! You hit the ball!"; now the ball is receding; otherwise: say "Somehow you fail to bring your monopodal player into contact with the ball." Joey is a man in the Lounge. "Joey is hunkered over the foosball handles on his side of the table." Joey can be active or inactive. Joey's score is a number that varies. Every turn: now Joey is active. Every turn when the ball is approaching and Joey is active: let total be Joey's score + score; if total > 9, make no decision; now Joey is inactive; let Joey score; rule succeeds. Every turn when the ball is unreachable and Joey is active: let total be Joey's score + score; if total > 9, make no decision; now Joey is inactive; say "Joey glares angrily at the stuck ball." Every turn when the ball is receding and Joey is active: let total be Joey's score + score; if total > 9, make no decision; if the ball is unreachable, make no decision; now Joey is inactive; if a random chance of 1 in 2 succeeds: if a random chance of 1 in 2 succeeds, now the ball is still; otherwise now the ball is approaching; say "Joey connects with your shot. Now the ball is [small white ball condition]!"; otherwise: now the ball is still; say "Joey tries to block, but misses! Back it goes in the center, where it is [small white ball condition]."; increment the score. Every turn when the ball is still and Joey is active: let total be Joey's score + score; if total > 9, make no decision; if the ball is unreachable, make no decision; now Joey is inactive; if a random chance of 1 in 2 succeeds: now the ball is approaching; say "Joey hits the ball solidly down towards your goal. Now it is [small white ball condition]."; otherwise: say "Joey fails to hit the ball in your direction. It remains [small white ball condition]." Every turn: let total be Joey's score + score; if total > 9: if Joey's score > score, end the story saying "Rats! Joey wins!"; if Joey's score < score, end the story finally saying "Victory is yours!"; if Joey's score is score, end the story saying "A perfect tie."

Previous | Contents | Next