Re: Proposal - PBM Writing System

From: thomson@netcom.com (Deb and Bob Thomson)

Date: Thu, 03 Feb 1994 01:51:18 +0000

Russell Wallace writes:

>I've got a vague idea for a PBM writing system that I might perhaps
>implement at some stage.  The idea is that the system would allow you to
>write PBM games in a special-purpose language, hopefully much more
>quickly than they could be written in a general-purpose language like C.
>(Somewhat similar idea to an adventure writing system, a number of
>successful adventure writing systems being currently available.)
>

Since I've just spent the last year programming a PBM game, I find
Russell's post very interesting.  Would I have used a PBM writing
system if I could have?  All in all, I don't think so.  I would
have felt constricted by any standardized system.  Any truly
interesting game needs to have unique features, and I don't see how
any pre-defined system can allow for everything.

On the other hand, I think that you can make the task a lot easier
by using a database system rather than writing everything in C.
Any programmable database with strong report-writing capabilities
should do.  Our game is written in (snicker if you must) a form of
Basic.  However, this Basic is part of a database system called
Pick, and includes a number of features that make it easy to
manipulate data in the ways that a PBM game requires.

Certainly there are modules that every PBM game has need for:  data
entry, email processing, player database, etc.  A large part of the
drudge work could be avoided if you could use an existing framework
when writing your game.  We are certainly looking forward to _not_
having to rewrite this code for our future games.

I can imagine creating a family of PBM games, all using the same
engine: role-playing games set in various milieus, perhaps.  But I
can't imagine a system that would allow someone to create both Starweb
and Middle-Earth PBM, especially a non-programmer.

Bob Thomson
Llucky Llama Games

>Russell Wallace, Trinity College, Dublin
>rwallace@cs.tcd.ie

--
Bob and/or Debbie Thomson         thomson@netcom.com           Llucky Llama
The opinions above do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my spouse.

References

Proposal - PBM Writing System
rwallace@cs.tcd.ie (Russell Wallace)
Wed, 02 Feb 1994 18:16:47 +0000

Referenced By

Proposal - PBM Writing System
rwallace@cs.tcd.ie (Russell Wallace)
Wed, 02 Feb 1994 18:16:47 +0000