Games with non-standard directions - an IFDB Poll
by Andrew Schultz
RSS FeedI'm wondering about games (primarily parser) with weird directions beyond NW/SW/SE/NE, up, down or inside/outside. I like the example in the Inform docs (Charles S. Roberts) about hexagonal directions but have no clue how to go about making a game like that, or even one with widdershins/turnwise/hubwards/rimwards as also in the Inform docs. I'd sort of like to.
Whether or not the directions are critical to the plot isn't important. I'm just wondering how people -do- something beyond the usual. It may just be UN (up-north) or something, on a cube.
Note: port/starboard on a ship don't "really" count, though they're still kind of interesting.
The only game that occurred to me off-hand was Hoist Sail for the Heliopause and Home. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
View Comments (4) - Add a comment
| Castle of the Red Prince, by C.E.J. Pacian 2 votes "Virtually every..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... Andrew Schultz says: Thanks! I'd forgotten about Rogue of the Multiverse, too. While I was looking for something a bit more exotic than forward/left/back/right, I'm glad I didn't specifically exclude that, as it's resulted in some interesting suggestions. I think it's still good to see how handling them gives a different feel from N/S/E/W.  Vote for this game | |
| Hunter, in Darkness, by Andrew Plotkin 2 votes "Forward, Back, Left, Right" [+]... (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| The Colour of Magic, by Judith Child, Fergus McNeill, and Colin Buckett 2 votes "HUBWARD, RIMWARD,..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... Andrew Schultz says: Oh man. Another excuse to pull out a Spectrum emulator. Vote for this game | |
| Dead Like Ants, by C.E.J. Pacian 2 votes "Uses WIDDERSHINS and SUNWISE" [+]... "Cylindrical..." [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Gun Mute, by C.E.J. Pacian 2 votes "There are only..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Hoist Sail for the Heliopause and Home, by Andrew Plotkin 2 votes "Deals well with space directions" [+]... (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| El extraño caso de Randolph Dwight, by El Clérigo Urbatain 1 vote "A Spanish game...." [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Home Sweetie-Bot Home, by Jacques Frechet 1 vote "Directional Facing" [+]... Andrew Schultz says: Good one! I forgot about this. It's rather fun, too, and I love the fixed-width font for the retro effect. Vote for this game | |
| Midnight. Swordfight., by Chandler Groover 1 vote (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| The Twelve Heads of St. John the Baptist, by Jake Wildstrom 1 vote "Very non-standard..." [+]... Vote for this game | |
| The Compass Rose, by Yoon Ha Lee and Peter Berman 1 vote "Pretty much the definition of non-standard directions" [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Pick Up The Phone Booth And Die, by Rob Noyes 1 vote "Not having directions is non-standard" [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Today is the Same as Any Other, by Adam Wasserman 1 vote "Use of..." [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Three-Card Trick, by Chandler Groover 1 vote "IN and OUT are..." [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Groove Billygoat, by Hanon Ondricek (as Efrain Finnell) 1 vote "The dance sequence" [+]... Andrew Schultz says: Oops! I forgot this, and I tested it too! While I was mainly looking for something with directions that moved between rooms, this works too & probably helped start me wondering about odd directions. Vote for this game | |
| ASCII and the Argonauts: Astral Plane, by Anonymous 1 vote "The PC moves..." [+]... Vote for this game | |
| A Stop For The Night, by Joe Mason 1 vote "Not your normal compass directions..." [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Ether, by MathBrush 1 vote (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |