Category Archives: Diversions

The stuff that didn’t fit elsewhere.

Diversions

And then I sort of made a game

2 Comments

I’ve been spending many, many of my evenings lately trying to figure out how to use a program called Inform 7. The program is used for writing interactive fiction, which is, in the words of Wikipedia:

software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text adventures, a type of adventure game where the entire interface can be “text-only.” …

Why on earth would I be doing this? Because I’m assisting in a “History of Video Games” class at our homeschool co-op, and I volunteered to help the kids write their own interactive fiction. Possibly not my brightest move, since I didn’t have a clue to actually do it myself.

However! I’ve kind of sort of been figuring it out. And so I present to you my very first and most likely only Interactive Fiction game thing: Tangled Up in Bob. To play it, click “play in browser.” The player should load; then you have to type directives like “go south” or “take the gnome.” You run around doing little tasks and eventually you win. The game doesn’t make much sense, and it may well still be pretty buggy.

Give it a shot, and let me know what you think! (No making fun of me, Gamer People.) Once you’ve finished laughing at me, check out some of these games that are intricate and impressive:

  • “Lost Pig and Place Underground”
  • “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (Yes indeed, and it’s written by Douglas Adams!)
  • “For a Change”
  • “Who the Telling Changed”

    Inform 7 is supposed to be the “easy” way to write interactive fiction. I will just say that I’ve stayed up way too late on far too many evenings trying to figure out how to make it do what I want it to do. And if you play my silly little game, you’ll see that what I wanted it to do doesn’t seem all that complicated. But I did find some very helpful guides and tutorials for Inform 7, so let me know if you’re interested in trying your hand at it and I’ll link up to them.

    • Reading

    Less sisterhood, fewer pants

    1 Comment

    Did you know there’s another “Traveling Pants” book? Only it’s more “Sisterhood” than pants, because apparently somewhere in the four-book “Pants” series, [spoilers!] the pants went missing. I think I read the first book, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t read any of the others. So perhaps I’m unqualified to be discussing this. Will that stop me? No it will not.

    Anyway.

    In Ann Brashares’ “Sisterhood Everlasting,” the loyal quartet has grown up. And they’ve grown apart. What kind of sisterhood is that? Well, kids, that’s just the kind of thing that happens to childhood friends sometimes. You go your separate ways, and even magical pants aren’t enough to make that last “F” in BFF stand the test of time. Unless you’re a fictional character, in which case there’s always the chance that there will be a bittersweet and unlikely happily ever after for you and your pals.

    You might have already guessed that I didn’t love this book. It took me awhile to get into it, and even then I didn’t really feel for the characters. Maybe it would be different if I’d been attached to them already, through the rest of the series. But — and this seems like a silly thing to say about a series that built its foundation on a pair of pants — I just didn’t buy a lot of the storyline’s twists and turns. I’d be interested to hear from people who’ve read the whole series, whether they’re satisfied with where the characters ended up.

    Screen time

    Verlander is headed for a 25-win season

    Last month I wrote that “Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers is the best pitcher in Major League Baseball.” In that post, I observed that in the past 20 years only five pitchers have achieved 23 wins or more during a single regular season. At the time, Detroit’s Justin Verlander and New York’s C.C. Sabathia were both on pace to do so this year. Let’s check back in to see how they are doing.

    New York’s Sabathia has now pitched 30 games. He has 19 wins, 7 losses and 4 blown saves/no decisions. Thus, Sabathia’s season win percentage is 63.33 percent. Slated for three more starts this regular season, at his current pace he would finish with 20 or 21 wins. Consistent with my previous prediction, I’m guessing he ends up on the low end. My pessimism is based in the numbers. Sabathia’s win percentage in his last ten games is 60 percent, which is about three and a third percent under his season percentage. More telling is his ERA. Last month, his ERA was nearly double his season average.

    In short, it looks like Sabathia is tiring out and losing his stuff.

    Compounding this is the fact that two of his remaining starts are against very good hitting teams (the Angels and the Red Socks). I’m penciling loses in those two games, leaving him with 20 wins for the season. Impressive, but not on Verlander’s level.

    Detroit’s Verlander is another story. In his 31 starts, he already has 22 wins, just five losses and four blown saves/no decisions. So his win percentage is an awesome 71 percent. And he still has three more starts to go. At his current pace, he will finish with a beastly 24 wins.

    But here’s the thing: Verlander is going to win 25.

    He hasn’t lost a game since July 15, which was 11 games ago. That means that his 10-game win percentage is 100 percent. And the Tigers’ bats are finally waking up. In September, they are averaging more than 9 runs per game. Verlander wins games if his team can score a run or two. At run support to the tune of nine, he won’t lose.

    Twenty-five wins.

    They might as well give him the Cy Young now.

    And let the MVP talk commence.