Merry Christmas Adventurers.
I wonder what kind of parser everyone is using?
- Verb / Noun (Two Word Parser)
- Mostly Two Words But Sometimes More
- Complex Sentence (More Than Two Words).
Mine is 2, mostly two words but sometimes more. I have been doing a lot of experimental work with multi-word input. In the early part of the game, you have to gather information using commands like ASK GANDALF ABOUT FRODO or READ ABOUT THE RING IN THE BOOK. That might sound like a lot of typing, so, where the context allows it, I've also allowed for a shorter form like ASK ABOUT FRODO or READ ABOUT RING.
I've also started implementing implicit actions, whereby if you only type the verb and the noun and an indirect object is required, but it can be implied from the context, then I allow for it. For example:
> GIVE FISH
(to Gollum)
Gollum gobbles down the fish, bones and all.
This is probably a bit bleeding edge for Adventuron, but it's what I'm used to nowadays and will (hopefully) make it more intuitive for beginners.
I'm sticking rigidly to a two-word maximum.
Some actions really do require more than two words to describe properly, and that's a limitation that I've struggled with; on this project, I've actually moved locations around and changed some aspects of puzzles to avoid ambiguities that would require longer commands. But I find that it's often possible to rework things to avoid those actions, and I also like being able to tell the player, "If you can't think of a way to explain what you want the PC to do with a VERB NOUN pair, it's not necessary in this game."
My design philosophy is that once the player has guessed the action that's necessary to progress, the game should give the player every benefit of the doubt. Situations where, for example, I couldn't (as a player) "BREAK LOCK", "USE CROWBAR", or "PRY LOCK", nor "BREAK LOCK WITH HAMMER" or "BREAK LOCK WITH ROCK", but I could only "BREAK LOCK WITH CROWBAR" feel unnecessarily coy to me, and I feel like that's the sort of puzzle writing that more complex commands can sometimes encourage. If I've already guessed that the way forward is to apply brute force to the lock, and I have a selection of sturdy implements to hand, including the "correct" one (another annoying issue in TA/IF), is it really necessary to make me try each one systematically?
I'm not accusing anyone here of that; I'm just explaining that I think that sticking to two-word commands helps me not to fall into those traps as an author.
I think either approach is OK, so long as the player knows what the game expects, and that the game doesn't break the contract with the player.
Incidentally, if you are using a verb/noun game, and are using the beta version of adventuron ( adventuron.io/beta), then you can specify game_type = verb_noun at the top level of the file, and Adventuron will police your game for complex input requirements, remove standard prepositions, and will wire up a new system message for when the player types in 3 words or more. You don't need to switch this on, but it's encouraged if you are making a pure verb/noun game.