I've never really understood AGAIN... I can't really think of occasion in any of my games where it'd be useful... except for those times where I've done something really annoying like require multiple examines or searches of an item... And I look back at that sort of thing as a horrible phase that should be avoided these days! :)
I tend not to have an inventory limit or item weight, so GET ALL really isn't that useful in my games. I don't particularly want it in this game, so I would like to have the option to code around it... like I had previously. (I think anyway... I'm pretty sure it worked before the recent ALL changes)
There are probably four scenarios where AGAIN (or G) comes in useful:
- Old school text adventures where typing LOOK or EXAMINE or DIG would reveal something, but if you repeated the same command, it would reveal something else. Once you realised, this, you would get in the habit of repeating the command as a matter of course - just in case. It's so much easier if the game allows G.
- Those bloody awful adventures with role-playing elements where you have to fight a monster or something and the outcome is random, so you have to keep repeating it over and over and over again until you win or die. It's so much easier if the game allows G.
- Any game where you have to do something repetetive. There's a lot of these around.
- Most importantly, and this is where I use it A LOT, is testing. For example:
>OPEN CLOSET
You open the closet to reveal some clothes.
>G
You open the closet to reveal some clothes. [Whoops! Bug there. It should have said "The closet is already open."]
Infocom probably set the trend and all modern adventures have it. Hey, I even included it my old Atari BASIC adventures back in the 1980s. It's really easy to implement. You just remember the command and if the next command is AGAIN, you just replace this with the saved command.
Now if Adventuron allowed me read/write access to the verb and noun, I could implement this myself. Maybe. Nothing in Adventuron is easy.
Regarding having an inventory limit, I think this adds to the realism of the game. Let's face it, in real life you can't walk around carrying a pair of oars, a treasure chest, a Masai warrior's shield, a letter from your sweetheart, a gun belt, a tobacco pouch, a lion-skin cloak, a large bronze key, a lamp shade and a rolled-up carpet, so why should you be able to do it in an adventure? If done correctly, an inventory limit adds to the puzzle element by forcing you to think about inventory management: which items you've used, which ones you're likely to use and which ones are probably red herrings. It also adds to the challenge of finishing the game in the minimum number of moves once you know what to do (which is something I always do prior to writing up solutions for CASA).
Anyway, just my two bob's worth from a seasoned old adventurer.
It's just a personal preference, I think.
I'm fine with games being 'games' rather than 'simulations', and taking liberties with realism... object management is something I can usually happily do without... which is why I'm usually okay having an unlimited inventory. What you can walk around with, in most games, is pretty impossible, even with an inventory limit! :)
However... there have been occasions when I've implemented an inventory limit, or when I've though they particularly worked well in a game... If the limit is there as part of the puzzles... perhaps requiring clever ways of porting objects between locations... then I think that's fine.
The majority of games I've played, during my almost forty years of adventure playing, have had inventory limits. They've never put me off a game.
The AGAIN (or G) feature is kind of redundant (on desktop) but I'll probably add them anyway (for mobile).
There are a couple of shortcuts you can use on desktop.
- Cursor UP and DOWN will move through the command buffer, then just press ENTER.
- Pressing tab will help you with known verbs and nouns currently (nouns are built automatically).
- Holding SHIFT then tapping a cursor key will move you NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, and WEST.
"Nothing in Adventuron is easy."
Constructive criticisms always welcome.
I discovered the cursor up by accident. This is very handy, but there's nothing equivalent on mobile, as they don't have arrow keys.
I've just been experimenting with the Tab key. Very clever. You have to type a verb first, then use Tab and it seems to cycle through all the nouns encountered so far. In my game, the list gets pretty long by the time you get to the end of the game. :-)