That said, I don’t think it’s an interface problem but just that I don’t like the so-called choice-based IF at all. Games with a parser make me actually think, choice-based games don’t require that, they are just like exploring a maze, maybe backtracking from time to time.
Without the magic of the parser that actually understands my commands, generated in my mind and not just chosen from a list, the level of involvement and interaction is too low for me to consider it worth staring at a screen. I just leave the game and go read some static fiction on paper instead.
“Because I’m thinking you’d want to avoid the kind of prose that games ‘Text text text text text. Do you want to choice one, choice two or choice three?’ That’s as bad as, in parser IF, ‘Rom description. Paragraph. You can see object 1, object 2 and object 3 here.’”
Well, actually … I think this is a controversial subject. It seems as if many players like to have their game-important nouns clumped together and pointed at for easy picking. I, like you, don’t. However, sprinkling options throughout a scene doesn’t work for me (and I believe at least one other commenter in this thread agrees with me). It just seems that it would disrupt the flow of the action. I would rather present the scenario then offer the choices that progress the narrative. Nouns fall naturally into a room description, but I think choices might stick out. A list of choices makes them clear, focusing the player on the next action. But the text in the scene is also important because it helps you to make the decision. This seems to differ from a list of nouns, which often says to me “Just work with these objects,” destroying the illusion that I am able to do something to anything.
Thinking about it, I actually agree. I guess when I wrote that I was thinking more about the content than the format/layout. Disregard that bit, then. The more I think about it the more I agree that, depending on the game, a separate list of choices might actually be the best way to do it. I mean, I keep going on about Inklestudios, and this is exactly how they go about it, so…
Some games seem to adopt a standard where links in the main text are similar to “examining/manipulating” an item, and choices AFTER the main text are actions that progress the story. It seems like fair middle ground, since in instances where the choices aren’t spelled out, it isn’t always clear what the action IS.
…but I’m veering into Twine/hyperlink territory. What I’ve just described obviously can’t possibly happen in normal CYOA (the one we remember from gamebooks).