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Some of this post is pastede on yey from chat log with husband, plus bonus font markup.
For some reason I have got the idea in my head that writing an interactive fiction (aka text adventure) not-quite-perfect-play game transcript as a form of fanfic would be amusing to anyone other than myself (and possibly![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bethos, who I beta-tested a Potterverse IF game for a few years ago). I've been chuckling over random lines here and there for the past two hours.
Let's never mind what a long hard slog it would be to write even a transcript, never mind a game. I tried IF authoring once, with Adventure Game Toolkit, which is, um, looked on with some horror and is very much Not Inform and Not TADS. I digress, I'm sure, from the understanding of most people reading this. So anyway, all that is only explanation (well...) for this:
------
man
this is taking over my brain
WHY IS THIS FORMAT SO FUN
>xyzzy
[if player is not holding a wand]
In this universe, wizards usually need wands.
Dunderhead.
[if player is holding a wand]
In this universe, spells have wand motions.
Dunderhead.
(Try using the syntax CAST [SPELL].)
>cast xyzzy
Does that sound like something that even vaguely has a Latin root? I should assign you detention with Madam Pince so she can have you dust, re-sort, and re-shelve every dictionary Hogwarts owns.
make 'em work for the insult, that's my motto
------
(hopefully that last remark will make sense to anyone who's ever played an Infocom game.)
------
(example of a spell working normally, rather like the Enchanter/Sorcerer/Spellbreaker system:)
>cast protego
You wave your wand in the appropriate motion and say "Protego!"
A silvery, shimmering curved surface appears in the air in front of you. It looks like it's capable of deflecting things.
>cast patronum
You wave your wand in the appropriate motion and say "Expecto patronum!"
A silver wisp of smoke emanates from your wand, but that's it.
(special verb RECALL)
>recall memory. cast patronum
You think of a memory...
You wave your wand in the appropriate motion and say "Expecto patronum!"
A silver wisp of smoke emanates from your wand, but that's it.
>recall happy memory. cast patronum
You think of a happy memory...
You wave your wand in the appropriate motion and say "Expecto patronum!"
A silver [favorite animal from beginning of game] bursts from your wand! You did it!
-----
> examine snape
Severus Snape is a surly-looking lad of seventeen or eighteen years. [insert more description]
"What in Merlin's name are you staring at, [player name]?" he snaps. "See anything green?" One corner of his mouth twitches, as though he realizes he's made a pun. "Piss off."
> examine snape's hair
There's room for improvement.
[sorry, I was really effing pleased with that one. It seemed to me to strike the right note of understated humor that was characteristic of the Infocom games.]
-----
Probably unsurprising to anyone reading this post, I was envisioning something that was Snape-fic-like, where you played another student with him in the Marauder era and/or another professor in the missing years (1981-1990) or some other various things, probably by use of the Pensieve. It wasn't meant to be general, and I was assuming use of Snape-fic cliches (such as surrounding his voice) for humor value.
FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT
Have you tried...
...ASK SNAPE ABOUT DUNDERHEADS?
...taking Polyjuice while someone else is present?
...INSULTing various characters, such as your professors, Severus, James, Sirius, Hagrid, Peeves...?
...INSULTing James or Sirius while Severus is present?
...INSULTing Lily while Severus is present? (You may wish to SAVE your state first.)
------
(I'm amused, but not really surprised, that I had an extant tag for "sarcasm" and didn't have to create it to apply it to this post.)
For some reason I have got the idea in my head that writing an interactive fiction (aka text adventure) not-quite-perfect-play game transcript as a form of fanfic would be amusing to anyone other than myself (and possibly
bethos, who I beta-tested a Potterverse IF game for a few years ago). I've been chuckling over random lines here and there for the past two hours. Let's never mind what a long hard slog it would be to write even a transcript, never mind a game. I tried IF authoring once, with Adventure Game Toolkit, which is, um, looked on with some horror and is very much Not Inform and Not TADS. I digress, I'm sure, from the understanding of most people reading this. So anyway, all that is only explanation (well...) for this:
------
man
this is taking over my brain
WHY IS THIS FORMAT SO FUN
>xyzzy
[if player is not holding a wand]
In this universe, wizards usually need wands.
Dunderhead.
[if player is holding a wand]
In this universe, spells have wand motions.
Dunderhead.
(Try using the syntax CAST [SPELL].)
>cast xyzzy
Does that sound like something that even vaguely has a Latin root? I should assign you detention with Madam Pince so she can have you dust, re-sort, and re-shelve every dictionary Hogwarts owns.
make 'em work for the insult, that's my motto
------
(hopefully that last remark will make sense to anyone who's ever played an Infocom game.)
------
(example of a spell working normally, rather like the Enchanter/Sorcerer/Spellbreaker system:)
>cast protego
You wave your wand in the appropriate motion and say "Protego!"
A silvery, shimmering curved surface appears in the air in front of you. It looks like it's capable of deflecting things.
>cast patronum
You wave your wand in the appropriate motion and say "Expecto patronum!"
A silver wisp of smoke emanates from your wand, but that's it.
(special verb RECALL)
>recall memory. cast patronum
You think of a memory...
You wave your wand in the appropriate motion and say "Expecto patronum!"
A silver wisp of smoke emanates from your wand, but that's it.
>recall happy memory. cast patronum
You think of a happy memory...
You wave your wand in the appropriate motion and say "Expecto patronum!"
A silver [favorite animal from beginning of game] bursts from your wand! You did it!
-----
> examine snape
Severus Snape is a surly-looking lad of seventeen or eighteen years. [insert more description]
"What in Merlin's name are you staring at, [player name]?" he snaps. "See anything green?" One corner of his mouth twitches, as though he realizes he's made a pun. "Piss off."
> examine snape's hair
There's room for improvement.
[sorry, I was really effing pleased with that one. It seemed to me to strike the right note of understated humor that was characteristic of the Infocom games.]
-----
Probably unsurprising to anyone reading this post, I was envisioning something that was Snape-fic-like, where you played another student with him in the Marauder era and/or another professor in the missing years (1981-1990) or some other various things, probably by use of the Pensieve. It wasn't meant to be general, and I was assuming use of Snape-fic cliches (such as surrounding his voice) for humor value.
FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT
Have you tried...
...ASK SNAPE ABOUT DUNDERHEADS?
...taking Polyjuice while someone else is present?
...INSULTing various characters, such as your professors, Severus, James, Sirius, Hagrid, Peeves...?
...INSULTing James or Sirius while Severus is present?
...INSULTing Lily while Severus is present? (You may wish to SAVE your state first.)
------
(I'm amused, but not really surprised, that I had an extant tag for "sarcasm" and didn't have to create it to apply it to this post.)
no subject
Date: October 19th, 2011 02:22 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: October 19th, 2011 08:11 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: October 21st, 2011 05:53 am (UTC)From:> waylay snape
You don your best highwayman's outfit and carefully conceal yourself around a bend in one of Hogwarts' many convoluted passageways, waiting in the shadows for your prey. At just the right moment, you strike, holding him at wand-point and demanding his Galleons or his virtue.
Unfortunately, it seems that Severus is an even warier creature than you had reckoned with. He appears only faintly surprised, as though he is used to people attempting to take him unawares and now half-expects assault at any time. Coupled with the fact that he is, in any event, a far superior dueller to yourself, it should come as no shock that you are quickly subdued.
You pick yourself up, humiliated, and dust yourself off. "Let that be a lesson to you, [player name]," he says. You can't bring yourself to meet his eyes.
As he walks away down the hall, blending back into the shadows himself, you hear his sneering voice once more: "And take off that ridiculous frock-coat!"