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The Blue Ball
by
Connor Hutchinson
Played 1,751 times
View game source
(spoilers!)
Download the
.z8 file
Source Code
[This piece of interactive fiction takes the player through a personal story of mine. I was playing catch with my neighbor Adam, when I threw the blue ball up too high, and the wind carried the ball straight onto a nearby tree branch. The player then has to navigate to my house which is east of the street, and finally to my porch, south of my house, where there is a bucket containing a soccer ball, a baseball, and a football. The player must then take these items, navigate back to the street where the tree branch is located, and, by process of elimination, find which ball, when thrown or kicked, will release the blue ball from the tree branch. Once the player releases the blue ball, they must retrieve it. Once the player is holding the blue ball, they have completed the game.] When play begins: say "Now look what you've done! Playing catch with Adam went wrong when you got your ball stuck in a tree branch. Adam went to 'look for something to get it down' and now you're stuck, standing in the middle of the road, staring at the mess you've made. Good luck!" [This is sort of an introduction to the player. This tells the player some important information about where he/she is, and how he/she ended up there. The player will learn more as the story progresses.] The Middle of the Road is a room. "A relatively quiet street in a relatively quiet neighborhood. The road runs north to south. Adam's house is off to the west and yours to the east. A branch from the old pine tree next to your house is hanging over the street, about twenty feet off the ground. Yeah, you know, the branch where there now lies that little blue ball that Walmart sells for a dollar out of those giant metal cages. Why don't you take a closer look at that branch." [This is the room where the player begins his/her journey, followed by a description.] The Road is north of the middle of the road. The Road is south of the middle of the road. Instead of going south from the middle of the road: say "You followed the road south all the way around the cul-de-sac and back to the spot under the tree. There was nothing useful down there, but you did manage to get a little bit of exercise in." Instead of going north from the middle of the road: say "You followed the road north all the way around the cul-de-sac and back to the spot under the tree. There was nothing useful down there, but you did manage to get a little bit of exercise in." [These commands are used to let the player travel north or south on the road, but they will not find anything useful, and they will always end up back where they started.] the branch is scenery fixed in place in The Middle of the Road. It is a closed openable container. The description is "The branch is very long and full of pine needles. Atop the foliage sits that nice blue ball you were just playing catch with. You just had to show off for Adam, and throw it as high as you could, like you didn't expect the wind to affect it? Well now Adam is probably inside drinking his fifth cup of coffee and you need to figure out how to get that thing down." Instead of opening the branch: say "Open a branch? I don't think that is possible... You are going to need to find another way to get that blue ball down." [This is the first object. It is a tree branch that overhangs onto the street where the player is standing. Inside the branch is the blue ball that the player is trying to retrieve. The player must discover how to get the ball out of the tree.] Understand "tree" as the branch. [This condition is used if the reader mistakenly calls the branch "the tree", so that inform will know what he/she is talking about.] the blue ball is in the branch. The description is "The ball you and Adam were playing with... until you managed to get it stuck in that tree." [The blue ball is an object located inside the container that is the tree branch.] Adam's House is a room. It is west of The Middle of the Road. "Another gambrel in the neighborhood of gambrels. At least his is yellow. But Adam is already over there, hopefully looking. Maybe there's something at your house that you could use to get that ball out of the tree." [If the player were to travel west, he/she would arrive at Adam's house, but there is nothing to do here, so the player must travel east, back to the road.] Your House is a room. It is east of The Middle of the Road. "A blue gambrel in a neighborhood of gambrels; very original. At least your dad built that garage next to it to give it some individuality. The street is off to the west. There's a nice little porch off of the south side of the house where there lies a bucket full of athletic equipment. That must be where you got that blue ball from. I wonder what else is in there." [If the player were to travel east from the road, they would arrive at their house. They can then travel south to their porch.] Your Porch is a room. It is south of Your House. "A small wooden porch big enough for a bench, or maybe just a bucket of sports equipment." [South of the house is the player's porch. Here the bucket of sports equipment is located.] the bucket is scenery fixed in place in Your Porch. It is a closed openable container. The description is "The lid is closed, but easily removable" [The bucket is a container that is fixed in place. The bucket cannot be picked up, but it can be opened.] the baseball is in the bucket. The description is "Just a regular old baseball. Faded white leather with red stitching. You could probably throw this thing across the entire neighborhood." [This is an item that is located inside the bucket, followed by it's description.] the football is in the bucket. The football unlocks the branch. The description is "Just a regular old football. It seems to be NCAA size, a perfect fit for hands your size. You could probably throw this thing pretty far." [This is an item that is located inside the bucket, followed by it's description.] the soccer ball is in the bucket. The description is "Just a regular old soccer ball. You could probably kick this thing pretty far... I don't know how accurate it would be though." [This is an item that is located inside the bucket, followed by it's description.] Instead of throwing the football at the branch: say “Nice shot! The football knocked the blue ball right off of the branch and onto the ground next to you.â€; now the branch is open. Instead of throwing the soccer ball at the branch: say “Oh, so close. You threw it about a foot short of the branch, and caught it on the way down. There has to be another way.". Instead of throwing the baseball at the branch: say “Well that wasn't very accurate. The baseball landed deep in the woods. Maybe there's another way...â€; now the baseball is off-stage. [These are the actions to be used on each of the items in the container on the porch.] [The football is the only object that will open the branch, revealing the blue ball.] Understand "kick [something preferably held] at [something]" as kicking it at. Kicking it at is an action applying to one carried thing and one visible thing. Check kicking it at: if the noun is not a soccer ball, say "I wouldn't kick that... Maybe throwing it would make more sense." instead. Carry out kicking it at: say "Well that wasn't very accurate. Maybe there's another way...". [This describes the action of kicking something at something. Only the soccer ball is able to be kicked, but even this will miss the branch holding the blue ball.] An every turn rule: if the player is carrying the blue ball, end the story saying “Congratulations! You got your ball!†; increase score by 100. [This is the every turn rule that lets inform know when you have completed the game.] The maximum score is 100. [This tells inform how many possible points the player could have earned.]
