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From: erkyrath@netcom.com (Andrew Plotkin)
Subject: Re: [CONTEST] Planning for 1997, take 2.
Message-ID: <erkyrathE0Io1s.BL5@netcom.com>
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Date: Thu, 7 Nov 1996 20:10:40 GMT
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Gerry Kevin Wilson (whizzard@uclink.berkeley.edu) wrote:
> Sigh.  Okay, fine.  If we really want to argue over adding 8 lines of code
> to everyone's program.

> The walkthrough is a safety net for new authors.  It not only ensures that
> their games will be posted in a winnable format, but it ensures that even
> if their game is too hard, some folks will use portions of the walkthrough
> in order to see the end of the game, which might be very well written, and
> so the game will not suffer as much as it might otherwise.  It is very
> difficult for a new author to judge how hard their puzzles are.  The
> contest is primarily designed to draw in new authors.  QED, the rules are
> geared towards new authors.  Everyone else just has to suffer along for
> the cause.

> I will at the least include a TADS and Inform function that will do this.
> Anyone want to write the Inform code?  I think I can handle the TADS code
> just dandily.

Put
  random(-1);
as the first line of Initialise(). That will produce a deterministic 
sequence of "random" numbers on any to-spec interpreter.

(A z-code-based solution, such as you posted for TADS, is more difficult 
in inform 6. I think. The random() function is polymorphic, so it would 
be a pain to reimplement all the possible cases in Inform.)

--Z

-- 

"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the
borogoves..."
