>> Actually, I figure there's a fair chance that I might get enough of a hang of things working on the first few locations to get over this code-phobia.

I guarantee you the coding experience is not as bad as I'm sure you imagine. Here's what'll happen: the first two or three locations (more if they aren't complex locations, less if they are), you'll screw up and have to renovate a couple of times before they work. (That's why I strongly recommend you send me your code as SOON as you complete the smallest possible playable chunk.) We'll go back and forth a few times, and then it'll snap, and you'll pretty much be able to churn the rest out mechanically on your own. Depending on how furiously you pursue that initial stage where you're getting the hang of it, it may only last a day or two.

> The temptation for me while re-playing FQ was to skim the description and immediately look at the options menu. Partly, of course, this was because I'd already gone through the game once, but even so, I think the layout of the AGL interface tends naturally to draw the eye down to that menu.

Your inclination matches mine. I'm not sure how much of that to blame on the AGL layout and how much to blame on the fact that when I test/play FQ, I know everything about the world already and don't need to read about it every time I go somewhere.

The *action* text (pink box) I don't have the inclination to skim, even if it's long. But the description text (blue box) is something I sometimes have to force myself to read. I honestly don't think this is a huge problem, though, because new players are, by and large, going to read it the first time through, and if they don't and miss out on the world-building and puzzle clues, it's their own fault.

So I think it's wise to keep the description text length down a bit, but I wouldn't worry overmuch about it.

> I'm now trying to make initial location descriptions as brief as I can bear to write them (the regulars around here know what a serious resolution that is :-) ), and put a "Look around" option in almost every list.

This is a good tactic. (Well, I'll reserve judgment about whether it's a good idea to do this "most" of the time -- I'm not sold, but I'm not necessarily doubtful, either.) I did this in FQ partly just to fill out the menus, but also to move some of the vital description text from the blue box (that people don't pay quite as much attention to) to the pink box (that people read carefully). The only thing you have to be careful about is to make sure the game makes sense if the player chooses not to pick the "look around" option. You can't say, in the description text, "It's a sunny day," and leave the important clue "There's a giant spider coming at you" to the "look around" option, particularly if there are menu options like "kill the giant spider" that begs the obvious question. That's an extreme case, but there are other less extreme cases, too. For example, it's probably not a good idea to make your only reference to, say, a coffee table, be in the "look around" option, when the "walk across the room" option says "you tripped over the coffee table." It doesn't cause a story inconsistency, but if the player picks "walk across the room" first, they're going to wonder where the coffee table came from, even if that puzzlement doesn't become a conscious objection. With those types of issues in mind, I think "look around" options are remarkably effective under the right circumstances. I do like using them for providing "clues," which implies that you get pieces of information that help you figure something out without necessarily being *required* to figure something out.

Of course you can have the "look around" option change the state of the game, which is a completely separate issue. You could have the "look around" option actually *do* something, like have you trip down the stairs, or find an object which you may now pick up. Do that, and then you encourage people to keep selecting those "look around" options.

> > By the way, GotA is looking really COOL, and none of you can see it yet.
>
> Waahh. Please? Just a little hint?

Sure. It'll be based on "Duel of the Ages."

> Iss "You want a hint? How long can you tread air?" achar

*ROFL*