The Battle of Walcot Keep

The Battle of Walcot Keep
Game
Main links	Play onlineDownload IFDB IF Archive
Published	13 June 2004
Credits
Authors	Steve Breslin, Eric Eve, Lindsey Hair; illustrated by Michael Bechard
Reception
Events	2004 IF Art Show Honorable Mention
IFDB rating	2 out of 5 (5 ratings)
Gameplay
Interaction style	Parser
Language	English
Accessibility	Colour: none. Graphics: optional. Sound: none.
Technical details
Authoring system	TADS 3
Format	TADS 3
License	Freeware
IFID	TADS3-8C62B521737A41DF404DC1E3C7D97976
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Theoretical Study

This game is probably more important as a theoretical study than a conventional play piece. It explores a number of key programming and structural features of IF, emphasizing complex spaces, and AI agents. The game is multi-threaded, but the player (as a ghost) cannot influence the outcome. Even while the game challenges the felicity of report for multiple NPC actions per turn, the game also makes aesthetic statements about agency and the role of PC as observer.

Earlier IF featured monadic rooms, but this game features a very open space: guards firing arrows from towers, attackers swinging on ropes from one room to another. It anticipates Steve Breslin and Eric Eve's Tads-3 Connected Space extension, which breaks even further away from monadic rooms.

All of the action is animated by the Reactive Agent Planner, an NPC-AI system adapted for Tads-2 by Nate Cull, and expanded by Steve Breslin for Tads-3.

How it begins

The first thing that happens in the game is that the player-character dies. He then, as a ghost, observes a medieval battle between NPCs, across a spatially complex area.

Notable features

• Complex space, visually connected rooms.
• Thoroughgoing automated NPC behavior.
• Multi-threaded.
• Possibly the first multi-threaded game whose resolution cannot be influenced by player action.
• Possibly a critique of agency or critique of multi-threaded game design.

Versions

Version 1.0

Date: 13 June 2004

• The Battle of Walcot Keep (Steve Breslin, Eric Eve, Lindsey Hair; 13-Jun-2004; TADS 3).
  • IFID: TADS3-8C62B521737A41DF404DC1E3C7D97976
    IFID links: IFDB
  • Illustrated by Michael Bechard
  • 2004 IF Art Show: Honorable Mention
  • Download battle.t3 from the IF Archive

Links

N.B. Many IF Archive games are temporarily unavailable in the UK.

• The Battle of Walcot Keep (archived) - at Baf's Guide.
• The Battle of Walcot Keep - at IFDB.

Note: To refer to this game from another page, you can type {{game citation|The Battle of Walcot Keep}}. This will display as The Battle of Walcot Keep (Steve Breslin, Eric Eve, Lindsey Hair; illustrated by Michael Bechard; 2004; TADS 3).

Date: 13 June 2004