Adventure game puzzle-related question

Started by Grim, Tue 24/10/2017 13:35:55

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Grim

Hey guys ;)

Been a while since I posted here - moved to Unity (+ Adventure Creator) over a year ago... But still popping in to see what's new in AGS every now and then ;)

I wanted to ask your opinions regarding a puzzle for the new game I'm making - Lorelai. Would it make sense, (or rather is it possible) to ignite a fuse/wick on a home-made bomb not with lighter or matches, but by striking a rock on another rock/metal object to create sparks? What do you think? Is this totally unrealistic? Could that be done in real life?

I'd appreciate some feedback ;)



-Grim

Radiant

Yes, I think it's common enough knowledge that striking a rock (well, a flint rock) with metal will cause sparks.

CaptainD

I think most people would know and even if someone wasn't particularly aware, if it was an interaction they could try, they would find out soon enough.
 

Crimson Wizard

#3
This suddenly reminds me of this scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYk7gJTLDFg

Also, just out of curiosity, I found this forum thread when googling: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/paleoplanet69529/rocks-and-minerals-that-spark-for-percussion-fires-t2808.html

Grim

Thanks, guys! You've been most helpful, as always :)

Stupot

I'm no expert but I think it would take more than a spark from two rocks to detonate a fuse. I'm pretty sure it's been done in movies and cartoons, but if you're going for realism, you might want to add a 'making a makeshift lighter' element to the puzzle.

Cassiebsg

Think I actually agree with Stupot (not that I wouldn't try the stone on metal to light the fuse, and then move on and not think more about it).
But if you think about it, that's exactly what a lighter does. It scratches some metal on a piece of stone to create a spark, but the lighter doesn't actually light a flame that you can use until you add gas to it. (roll)
There are those who believe that life here began out there...

Mandle

I think hitting a narrow target like the end of a fuse with a spark would be near impossible and that a single spark wouldn't catch the fuse alight.

Perhaps it would be more realistic if you have to place a little bit of hay/dried grass/faux fur/or somesuch on the end of the fuse and then light that with the sparks and then that fire sets the fuse burning. This is 100% possible and I've even watched a friend light a pile of little scraps of paper in an ashtray with flint and steel.

I never got the hang of it but an interesting tip is that you don't do what they usually do in the movies. You shouldn't strike the flint on the steel as this makes aiming very difficult and you have to do it pretty close to the target so you'll probably just end up hitting and scattering your little pile of kindling with your hand. Instead you hold the flint against the steel and quickly pull the steel backwards towards you rather than pushing the flint towards the kindling.

I don't know if this fact can be implemented in your game but it could be interesting and edutainmenty...

MiteWiseacreLives!

Mandle is right, you need another combustible to make this work.. a little lamp oil? cotton swabs work

Grim

Bummer... After the initial posters had presented their positive opinions I went and made the scene already ;) (with cool animations and all that ;) )

Now, I'm not so sure... But please bear in mind, this is a video game logic. We usually assume some things are fine in games, even if we know that in real life they wouldn't quite work. Hmm...

What if the fuse was soaked in something flammable? Perhaps they are by default? I don't know, I never had one ;) 

Radiant

Yes, fuses are commonly soaked in something flammable, because being flammable is the whole point of having a fuse :)

Snarky

My "I don't really know what I'm talking about" intuition is that it's more a matter of how the fuse is constructed than the details of your spark-making. I think some fuses can only be ignited chemically or electrically, while an old-school trail of gunpowder might very well catch fire from a spark.

Obviously, ensuring that fuses don't ignite unintentionally has been a major safety factor throughout the history of explosives, so if your fuse is of modern, professional manufacture, it's unrealistic that you would be able to ignite it without at least a reliable flame. But if it's some kind of home-made contraption, or a relic made hundreds of years ago, then anything goes.

Ali

I'm with Radiant that the rock needs to be a flint for the puzzle to be fair. For me, it would depend on how naturalistic the artwork and tone are. In a cartoonish adventure - definitely, no problem. In anything more realistic than Broken Sword, it would be a stretch.

Crimson Wizard

Make your character have flammable spit perk. Problem solved :=

selmiak

give the player a (storm)lighter without a flintstone. make the player work on the rough flintstone with a turning lathe or pressing it through a round form or so... then just combine these items or make a fiddele y closeup minigame of entering the formed flintstone into the lighter by disassmbling it first and the reassembling it :-D 8-)

Grim

It's not super realistic. It's my usual crazy ass horror stuff ;) Made a gif to show you , cos gifs are COOL! :P


Stupot


Mandle

GASP! That's amazing! And looks realistic enough the way it takes a few tries.

Mr Underhill

That's very cool.

Just one hopefully constructive criticism, and it might seem like a nitpick - it's the font. I don't recall its name now but it's very widely available on a lot of free font websites - that wouldn't necessarily be a problem, but I've seen quite a few media projects use it, and I think it's detrimental to the personality of the game. Now, obviously, I'm not telling you what decisions to take, of course... Just that if I were you I'd modify it a bit more, to set it apart from other projects that have used it. You can't go wrong with a unique logo for the game ;) Hope I didn't sidetrack the conversation too much, and I hope I didn't offend you. It's just the kind of thing that I'd like pointed to me if it were the case.

Grim

Yeah, someone else mentioned the font before... I guess I ought to do something about it, before it's too late ;)

It's still WIP but these things tend to stick...

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