Another computer game with Dragon NaturallySpeaking

So, I said I was going to update you on the game I was trying out by voice. However, I abandoned Dog Saves Baby because the interpreter I was using to run it was a little bit buggy with Dragon, and the game itself was very frustrating because it didn’t keep any of the traditional commands.

However, I downloaded a particular Z-machine interpreter called Filfre (which will also read Glulxe files) that works flawlessly with Dragon — it’s as if I were using Word or Internet Explorer. The correction command works, the natural language menu commands work, everything. I downloaded that interpreter in order to play Lost Pig, which is more intuitive than Dog Saves Baby and very funny besides.

In it, you are a big green and slightly stupid orc, sent by a farmer to look for the pig you accidentally let out. The game is narrated in caveman dialect, and getting around is made interesting by the fact that you, being primitive, can’t even recognize what a vending machine is (sorry, small spoiler). You will eventually meet up with the pig, but you still have to catch it and find a way out of the cave. Along the way, you can talk to the pig (who is a little smarter than you are and seems to give Lassie like nonverbal hints), and another character who provides you with much of the information you will need to get around the cave — as long as you know how to ask him. Hints are gradually provided, and if you choose, the game provides you with a list of topic suggestions when you’re talking to a character. It’s a relatively short, fun game that is an excellent stress reliever, even if it occasionally gets tedious having to ask a certain character questions. It retains all of the traditional commands and abbreviations, besides. Excellent.

keyboards with one-handed Dvorak keys

If you want to make learning one-handed Dvorak a bit easier on yourself or just a board for your home computer, one-handed Dvorak layout keyboards are sold here. Unfortunately, they don’t look compact and I don’t know what the switches are. Probably membrane. Ow.

New computer games by voice :-)

Thanks to a comment on my previous entry, I discovered that there are tons of contemporary text adventure games at http://ifdb.tads.org that will work almost perfectly by voice. I’m currently trying out Dog Saves Baby, a comically gruesome game in which you are a dog trying to save a baby after its parents (your master and mistress) are dismembered by hillbillies after the car breaks down on a wooded road.  The only commands you can use are ones that a dog could understand, so they’re nice and short and don’t make my voice tired.  I only wish that this game retained some of the more common commands such as “look at,” which presumably a dog could still understand and do, but I guess if you’re a dog “sniff” would do just as well.  I shouldn’t be doing this now — I have homework — but I’ll report my progress later.

Old-school computer games by voice?

Once again, bare-bones might prove superior to flashy GUI when it comes to interfacing with assistive technology.  Around 1990 or so, a neighbor of mine had a Tandy computer running some version of DOS.  I’d go over and watch him play computer games — King’s Quest (To Err Is Human), Space Quest, and Moonmist.  All of these were activated by the keyboard and typing simple language — “open door,” “get key,” etc. The Quest games had graphics, whereas Moonmist was an interactive fiction game — entirely textbased.  That one was my favorite, because it resembled the “choose your own adventure books” my neighbor also lent me when I had nothing to read.  I would sit next to him at the computer reading the paragraphs, and when I had to talk to a character or move around the castle, I would tell him what to say and he would type it for me.  (Incidentally, the game also provided me with some of the shorthand I use in Writer now — Z means “wait,” G means “again,” and X means “look,” but I use it for “looking at” because it saves more keystrokes.)

 

I can type to a limited extent now, but don’t know if I’d have the stamina for that game anymore.  But I was thinking — they have some of the Infocom games updated to run as CD-ROM, including Moonmist.  Since the game is not timed and runs on words, I’m thinking that as long as I could still run Dragon in the background, I may be able to give the game commands by voice and alternate with typing.  I actually did try that using a version of Moonmist that someone had put on a 3 1/2 inch floppy using a WinFrotz machine interpreter, and it worked to some extent except that when I wanted to say “press enter” I had to repeat myself for the command to go through.  Maybe Dragon will interact better with something that was designed to run on XP.  You think?  I don’t know why I want to waste my breath or my remaining hand strength playing stupid little games, unless it’s to occupy myself on the long days waiting for a prospective employer to call me back, ha ha.  I’m talking more out of nostalgia than anything, I think.  Because I just realized they discontinued it anyway.  Dang.  I still wonder though, especially for the Quest games where it mattered how fast you typed before the wizard came or the alien blew your head off.

Human anthropology and other puzzles

I know what anthropology is — the study of evolution and different cultures. From dictionary.com:

1.	the science that deals with the origins, physical and cultural development, biological characteristics, and social customs and beliefs of humankind.

2.	the study of human beings’ similarity to and divergence from other animals.

3.	the science of humans and their works.

But how does anthropology help to design a keyboard? I saw that in a keyboard publicity claim — “close analysis of human anthropology.” Did the inventor/s (I won’t say who, because I don’t want to embarrass them) perhaps mean “anatomy”? I myself am leery of someone who can’t tell the difference, or worse, throwing around what they think are big important sounding words. That suggests to me that they are using “ergonomic” as a buzzword to sell their product, having no clue what it really entails — not only layout, but design that accounts for posture, impact, amount of force and so on, and materials that are suited to those needs. Ergonomics is not just a fad — it is vital. And I expect that anyone making a truly ergonomic product would not make the mistake of using such out of context words.

My “Scrabble” keyboard :-)

A kid in the library said that the keys on my keyboard looked like Scrabble tiles.  I think I’m keeping that description.  Come to think of it, the keys do kind of feel like the tiles too — smooth and cool and solid.  And I love word games; they’re comforting.  (As a matter of fact, I memorized the Malt layout by playing Boggle with my keyboard, making words with my eyes.)  Kids say beautiful things without realizing it sometimes.  I would post a picture, but I can’t get it to work. There it goes! Yay.