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Simo Sakari Aaltonen · 12-26-2006, 02:24 PM

Jazhara7 wrote:

I know the Neverending Story like no one else on these forums, and I know and love both the Neverending Story and The Longest Story.

You will get no argument from me.

How similar the two stories seem probably depends on the resolution of one's vantage point. Or the distance. Right now I see them from the middle distance, from which they seem very much the same story.

Go closer, and you can see how the details are different. And getting further away, not enough detail would be visible to make out the similarity.

* * *

This made me think of something regarding adventure games in general.

Adventure games usually maintain the distance between player and action fairly constant over the course of a game. This has been a consequence of either the player controlling a single character, or multiple protagonists each remaining about the same distance from the action. This is the familiar adventure gaming world where the protagonist is about the only agent of change.

One thing that makes reading Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars so invigorating is that the distance between reader and events varies effectively. Sometimes the events happen right under the reader's nose, sometimes in the middle distance, and sometimes they are only hinted at. And this relationship is not in direct proportion to the event's importance.

Many adventure games have manipulated this distance effectively by having things happen off-screen (Loom), giving Non-Player Characters a life of their own (Gabriel Knight 3), having multiple protagonists (Post Mortem), having the protagonists at a changing distance from the action (The Watchmaker), or generally keeping the game world alive in all sorts of ways (Outcast).

These are arbitrary examples, as most adventure games do at least one of these things. But I would love to see more done with the idea.

Simo Sakari Aaltonen
(simoadventurecompanion.com)

www.adventurecompanion.com

12-26-2006, 02:24 PM	#83
Simo Sakari Aaltonen Banned User Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Finland Posts: 447	Jazhara7 wrote: I know the Neverending Story like no one else on these forums, and I know and love both the Neverending Story and The Longest Story. You will get no argument from me. How similar the two stories seem probably depends on the resolution of one's vantage point. Or the distance. Right now I see them from the middle distance, from which they seem very much the same story. Go closer, and you can see how the details are different. And getting further away, not enough detail would be visible to make out the similarity. * * * This made me think of something regarding adventure games in general. Adventure games usually maintain the distance between player and action fairly constant over the course of a game. This has been a consequence of either the player controlling a single character, or multiple protagonists each remaining about the same distance from the action. This is the familiar adventure gaming world where the protagonist is about the only agent of change. One thing that makes reading Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars so invigorating is that the distance between reader and events varies effectively. Sometimes the events happen right under the reader's nose, sometimes in the middle distance, and sometimes they are only hinted at. And this relationship is not in direct proportion to the event's importance. Many adventure games have manipulated this distance effectively by having things happen off-screen (Loom), giving Non-Player Characters a life of their own (Gabriel Knight 3), having multiple protagonists (Post Mortem), having the protagonists at a changing distance from the action (The Watchmaker), or generally keeping the game world alive in all sorts of ways (Outcast). These are arbitrary examples, as most adventure games do at least one of these things. But I would love to see more done with the idea. Simo Sakari Aaltonen (simoadventurecompanion.com) www.adventurecompanion.com Last edited by Simo Sakari Aaltonen; 12-26-2006 at 02:36 PM. Reason: Clarity.