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colpet · 04-21-2008, 08:54 AM

Like many people here, I think that you should have your own vision about what you'd like to bring to an adventure game. However, since you asked:
1. How important is the originality of the story to the game? Do people enjoy a more simple story with complex puzzles or do people want a more literary story that demands some "interpretation" from the player? Do you want to play a game that heavily laden with allegory and symbolism? Or do you feel that heavy stories are reserved for books?
I don't think that story and puzzles are mutually exclusive. Some of the best games out there have complex stories and lots of challenges - Black Dahlia, Zork Nemesis, GK2 and 3, Myst/Uru, Faust, to name a few. Having said that, I'm the type of gamer that puts puzzles over story as a priority. it's nice when there is a good background story, but I'm just as happy exploring a world on my own with little narrative.
2. Do people like the traditional adventure game mechanics of puzzle solving and conversations? What about mini-games? Do people like Indigo Prophecy "simon says" mini-games? Or do people like more in-world games a la the combat system in Dreamfall? I like traditional puzzles - logic, math , spacial, etc. I hate anything that requires timing and dexterity. For me, adventures are about using your brain, not hand eye coordination. I also find dialogue trees and use every inventory on everyone and thing boring.

3. How do people feel about viewpoint? Do people like a first person view like Myst or more third person like Gabriel Knight (btw, that's my favorite adventure game of all time). How about controls? Point-and-click or "WASD" FPS-type controls? First person is the most immersive for me. I like being in the game. I will not play a game that needs to have keyboard controls.

4. How about replayability? Is that really important? Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis had a cool system that allowed some replayability. Did people enjoy this? Replayability boils down to how much fun the game was the first time around and how much I've forgotten. I would not play a game twice to get a second ending or pathway.

5. What are people's thoughts on incorporating game mechanics that people can return to over and over? For instance, an adventure game could have a game of checkers that needs to be played once to get past a certain point but then could be replayed later for fun. A few games have that feature (AGON). I dislike playing a strategy game against a computer so I'd never do that for fun.

6. How many people own the Wii? I really think this is a great platform for adventure games. I only play PC adventure games. I've never owned a console and likely never will.

7. Do people have any ideas on incorporating new types of gameplay into the adventure genre? I am open to any suggestions.
I'm of the 'if it's not broken, don't fix it' camp.

04-21-2008, 08:54 AM	#14
colpet Easily amused Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,091	Like many people here, I think that you should have your own vision about what you'd like to bring to an adventure game. However, since you asked: 1. How important is the originality of the story to the game? Do people enjoy a more simple story with complex puzzles or do people want a more literary story that demands some "interpretation" from the player? Do you want to play a game that heavily laden with allegory and symbolism? Or do you feel that heavy stories are reserved for books? I don't think that story and puzzles are mutually exclusive. Some of the best games out there have complex stories and lots of challenges - Black Dahlia, Zork Nemesis, GK2 and 3, Myst/Uru, Faust, to name a few. Having said that, I'm the type of gamer that puts puzzles over story as a priority. it's nice when there is a good background story, but I'm just as happy exploring a world on my own with little narrative. 2. Do people like the traditional adventure game mechanics of puzzle solving and conversations? What about mini-games? Do people like Indigo Prophecy "simon says" mini-games? Or do people like more in-world games a la the combat system in Dreamfall? I like traditional puzzles - logic, math , spacial, etc. I hate anything that requires timing and dexterity. For me, adventures are about using your brain, not hand eye coordination. I also find dialogue trees and use every inventory on everyone and thing boring. 3. How do people feel about viewpoint? Do people like a first person view like Myst or more third person like Gabriel Knight (btw, that's my favorite adventure game of all time). How about controls? Point-and-click or "WASD" FPS-type controls? First person is the most immersive for me. I like being in the game. I will not play a game that needs to have keyboard controls. 4. How about replayability? Is that really important? Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis had a cool system that allowed some replayability. Did people enjoy this? Replayability boils down to how much fun the game was the first time around and how much I've forgotten. I would not play a game twice to get a second ending or pathway. 5. What are people's thoughts on incorporating game mechanics that people can return to over and over? For instance, an adventure game could have a game of checkers that needs to be played once to get past a certain point but then could be replayed later for fun. A few games have that feature (AGON). I dislike playing a strategy game against a computer so I'd never do that for fun. 6. How many people own the Wii? I really think this is a great platform for adventure games. I only play PC adventure games. I've never owned a console and likely never will. 7. Do people have any ideas on incorporating new types of gameplay into the adventure genre? I am open to any suggestions. I'm of the 'if it's not broken, don't fix it' camp. __________________ Occasionally visiting Uru Live (KI 00637228).