Ideas for future AG Community Playthroughs
 

Since our current Playthrough of Beneath a Steel Sky is getting almost to the end (only a couple more weeks!) I think it might be time to see what game people would want to play next. I was thinking of starting three different threads this time:

1. Commercial game thread.

Suggestions for this thread should be as follows:

1a. I'm going to define "commercial" as being any game that started out as only available through purchase. So, a game still only available through purchase counts, a game that once was for purchase but is now freeware counts, and a shareware game counts.

1b. Any games you suggest should either be fairly well-known (like Grim Fandango or Gabriel Knight 1) or should be not too hard to get one's hands on (like Sanitarium or Bad Mojo). The idea is to try to pick games that either a lot of people are likely to own already, or can get their hands on without too much fuss.

1c. For now, we'll stick to just graphic adventures. (Though I think most commercial text adventures would violate step 1b at this point anyway.)

1d. The game has to have some sort of definable "sections". For instance, I don't think Monkey Island 2 would work very well for the Playthrough thread format because there's a very long stretch of game where you can do things in almost any order, and thus, people playing the game might end up in very different spots from each other at a given time.

2. Myst-style commercial game thread.

As above, except that the game has to have Myst-style gameplay.

Note: The only Myst-style game I personally own is Lightbringer, and I can't buy any new games for the time being, so if another game is the popular choice, someone else will have to be the "thread manager" for that game. (That also goes if y'all want to play a non-Myst-like game I don't own, too. Sorry!) I'm OK with that, so don't keep from picking a different game just on my account. ;)

3. "Amateur" game. (I'll post this in the relevant forum.)

3a. I'm defining this as any adventure game that is, or started out as, being freeware.

3b. No remakes! Yes, I know there are a few good remakes out there, even ones with a fair bit of original content (KQ2VGA, I bow down to you), but even then the discussion would end up being at least partially about the original commercial game, which I think would defeat most of the point. Suggesting fan sequels is fine, however.

3c. 1d above applies here, as well.

3d. It can be any type of game... Myst-style, point 'n click, text parser, whichever.

That's about it. Feel free to suggest as many (or as few, or none at all) games as you like for each thread idea, but try to put them in preference order (first preferred game, then second preferred game, etc.). Also, stick to only suggesting games for the computer (as opposed to consoles), since we already know it's highly likely that anyone who posts here owns a computer. ;)

When the BaSS playthrough is done with, I'll go through, tally up everyone's suggestions in here, and see what everyone ends up wanting to play.

There is a second point to this particular thread as well... suggestions about the Playthrough thread format itself. Stuff you liked? Stuff you didn't like? Stuff you think we should (or shouldn't) do next time?

Anyway, my own personal suggestions:

Commercial games:

Gabriel Knight 1
Sanitarium
Grim Fandango

Myst-style games:

Well, Lightbringer by default. ;)

Amateur games:

I have to be sheepish and admit that I haven't really played any indie games other than KQ1VGA, KQ2VGA, and SQ:TLC... I usually don't even have enough time to play any of the games I've purchased. So whatever we end up playing will be a totally new experience for me. :)

Peace & Luv, Liz

As a commerical game, I vote for Shadow of Destiny / Shadow of Memories. It's a short enough game that it doesn't take forever to play, but there are multiple endings which gives it replay value, and the story gives you A LOT to talk about. :)

For the amateur game, I would suggest 5 Days a Stranger. It's relatively long by indie-game standards (though shorter than almost all commercial games), it's widely regarded as one of the best home-made adventures, and it is neatly divided into (you guessed it) five days.

Also, people who are so inclined can donate a few bucks to Yahtzee via Paypal, and get access to a "director's commentary" in the game. This would make the discussion more informed.

Oh, as a commercial game, pick Grim Fandango! I haven't played that yet.

I was gonna suggest MI2 but you made a rule against that :frown:

..:frown:


Well I was also gonna Suggest DOTT cause a feel like replaying that now :D
Or Sam and Max since well soon be getting a new one :D

I would normaly agree With Fov's idea of Shadow, but i just finished that with all the endings about a month ago...although its a good game that i wouldnt mind playing through again.

But its not the easyest to get your hands on, it can only be bough second hand and the prices vary quite a bit.

Thanks for starting this Jeysie! :)

I don't think I'll be able to follow three threads at once, but since I probably won't own all of the games that won't be a problem. And that would get more people involved.

Anyway, let's see:

Commercial games:

• Conquests of the Longbow is my first choice. Great game, divided in days, lots of things to say about it, both as a game and a story.
• The Dig would work well, I think. And it might appeal to Myst lovers too.
• It might be nice to celebrate ScummVM supporting Kyrandia by replaying it, though that would have to wait a couple of months (possibly even less than that, at the current rate of progress).
• Possibly the first Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes game, though the chair would have to be a bit directive to keep everybody on the same track.
• What do people think of Inherit the Earth? It's one of the games playable in ScummVM that I've never played (and it's still sold). I'd like to try it out, if it lends itself to the format.
• Faust? I remember there was a very interesting thread about it (which prompted me to buy it), but most people were sepaking from memory, so maybe it'd be a good idea to replay it. Well, I want to replay it sometime soon anyway.
• I'm fine with Sanitarium (though half the thread will be spent in people complaining that the game keeps crashing under XP), or GK1, or Sam'n'Max. Grim Fandango is nice, but I'm not sure it'll be possible to break the second year (which is the biggest, and best, part) into sections.

Myst-like:

• Obsidian, obviously, never fails to generate conversation. I've replayed it a month ago, but what the hell.
• And what about Myst itself? I'm sure most people haven't played it in ages (no pun intended). And that'd give the possibility to compare the various versions.
• Not Lighthouse. Please.

I don't know much about amateur games, but I'm willing to discover. But I also think that KQ2VGA could be interesting. Frankly, it's a remake in name only (well, not even that actually): most of the locations, puzzles and characters are new. So why not?

I just thought I'd mention that Lighthouse and Lightbringer are two completely different games. ;)

And I also wouldn't mind discussing The Dig... I was just having trouble thinking off-hand how you'd break it into sections. (I guess after you get each different door open, I suppose.)

Peace & Luv, Liz

Yes, I know. That was a preemptive strike. And after spending so much of the day spending my negativity on Woodruff, I thought I'd use some of it on Lighthouse too. ;)

For commercial games, I'd be interested to see a playthrough of Conquests of the Longbow. (The Dig and GK1 would also be interesting, but as I just finished Longbow for the first time it holds my interest more at the moment.)

I don't play Myst-style games (the closest I've come is The Dig), so I won't vote in that category.

The same thing goes for amateur games. (I haven't gotten into many of them, but I don't have anything against the genre; it's just that collecting commercial games takes a higher priority for me than collecting free ones.)

Oh, and how could I forget The Last Express? Mechner boasted at the time of its release that two different players would experience two different flavours of the story and see different events. Time to put that assertion to the test? :9

You would not believe how funny I find that sentence. There is absolutely no way whatsoever I could get Sanitarium at a decent price ;).

Commercial Games:
The Dig sounds like a good one. I don't have many older 3rd person games in my collection. Some of the other ones I have are Feeble Files, the Arrival, Eye of the Kraken (it's freeware now), Liath,The Last Express, Torrin's Passage and the Quivering.
Myst like:
I'd love to play Blue Ice with a group, given that it is supposedly one of the most difficult games to solve. Last Half of Darkness, Martian Chronicles and Riddle of Master Lu I haven't played yet. I'd consider replaying Myst, Rhem, Obsidian, Faust and Legends of the Prophet and Assassin (the latter 3 all great for discussion)

Unfortunately, I have to limit my participation to point and click games only.

Unfortunately, a lot of the older games are going to be hard for people to get. Sam & Max is harder to find than Shadow of Destiny. ;)

It might be worth putting it to a vote, and letting the people who plan to participate vote based on which games they own or can easily obtain. It doesn't really matter who owns what, if those people aren't planning to play along, anyway.

Zork Nemesis is the only Myst-type game that I've ever had fun playing. It's probably not that readily available these days. Except here. And apparently it does not work on XP.

Bladerunner, perhaps? :7
There are multiple paths in that game.It´d be interesting to find out what different paths all of us choose.

I'd go for GK1 or The Dig (both of which I have unplayed). I shouldn't participate in that I have a lot of lab work and teaching to do. So perhaps you should ignore me. :P

It does, but it's not the easiest of games to get working.

I'd play GK1 or Grim Fandango as I own both of them.

Mistah Lacey: I dunno, I skimmed through eBay UK, and none of the Sanitarium auctions look horribly priced, though admittedly there are far more copies available on eBay US. Unless you were simply creatively implying you dislike the game (and thus no price could be low enough)... ;P

Fov: I hadn't planned on making a formal poll just because I didn't want to end up with lots of one-off threads for this stuff... but I had planned on doing a sort of jerry-rig deal, tallying up the various suggestions people had made a few days before the BaSS thread ends and then having people post their "votes". :)

Peace & Luv, Liz

I saw Sanitarium (new) just recently for $9.99. :)

Well, that's good news, at least. I liked the game quite a bit, actually. But I think I still have a Windows 98 cd around somewhere. Maybe I can figure out to have dual operating systems on my laptop someday. Someday...:7