[CrimsonBlue]

I really miss those good old Sierra games where I could write my commands in and control my character with the keyboard. Games like Police Quest 1 and 2 and Leisure Suit Larry 1-3.

Ever wonder why we still don't get these kind of games? What more freedom can a developer possibly get? For some reasons the game have got more advanced and complicated, while the interface has gotten dumbed down and simplified! I know I would have bought an adventure game where you had to type in the commands.

We all strive for a good interface, but writing you own commands may seem old fashion, but it's the ULTIMATE interface, an interface which not only forces you to think more, but is probably the easiest way of getting multiple solutions to a puzzle, as you can directly type in what you want to do.

The earlier Sierra games and the earlier LucasArts games (the verbs on the bottom) was in my opinion the best system yet, as you were given more possibilities with every single object in the game. Although the Sierra was much more advanced, the LucasArts interface at least gave you more than one or two options.

[Swordmaster]

One of the fundamental problems with the type of games you described is the parser, ie. the engine which interprets the keyboard input. For true freedom, it would have to include a highly sophisticated AI which would be capable of understanding any given line of natural English. The titles mentioned had a pretty limited parser which required you to solve puzzles with the exact phrases designers had in mind (with possibly a few alternative phrases), shifting your focus from what to perform to how to perform it. It became quite irritating if you couldn't find the right words (anyone remember the hair rejuvenator in Larry 2?).

A mouse-driven interface, in my opinion, gives you more freedom since you don't have to worry about your choice of command words but lets you think about the puzzle itself instead.

[Zanthia]

Games where you write commands from keyboard understand only certain words and it can lead to situation where game doesn't accept your command only because you used 'wrong' words and you can think that you can't do that at all.
And I always have problem with spelling .

[Zanthia]

Swordmaster, telepatic abilities?

[Ariel Type]

Ah, and just think of all the possibilities, that were given by IFs... By the way, Infocom had a very good parser, which understood a lot of commands. It's a pity IFs wasn't my period of gaming, so I can't feel it all... But I agree that modern interfaces give us a very limited freedom. And that's a huge problem with modern adventures.
In my opinion, the best interface ever implemented in adventures was the one in Legend Entertainment first games - Timequest, Gateway, Erick the Unready... The games can be played from keyboard or with mouse, and there are lots of commands, and the worlds of games were very interective. Ah, this is one of my most favourite adventure companies.

[CrimsonBlue]

Originally Posted by Swordmaster

One of the fundamental problems with the type of games you described is the parser, ie. the engine which interprets the keyboard input. For true freedom, it would have to include a highly sophisticated AI which would be capable of understanding any given line of natural English. The titles mentioned had a pretty limited parser which required you to solve puzzles with the exact phrases designers had in mind (with possibly a few alternative phrases), shifting your focus from what to perform to how to perform it. It became quite irritating if you couldn't find the right words (anyone remember the hair rejuvenator in Larry 2?).

A mouse-driven interface, in my opinion, gives you more freedom since you don't have to worry about your choice of command words but lets you think about the puzzle itself instead.

There were a few places where you had to write the exact line, but that's a fault with disk space and technology at the time of release. Today I would expect a well written engine which could understand a lot more than the engine from the older Sierra titles.

And how is giving you less and simpler options the same as more freedom? You describe the dumbed down system. Not a system which gives you more freedom. I liked trying out different words and lines in these games and seeing the responses it produced. Today there could be a lot more responses than the old games had, and the games would feel a lot more smarter. It would feel as if you were talking directly to them, as if you were chatting with someone on the internet.

Of course, you had to know your english, but then again, english isn't exactly a rare language anymore.

[eriq]

Sierra games were so fun. And so were LucasArts. Where are they now. booo hooo.

[Marek]

http://www.lucasarts.com/products/freelancepolice/

[charybdis]

Leisure Suit Larry 7 had a hybrid system. Just about everything was accessible via the menus, but you could type in your own verbs and conversation topics too. Worked pretty good.

[dave_minall]

i have to admit it was funny swearing at poor larry to hear what he said back. even saying "jump" was funny because you got the response "i wasnt programmed to jump" very funny stuff.