[Lee in Limbo]

Okay, so we're down to the old arguments about action-adventure controls and about the episodic gaming format.

Personally, I look forward to both. I think Dreamfall bravely tried to do something different, and while I don't think it was a complete success, I would like to see them build on that and hopefully perfect the formula.
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That said, a little more information about how to tweak the controls for PC and classic point and click players, preferably in-game, would be nice. I know it's fairly modern of me, but any game that deliberately holds back important gameplay information like inverting the camera controls and only mentioning them in the manual (which, let's be honest, not everyone is going to get their hands on, even excepting piracy) is made of fail. Even simple text tips when you mouse over certain option menu features would be good.

As well, and this takes me back to an argument I started a couple of years ago, I think they need to work in options for P&C players. I think modern action-adventure games really have abandoned players who don't have the manual dexterity to work effectively with console controllers or mouse&keyboard control schemes. Myst V: End of Ages pulled it off. It shouldn't be impossible to tie the camera to a right-click-and-drag scheme and left click or double click to move forward.

Not as fine as WASD/Direction Key control, but it's not truly impossible; just clumsy where hotspots are concerned. If it's a matter of mapping in a 3D environ, simply set the left click control to toggle walk on and off, and double click for run (single click off). As long as the ground/floor is visible, it shouldn't be impossible to direct the forward action using the mouse and perhaps holding down the right button. You don't even need a gamer mouse for something like that.

Of course, this creates the problem of what to do about stealth sequences, but then, I've been thinking that stealth sequences as they've been set up are kind of clumsy anyway. I would think that, even if we exclude using a couple of keys for such things, we could live with having the character drop automatically into stealth for certain sequences, with double click still functioning as run. Jumping and climbing could be handled similarly, with perhaps left-right clicking for jumps, and simply hotspotting areas you can climb. And lest we forget that most of us have mouses that have a middle button built into the scroll wheel these days. And if people haven't upgraded to a mouse with a scroll wheel (or are using Macs without a MightyMouse), perhaps it's time they spent a couple of pesos and upgraded. They did it for Myst. A new mouse is peanuts (if they don't buy one of those gamer mouses with fifty buttons and a jet engine in the back).

(I've been doing some thinking about this stuff)

Like I said, not as smooth as mouse-keyboard control, but functional. I think future Dreamfall Chapters could do with such an innovation. Probably won't see it, but it's a thought.
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As for episodic content, I'm sure I've said it before, but episodic content is nothing new, and will not break either the game or the immersion if it's done properly. People watch television shows (sometimes religiously) that have short and long plot arcs to them. It's imminently doable. People just have to let go of their expectations about having that one twenty-hour game to play all in one shot (and really, how many of us do that, anyway?).

If the game is eventually collected into a final disc, great! I'll be first in line for that. But if the episodes don't sell because everyone stayed away, don't bet on ever seeing the collection. That's not to say everyone has to buy the episodes and then buy the DVD set as well; I think commercial concessions for subscribers should be made. Discount coupon, bonus material, added content, souvenirs, whatever. Probably won't happen, but I'm an optimist. However, if I read that one press release last year correctly, I suspect a collected version may never come.

I'm not sure what people are grousing for. Ultimately, you get more game over a sustained period of time in shorter increments with less wait time. Done properly, episodic content can be hammered out pretty quickly if the assets are developed far enough in advance. And you may be grousing about having to wait now, but anticipation can be the strongest inducement to keep a franchise rolling.

I think the big argument is just that people don't feel like they own anything. That's a sticky problem right now, since copyright law is in flux at the moment. However, unless they use the Gametap model and have the game only temporarily loaded to your drive, internet distribution direct to drive of each of the episodes should conceivably allow you to collect the set yourself.

Everyone I know who has a computer (except my Mom) has a DVD burner at this point, and it probably would only take two or three to contain the whole set at most. No problem. If they want DRM of some sort, they can charge a little more and/or have you agree to a limited EULA before you download (or perhaps burn) the episode(s). A little finicky, but not impossible to do or to live with.

The rest is just packaging, and in this day and age, the less resource used to manufacture and ship (and store, and stock) a box to sell you, the better for the planet. Embrace the digital age.

See, me, I'm all about solving problems. I don't like whining about stuff that can't be helped. Bandwidth issues and modern game production costs limit the amount and types of digital content we can expect to see these days. The old model has been falling to pieces for years and we know it. How many stores do you know that carry every (or any of the) title(s) you want to play? And more significantly, how many of them charge $30-$40 (what is that in Euros?) a pop for a game that might prove to be bargain bin material in an age when AGs have no bargain bins to go to anymore (except the Adventure Company stuff, which seems to live on the end caps at Staples Business Depot)? Sleeper hits are becoming a thing of the past. Future Shop won't stock them for long, and then they'll bump them to make room for World of Warcraft: Wraith of the Lich King in a handful of months.

See reason. Digital distribution of adventure games just makes sense. Lower overhead means more games make it to your hard drive at lower cost. But if you insist that every game has to be as long as Black Dahlia, you're going to break your bandwidth cap for the month (most of us have them, though not me, happily) downloading them. Downloading episodic content in smaller bites beats the bandwidth problem and it also beats a problem many of us don't discuss, but that developers discuss at length; the fact that most people never complete their games.

Episodic content avoids people spending $40 for a full game they never finish, because instead they spent $10 for a portion they could complete in a few hours, and that is designed to make them want to pick up the next episode when it's ready. Plus, if they don't like it, they can stop. Money saved, hard drive space saved, bandwidth saved, and no wasted packaging either.

It's the wave of the future. Honest. Being stubborn and resentful achieves nothing. Episodic content and digital distribution are not going to go away, no matter how many times you get pissy about it on an internet forum. The format works. It's proven. And it will get better as the format becomes more successful and the bugs get ironed out.