[peter.vullings]

Hello all,

Some of you may know that we are planning an adventure game series. I think that these forums are a great place to do some research with the wealth of adventure gaming experience that you all have.

This is inspired by some of the feedback in the thread 'Actions/Things I hate in adventures' by Mohlin.

Explanations of items:

1) Enable specific action from list, then click item (e.g. push, pull, talk, take...)
The player has access to list of commands, usually in panel at the bottom of the screen (ala Day of the Tentacle). They click one (e.g. push0 and then click the item on screen (e.g. a button).

2) Click item, then select action from icons that appear
The player clicks on an item on the screen, and a set of icons appear around the cursor. These are context sensitive and only valid actions will show. (e.g. click on toaster, options are examine, use, take)

3) Two actions only, one on LMB, the other on RMB (e.g. examine and use)
The player has a limited set of actions. The first (on Left Mouse button) is usually 'examine', and the second (on Right Mouse Button) is context sensitive, but is usually 'use' or 'take'.

4) Context sensitive action
A single, context sensitive action. The player clicks on an item, and it performs the most obvious task. For something you can't take, this is usually 'examine', otherwise it is 'take' or 'use'. The game might give you an 'examine' type description as you take it (e.g. 'A rusty spade! That might come in handy...').

5) Text input/parser only
For all you old-school players. This is purely text based, such as 'go west', 'pick up umbrella', 'shoot at norman' etc.

6) Other
Do you like some other method? Or a hybrid?



Hope you can all help out!

[Fantasysci5]

I like the clicking an item, so you can see all that you can do with it, like on "The Longest Journey".

[peter.vullings]

Thanks Fantasysci5, that was quick
If others could provide an example game which has the control system they most enjoy, that would be handy too. I haven't actually played The longest journey (sacrilege!).

[Kazmajik]

I like the tried-and-true method of clicking an action-specific icon/command on something in the game world, as used in King's Quest VI or Day of the Tentacle.

[Terramax]

Honestly, I like direct control i.e. Grim Fandango, as I grew up playing actions games before adventure, but I doubt you'd want to program your game that way so I picked 'Two Actions Only'.

The original Broken Sword was perfect. Simple, easy to learn, and being able to look, speak and interact was more than enough immersion.

[Keregioz]

Two actions.
I don't really see why there should be more than "look" and "use/get/talk". Pretty much covers anything and its simplicity doesn't get in the way of the gameplay.

[QDream]

I prefer Dreamfall and Tomb Raider Legend/Underworld controls

[UPtimist]

Well, my favorite game controls were in Gabriel Knight 3. Of course, I'm sure you're not going to do all that 3D, but I still enjoyed the list that opened when you clicked on each hotspot (each one having it's own specific list, not a generic action coin like usual). But that's also probably so much work that I voted on the "two actions only" option, I want to get everything out of a game, but it's really troublesome to go clicking something with like five different action sets. There's always a quick way to look at something first, then you don't need to go searching for which action you should use to get what you want (especially since it's not always what you think), but you get it easily.

[AndreaDraco83]

Originally Posted by UPtimist

Well, my favorite game controls were in Gabriel Knight 3.

Completely agree . If I can't have that, I prefer the usual Sierra icon-based interface (option 1)

[aries323]

I like the controls where you click on an item and then choose what action you will do from the icons that appear; I can live with the third option, though. (the lmb and rmb option)

[Mohlin]

Im hesitant if I want the context verion or two mouse button version. Im happy if the game picks someting up for me, that I need later, so you dont have to "carry" too much.

It is ok if you can't pick everything up emmideately, but if you later are supposed to do someting with an item, please change the "status" of it, i.e, change the cursor from "examine/look" to "use" so that you know that you are supposed to do someting with this item.

[MikeLXXXVIII]

Originally Posted by Keregioz

Two actions.
I don't really see why there should be more than "look" and "use/get/talk". Pretty much covers anything and its simplicity doesn't get in the way of the gameplay.

Totally agree I am not missing the old formula of a billion unecessary options.
However I do think its nice too if you can also have the option to get some funny comments if interacting with an item, but only if its well intergrated with the game.

[Trumgottist]

I voted "other", because it depends on what suits the game. Your choices as well as other control mechanisms (some of which have been mentioned here) all can be the right choice. But which choice is right will depend on the game.

If you go with option one, I'd suggest doing it in the style of option two rather than the way seen in DOTT. Otherwise you're filling up the screen with interface, and you're also requiring a lot of unnecessary mouse movement. (The unnecessary mouse movement, or clicks, also applies to the common "Sierra style" interface, but I find it useable if keyboard shortcuts are available.)

If you go with option five, the parser, be sure to do it right. A parser can be a wonderful thing, but it can also be very frustrating if not enough care has been taken with its implementation.

[peter.vullings]

Some good results, but not enough numbers to draw any conclusions. I had forgotten to add 1st person or direct control

Don't be shy, people!

[stepurhan]

I selected click then choice of action. If you've got a general list of actions (be it verb list or icon coin) then not all of them are going to appropriate for every item (though I never tire of using the "mouth" icon on the dumpster in Full Throttle. "I'm not putting my lips on that!" ) This option gives player control over what happens (avoiding the unexpected result problem some have mentioned) without creating a lot of extra work (mouse movement, cursor cycling)

I also added First person and Direct Control to your poll.

[J-MAN]

Best game controls are in Broken Sword 1 & 2 imo

[DustyShinigami]

I agree. They're my favourite controls for an adventure game as well. Nice and simple and easy to get to grips with.

[Jannik]

Peter vullings:
I did a similar survey last year. Maybe you can use the results I received back then for inspiration. I didn't ask about first-person control or direct control though, since these control methods aren't suitable for our game:
http://www.adventuregamers.com/forum...=questionnaire

[Annacat]

I prefer first person controls, whether purely point-and-click or including keyboard for movement.

[peter.vullings]

@Jannik - Thanks very much. Yes, very similar and the results are great. Before I go about starting the next poll (about the next AG subject), did you do other polls relating to other aspects of adventure games?