Classic real-time adventure game: The Scoop
 

http://img.squakenet.com/snapshot/43...4-TheScoop.jpg

Anyone remember this? It was a 1988 a mystery adventure game based on an Agatha Christie novel in which you play a London reporter investigating a local murder.

It was almost like an early version of The Last Express or Gabriel Knight 3. It was set entirely in real time, with all of the characters / suspects constantly moving around the world over the course of a few days. They'd go to work, go home, sneak off to secret rendezvous, etc.

Besides your typical adventure game actions you could also tail characters to discover new locations and find new characters. Also whenever two characters were in the same location and talking you could eavesdrop and potentially learn valuable clues or perhaps overhear their plans to meet later at a certain location.

The game was EXTREMELY hard to beat, probably impossible on your first try without a walkthrough, because there were so many necessary events that you'd have to be in the right place at the right time for. But even if you missed some and wouldn't be able to win in your playthrough there was still a lot of story to go through, and you'd learn things that'd help you out in the future, such as learning which storylines would lead to dead ends so you'd know not to waste your time following a certain suspect in the next game.

The amount of freedom though was just incredible, and it made the game so much fun. There was a rival reporter that was investigating the murders too, and you could learn a lot just by tailing him around the London area every day and listen to him question the suspects that you should be questioning. And the story and characters were written well enough that I always enjoyed reading the conversations, even if it had nothing to do with the main case. Discovering new subplots was a big part of the fun, and every playthrough felt different because there were always new story elements to uncover.

I played this a lot as a kid, and had a blast with it. Anyone else have fond (or not so fond) memories of this game?

I do remember playing this game as a child, though I don't think I persisted for long for the reason you mentioned - it was very hard and I had no idea what I was meant to be doing. It appeals to me a lot more seeing it now so I might pick it up again for another try.

Yeah, I originally played this around 1992 or so, and put a lot of time into it but never beat it. Then about 5 years ago I got the urge to play it again, and found it held up pretty well. And I was finally able to beat it (probably with occasional help from a walkthrough).

If you're able to look past the graphics and accept the fact that you're going to miss some key events your first time through I think it holds up pretty well.

The key reason it never became frustrating to me is when you miss a key event it's not like you end up getting stuck at a puzzle and don't have the right item, and are just screwed. The way the game is set up the plot will keep advancing even if you just waste away every day doing nothing. So there will still be interesting story changing events happening, and they'll constantly be new things to learn and ask people about. You may not be able to solve the mystery at the end, but it doesn't feel like you've wasted your time.

Frankly I wish more games today were built like this. I just love games set in real time, with characters moving around the world that you can follow and learn new things about. It's really fun for me. And it's kind of amazing that a 1988 game is so much more advanced in that regard than almost all other games today.

Recommended to try: Darkseed, Maupiti Island, Cruise for a Corpse.

I think there were some well-known Interactive Fiction games like that too, but I forgot which ones. Perhaps A Mind Forever Voyaging, though it was very limited in things you are able to do.

Thanks for the recommendations! I'll check them out.

I vaguely remember playing Darkseed as a kid and loving the atmosphere, but I think I got stuck pretty early. And I gave Cruise for a Corpse a try but wasn't very into it. Maupiti Island sounds really interesting.

Sounds great. Bladerunner had some of these features aswell, am I right? I'm interested in this game, where would I be able to get it?

Cruise for a Corpse isn't real-time actually. You can run back and forth for hours until you find THE tiny clue. Only after that the time will progress.

I think the first Laura Bow game was more or less real-time. Also a murder-mystery.

Oh, I just remebered. If you want a real challenge, try KGB - an early adventure from Cryo Interactive. It's completely real-time, it has lots of options and spy staff, an excellent plot and it is almost impossible. But great fun nevertheless.

I've played and enjoyed both of them.

Yeah, Blade Runner is a great game. I'm not sure if it was really real-time or not, but it definitely is a game where it feels like the story is changing around you.

I'm not sure it's possible to purchase The Scoop, as it was an old DOS game and the company that made it folded long ago. It probably is considered abandonware.

Exactly! I stopped playing after I got severely stuck and even a walkthrough didn't help. Something was supposed to happen at a certain spot. I tried a dozen times, still nothing. Turned out I had to pass that spot from the left and not from the right. :frusty:

I'm not sure A Mind Forever Voyaging was real-time as such. A lot of the Infocom titles had events that took place over a certain number of moves (i.e. every time you typed something, the clock advanced). The best of this type that I remember is Suspended, in which you are a person in suspended animation whose job is to keep the machines running the planet working properly. Disaster strikes and it is so wide-spread the authorities think you have gone rogue and send a team in to disconnect you. You only have a certain number of moves to divert the team to evidence that you are not at fault. Plus, you only get to do it by giving instructions to your robot support team. (You're in suspended animation remember)

Infocom's Border Zone operated in actual real time though. An on-screen clock constantly ticked away, whether you did anything or not. Slow typists need not apply. :)

Infocom's Deadline was turn-based "real-time". You have to follow people around to see what they're up to. Same goes for Magnetic Scroll's Corruption. Most text adventures have puzzles with a limited number of moves to solve, that in itself is not enough to make it real-time.

PS: I think Infocom's Witness was also turn-based real time. Haven't played it though.

Attachment 2578
Priceless! :7
How I hate such things in games.

Ah yes. Suspect was another Infocom game that was like that. It was kind of like a prequel of Deadline, I believe. Yeah, I enjoyed them too.

The Scoop is very much like those, where you can miss certain events at certain times and such, but the story still goes on.

I'd say the story feels bigger than in Suspect and Deadline though, since those games take place in one location with many rooms. In this you'll travel all over the greater London area, either by cab or train.

And the game isn't exactly real time. I think the clock will move by itself if you sit there, but for the most part certain actions have certain time requirements. Searching a location thoroughly may take 20 minutes, while talking may take around 10, traveling by cab takes 20, and eavesdropping will depend on how long the conversation lasts.

I think the game is a little more lenient than those games at necessary events too. The key events I remember are having to overhear certain conversations, but these conversations would last 2-3 hours, and you could show up at any time during that span and overhear what they were talking about. And you could learn about this meeting in advance by either overhearing their plan to meet earlier or tailing either suspect to that meeting. Most of these weren't necessary, but a few were.

How is Turn-based realtime? That is the opposite of turn-based. lol

Anyways, real-time means the game field continues to do what it does without waiting for input.

That is way turn-based and real-time are two completely different categories.

The games stated in this thread are Turn-based, not real-time. Best definition for the game is move limited turn-based. Or time limited if movement can be classified as time.

When I was giving my recommendations I was mostly thinking of the presence of this trait, rather than if they are all truly real-time. I even think this is in essence what makes true real-time games so exciting to play. But I'm sorry if I have confused anyone that these games have the clock always ticking, no matter if you're active in the game world or not.

Another title I remembered now: Rise of the Dragon. A kind of precursor to Blade Runner gameplay wise, but with greater amount of diverting alternative storylines if I remember correctly. Though it might be that not behaving in the best possible way in certain situations puts you on a path to an interesting, but unpleasant end in the long run.

Don't forget B.A.T. 1 & 2. The funny thing is that these games were way ahead of their time, and that caused quite a few problems, engine and gameplay wise.

Yeah, clock based games with certain events happening at certain times in certain locations is mainly what I was talking about. Many of these aren't exactly real time, but in a way they feel more like real time than in games where time doesn't exist.

Although I think The Scoop would still qualify, because you can just sit there and people will move around going to different locations, it just may take a few hours for them to do so if you refuse to hit the wait button. :P

Forgive my ignorance, what does B.A.T. stand for?

Bureau of Astral Troubleshooters