[Zanthia]

...or arcad-caps

[CaveBear]

GameSpot just posted their preview of Dreamfall. In my opinion, there wasn't really any new information to be had from the article, but in case you're interested anyway, go read (sorry if this has been posted before):

GameSpot's Dreamfall Preview

[AFGNCAAP]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

*GASP* Unh....unh......are you in love?!

Love? Love is for the living.

[Marius]

Originally Posted by AFGNCAAP

Love? Love is for the living.

Kind of a dark soul, aren't you? Well, I have some revival potions left from the last RPG that I played,
maybe you would be interested.
But seriously now, I like the new April too.

[VoodooFX]

I don't wanna play the game that will make my dream fall, i like my dream, i like it a lot, world with only adventure games, so many of them, i would have enough to last me a life time.

Actually, if i consider the pace i'm playing games at the moment, i'd say it would take me a lifetime to complete all of them(adventures) that were released so far.

[Kolzig]

Originally Posted by CaveBear

GameSpot just posted their preview of Dreamfall. In my opinion, there wasn't really any new information to be had from the article, but in case you're interested anyway, go read (sorry if this has been posted before):

GameSpot's Dreamfall Preview

So, there's also another game coming from Funcom that's using the Shark 3d engine, that's cool.

[jjacob]

Originally Posted by Kolzig

So, there's also another game coming from Funcom that's using the Shark 3d engine, that's cool.

Well they plan to do any game in the future using this engine! Sounds great because this engine could prove to be the Quake equivalent of adventure games. When Quake got released the engine was immediately used to make dozens of other games (Half-life was based on quake for example). The focus field gameplay sounds interesting, kind of like Grim Fandango's world interaction (Manny looking at any important object), only now the object starts flashing. I really hope this engine will show the gaming press the future of games

[D.C.]

Probably The Next Big Thing that Ragnar Tornquist talks about sometimes. I think RaMa's also got a fan site for that somewhere. The engine looks awesome.

[RaMa]

Yep: www.nebith.cjb.net
I'm not updating it, though. I'll start updating again when Funcom releases more info about the game. I'd probably be able to draw more vistors then too .

[Mattsius]

Originally Posted by jjacob

I just KNOW you mean soccer

Well, soccer is the real football and therefore should be called football everywhere in the world. I mean, the ball barely touches any feet when playing American football. How the hell can something like that be called football then?

[ragnar]

Originally Posted by emma

Bah, we all know it's going to be a tennis game anyways, and we all hate it already!

What I don't undestand is how they will play tennis with three players.

[VoodooFX]

Originally Posted by ragnar

What I don't undestand is how they will play tennis with three players.

That's simple man, they'll play as couples, i mean doooh!

[myhrik]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Also, study the angled shapes of the snow on the roofs of the buildings. A flat 2D 'painted' backdrop would have smoothed the snow out to perfectly organic contours. So what do you think?

Yeah, I noticed that, that's what gave it away as real-time 3D - but I *still* think it's stunning.

[myhrik]

Originally Posted by oerhört

As a whole, adventure gaming really needs getting away from the ten year old standards. There needn't be anything wrong with point'n click, but still, trying to emulate everything about the old adventure mechanics is not the way forward.

Remember: Once, the adventure genre was constantly evolving, and popular because it gave the player more freedom than other genres. Resting at the altar of the all-powerful old-school point'n click logic is not going to bring the genre back to the cutting edge of gaming.

Well said!

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Also, sticking to the old ideas for its own sake is bullshit. You're not going to experience new emotional and intellectual challenges that way, the manifestations my change but the mold-tinted perspective remains the same. Many old farts simply refuse to look beyond what they're used to, hence they have no right to complain about the 'lack of newness' in adventure games.

[CaveBear]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Also, sticking to the old ideas for its own sake is bullshit. You're not going to experience new emotional and intellectual challenges that way, the manifestations my change but the mold-tinted perspective remains the same. Many old farts simply refuse to look beyond what they're used to, hence they have no right to complain about the 'lack of newness' in adventure games.

Exactly! Personally, I don't care if the traditional point and click adventure genre dies. We can't stay in the past forever. No journey was ever begun without putting one foot forward. Hopefully Dreamfall will be the one to put that first foot forward towards better "adventuring". The reason why I prefer action/adventure games to pure adventures, is simply that action elements make the whole story/gameplay feel more "alive" and real, hence the reason why BG&E is my favorite game. In my opinion, compared to Syberia, BG&E is "alive".

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by CaveBear

Exactly! Personally, I don't care if the traditional point and click adventure genre dies. We can't stay in the past forever. No journey was ever begun without putting one foot forward. Hopefully Dreamfall will be the one to put that first foot forward towards better "adventuring".

Of course, there are some exceptions, owing much more credit to the developers' pragmatic creativity rather than to the conventions of the genre itself. I've played the [Spanish] demo of The Westerner. That game is entirely real time 3D, but you have to see how the camera movement actually 'obeys' the traditional point-&-click interface, it's so common sense a solution and yet rather brilliant. Seriously, it's a very successful relationship, and I would use this game as example to shut up those people who swear by the incompatability of p-&-c with real time 3D.

The reason why I prefer action/adventure games to pure adventures, is simply that action elements make the whole story/gameplay feel more "alive" and real, hence the reason why BG&E is my favorite game. In my opinion, compared to Syberia, BG&E is "alive".

It's not just the action sequences. Really, that's simply one way of igniting the gameworld. Have you noticed, btw, that many traditional adventure games (even in the past 2-3 years) never have real time day/night cycles? I think realMyst was the first game where I actually felt the buzz of nature, hence pulling me in further into its world. There also seems to be very few to practically no human population in any given scene that practically begs for it. I wasn't entirely convinced, for example, that the gritty part of April Ryan's home city, Stark, with its police cars, taxi cabs, and dirty streets was alive and teeming with a huge metropolitan population, simply because they didn't include them! In startling contrast, just take a stroll in Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto 3.

Most adventure games can make you feel as if you're the only damn person in the world, existing just to solve puzzles.

[guybrush122]

Intrepid, your last few comments have been particularly well thought, flowing, articulate, and intelligent. I am, as a result, completely envious.


I also agree with you entirely. In the Longest Journey, I yearned for a bustling, gritty, grime-drenched Stark, with people walked down the streets, heads hung, etc...that's why I ultimately enjoyed Marcuria better, because it seemed the lack of people was appropriate in a lot of ways (still, I thought the underwater part of the game was absolutely terrible...yet merely a chip off the Taj Mahal). It's also another reason why I love Blade Runner so much: not because it's a great game (it's simply a good one), but it makes you feel a part of the city, and there is always an unsolved mystery in that game (things perhaps put there on purpose, or things the developers forgot to erase). But whatever these mysteries are, they add to the overall experience and the living, breathing Los Angeles.

That's why I encourage genre mixing and the 3D advancement of adventures; because, really, adventures are all about the immersion, the characters, and the plot.

[CaveBear]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

It's not just the action sequences. Really, that's simply one way of igniting the gameworld. Have you noticed, btw, that many traditional adventure games (even in the past 2-3 years) never have real time day/night cycles?

Yes, hence just another reason why I love BG&E! (day/night cycles)

Trep, have you played BG&E?

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Most adventure games can make you feel as if you're the only damn person in the world, existing just to solve puzzles.

Yep! *** Syberia comes to mind (awesome game, but a bit "dead") ***

Originally Posted by guybrush122

That's why I encourage genre mixing and the 3D advancement of adventures; because, really, adventures are all about the immersion, the characters, and the plot.

I completely agree.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by CaveBear

Yes, hence just another reason why I love BG&E! (day/night cycles)

Trep, have you played BG&E?

Sadly, I haven't yet had the pleasure. I don't own an Xbox, and my PC is still on WinME (you need XP for the game). I'm thinking of upgrading (finally) to XP within the next month or so in order to be able to play Thief: Deadly Shadows.

Regardless, I am an absolute advocate of day/night cycles (and atmospheric effects in general) after experiencing them in realMyst and Grand Theft Auto 3. I look forward to more of them in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and other upcoming games. Those who had orgasms watching the snowflakes in Syberia 2 have NO idea, pity them. LOL