[After a brisk nap]

Really cool interview with Hal Barwood, Marek. I'd somehow got the impression that he was "over" adventures, but it seems like he still has a passion for them.

The inventory system for Mata Hari sounds pretty promising, and I think I found it easier to wrap my head around it here than in the preview. It seems quite similar to what Vince Twelve is planning for Resonance, except he's keeping concepts and objects in separate inventories. And of course the notebook system of the Blackwell games. I think I like the idea of one unified directory even more, though. It would allow you to do things like USING an idea on an item.

Oh, and the idea of collecting inspiration for your dances is also really cool. Again, it reminds me of the Odditorium exhibits you could find scattered around in The Riddle of Master Lu. Should be a fun activity, and add a puzzle element to the dancing mini-game.

I'm a lot more excited about Mata Hari than I was before reading this, so job well done, I suppose!

Err... would it be possible to add a Pause button for the slideshow gallery? The constantly changing images are quite distracting when I'm trying to read the article.

[Melanie68]

I have Fate of Atlantis but I got stuck at one point and never got back to the game ((I have a hint for it now but it's low on the priority list). I never really knew much about Hal Barwood and hearing his name didn't really mean much to me so it was really neat to read about him and his thoughts on the game (and adventure games in general).

I like two things about them very much. The first one is that they are story-driven. That means actual character counts and the details of a story really mean something in an adventure game. I'm a storyteller at heart, so I like that very much. I also like the fact that there's something clean and whole and entire about an adventure game. It doesn't feel messy to me. It feels like a wonderful capsule of experience, like you would experience a book. It has a certain dimension that gets me involved [as a player] and when I go away it feels like I still know all about it and I feel attached to it. Whereas a lot of games are just very frustrating and I eventually give up. So I like that feeling too. I hope to do more of it.

[Marek]

Yeah, I thought the same thing about Hal Barwood not really being into adventures anymore, but it is clearly not the case. He's also downplayed the cinematic nature of Fate in previous interviews, but now I understand he just means it was limited by the technology available at the time.

A pause button could be done I guess. Although please everyone stop requesting features for a while or else I'll have to curl up into a ball (next to my keg of beer) and cry.

[Harald B]

Nice interview. Besides the things mentioned already, I think the travel mini-game sounds especially interesting. It reminds me of the board game Scotland Yard, and I think I'll be wanting to play it for its own sake.
I previously wasn't very interested in Mata Hari but now I'm looking forward to it. So I second the "job well done", this is just the kind of thing I like to get from Adventure Gamers.

[Jatsie]

I found your little interview with the Indiana Jones guy quite interesting, and enjoyable to read.

[Lucien21]

Now i'm REALLLY looking forward to Mata Hari. Indiana Jones was a superb game and this sounds like it might be inventive and slightly different from the norm.

Go Hal.

[Melanie68]

This is from Hal Barwood's website. It's a page where you can download the talks (in slide format) he's given at GDCs in the past.