[JackVanian]

One of my colleagues from Adventure-Treff had the possibilty to visit the recent Quo Vadis in Berlin to do some interviews with adventure game related people.

Fortunately Charles Cecil was available for a long video interview as well. I think the result is very interesting and I hope that you'll enjoy it just as much I do. http://www.youtube.com/user/AdventureTreffKanal#p/u/2/nm1Ba_rdPHI

[Dan_Dan_91_07]

Thanks JackVanian and the people at Adventure-Treff!

That video is amazing; it’s full to the brim with content and much of it is extremely unique!

Loved is response to the Broken Sword 5 question!

Loved his response to the question on himself stating, in the past, that “2D point & click is dead”, that made me laugh and then smile!

I am not happy about one thing though. Charles Cecil said this in the interview - “We need to find ways of making games quicker to play, adventure games, because the idea of a character walking around a background feels very old fashioned.”
This is not what I want and I am sure I am not alone. Broken Sword 1 & 2, and all of the other classics for that matter, had this formula perfected down to a T. It does not feel old fashioned to me, neither did it when I was a child and I loved to play these games.

The majority of the adventure game market much prefers - the relaxing yet at the same time exciting, the immersive and the fascinating format, used with the original game. Am I not right?

I am thinking of possible contacting Mr Cecil and expressing my concerns, perhaps sending him some words from you guys as well? Or perhaps linking him to this page, if you guys agree with my view? I’m sure you guys do though, I mean think how often is this spoken about! LOL

[Dan_Dan_91_07]

Actually I have just read through the topic again and have realised things have got a bit too negative in here, at times, and I wouldn't really like to send Charles a link to it.

[MoP]

Originally Posted by JackVanian

Fortunately Charles Cecil was available for a long video interview as well. I think the result is very interesting and I hope that you'll enjoy it just as much I do. http://www.youtube.com/user/AdventureTreffKanal#p/u/2/nm1Ba_rdPHI

Thanks for sharing! Really interesting insights, and I have to say, the part about the direction they're taking and audience they're aiming at is quite encouraging (at least for me )
Great interview!

Dan, I was wondering about that part myself, wish they'd gone into more detail there, particularly about what are their ideas on improving that element of the games. But I wouldn't be too worried about ruining the format, especially in the context of what Mr Cecil was saying about the cerebral vs twitch gameplay.

[Dan_Dan_91_07]

I wish I could use the other parts of the interview as evidence for it not being something I should be worried about but I, personally, can't.

But yes, they didn't go into much detail, perhaps they are not thinking anything that I would not like.

Hopefully it will be all good!

[DomStLeger]

LOL I loved that interview, comments like "The da vinci code, not a great game, but that wasn't my fault" make me like Charles Cecil even more; vewry honest and open.

I found that interview very encouraging; it sounds very much like Revolution are looking to continue Broken Sword in a 2D fashion which makes perfect sense. The games market has changed so much in the last 2-3 years; gaming on the mobile has become a reality and thats where 2D games can thrive.

Personally I enjoyed BS3 and (admittedly less so) BS4 but they were very much games of their times. As Cecil alludes to himself, they were basically games that were responding to the gaming trends and wants of the publishers of the time.

But now the entry to developing and publishing games has become much lower; a studio like Revolution for example can do things like BASS Enhanced and BS1 and BS2 Directors Cuts and get them to gamers so easily via App stores, Steam etc. And they can do it without massive cuts going to Publishing companies, allowing a greater share of the profits to go back to Rev. I's really exciting; the games industry is becoming more responsive to demand and allowing genres like this to thrive again on so many platforms.

So don't fret everyone, I think the chances of a BS5 with more in common with BS1/2 than its sequels is very much on the cards! Exciting!

[Maria-Fritsche]

Wooow okay, I realised I might have insulted someone on this board. If that's the case I apologise, 'cause that was never my intention.
And yes, I'm young and maybe a victim of my time, but I've been playing these games ever since I was a little kid (was a fan of Monkey Island of course). So when I wrote ancient, it was simply a way of making my point clear. Computer games are so young, they could hardly be classified as ancient. What I really meant to say was: I don't see what people hold against the new 3D animation that BS got in the third one. The good oldies may still be classics, but isn't it also a positive thing to develop along the way? I loved Longest Journey but I was still glad to see the improvement on the graphics, which Funcom showed off in Dreamfall.
Don't get me wrong, I like 'old' games. I just think development is refreshing.

[Maria-Fritsche]

Originally Posted by gray pierce

Uh no, people around here are more into "ancient" games. You chose the wrong forum my friend

But we want to keep the genre alive, don't we?

[rayvio]

there's definitely potential for the adventure genre to embrace top quality graphics and to try new and different control mechanics, but sadly to do those well requires a larger budget than is usually devoted to adventure games at present. consequently a lot of attempts to try new things have not gone too well (or have at best had somewhat mixed reactions) so the 'good old ways' are a safe option

personally I'd love to see some new things tried. the control scheme from GK3 worked very well in my opinion, something similar to a 3rd person RPG's controls could also work (obviously you'd have things like "examine" "push" etc instead of "cast fireball" and "spin sword around like a loony") but again, these things can easily backfire if badly implemented and can also put people off of trying them. in a genre that's currently something of a niche market there's a lot of risk of trying these things since alienating the fans is very dangerous when there isn't an army of potential new fans drooling over it

[Maria-Fritsche]

The lack of money and fans is a problem of course. But I think there's a lot of good recent games out there right now, which has succesed in looking good while still maintaining the good old adventure-spirit, like Black Mirror, Lost Horizon and Gray Matter. Point-and-click games with great stories too, added a bit of beautiful backdrop and character animation (well okay, GM did disappoint some, but I think it was pretty well-cut).

[JackVanian]

By the way: Here's a little anecdote from the interview with Charles Cecil that you can't see on camera. When my colleague asked him about Broken Sword 5 he spent several minutes explaining to him why he wasn't able to talk about BS 5 in detail.

If you ask me, this sounds a lot like the guys from Revolution are indeed heavily working on BS 5 already.

[jhetfield21]

if that's true then "Permission to shout "Bravo" at an annoyingly loud volume" as Lieutenant George would say

[kate me]

Originally Posted by JackVanian

If you ask me, this sounds a lot like the guys from Revolution are indeed heavily working on BS 5 already.

Keeping my fingers crossed !!!

[Irongiant909]

Originally Posted by Dan_Dan_91_07

I am not happy about one thing though. Charles Cecil said this in the interview - “We need to find ways of making games quicker to play, adventure games, because the idea of a character walking around a background feels very old fashioned.”
This is not what I want and I am sure I am not alone. Broken Sword 1 & 2, and all of the other classics for that matter, had this formula perfected down to a T. It does not feel old fashioned to me, neither did it when I was a child and I loved to play these games.

The majority of the adventure game market much prefers - the relaxing yet at the same time exciting, the immersive and the fascinating format, used with the original game. Am I not right?

Completely agree with all that - nothing to add really! Would love to point Charles Cecil at this thread for him to read.

[dazsin]

Hmm February 2012 and still no news or 'official' announcement about BS5

Has anyone heard any updates? I really hope the game is still in development?

[JackVanian]

Last thing I heard from Charles was what he said in the Adventure-Treff Christmas video. He said that the new game from Revolution will be published around the time the Gamescom takes place (August). Obviously, he didn't say if that adventure game is Broken Sword 5, but I guess most of us expect it to be BS5. There should be an official statement somewhen in the near future I guess.