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I was the 1st replier to mytholomatt topic, but I pressed a wrong button and everything was gone. Lets see do I remember what I wanted to say…

It’s a interesting point u brought up, mytholomatt. I agree that tablets should be perfect for point n click games and they could revitalize adventure genre as we love.
Why there aren’t games? There are, some. I believe it takes one good adv hit on tablets to shake the devs and audience and to create snowball efect.
The other thing indeed is technical limitations. It may not be easy to port some games if those are not made for such purpose. Emulating may or may not work. Tablets power sets some limits for some games.
Porting may also be expensive. As adv are risky genre, making time and money expense which may not pay back is a hard decision. Some good engine and middleware which would make building and/or porting fast, would rock the industry. I bet there are some decent initatives already (Unity?, Blueberry porting initative). Lets hope it progress.
Regarding interface - I beleive there is a solution for everything. Smile I know its easy for me to say, but really, there is. If nothing else works, build in 2 control methods so user can choose pcish or tabletish control scheme.

To bulak: i understand your point. There are actually 2 counterarguments for u as well. Re-release for modern platforms: 1- finds new audience; 2- is accessible, user dont have to “hack” with DosBox etc. For u and me its no prob, but kids nowdays are spoiled, u know. Smile

To Iznogood - there is casual games also on PC. I mean, there could still be devs who make real adv for tablets.
Also immersion to game is up to a gamer. Not everybody would watch TV at the same time and most wouldnt, if game is good. If they are multitasking persons, then its actually even good if there are tablet adv - then they can play AND to something other. Sitting behind PC limits multitasking a bit.
Pen and notebook - well, lets hope the game/tablet allows switching applications - u can have a notebook on background Wink

     

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Siddhi - 21 June 2012 01:12 AM

Tablets are great because you can play the game while relaxing on a couch or while commuting [Same with the DS]. And touchscreen is a perfect fit for adventure games.

hehe true, but sounds so lazy to be relaxing on couch and playing Grin though this is not actually a sport now is it Smile

     

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lewuz - 04 July 2012 01:31 PM

The other thing indeed is technical limitations. It may not be easy to port some games if those are not made for such purpose. Emulating may or may not work. Tablets power sets some limits for some games. [...] Some good engine and middleware which would make building and/or porting fast, would rock the industry. I bet there are some decent initatives already (Unity?, Blueberry porting initative). Lets hope it progress.

That’s exactly why I’m building an engine specifically for smartphones and tablets. There are indeed ways for playing non-native adventures on these devices (e.g. there are Android-Ports for both ScummVM and AGS, which work quite well) but it is often obvious, that the games weren’t designed with that kind of device in mind. Also, most new titles you get for those are fan made - which doesn’t mean they’re bad of course, but normally much less money was available for making them. Porting games can work in some cases (Monkey Island has been ported of course, though I don’t know how well that worked as I haven’t played the iPad-Versions) but I believe that in many cases new games, created specifically for those platforms, would be better.

lewuz - 04 July 2012 01:31 PM

Regarding interface - I beleive there is a solution for everything. Smile I know its easy for me to say, but really, there is. If nothing else works, build in 2 control methods so user can choose pcish or tabletish control scheme.

...and take part in my Survey about precicely that. (If you haven’t already, that is.) ;-)

lewuz - 04 July 2012 01:31 PM

Pen and notebook - well, lets hope the game/tablet allows switching applications - u can have a notebook on background Wink

Come to think of it, building a notebook into the game engine might be a good idea. That way, you wouldn’t have to switch apps (though of course you could). Hm…

     
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lewuz - 04 July 2012 01:31 PM

To Iznogood - there is casual games also on PC. I mean, there could still be devs who make real adv for tablets.

Let me just clarify: I wasn’t talking about Casual Games, which is a different genre than Adventure games, I was simply talking playing on a tablet is a more “casual experince”.

But you do have a point in the respect, that what i am concerned about has already begun.
“Back to the future” is i belive a perfect example, compare to telltales older games it is very clearly both simplier and less challenging, and they did this because they wanted to make it more appealing for the console market.
I could also mention “the walking dead” which is so simple that it is hardly a game anymore.

It however hasn’t meant that all games have been simplifie or stupefied, but i am concerned that this is the trend, and the future of AG.

lewuz - 04 July 2012 01:31 PM

Also immersion to game is up to a gamer. Not everybody would watch TV at the same time and most wouldnt, if game is good. If they are multitasking persons, then its actually even good if there are tablet adv - then they can play AND to something other. Sitting behind PC limits multitasking a bit.
Pen and notebook - well, lets hope the game/tablet allows switching applications - u can have a notebook on background Wink

My point is not that everybody will play more “casualy” on a tablet then on a pc, my point is that many will, and the developers will have to consider this when designing their games. And since they want to sell as many copies as possible, then they will (most likely) design their games for a more “casual experince”

@blalasaadri: I think we agree 100% that in order for a game to be good, it has to be specifically designed for the platform it is played on.

The problem however is the the market for AG is not big enough to develop a game for only one platform, the developers want to reach as many potential buyers as possible, and will therefore try to release the games for as many platforms as possible.

Doing this the right way will however take an effort and cost more time and money, time and money that they don’t have.

let me give an example, in Yesterday there is a somewhat cumbersome interface for using or examining something, where you can do both whith the same mouse button, instead of using left click for Use and right click for Examine, why? Because they published the game for both PC and Apple, and Apple mouses only have one button.
Ideally they should have made a two button interface for pc, and a one button interface for Apple, but this would cost extra time and money.

A difference like 1 or 2 buttons could properly be build into a common engine for pc and Apple, but when we look at computers, consoles, tablets, smartphones and other handheld devices then the differences are much larger, and the issues can’t simply be solved by a common engine.

So my concern is that the developers will go for the lowest common denominator, and design games that can run on all platforms (with the possible exception of smartphones), with the least possible changes.

Finally let me just emphasize, that i am not against AG on tablets, and i wish you good luck with your project, I just have some concerns about what impact it will have on future games.

     

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AGs for tablets would be a good idea. Personally, I’d like to play an AG while traveling to my wife’s country with her (which can happen a couple of times a year). Actually I’d like to be able to continue playing the same AG we were playing at home (without needing to copy paste the save files, preferably), at the tablet during the flight(s).
But that’s the only reason I’d like an AG on my tablet. Because I prefer playing AGs in the corner of the living-room I call “office”, under a low light and with my cup of warm coffee next to me (actually two cups of coffee, as we usually play AGs with my wife).
I don’t think AGs are the best games for a “casual feeling”. I wouldn’t play an AG in the bus/train while going to job. A soccer game maybe, or a casual game just to help time pass, but certainly not an AG. Actually, I’d just read a book instead.
Now about playing an AG at the tablet in the sofa or in bed… Rarely maybe…

And in case it matters on why I have this opinion, my age is 30 too…

     

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