Adventure Gamers - Forums

Oscar - 29 October 2012 09:50 AM

rtrooney - 28 October 2012 12:06 PM

While you may be right in principle, I’m not sure many players were even alive during the text-based gaming era. They pretty much ceased to exist over thirty years ago, so a person would need to be in their mid-40s to remember them.

Well I can’t vouch for my memory but 30 years ago was 1982, the year Zork came out for PC and before the Infocom and Legend era.

Few would be willing to buy a text adventure today, but so what? The annual IF competition has been producing quality and sometimes wildly experimental games for almost 2 decades, and developers do it for recreation. They could probably teach graphical developers a thing or two…

 

Are we really still on the subject of text adventures? At least my input was still on topic. Like I said, this thread was about stylized graphics, not some random straw brought out to combat my opinion about how graphics contribute to atmosphere a bit more than audio….yay for random butt hurt people.

Oscar - 31 October 2012 10:16 PM

Well no one else seems to care about posts being “off-topic” except you. Not that there’s anyone around to care, since they’re now too scared that their posts won’t be to your approval.

Disclaimer: This is not a Monolith-approved(tm) post.

I’m sorry I tried to justifying my opinion earlier on while everyone else ignores it and goes off topic. What, you’re starting to start a flamewar? Go ahead. Go off topic more.

As a matter of fact, you’re the one who’s always flaming, Monolith. In every thread you honor with your presence.

I’m still puzzling over the meaning of “yay for random butt hurt people”. 

Text adventures aren’t a major form of gameplay in the industry anymore. Its completely niche.

Well, we’re certainly working to change that.

Oscar - 29 October 2012 09:50 AM

Well I can’t vouch for my memory but 30 years ago was 1982, the year Zork came out for PC and before the Infocom and Legend era.

Few would be willing to buy a text adventure today, but so what?

Memory can be selective. In today’s Chicago Tribune there was an article celebrating the 40th anniversary of video games. It specifically referrenced Pong.

While it may be true that the first commercial release of a video game came in 1982, it certainly wasn’t the first. I was Advertising Manager for Heath, (think Heathkit,) and Heath introduced a Pong kit in 1976. In 1978 Heath sold a pre-built game console that included Pong and Blackjack cartridges manufactured by Fairchild Semiconductor.

So dates can be deceiving. While not exactly a text game, Star Trek, played off a cassette interface, using keyboard input predated Zork by a good six years. And there were other “amateur” games available as well.

FWIW I don’t think Monolith flamed anything here. It was our moderator who posed the question as to whether text games had “atmosphere” and the discussion took a right hand turn from there.

rtrooney - 01 November 2012 10:58 PM

Oscar - 29 October 2012 09:50 AM

Well I can’t vouch for my memory but 30 years ago was 1982, the year Zork came out for PC and before the Infocom and Legend era.

Few would be willing to buy a text adventure today, but so what?

Memory can be selective.

Time and time again you prove that YOUR memory is extremely selective.

In today’s Chicago Tribune there was an article celebrating the 40th anniversary of video games. It specifically referrenced Pong.

While it may be true that the first commercial release of a video game came in 1982, it certainly wasn’t the first. [big snip]

What has this got to do with anything? Nothing. And by the way, it is NOT true.

So dates can be deceiving.

No, dates are not deceiving.

While not exactly a text game, Star Trek, played off a cassette interface, using keyboard input predated Zork by a good six years. And there were other “amateur” games available as well.

Replying “by association” is one of your strategies. Or maybe you can’t even remember your own posts? Whether you read mine or not, I’ll never let you get away with untrue statements you try to present as facts. You said that over thirty years ago TEXT adventures ceased to exist, when they were actually starting to bloom.

FWIW I don’t think Monolith flamed anything here. It was our moderator who posed the question as to whether text games had “atmosphere” and the discussion took a right hand turn from there.

Yes, he was flaming. Look up the meaning of the word “flaming”. Getting off-topic is something else entireley.

Fien - 02 November 2012 04:09 AM

Yes, he was flaming. Look up the meaning of the word “flaming”. Getting off-topic is something else entireley.

haha, you fail to understand what it means to incite a flamewar. I only aimed to get back on topic to prevent one. Why does this always happen in threads with you and Oscar?

Furthermore, you are feeding the flame.

Calm down please! You’re making me cry! No more fights at adventuregamers! ;-(

Jatsie - 02 November 2012 05:08 PM

Personally I prefer stylised art. Take an old classic like Day of the Tentacle, the art is vibrant and has a lot of personality to the way the characters and scenery are drawn.

Probably my biggest complaint about modern games of any genre is the strive for realism, which so often results in nothing but a very brown colour palette.

Really? The whole ‘modern == brown’ myth I found to be completely bs. There are way more games with vibrant colors than the whole ‘limited color palette’ thing. Sure most games have color correction, but not like Gears of War.

mbday630 - 03 November 2012 07:42 AM

I agree with Jatsi.  The vibrant colors as in DOTT, Broken Swords, Simon Games, that helps to keep me playing. I loaded up The Last Crown and it was so brown and uncolorful (is that stylized art?) that I only played for about 1 hour. I think that is why I didn’t like Syberia either. No color or visual treats. I liked the story of Gray Matter, but, again, the lack of anything artfully pleasing made it more humdrum to me. I think most people do like visually appealling games, besides good puzzles and good story. I doesn’t have to be the latest graphics; as DOTT sure isn’t, but, pleasing to the eye.

Last Crown is the only game I can think of that lacked colors and was more so for style. Syberia made sense. Do you expect lush colors in a snowbound environment? Lack of colors like snow, drown out the color. Gray Matter was color at times but the lack of it was because of the weather. All those games were pleasing to the eye, its just that you are expecting colors where there should be all that much.

Zifnab - 03 November 2012 05:51 AM

Stylized Art is where an artist takes an initiative to incorporate a specific style to an overall artistic direction.

Don’t all games do that? In the purest form of the so-called ‘realist’ style - the use of photographs - there is always a lot of stylistic thought involved: the shot selection, color saturation, choice of lighting, etc.

Take this Carol Reed screen. It’s a photo, but done so that the objects sort of blend into each other. I don’t know the photographic term for this, but it’s beautiful. All the screens in those games are artfully done in a definite style.

The Lost Crown also isn’t really realist unless you’re colorblind. It’s a very heavily stylized game.

Thats called a ‘photoshop filter’. lol That is called ‘stylized art’. Lets talk about pointalism, cubism, abstract, etc. Something that specifically drives away from realism or captures specific realistic features or emotion in art. Depending on the artistic direction.

I’m going to be honest. Carry on with this argument and we’ll might as just argue about what is art and not. lol It’s going to be an awesome/terrible mess.