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How to make adventure game more interactive? My idea
I was thinking about the adventure game genre as a whole. I wonder if there would be possible to make point’n click game more interactive. For example if you talk with NPC you need to choose dialog options. Imagine yourself that instead of selecting this dialog options you can actually talk with NPC just like with your friend. Of course it would require very sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithms to give NPC unique personalities. I don’t think it’s possible to do it good right now. But it’s a cool idea 
What you think about it?
Shadow Of Nebula is an adventure game set in science fiction world mixed with cyberpunk that tells a story of lonely star courier - Coming soon on steam - http://www.shadowofnebula.com/
I think it’s a cool idea too shadowofnebula but I think very unrealistic for the foreseeable future of adventure games because many are now are relying on Kickstarter funding to produce & those that don’t I’m guessing just wouldn’t have the resources to include the technology needed. I can see it as a potential viable option for more mainstream non-adventure games (if they’re not doing it already?) where the developers get the investment needed to produce games to a much higher calibre that appeal to a vastly larger market but .....never say never!
You do realize that you’re asking for a “game feature” technology that isn’t presently available in real-life?
Recently finished: Four Last Things 4/5, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 5/5, Chains of Satinav 3,95/5, A Vampyre Story 88, Sam Peters 3/5, Broken Sword 1 4,5/5, Broken Sword 2 4,3/5, Broken Sword 3 85, Broken Sword 5 81, Gray Matter 4/5\nCurrently playing: Broken Sword 4, Keepsake (Let\‘s Play), Callahan\‘s Crosstime Saloon (post-Community Playthrough)\nLooking forward to: A Playwright’s Tale
I was thinking about the adventure game genre as a whole. I wonder if there would be possible to make point’n click game more interactive. For example if you talk with NPC you need to choose dialog options. Imagine yourself that instead of selecting this dialog options you can actually talk with NPC just like with your friend. Of course it would require very sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithms to give NPC unique personalities. I don’t think it’s possible to do it good right now. But it’s a cool idea
What you think about it?
Congratulations! You’ve just invented table-top RPGs! 
(And, yeah, that’s for the distant future.)
Aside from the fact that the technology is not available, (without spending gazzilions on your own bank of Cray computers,) at the developer level, what hardware/software technology is currently available at the user level? While the idea is colossally great, adding a microphone to a VR headset won’t in and of itself, make the concept work.
See you in ten years.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
How about a very, VERY expensive and exclusive game (it would have to be…) where instead of the AI you mentioned you’d have hired professional actors that would act out the parts, and were motion capture-wired? 
How much would you be willing to pay for a few hours session?
Of course, this assuming that people really want to play an adventure game, suspend disbelief and buy into the story, and not start making sexual requests to the first female character encountered (which would sadly probably be true in 99% of cases).
There was an experimental freeware adventure called Facade some 10 years ago that allowed for a more-or-less interactive dialogue. It didn’t work quite well though, and the devs dropped further projects.
PC means personal computer
I’ve been thinking about the good and the bad points of the genre for quite some time. In my whole adventure gaming experience I’ve realized that that I like the features an AG contains but the majority of AGs put these features in a linear, boring context. It feels like blasphemy saying it like that because many AGs are among my all time favorite games but the harsh truth is that I’ve always wanted something more of them. I’ve began to experience them as narratives with puzzles, which is quite unimmersive for me. Things that are doing it for me are stories that are making me care for the characters in a game (thank god that’s a common feature in many AGs), interactivity and exploration. The latter is something you may or you may not find in an adventure game. There are many open world AGs, but that’s nothing compared to an RPG for example. But let’s say that exploration is depending on much more than an open world and there are great examples that prove that.
Interactivity in AGs, on the other hand, is something that’s been bothering me lately. In the past I’ve considered adventure games as a media closest to the real world. The best way you can put yourself in the shoes of a fictional character. Comparing that to my present vision of an interactive game I realize that most AGs are so stiff. That goes especially for games with more fast paced context (like stories that involve action). Being in a scene where you might get yourself killed with the only option to click yourself away from the enemy is such a killer of immersion. The examples for that are countless.
I’ve been dying to play a game that contains all those adventure features that I love but at the same time giving me the freedom to do anything I want with the corresponding consequences for my actions. You may think that I’m describing an RPG in the veins of fallout and planescape torment, but they also contain features that kill my mood like too much complexity, slow pace, tedious battles and so on. This little game made in a game jam for example where all you can do is walk your character gets me more immersed than many AGs. That is due to the cinematic feel of the atmosphere, along with the feeling that you are actually moving your character similar to arcade jump’n'runs. Putting this style into a more exploring and puzzle-solving context with a strong narrative and vast interaction with characters and other elements of the world, along with fast paced action scenes when the story needs to imply on that, would give you an idea of what I’m trying to describe. And maybe a minor RPG (not countless branches of statistics) character development for flavor.
That’s definitely not a fantasy talk and if no developer’s willing to make such a game I’ll be forced to start learning game design
Of course, this assuming that people really want to play an adventure game, suspend disbelief and buy into the story, and not start making sexual requests to the first female character encountered (which would sadly probably be true in 99% of cases).
I wouldn’t want to be doing that! 
This little game made in a game jam for example where all you can do is walk your character gets me more immersed than many AGs.
I didn’t have much chance to get immersed badlemon as I got shot within a minute!
This little game made in a game jam for example where all you can do is walk your character gets me more immersed than many AGs.
That’s the power of linear gameplay. Creators are allowed to create very detailed and unique surroundings which adds to the ‘realism’.
And as you move on the story moves on.
To program an AI that responds to anything the player says in the manner suggested here is obviously not feasible. I do still think the thread starter is on to something here.
More interactivity is something to be desired and dialogues are definitely one of the parts where this is most needed. There are games that have done this differently compared to the norm like Amanitas games where the dialogues have been removed completely (often replaced by animation) or the Ace Attorney games where they often are a more direct part of the gameplay.
The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter sort of works like a mix between the two with animations being there to both tell a story and to be part of the gameplay. The mobile game Framed does an even better job at this and I think this is a great approach that can be developed even further.
NP: A Link Between Worlds, Beneath a Steel Sky and Vampyr
There are games that have done this differently compared to the norm like Amanitas games where the dialogues have been removed completely (often replaced by animation) or the Ace Attorney games where they often are a more direct part of the gameplay.
And yet neither has come close to the text adventure freedom in dialogue.
Recently finished: Four Last Things 4/5, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 5/5, Chains of Satinav 3,95/5, A Vampyre Story 88, Sam Peters 3/5, Broken Sword 1 4,5/5, Broken Sword 2 4,3/5, Broken Sword 3 85, Broken Sword 5 81, Gray Matter 4/5\nCurrently playing: Broken Sword 4, Keepsake (Let\‘s Play), Callahan\‘s Crosstime Saloon (post-Community Playthrough)\nLooking forward to: A Playwright’s Tale
Thank you for your answears
Will you be interested in adventure game where you got a renegade/paragon indicator like in mass effect? For example if you’re talking with NPC and you choose “polite” dialog option then your paragon will increase and renegade will decrease. If you choose rude dialog options your renegade will increase and your paragon will decrease. What it will do? Let’s assume that at some point of story will be situations where the state of your renegade/paragon will determine behave of your character. If you are renegade then you can steal some item. If you are more paragon then you can use your charm to obtain this item. Would you like this kind of game mechanic in adventure game?
Sorry for my english, it’s not my native
Shadow Of Nebula is an adventure game set in science fiction world mixed with cyberpunk that tells a story of lonely star courier - Coming soon on steam - http://www.shadowofnebula.com/
Thank you for your answears
Will you be interested in adventure game where you got a renegade/paragon indicator like in mass effect? For example if you’re talking with NPC and you choose “polite” dialog option then your paragon will increase and renegade will decrease. If you choose rude dialog options your renegade will increase and your paragon will decrease. What it will do? Let’s assume that at some point of story will be situations where the state of your renegade/paragon will determine behave of your character. If you are renegade then you can steal some item. If you are more paragon then you can use your charm to obtain this item. Would you like this kind of game mechanic in adventure game?
Sorry for my english, it’s not my native
Tex Murphy: The Pandora Directive already approached what you describe back in ‘96.
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
Heh, so I need to try Tex Murphy: The Pandora Directive I’m trying to figure it out how to make point’n clicks more immersive.
Shadow Of Nebula is an adventure game set in science fiction world mixed with cyberpunk that tells a story of lonely star courier - Coming soon on steam - http://www.shadowofnebula.com/
And yet neither has come close to the text adventure freedom in dialogue.
Having the players write their own questions can be considered more interactive but practicly it doesn’t give you more freedom compared to clicking on it. It does in theory but the AI and the writing required for that to be superior is to unmanagable from a practical point of view IMO.
Will you be interested in adventure game where you got a renegade/paragon indicator like in mass effect? For example if you’re talking with NPC and you choose “polite” dialog option then your paragon will increase and renegade will decrease. If you choose rude dialog options your renegade will increase and your paragon will decrease. What it will do? Let’s assume that at some point of story will be situations where the state of your renegade/paragon will determine behave of your character. If you are renegade then you can steal some item. If you are more paragon then you can use your charm to obtain this item. Would you like this kind of game mechanic in adventure game?
To have the dialogues make a bigger impact on the story or in this case your character is a good way of making it a greater part of the gameplay besides the more standard functions of just giving story/character information or giving objectives/hints.
NP: A Link Between Worlds, Beneath a Steel Sky and Vampyr
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