Adventure Gamers - Forums

CroGamer - 24 July 2014 03:09 PM

Will this game be darker than the first one, similar to the original design?

My plan is to make the “darker” plot elements that in the original game were sub-text actually be, well, not-sub-text (technically, “text”). So the effects of the actions by the antagonists will be handled seriously instead of brushed under the “comedy” carpet.

It will still be an “all audiences” game.

rtrooney - 24 July 2014 08:53 PM

Not the least of which was that it took an interesting concept and inserted a seemingly never-ending maze as the sole puzzle that had to be solved in order to get to the end of the game.

Are you sure you played the right game?

Well it’s been a while since I’ve played ITE, but I’m pretty sure the maze wasn’t the sole puzzle.

Sounds interesting then. I wish you all good luck with the Kickstarter.

rtrooney - 24 July 2014 09:33 PM

Perhaps what I considered a maze, i.e. navigating one’s way though various “venues” by moving up-down-right-left forever until one gets to an exit point where one has to do it all over again isn’t what you consider a never-ending maze. But the definition works for me.

There certainly were a lot of mazes in the original:  The Rat Complex, the Dragon Maze, and the Dog Castle all qualify as mazes. Even above-ground outdoor areas like The Marketplace and the Ferret Village were mazelike because you were limited in what direction you could move. The overhead map was also mazelike because many routes were blocked off by mountains or rivers and you had to find your way through. So yes, there were lots of mazes, and it seemed like most of the game involved navigating some sort of maze.

But there were also puzzles where you find and use inventory, and many puzzles where you have to find and talk to the right person. Unfortunately these puzzles generally involved navigating a maze or mazelike area. So it may very well seem like the game was nothing but navigating mazes.

The Lodge Initiation Puzzle was a tangram, but I don’t remember any other puzzles similar to the tangram.

I had the impression that the “updated” version I played (which was widescreen and seemed to have no option for the original full screen aspect ratio) had the top part of the map chopped off, making it more difficult to navigate because the view of what was up north was limited. But I may be thinking of a map from another game—it’s been too long since I played the original 1994 version. Certainly the widescreen version of mazelike areas felt constrictive and inadequate.

I would hope that the new game would have fewer mazes and “mazelike areas.” Also that any overhead map would show a full view of the area, and not just the limited partial view that was in the first Inherit the Earth.

I like the colors better in the original game. The colors in the screens of the new game look washed out by comparison.

The isometric maps from the first game were an attempt to make the world seem larger and fuller, but turned into filler when elements were eventually cut the game.

All the locations in the new game will be significant or interesting.

I don’t want to say exactly how many mazes there are in the new game, but it is less than four. And none need to be navigated twice merely to make the game appear longer.

Why all the hate for the mazes here? (I’m not speaking about rtooney only, but generally)

For me they are integral part of the genre, both Lucas Arts and Sierra had them in their classics.

I posted update #5 of the Kickstarter today. The primary news is the announcement of new animations for the characters in the demo, ones that better represent how the characters will look in the completed game.

The update also includes the usual (and one unusual) suggestion on helping to get the word out about the funding drive.

I like it! Very reminiscent of the original style.