Adventure Gamers - Forums

In my experience, these are few and far between. Thankfully, this looks like it’s about to change, with the (hopefully) upcoming Space Venture by the Two Guys from Andromeda and that rather awesome looking project called Stasis.

Aside from these, if a new game were to be made in this genre, what would people like to see incorporated into the game?

I’ve tried to distil down some ideas, and have come up with the following points that I would like to see implemented:

- Characters and a story that makes you feel emotionally invested in the outcome (duh)
- Strange and eery environments punctuated by the familiar
- A sense of control over where you go (i.e. less linear design than other adventure games, space is about freedom)
- Modern futurist concepts are a rich treasure-trove of ideas just waiting to be realised in a new space odyssey (see graphic novel Transmetropolitan)
- Don’t treat adventure gamers like kids, because they probably aren’t
- Political intrigue is always a rich topic because it is timeless. The same fights have been going on for centuries - power corrupts.
- There seems to be an implicit assumption that the value systems by which we live will not have changed that much. Looking at the last 50 years, we have seen enormous changes, thus we should expect wildly different notions to be the norm a couple of hundred years from now. Alien races are likely to have wildly different concepts and motivations than we do. Similarly, artificial intelligence shouldn’t be pigeon-holed.

I am interested to hear what else people here think. And yes, I am in the process of writing a story and organising the first steps toward building a self-funded adventure.

jhetfield21 - 20 May 2012 02:38 PM

good luck to you….it’s always nice to hear about new game projects.especially ags.

Thanks for the kind words

I’m not a great fan of sci-fi, because the way it is often handled is too unfriendly to me. My ideal space adventure should
-not take itself too seriously. And I don’t mean comedy. Let in some bright colors, make the worlds more natural, less mechanical, allow characters to have their lives, not just missions and political slogans;
-consider “freedom”. That’s not a very good word for an ag, since freedom usually means that the game will be less interactive. And exploring empty alien worlds is the best way to get players bored;
-have a number of themes. Political intrigue is surely a great subject, but with sci-fi the story always gets too epic and, again, too serious, resulting in saving universes and fighting hordes of dictators. That’s just as cliched as bad aliens;
-not leave the player alone! It’s great exploring new worlds, machines and civilizations, but please, allow the player to discuss his findings and ideas with somebody else;

-Don’t treat adventure gamers like kids, because they probably aren’t

- I agree with that, in every regard.

Other than that, it’s a great and rich genre. I really like Anachronox, The Dig, Perry Rhodan, Gateway series. Although the varied worlds and general atmosphere helped much.

Arial Type - 21 May 2012 04:21 AM

I’m not a great fan of sci-fi, because the way it is often handled is too unfriendly to me. My ideal space adventure should
-not take itself too seriously. And I don’t mean comedy. Let in some bright colors, make the worlds more natural, less mechanical, allow characters to have their lives, not just missions and political slogans;

Agree entirely. Bright, vivid colours. Give people depth. People aren’t blind adherents to this or that, and generally have a lot of their own stuff going on. And in regards to humour - at the end of the day even when life gets serious we need to keep our sense of humour. I hope to still be able to see the lighter side of things when I’m on the way out, and the same logic should apply to a good space adventure.

-consider “freedom”. That’s not a very good word for an ag, since freedom usually means that the game will be less interactive. And exploring empty alien worlds is the best way to get players bored;

Of course. Freedom must be balanced against the risk of boredom. You can’t treat your players as idiots though and only give them the illusion of freedom. People see through that and once people start noticing the game mechanics the magic may be broken.

-have a number of themes. Political intrigue is surely a great subject, but with sci-fi the story always gets too epic and, again, too serious, resulting in saving universes and fighting hordes of dictators. That’s just as cliched as bad aliens;

I actually think that the whole hordes of dictators epic thing is a bit of a lazy way out. Real political intrigue should be far more nuanced. Powerplays, deceit, corporate influence, hidden agendas - that’s more what I’m talking about.

-not leave the player alone! It’s great exploring new worlds, machines and civilizations, but please, allow the player to discuss his findings and ideas with somebody else;

Agree entirely. Good dialogue is crucial to your emotional investment in a game. Characters that you connect with make the whole thing feel far more real.

Other than that, it’s a great and rich genre. I really like Anachronox, The Dig, Perry Rhodan, Gateway series. Although the varied worlds and general atmosphere helped much.

Indeed!

I’m in a hurry now but I’d like to make some comments. I was searching for a modern “Universe” adventure game (Core Design, 1994) http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=1098 . So I’ll tell you what I like from this game in case you find something helpfull.

1. Atmosphere - Music - Graphics
2. You don’t know anything about the Universe you are in and you have to discover about it as you play.
3. The hero is an ordinary man.
4. You have some freedom to choose where you’ll go next, but still it’s not too much, so you don’t get lost in the universe.
5. It has some cyber-punk elements.
6. You choose what your character will say from a list of possible options during dialogue

I need to go now. Good luck with your project! I’ll be back to read any update!
And I’ll keep searching for something like “Universe” to play. Any ideas? =)

EDIT: The Dig is another masterpiece (since it was directed from Spielberg, what could I expect?). It’s just way too complicated as a game. But the atmosphere, the graphics and the plot are excellent!
And someone mentioned about political intrigue and the “epicness” of the game. Intrigue in general is nice (see Secret Files: Tunguska for example). But when it’s too much, the game becomes boring and the story hard to follow.
On the other hand, in “Universe” you still save the galaxy from a Galactic tyrant but it doesn’t feel so epic.
So I’d say that the “epicness” of the game depends more on how the game develops (the actions of the hero) and less on the plot itself.
Like in “The Dig” or “Loom”. In the first you save a race of aliens from their own mistakes of the past, so it’s kinda epic in a way. In the second it’s a classic Good VS Evil plot. But in both games you don’t get the feeling that your hero is the savior of the universe, you know what I mean…

Anyway, I’m very happy to know that I’m not the only one who likes Space Adventure games. I was very happy when I saw the JULIA ad but I was disappointed when I saw that it’s in first-person perspective.
Waiting for updates! 

Lucien21 - 15 July 2012 11:26 AM

Perry Rhodan

Thanks a lot my friend! I quickly checked some screenshots and info and it seems like the next game I’ll play!

And about this:

- Don’t treat adventure gamers like kids, because they probably aren’t

Maybe we’re not kids (in age) anymore but we may be “big kids”. So personally I wouldn’t mind a story that might be a bit naive (well, up to a specific point of course).

This reminded me of The Dig, from good ‘ol LucasArts days.

What reminded you of the Dig? Perry Rhodan? While it’s still a very good game, I wouldn’t say it’s like any of the classic space adventures. Mostly because its plot isn’t something about the unknown of space/universe. Everything is set in a place/universe you (the hero) know everything about. I believe Shadow of Nebula will be more like the old AGs. There’s even an early demo to play! Thumbs up for it! http://shadowofnebula.com/shadow/home https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1746322034/shadow-of-nebula/description
The demo can be found at the kickstarter page