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Slideshow or realtime navigation?
Have you never been amazed in front of a wonderful 3D picture ? I have, even if it doesn’t move. Maybe that’s more a question of imagination (what did the artist exactly, and why ? Why placing the camera here, was there a reason ? etc…).
Absolutely it’s a question of that. In 3D the developer doesn’t get to choose the position of the camera - in free exploration that’s the player’s role. I’m not saying that 3D can’t be artistic but it’s more about how the graphics look than how the mode is used in the gameplay. For the latter there’s little choice, while in 2D there’s a lot more.
For me it’s not a matter of new vs old or the Myst-style slideshow mode being outdated. I don’t think slideshow is obsolete and that real-time exploration is automatically “better” by being newer technology, and that all new games should use it.
In fact, the 1st person slideshow is extremely well suited to adventure games and only adventure games (although it worked well in some early dungeon crawler RPGs, which were part adventure anyway). So I don’t think it will die easily. To sum it up,
Slideshow mode:
-Quicker to get around
-Can be less immersive (?)
-Easy to play: just click where you want to be!
-More compact, puzzles and objects always within reach
-Too much clicking (sometimes)
Real-time 3D:
-Better Atmosphere (?)
-Potential for better looking graphics (and worse too)
-Player has more control, more ‘interactive’
-Can get slow and boring wandering around
-Feels ‘empty’
-Controls can be frustrating
I still want more panoramic games. It’s the perfect kind of navigation! 
Well all of Riven, Myst III, Myst IV are now possible in real-time. I love Slideshow though. Maybe its the fact I can’t run the latest tech on the current system. 
Though I have played some amazing narration-based (dear esther) mods for Crysis that were just PHENOMENAL. I’d have real-time navigation any day, especially if Dark Eye was remade on the engine. 
Stuart Bradley Newsom - Naughty Shinobi || Our Game: Shadow Over Isolation
Riven, Myst III and IV are now possible in realtime ??? What are you talking about ? I want to know more oO
I know there’s a fan project about making Riven in realtime 3D
http://www.starryexpanse.com/category/devblog/
I’m still personnally not fond of realtime in most adventure games, unless there is a lot of control on the quality.
I think there’s more poetry in adventures (1st or 3rd person) that have 2D (or 2.5D) backgrounds. In these games, the author shows what he wants to show, like the author of a painting. It’s Art, and I’m defintely more sensitive to 2D pictures.
Though, I understand the interest of great 3D graphisms like in Crysis (I play a lot of realtime games like Mass Effect or the Witcher for example). That’s much more immersive and dynamic.
But slideshow or 2D games shouldn’t be considered immediately old-school or technically outdated. It’s a matter of tastes. It’s like comparing a good book with a movie, and generally, people are deceived by the movie if they already read the book… because in the movie, an ingredient is missing : imagination !
That’s the main difference I feel between a 2D and a 3D game. The limitations of a 2D game may be frustrating, though they force the player to fill the gaps between the missing pictures with his imagination. And it can make all the difference !
So there should be some place for both ^^
2016 has been quite educational for me. Quern: Undying Thoughts, The Witness, and (apparently - haven’t played yet) Obduction show that making a good real-time Mystlike game is all about good design. There are more: Eyes of Ara, Haven Moon, etc which I haven’t played, and that’s not to mention the Portal clones. Really hoping for more of the same in the future.
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