The Gamer's Quarter

[Shapermc]

I know there are a few adventure gamers around here (and also those who like books!) so I figured that I would throw out a new book I ran across thanks to gsw. Game Quest is a book which tells the story of PC adventure games from the 80’s and 90’s mainly following Sierra On-Line’s story.

This book also reminded me that I still haven’t played Monkey Island which many people hate me for.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[antitype]

You should play Monkey Island! It is now considered abandonware, apparently.

In fact, so is LeChuck's Revenge, and that one's even better.

http://www.abandonia.com/games/19/TheSecretofMonkeyIsland
http://www.abandonia.com/games/en/20/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge.htm

Download and play them in SCUMMVM!

The book looks interesting, but not at $22.50 after shipping.
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antitype.livejournal.com | last.fm

[Dracko]

I actually think the second one is the lesser of the first three games. I have a hard time describing it, but I tended to opt for it felt too "American". The humour is just too obvious, really, going for easy targets and such. What I liked about the first Monkey Island is that it wasn't utterly blatant in its tone graphics-wise. In fact, when I first played it, aged 6, I had no idea it was supposed to be a comic game. I had just finished playing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, mind, and that game was my first step into gaming.

Speaking of: http://www.abandonia.com/games/en/152/IndianaJonestheLastCrusade.htm

As far as I'm concerned, this game is still one of the best examples of the genre, and is underrated. Highly, highly recommended.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[internisus]

Shaper, I was totally going to make a thread about adventure games and their future.

I was talking to a friend of mine about Condemned last night, and then I went home and played Metroid: Prime, taking my slow-ass time and spending hours going through the intro research frigate very slowly with scan mode on most of the time, just looking all around at everything and checking the map and noting the names for each room and seeing details for the first time, such as the fact that the main bioengineering room is called BioTech 1 or something, implying there's a second one, and you don't see that until you're escaping the facility in a hurry and wham you wind up there and you see meta-ridley, that's what they were working on in BioTech 2, and there are a couple of computer panels you can scan for info about the project, and it's just such a really really good placement. [/ramble]

So, the thing about Condemned that I like from playing the 360 demo is the forensics stuff. Gathering evidence all CSI and shit. I thought it was really really cool. And then the demo devolved into beating hordes of asylum escapees with a pipe, but my friend tells me that the forensics comes back throughout the game. I'm really into the idea of a game built entirely around gathering evidence that way. (It's so much better than gathering evidence in Pheonix Wright) And, while I can appreciate how it detracts from the game in many players' eyes, I really, really like scanning stuff in Metroid Prime. I love gathering information from the perspectives of the pirates, the chozo, and just the scan visor's computer analysis of environmental phenomena.

I thought about how amazing it would be to be able to explore and learn about an environment and things that have happened there by mixing these two games' features, but with the gameplay spirit of Myst rather than something where you shoot guns and hit people.

So. Has this been done? I don't play many games as they come out, so I'm always years behind what's going on. In particular, I know very little about what's happened on the PC since, say, Half-Life 2. Has a proper evolution of the adventure game appeared yet?

[Shapermc]

You know, Condemned is an interesting thing. I loved the intro part, then the combat and story devolved into something horrid. I was glad it was a demo. Then it got me thinking how Seven would make a perfect game in this style. Just a little bit of action to bridge some slower sections. A whole lot of interesting investigation with stomach turning horrors of humanity (both gore and mentally). Then a MGS3-esq ending.

Anyways, yeah, I guess I agree.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[wourme]

[internisus]

I've heard of that before, but it has never been mentioned to me that the game has no combat. I am more intrigued now! Also, I did not realize it was for the PS2, which means I can totally play it.

Also, Shaper, yes, that's completely what I have in mind. To elaborate on the potential of such a form, think: it could be in an otherworldly setting of some kind and you could learn about the world at your own pace and discretion like you do in Metroid Prime rather than in a heavy-handed or railroaded manner that directly accompanies the gameplay. Even better, some of the information you uncover regarding the setting could be applied by the player to the matters at hand. I have been thinking for a long time now about the indirect application of information in gameplay and I'd love to see something like that.

For example, I was thinking while playing Metroid Prime, I'd like there to be a greater volume of scannable content. Too often there are environmental phenomena such as machines that you cannot learn anything about, and it's clear that you cannot learn about them because you do not need to interact with them directly as you play. That said, there is a lot of unnecessary information from scanning in Prime that does not affect gameplay at all, but merely illuminates the setting, and I do appreciate that. However, I'm talking about something in between these two possibilities. You know how you frequently come across morph ball slots that have no power and can scan them and be told "it has no power, there must be something nearby that can activate it"? And you just scan the console next to it to turn on the power? I'm talking about blowing that way up into a complex information-gameplay codependence. Think about what that could mean for adventuring -- well, for all games, really. Right?

Essentially, I'm trying to argue that the 3D first-person experience can present the ideal evolution of games like Myst if developers get a handle on non-violent gameplay and commit to creating realistic and consistent worlds in lieu of the usual gamey representations and design such as those that drag Prime down.

[Dracko]

The problem with Condemned though is that there isn't much to the detective work: You're pretty much guided by the hand. As a form of pacing in the narrative, sure, it works, but not to best effect, especially not in gameplay terms. It's not very stimulative.

I really need to give Pathologic a go.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[internisus]

Yes, it's a linear process. It's GREAT to be doing that stuff rather than seeing a pre-stage briefing video, but I agree with what you're saying. So, just imagine this awesome hypothetical modern adventure game using that form of gameplay but not being linear about it.

I wonder how Hotel Dusk will turn out?

[Harveyjames]

The thing about Monkey Island 1 is there seems to be more stuff to do than in MI2. The insults swordfighting, the whole section where Guybrush steals the idol... it's almost like they used up all their best ideas in the first game. MI2 is kind of bare by comparison.

Also, the plot just moves quicker and is more focused.

[dessgeega]

monkey island 2 has pretty much the best ending ever, though. it makes me wish they'd ended the series there.
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[Mister Toups]

monkey island 2 is so amazing that I can't even come close to finishing it without resorting to a walkthrough.

...
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where were you when nana komatsu got a wii?

[Nana Komatsu]

The posts just trail off into your sig!


I liked Day of the Tentacle very much, but I also liked The Longest Journey very much so feel free to dismiss my opinons as poor taste!

[Winged Assassins (1984)]

This thread remionds me that I should complete Beneathe A Steel Sky one of these days.
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[dessgeega]

beneath a steel sky is pretty decent for all its flaws.

that's the highest praise you could probably give a third-person adventure game, actually.
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[Cycle]

Yeah, the original Monkey Island is by far more entertaining than the second in my opinion. The second is just cluttered with too much bullshit. It's still fun, but it just really didn't come close to the original which is one of the finest adventure games ever devised in my opinion.

I'm currently reviewing Murder On The Orient Express. It's a murder mystery adventure game, but unfortunately the adventure game part keeps getting in the way of the murder mystery bits which are actually pretty fun and entertaining. It's great gathering clues and evidence and questioning NPCs but then some bullshit inventory or slide or some other kinda of tedious puzzle gets thrown in the way and suddenly I lose interest. When will they learn?

Hey interninusese, hey Guardian, there are lots of forensic adventure games based on the majillions of TV shows on at the moment. I have a copy of CSI: DarK Motives which came free with a TV Guide one week (I bought it just for the game) but I haven't tried it yet. I hear they're ok. I know it's not what you're really looking for but still. Also you have a similar idea to me, except it's completely different... it stems from the same core idea, I mean. HIGH FIVE.

Hey guys, I'm back from vacation.
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[Shapermc]

[Dracko]

[Cycle]

I agree with Dracko!

I think most adventure games really aren't that good, but the ones that ARE good are bleedin' fantastic.
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