116: Information Complexity and the Downfall of the Adventure Game

[Goofonian]

Is anyone else really optimistic about zack and wiki? Despite the terrible name, it seems to be getting positive previews across the boards. I especially like the fact that its puzzles seem to be all self contained with the levels. Nothing annoys me more than having to find an item in one place and then use it somewhere completely different several hours later without any clues or warning *cough* monkey island *cough*.

When I heard about the pointer nature of the wii remote, the first thing I thought was adventure games. I really hope that Z&W shows that it can be done, and done well, and other developers start getting on board.

 

[jetfable]

Yeah in general complexity in information only enhances the adventure experience, and its up to the designer to not fall into a trap to give us too much info for the player to play the game. Things like highlighted objects that stands out from the background or the character looking towards important objects all give us a better and easier playing experience. I see no way that more realistic interactive story telling actually can possibly be a worse experience than a text adventure.

Have you guys tried any games made by Adventure Game Studio [http://www.bigbluecup.com/], there's a cult following of these fan-made games (just like text adventures) and they give out awards every year, some of these are very professionally made games, including the remake of King's Quest 1 - 3 VGA version (with speech), Maniac Mansion, original Series like Ben Jordan and Apprentice is especially good (check the list of award winners).

Many people still love adventure games. And I suggest people who enjoys LucasArts adventures download ScummVm (which let you play in current system in a window) and replay many of the great old games.

Jetfable [http://jetfable.blog.com]