71–80 of 90 posts
I really enjoyed an interactive text-based fiction game recently. But that palled - I realized I could be coding and being productive. >..
The article's over ten years old, and since then there's been a sorta revival of the genre. There are all the Telltale games, the Monkey Island remakes, and more recently the brilliant Machinarium. Digital distribution services like Steam have helped, of course.
Problem is that games like Machinarium are still just "hunt the live pixel". You have to hope you get close enough to the active object in order to notice it/grab it/operate it. On a larger resolution, this can be quite maddening. Game Designers: How about making the useable objects more noticeable (like a glimmer or something). Also having the puzzles make sense goes a long way.
The article's over ten years old, and since then there's been a sorta revival of the genre. There are all the Telltale games, the Monkey Island remakes, and more recently the brilliant Machinarium. Digital distribution services like Steam have helped, of course.
Problem is that games like Machinarium are still just "hunt the live pixel". You have to hope you get close enough to the active object in order to notice it/grab it/operate it. On a larger resolution, this can be quite maddening. Game Designers: How about making the useable objects more noticeable (like a glimmer or something). Also having the puzzles make sense goes a long way.
I think the iOS platform is helping the revival of adventure games. Just the ones I've personally played on the iPhone over the last couple of years: - Monkey Island 1 & 2 Special Edition (remastered graphics) - Broken Sword special edition - Hector: Badge of Carnage: EXCELLENT original game (if somewhat short) - Flight of the Amazon Queen - Beneath the Steel Sky - Gobliins I'm sure I'm missing something... There's a…
Actually, I would say this is more thanks to ScummVM (an open source re-implementation of many adventure game engines), as well as the people who ported it to iOS. The last three games listed probably use ScummVM without modification (citation needed), and I would be surprised if the Broken Sword and Monkey Island remakes were not heavily inspired by the efforts of ScummVM to revitalize interest in the games.
Before I clicked, I thought it meant text adventures. Clearly they're deader than corduroy if graphical ones are now 'old'.
Before I clicked, I thought it meant text adventures. Clearly they're deader than corduroy if graphical ones are now 'old'.
I think the iOS platform is helping the revival of adventure games. Just the ones I've personally played on the iPhone over the last couple of years: - Monkey Island 1 & 2 Special Edition (remastered graphics) - Broken Sword special edition - Hector: Badge of Carnage: EXCELLENT original game (if somewhat short) - Flight of the Amazon Queen - Beneath the Steel Sky - Gobliins I'm sure I'm missing something... There's a…
http://launchingpadgames.com/games/scarlett/
(Disclosure: I'm one of the developers.)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Problem is that games like Machinarium are still just "hunt the live pixel". You have to hope you get close enough to the active object in order to notice it/grab it/operate it. On a larger resolution, this can be quite maddening. Game Designers: How about making the useable objects more noticeable (like a glimmer or something). Also having the puzzles make sense goes a long way.
I think it was in Simon the Sorcerer: a hotkey that highlighted all clickable objects.
I used to be a humongous fan of 2D adventure games. Most notably the Space Quest series. If you've never played them start out with Space Quest 4 and then play SQ6. The audio dialog in the game is unrivaled humor. Full Throttle was also one of the mega-classics of 2D adventure games. I think the downfall of these games came when the studios tried to go the 3D route.
In general, I agree. However, Grim Fandango (1998) was both 3D and brilliant.