Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The End of Sierra as We Knew It, Part 1: The Acquisition

filfre.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 119 posts

Re: The End of Sierra as We Knew It, Part 1: The Acquisition

#41

Post by rfarley04 »

the_af wrote: post #9
vunderba wrote: post #2

Sierra was responsible for creating two of my favorite games of all time - King's Quest VI (designed by Roberta Williams / Jane Jensen) and Conquests of the Longbow (designed by Christy Marx). It's such a contrast then to read (what I find profoundly distasteful) quotes like this from the other side of the company. Ken Williams: "I read books about business executives who owned yachts and jets, and who hung out with…

It was Space Quest for me. Oh, I played many of the others, but SQ -- specifically II -- was what made me fall in love with adventure games, warts and all. I learned English (well, besides taking actual English classes anyway) by typing words in its text interface.

Yea, same for me. This article sent me down a rabbit hole of playing a few of 'em online: https://playclassic.games/games/point-n-click-adventure-dos-...

Re: The End of Sierra as We Knew It, Part 1: The Acquisition

#42

Post by dijksterhuis »

TheBlight wrote: post #28

People don't strictly want to play games as much as they want to experience alternate realities. That's why Doom/Quake resonated. People want these simulations to be as realistic as possible.

> That's why Doom/Quake resonated. People want these simulations to be as realistic as possible.

Doom/Quake is about as realistic as Escape From Tarkov is easy-going, light hearted, non-at-all-sweaty fun.

> People don't strictly want to play games as much as they want [an] experience

this would ^ probably be more accurate version of your statement. it's not always about realism.

Re: The End of Sierra as We Knew It, Part 1: The Acquisition

#43

Post by mzs »

vunderba wrote: post #2

Sierra was responsible for creating two of my favorite games of all time - King's Quest VI (designed by Roberta Williams / Jane Jensen) and Conquests of the Longbow (designed by Christy Marx). It's such a contrast then to read (what I find profoundly distasteful) quotes like this from the other side of the company. Ken Williams: "I read books about business executives who owned yachts and jets, and who hung out with…

I wonder how the early employees did in the deal. Did they cash-out as well?

Re: The End of Sierra as We Knew It, Part 1: The Acquisition

#44

Post by titaphraz »

TheBlight wrote: post #28

People don't strictly want to play games as much as they want to experience alternate realities. That's why Doom/Quake resonated. People want these simulations to be as realistic as possible.

> People want these simulations to be as realistic as possible

Have you ever played D&D? There is no graphics, it's all in your head. I've played amazing adventures many years ago that I can still visualize in my head.

Re: The End of Sierra as We Knew It, Part 1: The Acquisition

#46

Post by magicalhippo »

havblue wrote: post #12

Aren't we primarily talking about adventure games here? That is, games that nobody played after the nineties?If they weren't acquired they certainly would have modernized, of course. I can't help but think they were in deep trouble even without the failed merger.

I'm curious if we'll see an adventure game revival.

With modern generative models, LLMs, diffusion and voice, one could imagine dynamic adventure games that are not quite the same each time, and which could support coop play so you can play with your friends.

Maybe not this year but if the models improve like they have for another year or two...?

Re: The End of Sierra as We Knew It, Part 1: The Acquisition

#47

Post by chongli »

TheBlight wrote: post #28

People don't strictly want to play games as much as they want to experience alternate realities. That's why Doom/Quake resonated. People want these simulations to be as realistic as possible.

People don't strictly want to play games as much as they want to experience alternate realities

That’s a very sweeping statement to make about a very large number of unrelated people. I happen to be a gamer and your statement doesn’t describe my wishes or experiences very well at all!

I’d much rather play a game of NetHack than some new ultra-realistic PS5 game. I’m not the only one who feels this way. There a ton of other people like me. People who enjoy retro games, puzzle games, point and click adventure games, RPGs, strategy games, and countless other games that aren’t focused on immersive graphics or realistic simulations.

Re: The End of Sierra as We Knew It, Part 1: The Acquisition

#48

Post by AngryData »

zoky wrote: post #39
TheBlight wrote: post #28

People don't strictly want to play games as much as they want to experience alternate realities. That's why Doom/Quake resonated. People want these simulations to be as realistic as possible.

That’s a pretty broad statement to make given that of the seven bestselling video game franchises of all time (Mario, Tetris, Call of Duty, Pokémon, GTA, Minecraft, and FIFA) only one (Call of Duty) is a realistic simulation, one (GTA) could be best described as a totally unrealistic simulation, one (FIFA) is a simulation of an actual game, and the rest are a mix of abstract fantasy and/or pure puzzles.

Im not sure I would even consider CoD realistic either unless you back to when it was primarily a single player game. It has good graphics that look like reality sure, but the guns don't handle anything like real guns would, the people don't move or operate like real people, and even the environments are cut down to impossibly small engagement areas. I would even say GTA is far more realistic than CoD.

Re: The End of Sierra as We Knew It, Part 1: The Acquisition

#49

Post by bravetraveler »

dijksterhuis wrote: post #42
TheBlight wrote: post #28

People don't strictly want to play games as much as they want to experience alternate realities. That's why Doom/Quake resonated. People want these simulations to be as realistic as possible.

> That's why Doom/Quake resonated. People want these simulations to be as realistic as possible. Doom/Quake is about as realistic as Escape From Tarkov is easy-going, light hearted, non-at-all-sweaty fun. > People don't strictly want to play games as much as they want [an] experience this would ^ probably be more accurate version of your statement. it's not always about realism.

If I could strafe jump as well in person as Quake, well, everyone would know

Re: The End of Sierra as We Knew It, Part 1: The Acquisition

#50

Post by andrewflnr »

KerrAvon wrote: post #25
sys32768 wrote: post #10

Old Man Murray wrote a great peace in 2000 about who killed adventure games, the answer to which I won't spoil since it's an easy read: https://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/77.html

Important context that's come to light since then https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_hair_mustache_puzzle

Highlights:

> It was created by the game's producer, Steven Hill, after a puzzle designed by the game's lead designer, Jane Jensen, was cut due to budgetary reasons.

> It came as a result of a puzzle created by the game's designer, Jane Jensen, needing to be removed due to budget concerns.

What an incredibly classic, braindead tragedy.

Post reply on HN