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The Parser vs. Point N' Click

Started by Sir Perceval of Daventry, February 04, 2014, 05:26:24 PM

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Sir Perceval of Daventry

Which adventure game interface style do you prefer? The AGI style Text Parser or the Sierra '90s style Point N' Click interface?

Intendant S

I love both, but I'm totally old school. Give me a parser over PnC any day.
"I'd be disappointed if you didn't find the Major intoxicating. I mean, after all she is me - or the next best thing to me. "

Numbers

Point n' Click is more convenient and allows for smoother gameplay, but the parser allows for some more creativity, plus there's always a chance you could type something in to find some obscure Easter egg (the "beam me" Easter egg in KQ4, for example). However, I hate how blocky the movement with the arrow keys is, so I'll gladly take PnC for movement.

AGDI's Quest for Glory 2 remake struck a nice middle ground by letting you do either one as you please.
I have no mouth, and I must scream.

radoskal

I grew up on the point and click interface so I'm invariably biased against the parser, it just seems extremely clunky and tedious to me, however I know this is mostly because it's simply a control interface I'm not used to, and a function of the time in which these games were developed, where mouse interfaces were extremely rare.

I have slogged my way through some parser based games (Quest for Glory II and King's Quest III) But I was pretty much ecstatic when AGD interactive and Infamous Adventures started making point and click upgrades of a lot of classic sierra titles.  A part of me wishes that they hadn't taken such liberties with the storylines of King's Quest II and III, but I suppose i'll have to live with it. Still waiting on someone to "port" KQ4 since I just find it a real struggle with the parser.

Numbers

Quote from: radoskal on February 04, 2014, 09:43:42 PM
I grew up on the point and click interface so I'm invariably biased against the parser, it just seems extremely clunky and tedious to me...

I feel you there. I had not-so-good experiences when playing the first two Space Quest games, mostly because of the parser. And the original King's Quest 3 is just unbelievably tedious, for obvious reasons.
I have no mouth, and I must scream.