Main Menu

The Official General Chat Threade Returns!!

Started by Questing Character, May 15, 2006, 01:41:02 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Yonkey

Aww. XD I'm glad to hear that. :)

And yeah, I don't remember getting much rest that summer either. :-\
"A wish changes nothing. A decision changes everything."

tessspoon

#681
Quote from: Yonkey on July 14, 2008, 07:08:52 PM
Hopefully Tessy will post it.  *wants to see as well* :P
It was in the "Backspace" section of the PC Gamer's July issue that I got in the mail today, by Yahtzee Croshaw.

"There comes a time when an unpleasant truth you have tried to ignore for a long time must be confronted. Like when you buy the DVD box set of a cartoon you loved as a child, only to discover it was just as infantile and rubbish as your big brother used to gloatingly say it was. Or when you gradually come to realize over many years that someone replaced you bed with a sleeping tiger. The uncomfortable truth that has been slowly sinking into my mind like a lead weight on a trifle is this: Were adventure games ever any good?
   This is a particularly awkward realization for me, because for most of my gaming life, I’ve considered myself as being to adventure games what the Pope is to our lord Jesus. I played a little else in my Amiga-owning childhood, I’ve written for AdventureGamers.com, and lest we forget, I myself designed something like 15 of the things. So what brought on this drastic loss of enthusiasm?
        Don’t get me wrong. Pretty much every LucasArts adventure game, like Monkey Island, was good. It’s just that it was generally the writing that made them good, and the quality came in spite of, rather than because of, the gameplay. Besides, they were outnumbered by legions of bad adventure games, most of which began with the words ‘King’s Quest’ and ended with a roman numeral.
   Lately, I find myself at a loss to explain exactly how adventure games are fun. I would previously have said something about the satisfaction of having your logical thinking rewarded, but really, logic rarely had much to do with it. Why can’t we use the bamboo stick to pester the sleeping cat on the high shelf, as would logically work? Because the designer intended you to use the policeman’s disembodied arm, that’s why, and the bamboo stick is needed to mollify the rabid panda two hours from now, not that you’d know that.
   Frequently it comes down to you hording useless trinkets like a crazy homeless woman with a shopping trolley, shuffling form room to room, waving you pointer around looking for a hotspot, then throwing every single one of your trinkets at it until something good happens while you character drones “THAT DOESN’T WORK,” ad nauseum. And if it’s just a case of point and clicking in every conceivable manner to make the story progress, then you might as well just be reading an Excel spreadsheet.
   I dunno, maybe it’s just that my own definition of fun has shifted ever since Half-Life first absorbed me like an action-packed gelatinous cube. Maybe I’ve been corrupted by instant gratifications to the point that I can longer concentrate on anything that doesn’t OOH LOOK SOMETHING SHINY…"


EDIT: Typo :P

PirateKingChris

I lost that guy's reasoning from the beginning when he said he loved cartoons as a child and got them on DVD and doesn't. I'm not like that about movies, books, and games from my childhood...If I liked it as a kid I like it now. His reasoning makes me think he liked the bad shows as a kid. Anyway, the major point he misses in his explanation is that adventure game plots are WRITTEN so well. Plot has always been the most important thing to me in games, especially adventures. Now plot has definatly improved in non adventure games, but to this day, plot is still not as good in other game genres as adventure games of old.
"Take it from someone who knows sick:  licking corpses is going waaay beyond demented."

Defender Of All Things Against Connor  :stabs:

Long Hair 4 Life XB

TEAM COCO

tessspoon

Quote from: PirateKingChris on July 14, 2008, 08:00:19 PM
His reasoning makes me think he liked the bad shows as a kid.
I thought that was his point?

Yonkey

If his way of solving adventure games was to pixel hunt, it's no wonder he dislikes them.  I haven't played the KQ games in a while, but from what I remember, the vast majority of puzzles made logical sense.  Of course, as soon as he said his interest changed when instant gratification games like Half-Life came out, it pretty much nullified his entire viewpoint. :P
"A wish changes nothing. A decision changes everything."

PirateKingChris

Quote from: tessspoon on July 14, 2008, 08:04:34 PM
Quote from: PirateKingChris on July 14, 2008, 08:00:19 PM
His reasoning makes me think he liked the bad shows as a kid.
I thought that was his point?

Yes but he connects this to adventure gaming, like being younger is why he liked adventures in the first place. I liked shows as a child I STILL like. So I'm saying he must have watched shows that would be bad to any audience at any time.
"Take it from someone who knows sick:  licking corpses is going waaay beyond demented."

Defender Of All Things Against Connor  :stabs:

Long Hair 4 Life XB

TEAM COCO

tessspoon

My dad had already read the article and waited around for me to get the part about KQ to see what my reaction would be ;P (He finds it all rather amusing :P)

He's certainly entitled to his opinion; it just saddens me to see KQ bashed so in such a major gaming magazine.

Quote from: PirateKingChris on July 14, 2008, 08:19:49 PM
Quote from: tessspoon on July 14, 2008, 08:04:34 PM
Quote from: PirateKingChris on July 14, 2008, 08:00:19 PM
His reasoning makes me think he liked the bad shows as a kid.
I thought that was his point?
Yes but he connects this to adventure gaming, like being younger is why he liked adventures in the first place. I liked shows as a child I STILL like. So I'm saying he must have watched shows that would be bad to any audience at any time.
Oh, ok gotcha now.

Rosella

Especially from Yahtzee. He made the 5 Days a Stranger series, one I happen to really, really like.
I'm a princess even if my kingdom is pixelated.

Official Comfort Counselor of the TSL Asylum © ;D

It's funny how you find you enjoy your life when you're happy to be alive.

PirateKingChris

I dunno, sometimes people shouldn't speak their minds in a bad emotional state, which is I hope how he was feeling, otherwise that article seems ignorant.
"Take it from someone who knows sick:  licking corpses is going waaay beyond demented."

Defender Of All Things Against Connor  :stabs:

Long Hair 4 Life XB

TEAM COCO

Delling

Quote from: Yonkey on July 14, 2008, 08:12:17 PM...Of course, as soon as he said his interest changed when instant gratification games like Half-Life came out, it pretty much nullified his entire viewpoint. :P

*was just about to say basically the same thing* XD :P
Noli me tangere! Nescio ubi fuisti!
Don't touch me! I don't know where you've been!

Marquess of Pembroke
Duke of Saxony in Her Majesty's Court
Knight of the Swan for Her Imperial Highness

...resistance was obviously useless against a family that could invent italics.

"Let the locative live."

http://my.ddo.com/referral/Delling87

Suzie

Quote from: Rosella on July 14, 2008, 08:29:29 PM
Especially from Yahtzee. He made the 5 Days a Stranger series, one I happen to really, really like.

So I'm not the only one? :D


*Gasp* You're a girl! That's what most girls do! - Carla

You win pie! - Nebel

Yonkey

Quote from: Delling on July 15, 2008, 02:58:50 PM
*was just about to say basically the same thing* XD :P
:P  Yeah, I mean I don't mind playing instant gratification games myself (on occasion), but I'd never want or expect that kind of gameplay from an adventure game.
"A wish changes nothing. A decision changes everything."

Nebel

Does anyone by any chance have a fancy (antique) non-crappy pocket watch you want to get rid of? :D
Owls are made out of the bits left over when they make toilet seats!

samthunder

You had to sign a non-disclosure agreement? With whom? Was is by Vivendi Universal or just with POST studios? Under what penalty for divulging info?

Samthunder ???

tessspoon

So, Neil asked for updates on my game programming class. I've only had one class period so far, but it seems like it's going to be a lot of work but a lot of fun. :D

The whole class is a "game". Our syllabus isn't a syllabus, but a manual. We have player summits instead of classes, quests instead of projects, challenges instead of tests, and one huge project called the Ultimate Mission. As we turn in work, we get points, and we level up as we get points. When we level up, we get 2 coins, which can be spent on power ups such as getting an extra cheat sheet on challenges or an extra day on a quest. XD XD XD

The Ultimate Mission that we work on throughout the whole semester is a 3-person project where we code a game engine and make one major game and one minor game to run on it. :D

The first class we spent a quarter of the class playing games online to help us determine what makes a good game vs a bad game. XD

Shades2585

#695
THAT sounds SO Cool! !!! I would love to go to a class like that.  :D
Knight of Queen Deloria since 24-Jul-06 ;D
Duke of Lancaster of Queen Deloria since 09-Sept-06
Bestowed "Captain of Calais" on 08-Nov-06

Bestowed Kingdom of Bohemia by Queen Deloria on 06-Jan-07

Does anybody even remember who Wormy is?
Bring WORMY BACK!!!!!!!

Deloria

 
Holy Roman Empress
Queen of *all* Albion
Précieuse and salonnière! :D
"In cases of doubt about language, it is ordinarily best to consult women."-Vaugelas
Space! :D Extraterrestrium! :D Espace! :D

PirateKingChris

"Take it from someone who knows sick:  licking corpses is going waaay beyond demented."

Defender Of All Things Against Connor  :stabs:

Long Hair 4 Life XB

TEAM COCO

copycat

Well, duh. Do you think they'd let us play the game before it was released and then let us tell everyone beforehand what exactly to expect?
The Beta Testers are not testing a game developed by VU. All VU has to do is endorse it.
So yes, we signed an NDA with POStudios. WIih POStudios, at the moment, being a totally non-profit company, the penalty can't be anything monetary. So, after all the effort it took us to be beta testers, think what would be the penalty if we didn't abide by the terms of the NDA. :deal:
[spoiler]
Look at the 'Team'-page.
[/spoiler]
Fannatic of the cat team.
Official Manager of the TSL Asylum ©
Defender of all things against Connor. :stabs:
Grammar Police superintendant.
The Silver Lining rises from its ashes!

Official member of the Kelsey Fanclub :thumbsup:
Official TSL: Shadows Beta Tester (ret.) :yes:
Official Cognition: An Erica Reed Mystery Episode 1 QA.

Delling

*jumps up and down waving his arms* Ooo! Ooo! I want to play! I wanna play! :D
Noli me tangere! Nescio ubi fuisti!
Don't touch me! I don't know where you've been!

Marquess of Pembroke
Duke of Saxony in Her Majesty's Court
Knight of the Swan for Her Imperial Highness

...resistance was obviously useless against a family that could invent italics.

"Let the locative live."

http://my.ddo.com/referral/Delling87