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Re: My Al Emmo review.

Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:14 pm
by njspannaus
edit: i got to the end of this and realized that it was pretty much just me rambling.. spare yourselves

if it came down to it, i think you guys could make a challenging adventure game with a single cursor..

maybe the single cursor could do the most "obvious" action most of the time.. for a door, clicking on the middle of it would knock, clicking on the handle would open it, and clicking on the keyhole would try to unlock it.. maybe something with the hinges for the occasional squeaky door..

and then, to keep things interesting, when the on-screen object is a bit more complicated than the door example, perhaps the single cursor could bring up a sub-menu of possible interactions suited to the object itself.. the challenge would be in the fact that, ultimately, there are a bevy of objects/items and options to choose from overall.. and, with some good writing and humor (think: Monkey Island), clicking through a mini-multitude of possible actions would still be entertaining...

one way to make this approach really work would be to have almost everything in any given "room" somewhat interactive.. i think a major limitation of the old EGA games was that there simply wasn't enough detail to have several distinct objects and/or NPCs in a single room.. King's Quest fans got used to looking for the one sparkly item in each room--or the one sprite that could clearly be removed from the artwork itself..

i think a lot of adventure games got stuck in that limiting mindset.. lets see a game with multiple solutions to EVERY puzzle.. lets have the ability to pick up anything (within reason) and add it to our inventory.. our motivation to not pick up every damn item we come across could be that it would be rather unlikely that we'd ever find a use for the dustbunnies under a random bed..

Re: My Al Emmo review.

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:24 am
by Prio
njspannaus wrote:edit: i got to the end of this and realized that it was pretty much just me rambling.. spare yourselves
I was gonna post what you posted, man.
Basically, make every programmed object -- whether useful to a puzzle or not -- light up, and pop open a "context menu" of possible actions (including "useless" actions) when it's clicked on. Though publishers would, perhaps, recognize this as "cheating".

Re: My Al Emmo review.

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 12:41 pm
by Kloreep
Anonymous Game Creator 2 wrote:But the problem is that they'd want us to utilize a very simplified, dumbed-down interface with only a single icon that highlights when you move it over 'important' areas of the screen.
When I first read that I pictured something like Full Throttle or The Longest Journey, which doesn't sound half bad. But from the negative comments I'm guessing you mean one icon that does one action? Geesh.

Though I agree with the other posters, if you can "Cheat" and use a Full Throttle type system, go for it. :) I found it just as good as the sierra style - better in some ways really.

Re: My Al Emmo review.

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 1:01 pm
by DrJones
Anonymous Game Creator 2 wrote:But the problem is that they'd want us to utilize a very simplified, dumbed-down interface with only a single icon that highlights when you move it over 'important' areas of the screen.
Sorry for double quote, but I just found this article on the subject and I thought it was interesting enough to share.

Re: My Al Emmo review.

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 1:02 pm
by MusicallyInspired
Kloreep wrote:When I first read that I pictured something like Full Throttle or The Longest Journey, which doesn't sound half bad. But from the negative comments I'm guessing you mean one icon that does one action? Geesh.
Yeah, as in King's Quest VII. *shudder*

Re: My Al Emmo review.

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 1:01 pm
by DrJones
DrJones wrote:
Anonymous Game Creator 2 wrote:But the problem is that they'd want us to utilize a very simplified, dumbed-down interface with only a single icon that highlights when you move it over 'important' areas of the screen.
Sorry for double quote, but I just found this article on the subject and I thought it was interesting enough to share.
Heh, I pressed "edit" instead of "quote", now my poorly-conceived joke about the thousands of gameplay hours of a Towers of Hanoi adventure game is gone forever. :lol