Some questions for Adventure Game fans!

[WickedTrickster]

Hey everyone,

As some of you may know we have recently completed our first title Keepsake and are currently working on our second title.

So I have some questions for you, making sure we push our next game in a direction everyone will enjoy!

What is your all time favorite adventure game?
Do you buy adventure game on Console or PC?
Do you buy other type of game? Which type/game?
If I mention game like Shadow of Destiny, Prince of Persia, Unreal tournament, did you play those game? enjoy them?
Are we not the coolest company in the world? (don't answer that one :P)
Is there any thing you think we should know before making another adventure game?

Thank you all very much for your help, it is greatly appreciated.
Ben.

[a_side]

Hey everyone,

As some of you may know we have recently completed our first title Keepsake and are currently working on our second title.

So I have some questions for you, making sure we push our next game in a direction everyone will enjoy!

What is your all time favorite adventure game?
Do you buy adventure game on Console or PC?
Do you buy other type of game? Which type/game?
If I mention game like Shadow of Destiny, Prince of Persia, Unreal tournament, did you play those game? enjoy them?
Are we not the coolest company in the world? (don't answer that one :P)
Is there any thing you think we should know before making another adventure game?

Thank you all very much for your help, it is greatly appreciated.
Ben.


A second game ? hummm, interesting... Can you say more ?
I answer :

- What is your all time favorite adventure game?
Broken Sword 1

- Do you buy adventure game on Console or PC?
PC

- Do you buy other type of game? Which type/game?
Not often

- If I mention game like Shadow of Destiny, Prince of Persia, Unreal tournament, did you play those game? enjoy them?
Prince of Persia and Unreal, I enjoyed them for sure

- Is there any thing you think we should know before making another adventure game?
Don't forget french fans :)

[imported_wedge]

What is your all time favorite adventure game?
My all time favorite is a hard one but I think I would choose The Dig from the good Lucas Arts days, I really liked the atmosphere of the game, the idea behind it was from Steven Spielberg, and the music is just awesome, really a movie like game. I must say that if they were plans for a hi-res version of game I would buy it as soon as it would be out :D

Do you buy adventure game on Console or PC?
I would say both, well mainly PC, but I've had my two first adventure titles with games from Japan that are Glass Rose on PS2 and one great game but too short and the good ideas not enough used on it, that game is Another Code on the Nintendo DS which was a lot of fun to turn thing and so on directly with the stylus.

Do you buy other type of game? Which type/game?
I do not really have on genre over another I would say that most part is coming from the feel I have with the game and the strong storry telling. So I really have liked some big Games one of my favorite outside adventures still Beyond Good & Evil from Michel Ancel that was really a great game for me.

If I mention game like Shadow of Destiny, Prince of Persia, Unreal tournament, did you play those game? enjoy them?
Shadow of Destiny, I guess it is the game called Shadow of Memories, and I liked it even if it was really weird with it's way of handling event, going through time avoiding our own death again, and again. But that was not a surprise for a japanese game ;) Prince of Perisa is good too, alot of fun in the first one the second a little better but far too dark looking toi me and the music were strange for tat episode and UNreal Tournament yeah I play it but only in LAN with friends so we can have really fun with it.

I'm curious on two things now that you've said that :) First Shadow of Destiny are you planing on sompe time travelling adventure based ? Because it is the only sepcific adventure titles you gave in these questions.

And second about console, I would like to know if you had thoughts on the new way of playing games that was shown by Nintendo in septembere that really looks nice. You know since I've seen it I imagine First Person adventure were the ctonroller would really be an extension of your hand wnd where you could really play and fell like being in the game even more.

Is there any thing you think we should know before making another adventure game?
Just to make ift the best adventure possible I would say and to provide great gaming experiences

[WickedTrickster]

A second game ? hummm, interesting... Can you say more ?
get french fans :)


Yes, I could say more... but... can we at least wait untill Keepsake release in France, Europe and USA? :P Hehehe.

Ben.

[a_side]

Yes, I could say more... but... can we at least wait untill Keepsake release in France, Europe and USA? :P Hehehe.

Ben.


Ok ok, I'll wait ;D

[imported_Leo]

Hey everyone,

As some of you may know we have recently completed our first title Keepsake and are currently working on our second title.

So I have some questions for you, making sure we push our next game in a direction everyone will enjoy!

What is your all time favorite adventure game?
Do you buy adventure game on Console or PC?
Do you buy other type of game? Which type/game?
If I mention game like Shadow of Destiny, Prince of Persia, Unreal tournament, did you play those game? enjoy them?
Are we not the coolest company in the world? (don't answer that one :P)
Is there any thing you think we should know before making another adventure game?

Thank you all very much for your help, it is greatly appreciated.
Ben.


1. Broken Sword 1. This game has everything. Great dialogue, fantastic voice acting, story, graphics, easy interface. I have nothing bad to say about this game.

2.PC. That way I can play games at Uni on my laptop.

3.It depends. Usually some Sim or action games depending on whether they got good reviews or not and if they interest me.

4.I haven't played POP or Ut but I have played SOD. I loved it for it's originality, great story, different endings, it's non-linearity and the fact that decisions you make has an impact on the story.

5.We'll see! ;)

6.Here are some things that I personally like in adv. games:
Little or no action involving quick reflexes
If there is action it should be optional
In game hint system so that you don't need to look for walkthrough on internet and won't be stuck for hours on same puzzle.
Some extras at the end of the game. Extras could include watching all cut-scenes, making of, etc.
Diary in the game so you can keep track of the story.

That's all I can think of now. If I think of anything else I'll let you know. I hope it helps. :)

[PolloDiablo]

Allright :)
What is your all time favorite adventure game?
The Longest Journey
Do you buy adventure game on Console or PC?
Both. I have a PC, GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameBoy Advance and Nintendo DS and enjoy games from Alida to Zork and Phoenix Wright to Glass Rose and Syberia to Shadow of Memories (Destiny). Mostly pure adventures but some action/platforming is okay.
Do you buy other type of game? Which type/game?
I also like RPGs (Morrowind, NeverWinter Nights, Final Fantasy, Grandia) and some action/adventures like Beyond Good and Evil, Kya, Primal, Fahrenheit.
If I mention game like Shadow of Destiny, Prince of Persia, Unreal tournament, did you play those game? enjoy them?
Shadow of Destiny: yes and yes. Prince of Persia: watched my husband play and enjoyed that but would never play myself. Unreal Tournament: no and have seen someone play but did not enjoy.
Are we not the coolest company in the world? (don't answer that one Tongue)
Ehmmm... pass :P
Is there any thing you think we should know before making another adventure game?
It takes a lot of marketing/distributionskill to reach the adventuregames-audience because most stores (at least in the BeNeLux) will not stock adventures. The general belief is that the genre is dead. This is a self-fullfilling prophecy because when there are no adventures in the shops people are not aware they exist and will not buy them. The low salesfigures will then 'prove' to the shops that there is no market etc. There are lots of people who want to buy adventures but they just don't know where. Please continue to develop them and we will try our best to find and buy them to support you. :)

[WickedTrickster]

I'm curious on two things now that you've said that :) First Shadow of Destiny are you planing on sompe time travelling adventure based ? Because it is the only sepcific adventure titles you gave in these questions.

And second about console, I would like to know if you had thoughts on the new way of playing games that was shown by Nintendo in septembere that really looks nice. You know since I've seen it I imagine First Person adventure were the ctonroller would really be an extension of your hand wnd where you could really play and fell like being in the game even more.


Hehe! No, we are not planning a time travelling adventure for the next title.

I have played many adventure game on the PC but not a lot on console. Shadow of Destiny was a game I bought on PS2 without really knowning what it really was. I found this game very interesting; it was similar yet different from the adventure game I was used on PC.

My question was to know if you play and like game that have a control and gameplay different from point and click adventure game, and I choose 3 game I know, ranging form adventure without combat, mix of adventure and combat, to full combat :)

And yes, we are very interrested at console, and the new Nintendo console wasn't discarded. But, this is not something we focus on for the second title, but it's a possibility we do not want to discard, making sure that if its happen, the game will be easely portable and gameplay will still work with a joystick in your hand instead of a mouse! :)

Ben.

[imported_wedge]

I'm curious on two things now that you've said that :) First Shadow of Destiny are you planing on sompe time travelling adventure based ? Because it is the only sepcific adventure titles you gave in these questions.

And second about console, I would like to know if you had thoughts on the new way of playing games that was shown by Nintendo in septembere that really looks nice. You know since I've seen it I imagine First Person adventure were the ctonroller would really be an extension of your hand wnd where you could really play and fell like being in the game even more.


Hehe! No, we are not planning a time travelling adventure for the next title.

I have played many adventure game on the PC but not a lot on console. Shadow of Destiny was a game I bought on PS2 without really knowning what it really was. I found this game very interesting; it was similar yet different from the adventure game I was used on PC.

My question was to know if you play and like game that have a control and gameplay different from point and click adventure game, and I choose 3 game I know, ranging form adventure without combat, mix of adventure and combat, to full combat :)

And yes, we are very interrested at console, and the new Nintendo console wasn't discarded. But, this is not something we focus on for the second title, but it's a possibility we do not want to discard, making sure that if its happen, the game will be easely portable and gameplay will still work with a joystick in your hand instead of a mouse! :)

Ben.


Okay as for the ctonrol hum I'm not sure that Shadows of Destinies have the best at least I cannot tell, because I've played the PC version :p but Glass Rose developers had a very good idea, because basically it is a point & click, it can be anoying or a pain to play with a gamepad, so basically you can conenct any USB mouse to the console USB ports and it will work in the game allowing to play it like any PC Point & Click :D

[a_side]

And yes, we are very interrested at console, and the new Nintendo console wasn't discarded. But, this is not something we focus on for the second title, but it's a possibility we do not want to discard, making sure that if its happen, the game will be easely portable and gameplay will still work with a joystick in your hand instead of a mouse! :)

Do you think it's easy to find publishers interested by adventure games on consoles ? Moreover, the development costs are extremely high on these machines ...

[WickedTrickster]

Do you think it's easy to find publishers interested by adventure games on consoles ? Moreover, the development costs are extremely high on these machines ...


No, it sure not easy to have your game ported and distributed on console. This is why the PC is still our main platform. However, we want to be ready if such opportunity happens in the future! :)

[eggnog]

What is your all time favorite adventure game?

Depends on what I feel like playing. Really. I don't have just one favorite.
Grim Fandango is high on my list, as is the Myst series (Myst, Riven, Exile, Uru - haven't played Myst V, didn't like Myst IV).
So are The Longest Journey, Secret of Monkey Island, Obsidian, Journeyman Project 3, Zork Grand Inquisitor...



Do you buy adventure game on Console or PC?

Any way I can get them. I've even bought old PSX versions of adventure games on ebay, like Broken Sword and Discworld.


Do you buy other type of game? Which type/game?

Bejewelled, Alchemy, Mahjongg, and similar.
Puzzle games like Jewels of the Oracle (which are very hard to find)
Sometimes I play an action/adventure with a god mode cheat, if it has imaginative graphics - for example American McGee's Alice.
I liked Might and Magic VI and VII. VI was better - so many different things you could do and the world was vast.


If I mention game like Shadow of Destiny, Prince of Persia, Unreal tournament, did you play those game? enjoy them?

Played Shadow of Destiny. Enjoyed it, mainly because it was interesting to see the picturesque location in different time periods. Would have enjoyed it more if I could have turned off the timer and just poked around looking at things, finding clues, solving puzzles.

Played Prince of Persia 3D with cheats. Wasn't able to finish because I couldn't beat the bad guy within the time limit in the final battle. Had to watch the video for the "successful" ending outside the game. :P

Played part of Prince of Persia Sands of Time on PS2. Reached a part that was hard to get past, got bored with retrying, and quit. Got maybe 1/3 of the way through it - not sure how much. Liked the graphics.

Wasn't interested in Prince of Persia Warrior Within. Was disgusted with how they tried to make a fairy tale-like character into one of those "gritty" stereotypes.



Are we not the coolest company in the world? (don't answer that one :P)

OK


Is there any thing you think we should know before making another adventure game?


Well there was someone ranting about hard-to-read text in games over at JA. It wasn't me, but I think he has a point. If you use text for subtitles or for in-game reading material, make sure it's in an easy to read font on a contrasting background.

[WickedTrickster]

Well there was someone ranting about hard-to-read text in games over at JA. It wasn't me, but I think he has a point. If you use text for subtitles or for in-game reading material, make sure it's in an easy to read font on a contrasting background.


How could I forget that post! :)

Despite how "colorful" the post was, he was right and we solve the problem making the font more easely readable and the background twice more opaque.

Ben.

[ClémentXVII]

My turn:


What is your all time favorite adventure game?
It's really difficult to choose, I guess I have two all time favorite games: Loom and Day of the Tentacle. Both are marvellous titles from the golden era of the gold guy, but are very different in atmosphere.
Loom has a real sentimental value for me: the CD version came bundled with the first computer my dad brought home (486 DX/2 66, with SBPro & CD-ROM). Even if I was only 12 years old (I think), and did not understand a lot from what was said (my mother tongue is french), I found the game to be really deep, using a simple musical interface, and a deep, interwoven plot (pun intended :P). Plus the music and voice-acting from the CD-ROM were magnificent. Every time I play this game again, and see the memorable scene from the cathedral at the start, I still get some shivers in my spine. I got stuck a long time before I found out I could play the drafts backwards as well ^^.
Day of the Tentacle, because of the wacky, zany and lovely tentacles, the humour is great, the plot is as fun as any WarnerBros / Tex Avery cartoon from the 50-60s and this game really has it all: a lot of characters, a twisted plot, a great deal of unnecessary actions (try playing with Oozo the clown, or with Nurse Edna... one could really experiment all verbs on all hotspots from the game), and a few red herrings too (I just loved the recycling machine in the future. You had to see my face when I lost an object in it :P


Do you buy adventure game on Console or PC?
I own a gamecube, but adventure games are PC only!


Do you buy other type of game? Which type/game?
I play most types of games... The only game genres I have never tried are Sports games, Flight Simulators and GTA-type of games.
I really like games that have that little something more than others. If there's humour in the game, it has a lot more chances to be bought than another... some of my favourite non-adventure games include:
-Giants: Citizen Kabuto (man, those cutscenes were great! The game had a strange learning curve (some of the first missions were really hard), but all in all, a great game!
- No One Lives Forever (2): Playing a british spy that can throw bananas at policemen... there was a lot of humour in this game, and I really enjoyed it (one of the few FPS I played till the end). And browsing through the secret files of the Russian soldiers... really funny!
- Darwinia (http://www.darwinia.co.uk/)! This game is great! Developed by an independent studio, this game puts you into a virtual world, where you have to save the world from viruses. The graphics, an ode to the amiga period, are really superb, and you are really immersed in a world that could have been spawned from Tron! It's a must-try, must-buy RTS! They are currently arranging distribution via Steam (on Dec. 15th), so in between, they had to remove the Windows demos at the request from Valve. The Mac & Linux demos are still available though!
- Gish (http://www.chroniclogic.com/gish.htm) (plays on Windows/Mac/Linux): again, an indie title from ChronlcLogic, where you control a ball of tar. It's a 2D side-scrolling platform game with incredible physics! The ball of tar can jump, stick to things,... and it's really impressive and fun to play, especially the VS modes (two players on one screen)
- Trackmania & Trackmania Sunrise. Great track building games, in the spirit of the Stunts game from the 90's. It's really great! Must try the demo if ou haven't. There's also a puzzle mode where you have a limited number of blocks to build the perfect track in order to race it under the given time.
- Last, but not the least, the greatest computer RPG I ever played (maybe more akin to an adventure game than a Morrowind): Planescape:Torment! This game has one of the best storylines ever written for a game, and the NPC's that join your quest have a deep background. You play the role of the Nameless One, who wakes up one day in the morgue, and discovers he has amnesia, and cannot die. You then get escorted by Morte, a flying skull, who seems to know a lot of things about you, but is reluctant to tell it! It's really hard to find now, but this game is really worth it!


If I mention game like Shadow of Destiny, Prince of Persia, Unreal tournament, did you play those game? enjoy them?
Shadow? never heard of it.
Prince of Persia: I grew playing the original on hercules monochrome! The current games have nice visual effects, but I haven't really managed to play more than 3/4 hours at a time... I felt bored :D
UT: Yes, it's fun, but not all the time (plus I'm not really good at it ^^)


Are we not the coolest company in the world?
Do you live in the North/South Pole? :P


Is there any thing you think we should know before making another adventure game?
That's a tricky question! Especially as I haven't had the opportunity to try out Keepsake, let alone the demo ;)

I think adventure games should have a deep storyline, but that the player can choose if he wants the "long version" or not. In most classical LucasArts games, dialogue trees were kept to the strict minimum (a few replies), where the player could really choose often if he wanted to continue to have more details on a subject (which was not really needed to solve the puzzle), or just speed through the dialogue. It' really adds replayabilty value, because e.g. if you want to replay TLJ, you sometimes have to go through almost every line of dialogue before being able to advance the plot.

Thanks for your questions! I hope I got the correct answers ^^

[EDIT]I saw someone mentioning Neverwinter Nights. I didn't really liked the official campaign, but Stefan Gagne's Penultima (http://pixelscapes.com/penultima/) modules were really fun to play! It's Terry Pratchett meets NWN :P

[imported_imported_Crow]

nice try: you ask, we answer... lol, but ok

1. Best Adventures are the good old LucasArts, Broken Sword, Longest Journey and for sure some others
2. I buy adventures for PC. Don't have a console but also I would never want to play an adventure on one. I love point and click.
3. There are a plenty of games I play but it makes not really a sense for marketing strategies ;-)

What also you have to know? After reading some reviews about Keepsake I think, more NPCs and dialog in future games would be nice, but I want to play your game for myself before I say more. Ah, and I'm not such a huge fan of myst-style riddles.

[shae]

What is your all time favorite adventure game?
Not sure.


Do you buy adventure game on Console or PC?
Never had a console.


Do you buy other type of game? Which type/game?
I'm pro everything, if it's good, besides simulation and sports.


If I mention game like Shadow of Destiny, Prince of Persia, Unreal tournament, did you play those game? enjoy them?
I liked the original PoPs (2Ds), especially the first. The first 3D one (1999-2000?) may have been ok, but I skipped it nevertheless. The newer ones look good but I haven't tried them. UT is definitely nice. SoD: Never heard of it until now. I'll have to check some reviews. :)


Are we not the coolest company in the world? (don't answer that one :P)
But of course. (Oh, missed that...)


Is there any thing you think we should know before making another adventure game?
Wishlist:
* Crowded worlds (hey, if fast paced 3D games start doing it, why can't 2D/3D hybrids follow?)
* How about adding to the common point+click interface a text parser for character interaction?