Graphic Adventures, the Book

arj0n · Tue 03/08/2010 13:40:35

Read this?

Graphic Adventures, the Book:

Did you love to play graphic adventures as much as I did, and want to
learn more about them? The book Graphic Adventures is the mostly
correct history of the adventure game classics by Lucasfilm, Sierra and
others, from the pages of Wikipedia. The book features the tales
behind games like Loom, Labyrinth, Mystery House, Maniac Mansion,
Space Quest, The Secret of Monkey Island, King's Quest, Myst, Zork
Nemesis and Leisure Suit Larry.

The book was based on the pages of Wikipedia articles, which were
edited and added to. Many game creators, like Al Lowe, David Fox
and Peter Langston, are interviewed and provide further historical
background on these games.

Download the digital editable version.

Arj0n.

GarageGothic · Tue 03/08/2010 13:48:05

Yup, linked to first an excerpt and later the full book in this thread, but you're doing a better job of pimping it

The Al Lowe and David Fox interviews are definitely the best parts, there are a couple of other nice interviews (Scott Murphy, I think) but they've been published elsewhere before. The chat with Chris Jones - the Tex Murphy one, not pumaman - was disappointingly brief.

arj0n · Tue 03/08/2010 13:53:26

@GarageGothic
Woops, sorry, didn't noticed you've already created a thread 'bout this...

Anyway,

Contents

* Part I: Lucasfilm Games

o Labyrinth
o Maniac Mansion
o Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
o Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders
o Interlude: A Talk With Matthew Alan Kane, Peter Langston and David Fox
o Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
o Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
o Interlude: Boris Schneider on localizing Lucasfilm games
o Loom
o The Secret of Monkey Island
o Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
o The Curse of Monkey Island
o Escape from Monkey Island
o Sam & Max Hit the Road
o Full Throttle
o The Dig
o Grim Fandango

* Part II: Sierra

o Mystery House
o Wizard and the Princess
o Time Zone
o King's Quest
o King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne
o King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human
o King's Quest: Mask of Eternity
o The Black Cauldron
o Space Quest
o Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge
o Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon
o Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers
o Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
o Space Quest 6: The Spinal Frontier
o Interlude: A Talk with Scott Murphy
o Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards
o Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places)
o Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals
o Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work
o Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
o Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!
o Interlude: A Talk to Al Lowe
o Police Quest
o Manhunter: New York
o Gabriel Knight
o Phantasmagoria

* Part III: ... And All the Others

o Deja Vu
o Shadowgate
o Future Wars
o Operation Stealth
o Myst
o Starship Titanic
o Interlude: Michael Bywater
o The Last Express
o Neuromancer
o Return to Zork
o Zork Nemesis
o Tex Murphy: Mean Streets
o Interlude: A Talk With Chris Jones
o Simon the Sorcerer
o Beneath a Steel Sky

* Addendum 1: Gilbert's Rules of Thumb for Adventure Games

* Addendum 2: The Puzzles of Zak McKracken

Kweepa · Tue 03/08/2010 14:09:49

I tried to read this book, but ended up skimming it for the new interviews, which weren't clearly marked. It would be awesome to have a pamphlet of just the original material.

I'm looking forward to receiving my copy of GET LAMP later this week.

GarageGothic · Tue 03/08/2010 14:28:16

I'm also looking forward very much forward to GET LAMP. Does the CC sharealike license mean that it is legal to get it through torrent? Not to sound like a cheapskate, but with the ridiculous customs charges and handling fees for imports from outside the European Union, I'd rather download the documentary and make a donation to the director than order the physical DVDs.

Kweepa · Wed 04/08/2010 00:48:33

Yes, apparently that's all good.
I backed the project through Kickstarter. You're welcome.

auriond · Wed 04/08/2010 02:47:30

Haha, I came in here expressly to post about this. Beaten twice!

I don't quite get the preamble about the content being from Wikipedia and the project being an "experiment". I see from the blog post that he's allowed to post it as a downloadable book provided that it is editable, but what's that in aid of? Is he expecting readers to submit revised editions to him?

I'm asking because I suspect many of us, and other readers, will have lots of interesting tidbits to add about the games. And he calls it an "experiment" so... I guess I'm failing to see the experimental bit here. It just seems like a compilation of Wikipedia articles and linked interviews.

arj0n · Wed 04/08/2010 09:37:54

Quote from: auriond on Wed 04/08/2010 02:47:30
It just seems like a compilation of Wikipedia articles and linked interviews.

I think that's just what it is, no less, no more.

Snake · Wed 04/08/2010 14:32:04

Quote from: Arj0nDid you love to play graphic adventures as much as I did, and want to
learn more about them?

Did anyone else find this question a bit silly?

arj0n · Wed 04/08/2010 15:02:15

Ali · Thu 05/08/2010 00:19:28

It's a nice collection of many of my old favourites, and a lot of Sierra games which I think are pretty rubbish. I was particularly glad to see Starship Titanic in there.

What I don't understand is why there are so few games after the mid 90s. Not wanting to sound too much like an adventure game resurrectionist, but that wasn't the end! Where are Broken Sword, The Longest Journey, Syberia or Dark Fall?

I don't think the word 'classic' has a great deal of meaning in a medium as young as video games, and since many of the games featured here clearly belong to different technological epochs why not include the more recent additions?

Monsieur OUXX · Thu 05/08/2010 09:06:15

I enjoyed it a lot!
Thanks.

The article about The Lost Express is confusing -- it starts by saying that it was a commercial failure in 1979

.