Adventure Games as Research Documents

[Meeks]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum but I've been following, like many others, AGDI's QFGII remake for some time, and finally came over here to check things out.  Besides a general welcome and moment of old man's silence for the golden age of adventure gaming, I'd like to get feedback on two issues that are pertinent to my current interests, which is pursuing a PhD in the Digital Humanities:

First off is the critical analysis and treatment of computer games (And adventure games in particular) as literary works.  As I grow older and more wistful, I look back on these games of my youth and realize that many themes were much deeper and more meaningful than I'd realized.  Particularly, I think of the story of Julanar in Quest for Glory II, as well as the darker and more poignant moments of that series (Which is my personal favorite).  Has anyone had any experience with this or thoughts on it?  Is there anyone out there in academia who'd be interested in collaborating on some kind of exploration of this?

Secondly, I wonder if there's been much thought or effort put into historically accurate adventure games that teach through immersion.  I'm loathe to talk about educational software, as I still remember the days of boring, tedious and un-fun math and typing games, but I feel like an adventure game set during the creation of Roman Arabia or the Early Han period in China could be done well and prove valuable to college-level students of such things.

Sorry for the pretentious first post--just a little enthusiastic.

[Goldmund]

Hello Meeks,

My MA thesis was about computer games approached with tools of literary theory.
Here, you can use it if you find it interesting:

http://www.geocities.com/hermann_rottweiler/magisterska.zip
Please note that first chapters are at times a bit boring for people who play computer games, because I had to explain my old University tutors what exactly are adventure games. Also, it's been written in 2001.

Be sure to check "GTD" threads in the "popular threads" section of these forums, also. Some great theoretical stuff there.
Maybe you could create another GTD thread? That would be fantastic.

[Meeks]

After skimming your thesis, I was struck by a few phrases:

"But the people who have the last word are unfortunately technology maniacs (still better than marketing maniacs)"

I wonder how this dynamic has shifted with the rise of hobbyist/open source game development.  I have noticed in my own experiences (primarily with open source gaming) that the technology maniacs are still in charge and that, in the case of hobbyist games, it seems like the marketing maniacs are extremely prevalent (It's just that they're not very skillful and they all tend to be 15 years old). 

Just as with tools for the presentation of humanities knowledge (even with those such as the wonderful Animated TimeMap of the Khmer Empire at http://ecaimaps.berkeley.edu/animations/2003_03_khmer_animation.swf ) it seems that the technological expertise still precludes the kind of latitude available to, say, writers--be they of fiction or research documents (Who need only master a pen, word processor or computer).

Perhaps the gaming medium has not reached the level of technological maturity to allow for creators who are more concerned with story and idiom than technical mastery.  I imagine that Hemmingway would have been less prolific if he was constantly forced to design and craft his own pens, pencils, typewriters and paper.

"Therefore, a stunning visual form typically prevails over narrative meaning. There is a lot of transparent smoke, stereo sound, weather effects, but very little sense. Behind the visual richness lurks boredom, caused by the lack of meaning. And there is room for meaning in computer games."

Do you think one of the traps is the linearity of story-based games?  Could it be that the reason why meaning is elusive in gaming is because it is a dynamic (poiesis/garden) environment and not a linear (techne/path) environment and the gamer instinctively knows that and tends toward the more dynamic games (Such as FPSs, RTSs and progressively more sandbox games like Sims and MMORPGs)?  Is it possible to build a dynamic storyline engine that allows for a sandbox adventure game?  (Not surprisingly, I have some thoughts on dynamic storyline creation and its programmability)

"The death of our character or fatal decisions (the Earth is destroyed) is also an ending, but a temporary and not the ultimate one."

To me this is a possible answer to the linearity conundrum involved with adventure games.  Some kind of acknowledgement and embracing of the Death Scenes / Unhappy Endings in adventure games may afford the designer the ability to give the player the much-desired dynamic feeling while maintaining an ultimate, Linear storyline.  I offer my own feelings on such a subject, related to Zork:

"There's such an insidious breakdown in the quality of an idea after you write it down.  It's not even the writing, it's that people read it and they just accept.  Like they're listening to old-time mystics, like these things happen because they were meant to happen, no matter how terrible the fight or touching the makeup.  In reality, they're so much more emotional, but you lose that in writing because you can't express to the reader the honest uncertainty of life.  To them, arguing lovers make up because it says, on page thirty-three, ‘They make up'.

It would seem that you can't avoid that, that no form of storytelling has ever been able to avoid that.

That's not true, in this old computer game, Zork, you run around solving puzzles and fighting, but you could mix something up, do the wrong thing at the wrong time, and it didn't let you know; you keep playing, oblivious to the fact that you can't win.

It's a simple game, you run around collecting treasure--platinum bars and jewels and, stuff.  Well, one of the treasures is this Faberge egg, all covered with gems and gilt.  But the egg isn't the treasure, it's what's inside, this little gold bird.  No matter what you do to open it, the bird always gets broken and ruined.  Like in life, there's no warning and, just like in life, there's nothing you could do to fix it.  Video games nowadays, they're determinist, derivative or just plain porn, but those old games, they were like life.  Because of the uncertainty.

If only we could write like that…  Read a story one time and maybe the protagonist doesn't write the book, or it gets written but it doesn't ruin his life.

Another time, maybe the ending's not so storybook.  The indeterminancy means that you read the book and appreciate what did happen because it might have ended up differently, like life.

The same sense that interpretation is not called for accompanies the viewing of most modern Hollywood action films â€" rarely does a spectator ponder about the meaning of Rambo II or a James Bond flick, and the intellectual message intended by its authors. “Such movies simply serve different functions”, he/she would say when asked about interpretation. They are also rarely called ‘a work of art'. On the other hand, Rambo as well as James Bond films have meanings, which are political, and they also provide their spectators with moral messages â€" for example, that it is laudable to kill for the country, or, which is more subtle yet still important, they give a subliminal suggestion that the life of the main character is more valuable than the lives of the other characters."

I find this the most interesting because it reminded me, almost immediately, of my esteem for an incredibly pulp work--Conan the Barbarian.  What would seem like nothing more than an Arnie vehicle with animatronic vultures is, I think, something far more interesting.  Besides the lack of dialog and the universal themes and the patently horrible life of Conan,  which I think are all strengths, there is one moment that truly stands out.  When Conan and Subatai are discussing their gods.  It's interesting to me as a scholar and academic because somehow, it rings true.  Conan talks of Crom in his mountain and Subatai talks of The Four Winds and they make simple, but compelling theological claims.  For me, for a second, I feel like I know what it must have been like to live in such an early period, with its polytheism and lack of convulution in the expression of beliefs.

That's what I envision when I think of well-researched and well-written adventure games.  Imagine you start a game and you're a small child in Northern Arabia.  You wander about, seeing what life was like for the Nabataean people in that time (Did they have pets?  Did they sit or did they squat?  What did they eat?  What did they wear?  Did they live communally?) and then, as you're playing in the hills, you come upon a strange man.

Strangely Dressed Warrior:  Are you an enemy?

You:  No, sir, I'm just a boy.

Strangely Dressed Warrior: Well, boy, look over that hill and you will see the coming change.

And when you walk north, the next screen shows a Roman legion that is moving into Nabataea, to annex it.  The rest of the game involves the romanization of the province, the building of the Via Nova Traiana, a road that ran lengthwise up and down the province, and other historical actions.  As you grow older, you visit Petra and Aqaba and see how the people change. 

Such a setting would seem, to me, to hold many possibilities for conflict and exciting stories while, at the same time, giving the player the chance to immerse themselves in a strange world that could be historically and archaeologically documented.  And, in stark contrast with other games that draw upon historical inspiration, this would be appealing without focusing on bloodshed by the metric ton.

[En garde!]

The french company cryo did a couple of factual history-based adventure games:  Versailles, Journey to Pompeii... I also remember some company publishing adventure games in ancient Egypt and China, but can't really remember more details.