HOTSPOTS - too few, too many?

[James Kay]

Trying to work something out, design-wise, for my first forray into AGS.

Hotspots...which is worst:
Too few or too many hotspots?

Hotspots, especially discriptive ones, can add a lot of context and texture to a scene. I'm just afraid that if I add too many the players will have a harder time trying to find actual "quest objects". One solution would be to have a lot of descriptive hotspots, but not so many interaction hotspots, but that can be confusing. You cna look at an object and get a funny/moving description, but then you try to pick it up...and...nothing happens.  But then again, adding a lot of "You can't pick this object up" messages, or variants thereof, can be annoying.
Also, with too many hotspots, even just descriptive ones, the player can easily miss out on important ovjects. Say, for example, I make the floor a hotspot and looking at it brings up some funny message about it being the floor. If the player is clicking around a scene a lot to try and find items he'll probably click on the floor a few times and get annoyed, and so miss, say, that coin that is lying there.
But then again, if the descriptions are well written and add a lot of depth and detail to the world ir can prolong the game experience and enjoyment. Too few hotspots would make the game easy and quicker.
Adding rollovers (say the icon changes when something is a hotspot) would make the game rather like a pixel-hunt, with the player sweeping the screen for hotspots with the cursor. Which I think is boring. ..

Any thoughts/suggestions/input?

[BerserkerTails]

In my opinion I think too few hotspots is a real flaw in games. With a lack of hotspots, you usually feel like you're not really in the game. It just makes the locale our character is currently in seem un-detailed.

Like for example, say you're in an evil scientist's lair, and there's a bookcase full of kooky and intriguing items. Would you rather be able to click your look icon on the bookshelf and get the message "It's got wierd items on it.", or would you rather be able to look at every individual item and read an neat description?

[James Kay]

That's a pretty good example.
But what I'm getting at is, would you like it if it wasn't just the seperate books in the bookcase, but also the potplant on top of it, the stain on the floor in front of it, the table next to it, the lamp on the table next to it, the waste paper bin to the side of it, the wall behind it, the floor in front of it and the pencil on the table?
All descriptive hotspots only. And, for the sake of argument, the descriptions are all funny....

[tamper]

I started a thread like this a while back. You might find some insight here.

http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=9460

[BerserkerTails]

Sure. If you play through all the VGA Sierra games (I just played through Conquests of the Longbow again today), you'll notice that pretty much everything and it's dog can be looked at, even if it returns a message saying "The grass is green." or "There's not much to see there.". The fact that there's still a message nearly anywhere you click is a good thing in my opinion. They don't have to all be funny or meaningful, but that added description can give just that little bit extra to your game.

EDIT: Reading the thread Tamper started, I can see alot of people agree with me, whereas alot also disagree. What it looks like it boils down to (Once again), is the age old question of: Sierra or Lucasarts? I like them both, but I prefer Sierra adventures, so naturally my adventure game will play more like a Sierra one. Others like Lucasarts adventures, and prefer to have their games more like those of Lucasarts.

[James Kay]

I started a thread like this a while back. You might find some insight here.

http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=9460

I apologise for this n00b faux-pas.

Interesting thread. I guess the answer is: it all depends on taste, really.

[Nostradamus]

The more the better in my opinion. More hotspots with descriptions add to the spirit of the game. Look at Larry Vales. Each and every thing in each screen had description AND reactions to "Use" and "Talk" as well. And that was tremendous fun.

[Ginny]

Well I like LucasArts games and yet I also like nto havemany hotspots. The floor and walls are a bit too much IMO, unless they won't create a problem like you mentioned and have funny responses. I think that hotspots' names should be displayed either at the top or on the cursor... Cause then with all the hotspots you can miss something, and with few hotspots you'll be clicking on non-interactive-no-look-message stuff all the time. Anyway if you have extra hotspots it's always nice to be able to do something with them that isn't part of the game, like read a book you won't need, etc. Sortof adding to the richness and immersion. I like feeling that I'm inside the world the designer created, not playing a game... This is of course just my opinion

[Alynn]

I like hotspots, I like to be able to interact with nearly everything, In my game, unless I run into space problems, everything will be a hotspot, some points the character really questions his sanity, espeically when trying to strike up a conversation with a garbage can.

But, make them worthwhile though, since they are visual objects to begin with, don't describe something they can already see, if you have a skull on a table, if looked at just don't have, its a skull on the table, add to what they can already see:

"The skull is yellowed and cracked with age, the crown of the thing is covered in thick dust."

On interaction (or take)

"The dust shows you that it hasn't been moved in many years, and you decide you won't be the one to do it now."

See what I mean?