Your Ideas for adventure games...

[Helli78]

... from where did it came?

i want to make one or two (or more, i want establish a company , want to have success and want TO ....

RULE THE WORLD !!!!  8) 8)  )

*calming down*
------
seriously , my question is:

how i can "storyboard" an idea or just get an idea for a adventure-game?

i tried to find a good story for it, but it seems that i failed some times ....

a basic idea (severals...) is in my head, but when it goes to the status:
- making a whole story out of this idea
- storyboarding it a little bit out
- adding riddles
- adding stuff (graphics, sound....)
- ....

i fail hard!
my ideas for a (semi)big? adventure are too loosy , i think.

if i mind a riddle that could be put in the game, i re-think about that, then this riddle comes out (in my opinion) to be too easy and too simple (like give A to B and get C... or talk to X about Y to know or/and to get Z - thats something that can and will ALL players know, so... no sense in a game).

i also read an article (see AGS_Media, which one , i dont know yet) in which is said ... you can build your game like this

...need a onion...
... get it at X...
.... give Y to person A to get X(onion)....
... color the onion red to be able to give it to person B...
and so on....

thats what i tried , but even after some simple riddles i 'd built , i loose my thoughts...
in the play-time of this, there so i figured out to myself) there is nothing really interesting to do ....
talk to someone ---- doing a little conversation... here it would some sentences but none of them are realy -surprising- so that a player would say "wow! good (or funny or interesting) made!" ...

so, how i can do a "good" adventure?

questions are
- how i can build some interesting or "hard" (myst-like) game-riddles /for adventures (a try of explaining this see above) ??
- must i think on the riddles backwards, setting up the goal and then go slowly back to the beginning....(like rewinding a tape)?
- how i can put on interesting or surprising facts/things/situations/etc. on or in it?

thanks for any advice....
be AGS with you 

[Afflict]

Welcome DeepHitz, I see your new...

Well there is alot of articles on the net and I suggest you start looking at them first. So heres some linkz (just because your new otherwise id be to lazy )

http://www.barnettcollege.com/tutorials.htm (this should help some the story one anyway)

http://www.chapter11studios.com/newsupdates.htm (on the side tab youll see adventure arcitech, very good.)

http://www.adventuredevelopers.com/ (somewhere here i think i read some awesome adv tips and stuff)

My take on some of your questions is:

You need to know where the sotry starts and where it ends. Then you fill in the inbetweens I try to take it like animation. You render or draw the keyframes and then fill in the inbetweens. Now just remember that not all your puzzles(riddles not the right word) will ever be complicated as some things are just blatantly obvious.

As for the interesting situations you know your character best, you know your world you created around him best...
You must be your character and think of "if i was here and this would of happened to me" would it be interesting or not?

How could it be more interesting...

For eg. I am a umm western dude, I live in the west.
Now what could be intersting ? IMO being captured by indiands or apaches could be interesting.
How can that be more intersting? well They tie you to a steak and want to burn you alive!
Now doesnt that sound like an interesting situation.

So know you know ok I have been captured by indian ppl and tied to stake to be burned. Two end resuslts your player dies as being alive tends to do that to people or he escapes. So you got your end your begining so "tween" the puzzle.

Good starting points are: At what point in game is character captured and what items does he have on him?
What items does he have around him?
Who is around him?

Things like this could be worth your while to ask?

Try this too its called mind mapping... Write a word (in relation to you charcter surrounding problem etc) and then whatever pops into your head while thinking of this (one word) write it down and so on n on n on... (if you dont understand just google mind mapping)

AS far as the facts go you will need to do research wikipedia; how stuff works; google; etc to the revelant topic/facts you need in your game.

hope this helps enjoy,
and goodluck
Afflict

[Helli78]

thanks for answering.
this link i already know (http://www.adventuredevelopers.com/ ) (and i read alsp already some articles about making a (good) adventure-game.

interesting is, this idea (and the successful making of) with a mindmap i had done, but whats missing is:

this mentioned "coolness/Interesting/fun/wow/hot"-effect which could make a game unique.... (for questions see my posting above yours

[SilverWizard_OTF]

Well, personally (if you want an wizard's opinion), when i want to develop an adventure game, i don't plan the actual story, riddles and characters from the beginning. For example, i want to develop a game with hero a Wizard, somewhere in Middle-Earth. I will start with that idea, and when i begin to develop the game, the ideas will come to mind at the time the have to! Don't force yourself to think the whole plot at the beggining. It just won't work.
    HAIL TO THE WORLD OF KINDNESS!!!

[Bernie]

Actually, thinking up the story first works quite well for me. Here's my process:

1. Coming up with the Story, Characters, Events + Important Dialogue
2. Planning out the Rooms
3. Planning the Puzzles
3b. Minor adjustments to planned Rooms if a Puzzle requires it
5. Making the Game

I find it easier to come up with the puzzles once I know what happens to the main character and his NPC friends and which locations he and they visit throughout the game.

I think this process differs from person to person. All we need to do is figure out what works best for us.