How to make an adventure game *really good*

Started by Gurok, Fri 08/07/2016 08:18:48

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Danvzare

Quote from: CaptainD on Thu 21/07/2016 11:21:31
I would like to add this fun-filled concept - A complicated copy-protection system that is actually more of a challenge to solve than any of the puzzles in the game itself.

And which relies on time-sensitive technology, such as paper whose ink will eventually disappear through age, or a prism that needs to be placed against a CRT monitor, or the requiment of a having a floppy disk drive connected. Preferably all three.

Stupot

You should continue to describe your game in all publicly viewable arenas as "retro" despite it's not really being very retro at all. This will help Adventure games to remain niche and ensure that no progress is made in the genre.

CaptainD

Quote from: Stupot+ on Thu 21/07/2016 12:41:25
You should continue to describe your game in all publicly viewable arenas as "retro" despite it's not really being very retro at all. This will help Adventure games to remain niche and ensure that no progress is made in the genre.

You should also claim that with your game you are single-handedly "resurrecting the dead genre of adventure games". 

Quote from: Danvzare on Thu 21/07/2016 11:55:11
Quote from: CaptainD on Thu 21/07/2016 11:21:31
I would like to add this fun-filled concept - A complicated copy-protection system that is actually more of a challenge to solve than any of the puzzles in the game itself.

And which relies on time-sensitive technology, such as paper whose ink will eventually disappear through age, or a prism that needs to be placed against a CRT monitor, or the requiment of a having a floppy disk drive connected. Preferably all three.

Not forgetting of course to make a system that is absolutely impossible for anyone colour-blind or even slightly visually impaired to be able to solve.  (Actually add that to in-game puzzles as well as the copy protection!)


In addition, create an interface so ugly, complicated and confusing that even a polydextrous octopus with an IQ >200 and perfect vision would struggle with.
 

Blondbraid

This thread really reminds me of The worst muse on Twitter! (roll)
So, so much wonderful terrible advice, I couldn't resist posting a link.
Some of my favorite nuggets of wisdom:

If you make that kid the Chosen Hero, you can totally bypass any other character development!

Video game technology basically plateaued at the Super Nintendo, right?

You're right: A sanitized Medieval France where everyone's white and uses modern idioms is a very original setting. Go for it.

You won't have to do as much research if you replace the city's immigrant population with elves.

It's not really an exposition dump if a character is reading it off a futuristic device.

You don't want readers to solve the crime ahead of your detective--better withhold all the really critical clues.

It's doesn't really count as exposition if a character is just reminiscing out loud.


Mandle

Make sure the cursor changes from the active item back to the default pointer every time the player attempts an interaction, and make it so the player must then reopen the inventory window to reselect the same item again.

Bonus points if the game also insults the player every time a wrong interaction is tried (I know this one is mentioned above, but it's extra-super-great when used on an already annoyed enthralled player)

Crimson Wizard

Make sure an important event in the game, like the appearance of vital character or item, only takes place when player walks over precise but visually non-distinctive spot of a large room. Even better if he/she must walk in a very particular direction.

Implement score points in your game and make 1 score point impossible to get because of a bug. Or just for fun. You like fun, don't you? Your players will have fun too, searching for the solution to get maximal score.

CaesarCub

Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Thu 21/07/2016 23:56:03
Implement score points in your game and make 1 score point impossible to get because of a bug. Or just for fun. You like fun, don't you? Your players will have fun too, searching for the solution to get maximal score.
Ohh I have been guilty of this one when I made public an unfinished game, had to apologize too many times.

Also:

Have the final puzzle of your game depend on a specific piece of technology. For example, having to eject the CD to solve the game, making it impossible to finish for all the future generations that bought it using GoG.
Also as an added bonus, make the game in really low poly 3D and force the players to walk around huge empty maps. (This might help get the reference if the previous line didn't).-

Snarky

Puzzle difficulty should be completely independent of story importance. Ideally you want your players to spend most of their time trying to figure out how to scrape gum off a desk or find the phone number of the video store, not stopping the Satanist conspiracy to drain the Pacific.

Also, if it's not a standard inventory or dialog puzzle, you don't want it in your game. No gameplay hybridization, original twists on the formula or unusual elements are advisable. Remember: A creative gameplay mechanic is why Insult Swordfighting is so reviled. Ideally, all puzzles should follow the exact same template: Pick up inventory item, combine with another inventory item, use on hotspot/give to character.

Adventure game players by definition have nothing better to do with their time, so take the opportunity to really set the stage up front. Will they be able to properly appreciate the story you've concocted without a complete history of the world in which it is set? I should think not! Can you really care about this Gabriel Knight fellow when you don't know what his childhood was like?

And for the sake of realism, make sure to have them play through a few "regular days" in the main character's life before anything interesting happens. A few hours in, the impact will be so much greater!

Mandle

Quote from: Snarky on Fri 22/07/2016 01:04:47
And for the sake of realism, make sure to have them play through a few "regular days" in the main character's life before anything interesting happens. A few hours in, the impact will be so much greater!

I feel there can be some cases where this could be handled well:

For example, in the movie "Shaun Of The Dead", where the normal days are set up for social parody when compared to the later days after everything goes to hell...

But yeah, just for the sake of it, with no proper motive behind it...Not a fun idea!

CaptainD

Quote from: Blondbraid on Thu 21/07/2016 22:00:52
It's not really an exposition dump if a character is reading it off a futuristic device.

It's doesn't really count as exposition if a character is just reminiscing out loud.

Additionally, don't forget to make these non-skippable.  And repeat in various random places throughout the game just in case the player fell asleep the first time.
 

Blondbraid

The key to make any creative work *really good* is to paste together a series of vague ideas of what the Kidz today think is hip,
and businessmen age 50 or older is an excellent source of information on what kids today like.

And if you are ever in doubt about how to make your work seem more contemporary and relevant,
make the protagonist wear a backwards cap and add rave music. Lots of rave music.


Danvzare

Another way to make your creative work *really good* is by banking on the nostalgia of the adults.
And to do that, all you have to do is add a few references to the old NES. Because everyone over twenty five years old, has nostalgia for that console. Absolutely everyone!
Just say "Power Glove", and you know it'll sell.

As a matter of fact, graphics peaked on the NES, so why not make your game with the same graphical limitations as that brilliant console, and get the bonus of calling it 8-bit.
And if for whatever reason you want to make your games more graphical than an NES game, perhaps making it look like something akin to a SNES game but with way more colours. Then call it 8-bit anyway. Besides no one actually knows what bits mean.

Creamy

QuoteAnd if you are ever in doubt about how to make your work seem more contemporary and relevant,
make the protagonist wear a backwards cap and add rave music. Lots of rave music.
[imgzoom]http://www.slightlywarped.com/crapfactory/curiosities/2013/february/images/bad-cat.jpg[/imgzoom]
 

Blondbraid

Some tips on how to make classic characters *really good* :

The protagonist always has an incredibly boring life before the adventure starts, and what better way to tell this than to slowly crawl through his everyday routine as slowly and tedious as possible until the audience is even more bored than the hero?
And he should whine a lot about being meant for greater things, but only until the adventure starts. Then he should whine a lot about how awful it is to be a hero and how he just wants to be a normal boy.
You don't actually have to show the protagonist doing good things, just have everyone tell him how awesome he is. And there is no such thing as a Gary Stu.

The strong female character is really good at fighting, so the male hero will look even more awesome when he has to rescue her towards the end of the story.
She should scream things like "I hate corsets" or "I don't wanna wear a dress!". Real strong female characters only like to wear practical combat gear, such as chain-mail bikinis or stiletto heels.
You don't actually need to show her being capable of fighting, just have her swing a sword at nothing in particular and say "I don't need a man. I can take care of myself." in a pointlessly rude tone.

The wise wizard/ Scientist should always look like Gandalf or Albert Einstein. They are a great way to deliver exposition to the hero, and the best way to do it is for them to hold a very, very long unskippable non-interactive monologue about it, and to make it extra good, have them bumble and forget their words and repeat themselves a few times. Also, it doesn't really matter weather the setting is sci-fi or medieval fantasy, all lab-equipment looks the same, funny looking bottles with tubes in them that are full of what looks like assorted soft drinks. A good idea is to have them fizz and bubble on a repeated loop while the old man holds his very, very long unskippable non-interactive monologue to the hero.

A villain has no need for a motivation other than Evil. If you want to be really fancy, have them be mad with power and want to take over the world/kingdom.
And there is no need whatsoever for the villain to have a well-defined or consistent plan, just have them do whatever is necessary to move the plot along.
There is no need to show them doing or saying anything remotely evil, wearing dark clothes and living in a Gothic castle is enough for the audience to want them dead.
And don't let the hero defeat them by the knowledge and powers the hero has acquired through the adventure when you can just use a Deus Ex Machina instead!


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