hi everyone! 
Now, I am a big fan of Lucasarts games, and one thing I notice is that whenever the player character says something, you get an option of what to say. I hardly ever see a situation (outside of intros) where a question is asked and it then turns into to and froing dialogue with the player that's not interactive.
I like this a lot, but then it also must add a LOT of extra work to the dialogue writing. I notice in quite a few AGS games the interactivity in dialogue is a lot lower than in Lucasarts games (which is understandable given all the extra writing involved), and while I have no problem with this kind of story telling, and can enjoy playing them, I do prefer the more interactive dialogue as I feel a lot more in control of my character in the story. So I guess my question is this: How important are interactive dialogues with characters in adventure games to the AGS community, in the scheme of things?
Is it something you'd gladly ignore becuase it's a free game and the amount of work required to make a massive branching conversation is not something you'd critisise a game for? or is it purely a fact that you enjoy well crafted non-interactive dialogue for exposition as much as more interactive dialogue?
Also, does the genre have a bearing on this? I guess MI and games like that are comedy games, so choosing smart alec answers are more important than say choosing three ways of saying the same thing in a serious game, where really the exposition is more important and you're more likely to want to hear specific information in conversations.
Any thoughts?
thanks!
miscwriter
Now, I am a big fan of Lucasarts games, and one thing I notice is that whenever the player character says something, you get an option of what to say. I hardly ever see a situation (outside of intros) where a question is asked and it then turns into to and froing dialogue with the player that's not interactive.
I like this a lot, but then it also must add a LOT of extra work to the dialogue writing. I notice in quite a few AGS games the interactivity in dialogue is a lot lower than in Lucasarts games (which is understandable given all the extra writing involved), and while I have no problem with this kind of story telling, and can enjoy playing them, I do prefer the more interactive dialogue as I feel a lot more in control of my character in the story. So I guess my question is this: How important are interactive dialogues with characters in adventure games to the AGS community, in the scheme of things?
Is it something you'd gladly ignore becuase it's a free game and the amount of work required to make a massive branching conversation is not something you'd critisise a game for? or is it purely a fact that you enjoy well crafted non-interactive dialogue for exposition as much as more interactive dialogue?
Also, does the genre have a bearing on this? I guess MI and games like that are comedy games, so choosing smart alec answers are more important than say choosing three ways of saying the same thing in a serious game, where really the exposition is more important and you're more likely to want to hear specific information in conversations.
Any thoughts?
thanks!
miscwriter