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A crucible for the transmutation of base metals*:



*Not compatible with death metal, hair metal or thrash metal.

[Black Dahlia]

Well, Black Dahlia isn't always popular, being FMV and all but I think it's excellent. Very atmospheric and with a good balance between detective story and occult horror.

Realms of the Haunting was puzzley enough for me to enjoy it as an adventure rather than a shoot'em-up (which was what we called 'em in them days).

Shadow of the Comet and Post Mortem both have their charms, but also have very frustrating flaws.

I think the puzzles in question, zany as they may have been, were good. As Big Brother shows, they grew out of their environment and, most importantly, followed the logic of the DOTT world.

The worst instance of a zany, just-for-fun, puzzle-takes-precedence-over-obstacle must be the Hush Puppies puzzle from Simon the Sorceror.

So what is the difference then between a puzzle, and an obstacle?

All puzzle are obstacles, but not all obstacles are puzzles.

Any good platform game is full of obstacles which challenge the player to respond in an instinctive, kinetic manner.

A puzzle, in the very broadest sense, is an obstacle which cannot be overcome in this manner. Anywhing which compels the player to think, to examine and re-evaluate their situation is a puzzle. Many good platform games have some obstacles of this sort.

I'm beginning to wonder if the problem which led to me starting this thread relates to the abstraction of puzzles from obstacles.

An obstacle, like a locked door, must be a part of its environment. The kinetic response to a locked door would be to use a different door, or a window, or a door smashing device, or a key.

To make this into a puzzle we must challenge the player to think. So we add a slide-tile puzzle, a coded number-pad or an intricate series of levers. This places the player in a ludicrous situation, wherein the puzzle has taken precedence over the obstacle.

While the obstacle of the locked door could grow naturally from its environment, the puzzle of a slide-tile lock is unlikely to have. It no longer seems like the player's progress is blocked reasonably, by a door, but unreasonably, by the developer.

Does that make sense, or is it all tosh?

Ooh this looks good! I love hatmakers and all aspects of millinery.

I can see what Neil means about not going full-length though. I'd rather see a game this good-looking shorter-and-sooner.

Either way, good luck!

-Ali.

['explicit lyrics']

I hate those lables, particularly the ones warning against 'explicit lyrics'.

That's an almost entirely meaningless statement. If a song described the underside of a pebble in minute detail, those would be explicit lyrics.

Warning lables, pah!

I'm also outraged by the way the Curious George trailer tells me that it 'Contains no Sex, Violence or Bad Language.' Why would I presume it did?

Double-pah!

I reckon I would have had a better chance of winning if I'd drawn her hot deputy.

Ah well..

Blue would be the obvious choice, but I think a blend of green and white could look really interesting.

Geoff Hoon can't bear to witness this unholy alliance, but the guy in the top-right looks pretty chipper.

time I ever played, some little guy - who looked an awful lot like Pib - poked his head up from behind a bush on the Foolkiller's screen, then vanished, never to return.Ã,  And Pib said "I wonder who that was?"Ã,  At least, I'm pretty sure that all happened ... I'm beginning to worry that I just imagined it all ...

Whn I played he didn't pop up on the Foolkiller's screen, it was outside the big mansion in town. It seems he gets around...

[gameplay]

I think it is possible to identify the significance of gameplay in adventures.

To my mind, narrative is doubtless the most important part of adventure games, and indeed of most things. In truth though, the majority of adventure games have hackneyed, B-movie, pulp fiction plots. I don't think it stops them being enjoyable, though and that's largely down to the games' interactivity.

Without a story there would be no point in completing puzzle after puzzle. Conversely, without challenging puzzles, many of our favourite games' narratives wouldn't be worth sitting through.

I like this image, particularly the crucifix, but here are a few notes:

The image appears to be increasingly blurred from the inside out. I'm not sure that adds much to it, and we lose detail on what I presume is a woodcut of Raphael's Eye.Ã, 

The text in the centre also seems to have been blurred slightly. Employing anti-aliasing is much more effective than blurring sharp edges.

It seems we're looking at an old document, albeit one with a save/load menu on it. With that in mind, the curved title seems out of place. It looks like a bit like wordart.

For reference material, try following some of the links in this not-very-popular thread: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=23188.0

Well, I'm a moderator of the Competitions and Activities Board. Though I only became a mod when I took over the Photoshop Phriday. I've always tried to keep an eye on that contest and I've never felt right locking or dealing with any of the other threads.

I agree that it's a bit of a mess though, and I don't have regular access to the internet so I'm not in a great position to sort it out. I would give up my position as moderator if a more suitable candidate was interested in cleanin' up that town.

I wasn't going to post here, but I can't find any other appropriate thread.

My least favourite locked threads are any threads in which existing members pretend to be newbies in order to 'hilariously' break all the rules on purpose.

I don't mind when it's actually for a joke, like Grundislav's Fool's Day, but I don't see the joke in mis-posting crude drawings of baby horses.

I sound grumpy... sorry!

Congratulations Yak.

I really did think this was a great topic, I hope my non-entry didn't put people off!

I don't think the gentle yeomen passing by would be able to read the name of the Fat Swan Inn because of its faintess and also because the porch thing would obscure it. Perhaps you should consider adding a sign to the front of that porch thing, and putting an arched window where the words currently are.

I must say I find text parsers frustrating when it comes to action but freeing when it comes to interrogation and examination.

My problem with the text parser is that in real life I don't have to articulate an impulse like 'pick up map' linguistically. I find clicking on an object to be more dynamically satisfying.

On the other hands the ability to ask characters questions and examine my surroundings with the freedom of a good parser is far more immersive than being able to choose from a list of options.

I think the Spookitalk feature in Starship Titanic had the potential to be revolutionary. If only someone other than me had loved the game...

This will be a real challenge, but it'll be hilarious if it you pull it off. I'm glad you haven't tried to get rid of the text parser. Good luck!

Pah! That just sounds like people trying to make maths exciting...

Eric, your thoughts are really interesting but I suppose the natural question is, how do you engineer puzzles that feel natural (i.e. not convoluted) which are also challenging.

Something I've been thinking about in reference to machine style puzzles and locked door puzzles is the misuse of obstacles in adventure games. The worst examples of myst-clones or games featuring alien technology tend to feature elaborate mechanical locks and the like.

Better games, like The Dig or Myst-not-clone, give you the same obstacle in a different form. You are presented with a means of achieving your goal or a mode of transportation but it doesn't work, you have to fix it or learn how to operate it.

I think it's much more satisying to fix an elevator and get to the second floor, than to try and solve yet another implausable mechanical lock.

I love this style. The 'flatness' of it reminds me of the original Dizzy game, though your colours are more tasteful. I chose 'flat' perspective for the game I'm working on for reasons of speed too. Your backdrops have the look of a stage-set.