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Quick Survey: Evolution of Graphic Adventure Games

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L.A. - 30 October 2014 03:01 PM

So many different and interesting answers. Thanks to everyone. Hope to get more participants.

But no answer to my question: Why the negativity? Or should I say bias? Your assumption that the adventure genre cannot be perceived as flourishing is far from objective.

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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We’re seeing new ways of telling interactive stories, old ways being honored, old ways being taken apart and re-thought… All of it. It’s a nice happy plethora of different styles and techniques being experimented with. It’s an amazing time in computer gaming where so much of what’s available has been produced by passion and experimentation rather than by cold business. I love it!

Narrative-driven games are doing great, and that’s all that matters to me. Smile

     
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Karlok - 30 October 2014 06:23 PM
L.A. - 30 October 2014 03:01 PM

So many different and interesting answers. Thanks to everyone. Hope to get more participants.

But no answer to my question: Why the negativity? Or should I say bias? Your assumption that the adventure genre cannot be perceived as flourishing is far from objective.

Oh, no, maybe you are right and I just used not the best words for my survey. In my opinion the graphic adventures are in hibernation right now and that´s not so bad. As someone noticed here they have their own “niche” right now.I think I look at the genre as a game designer, that´s why I have such opinion. In design terms not much changed since last dozens of years. The creators of the graphic adventure games use the same formulas again and agian but I personally think that such a complex game genre can not be limited to the formulas that were created in 80s. There are still a lot of space for the improvments and I really hope the the graphic adventure games will be one day again at the head of game experience.

     

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L.A. - 31 October 2014 01:43 PM

In my opinion the graphic adventures are in hibernation right now and that´s not so bad. As someone noticed here they have their own “niche” right now. I think I look at the genre as a game designer, that´s why I have such opinion. In design terms not much changed since last dozens of years. The creators of the graphic adventure games use the same formulas again and agian but I personally think that such a complex game genre can not be limited to the formulas that were created in 80s.

Huh? What are you talking about? There’s plenty of experimentation going on—and there are plenty of recent adventure games that have little in common with games from the 1980’s other than the use of some form of viewing screen and some method of interacting with what’s being displayed on it.

     
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L.A. - 31 October 2014 01:43 PM

t the best words for my survey. In my opinion the graphic adventures are in hibernation right now and that´s not so bad. As someone noticed here they have their own “niche” right now.

They’re flourishing in their niche!

I think I look at the genre as a game designer, that´s why I have such opinion. In design terms not much changed since last dozens of years. The creators of the graphic adventure games use the same formulas again and agian but I personally think that such a complex game genre can not be limited to the formulas that were created in 80s.

Well, I’m with crabapple. I’d like to hear your arguments. The eighties? That’s just Sierra, some very early LucasArts and text adventures. What about the very creative nineties when the CD appeared? Many recent indies have been pushing boundaries too. Kentucky Route Zero, The Walking Dead, Dear Esther, Fract Osc, Ether One, The Novelist, Stanley Parable, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, to name a few.

There are still a lot of space for the improvments and I really hope the the graphic adventure games will be one day again at the head of game experience.

No, they won’t, that’s not realistic. FPS and RPG and platformers will always come first. So what, we don’t want to rule the world, do we.  Innocent

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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1. How often you play graphic adventure games?

Old games on yearly basis, not all but selective.

New games as they come, mostly, which have atleast one solid element.

2. Which of the following best describes the current state of the graphic adventure genre?

a. Dead

b. Dying

c. In hibernation

d. In resurgence

Two faces to it,

In resurgence, i accept TWD, and games like Journey,Witness, Rapture etc. as
forms of adventure. Not old AGs but AGs nonetheless in new casual packages for
current market.

Old, traditional AGs are Dead in the bigger picture.

3. What are the essential elements you consider that define an graphic adventure game?

Story with Agency , Music/sound, Characters, VoiceActing etc.

4. What frustrates you the most in graphic adventure games?

Shoehorned puzzles to cater puzzle lovers, bad/old puzzles which are beaten to death.
Interactive AGs with hardly any gameplay.

5. How you imagine a possible evolution of this genre?

Experimental Indies are last hope OR some AAA publisher with Indie/AA outlet.

Industry need to find good Model thats all. This model of AA gaming with 200k sales
is best, top quality with 12 to 16 people. In this way AGs can do best to evolve in anyway without begging or looking for publishers with full creative control and AA feel.
(because low budget feel will keep the genre dead let alone evolve).

http://www.hellblade.com/?p=17679

     
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L.A. - 28 October 2014 11:50 AM

1. How often you play graphic adventure games?

It’s variable – it could be anything from 0 per week to 2, 3 or more depending on the length of the games, my commitments & mood!

2. Which of the following best describes the current state of the graphic adventure genre?

a. Dead

b. Dying

c. In hibernation

d. In resurgence

Well they are not dead, dying or in hibernation!  They thrive but resurgence is the nearest with the advent of hand-held devices, quick access through download portals, cheaper availability + the many developers who are still interested enough to devote their time to making them & players who want to play them!  The graphic adventure genre has not for a long time been of mainstream interest as it was & I doubt it will ever reach it’s early heights again but the fact remains that AGs are still popular within a niche! Also with hand-held gadgets, the interactive novels being developed for them may lead on to wanting something with graphics?

[color=3] What are the essential elements you consider that define an graphic adventure game?

There has to be a story to unravel via any combination of exploration, dialogue , puzzles, collection of & manipulation of inventory items, reading notes etc - not all are essential depending on the game!

[size=4] 4. What frustrates you the most in graphic adventure games?

Mazes! Actions scenes! Timed puzzles. Dead Ends! Illogical or random puzzles!

5. How you imagine a possible evolution of this genre?

I think the genre is doing quite nicely & doesn’t need any evolution - some AG developers are already pushing ideas ahead but which aren’t going to necessarily please everyone! The lovely thing about this perceived ‘dead, dying, hibernating’ genre is that it encompasses so many different styles of games – it’s wonderful!

The only thing is that I wish that more AG developers had the budget for the wonderful graphics & environments of games like the upcoming The Witcher 3 but I will play any game however basic the graphics are if the story grabs me!

 

     

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1. How often you play graphic adventure games?
It depends. But I play adventure games for 20+ years.

2. Which of the following best describes the current state of the graphic adventure genre?
In resurgence

Because of Harvester Games (The Cat Lady) , Amanita Design (Botanicula), Thechineseroom (Dear Esther), Telltale Games (The Walking Dead), Big Fish Games (Drawn series and for their role in creating of hidden object subgenre) and some others.

3. What are the essential elements you consider that define an graphic adventure game?
Story driven games which rely on non-action exploration of the fiction world.

4. What frustrates you the most in graphic adventure games?
Adventure gamers which mentaly stuck in 90’ and their harmful nostalgia. Aside from that, boring mainstream storylines and unfair, illogical or non-imaginative puzzles (and puzzles in many adventure games are horrible and NOT necessary).

5. How you imagine a possible evolution of this genre?
More imaginative interaction and less stupid puzzles which will lead (and leads) to more popularity of the genre.

     
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1. How often you play graphic adventure games?

About 3-4 hours per week.

2. Which of the following best describes the current state of the graphic adventure genre?

A very marginal d. In resurgence. There was a very clear sense of a resurgence a few years ago with indies, visual novels and big budget releases but now it seems like adventure games are being released at a steady pace.

3. What are the essential elements you consider that define an graphic adventure game?
Story, mechanics that require logic or problem solving over reflexes (although that doesn’t necessarily mean reflexes should be abandoned completely - just not the focus!), some sense of exploration.

4. What frustrates you the most in graphic adventure games?
Bad writing, very obtuse or nonsensical solutions to puzzles, dialogue that never ends, constricting linearity…
 
5. How you imagine a possible evolution of this genre?
I want to see adventure elements fused into every other genre to increase the volume of games featuring some core mechanic that isn’t so dependent on combat or platforming or resource management. Story, branching narratives, obstacles and problems that require contextualised solutions that go beyond pushing a box or finding a switch. Games that blur where adventure ends and action begins. A future where the term “adventure game” is irrelevant or redundant. That will be interesting.

     

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Joined 2006-03-25

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1. How often you play graphic adventure games?

Every night before bed, usually on iOS now. I play on PC when I have time.

2. Which of the following best describes the current state of the graphic adventure genre?

no question: d. In resurgence


3. What are the essential elements you consider that define an graphic adventure game?

In-world logic puzzles. Exploration. Lateral mental challenges as opposed to physical action.

4. What frustrates you the most in graphic adventure games?

Puzzles being far too easy and obvious.
Not enough puzzles.
Not enough fun, no “adventure” feeling, or feeling of self-directed investigation.
Not being allowed to fully solve puzzles without hand holding and signposting.
Way too much dialog/reading.
Episodic formats stunting puzzles and immersion.
Worlds not vast or rich enough.

5. How you imagine a possible evolution of this genre?

Oculus Rift adventures could be mindblowing.
Further touch/mobile gameplay explored.
I’d like to see much more innovation in utilizing every aspect of modern graphics, physics, gameplay into really challenging, stimulating, elegant brain puzzles and not just click-through experiences. Every game should feel like you’re a detective of some sort.
I’d like to see adventure games with the scope of Skyrim, GTA, .

     
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L.A. - 28 October 2014 11:50 AM

Hi everyone,

Quick introduction. My name is Denis. I study a game design master program in Zurich, Switzerland. The topic of my research is the evolution of the graphic adventure games. I prepared a short survey for everyone who is interested to help me in my research.

Thank you for taking your time to answer my question!

1. How often you play graphic adventure games?
I used to play them a lot, they calmed me down, it was meditative for me. But nowadays I play mainly strategy games due to lack of adventure games Frown.

2. Which of the following best describes the current state of the graphic adventure genre?

a. Dead

b. Dying

c. In hibernation
Hibernation definitely. I think they will raise again, only one game is needed, that will bring back balance to the force. 
d. In resurgence

3. What are the essential elements you consider that define an graphic adventure game?

Great story.
Atmosphere.
Puzzles.
Likeable characters.

4. What frustrates you the most in graphic adventure games?
Ugly design.
No imagination.

5. How you imagine a possible evolution of this genre?

I don’t. The core stays the same, only graphics evolution is needed (and even that is relative).

     
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1. How often you play graphic adventure games?

Whenever new ones appear that grab my attention. On average I’d say something like one every two months.

2. Which of the following best describes the current state of the graphic adventure genre?
a. Dead
b. Dying
c. In hibernation
d. In resurgence

d., in resurgence.

3. What are the essential elements you consider that define an graphic adventure game?

Strong focus on story, characters and setting. From the player’s point-of-view the end goal is learning more about the story, not “seeing numbers go up”, beating opponents or anything like that.

4. What frustrates you the most in graphic adventure games?

Forced, nonsensical puzzles that completely stop the flow of the story. Those can make me give up on otherwise good adventure games.

Bad writing - the story is usually the main reason for playing an adventure game, so if that isn’t engaging, there’s not much reason to keep playing.

5. How you imagine a possible evolution of this genre?

The art of integrating player choices with a strong story in an engaging way will become better understood, leading to games that handle this aspect better.

Story-driven multiplayer games might become more commonplace.

Perhaps at some point adventure games that are more rule-based, open-ended and AI-driven could appear, instead of having a quite authored story - although that’s a tough nut to crack, so it might take a long while before someone manages to create an engaging one.

     

The Detail, a crime noir adventure in a modern American city. This is a city where cases matter, clearance rates matter, and on a good day even justice matters.

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Joined 2003-09-12

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1. How often you play graphic adventure games?
9-10 hours a month.

2. Which of the following best describes the current state of the graphic adventure genre?
d. In resurgence

3. What are the essential elements you consider that define an graphic adventure game?
Story, puzzles

4. What frustrates you the most in graphic adventure games?
Poor game design. Bad gameplay.

5. How you imagine a possible evolution of this genre?
Better game design.

     

- Atle

Last Completed
Kelvin and the Infamous Machine ★★★

Currently Playing
The Night of the Rabbit 20% ★★★★★
Fran Bow 80% ★★★★
Batman: A Telltale Game Series 40% ★★★★★
Kelvin and the Infamous Machine 25% ★★★★

Next Up
Sam & Max: The Devils Playhouse (40%) on hold
The Book of Unwritten Tales: The Critter Chronicles
Runaway: A Twist of Fate 50% (on hold)

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Karlok - 31 October 2014 09:22 PM

Well, I’m with crabapple. I’d like to hear your arguments. The eighties? That’s just Sierra, some very early LucasArts and text adventures. What about the very creative nineties when the CD appeared? Many recent indies have been pushing boundaries too. Kentucky Route Zero, The Walking Dead, Dear Esther, Fract Osc, Ether One, The Novelist, Stanley Parable, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, to name a few.

Sorry for slowly answer. In my way to bring you my arguments I created a small list of games that influence somehow the genre or even the industry (you, as well as other members of the forum, could bring your example to make this list even more accomplished).

Level of importance:

Red – for the whole game industry
Blue – for the graphic adventure game genre
Green – Remarkable but less important.

1980 – Mystery House – Sierra On-Line- Actually the first Graphic Adventure Game.
1982 – Dragon`s Keep –  Sierra On-Line-  instead of typing text in the text parser, the player had to choose one from a list displayed on the monitor.
1983 - Dragon’s Lair – Cinematronics – One of the first commercial released interactive movies.  Quick Time Events pioneering.
1984 – Mickey`s Space Adventure – Sierra On-Line – verbs and nouns were divided in two rows. For the first time appeared the compass, that player used to select the move direction.
1984 – King`s Quest – Sierra On-Line – First animation in adventure games. Also first to render both text parser and non-static graphics on the same screen. First videogame to use 16 colors EGA. AGI creation.
1984 - Enchanted Scepters - Silicon Beach Software – First point-and-click adventure. One of the first video games to use mouse as a controller.
1985 – Déjà Vu – ICOM – Simulation – Drag & Drop
1986 - Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter – Sierra – Pushed the use of humour in videogames.
1987 – Maniac Mansion – LucasFilm Games – No dead ends. Multiple way of solving the puzzles. SCUMM creation.
1988 – King`s Quest IV – Sierra- the first commercially released game for PC compatibles to support sound cards instead of only the standard built-in speaker. The designers were able to incorporate an orchestrated musical score along with more complex sound effects, a previously unattainable feat.
1989 - The Manhole – Cyan – First videogame distributed on CDROM.
1990 – King`s Quest V – Sierra - first adventure game to introduce logical based icons.
1990 – The Secret of Monkey Island – LucasArts – Creation of the first interacted music engine – iMuse.
1993 – Sam & Max – LucasArts – More intuitive interaction. The cursor of the mouse was changing depending on the action that will be applied to the game object after “on-click” action.
1993 - Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers – A big step for story telling iin videogames.
1993 - The 7th Guest – Trilobyte - Popularization of the pre-rendered 3D graphics and CDROM format. Use of the live action cutscenes.
1993 – Myst – Cyan – Popularization of the pre-rendered 3D graphics and CDROM format. Use of the live action cutscenes.
1995 – Phantasmagoria – Sierra On-Line – Push the borders of interactive movies concept.
1997 - The Last Express - Smoking Car Productions - Complex dialogue system. VIsual presentation.
1998 – Grim Fandango – LucasArts – GrimE creation. Realtime 3D elements implementation.  Improved Voice Acting and storytelling.
2000 – The Longest Journey – Funcom -  Storytelling improvments.
2006 – Sam & Max Save The World – Telltale Games – First successful use of episodic distribution. Popularization of digital distribution.
2010 – Heavy Rain – Quantic Dream – Improved the interactive movie experience.
2012 – The Room - Fireproof Games – Interaction improvements based on touch screen devices.
2013 - Kentucky Route Zero - Carboard Computer - Improved the narration.
2013 - Asunder: Earthbound – Aldin Dynamics – One of the first released game to use VR systems.

As you can see the number of big releases, that brought us tons of innovation came mostly in 80s. That`s why the golden era of graphic adventure games, for me personally, is set in 80s. Of course that`s only my opinion. We could discuss more about it.

And once again, I am looking on the history of graphic adventure games mostly from the design angle of view.

     
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Karlok - 31 October 2014 09:22 PM

No, they won’t, that’s not realistic. FPS and RPG and platformers will always come first. So what, we don’t want to rule the world, do we.  Innocent

Why in your opinion those genre have more possibilities than graphic adventure games?

Regarding to the games you mentioned. Unfortunately I have not played Fract Osc and The Novelist, but now I put them in my wish-list. Kentucky Route Zero is a good example. This game really pushes the borders of narration in videogame. Not the story itself but the use of the camera, the visual presentation, everything is working on creation of the best narration experience. It shows one of the possible direction for the genre improvement.

The others are good game, but do they really bring something new? or it is still the same game mechanics we had before ? In my opinion first.

 

     

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