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Survey for new engine
Hello everyone!
I’ve loved Point & Click Adventures since I was a child and now that the time for my bachelors thesis has come, it’s my turn to contribute to this great tradition. To do so however, I need your help. Don’t worry, it’s not difficult. :-)
Modern smartphones and tablets are becoming evermore powerful and I believe they would be great for Point & Click Adventures (or Point & Tap Adventures, as some call it). But these devices have capabilities that go beyond those of traditional PCs - a wide array of sensors, GPS, mobility…
So, if you were to create an Adventure for mobile devices, which functionalities would you want to use?
1. Using the devices inclination (e.g. moving virtual leavers by moving the real device)
2. Turning the device (e.g. opening the number lock on a virtual safe by turning the real device)
3. Shaking the device (e.g. for mixing cocktails, rattleing gaming machines that have swallowed a coin, etc.)
4. Using Multitouch (e.g. for pressing several buttons at the same time)
5. Posting achievements to social media outlets (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, ...)
6. Using relative GPS and / or the built in compass (e.g. walking for a certain distance in a certain direction)
7. Using absolute GPS positions (for localized games only; e.g. walking to a certain point in real life and finding a clue there)
8. Using the Camera / NFC sensor (for localized games or games connected to certain websites/books/magazines/...; e.g. finding and collecting an item somewhere in real life)
9. Using the Internet in general (e.g. for real time based puzzles or ingame purchases)
10. Others (please elaborate)
To answer, just post a reply with the numbers you’d want to use and I am also open to further suggestions. The information I get here will be used for the development of a new Point & Click game engine and for my bachelor dissertation.
Thank you for your help!
Blalasaadri
i think you should implement all of them.unless time is of the essence and you need like the best 5-6 suggestions…..providing all of them would be very exciting for new developers and writers.if there are many features and tricks available it’s more likely to spark the imagination.
one note though,any internet/GPS feature is gonna be difficult to implement.it will need a control unit/server to handle everything.
whatever you do try to see how the architecture of this project is influenced by GPS and Internet and if you can add the components later.if it’s easier to add it later and be done with everything else it would be best.
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Sadly, time is a factor. I will start by implementing some features, determined by how popular they are with developers and how solvable I think they are within the given time. When the thesis is done I’ll probably add more features (or other people can, as I’m planning to make it OpenSource), but first I have to prioritise.
About the Internet/GPS-Stuff: If you want to combine them and make these games communal experiences, then yes, a server would be needed. But if for example you want a newspaper to display actual titles of articles or make something depend on the current weather or anything like that, available services could be used.
Classic point & click adventures are one of the purest genres of video gaming. They always been about the story, witty dialogue, clever writing, and great puzzles. Sorry, but tablets’ gyroscope, camera, GPS etc. seems all like a gimmicks to me. It’s fun that the tablet can read your GPS position, but I don’t want to walk all over my room just to virtually move my character around in the game. I don’t want to shake the tablet like a crazy person so much, that it slips from my hand and fall to floor. And certainly I don’t want to spam the Facebook / Twitter and other social media hubs with meaningless achievements posts. The only thing that could enhance the gameplay, and won’t feel that it’s just another gimmick, would be multi-touch feature.
(Yeah, as you can see, I’m not a fan of gaming on tablets / phones)
Let’s see:
1, 2 and 3 are very similar, and I’d like to see them all if they are relevant and well implemented. Not sure the Safe thing will work, for example, because you do not have feedback for just how much you are turning the dial. But if you show, say, an upside down message, then turning the device would be a nice touch.
4 also sounds cool, and a very good use of the touch screen.
The rest is either local, which means most people won’t care about it, or relies on the internet, which may break immersion.
thinking about this a bit more i think you should concentrate on making this a better experience like Lhurgoyf said.sth like what they did with the Nintendo DS games.it would be kind of troublesome to include real life things like internet and GPS.for example in most of AGs flags are used in code and for some it’s the best approach to development cause it’s simple and quick.To write code and make real articles be flagged as read would be undesirable.of course if you don’t see it as a commercial project but as purely research material then it’s as good as any to see if it can be done and what the ramifications/pros/cons are like.
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Classic point & click adventures [have] always been about the story, witty dialogue, clever writing, and great puzzles. Sorry, but tablets’ gyroscope, camera, GPS etc. seems all like a gimmicks to me. It’s fun that the tablet can read your GPS position, but I don’t want to walk all over my room just to virtually move my character around in the game.
I wasn’t thinking about controlling the figure via GPS, the GPS sensor wouldn’t be nearly accurate enough for that (plus it would be stupid). And I’m not saying, that the story, the dialogue or the writing should be in any way diminished. But I believe, that the puzzles can be extended to incorporate modern technological achievements. Of course if used excessively, this would destroy the experience. But used in moderation…
I don’t want to shake the tablet like a crazy person so much, that it slips from my hand and fall to floor.
Again: Moderation. Shaking it a little would suffice. 
And certainly I don’t want to spam the Facebook / Twitter and other social media hubs with meaningless achievements posts.
Actually, I agree with you on that one. But as a developer, you have to have in mind what people may want from your product and I think some people might really like this kind of feature - that’s why I’m offering it.
The only thing that could enhance the gameplay, and won’t feel that it’s just another gimmick, would be multi-touch feature.
OK, thanks. 
Not sure the Safe thing will work, for example, because you do not have feedback for just how much you are turning the dial. But if you show, say, an upside down message, then turning the device would be a nice touch.
The idea was, that the picture on the scren would turn too, so in the lock would be attached to the device and the wall would turn relative to the device.
The rest is either local, which means most people won’t care about it, or relies on the internet, which may break immersion.
The local stuff wouldn’t be interesting for big games of course, but if it’s a game for some local club, company, school or something that teaches you about the place in a fun way, it could be useful.
thinking about this a bit more i think you should concentrate on making this a better experience like Lhurgoyf said.sth like what they did with the Nintendo DS games.
That was the general idea, yes.
it would be kind of troublesome to include real life things like internet and GPS.
I think, that could very strongly depend on the game - that’s why I’m doing this survey, some people may love one idea while others may hate it.
for example in most of AGs flags are used in code and for some it’s the best approach to development cause it’s simple and quick.To write code and make real articles be flagged as read would be undesirable.
I think, you missunderstood, what I meant. The newspaper example wasn’t intendet for things that actually make a difference to gameplay, they were thought to make the world seem more real. Reading the articles (if possible, I was thinking of just using the headlines) wouldn’t have any effect on the game.
However, flags will of course be available as they are indeed a very effective tool.
of course if you don’t see it as a commercial project but as purely research material then it’s as good as any to see if it can be done and what the ramifications/pros/cons are like.
It’s going to be a bit of both - it is of course a research project, but I do intend for it to be used in the world of games afterwards. By me at the very least.
By feedback I meant physical feedback - I can feel the dial turning on a real safe, but on my phone I will only see it turning.
I understand the local idea now. Sounds cool. I wonder how many companies will want to implement such a thing (could be really great in museu?s).
By feedback I meant physical feedback - I can feel the dial turning on a real safe, but on my phone I will only see it turning.
Ah, ok. True, that wouldn’t be possible. One could try to sort of emulate part of it with vibration, but… meh.
I understand the local idea now. Sounds cool. I wonder how many companies will want to implement such a thing (could be really great in museums).
I actually know of at least one organisation, which would be interested. Museums could work, but only if they are open air museums - GPS reception indoors is usually pretty awful. 
Or maybe some parks… We’ll see.
By feedback I meant physical feedback - I can feel the dial turning on a real safe, but on my phone I will only see it turning.
Ah, ok. True, that wouldn’t be possible. One could try to sort of emulate part of it with vibration, but… meh.
you don’t need to just use vibration.you could use sounds…..like other games have done.as it turns you hear the “cogs” turning and if you get to a good point then a sound like a click can play to let you know you’ve hit a correct number.or you could use both sound and vibration if the result is good.anyways this is a game application decision/mechanism not a game engine.in the game engine you only need to give control over sounds and sensors/vibration feature.the rest is purely the game designers choice.
I understand the local idea now. Sounds cool. I wonder how many companies will want to implement such a thing (could be really great in museums).
I actually know of at least one organisation, which would be interested. Museums could work, but only if they are open air museums - GPS reception indoors is usually pretty awful.
or this could be done if the museum had sensors or sth to signal the phone with info about the position of the user.this has been done as part of some projects of fully immersive experiences with buildings.a guy goes into a room the wall he is standing in front of changes colour according to the mood the sensors are picking up from temperature etc etc.or another case in a hospital where it plays different music according to the moods of people inside.
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you don’t need to just use vibration.you could use sounds….. [...] anyways this is a game application decision/mechanism not a game engine.in the game engine you only need to give control over sounds and sensors/vibration feature.the rest is purely the game designers choice.
Of course, the designer will have control over sounds and stuff like that. Well, not sure about vibration yet… My tablet doesn’t have vibration built in and I’m not sure about other tablets. Of course, I could implement it and just tell developers to be careful not to make it too important…
or this could be done if the museum had sensors or sth to signal the phone with info about the position of the user.this has been done as part of some projects of fully immersive experiences with buildings.a guy goes into a room the wall he is standing in front of changes colour according to the mood the sensors are picking up from temperature etc etc.or another case in a hospital where it plays different music according to the moods of people inside.
Never heard of that before, but it sounds fascinating. Could you point me towards articles and/or papers about that?
However, I asume it’s not done via GPS but with a system specifically designed for this kind of stuff, using temperature and more. That would have to be implemented seperately (which may be possible in the long run, but it’s probably worth of a thesis of it’s own).
don’t know how easy it would be to implement vibration 
…..that would be firmware field or sth just as low level as that.
i’ll look into it and post the articles.and yes your deduction was spot on….it’s based on a system of sensors and not on GPS,at least the examples i gave you….there are a couple of other papers floating around.
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don’t know how easy it would be to implement vibration
Oh, implementing it at all isn’t a problem. Implementing it in a way, that is both effective in terms of improving the game and easy to use for the adventure developers… Well, I’ll have to see about that.
found the guy…..Stavros Didakis-Sonicon Lab
check out the Research link to get a feel about his field and then go to Lectures/Workshops under Work.from a quick look the last one on the page about embedded systems in built environments is what you need.at the top of the page they mention that you can contact them and get the tutorials.
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