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| 18 DEC 2005 at 6:12am |
| Deleted User | Timed action sequences. [smiley=hair_pull.gif]
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| 18 DEC 2005 at 6:38am |
IviniaGuild Master
Posts : 4459
Joined: 7 JUN 2003
Location: US
Status : Offline | Ditto. Timed action sequences - especially when there is VERY little time. If the time amount is pretty generous then I don't mind it as much. Return to Mysterious Island is my best memory of why I hate timed sequences.
I also don't like walking around revisiting areas hoping to find something that changed. There was quite a bit of that in And Then There Were None.
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| 18 DEC 2005 at 6:46am |
Terry PenrodGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 6693
Joined: 16 OCT 2004
Location: US, Texas
Status : Offline | .
The one thing that annoys me the most about adventure games is the total lack if really cool, space-age weapons and hordes of big, evil monsters to frag online and off. No guns and no monsters, no gibs and without plenty of gibs, a game is just boring.
Cheers, Terry
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| 18 DEC 2005 at 8:45am |
jalexSchattenjger
Posts : 2503
Joined: 5 MAR 2003
Status : Offline | I guess I am a strange adventure gamer because I don't mind sliders.
I don't like puzzles that take me hours to solve or timed sequences that are not long enough to do what you need to do. I play them for the story and if I can't enjoy the story I am not happy.
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| 18 DEC 2005 at 12:50pm |
jamarchandSchattenjger
Posts : 1665
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Status : Offline | Well...the worst bug is...fatal bug. A software crash/conflict that disable you to continue the game. :-X :-/ :'(
And talking on adventure's design phenomena, I think some old clichés as pure try-error riddles(combinatory analysis) is one of the most unbearable things in adventure games.
Dislike too, mazes and action/shooting sequences. I even support timed puzzles, but with many restrictions.
Another cancer in adv gaming are hybrid stories (reallity-fancy) Ex: Mystery of The Druids and Black Dahlia. Criminal investigations.....becaming supernatural stories....this is a POOR concept, used and abused in the past...and unfortunelly, in present days.
Monsters, angels, demons, mithological characters, busty models, cartoons (Monkey Island, Runaway, Sam and Max) >
 &&&&[move]Actually playing SHIVERS and Rhem 2[/move]&&
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| 18 DEC 2005 at 1:33pm |
CrapstormJourneyman
Posts : 829
Joined: 18 FEB 2004
Status : Online | JoyBaby, you just opened Pandora's Box. Here's my short list.
30 things that bug me in adventure games (abridged)
1. Having to paint the screen with my pointer in order to locate hidden hotspots
2. Large-breasted, dull-witted female protagonists
3. Slider puzzles
4. Redundant mazes
5. Timed/action/arcade sequences
6. Hackneyed dramatic themes, e.g. "Surprise! You're the chosen one!"
7. Linear plots that require you to carry out conversations and/or actions in a very particular order, even though there is no reason to do so other than the developer's convenience.
8. The absense of original, wit-testing puzzles
9. Large scenes with very little to physically interact with.
10. Travelling back and forth between two locations over and over again without a feature to accelerate the journey.
11. Sudden, game-ending deaths.
12. Essential information that can only be discovered upon death.
13. "Play the song" puzzles
14. "Simon" puzzles in which one must press an increasing sequence of buttons in the order that they blink.
15. Disk swapping
16. Verbose journals written by pompous explorers.
17. 1st-person jungle/forest scenes in which it's impossible to maintain any sense of direction.
18. Trips to pre-Colombian American Civilizations.
19. Bad acting
20. Inventory combinations that can only be discovered by systematic testing.
21. Game structure that has the player doing little more than cuing a series of cutscenes.
22. Awkward, wooden 3D puppets
23. Puzzles that can be solved by trial & error leaving the player with no idea how he/she did it.
24. Long dialogue trees
25. Roadblocks that impede exploration by telling you simply, "no need to go there." (I'd rather decide what needs to be done on my own, thanks.)
26. Essential bibliomancy: where you have to click on a bookshelf, and the protagonist randomly selects a book and opens to a random page and reads a vital clue.
27. Atlantis
28. Relentless, unfunny comedians a la Guybrush Threepwood/George Stobbard.
29. Non-sensical event triggers (e.g. a door unlocks when you put the teacup in the dumbwaiter.)
30. Limited number of saved games.
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| 18 DEC 2005 at 1:39pm |
JoyBabyIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 23
Joined: 2 DEC 2005
Status : Online | I think you got a lot of them there Crapstorm!
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| 19 DEC 2005 at 1:57am |
jalexSchattenjger
Posts : 2503
Joined: 5 MAR 2003
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By JoyBaby (18 DEC 2005 1:39pm)
I think you got a lot of them there Crapstorm!
I agree too. There are a lot of good ones there.
I think a lot of developers are aware of most of these but the indies seem to be the only ones doing something about it.
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| 19 DEC 2005 at 2:22am |
IviniaGuild Master
Posts : 4459
Joined: 7 JUN 2003
Location: US
Status : Offline | [smiley=bowdown.gif] Wow! Nice list there Crapstorm... I have to agree with most, if not all, of them.
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| 19 DEC 2005 at 2:36am |
MichalNGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 7058
Joined: 14 SEP 2003
Status : Online | Crapstorm, are you a masochist or do you avoid adventure games altogether?
I forgot my sig.
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| 19 DEC 2005 at 3:11am |
AndromusGuild Master
Posts : 5537
Joined: 6 NOV 2002
Status : Offline | Basic Sierra "Quest" game design, i.e., sudden and/or constant deaths, and dead ends.
Mazes are a no-no unless they have some interesting features or concept about them. Classic puzzles aren't necessarily a problem, but sliders in particular bug me. Egypt 1 cured me of any need to go to Egypt again. Atlantis doesn't bother me in quite the same way as I've hardly ever gone there in games, but it definitely has been used as a plot element too many times.
Arbitrary solutions, used in too many otherwise interesting comic adventures (see Discworld 1 for the best example of the problem, see Day of the Tentacle for the best example of the answer to that problem).
Timed sequences and action sequences aren't enjoyable either, but I will put up with them if the majority of the game is good. (Mean Streets comes to mind here).
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| 19 DEC 2005 at 3:51pm |
Erik84Intergalactic Janitor
Posts : 92
Joined: 1 OCT 2005
Status : Online | Bad voice acting. :-X
Moment Of Silence IS AG of the year!
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| 19 DEC 2005 at 5:03pm |
CrapstormJourneyman
Posts : 829
Joined: 18 FEB 2004
Status : Online | Originally Posted By MichalN (19 DEC 2005 2:36am)
Crapstorm, are you a masochist or do you avoid adventure games altogether?
Masochist, adventure gamer... potato, po-TAH-to...
Y'see, adventure games are an acquired taste, like coffee or beer. The first time you taste one, it's so foul that you ask yourself, "how could anyone possibly enjoy this?!" But time passes, you try again, and it's still gross but not as bad as your first taste. The process is long and painful, but you persevere and eventually acquire the taste. You learn to ignore that initial bite, that harsh blow to your taste buds, and start to appreciate the subtle goodness that follows.
As adventure gamers, we have learned to endure the pixel-hunts, the shitty dialogue trees, the unimaginative puzzles, the bloody stupid characters, cliched plots and everything else in hopes that we will gain one or two precious gifts of true inspiration. It can be a long, self-flagellating ordeal to get to the pay-off (and most games don't even deliver one) but when the pay-off comes, it's mighty fine.
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| 19 DEC 2005 at 6:15pm |
TCPrivate Detective
Posts : 688
Joined: 14 NOV 2005
Status : Online | Not enough action...
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| 20 DEC 2005 at 4:37am |
Goddess of All Things MagicalSchattenjger
Posts : 1565
Joined: 27 MAY 2003
Status : Online | I can endure almost anything EXCEPT a game that makes you wonder why you can hardly see what's on the screen and thinks this makes the game scary!
AND Monkey kombat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [smiley=hair_pull.gif]
&&&&Listening to XM Radio Starbucks Cafe Channel 45&&[IMG]http://img227.echo.cx/img227/8458/dancelikenooneiswatching6ld.png[/IMG]
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| 20 DEC 2005 at 2:53pm |
Chris.Schattenjger
Posts : 1842
Joined: 8 MAR 2005
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Crapstorm (19 DEC 2005 5:02pm)
As adventure gamers, we have learned to endure the pixel-hunts, the shitty dialogue trees, the unimaginative puzzles, the bloody stupid characters, cliched plots and everything else in hopes that we will gain one or two precious gifts of true inspiration. It can be a long, self-flagellating ordeal to get to the pay-off (and most games don't even deliver one) but when the pay-off comes, it's mighty fine.
What are you talking about? The credits?
...not to be confused with Keira Knightley
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| 20 DEC 2005 at 3:39pm |
CrapstormJourneyman
Posts : 829
Joined: 18 FEB 2004
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Merry Chris-mas (20 DEC 2005 2:53pm)
What are you talking about? The credits?
No, the final sale on eBay.
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| 20 DEC 2005 at 3:59pm |
| Deleted User | Great list, Crappie.
Yeah, bad voiceacting too! Huuuuu!
Bad acting can be great fun though.
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| 20 DEC 2005 at 8:53pm |
TCPrivate Detective
Posts : 688
Joined: 14 NOV 2005
Status : Online | I seriuolsy think adventures need more action in them.
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| 21 DEC 2005 at 4:12am |
CountryEasternSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 250
Joined: 2 NOV 2003
Status : Online | Note to Crapstorm....you might want to change genres. I think you're burned out.
My dislikes:
Combat
Talk talk talk talk talk to dull people with no answers
Cartoon/comic-book-like/forced or stylized characters (like Grim Fandango, for instance.)
No pace or sophistication
Lack of multigamer play
there's more, but Crapstorm said it all....
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| 21 DEC 2005 at 4:32am |
| Deleted User | <without reading ahead>
Dialog that I have to go over repeatedly to reveal new branches based on doing something else somewhere else, especially those dialog trees without 'escapes' (press a key to skip to the next dialog line).
Speck
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| 21 DEC 2005 at 8:09am |
SkyeSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 348
Joined: 20 OCT 2002
Status : Online | 1. Timed sequences
2. Mazes that look like mazes with no purpose other than to delay play. If you are going to have a maze at least try and be original "you find yourself in a twisty passage" I mean REALLY! I get lost way to easily.
3. Dexterity puzzles (jump at just the right moment or time moving forward so the pendulum doesn't whack the sense out of you)
4. Slider puzzles are okay as long as you don't have to solve them every single time [smiley=furious.gif](Shivers elevators)
Skye
(can you guess what you won't find in Scavenger Hunter?)
Indie Developer of Scavenger Hunter&&The Replayable Adventure Game!&&- 4,446 scenes, 5,796 overlays,&&- First Indie Adventure Game&& To Use A.I. Randomizer Technology,&&- 7 years in the making!!! RELEASED !!!&&&&Order yours now at:&&[url]http://www.Sagewood-Software.ca[/url]
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| 21 DEC 2005 at 8:13pm |
MysteryGrrrlIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 16
Joined: 29 DEC 2003
Status : Online | I hate it when it takes a character a really long time to go from point A to point B. Syberia II comes to mind. And it's especially bad when the character can't run or jog, and he/she just walks at the same pace.
*Erin*
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| 14 JAN 2006 at 12:17am |
scippie75Intergalactic Janitor
Posts : 55
Joined: 21 DEC 2005
Status : Online | I read a lot of things that bug people, and I read that someone tells that Indies do the effort of making there games better, but what's the point? Indies don't sell, look at my adventure game, Tears of Betrayal, where most of those bugging things told above are not there and then look at how big game industries are creating the same adventure game over and over again with new graphics.
We have a great game and sell nothing, they make crap (I call it crap because it's the same game over and over again, not because the graphics are bad) but they keep selling 10% more every year.
Why are we all judging the new adventure games when we buy them and don't support the efforts of indies who try to change them?
(frustrated)
Visit http://www.tears-of-betrayal.com for a new old-skool adventure game!
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