| 17 DEC 2002 at 9:17pm |
NellieSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 359
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Status : Online | I prefer non-linear puzzles (meaning, solve them in any order, rather than have different puzzle paths), but don't care too much whether they are or not (providing they're good).
I like to play games with both linear and non-linear plot paths, though the greater proportion of games with linear stories already out there means that I'd like to see a lot more games with non-linear stories.
[b]£1bn -[/b] Amount British government has pledged to paying off debt of poorest nations over next 10 years.&&&&[b]£5bn -[/b] Amount British government has already spent on Iraq campaign.
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| 18 DEC 2002 at 4:41am |
GamaholicPrivate Detective
Posts : 724
Joined: 3 NOV 2002
Status : Online | Linear adventure games...they are like one big logic puzzle to solve (and I love logic problems).
Non-linear RPGs (explore, explore, explore).
That which makes one happy is not a waste of time
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| 18 DEC 2002 at 8:21am |
sennebecGuild Master
Posts : 3334
Joined: 15 NOV 2004
Location: US, maine
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By MichalN (17 DEC 2002 6:29pm)
Hmm, looks like I opened a can of worms
excuse me, michal...
but i started this thread and i think i am bestowed with the great honor of opening this particular can of worms...
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| 18 DEC 2002 at 8:43am |
BBQIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 7
Joined: 11 DEC 2002
Status : Online | TLJ has multiple paths (right now I can only remember the one at the beggining - work for the night or go the date), and I think at least that part in the space station is a little non-linear. (Of course that doesn't make the game so)
Post Mortem is a multiple-paths, non-linear, multiple-endings game...
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| 18 DEC 2002 at 11:56am |
HelenGuild Master
Posts : 3438
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Location: US
Status : Offline | Personally I agree with Rael's interpretation of linear and non-linear, I do prefer non-linear games like "Outcast" , because if I cant finish a task I can try something different, in a linear game if you are stuck, you cant move on, but thats NOT to say I dont like linear games, just prefer to be able to try something else, and not threaten to kick in my computer monitor when I get stuck.
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| 18 DEC 2002 at 12:19pm |
Agustín CordesGuild Master
Posts : 5696
Joined: 23 OCT 2002
Location: AR, Buenos Aires
Status : Offline | Personally I agree with Rael's interpretation of linear and non-linear, I do prefer non-linear games like "Outcast" , because if I cant finish a task I can try something different, in a linear game if you are stuck, you cant move on, but thats NOT to say I dont like linear games, just prefer to be able to try something else, and not threaten to kick in my computer monitor when I get stuck.
That's why I prefer non-linear games too. Also, you can do more exploring in those.
And I don't think that's my interpretation - as far as I know, this has been the definition of linearity since the old days.
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| 18 DEC 2002 at 3:39pm |
TeoSpace Cadet
Posts : 185
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Linear!
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| 18 DEC 2002 at 4:10pm |
mszvPrivate Detective
Posts : 751
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Thanks Rael for the excellent description. From what I read, Rael's descriptions are the standard ones in the industry.
I usually say I prefer non-linear gameplay, but there are exceptions. For third person games I think linear often works better. For first person games, non-linear seems to be more natural. There are, of course, exceptions.
Regards, mszv
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| 18 DEC 2002 at 8:15pm |
ElfstoneGuild Master
Posts : 5892
Joined: 4 NOV 2002
Status : Online | I vote for non-linear, but I have to drop a few lines about it. There are not many adventures which are truly non-linear I would say.
I hate those games which give you one screen and some puzzles and you have to solve the puzzles to leave the screen.
If this happens once it's ok, but not if this static gameplay is used all the time.
I think it is most common for adventures to be mainy linear. Some of them just have the non-linear feel to them. In my opinion linearity keeps intact the storyline. I imagine it's hard to design them non-linear.
In RPGs I definitely prefer non-linearity. But that's nonsense. Many of my favorite RPGs are absolutely linear. Because many of them are console RPGs like Lufia, Secret of Mana or Breath of Fire. Those are purely linear.
I talked much, but I haven't really said anything, did I?
[b]playing[/b]: Destination Treasure Island (done in two sittings, but it's nice), Syberia (ho-hum), Dracula: Last Sanctuary (on hold)&&[b]reading[/b]: even more study papers&&[b]listening to[/b]: [url=http://www.last.fm/user/Brax82/]this and that[/url], plus [url=http://www.musicovery.com/]Musicovery[/url]&&[b]TV favorites[/b]: (currently) Pushing Daisies, Chuck, Journeyman (cancelled! grrr...), Heroes&& all-time) 24, Stargate SG1, X-Files, Lost, House
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| 19 DEC 2002 at 3:17pm |
AquariusIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 34
Joined: 11 NOV 2002
Status : Online | If I have the choice, I'd vote non-linear. But I haven't played a truly nonlinear adventure game yet. Are there any at all? I am playing Morrowind and am fascinated by the freedom of choice and movement in that game. I would like to see that freedom in a pure adventure game. BTW, I think that games like Morrowind or Gothic or Deus Ex are not very far from Adventure games.
On the other hand I don't mind a well made linear game. Syberia and TLJ are among the best games I ever played, partly because of these games' great and rich stories. Nonlinearity might have led to distraction here. In Morrowind, I sometimes feel it hard to keep track of the main story (or "quest", like they say in RPGames). Apart from that, very nonlinear games seem to be very difficult to make. I haven't seen any without minor or greater gaps/flaws in the game logic. Like you can ask people about things you aren't supposed to know about yet.
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| 19 DEC 2002 at 4:30pm |
dimidimidimiSchattenjger
Posts : 1784
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Status : Online | I'm playing Morrowind right now also and its non-linearity is both good and bad imo. The game pays a big trade-off for this non-linearity. All the characters give the same answers to the same questions. They just stay where they are all the time and seem like they have nothing to do.
And this seems to be a result of the openness of the game, since the fact that you can go anywhere whenever you want results in the necessity for sticking the NPCs where they are so that you are going to find them whenever you want.
This is why I like a linear approach better in adventures, because the non player characters get more personality and it seems more like a real story to me.
PDF adventure magazine - The Inventory&&http://www.justadventure.com/TheInventory/TheInventory.shtm&&&&What would you give to know the truth?&&http://www.brokensaints.com
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| 19 DEC 2002 at 6:22pm |
AquariusIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 34
Joined: 11 NOV 2002
Status : Online | Yes, the static behaviour of the NPCs in Morrowind is sort of strange. Most of them just stay at their places forever, no matter whether it's day or night, rainy or sunny. This doesn't annoy me very much though, for me it even contributes in a special way to the game's phantasmagoric atmosphere.
I don't agree though that this is an inevitable price for nonlinearity in gameplay. In Gothic2, for example, a RPG similar to Morrowind recently released, many NPCs have their own cycle. They work in the daytime and when it gets late they enter their houses and go to bed, or assemble in pubs and bars or enjoy themselves in the local brothel (). This is the most living virtual world I have ever seen in a game.
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| 19 DEC 2002 at 8:41pm |
JPSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 217
Joined: 24 NOV 2002
Status : Online | Pretty much all adventure games are linear! - the end result is always preprogrammed no matter what actions you take to get there!
RPGs are often non linear because your actions can change your character or the end result i.e Vampire The Masquerade-Redemption, Planescape - Torment etc.
Bow down before the one you serve&&You're going to get what you deserve !
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