Time Unknown - Games

The ugly game that could

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:48:07 +0200

Marbles is an unusually ugly game when it comes to graphics, but my how fun it is to play! I thought that I had already experienced everything marble games had to offer but it turned out gameplay was surprisingly fresh and addictive.

The swirling lumps of marbles made me think about organic molecules, which was kinda cute.

You can download a free trial of Marblez to try it out yourself for an hour.

I've heard claims that at least some Big Fish Games work nicely under Wine, but I have not tried them on Linux myself yet.
I'm not paid to feature the game, but if you choose to buy it after the trial, I do get a percentage.

Supernatural adventure game

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 09:26:57 +0300

The tv series Supernatural would work really well as a classic adventure game. One would need to talk to people, get items (like salt and gasoline) and use them to defeat evil creatures and spirits. I think it could be truly great! Pity it is unlikely anyone will make it.

Virtual villagers

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 20:10:00 +0200

As a part of my birthday present I got a copy of the Virtual villagers game. (The whole present was 12 game coupons for Big Fish Games and despite the games being for MS Windows, there was much rejoicing.) It's quite addictive. I wonder how the AI of the villagers compares to the AI of Norns in Creatures 2. At least the villagers wreck less havoc than norns on a bad day and do not try to eat an elevator.

Wow!

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 10:02:35 +0200

Yesterday I for the first time finished a computer game in one go. The game was Atlantis Sky Patrol and its co-operative mode hooked us immediately and when 60min trial ended we did not want to stop. The levels felt a bit like a rollercoaster ride moodwise, they were colourful, fast paced and fun. The game offered a very nice mix of instant frustration and feelings of success. It also felt like it was new. Most games nowadays do not have that innovative feel to them.

101 marble filled levels and many hours later we were done. I think I'll soon replay it in a single player challenge mode which is harder than co-operative mode. The game has also a competitive mode but I am not sure how that one works.

The makers of the game have also very many other games which I'm now a tad nervous to try. See, the ones I have tried so far have been so much fun! What if I want them all?

Looking for Open Source music with Stepmania steps

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 22:25:37 +0200

Do you have a band? Would you be willing to make some of your music free (as in Free Software or Open Source)? Could you make Stepmania steps for some of that music? I'd be very grateful.

The thing is, Stepmania is not yet in Debian because there is no game files for it. I'd love to package it but I'm not good at making steps nor a musician.

Dreamfall disappointment

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 10:41:51 +0200

The sequel of The Longest Journey, Dreamfall was quite a disappointment for me. At first I was shocked by the non-traditional interface but after getting used of it, that worked rather well for 3d. However, the game is not a pure adventure game but has combat and sneaking and puzzles are mostly not puzzles at all as you are usually told exactly what to do and where to go.

Story was nice but ended suddenly without a proper conclusion. Voice acting was still good and the faces of the characters well made.

As whole Dreamfall made me mourn for the end of the adventure game as a commercial genre.

Newbie dance pad considerations

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 10:48:00 +0200

There is more to dance pads than the "soft or hard" angle. In soft pads a firm thick foam is a really nice thing even if it costs a bit extra. Then there is the number of puttons. Most pads have 4 or 8, but unfortunately you need 9 to be able to play both Dance and Pump in Stepmania.

IFComp season

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 09:13:11 +0200

IFComp 2006 is now open for judging. As always, many of the games are a bit boring but there are probably again some gems in the mix.

Seikkailupeli-raakile Hesarissa

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 02:14:07 +0300

Helsingin Sanomien Retromania-blogin eilinen artikkeli sisältää luonnoksia ja tarinan keskenjääneestä seikkailupelistä nimeltä Alienation. Sääli ettei pelistä tullut valmista.

Obstructed linear plot

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 10:23:17 +0300

One of the most irritating plot formats in an adventure game is what I call an obstructed linear plot. In some ways it's even more annoying that a strict linear plot.

In an obstructed linear plot nothing you try goes right the first time around. The spell you want to cast is missing from the book. When you find it, the stuff you need is a hassle to get and even more hassle to prepare. The bridge between you and your destination is broken. Nothing, absolutely nothing gets done on the first try and the whole plot is two steps forward, one step back.

Give the player (and the character) occasionally a little break. Let them achieve at least some steps easily without obstruction, please. It gives them some of that false sense of accomplishment that makes games so fun.

The importance of the central map

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 08:34:00 +0300

In the adventure game Keepsake there is a whole lot of running as the game is situated in a huge building and there is no central map to teleport with. At first, and again with new areas it is frustrating as I spend extra time trying to find my way.

Photos transformed into backgrounds

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 20:33:29 +0300

Maybe I could take photos under a suitable Creative Commons license and put them through various Gimp filters and and manual tweaks and get something suitable to be a location background in an adventure game.

Adventure games

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 12:27:00 +0300

There are whole sites for Adventure Game Developers, with interesting articles on e.g. how the process of making a game goes and links to games made by others.

Even though it feels no one makes adventure games anymore, it ain't so. You just need to know where to look.

Tools for making adventure games

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 12:13:00 +0300

Adventure Game Studio seems to be perhaps the easiest free (unfortunately free as beer, not free as freedom) tool for making adventure games but the editor part of it does not exist for Linux.

Visionaire also looks good... better even, as that one is hinted to run nicely on Linux under Wine. Perhaps the games will as well. It's not free in either sense of the word but 20 euros is a small amount of money. There is are demo games which I have not tried.

The screenshots of Wintermute also look yummy, but somehow I do not think it will work under Wine.

Advent is actually under a free license and is made to work on Linux. That matters, at least to me.

Wikipedia also has links to other adventure game engines.

Turning interactive fiction into classic adventure games

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 11:32:00 +0300

Lately I have been thinking of how easy or difficult it would be to turn a good piece of interactive fiction into a nice classic adventure game.

I really like Spider and the Web (aka tangle) but I do not think it is an easy canditate. An ideal game to be the first one to be converted would have multiple locations (but no teleporting and no dream sequences), NPCs that are interactive but not too active (to me dialogs are an essential part of the classic adventure game experience) and a plot that is interesting but not too much driven by the whims of the main character.

My first step is to install xzip so that I can play interactive fiction again. Maybe I'll find a game to convert, maybe not, but I bet I'll have fun looking. At the same time looking at the possible tools would be wise as then I'd know a lot more about what limitations there are for the actual implementation.