I haven't seen anyone post about this upcoming game. It's from Ron
Gilbert (Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion etc) and the very talented folks
at Double Fine (Psychonauts, Brutal Legend). The premise is interesting
and yet very gamey (Maniac Mansion like). It's about a cave, which has a
personality and acts as a narrator in the game. You pick three out of
seven characters at a time to descend into the cave, each with his or
her own motivations. The characters are not voiced, but each of them
bring some special way of handling situations, in addition to areas of
the caves that only a team carrying a certain character can access.
In a way, it's like Maniac Mansion meets Lost Viking (or Trine), with
the gameplay involving puzzles solved through adventure game mechanics.
Ron Gilbert insists that it's an adventure game, and not a puzzle
platformer. Co-operative multiplay on the same PC will also be
supported, similar to Trine.
"......But the cave is special. It changes dynamically, and it's lively.
It's a talking cave, after all. Depending on who enters the cave, the
adventurer will encounter a matching setpiece.
On this particular cave adventure, we find seven different adventurers.
The monk is diving into the cave in search of his master, and
enlightenment. The adventurer is hunting for treasure and her lost two
companions. An affable hillbilly is in need of love. The nerdy scientist
hopes to carry out a great discovery. Evil, yet adorable twins are
searching for their parents. A brave knight is spelunking for a powerful
sword. And, finally, a time traveler visits the cave to right a wrong a
million years in the making.
Though these are their described intentions, creator Ron Gilbert tells
me that you may find these characters' supposed intentions to only be
partially true by the game's end..........."
"..........RG: Well, it’s not really a platformer. It depends, I guess,
on what your definition of a platformer is. The Cave, when you’re
playing the game, you are jumping, you are climbing up things, but
that’s really not the game. Nobody’s going to miss a jump in this game,
unless you’re just completely screwing around. I very purposely do not
want to make it a game that’s about jumping, that’s about barely
grabbing ropes at the right time and getting all that stuff. The
traversal part of the game is really just a fun activity.
I think one of the things that classic point-click adventure games were
always criticized for was that walking around is boring. You had to walk
from one end of Melee Island to the other end of Melee Island, and it’s
just boring to do. When we were developing Monkey Island, we had little
cheat keys that would allow us to run as fast as we wanted, just because
it was boring for us as the designers to run around the damn game. And
so I think that kind of world traversal is something that’s always been
a little bit boring in adventure games.
Having the Cave be something that you’re running around and you’re
jumping, you’re climbing up things, wasn’t really a way to add this
whole other level of gameplay. It was just about making traversal fun
and interesting and something you enjoy doing. If I had to run over here
to get something, it was kind of fun to actually move over there and get
that thing..........."
The game looks quite good already. I am sure I'll be purchasing it on
day one. It's coming next year as a downloadable title and will be
published by Sega.
--
Noman
> I haven't seen anyone post about this upcoming game. It's from Ron
> Gilbert (Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion etc) and the very talented folks
> at Double Fine (Psychonauts, Brutal Legend). The premise is interesting
> and yet very gamey (Maniac Mansion like). It's about a cave, which has a
> personality and acts as a narrator in the game. You pick three out of
> seven characters at a time to descend into the cave, each with his or
> her own motivations. The characters are not voiced, but each of them
> bring some special way of handling situations, in addition to areas of
> the caves that only a team carrying a certain character can access.
> In a way, it's like Maniac Mansion meets Lost Viking (or Trine), with
> the gameplay involving puzzles solved through adventure game mechanics.
> Ron Gilbert insists that it's an adventure game, and not a puzzle
> platformer. Co-operative multiplay on the same PC will also be
> supported, similar to Trine.
erm ... looks interesting but I think I'll reserve judgement until it comes out and then probably buy it whatever as it's nice to see something different from Call of Honour: Special Ops XXII ...
erm ... looks interesting but I think I'll reserve judgement until it comes out and then probably buy it whatever as it's nice to see something different from Call of Honour: Special Ops XXII ...
> Am 23.06.12 03:09, schrieb noman:
>> I haven't seen anyone post about this upcoming game. It's from Ron
>> Gilbert (Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion etc) and the very talented folks
> Maybe because it is not an adventure game but a 2d/3d platformer...
According to Ron Gilber, it's not a platformer. Similar to how a first
person view in an adventure game doesn't make it a first person shooter,
a control scheme and a camera perspective won't necessarilty turn a game
into a platformer.
Here's what Ron Gilbert said,
"......... Well, it’s not really a platformer. It depends, I guess, on
what your definition of a platformer is. The Cave, when you’re playing
the game, you are jumping, you are climbing up things, but that’s really
not the game. Nobody’s going to miss a jump in this game, unless you’re
just completely screwing around. I very purposely do not want to make it
a game that’s about jumping, that’s about barely grabbing ropes at the
right time and getting all that stuff. The traversal part of the game is
really just a fun activity.
I think one of the things that classic point-click adventure games were
always criticized for was that walking around is boring. You had to walk
from one end of Melee Island to the other end of Melee Island, and it’s
just boring to do. When we were developing Monkey Island, we had little
cheat keys that would allow us to run as fast as we wanted, just because
it was boring for us as the designers to run around the damn game. And
so I think that kind of world traversal is something that’s always been
a little bit boring in adventure games.
Having the Cave be something that you’re running around and you’re
jumping, you’re climbing up things, wasn’t really a way to add this
whole other level of gameplay. It was just about making traversal fun
and interesting and something you enjoy doing........."
I understand what he's trying to say there. The gameplay isn't about
jumping, making timely maneuvers, barely hanging on to things, dodging
and shooting enemies etc - basically all the things that constitute a
platformer. It has character and inventory-based puzzles, but the
interface is non-traditional.
--
Noman
> I understand what he's trying to say there. The gameplay isn't about
> jumping, making timely maneuvers, barely hanging on to things, dodging
> and shooting enemies etc - basically all the things that constitute a
> platformer. It has character and inventory-based puzzles, but the
> interface is non-traditional.
Ok thanks for the clarification sounds more like Lost Winds which also
is an adventure game with platform elements.
On Friday, June 22, 2012 6:09:48 PM UTC-7, noman wrote:
> I haven't seen anyone post about this upcoming game. It's from Ron
> Gilbert (Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion etc) and the very talented folks
> at Double Fine (Psychonauts, Brutal Legend). The premise is interesting
> and yet very gamey (Maniac Mansion like). It's about a cave, which has a
> personality and acts as a narrator in the game. You pick three out of
> seven characters at a time to descend into the cave, each with his or
> her own motivations. The characters are not voiced, but each of them
> bring some special way of handling situations, in addition to areas of
> the caves that only a team carrying a certain character can access.
This game sounds good. It's the next generation of Adventure Games. I am getting back into Adventure Games, especially all the old ones. I have not played a new one in over a decade. The most shocking thing about Adventure Games today is how very little that they have changed. Portal and Portal 2 seem to be very different types of Adventure Games. Do the newer Adventure Games have better puzzle design or is it the same as it was in the nineties? I have been living in a cave, and trying to catch up. what a bad pun!
> I think one of the things that classic point-click adventure games were
> always criticized for was that walking around is boring. You had to walk
> from one end of Melee Island to the other end of Melee Island, and it’s
> just boring to do. When we were developing Monkey Island, we had little
> cheat keys that would allow us to run as fast as we wanted, just because
> it was boring for us as the designers to run around the damn game. And
> so I think that kind of world traversal is something that’s always been
> a little bit boring in adventure games.
Walking in Adventure Games can be boring. It depends on the Adventure Game, if the Adventure Game in question is a huge world where there is a lot of backtracking. Adventure Game designers could have always put a map function in the game, and the player could simply just teleport to that location if they had been there at least once.
The Dig is really guilty of a huge world, lots of backtracking, and walking, but no map to instantly teleport to that location. In addition to The Dig, even Myst and it's clones are guilty of just click on screen after screen to get to where the player needs to be because he or she push a button somewhere, and has to travel and click on 15 screens to find an open door because of that pushed button.
> Having the Cave be something that you’re running around and you’re
> jumping, you’re climbing up things, wasn’t really a way to add this
> whole other level of gameplay. It was just about making traversal fun
> and interesting and something you enjoy doing. If I had to run over here
> to get something, it was kind of fun to actually move over there and get
> that thing..........."
That seems like that would be a lot of fun.
> The game looks quite good already. I am sure I'll be purchasing it on
> day one. It's coming next year as a downloadable title and will be
> published by Sega.
> --
> Noman
I will have to check it out. I am very excited to see that Ron Gilbert is making more Adventures for all of us Adventure Game fans to enjoy.
