What you'd like to see in TTG's Kings Quest (merged threads)

[Armakuni]

I'd love to see (and I realize this is completely unrealistic ) Telltale making an AGI text-parser version of every episode, it can't be that expensive to make something using that engine these days

I'm of course joking in that it's completely unrealistic, but I'm not joking when I say it's something I would really love to see

[Datadog]

Originally Posted by MusicallyInspired

-Only one goal in mind. Everything else you figure out on your own as you discover the world.
-The world has to be big and full of life and obstacles to get in your way to block you from that goal. Don't give the WHOLE world away all at once, but a lot of it. There has to be some excitement to see new areas, which is what puzzles like getting rid of the snake and fixing the boat in KQ5 were all about. Getting to that new area at last!
-The game has to be dangerous and cause real feelings of suspense, thrill, and excitement. There has to be a possibility of utter failure in the gaming experience if this is to work.

I'm skeptical of any large post that people say is "required reading," but... yeah. This sums it up really well.

This gives me the idea that in order to work episodically and maintain that KQ feel, red herrings have to be set up in earlier episodes. Say in "Episode 1," you come across an angry beaver troll that's preventing you from entering a jungle - you're going to think that this is a puzzle to solve. The catch would be that you don't even get the item you need to get past this beaver troll until Episode 3.

[MusicallyInspired]

Yeah, that's an interesting idea.

[icedan]

lol, so the higher the frustration, the greater the satisfaction? Is that KQ's motto?

[MusicallyInspired]

How is that frustrating? It's an adventure game. It's supposed to be difficult. The better the puzzles the better the game. More obstacles means more puzzles; more game!

[icedan]

Internet Mood Fail. I wasn't saying it was a bad thing, I was just laughing at why frustration leads to satisfaction.

[MusicallyInspired]

Ah I see.

[Anakin Skywalker]

Listen, we all love KQ, yeah, but come on, let's be honest...It's 2011. All of that cutesy, bright, family friendly Disney-ish crap is so 1990. This is the Jane Jensen age, not the silly bright old Roberta Williams or Walt Disney age. Psh.

This is the modern age, and these are darker times than the bright and sunny 1990s were. KQ needs to be revamped for the darker, more gritty, more emo-centric 2010s. Who really needs all that family friendly nonsense when you can have a dark story with complex characters and a complex storyline? Adventure games are about thinking, dammit! In the original games, you didn't think, you simply had an enjoyable experience--That's so hollow, so fake, such a farce! What good is an adventure game if it doesn't have a mind bending plot and deep characters who have real emotions?

I say ditch all that Disney, fairy tale stuff. This ain't 1984. This is 2011. Out with that old, crappy lighthearted stuff.

[MusicallyInspired]

Is this sarcasm or.....?

[Anakin Skywalker]

Originally Posted by MusicallyInspired

Is this sarcasm or.....?

No. It's a new day. The old, light hearted, illogical, silly KQ "family friendly" formula isn't going to cut it anymore. This isn't 1990. You can't get away with throwing pies in a Yeti's face anymore. This is 2011. The post family friendly era.These are serious times. Serious times require serious games.

[Armakuni]

The Kings Quest series started moving in that direction with Mask of Eternity, in that way I'm happy it was the last KQ game so the trend could not continue.

[Lambonius]

Anakin, you should really check out this team. They're making a game that seems to adhere to your design philosophy. I think you guys would really click.

http://www.tsl-game.com/

[Anakin Skywalker]

Originally Posted by Lambonius

Anakin, you should really check out this team. They're making a game that seems to adhere to your design philosophy. I think you guys would really click.

http://www.tsl-game.com/

OMG. This is lyke...EXACTLY rite up my alley!
I'll download the game later. I have to go to Hot Topic to get some new eyeliner and some bandages to cover up the scars on my wrist. But this game looks mad kewl! I can almost...relate...to it.

[MusicallyInspired]

SO....MUCH....POTENT....SARCASM.....*faints*

[Armakuni]

Originally Posted by MusicallyInspired

How is that frustrating? It's an adventure game. It's supposed to be difficult. The better the puzzles the better the game. More obstacles means more puzzles; more game!

Yeah, it's strange how the adventure game genre in recent times (anything later than the 1990s is 'recent times' for me ) has seen so many extremely easy games... even easier than most games in other genres often.
So that's a bit strange when considering that back in the 'golden era' of adventure gaming, this genre was known for having very difficult games, oftentimes much more difficult than a big percentage of games in other genres.

Adventure games have taken a 180 degree turn when it comes to difficulty, it would seem.

[MusicallyInspired]

Maybe that's why adventures died. Developers started giving gamers what they thought they wanted; easier puzzles. Eventually gamers got bored with them and moved on to more challenging genres. Now we've come full circle but we're skipping a step and going straight to easy puzzles this time....are we trying to kill adventures faster?

[Armakuni]

One thing that seems to be happening now is adventure games, being so easy, are starting to attract a new audience - people that mostly play casual games

And for many of these people, the current level of difficulty is exactly what they want... which may pose the danger that developers will start aiming at this group instead and keep making the games ridiculously easy

I hope my little 'conspiracy theory' here is just me taking things too far, it would be horrible should that happen.

[Lambonius]

The public doesn't ever know what it wants. And when it does, a lot of times what it wants isn't good for it.

A famous anecdote about the ancient Greek artist Polykleitos says it all.

After having devised his canon of proportions for the ideal human figure, he created a sculpture in which to illustrate his "perfect" system. In order to prove the supremacy of his system, he asked the public to give him a list of things they wanted to see in their "ideal" sculpture, and then made a sculpture in which he included every one of their demands. He then revealed both sculptures together. The public adored one of them, and laughed at the other. Satisfied with this reaction, Polykleitos addressed the crowds and said, "ah, but the one you laugh at is the one that you have made, but the one you adore, I have made." Or something like that--I paraphrase.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that people don't know shit. Artists have to make their own choices and follow their own ideas. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it sucks donkey balls.

That said, Telltale had better include hard puzzles, large explorable areas, and deaths in their KQ game, or so help me I'll...

[MusicallyInspired]

Originally Posted by Lambonius

The public doesn't ever know what it wants. And when it does, a lot of times what it wants isn't good for it.

That said, Telltale had better include hard puzzles, large explorable areas, and deaths in their KQ game, or so help me I'll...

The irony of it all! Maybe it's because when developer's give what the fans want they don't do it right because it's not what they would have done. You only know what you do best well.

[KuroShiro]

Originally Posted by Lambonius

The public doesn't ever know what it wants. And when it does, a lot of times what it wants isn't good for it.

A famous anecdote about the ancient Greek artist Polykleitos says it all.

After having devised his canon of proportions for the ideal human figure, he created a sculpture in which to illustrate his "perfect" system. In order to prove the supremacy of his system, he asked the public to give him a list of things they wanted to see in their "ideal" sculpture, and then made a sculpture in which he included every one of their demands. He then revealed both sculptures together. The public adored one of them, and laughed at the other. Satisfied with this reaction, Polykleitos addressed the crowds and said, "ah, but the one you laugh at is the one that you have made, but the one you adore, I have made." Or something like that--I paraphrase.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that people don't know shit. Artists have to make their own choices and follow their own ideas. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it sucks donkey balls.

That said, Telltale had better include hard puzzles, large explorable areas, and deaths in their KQ game, or so help me I'll...

Well yeah, if you take all of the desires of everyone of course you're going to end up with a massive pile of junk. Input is not inherently bad, and people do know what they enjoy. The problem is trying to please everyone.