Are you an "old school" adventure gamer?

[natlinxz]

Originally Posted by matan

I don't understand why everyone just takes for granted that text parsers are a bad thing. I really miss the text parser games, and if a new one would've been made I would be thrilled. Same goes for interactive fiction (i.e non-graphics adventures) and I still get in the mood and play the new ones from time to time. The Spider and the Web is, in my opinion, much better than many commercial graphic adventure games.

In any case, I didn't find this list funny. Basically just mixed some obviously infantile remarks like "You refuse to attend IMAX movies because you hate 3D" or "You confuse CDs for Frisbees" with perfectly reasonable ones like "You actually LIKE to use a text parser" or "You can't figure out why games that lack voice over, feature MIDI and blocky pixel art would need special editions" to make us old-timers look bad

You can't handle the truth! Text parsers suck, face it. We don't all have the exact same vocabulary and sentence structure as Roberta Williams, life just doesn't work that way.

The Lucasarts SCUMM engine was a million times better because you were told what the item you were pointing at was, instead of spending three hours mindlessly typing because you didn't realize that the computer was actually a terminal, or that the bowl was really a pot.

[matan]

Originally Posted by natlinxz

You can't handle the truth! Text parsers suck, face it. We don't all have the exact same vocabulary and sentence structure as Roberta Williams, life just doesn't work that way.

The Lucasarts SCUMM engine was a million times better because you were told what the item you were pointing at was, instead of spending three hours mindlessly typing because you didn't realize that the computer was actually a terminal, or that the bowl was really a pot.

I agree that Sierra's parser wasn't very good, but there were better parsers out there like Infocom's or Legend's. Plus, in the newer Sierra games you could right click an object with the mouse and get a description of it which always contained the name of the object. In any case, I don't remember ever being stuck in a parser game for very long because I knew the solution to a puzzle but not how to phrase it to the parser.

[Olaus Petrus]

Originally Posted by natlinxz

You can't handle the truth! Text parsers suck, face it. We don't all have the exact same vocabulary and sentence structure as Roberta Williams, life just doesn't work that way.

The Lucasarts SCUMM engine was a million times better because you were told what the item you were pointing at was, instead of spending three hours mindlessly typing because you didn't realize that the computer was actually a terminal, or that the bowl was really a pot.

With "look" command you usually realized what the object was because game told you that there's pot on the table when you wrote "look table". So it wasn't really a problem. Most of the time you go with simple commands like "look man" "talk man" "draw gun" "shoot man" "search body". In general guess the word problems are often less frustrating (if nothing else helps then there's dictionary) than pixel hunting some point and clicks seem to favour. But both systems are great if those are well made.

[PariahKing]

Originally Posted by matan

In any case, I didn't find this list funny. Basically just mixed some obviously infantile remarks like "You refuse to attend IMAX movies because you hate 3D" or "You confuse CDs for Frisbees" with perfectly reasonable ones like "You actually LIKE to use a text parser" or "You can't figure out why games that lack voice over, feature MIDI and blocky pixel art would need special editions" to make us old-timers look bad

I already explained this once, but you aren't who I'm referring to. The joke is a certain loud and annoying subset of people assume any people who disagree with them that all modern games are stupid aren't real, true adventure gamers.

My avatar features art from a game released in 1991. My wall is literally plastered with posters of adventure games from twenty years ago. My earliest memory is a scene from LeChuck's Revenge.

I personally find text parsers incredibly annoying to operate, and I have actually tried to use them for long periods of time. I could have put "you prefer/think text parsers should still be used to today" but I didn't critically analyze my post for fear of not being politically correct. As for special editions, I just disagree. For them to have any mass marketing appeal today they have to be updated.

Some are more obtuse and less universally agreed upon than others - special editions being unimportant is obviously less silly than expecting your Commodore 64 to run TMI. I was just thinking of all the negative - some more negative than others - stereotypical things adventure gamers complain about or their attributes.

[Nimeni]

Wow

. . . .

Thanks for making me feel young!

I kind of considered myself old-school, because I grew up on the old games. But after reading over some of the technical terms in the thread and realizing they held no meaning for me, I'm going to have to re-evaluate my status as an old-school gamer. Maybe I'm just a middle-school gamer?

[Plunder_Bunny]

Hmm... First off, PK, I love the opening post. Very funny, and kinda scary how true it is.

I prefer to think of myself as a "girly gamer." I like to have a plot, I like the controls to be easy, and I would like the graphics to be pleasing. By pleasing, I mean decent. Pixel sprites were just fine by me, and I thought the artwork for TMI was pleasing, even though the quality was not top grade.

Having been one of the annoying people complaining about controls, this is my feeling about them:

wasd and the mouse it fine. You can move with ease, and then you just have to click. It makes me happy. That is why I had an issue with the controls in TMI and trouble with other games that have alternative controls. My favorite interface was in CMI, where you still had the option to talk/chew/taste, look and pick up. I find that a lot of hints are given by having options of how you manipulate objects as opposed to click on an object and hope it gives you something useful.

Graphics? Oh boy... little rant here. I think Myst had a large part of killing the graphic adventure game. It was pretty, but unless you ordered the hint book, or read the whole library in the game, it was next to impossible to beat. I remember everyone bought it because it was so pretty and the graphics were so good, but not because of the story. I think that started the seed which caused graphics to be a higher priority, rather then game play. I'm sorry, I really hate Myst. I like eye candy, Folklore for the PS3 is beautiful AND has good game play. Soul Caliber is basically eye candy with button mashing and that is why I love it. I guess what I'm saying is that the graphics should fit the style of the game. It doesn't matter if it is 2D or 3D, it just needs to work with the rest of the game.

[SHODANFreeman]

Well sure Myst is pretty, but egad is it dull!

[Plunder_Bunny]

Hahahaha! That fairyman in CMI knew what he was talking about.

[MusicallyInspired]

I like posts made by PariahKing.

[Armakuni]

Originally Posted by Pale Man

Well sure Myst is pretty, but egad is it dull!

Actually, Myst is awesome and Riven is even better. I actually like them better than CMI, so take that CMI designers!

Anyway, I would probably be considered an 'old school' (don't like that term) adventure gamer by todays standards as I started playing them back in '89 or so (I played some before but not seriously... I was so young).

But adventure games had already been around for a long time before that.

[SHODANFreeman]

Originally Posted by Armakuni

Actually, Myst is awesome and Riven is even better. I actually like them better than CMI, so take that CMI designers!

Anyway, I would probably be considered an 'old school' (don't like that term) adventure gamer by todays standards as I started playing them back in '89 or so (I played some before but not seriously... I was so young).

But adventure games had already been around for a long time before that.

The puzzles in Myst never made sense to me or anyone I know and the only time we solved ANYTHING was by brute forcing it. The puzzles were pretty poorly designed.

[Armakuni]

Originally Posted by PariahKing

* If a game requires you utilize a keyboard, you quickly log onto forums and type up a storm about how operating a keyboard is so difficult

Not difficult, I find it inconvenient. I like mouse controls a lot better.

* You expect your graphics card from 1997 to be Direct X 10 compatible

Not needed, there are always ways to play old games on modern systems.

* You think WASD is some form of white angelo saxonism

WASD works fine for action games. I wouldn't want to play a strategy game using those controls, and I prefer mouse controls for adventure games.
I just find it more convenient, that's all there is to it.

* You're infuriated when you find out your brand new game won't work with Windows 98

All my Windows 98 games work fine here, using various methods like VMWare, etc.

* You expect episodic adventure games produced monthly that look like Curse of Monkey Island

I never liked the style in CMI too much, too cartoony and Guybrush looks silly.

* You refuse to attend IMAX movies because you hate 3D

I hardly ever visit theatres.

* You think adding the word "Quest" to the end of names for games, books or children is clever

Depends on the context, I'd have to hear the full title of the book to know if the usage of that word is clever or not.

* The majority of games you play weren't made this this century

Very true in my case, except for a few exceptions like Telltale games and some others.

* You think the best games ever made were from the nineties, and log on to complain about how Tales of Monkey Island or the Special Edition haven't been made exactly like the originals

Most of my favourite games are from the 80s and 90s. Games have changed a lot, for better or worse. It's a personal preference.
I would never expect new games to be like old ones.

* ...while complaining about how the sound and graphics haven't been polished to a Crysis like standard.

I think this is exaggerated. Asking for games to look nice doesn't automatically mean you expect cutting edge graphics. In any case, I don't care much about graphics, other than having a thing for 2D... but I would never complain about a game released these days being 3D.

* You hate Guybrush's hair almost as much as you hated his nose in 1997.

I still don't like the CMI Guybrush and his hair is really ugly in the remake. Nothing wrong about pointing this out, it's a valid complaint.

* You hate episodic gaming because it's too short so you replay Full Throttle and Loom instead.

I don't hate episodic gaming for being short. But they have disadvantages - recycled areas, not very many items, small worlds...

* You've burned your copy of Escape from Monkey Island over the ending, swearing to kill the originator of the concept without realizing it was one of the throw away ideas Ron, Dave and Tim came up with back in 1991 for the original Secret of Monkey Island

I would never burn a Monkey Island game even if I hated it, I collect them.

* You spend hours pouring over the evidence and put much thought into the truth behind the TRUE secret and are still looking forward to seeing the sequels to the Matrix

I don't bother with stuff like that, but inconsistencies do bother me a bit.

* You're waiting for the price to come down before you shell out for a VHS player.

Why would anyone do that.

* Your modem still downloads things at a rate of bauds per second.

Again, why? What does this have to do with being 'oldschool'? You can download 'retro' stuff a lot faster with a fast connection.

* You go watch TV or read The Green Mile instead of even contemplating paying for an episodic game

What does episodic or not have to do with 'oldschool'?

* You can actually use a text parser

Of course I can.

* You actually LIKE to use a text parser

Of course. It gives a lot of freedom.

* You're extremely disappointed after you begin playing Jak and Daxter

I've never played any of those games.

* You couldn't beat the default settings for Whack-A-Mole

Why not? Old adventure games have harder sequences than that.

* You give the original Half Life a D minus in your review

The original Half Life was great. Half Life 2 was decent but nowhere near as good.

* You keep all your important documents like your resume and your tax information safe and secure, hidden away on password protected floppies

That's retarded.

* You find Monkey Kombat to be INTOLERABLE and THE WORST THING EVER, and try explaining how awful and tedious it is to people who grind in World of Warcraft or repeatedly fight the Elite Four in Poke'mon

Monkey Kombat was stupid as hell. WoW is very tedious for me, but I can see why people like it.. the social aspect and all that.

* You can't figure out why games that lack voice over, feature MIDI and blocky pixel art would need special editions

They don't *need* special editions. But why not, always interesting to see how they turn out... and MI:SE is pretty decent.

* You voted for Obama but hate all the changes made to adventure gaming because "it's different and unfamiliar"

I don't care if something is unfamiliar. Myst was very unfamiliar when I first played that, and yet I loved it.
I care if I find something inconvenient, and people always blame me (and others with similar opinions) for hating it only because it's 'unfamiliar'. Which is stupid.

* You call tech support because your new game shipped without its code wheel

I would if it was supposed to come with one.

* You make a daily habit of praying to God that the people behind Escape from Monkey Island be crushed by meteorites while occasionally replaying Sam and Max Hit the Road and the Fate of Atlantis

I'm an atheist, but I do replay those two games... they're really good. Especially Fate of Atlantis.

* You wish there was more verbs to select from in Zak McKraken and Maniac Mansion

Nope, I don't. Why would I, there isn't any use for more.

* You think graphics killed adventure gaming - as in, actually having graphics at all.

I haven't read that article so I can't comment. But there's no doubt that changing adventure games to 3D can greatly *change* them.
If they're 'killed' or not... I don't even know what that means. They're still around, so they're obviously not dead.

* You refer to people who enjoy modern adventure games as "kids" universally, even the people who actually are on staff designing the game

Nope.

* You confuse CDs for Frisbees

Nope.

...and most importantly...

* You have a complete inability to let go of the past.

Nope. But if something is of very high quality and a lot of fun, it would be stupid to let go of it merely because it's old.


So does this qualify me as being an 'oldschool' adventure gamer?

[PariahKing]

Originally Posted by MusicallyInspired

I like posts made by PariahKing.

I like clever references made by MusicallyInspired.

[PariahKing]

Originally Posted by Armakuni

So does this qualify me as being an 'oldschool' adventure gamer?

Yes in one sense but no in another, but I'm not going to explain it a third time.

[Armakuni]

Ah, I see... you already talked about this. I didn't read much of the thread, just replied to the very first post.

[MusicallyInspired]

People who don't like parsers just never knew how to use one properly or simply thought it was too much work to be worth it.

[SHODANFreeman]

Originally Posted by MusicallyInspired

People who don't like parsers just never knew how to use one properly or simply thought it was too much work to be worth it.

For some reason, reading this just reminded me of all the people who think WASD movement is a hideous abomination.

I wonder how many of them sing the praises of parsers, most of which were controlled exclusively by arrow key steering.

[natlinxz]

Originally Posted by Armakuni

The original Half Life was great. Half Life 2 was decent but nowhere near as good.

I don't know why Valve even bothered making a sequel. Even if it was the best game ever made (which it came very close to being) everyone would still complain that it isn't "as good as the first".

[SHODANFreeman]

Originally Posted by natlinxz

I don't know why Valve even bothered making a sequel. Even if it was the best game ever made (which it came very close to being) everyone would still complain that it isn't "as good as the first".

Yeah, for most people nostalgia > quality. I don't understand it.

[thatdude98]

Originally Posted by Pale Man

Well sure Myst is pretty, but egad is it dull!

amen to that brother! But my opinion is more this way:

Well sure the entire Myst series is pretty, but egad is it dull!