Interactive Movies

[Anakin Skywalker]

The Interactive Movie is a subgenre of games which was popularized in the early-mid 1990s with games like Phantasmagoria and Gabriel Knight II, and many other non-Sierra Interactive Movies. The genre has seen quite a bit of a resurgance with the popularity of games like Heavy Rain.

Would you support KQ taking an Interactive Movie route?

[GuybrushWilco]

Absolutely not.

[Valiento]

Maybe as a side story but not a main series game. The King's quest universe is interesting enough I think it could inspire many different genres. A KQ mmo could be interesting if done right. Roberta had even thought of going that route with 'KQIX' according to talkspot interviews.

One wonders what people would have been saying about Roberta today if KQ9 had been an MMORPG!

[Radogol]

Gabriel Knight II wasn't an interactive movie. It was an adventure game that just happened to have live-action graphics. Then again, I believe King's Quest IV was advertised as an interactive movie (that can make you cry!), so really, what does it even mean?

[Valiento]

Gabriel Knight II, still got subclassed under "interactive movie/Adventure" most of the time actually. Even Ken called those games "interactive movies" at times.

Also except for a few scenes (walking around Munich square), the game doesn't actually give you much direct interactivity, like the older adventure games. There are a few hotspots, and almost every scene was automatically played when you clicked on a spot. That is, Gabriel would walk from one part of a room, and the angle would change, and load the new screen. So almost everything was literally "static" until you changed the scenes. Very much like most other "Interactive Movies" of the day. The only difference, the game had a great story, and a good inventory interface, that made it stand above the rest. Oh, the acting was generally better than 90% of the other "I-Movies" out there at the time...

I think, IMO, one of the best IM of the day (besides many of Sierra's offerings), was probably Wing Commander 3 and 4... Mark Hamil as Maverick? Great space combat... What's not to love?

[Chyron8472]

Originally Posted by guybrushwilco

absolutely not.

+100

Phas 1 was good. Hey, I even like Star Trek:Borg alot. But for King's Quest? No.

No way.

[Armakuni]

Oh man, an FMV Kings Quest game... I'd like to see it just because it would be so very cheesy but yeah... not a good idea!

EDIT - oh I see you didn't mean 'interactive movie' as in an FMV game... still not a good idea for a KQ game though, in my opinion anyway.

[der_ketzer]

Originally Posted by Anakin Skywalker

Would you support KQ taking an Interactive Movie route?

No. Phantasmagoria & Phantasmagoria 2 were great experiences but I would never ever touch them again. And they were really short for a full price game.

[PimPamPet]

Phantasmagoria 1+2 were just a bunch of cheesy b-level horror movies disguised as games. They were pretty horrible in both regards.

Originally Posted by Chyron8472

Hey, I even like Star Trek:Borg alot.

Worth a playthrough just for the laughs provided by John DeLancie.

[Falanca]

Originally Posted by PimPamPet

Phantasmagoria 1+2 were just a bunch of cheesy b-level horror movies disguised as games. They were pretty horrible in both regards.

This. Especially the second one. The selling point was basically you needing to click on things to advance in story, while watching a horror movie. Though, it was funny more than scary. There isn't much of a puzzle in the second game anyway.

[der_ketzer]

Originally Posted by Falanca

This. Especially the second one. The selling point was basically you needing to click on things to advance in story, while watching a horror movie. Though, it was funny more than scary. There isn't much of a puzzle in the second game anyway.

The puzzles in the second game were rare and stupid. The hardest thing in the first hours was finding out how to use your keycard properly or how to open this stupid toolchest properly just because the controls were horrible and worked kind of different every time.

And if you are blind and stupid you will never work out some of the passwords for the computers.

Oh and once you are "getting places" at the end they throw in one of the most confusing puzzles I have ever seen in any game. And that thing really made me grab a walkthrough.

[tomimt]

Biggest problem with older interactive games was mostly poorly done casting. Like the dude, who played Gabriel in GK 2 was pretty bad. But on the contrast the man who played the baddie in it is pretty damn good. Phantasmagoria was full of bad acting.

I think the best IAM game I've played is Black Dahlia. The plot is solid and the actors are pretty good. It even has Dennis Hopper in it.

[Radogol]

Originally Posted by tomimt

But on the contrast the man who played the baddie in it is pretty damn good.

And he's got the moves too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw6-F1QxWok

[Simo Sakari Aaltonen]

That was an amazing sight for this long-time Gabriel Knight fan! Thanks so much for linking to this, Radogol!

[Radogol]

Originally Posted by Simo Sakari Aaltonen

That was an amazing sight for this long-time Gabriel Knight fan! Thanks so much for linking to this, Radogol

In case you were wondering, Von Glower actually won that season of Dancing with the Stars

[Simo Sakari Aaltonen]

Great to hear! Yes, I had totally missed this whole thing. I watch very little television. Have to look for more clips.

[Radogol]

Originally Posted by Simo Sakari Aaltonen

Great to hear! Yes, I had totally missed this whole thing. I watch very little television. Have to look for more clips.

Oh boy, I'm sorry, my memory played a trick on me. He reached the finale but lost

[Simo Sakari Aaltonen]

Well, the main thing is there is lots of new Peter Lucas FMV out there!

[Olaus Petrus]

Originally Posted by der_ketzer

The puzzles in the second game were rare and stupid. The hardest thing in the first hours was finding out how to use your keycard properly or how to open this stupid toolchest properly just because the controls were horrible and worked kind of different every time.

And if you are blind and stupid you will never work out some of the passwords for the computers.

Oh and once you are "getting places" at the end they throw in one of the most confusing puzzles I have ever seen in any game. And that thing really made me grab a walkthrough.

I find it funny that game, which has practically no puzzles at all, has quite difficult final puzzle, which gives very little hints what you have to do to solve it.

Another thing which I find interesting was how almost everyone in the office was sexually attracted to main character, who in my opinion was probably the most uncharismatic adventure hero I have ever seen.

[Falanca]

Originally Posted by der_ketzer

Oh and once you are "getting places" at the end they throw in one of the most confusing puzzles I have ever seen in any game. And that thing really made me grab a walkthrough.

That puzzle was just like, developers saying "you say I don't have puzzles in my game? well, FUCK YOU, here's your puzzle". It didn't even fit the environment with all those flashy colors and everything, and was just indecipherable.

That's one lousy, broken game in overall. Noone should show that game as a frame of reference for, well, anything.