🚀 go-pugleaf

On Sun, 23 Jun 2013 02:22:51 GMT, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.adventure,
Brian wrote: 

>"Mary" <nospamXX@invalid.net> wrote:
>> "Brian" <bclark@es.co.nz> wrote in message 
>> news:1717250769393173583.815371bclark-es.co.nz@free.teranews.com...
>>> I'm looking for games like Myst. Can you still buy adventure games or are
>>> they dying out?
>>> If there are adventure games about then what are the names of these games?
>> 
>> Brian,
>> 
>> I liked Myst Exile (Myst III)  the best in the Myst series. I played the 
>> original Myst and Riven and Myst Exile. I think I also got Myst IV (Myst 
>> Revelation) but never finished it. I thought it was boring. I didn't like 
>> the original Myst much though I played it and finished it. I found it and 
>> Riven too hard for me. I found Myst Exile hard too but found it more 
>> interesting and have played it a few times since. It looks like you are in 
>> New Zealand, so if you can't find it there, you might find it on Ebay or 
>> Amazon.com (US site) by a seller, if they ship to NZ.
>> 
>> www.gog.com is a good place to look for older adventure games most of which 
>> have been modified for newer systems, and often on sale on some weekends at 
>> good prices. They are only downloadable but they have some good old 
>> adventure games and some not so old. I've bought quite a few there.
>> There are still some adventure games which are released now and then. 
>> Unfortunately for us adventurers, not nearly as many as earlier times, but 
>> still some.
>> 
>> Mary
>
>Thanks Many for the advice and site address.
>I don't know why action games dominated the market over adventure games.
>Maybe there is more artwork with the scenery in graphic adventure games
>that takes time to create and also there is a thrill of shooting at
>something. The was a time when games such as Kings Quest, Police Quest etc
>were very popular and people didn't mind the bad graphics. Simulation games
>also seem to be less in demand.
>
Well, I think there are a series of tricks and traps that adventure games
have, fetch, abstract puzzle, etc. and the repertoire runs out pretty
quickly.

Action games are always unpredictable due to their second-by-second, near
random nature, but pre-planned adventure games simply became far too
same-y to support the market.

Myst-alikes got old even quicker, due to the nature of the puzzles. It is
difficult to innovate further in such a genre.

Doesn't stop those of us who appreciate a subscription to "Games"
magazine however, but it doesn't have the mass market appeal that action
games have.

My 2 cents, of course.

>Its difficult to set a difficulty level with adventure games. If they are
>too easy there is a lack of feeling that you have achieved something and if
>they are too difficult then you start to loose interest in the game and
>feel that you have wasted your money in buying it. I feel that they need to
>build in a hint option when the player needs it as not all players are good
>at solving adventure games.

Yeah. That and stump blocker puzzles and the prevalence of walkthroughs,
including the inevitable and famous "buy the hint booklet" puzzle that
became ubiquitous as a cheat to gain revenue. Irrational and obtuse
puzzles piss me off, and they became commonplace.

Besides that canard, the walkthroughs are pretty hard to resist, and it
also ruins the primary reward of the game. I remember being stumped for
half a year on the "Feel Free" puzzle in Zork II before I experienced the
"eureka!" I got most of the way through Zork III in the meantime, with
its ingenious "scoring" system.

No longer. Either I no longer have the patience, or the walkthroughs are
far too easy to access. Or something in between. Or neither.

">Take rock.
 > You take the rock.

 >Beat head with rock."
 > There is a satisfying thumping noise.

LOL.

-- 
Zag

No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had
spent more time alone with my computer.' ~Dan(i) Bunten