Re-inventing the wheel, new interfaces for every game

Is there some copyright thing that says every new company MUST come up with a totally new gameplay interface for every new game?

There seem to me to be many simple, intuitive, interfaces out there and yet we have to learn a new one for each game or company.

Why can't game designers simply take the most intuitive interfaces of previous popular games and use them. There may be some cases in which a right click (or control click for Mac people) should pull up your inventory and others in which more choices (like save or load a game) might be necessary. Or maybe even the good ole "right click gives you a description" would be even better, while going to the top or bottom of the screen gives you yourinventory or menu options (or "space" key for inventory and "escape" key for menu options. The "smart" cursor, which changes whenever you can go in a specific direction, interact with an object, or an "X" when you can do neither, seems to be a pretty prevalent standard.

Why do game designers and developers try to reinvent the wheel with every new game?

Hi Raj
While I do agree with you...

Every developer & game designer has their own
way of doing things...
I think every game that comes out even from the same developer
still has something new & different they like to try.

First of all... Games ARE more enjoyable because of this efficient rocking site!

But I can't see why people haven't moved to the most intuitive interfaces possible (whether MYST like, without inventory really, or like the Jonathan Boakes games which include inventory) and just kept that as a basis, and then added the tweaks, such as the wonderful Journal innovation in the DOS Sherlock Holmes games, or the more recent A Weekend in Capri, games.

Left, right, up, down, active hotspot, inactive hotspot, move to this spot (in third person), get a close-up and/or information about a hotspot, zip to another location (in those games that seem to cover acres and acres of territory), inventory, and save/load/quit...

Am I missing something?
Or could designers and developers save themselves a lot of brain-power learning from particulularly clever implementations of these choices.

Then again... Maybe it will come. From the early days of Classic Lucasarts and the like, picking an object and then a verb has totally given way to the smart cursor. And even that picking a verb format was an improvement over text interactive-fiction.

Perhaps I am complaining before my time, eh?

I was just really interested in the copyright question and whether companies HAD to be innovative for each game.

A minor irk, I know... doesn't really matter, I know... just wanted to know if there were others in the vast GB community who have thought about this too.

Maybe just me so... forget it.

Huhm, I think Windows had this concept, a universal interface sort of like a car dashboard and controls. Once you learn it, you're ready to go. Great idea. Somehow I think it may be tied to the underlying game engine though. This has potential. Why spend mega man hours doing things from scratch with assembly code when you can use a C++ compiler? I think you're on the right path, but allowances need to be made for customasation. GPS in you car maybe?

Albert

This is a legitimate complaint. What I particularly notice is not the interfaces vary (for me I adjust to the way a game plays fairly quickly) but that new developers repeat the same mistakes they don't learn from what's gone before.

Don't think it's a copyright issue. I think you need experience in making games to get it right, and that you improve over time. It's not enough to have played games to know how to make them. Companies improve with time and with feedback - so for instance "Her Interactive" have evolved their game-making with the "Nancy Drew" games.

So many games are produced by new companies who start from square one, perhaps with staff who don't play Adventure games.

Don't know what the answer is - there are guidelines out there on how to make Adventure games, on the pitfalls to avoid. But human nature is to not to read the instructions.

The thing is that when we went form keyboard to point and click with the mouse (and sometimes inserted a verb) we had to learn how to use the controls again. Most adventure games are now point and click games for the pc while also being developed for the Xbox 360. This means that we will have to learn new controls, built for both Xbox 360 and the PC.

I still like Point 'n Click games the best, though

I prefer that things stay pretty much the same-point and click, easy access to inventory. I do like the journal idea and the check lists as in Nancy Drew. I am too old to learn too many new things and end up dialing my PIN into the microwave.
Marion

What adventure games are being developed for the XBox 360?

I know that CSI Hard Evidence and Lost are coming out for Xbox360.

Ana

Speaking from a developer's perspective, I choose the interface that appeals to me the most. Nothing would make my job easier than taking the "all-purpose single cursor" option. The problem is, I don't enjoy playing a game with that interface, therefore I wouldn't enjoy making one. That is why I went for:

-Classic Walk-Look-Use-Talk Sierra-like cursors
-Inventory bar as opposed to Inventory window
-Simple "click on a line" dialog system
-Screenshot + description Save/Load system

Sounds good to me, Alkis. Nice & simple & everyone understands it.
I dislike it when programmers have seperate keys for crouching & jumping & they use w, a, s & D instead of a simple mouse click. And you know you have an inventory but you can't find it...

I think all sequels and series of games should have the same interface that worked with the first game! It's those that change and morph into something else that make me feel they are not being fair with me as I'm expecting one type of game and get another that just won't work for me. What a letdown and big disappointment that turns into! With a first game I'll take my chances according to what I read at varius forums about the game. If I guess wrong I'll be unhappy but I won't blame the maker of the game for my mistake.

Oh, there is Dremfall, which, of course was developed for Xbox 360 and the PC at the same time. That was the game I was thinking about along with a few other games from major publishers and developers. Most adventure games these days seem to be developed by indie developers for the pc. But when a big publisher wants to develop an adventure game, my guess or bet is that they will do it for both the Xbox 360 and the PC - to earn much more money...