Atten: Adventure Games Makers - Food for thought

First of all, thanks for all the adventure....but I have a couple of items to you to note as development is under way for future adventures.
1) Always have sub-titles option.....this is because there are those that don't always pick up the dialogue, story....key points because of lack of subtitles. 2) Speaking of Broken Sword 3....a great adventure or is it perhaps an action thriller....I have difficulty with reflexes but not using my brain....If the need for action is necessary for the adventure, then perhaps one could create actions scenes timers - - for example for a great action/adventurer, maybe 5 seconds should be enough but maybe there are those who would perhaps need 20 seconds. Inotherwords, we dont want to get 'stuck' on the reflexes but rather the brain....thanks. I hope that perhaps if enough of us 'vent our adventure concerns', then adventure can indeed be adventure.....thanks for listening...

krona -- thanks for expressing your concerns. And yes, there are lots of people reading the boards who take note of them!

EcoQuest 1 actually has a slider puzzle with a button that solves the puzzle for you. That can be made in various (people could get stuck and complain) situations. Action parts miraculously solved from a touch of a button by choice! Now that would be a welcome function.

I realize that this probably took some work on the part of the designers, but I always admired the function at the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis where the player could essentially pick the kind of experience he or she wanted to have: either action oriented or more centered on puzzles and intellectual challenge. For adventures that have some action aspects, this might be a viable design option that would please players of differing tastes.

I liked that feature in Fate of Atlantis too. But it was, in some ways, like designing three different games for the price of just one. How many developers can afford to do that?

That is the heart of the problem. We struggle to get the funding for one game...

There are so many action-oriennted games now a days.
Some of them I really enjoy, but when I'm playing an adventure game I just want to use my mind instead of my reflexes.

Bernard

Yes, I've already planned for my second game, Shady Brook, to have subtitles.

I don't much like timed sequences in games, as I start to panic as the time runs out and become all fingers and thumbs.

Then if I can't do it I become bored because it interrupts the flow of the game.


Tyke.

I would like to second Krona's request for subtitles as that makes the game more accessible to those of us with hearing problems and of course, the entire Deaf community.

Welcome to Gameboomers, krona9 ! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Magicscroll mentioned the button within Ecoquest 1 that solved a puzzle - I was so happy to see that Tex Murphy had that function!
But a button for action? Interesting thought. I'm really not sure why adventure developers add these action sequences, unless they're trying to appeal to a larger audience. However, they seldom make the game more appealing to action players because the action that one encounters in an adventure game is generally so brief and so simplistic compared to what an action gamer usually plays, that they don't get enjoyment out of it either.

to Gameboomers, Krona!

I also find subtitles a very helpful option. I'm always afraid of missing or misunderstanding a clue without it. MJ2 had the option of reading the conversations again after you had them. That worked well too IMO.

Rather trying to design the game two ways..how about making the time element (how long you actually have to complete a timed sequence) a variable? So the bold could choose the 'split second' setting and others could have more time or even no official time limit? Some puzzles allow this now, like Boggle.

Susan