MMmmm!Walkthrough!
(with the voice of Homer Simson when he thinks of food.)
My brain is very sharp on one side (strange combinations! :D, surprising solutions) and very dull on the logical side.

robert

Use them? First, I wait for a review but then I wait for a walkthrough before buying a game. I cannot thank the people who write walkthroughs enough!! Without them I would lose my very best form of entertainment.

Thanks Becky

Here's a Walk for the Big Red Adventure misslilo.

http://www.the-spoiler.com/ADVENTURE/Dynabyte/big.red.adventure.1.html

I always use them as I have a very low frustration level (hate sliders, mazes and action sequences and practically everytime I use walks for them. The Universal Hint System (as mentioned before) is excellent for just getting a gentle nudge in the right direction or the full solution (the hints are set up going from slight nudges to progressively more detailed answers up to the full solution). This is a paysite though I think it's 15.00 now (won't give full solutions or leave you hanging in the middle of the game if you haven't paid). Still MaG's walks and the Hint board are excellent for getting hints and full solutions (don't know what I'd do a great many times without your walkthroughs Oh Great Queen of Walkthroughs ).

Regards,

Barry

I recently finished Art of Murder and I played it without a walkthrough, but with lots of great help over at the Hints Forum. I did the same with Diamonds In The Rough. These are the best games I played in 2008 and enjoyed both very much. Does this say something about walkthroughs, do you think? Like did I enjoy the games more because I didn't bother with walkthroughs, or were the games so enjoyable right from the start that I didn't want to take the chance and spoil anything by reading too much in a walkthrough? The jury is still out, I just can't decide which it was!

UHS hints are still free if you use them online. Click the "View Hints" link for the game you want at http://www.uhs-hints.com/hints/allhints.php

If you're not seeing hints, there may be a problem with your browser settings.

I use walkthroughs if I get really stuck and spent many hours and days and getting no where. I also find sometimes walkthroughs can confuse me even more, as all of us have a different way to describe how to get something solve. It helps to enjoy the game more and not to be frustrated over certain types of puzzles in the games.

I have to give a lot of credit to all those people who wright WT.
It tales a lot of time and hard work to do a WT. I don't always use them but I know if I needed them I know where to look. I hope you never stop MaG. Love your walkthroughs. Thanks
Richard

I have to agree with you, Richard..

I too am partial to MaG's Wt's..

I use them much to often.
And I love yours, MaG!
Normally I play a good game the first time with walkthrough, because I' m a impatient person and want to know the story. When I'm stuck I don't have the endurance to try for hours.
The second time I play a game to enjoy it - then I take pictures, make more notes, look at the details ...
I now, I'm a imperfect person.

It depends on the game and if I'm enjoying trying to work it out or am ready to just toss the computer out the window.

I play for fun, so when it stops being fun, I reach for help.

I like the hints site too (uhs-hints.com)so I don't read more than I want to know, but sometimes I just want to finish something and a WT is great there.

Of course, our hint forum is wonderful--just state that you want an hint or a nudge, and that is all you will get. If you just want the solution, you'll get that (provided there is one and it's not random)

If it's a game with tons of back and forth, I will consult a WT when I think I'm done in one area to be sure I'm not going to have to come back later

I have been using walkthroughs from here for years, long before I started posting here. I look for MaG's, her walkthroughs are so good and easy for me to follow. MaG for your wonderful walkthroughs!

I usually research the game here to see if it is one I would like to play (instead of running out and buying ones that just aren't my "style", like I have done way too many times) and then come home and print out the walkthrough. I have it next to me while I play, sort of a safety net or security blanket I guess. I found out if I get too frustrated, I will quit a perfectly good or even great game because I couldn't figure out something. I use to save and exit out and go look for a hint, but I got tired of spending time going back and forth to find a hint or a walkthrough.

I used to feel like I didn't really win or wasn't smart if I checked for hints or a walkthrough. But I realized I just wanted to enjoy the game. For me, I needed help sometimes. I might have a family member read the walkthrough part for me to give me a hint even. The security of knowing that I have an answer nearby saves my sanity and helps me enjoy the game better. For me, a walkthrough is like a friend helping me with a problem, and I am thankful for the help. I may not even use the walkthrough or just a few times, but it is there just in case.

Koalanut

same with me koalanut and very many thanks to all those who take time effort and trouble to write them forus.

I have to admit, that I can get picky about the form of the walkthrough.

I sometimes come across WT's that's written in one looong paragraph!! The worst

Next I prefer html over text documents - because of Bold text, slightly colored background, images etc

That's wrong information Jenny about UHS. It's free online for as far as it goes but then as I stated before it leaves you stranded at some point if your not a paid up member. I know because a while back I got an email from them that my membership had expired and I had to pay again, so I tried the online method you mentioned with a game and after some hints in it told me I couldn't get anymore unless I paid for a membership.

Barry

Actually when it comes down to it what does it matter what format a walkthrough has as long as it solves the point you're stuck at. I've used barebone walks of older games that didn't have a MaG walkthrough or other well done ones like hers, but had just one line for each action you had to take in light type but they did supply the solutionms to where I was stuck. My point is what does the format matter as long as it gives you the answer to a part you're stuck at.

Aklis I realize everyone's entitled to their opinions but I couldn't disagree with you more. Would you rather have countless gamers give up games because they're tearing their hair out in frustration not being able to solve a puzzle or sequence in a game. I've had a few situations like that where there weren't any walkthroughs and gave up swearing I'd never buy another game from that developer if there wasn't a walkthrough for it. Now how would you feel if gamers felt the same way about DITTR? Thank god for Len Green and his walkthrough which got me through some rough parts in your game. If there weren't a walkthrough for it would you give the solution to someone who contacted you considering the way you feel about walkthroughs. Sorry if I came across a little hard here a I loved DITTR and am waiting for your next game but I feel that without walks there'd be a ton of unfinised games.

Regards,

Barry

How long have they been doing that? I've never bought a membership from them, and I've never had the problem you describe. Some hints are for subscribers only, but they've never told me I couldn't get more hints.

Jenny100, I've never had that happen at uhs-hints. I'm going over to check.

Hmmmm, I just clicked and clicked and clicked. I wonder if it's because you bought the reader???? Anyway, I'm thankful it doesn't happen when I go there

Umm Barry, maybe I wasn't clear enough.
I take what I can get, when I'm stuck - no matter what format it comes in.

As for one-liners, they are A-Okay with me. Nice and easy to read.

I was more talking of those, where I have to read through a lot of the writers own babbling wrapped around the actual hint - making the WT hard to go over quickly and double/tripple the lenght it needed to be.
Don't get me wrong - sometime they are even ok too, but again, it depends how nice they have set it up.

Not sure if I explain myself good enough.
With a setup I mean, headlines, semiheadlines etc....
Sometimes my english just isn't good enough, lol

I only use one when I am completely stuck, The most I'll spend on a puzzle is at least an hour if I cant solve it then I'll go away from the computer, have a coffee, or smoke a cigarette, come back refreshed and start again, if I still cant solve what I need to do to progress and am getting frustrated then I'll take a little peak at the walkthrough.

I keep them Alt-Tab ready (open under the game), but only use them if I feel like I've tried absolutely everything I can think of. I think of them as my 'safety nets'. Also, as Jenny100 does, I use them to zip through frustrating parts, like mazes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
August 10th edit: So that I don't see more info than I need, I do a keyword search (Ctrl-F) and focus in on just that one bit of help. The WT is, after all, simply my last-ditch reference. Or if the problem is more complex, I'll ask here in the Help & Hints area.

MaG's walkthroughs are the most thorough I've seen. That's not to put down walkthroughs from other contributors. I appreciate and am grateful for all. There is apparently something wrong with my brain or how I interpret words and direction. Sometimes I read something on a W/T and it doesn't work for me. Then I read someone else's W/T and it becomes clear. Has anyone also experienced this? Teddo

I'll try to explain the logic behind my radical opinion as well as I can, Barry.

Although I'm not older than most people here (33), I've been playing adventure games for 22 years. That's several years before the internet gave easy access to walkthroughs to everyone. Furthermore, keep in mind that games in the 80s were nothing like the walk in the park they are today. They required excellent knowledge of the English language and they were crawling with dead ends and pixel hunting. And yet, not only did we play them, they were much more popular compared to other genres.

So I don't agree that if walkthroughs suddenly disappeared it would be such a tragedy. They were extremely rare in the old days and we learned to survive without them. I do not believe that they are as essential as most people seem to think. In fact, why don't you (not Barry; all of you) try an experiment and convince yourself not to use a walkthrough at all in the next game you play. You may be surprised by discovering puzzle solving capabilities you didn't know you possessed, because you never gave them a fair chance. And to me, nothing beats the satisfaction one gets after solving a really tough puzzle. If you feel that you have done everything you could and still cannot proceed, the Hints forum of Gameboomers is a much better solution than a complete walkthrough. Its existence pretty much guarantees that no game will be left unfinished.

To answer your question, when someone asks me the solution to a puzzle in a game I made I try to assist by giving subtle hints. And I wanted Len to write the walkthrough because after beta testing DITR since its initial stages, I knew he could write a comprehensive guide to understanding the game as opposed to simply getting to the end of it. I'd prefer it if people didn't use a walkthrough at all, but if they have to they might as well use one I approve of. I spend a lot of time trying to think of good, original, fair puzzles. That is why I write adventure game instead of novels or movie scripts. The customers are of course entitled to use the products any way they like; as games, movies, or coasters. But when someone compliments me on a particular puzzle and explains the reasoning he/she followed to solve it, that makes me proud.

I'm not trying to convince anyone, I'm just trying to make you see where I'm standing.

can i suggest a method of using a (good) walkthrough which is imho as good as uhs which i also use and also has its troubles. for exampl when you open full uhs file you get a main list of chapters places puzzles which you dont want to know and this also in sub sections.nothuing is perfect

I never print walkhtroughs or read them thro.when i see i'm getting into real stukness i upload a walkthrough in case i need it and i can quickly go there with alt-tab.
when im absolute stuck i alttab and go to Edit/Find.then i choose a keyword as close to where im stuck as possible that way i only see the soluton without anything else i dont want to see.
its probably non clear.if im in a haunted house and stuck somewhere near a bathroom ill type towel or soap or something which i know is there and most times ill get just the hint i need without giving away any other spoilers

Another use for a walk is if you're really stuck somewhere in a game there's a possibility that you might not have done something required to get out of where you're currently at, so by looking at a game wt from the begining and read to where you're at it might reveal something you missed and and give you the answer as to why you can't advance in a game.

As for your reply Alkis (sorry I spelled your name wrong earlier) I'm 37 but have been playing adv's since the late 80's. In those days here was many a night my sister and I along with our parents would go nuts and my father or mother would order the game guideboks for us, if one was available, if we totally wiped out all ideas as to how to solve the point where we were stuck. There were quite a few fames that just hung in limbo if there wasn't a guide and we couldn't solve the problem we were having. In later years with the creation of walkthroughs I often went back to these games and played them in full, sometimes screaming at the computer when the solution where we were stuck at defied logic. So in answer to your experiment comment I've been there and done that.

Regards,

Barry