Episode type games

I am just curious ..But if the question was asked of adventure gamers if they prefer a full game or an episode style of game if it would be almost 100% in favor of the full game at once. This being the case are there bigger companies out there that are going with episode type games? I guess I can understand from smaller indie companies that need to recoup cash flow in order to continue with a game. I am to the point that I am prepared to wait until a few of the episodes are available before I even start a game like this....I am so thankful to games like Deponia Satinav Book of unwritten tales and Zerzura lately that make these whole games at once that are really very good. I guess my point is are the bigger companies making episodic games and if so why if in fact they know the audience wants a full game....especially if there is the chance an episode may not even finish as we have seen countless times.

I know the more vocal members (by vocal I mean more abt to posting versus those that just browse)are partial to full length vs. episodic, but many gamers in general are drawn to the episodic because they require less time commitment. That is the very reason casuals do so well. The success of The Walking Dead and less initial funding for the developer required has definitely fueled the rise of episodic adventures.

Ana

I prefer full games to episodic as a general rule. However, I'll take what I can get. If there is a game I want to play that is episodic, I certainly don't want to miss out on it. For example, Cognition was my favorite game last year, even though it isn't finished yet. It would have been a shame to have skipped over it just because I didn't want to play "episodes."

@Hamer, you could always do what Mad does and wait until after all the episodes are released to play the game. That way you get the full completed games, and you can skip the games that never complete all their episodes.

My thought is that I would prefer a full game to episodes & would prefer to wait until all episodes have been completed - I just hate waiting for a story to continue (that also applies to TV series where I'd rather play them back-to-back on DVD!)

I know that it doesn't help the developers at all but would buy an episode if it was a complete story & doesn't leave you on a cliff-hanger - I've just played a few too many games that have relied on a sequel to continue a story that have just never turned up!

I play Casuals inbetween Adventures or RPGs when I'm stuck for playing time because they still offer a complete story, even if a short one.

I very much dislike episodic releases and have bought very few. And those only to support the one or two particular studios that made them.

As a gamer I prefer full games every time.

As a developer, I would still ideally like to produce full-length games, but realistically the episodic release formula is so much easier in terms of both cashflow (as you mentioned) and development that it must be considered. I'm using both models with different games depending on the specific circumstances.

Also, some themes lend themselves more to an episodic structure than others. Sam and Max I felt worked brilliantly because it felt like an interactive cartoon and thus you didn't actually expect something epic - but with Broken Sword for instance I think it would have been disastrous.

I still replay the "original" Sam & Max on my oldest computer and much prefer it to the more modern episodic version from TellTale

But obviously I'm aware that finances have to be a priority with any developer

This trend towards episodic games is something I rather dislike. I understand the financial ramifications and the developers point of view.

However, as a consumer, I find it inconvenient if I'm being kind and down right irritating if not. Looking at it from a consumer point of view having to wait for the game to get finished and playing it a piece at a time tries my patience. Financially, an episode can cost between 10 and 20 dollars. Four episodes is between 40 and 80 dollars. If I wait until all 4 or 5 episodes are complete then it's usually on sale for around $29.95. So, the best way to handle playing these requires patience and waiting until all episodes are finished and then buying them in bulk.

But it is rather frustrating to wait if it's a game that really interests you. Therein lies the dilemma.

Well, as I said, I very much dislike "episodics" and probably the only reason I can stand the frustration of waiting for the whole game to be finished is that I have such a LOT of fully finished games not even started yet !!!!

Sometimes games are two-parters (or more-than-two-parters) because the company doesn't have the funds to complete the whole game. That was the case for Syberia and I believe it's also the case for Dracula IV and Face Noir. As long as the episode doesn't end on a cliffhanger, I'm OK with it. I understand that game development is expensive. But it's possible to put a satisfying ending on a game even if it's not the whole game. A cliffhanger emphasizes that you only got part of a game. A satisfying ending makes it seem more like you've got a game that's part of a series (like the AGON series or King's Quest series).

As regards price, the length of an episode and the nature of the ending is more of a consideration for me than the number of episodes and the total cost of the entire series. Game quality and other considerations being equal, $10 for a 3-hour episode is not as good a deal as $20 for a 10-hour episode.

Syberia stands up as a complete game.
You don't have to play Syberia 2 to have a satisfying experience and you aren't left feeling as if you didn't get your money's worth.
I really can't see mentioning Syberia in the same breath as Dracula 4 or Face Noir, both of which are incomplete and, in my opinion, nowhere near the same quality.


Gil.

That's the whole point of not ending on a cliffhanger.


Regardless of whether you or I consider Syberia to be a complete game or not, Microids and Sokal did not. Microids was working on Syberia 2 at the same time Syberia 1 went on sale, and representatives of Microids posted as much on adventure game forums. (Some of us even delayed playing Syberia until Syberia 2 came out.) Syberia was a Part 1 of 2 because Microids couldn't afford to release the whole game at once, just as with the other two games I mentioned.

The "episodic" trend is purely economical thing. In the world where less and less adventure games get funded (and even if they do, publishers prefer episodes to full games to see if the game sells enough to justify putting more money in the game), it's for many developers the only option.

I dislike episodic format myself too but when I was approached last year by a publisher, I agreed to it purely because we would be funded.

Also there is a bitter aftertaste of episodic games ending up with one episode. I'm glad that for example Cognition or TellTale games are here to rescue the episodic format.

As a sidenote (before someone asks), even after creating nice playable 3rd person point'n'click demo we wasn't funded so don't expect "Pearl-handled Gun" anytime soon.

Jan, I can fully understand why the episodic games are a more economical format. TellTale is indeed doing a phenomenal job on them.

Sorry your game did not get funded. Are you up for another Kickstarter?

Ana

Another Kickstarter???

Wouldn't that be a big punch in the face of those who supported the Enhanced Edition? No. Actually right now I work around 20 hours daily on Enhanced Edition and it turns out into point and click adventure more than I ever thought it would. The game is afoot and without episodes!

But there is one secret thing going on and GameBoomers might even one of these days find something about it.

But back to the topic. Would you consider Syberia 3 as part of those 2 episodes? I can't even imagine where the game would pick up.

metamorphium: "Would you consider Syberia 3 as part of those 2 episodes? I can't even imagine where the game would pick up."

I can't imagine either.
Kate is stuck out there in the middle of nowhere, no way to get back and really no reason to go forward unless she likes living with mastodons.
Maybe what's-his-name wasn't really massacred by penguins and will chase her over the Pole and down to Papua New Guinea (where cannibals worship an automaton that looks exactly like Oscar) to get revenge for being left on that ice floe.
You think?
Actually, it seems I can imagine. I wonder if they need a writer.

Gil.

Gil, thank you for forcing me to wipe my morning coffee from my monitor. Next time I need to be more careful reading your posts.

And yes. That's exactly the thing. Syberia 2 had a perfect conclusion to the story.

Well, it's rather an interesting dilemma for a game creator to be in.

On the one hand, you'll be bleary eyed but rich! (comparatively) if you can come up with something to satisfy the ravening bunch who will pay good money for more.

On the other, you're in danger of never wanting to hear your heroine mentioned again because you're ready to strike out in a new direction and everyone keeps pulling you back to rehash what you've already done.

Sigh. I'm sorry about your monitor. I hope the local equivalent of Starbuck's didn't eat all the way through it.

Gil.

Well I'd hope they'd start somewhere close to where Syberia 2 left off, and not do what Runaway 3 did -- essentially skipping over the cliffhanger they left at the end of Runaway 2. That stunk.

I miss the old days when you could walk into a store and pick and choose from dozens of Adventure Games sitting in colorful boxes on a shelf. Buying it right then and there and taking it home to play was an adventure in itself.
I don't like steaming and streaming and downloading games!

"Well I'd hope they'd start somewhere close to where Syberia 2 left off, and not do what Runaway 3 did -- essentially skipping over the cliffhanger they left at the end of Runaway 2. That stunk."

That certainly goes for me, too !!!!

A 3rd game to me would be a sequel & separate from the first 2 games as together those, each with complete stories, fulfilled the 'quest for a dream'!

A 3rd game, in my mind, would have to focus more on Kate Walker & on having given up her regular life what she does next? Also perhaps Hans on finding what he wanted may like to stay or now move on?

I think it's going to take some very imaginative & talented story-telling to pick-up from where Syberia 2 ended but looking forward to where it goes!

chrissie: "A 3rd game, in my mind, would have to focus more on Kate Walker.... Also perhaps Hans on finding what he wanted may like to stay or now move on?"

Honestly, Hans wasn't very likeable.
Sokal built Oscar up as very human but
I can't really see following Hans any further.
Come to think of it, Kate wasn't exactly guilt-free there either.

It would be more interesting if Sokal pursued the question of what is human?
Can an automaton (in his world) be said to possess, for want of a better word, a soul?

I'm sure Isaac Asimov has already answered that but he didn't live in Syberia.

Gil.

I personally saw Hans as a person that Oscar, as loveable as he was, was just an automation - did he have a soul or have a conscious that was built into him?

Yet, to me, Oscar was much more 'human' than Hans, the idiot savant, whether Hans could help being that way or not.
I know I wasn't all that concerned when Hans was sick - except, of course, that he had to get better for the game to continue - but I was shocked at what happened to Oscar.
Different people, different reactions, I guess.

Gil.

Hi fellow Boomers,
I find that the best thing about playing an "Episodic"
game is that when you finish one episode, you look forward to playing the next chapter. One case in point is the COGNITION" series. Another is the TSL series. At least this is my (not so humble) opinion. Happy Gaming!
Sandy