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Point-and-Click Adventure-GAF of LucasArts, Sierra, and hair-pulling puzzles

It's been some time but I thought Out of Order was a pretty decent little independant game that was released for free quite some time back

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http://outoforder.adventuredevelopers.com/
 
Subscribed. I'm doing a LucasArts binge this summer of all the old school adventures of the 90s. What a rush. I finished Full Throttle already and am currently running through The Dig. I'm ordering DOTT and Sam and Max tomorrow.

So good.
 

Suairyu

Banned
So I tend to find very few of these games other than Day Of The Tentacle stand up from a design point of view. That game was an intricate and logical machine to solve (sole "game designer logic" moment was the washing the car thing). Are there any other titles with core design that brilliant and not-obtuse logic wise?
 
So I tend to find very few of these games other than Day Of The Tentacle stand up from a design point of view. That game was an intricate and logical machine to solve (sole "game designer logic" moment was the washing the car thing). Are there any other titles with core design that brilliant and not-obtuse logic wise?

I'd say play the Monkey Island titles, but only 1 through 3, as well as Sam & Max Hit The Road. You might also like Grim Fandango or Full Throttle (although the latter can be finished in only a few hours, but it's a legendary few hours)
 

Suairyu

Banned
Sorry, I should specify I've done all the Lucasarts. And the Broken Swords (first one had fairly good puzzle design, the more action-y sequences aside)

And I very much do not consider Sam & Max well-designed like Day of the Tentacle. So many instances of "adventure designer logic" puzzles. Grim Fandango, too. That early puzzle involving the balloon and cement (I think it was cement?) was atrocious. I still love them for the characters and jokes, but design-wise they're asinine at times.
 
Don't forget the fantastic book, handily on Kindle store.
772 pages covering over 300 games, including interviews with some of the developers.

Hardcoregaming101.net Presents: The Guide to Classic Graphic Adventures

Absolute MUST read if your into your point n clicks, seriously in-depth.

ALSO hope people don't mind me pimping my thread in here too, 2012 point n clicks. Feel free to contribute if anything has been missed, just doing it as I go at the moment.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=468118
 
Subscribed. I'm doing a LucasArts binge this summer of all the old school adventures of the 90s. What a rush. I finished Full Throttle already and am currently running through The Dig. I'm ordering DOTT and Sam and Max tomorrow.

So good.

hey, its you. i posted like ten times in your full throttle thread. besides the dig, the only other lucasarts games i know of that are available on digital distribution services are indiana jones and the fate of atlantis, indiana jones and the last crusade, and loom. fate of atlantis is definitely worth playing. i havent played the last crusade or loom, but i have heard loom is worth it.

Sorry, I should specify I've done all the Lucasarts. And the Broken Swords (first one had fairly good puzzle design, the more action-y sequences aside)

And I very much do not consider Sam & Max well-designed like Day of the Tentacle. So many instances of "adventure designer logic" puzzles. Grim Fandango, too. That early puzzle involving the balloon and cement (I think it was cement?) was atrocious. I still love them for the characters and jokes, but design-wise they're asinine at times.

for the grim fandango puzzle, do you mean
the one where you have to fill the balloon with something and use it as an explosive? i dont think its cement
i do agree its an absurd puzzle though.

if you liked broken sword, try beneath a steel sky, as it had the same developer. if you dont like unfair puzzles avoid gabriel knight. i just played through the first one and there are a few puzzles in there that i still dont know how i was supposed to figure out.
 
Don't forget the fantastic book, handily on Kindle store.
772 pages covering over 300 games, including interviews with some of the developers.

Hardcoregaming101.net Presents: The Guide to Classic Graphic Adventures

Absolute MUST read if your into your point n clicks, seriously in-depth.

ALSO hope people don't mind me pimping my thread in here too, 2012 point n clicks. Feel free to contribute if anything has been missed, just doing it as I go at the moment.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=468118

Yeah, that's a great book.
 

Mr_Zombie

Member
For some reason I just came to remember Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth. I have never encountered anyone who also has played this game that is one of the most bizarre and unique point-and-clickers I've ever played. Due to it's nature I never completed it since many of the puzzles are so obscure and impossible to solve without a lot of trial and error.

Well, you've just met someone ;)

I've played it and actually finished it... with a walkthrough, because, as you said, many puzzles were really obscure. For example I remember there was a puzzle where you had to use a kite to fly up the prison tower. To do so, you first had to listen to the forecast and wait for the moment when the forecaster announced a strong wind. The problem? You had to listen to the forecast while you were standing in the location you were supposed to use the kite. The walkthtrough I was using (and this was before I had access to the Internet, YT and GameFAQs) didn't mention that. I left the game for few months thinking, there's a glitch or something :/

And yeah, the game was a little bizzare. The world and the overall art design was really interesting, but the idea that you were playing as an artificially grown-up toddler was really, really disturbing.

Don't forget the fantastic book, handily on Kindle store.
772 pages covering over 300 games, including interviews with some of the developers.

Hardcoregaming101.net Presents: The Guide to Classic Graphic Adventures

Absolute MUST read if your into your point n clicks, seriously in-depth.

Wow, this look really interesting. Will definitively buy.
 
Has anyone played around with the unofficial port of AGS for Android yet? Technically this means games such as Gemini Rue and Resonance can be played on your phone tablet. I'm going to give it a go as soon as my Nexus 7 turns up but I also wondered if anyone had already played with it?
 
Has anyone played the new Chains of Satinav game on Steam? Is it any good? I'm kind of interested in it but I'd rather not spend 30$ on it if it's a dud.
 

Ledsen

Member
I'd say play the Monkey Island titles, but only 1 through 3, as well as Sam & Max Hit The Road. You might also like Grim Fandango or Full Throttle (although the latter can be finished in only a few hours, but it's a legendary few hours)

I'd say all those games have the kind of shitty, "game designer-y" puzzles he wants to avoid. To be fair I haven't played an adventure game that doesn't have any of them (haven't played DotT).
 

discoalucard

i am a butthurt babby that can only drool in wonder at shiney objects
Has anyone played around with the unofficial port of AGS for Android yet? Technically this means games such as Gemini Rue and Resonance can be played on your phone tablet. I'm going to give it a go as soon as my Nexus 7 turns up but I also wondered if anyone had already played with it?

It's a little awkward to control, since it's just emulating mouse controls, but it mostly functions. I can't get Resonance working at the moment since it's the Steam version and it tosses up an error. Metal Dead runs way too slow because I think the resolution is too high for it to handle. Gemini Rue seems to work okay. The game I'm working on at the moment is also functional but the fonts are a little glitchy.
 
Sorry, I should specify I've done all the Lucasarts. And the Broken Swords (first one had fairly good puzzle design, the more action-y sequences aside)

And I very much do not consider Sam & Max well-designed like Day of the Tentacle. So many instances of "adventure designer logic" puzzles. Grim Fandango, too. That early puzzle involving the balloon and cement (I think it was cement?) was atrocious. I still love them for the characters and jokes, but design-wise they're asinine at times.

Try Resonance on GOG. Only one puzzle I really consider silly in the whole game. But P&C's with the logic calibre you're looking for only ever really came from the heyday of lucasfilm/arts & Revolution.

Curious, what was your favourite lucasarts game? Day of the tentacle? Fate of Atlantis?
 

Jasoneyu

Member
Has anyone played the new Chains of Satinav game on Steam? Is it any good? I'm kind of interested in it but I'd rather not spend 30$ on it if it's a dud.

I am about halfway in the game and here is my impressions:

The game to me is a like a porcelain doll, extremely beautiful on the outside but hallow and lifeless on the inside. Don't get me wrong, it is an excellent point and click, it just doesn't seem like it has any life in those wonderful screens you click through. It is like you are playing a painting rather than a living breathing world.

A lot of the issues for me was the fact that the VO is very flat and lacks a lot of emotion (which in an adventure game can make or break it) and thus makes it extremely difficult to be invested in the characters.

I would recommond this game for the graphics alone but I would wait for a steam sale, or the very least try the demo and see how you like it.
 
It's a little awkward to control, since it's just emulating mouse controls, but it mostly functions. I can't get Resonance working at the moment since it's the Steam version and it tosses up an error. Metal Dead runs way too slow because I think the resolution is too high for it to handle. Gemini Rue seems to work okay. The game I'm working on at the moment is also functional but the fonts are a little glitchy.

Ace, cheers for the feedback.
I might try downloading & installing the installer supplied by Wadjet Eye in the confirmation email and see if that version works as opposed to the Steam one.
 
Thanks for the impressions on Satinav. I guess the poor VA is a localization issue. The original game was in German right?

But yea, I watched the quick look for the game. And while I felt the guys presenting it were a little too harsh on it, it really did seem that there wasn't a lot of depth to the game. And the gameplay consisted entirely of the 'combine 2 absurd objects to make a 3rd object to solve the puzzle' gameplay and I consider that kind of antiquated in adventure games nowadays. I mean, every game still does have it, but there are a lot more complex and interesting types of puzzles as well. The game sure does look beautiful though.

The Whispered World took years to go on a decent sale, so I expect Daedelic won't discount this one much any time soon either :(
 

BluWacky

Member
A lot of the issues for me was the fact that the VO is very flat and lacks a lot of emotion (which in an adventure game can make or break it) and thus makes it extremely difficult to be invested in the characters.

Ugh. Daedalic and their rubbish localisations strike again (can anyone comment on Deponia's localisation?). Have you come across any lines still left in German yet?
 
hey, its you. i posted like ten times in your full throttle thread. besides the dig, the only other lucasarts games i know of that are available on digital distribution services are indiana jones and the fate of atlantis, indiana jones and the last crusade, and loom. fate of atlantis is definitely worth playing. i havent played the last crusade or loom, but i have heard loom is worth it.

Whats up buddy I remember you. I'm gonna have to check out Loom. I've always heard the name and the LucasArts affiliation, but I never knew it was one of their p & c's. I'll have to get Fate of Atlantis this weekend through Steam. The only thing I remember about that game is the voice actor for Jones sounding really really close to Harrison Ford.

I'm currently running through The Dig. Sound production is still great and I love the writing, but man is it a slow burn. Also some of the puzzles are downright impossible to figure out without a guide. There's no rhyme or reason to a handful of them it seems.
 
Yeah, the 3 way arc makes it quite interesting and gives you more bang for buck.
I like the fact that you visit mostly the same places but rarely have to solve the same puzzle twice.
 

Mr_Zombie

Member
Whats up buddy I remember you. I'm gonna have to check out Loom. I've always heard the name and the LucasArts affiliation, but I never knew it was one of their p & c's.

Just a heads up: before you start the game, read the prologue synopsis on Wikipedia. When the game was originally released it came with a 30 minute audio drama that established the world, characters and the main story plot. The Steam version doesn't have it (would it really be that difficult to give us a mp3 file?). When I first played the game the story made almost no sense to me; characters and story elements were popping out of nowhere; the main villain appeared suddenly in the final act; the world was never fully defined; it was never really explained why the character you're controlling is called "loom child" etc. Only after reading the prologue synopsis (and unfortunately I did that only after I had finished the game) I finally understood what the hell was going on.
 
Whats up buddy I remember you. I'm gonna have to check out Loom. I've always heard the name and the LucasArts affiliation, but I never knew it was one of their p & c's. I'll have to get Fate of Atlantis this weekend through Steam. The only thing I remember about that game is the voice actor for Jones sounding really really close to Harrison Ford.

I'm currently running through The Dig. Sound production is still great and I love the writing, but man is it a slow burn. Also some of the puzzles are downright impossible to figure out without a guide. There's no rhyme or reason to a handful of them it seems.

Since you're going through the LucasArts adventure games I recommend playing Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders. It was the only one I hadn't played for a very long time and actually went through it earlier this year. It holds up pretty well, though I'd rank it towards the bottom of of their catalog. Worth checking out for the humor alone.
 

ShaneB

Member
Completely bummed regarding the poor reception for Dark Eye: CoS. :( Really was excited for that given how awesome it looks. I guess it is a definite sale item now, so I'll wait for that. Same with Deponia with it likely having similar issues.
 
I finally managed to finish the Resonance demo after I found out that you didn't need to hotwire the door to the main hall. Death to that puzzle, I tried so many combinations of pins and still couldn't get it. I probably should have noted the smudges on the keypad before removing it, but still. Ugh.
 
Since you're going through the LucasArts adventure games I recommend playing Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders. It was the only one I hadn't played for a very long time and actually went through it earlier this year. It holds up pretty well, though I'd rank it towards the bottom of of their catalog. Worth checking out for the humor alone.

Yeah I'll look for it. Suprisingly I never played that either. Thing is, I always remember seeing it in that LucasArts six pack. I probably would've bought it if I ever found it as a standalone game, but I never did.

Wow! I didn't even know they made a LucasArts Vol 3 six pack! Both Monkey Islands on one disc, Full Throttle, AfterLife, Dark Forces AND The Dig. What a collection.
http://www.amazon.com/The-LucasArts-Archives-Volume-III-Pc/dp/B00000K50V/ref=pd_sim_sbs_vg_2
 

protonion

Member
Satinav is 39,99 euro on Steam! I'm a huge fan of Daedalic but come on.

Still I'll play it. Puzzle wise I consider their adventures to be some of the only worth playing nowdays. They have tons of content and you can tell they try hard to feel fresh.

Deponia was also released today. I'll grab the boxed version soon.
 
Great job on thread OP. Fantastic. I just started playing Grim Fandango with my wife last week and we have been having a blast. Bookmarked to check out the other games for sure.
 
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