The Warren Spector Way
Mr Feurstine clashes with the opinions of Mr Spector.
Foreword
I was reading through my April issue of PC Gamer and in it is a 6 page spread devoted to setting aside the rumours that adventure gaming is dead. They go on to mention the following games. Crystal Key, Traitor's Gate, Alone in the Dark 4, the Laura Croft adventures, Myst, and Majestic. Now, I wouldn't really call this a collection of the best adventure games the industry has to offer, but they were showcasing new games. However, my problem isn't with the article it's self, it's with a quote they added from Warren Spector, the creator of the popular Deus Ex. I quote:
"They seem like the most serious guess-what-the-designer-was-thinking kind of game: move your mouse over every pixel on the screen until you can find whatever will resolve the most arbitrary puzzle. To some extent, their lack of popularity is a design issue. Sure, some of the LucasArts stuff is incredibly cool. But once you move into a more mass-market business, you're not going to find many normal human beings interested in [this kind of game]. And graphics adventures are caught up in a dramatically escalating quality race for the prettier graphic - and the reward for solving the next arbitrary puzzle is a still-prettier graphic, etc."
...um... what?
I'm going to give you this time to re-read the quote and really get what he's trying to say...
Welcome back. Now, let's talk about the above for a moment, shall we?
"They seem like the most serious guess-what-the-designer-was-thinking kind of game: move your mouse over every pixel on the screen until you can find whatever will resolve the most arbitrary puzzle."
True, some games have maybe 2 puzzles that involve pixel hunting. But most games that I have played usually give me a reason for picking up the object that I picked up. [read Yahtzee's Eye on Adventure Short for the December issue of the AGDzine for more info] I need to open a panel with screws on it, I need a screw driver. Or maybe I need a dime to use as a substitute screw driver, or maybe I need a crowbar to peel the panel off. The game gives you a problem and then through conversation or intuition, the player figures out the solution and impliments it.
"But once you move into a more mass-market business, you're not going to find many normal human beings interested in [this kind of game]."
According to Warren Spector, I am not a normal human being. QUICK! Call the Demon Brigade! I am obviously a demon from the nether regions of hell. Well, I can't possibly be a human, I mean, I do like adventure games after all...
"And graphics adventures are caught up in a dramatically escalating quality race for the prettier graphic..."
...I think he might be confusing the adventure genre with the FPS genre. Last I checked I didn't need the newest 3d card to play Full Throttle or Simon the Sorcerer when they came out.
"...and the reward for solving the next arbitrary puzzle is a still-prettier graphic, etc."
I always thought the reward for solving a puzzle was the progression of the story. You get the panel off the wall, find some wires, you cut them therefore turning off the conveyor belt so now you can enter the warehouse from the back. Congratulations, you just solved a puzzle and furthered the story. I guess that's just me, maybe all us inhuman adventurers have got it all wrong.
Maybe we should start doing it the "Spector Way", when ever a puzzle gets solved we should flash beautiful visuals on the screen like lens flares and 3D spaceships and then import the character into an arbitrary room with some random puzzles with no clear solution to them. aaaaahh, now that's good adventuring! Spector the all-knowing goes on to say:
"As limited as I find adventure games, there's a real strong appeal in exploring a rich, deep environment which is the central part of adventure games. Traditionally, these games have been the most object-dense, character-dense, story-dense things out there and THAT I certainly do find appealing. Hybrid genres are the future of computer gaming. You don't do something new and interesting if you don't break the rules."
Ok, Spector is for storytelling in a game and he's for characters and objects in a game, but he's against trying to inter-relate the two. Good to know. Here's my guess as to what Spector is really trying to say...
"Listen, I'm just real bad at adventure games and if you don't at least give me a way to blast my way out of a puzzle, I'll just give up and go home."
But hey, that's what I got from the quote. If anyone can find the whole interview where he said this I would very much like to know what else he said about the genre.
Because I am on spring break and it is snowing outside and all of my friends are still in college I thew together this flash animation showcasing the first demo made from the Warren Spector School of Adventure Gaming.
Warren Spector's Monkey Island (Flash Movie)
Eric Feurstine
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