~A Beginners' Guide to Adventure Games ~By Simon Burrows `This mini-guide to adventure games is split into two sections: `The first (below) is about what adventure games are and what `they look like etc...; The second part is a beginner's guide to `playing adventures. This second part is aimed at text-adventure `players, but much of the advice is the same for graphic `adventures. ~`SECTION 1 - A QUICK LOOK AT ADVENTURE GAMES ~`ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ ~`What is an 'Adventure Game'? ~`ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ `In the dictionary, the term 'adventure' is described as "an `unusual and exciting experience; daring enterprise". This is a `good description of the plot of most 'Adventure' games on the `market. Generally the games have a hero (or heroine) who `thinks it is their duty to go off from the comfort of their own `home to complete some sort of quest either for themselves, or `more invariably, to save their city, their country or even the `world! For example, in Tsunami's 'Blue Force' the idea is to go `off round your home city as a police man, finding clues to `convict the killer of your parents. Similarly, in Space Quest II `you must save the planet from Sludge Vohaul who is threatening to `send an army of marching insurance salesmen to Earth to drive all `humans crazy! ~`What do 'Adventure games' look like? ~`ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ `There are three main types of 'adventure games' available on the `PC: Text, Type, and Click Adventures. The first of these three, `Text Adventures, are a very old design and were one of the first `types of games ever to be programmed. The Type Adventures are `quite a bit newer but are becoming more and more dated as `technology improves. The final type of adventure games, Click `Adventures, are now the standard adventures sold on the high- `street and are the easiest to use and the best to look at. `Here's a quick run-down of the three types of adventures :- ~TEXT ADVENTURES `These adventures have been around for years and are certainly not `many gamer's idea of a good time now the newer adventure games `are available. They are completely made up of text (writing) `so there are no pictures or other graphics. Rooms, characters `and objects are all described, and the hero/heroine is moved `around by typing in directions such as North, South, Up or Down. `If you like them, however, these adventures can be lots of fun, `and because there are no space-hogging graphics, they can be made `very big (basically as big as the author likes) without taking `up much disk space. Examples of text adventures are Graham `Cluley's "Humbug" (much recommended by me), Scott Miller's `"Beyond the Titanic", and there are several adventure classics `released in "The Lost Treasures of Infocom" available as a `commercial package now. ~TYPE ADVENTURES `These are the next step forward after 'Text Adventures' in that `they have pictures of the locations in the game. Some ancient `one's pictures are still and completely uninteractive. Most of `them, however, are animated with the characters moving around `inside them. Movements are entered with the cursor keys or a `joy-stick, and commands are entered with words such as TAKE, `CLIMB or EXAMINE similar to Text Adventures. Examples of Type `Adventures are Sierra's King's Quest I and II, Leisure Suit Larry `I and Space Quest I and II etc. ~CLICK ADVENTURES `These aren't much different to Type Adventures except that you `interact with your hero/heroine with the mouse rather than `messing around with typing in commands like EXAMINE. Walking `around is done by clicking some sort of 'walk' icon where you `want to walk on the screen, and there are usually special icons `for talking, taking and touching (eg, turning on a light). The `use of icons make this type of adventure the easiest to get into `and the quickest to use, so it allows everybody to get into the `games easily and even the slowest typers to complete manoeuvres `quickly. Examples of Click Adventures are Tsunami's Blue Force `and Sierra's Space Quest IV. ~`Who publishes 'Adventure Games'? ~`ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ `The most popular adventure publishers used to be Sierra. These `chaps produced the three great series: King's Quest, Police Quest `and Space Quest. These series each contain several games, almost `all of which were big successes when released. They are also `responsible for the infamous Leisure Suit Larry series. This is `the same sort of thing as Sierra's other projects except the `games are classed as 'adult' and are full of the main character `(Larry) attempting to get laid!! Now, however, many newer `publishers are coming into the market such as Lucasarts, and even `publishers who used to concentrate on other gaming-genres such as `Psygnosis are taking up the challenge too. ~`SECTION 2 - HOW TO PLAY AN ADVENTURE GAME ~`ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ `THIS TEXT IS AIMED SPECIFICALLY AT TEXT-ADVENTURES, BUT MUCH OF `IT IS THE SAME FOR TYPE & CLICK ADVENTURES ALIKE. ~`What do I do at the at the beginning? ~`ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ `First of all, read the story of the game and find things out `about the characters from the in-game help, the manual or `associated text-files. If there is any intro, watch it `carefully. `When you're ready, begin to look around the first locations. Try `out some vocabulary and see what the game understands - keeping `a verb list is a good idea for when you get stuck. `At the first location, get a description then start looking `around. Type "I" or "INV" or "INVENTORY" to get up a list of `objects in your possession. It's usual for you to start with `nothing in your inventory, but this will soon change. Take a `look at yourself (no, not in a mirror, by typing "LOOK x" where `'x' is your character's name) and if there's anyone else around `talk to them and examine them. `As you get into the game you will normally find one location `which a lot of the game centres around. As soon as you have one `it's best to start dropping all the objects you find there so `that you always know where to find them again. This is often `necessary because you can't hold an indefinite weight of objects. ~`How do I help stop myself getting lost? ~`ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ `A very good practice, and one that is vital in many text- `adventures, is to make a map as you go along. On this you can `not only mark rooms but also special objects in the rooms such as `buttons, and characters. `The best way to make a map is to get a piece of squared paper and `draw a square in the centre which is your present location. If `you type "LOOK" you'll get a description of your present room `(normally) and this will usually tell you which directions it is `possible for you to go in from there. Draw lines branching off `your square in those directions with lines going up for rooms `north, down for south etc. `Now move around the game and draw on a new square for each room. `Always mark on new passageways even if you don't plan to go along `them straight away. This is a good way of making sure you don't `forget places that you will undoubtedly need to visit later on. `In the squares (or outside them if there's not enough room) `mark on special features in each room. To do this, type "LOOK" `in each room to get a description, and look out for things like `switches, levers and people. Mark all these on the map for `reference later on. You should also mark on where you drop `objects if you are going to do so, because even if you think you `don't need them, they might turn out to be very useful later on. ~`What do I do in a new room? ~`ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ `In every new room you visit, as well as marking it on your map, `you need to have a complete nose around. `To start with, type "LOOK" to get a full description of you `location. You need to examine every noun you get in the `description - every single one. Here's a sample location `description from 'Humbug' :- ~`I am in Grandad's bedroom. The usual bedroom things are here: a ~`large bed, a full length mirror and a Mark III sub-atomic ~`particle accelerator. A month's supply of longjohns have been ~`carefully allowed to fester in one corner of the bedroom. There ~`is a narrow archway set into the west wall, draped in wooden ~`beads. A wooden chute has been built into one of the walls. ~`I can also see a trombone. ~`An exit leads west. `There are several things here which need to be examined. The `bed, the mirror, the particle accelerator, the longjohns, the `chute and the trombone all certainly do, and it could be argued `that you need to examine the archway and the beads as well. As `you read the descriptions, look out for further nouns which will `need to be examined too. For example, if you examine the bed and `it mentions the headboard, then examine the headboard. `If the descriptions say something about writing, read it, if they `mention an object collect it, and it they have things like `buttons or levers, push/pull them. `When you've examined some things you will find they contain more `than you can see. For example, a wardrobe. So, open the `wardrobe and examine it again, and this time it may list its `contents. You can then examine the contents object-by-object `too, so you get the full picture. `As you can see, you really need to examine everything. When you `are sure that you have, take all the objects you can, in this `case the trombone, mark down the exits on your map then choose a `direction to take and continue in this way. ~`What do I do with collectables? ~`ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ `The first thing to do is collect them. This is normally done by `typing "GET xxxxx". Now examine it. Sometimes it will simply `say 'an old x' or 'a shiny y' but you will often get descriptions `which give you a clue about what the object could be used for. `Sometimes you can gain further objects from objects by examining `them. For example, in Humbug you examine a cup of tea to find a `sugar lump floating in it which you can collect. Because if `this, you MUST examine all objects you get. `There are very few games around with red-herring objects that can `be collected. Normally objects which you don't need just aren't `mentioned in descriptions so you don't know they're there to `start with. Occasionally it'll just say "I don't see any need `for a potato masher", or whatever, if you try to collect useless `things. That means that if you get sommit', you'll undoubtedly `use it, so don't drop it unless you know what you're doing. `Try to always think of all the uses for your objects. If you get `some sheets, don't just think of beds but think about making `ghosts, togas, tying people up and shoving them down tubes etc. `More often than not objects are not used in the most obvious way `(the exception being keys) because this makes the game far too `easy. `Every time you get stuck somewhere, list your inventory and have `a look and a think. If you are really stuck, try interacting all `your objects with the thing that's blocking your way. For `example, if there's a guard that wants an object for you to pass, `give him everything you have, one at a time, because he won't `accept anything that isn't right. `Sometimes it is possible to get rid of things the wrong way. The `classic example is eating food which is really meant to be given `to someone else. To check that you don't do this, save your `game, then check your score before eating the food. If your `score goes up when you eat then you were probably supposed to do `it, but if it doesn't you probably weren't unless you had to to `survive (like in Supernova). Another example, this time from `Humbug, is putting things in wooden chutes. If you put something `in and it disappears without giving you any score, then you `shouldn't have got rid of it!! ~`What do I do with characters? ~`ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ `There are usually not so many characters in this sort of game `than in RPGs and graphic adventures, but it's still vital you `interact with them to win the game. `When you first meet a character, whether it be human or `otherwise, examine it. You can find a lot about the character `just by doing that. Next, talk to it and see what it has to say. `Keep talking to it until its reply is the same each time which `means its run out of things to say. `You'll need to work-out the interaction system in your game to do `this properly. For example, in Humbug, if you say "Talk xxxxxx" `the computer replies: 'try saying or asking something'. In that `case you need to ask about something obvious to get a response `such as asking them about things they've got. `If, in the character's description, it mentions an object they `have got, you will invariably need to get this object from them. `It's a good idea to try and just take it although this won't `normally work, and you can examine it and ask the character about `it too. `Try to work out what that character might want if it doesn't make `it clear. Also work out how it might help you. If you're really `stuck, try giving it everything and you might get lucky with one `of your objects. `Finally, try attacking each character. This will usually not `work since the games aren't very action packed or violent, but `there are occasions where it is necessary to do so. Of course, `you must save your game before you do so as it often leads to `disaster. ~`What about saving? ~`ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ `Saving your game is vital since you are not likely to complete `any adventure in one sitting. It is also important so you don't `have to re-start an adventure when you are killed or when `something more subtle goes wrong. `When going through a game, regular saving is essential. However, `don't save over the same file over and over again since this `means that you cannot go back to an earlier event in the game if `you need to. Instead, save in different slots so you have a `range of saved-positions running back through the game. `It's a good idea to keep track of the score, present location `etc... of each saved-position since you may forget otherwise. `This will be important if you have to get back to a position in `the game you were in a long time ago and you can't remember when `or what you saved it under. `Don't just save before dangerous situations because you never `know when something might suddenly appear to be wrong. For `example, if you left something behind which you now can't go back `and get, your whole game can be ruined if you didn't save. `Instead, save regularly, especially when you move on. `Saving can also be a good way of aiding exploring. If you have a `torch, for example, which has batteries that run down, you can `save the game then turn the torch on. Now walk around and `explore with the torch on, writing things down on your map etc... `When you've really explored the area, reload the game and this `time leave the torch off. You can use the map to help yourself `around (in some games it won't even let you walk in the dark) `and you'll be saving the batteries, too. `Sorry it's a bit rough around the edges but it should help... ~`Simon Burrows ~`ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ