Games of Daze/Infomagic - Games of Daze (Summer 1995) (Disc 2 of 2).iso/cheats/cheet39/install.dat/1DVENT.TXT

Text File | 1995-03-07 | 16KB | 346 lines

~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
~`═══════════════════════════════════════════


~`What is an 'Adventure Game'?
~`────────────────────────────

`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?
~`────────────────────────────────────

`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'?
~`────────────────────────────────

`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
~`═════════════════════════════════════════

`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?
~`─────────────────────────────────────

`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?
~`───────────────────────────────────────

`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?
~`───────────────────────────

`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?
~`───────────────────────────────

`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?
~`─────────────────────────────

`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?
~`──────────────────

`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
~`─────────────