Spectrofon #05 30 апреля 1994

Игры

Warm greetings - "Adventure Games: Shine and poverty of the fifth generation, or nostalgia for the past."

         Warm greetings



   It just so happens that this issue "SPECTROFON" has
pronounced adventyurnuyu orientation. We hope that fans of the 
bloody massacre in style "I'm in kind, D'Artagnan," and arcade 
zubotychin like "Farewell, joystick! "will join the

unusual genre of computer games ADVENTURE ...


   So we have again a guest
e-magazine "PC-REVEW".



(C) Sergey Simonovic, 1994.

ADVENTURE GAMES: Brilliance and poverty

     FIFTH GENERATION or

    Nostalgia for the past


         1. Introduction.


   Researching games
genre of "Adventure", we have identified
four main stages of their evolution. This issue was devoted to 
the article "Adventure Games: The Evolution of the interface", 
published in PC-REVIEW. At the moment it is quite possible to 
say and the fifth stage - interactive

video. In any case, such
programs such as "7-th Guest" and
"11-th Hour" is no longer fit
the usual notion of
computer games.



   For those who are not familiar with our previous studies,
briefly recall the main points.


       First generation.

      ---------------

   Game Text only
content. The graphics in them are not used for purely technical 
reasons. The main tasks of user are: 

- Establish a dialogue with the machine;
- Study vocabulary
program;
- The use of fixed
vocabulary for solutions
built into the game logic problems.



   If you go to scientific language, work with early 
adventyuroy represented in a how-to study black

box, the study of programming language, which he (the box), the 
concept and programming this language in order to obtain

the desired result.


        The second generation.

        -------------

   Early graphics adventyurnyh
games wore illustrative. And though she had a primitive form 
(vector graphics with fill) and does not take much

place, even then, she had her
opponents, predicting "the sunset of the genre."



   The first discussions about the feasibility of using 
graphics in adventyurah relate to 1983-1984

years and, as expected, supporters of graphics have won. Their 
main argument was: "Nothing in this terrible no

because on the one hand the game
become more attractive and
memory consumption on the schedule is compensated by the fact 
that you can save on the textual description of the locations. 
" 


   Opponents of the graphics, too, of course, understood that 
the schedule in games - certainly a necessary and

a promising step, but warned that uncontrolled use of it leads 
to degeneration of the genre (which is what we have today). 



   The leading company in the 1983-86 adventyur GG - Level 9
(Released games Price of Magic,
Red Moon, Eric the Viking,
Snowball, Worm in Paradise, and
many others), even stuck in
their programs of "double standards" in and out of the same
game in two versions - with illustrative graphics and without 
it. Incidentally, the richness of vocabulary in the games this 
company was more than 1000 recognized and correctly interpreted 
the words the game had more than 200 locations and

All this together with the graphics and control system fits in 
40K of memory. It is worth also be recalled that at the time

the passage of one game took
the user from several months to several years of active 
research. 


       Third generation.

       ------------

   Further development of the graphical tools provided a basis 
for further progress. First

only with the advent of high-
resolution and support for "mouse" appeared
interactive interfaces. Now
heroes do not have to give commands like "GO NORTH". It was 
enough to stick his arm into the upper part of the screen and 
press the left button and the hero goes on

given route. No longer needed and the description of locations.
Walking "mouse" on the screen and
"Pereschelkav" all drawn on the
screen objects, you can receive messages that are
is: "This cabinet ... it's
chair ... that's the door ... etc.


   Fortunately for our local fans of personal computer 
ZX-Spectrum, development adventyur on it and stopped. 
Otherwise, would you, dear readers, would have deal with the 
problems of which we say below. And if

This machine is still not equipped with a "mouse" in full force 
and effect, then program of the third generation

instead use management
joystick (eg "Kobyashi
Naru "," ZZZZ "," Zombi "and others).



        Fourth generation.

        --------------

   Since the beginning of the nineties are
adventyury to which we are accustomed to
Many years ago, almost
completely ceased to exist.

   Caring for programmers to simplify the interface led to
that all management is done playing "the mouse with two buttons.
From the variety of verbs,
previously used in games,
there were only: GO TO, TAKE,
GIVE, TALK TO, USE. Learned
even dispense with the team
DROP. All the variety of life
situations "drove" in a single command USE. Take aspirin - USE
ASPIRIN. Open the door - USE KEY
ON DOOR. Shoot the alien - USE LASER ON ALIEN. Even
to fill the car with gasoline, enough to make a first USE the 
hose on the car, and then USE gasoline hose.




   Of course, the game became easier
but then when it was lost
the ultimate purpose of the first classical adventyur - 
ESTABLISHING CONTACT WITH THE PROGRAM AND STUDY OF ITS 
VOCABULARY. 


   Oh, if they knew of genius
programmers from the company LEVEL 9
that in ten years, their descendants
will deal with five teams! You do not like Ellochka Shchukin 
(see Ilya Ilf and E. Petrov, "The Twelve Chairs"), vocabulary, 
which was poorer than that of wild man-eater, and which

completely dispensed in all cases of life thirty words?



   Following the dictionary somewhere out
programs was the "float away" and logic. Indeed, when you
dealing with only a few
teams and are limited only by
by a set of objects that
visible on the screen, or have in their hands, it is difficult 
to organize a normal logic, because the basic problems can be 
solved by elementary sorting (so Members usually receive

in difficult circumstances). All
more frequently and are increasingly replacing other logical 
solution, such as arcade. We give an example from the program 
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (Firm Lucasarts -

the best producer on adventyur
today).



   Your task - to steal the stone disk lying on the table,
from under the nose of its owner. Until
logical solutions to reach
very simple (it is automatically
It follows from what objects
have at your disposal):

- Turn off the lights;
- Put on the head of the sheet;
- Turn on the flashlight and portray

  of a ghost;
- While speechless with horror master

  be quiet freeze, you can Tee
  honko pull off drive off the table,

  and then say you have nothing to do

  with it.


   But here is to implement this decision into practice on the 
first try unlikely. And if you

even, God forbid, does not work
"Mouse", if at all unlikely that
happens.

   Excuse me, we ask, is
that adventyura for free and
quiet study or action movie, where for every careless
move the mouse or joystick
may be punished by death? Yes,
a modern adventyura, with the most-best. Similar examples can 
be brought hundreds.



       The fifth generation.

       ---------------

   And life, meanwhile, is continuing and further development 
of hardware leads to that today's game adventyurnye

develop already in the concept of
"Multimedia". What does this mean?



   First of all, the widespread introduction of modern audio 
and video technology. Modern adventyura type "7-th Guest" - a 
half-hour interactive video. Of course, such games spread on 
laser discs. To write this game Conventional floppy DS / DD 
floppies would take 3,000 (more than 1 Gigabytes). This amount, 
which is hardly possible to transport on the "Lada".



   For recording games attract
professional actors. For
same game Indiana Jones and
the Fate of Atlantis in the version
for CD-ROM have been invited to 50
performers.



   Sound and music have become like
inherent attributes of games. AND
Now, if your hero is on
concrete slabs, his heels
looking surprised at all so as to
creaky boards of an abandoned
castle.



   2. Nostalgia for the past.


   Technical progress unstoppable and it would be highly
stupid encourage programmers
abandon all available
achievements and go back to
pampas.


   But on the other hand, why
would not separate the grains from the chaff
and do not understand that progress -
progress and adventyury - adventyurami.


   Let the progress of developing
as it should be, but why
games that bring to the level Ellochka Shchukina?


   In the end, if someone
difficult to work with the program,
having high intelligence,
for him because there videopristvki
type "DENDY", "SEGA", "NINTENDO"
and a dozen other different names. Oh, good reason is
this is a wholesale logical oversimplification adventyur! 
Leaving them without a dictionary, manufacturers

close brought them to KONSOLIZATSII (a video game conversion
console). Not only as large
smells like money in the joystick, console videobiznese.



   However, back to the early adventyuram. The very notion 
ADVENTURE translated as Adventures (Travel). In these games you 
are, then is a hero, through some new world and

should investigate the laws that govern this world, and
secondly, should themselves learn
manage these laws. The main motive force, which
leads you from location to location -
a thirst for knowledge, a desire to learn, but what is there 
for this door, that this will turn,

What happens if not go away
to the south and north.


   It is these very same reasons
moved and the Magellan and Columbus
and Dr. Livingstone.
Take, for example, the Przewalski.


   He also went to an unknown
for yourself areas and studied
studied ... studied. He studied the environment, people and 
language. From a halt to Privalov (on location to location)

he moved step by step, each
time finding new leads and
where gestures, and where still somehow
establish contact with them.


   Do you feel that the character
ADVENTURE laid in the early
games like INVESTIGATION
SPACE and to contact?


   What we have now? Beautiful, colorful and interactive
articulated by the game, but where there
ADVENTURE? They are as close to
ADVENTURE, like a club kinoputeshestvennikov to real piranhas 
and crocodiles Amazon. 


   Of course, it is nice to manage
interactive film and want to send a hero to the right and the 
left want, but honestly, then the most interactive game

could be called multi-channel TV with remote control. Would you 
like included a cartoon, and you want - football. News you can 
enable or session of parliament, but not like MP - turn it off!

GREAT INTERACTIVE GAME.
Only where there STUDY
unknown space?

3. What follows from all this?


   Criticized, as is known,
simple, but offer a positive solution, too, probably
necessary.



   And it's not far off. After all, with
What we now have a case: in fact, the problem boils down to
that the current software market liberated a considerable niche 
that without problems and without a multimillion (dollar) cost 
of able to take an energetic company, under the wing where 
there are talented writers and authors. It is true that at 
present such people still need to search. But they

there is simply no one has reported this
thought. We live in Russia, where the proportion of the 
intelligentsia high as anywhere in the world. We are with you 
surround millions teachers, engineers, students,

employees of research institutions.



   And if even hundredth of a
percent of them in his spare
part-time put
would endeavor to create interesting
scenarios, this industry
direction could be raised to world levels in a couple of
years.


   We have not invented a "nostalgia"
in the classic adventyuram. She
really exists, and not from us,
and to the west. Now start writing about this foreign 
magazines. (Unbelievable but true - just starting!). You can 
even considered and so that a greater extent, this nostalgia 
exists in Europe than in America.




   Americans somehow quickly stepped on the 8-bit Epple to
16-bit semi-IBM-PC and a Mac and
missed the huge reservoir,
which was digested with Europe
82-th to the 88th year for the Spectrum, "Commodore", "Atari" 
and "Amstradah.



   Today, there are firm - Legend
Entertainment, which successfully
continues to work in this direction. Of course, all the best 
from modern technology, it takes -

and the graphics and sound, but the spirit
Classical adventyury plays perfectly.


   Programs from this company highly
appreciated, are difficult to
prefer refined intellectuals.


   Ellochka Shchukina this game
would be contraindicated. But, as
Whatever it was, as one firm weather in the world will not do. 
For all their desire it is difficult to produce more than a 
couple of programs in year.



   Fortunately, the market for consumers
classical adventyur not confined only to those who suffer from 
nostalgia. Millions of users today simply do not belong

possible for consumers, because
they do not know what it is. For
They like the product will not
worse than any new items. Ask
Modern Users
IBM-PC, who had no experience of life
with Spectrum that is
adventyura?



   Few of them know about the true content of the classical
adventyury, he did not see it
no never (there is hardly any).
All sorts of "quests" - not in
account - this is not what we
have in mind.



    4. Economic aspects.


   Russia is known - the birthplace of Tetris and satellite. 
(Worldwide knows that one of them brought another into Earth 
orbit). AND This is no accident. Where else would appear 
logical and active-logic games, but in Russia? Here because 
it's simple. All It's the economy.




   Modern graphics and RPG adventyury require many thousands of 
hours of labor artists. Imitators - at least a thousand hours 
osobokvalifitsirovannyh programmers and expert consultants. It 
is only logical and board games are so educational

program, whose value depends not on how many artists to draw 
them and how many actors have articulated, but above all 
originality of ideas, but from intellectual value of content 
were available for small groups (one to

five people) who do not have
multimillion-dollar subsidies. A
precisely such collectives, and lives now Russia. And how many
hundreds of programmers to work at all on its own or in pairs?



   To develop a good simulator or graphics adventyury
now in the West are attracted to
30-50 people and is worth Development
such a game to several million dollars. A classic adventyury - 
as if specifically created for Russia. They do not require any 
large-million cost, nor inflated. All that they need - just 
talent writers. Programmer the same problems do not exceed the 
complexity of a class of common databases. Speed is not 
required. Hardware platform can be the most democratic. 
Effective demand guaranteed.




   Believe me, every day
global market freed an entire niche of the software, for which 
there is (and always a) a considerable need! Most

Time to roll up their sleeves and resolutely move forward.


   No such problems in adventyurnyh games that you could not
would "obkatat" with the help of his
"Spectrum". This issue of the Journal "SPECTROFON" attached
tooling system GAC
(Graphic Adventure Creator),
allows you to test your
ideas, concepts and exit obkatat
quite good at creating a commercial product.



   What kind of computer you have in
the future did not work, the experience gained in dealing with 
this system, not in vain, and as Who knows, perhaps it is in 
Russia will revive the lost now in the West the culture of 
communication with interactive adventyurnymi games. 



         We wish you success.


        "Inforkom-Press



            *