I read this yesterday: Gameplay is King: Story is Distant Second. It’s an interesting read and one which I almost completely agree with. For games, gameplay is the most important aspect and should always be so. If it’s not then it likely stops being a game and becomes something else with gameplay elements. That isn’t to say those other things aren’t valid or equally enjoyable for what they are.
The previous post about this “lost game” with the scene between Emily and Crawford was lifted directly from the original scripts. Because the development was cut short, I never had the chance to do a final editing and polishing pass over the whole game. Here is the same scene given the editing treatment. It’s a lot tighter and makes use of the visuals much more.
Considering the game first came out three and a half years ago, I thought that the days of new reviews were over. Then earlier this evening I was sent a link to a great review over at Alternative Magazine Online.
Here is another scene from the never-to-be-released game. This is about two-thirds of the way into the game.
Some photos have been posted of the Games Forum Germany conference on Facebook and show most, of not all, of my fellow speakers. I’d like to say, once more, how much I enjoyed attending and speaking. A big thank you to the organisers for inviting me.
…I’ve learned that I’ve got to treat it with caution. My first impressions of Twitter were that it simply consisted of sub-trivial nonsense, but I stuck with it and realised that it’s a lot of fun and can also be very useful if you follow the right Twits. People who regularly post links to interesting …
I decided to pull out one of the scenes from the “never to be published”, Call of Cthulhu: Destiny’s End. This takes place near the beginning of the intended game. Emily has taken car keys belonging to her father, Michael, and her new friend, Jacob, is waiting for her. ___ Emily leaves the house with …
Interaction Density I came up with the term “Interaction Density” when I was part of a long forum discussion on the way there are no adventures targeted at 8-13 year old boys. Why did the likes of “Day of the Tentacle” and “Monkey Island” appeal to this age group when they came out, yet today’s …
Back-Story No, this isn’t the story of how I’m in constant pain with my bad back. But now that I’ve brought it up, I wonder how much sympathy I can garner from mentioning the stabbing pains that run up and (That’s enough, Ince. Get on with the column, you pathetic wimp – Ed.)Ahem. Back-story falls …
Character Profiles Part of my current job involves creating the character profiles for my client’s project. Now, I can’t go into the specific details of what I’m doing (for obvious reasons), but I thought I would reflect on how important it is to do this work. Although I’ve already discussed characters, in an earlier column, …
Obstacles of Desire One of my favourite obstacles in a game was in Beneath a Steel Sky. Though I worked on this game, I didn’t contribute to the gameplay design; so I think it’s okay for me to feel this way. One of the reasons I enjoyed my eleven years with Revolution was that I …
Puzzling Through the Obstacles One of the criticisms levelled at Adventure Games these days is that they can feel a little old fashioned. I’m increasingly of the opinion that this is because they contain these things we refer to as “puzzles”. This term can then create the wrong idea in people’s heads as to what …