~Adventure Games On The Subject Of Adventure Games... By Lu Richardson FOREWORD Way back, in the infancy of the PC, when screens were monochrome or at most CGA (golly gosh!), the games available were either simple arcades or text adventures - there just wasn't the capability for anything else. Players were divided into these two camps, and what motivated them to choose one of them is a question which would probably keep a batallion of psychologists in business. Basically, you either liked visually direct action, mostly pretty aggresive, or you preferred a spot of peaceful escapism with a side order of intellectual titillation. In spite of the explosion of the computer games market and the incredible variety which covers just about every taste in entertainment nowadays, I suspect that a large number of people still enjoy the quiet thrill of the adventure game. You see, it's like entering into a new world, where everything is strange, sometimes scary, sometimes funny, but always fascinating. What's behind that locked door? Where is the key? How do I get that shinny thing at the bottom of the river? What will I find in the dark cave? Curiosity drives you on relentlessly. Of course, some games have an interesting plot and you have a clear cut goal - but in others, you start off by knowing nothing at all and have to learn what gives as you go along. You'll be led quite a dance in the process, I can tell you. HOW TO SOLVE THEM: FIRST STEPS So, how do you go about playing adventure games, whether text, graphic or animated? Well, rule number one is to read whatever info comes to the game to put yourself in the picture, as it were. These days, you also get an intro to tell you more or less what's happening or what has to be done. Once the game starts, it is a good idea to try a "dry run"; that is to say, visit every location available and pick up anything not nailed to the floor and start trying various things. If anything goes wrong it won't matter; and it's no good trying to solve a puzzle in one room when the thing you need is three rooms on. Once you've got all the available information, you can go through the whole thing more methodically from the beginning. LOCATIONS To take things step by step, you should examine carefully every location you come to. See if anything is hidden behind something else. If, for instance, there is a grandfather's clock in the room, don't just say, oh, all right, there is a clock here. Examine it, attempt to open it, try to move it, change the position of the handles; that sort of thing. Sometimes, the mere act of examining something will give you a clue. MAPS Since adventure scenarios tend to be necessarily limited, and the shortcomings of such a small world tend to be made up by endless visits, backwards and forwards, to the handful of rooms available, it is always a good idea to make a map if the game itself does not provide you with one. It needn't be anything complicated: just a square per room will do, with lines representing roads, corridors or passages coming out of them, at the right points of the compass, and leading to other rooms represented by other squares. You could also write a number as a reference in each square and again on another piece of paper and, beside it, what there is of interest in each room. ITEMS Next, pick up anything that can be picked up in the location you are at. Examine each object you pick up, since that will give you a clue; also, objects can sometimes be opened to reveal something else inside. For instance, a box might contain not one, but several items - so that, if you look inside and find something, don't stop there. Look again, and again, until it is declared to be empty. Some items are a clue in their own right. For instance, if you find a banana, chances are there will be a monkey hanging around somewhere. CONVERSATIONS Some games are livened up by having people standing around who will willingly engage in strange conversations with you. This I personally dislike, since they tend to be "padding" and rather a waste of good playing time. However, it cannot be helped. Always talk to everyone you meet and pursue conversations till people start repeating themselves. Sometimes, embeded in all the nonsense, you'll find a clue. Come back when you have gone further into the game, to see if they have any more information to impart. Not that those characters are only there to chat you up - sometimes you have to give them something to get something else. THE PUZZLES Since the primary object of an adventure game is to explore the environment in order to get from A to B, where pressumabily the whole thing will be resolved, one easy way of putting you on your mettle is to block your progress at every turn. You will find locked doors aplenty, and paths obstructed by an assortment of difficulties, such as gorillas, deadly spiders or tax collectors. To get past these hurdles you will need certain items and a great deal of imagination. Most puzzles are about doing just this. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Once you've gone as far as you can, identifying the obstacles and collecting all the items available, the time will have come to try and overcome the said obstacles. Some solutions will be obvious: for instance, if you've found a banana and a gorilla won't let you climb an interesting tree, you'll know exactly what to do. So, the first thing you do is to try the easy options. If none of the items you have will allow you to progress further to other locations in the game, then you must try the not so obvious approach. For instance, if the key you have won't open the locked chest but you have a crowbar, try that. On occasion, the solution will be slightly more complicated. Say that a couple of roughs are guarding a gate and they are drinking at the same time - if you happen to have a sleeping potion about your person, you'll get an pretty good idea about what to do. Only, of course, it won't be as simple as that - before you can put your potion in their drink, you will have to distract them, and that could be a complicated business. Especially if you don't have a cat, a piece of string and a tin handy. Having exhausted all the logical possibilities, and you must indeed imagine what you would do in real life with the items at your disposal, then you'll next have to try a spot of lateral thinking. For instance, you could try combining the objects you are carrying. A rope and a metal bar could be combined to form a makeshift grappling hook; that is to say, some combinations will be fairly straightforward. When they are not so, the only thing for it is to simply click with each item on every other item in your inventory and see if anything happens. Finally, bear in mind that the whole point of an adventure game is to make life difficult for you (no sense in writing an adventure so easy that it can be solved in a couple of hours). There will be red herrings galore to distract you and puzzles which look logical but are not: sometimes the answer will be subtly connected with what you would indeed do in real life, if not quite, and sometimes it will be quite outrageous and utterly far-fetched. This I consider rather unfair, but I guess even game writters get off days. GETTING STUCK Sooner or later, everyone gets stuck - don't get an inferiority complex about it, the brightest and best get stuck. It's just a question of how determined you are not to be beaten. The thing to remember is that there is ALWAYS a solution, no matter how intractable the problem might seem. In my experience, the reason people get stuck is because they have failed to spot a vital item (because it has been so craftily hidden) or because they haven't yet left off thinking logically. So, if you get really stuck, go over all the locations yet again, searching them thoroughly; if no new item appears, then go to your obstacle and try improbable things with the items you do have. And if the worst comes to the worst, there is always Cheet Sheets... Copyright (c) 1995 Eurowave Leisure Ltd.