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by Jeff Strand March 15, 2002

"The Evolution of the Adventure Game, Part Four" by Jeff Strand

The major event in the evolution of the adventure game was the release of Myst, which sold approximately 75,392,004 copies in the city of Pugsquat, Indiana alone. Players fell into one of three categories:

1. Those who loved Myst.
2. Those who hated Myst.
3. Those who hated Myst simply because there were so many people in category #1.

Despite the mixed reaction, the game continued to sell at a rate of three units for every belch emitted in the northern hemisphere, spawning Riven: The Sequel to Myst, Myst III: The Sequel to Riven, and the upcoming Myst IV: Our Mansions Need More Closet Space. Unlike your average adventure game, Myst had an enormous crossover audience. People who didn't know Guybrush Threepwood from Apu Nahasapeemapetilon were playing this game, although 97% of them were downloading hint guides off the Internet within three minutes of installation.

Myst was widely praised for its jaw-dropping graphics and ear-dropping sound effects, but was criticized for taking place in a world almost devoid of other characters. Which leads us to another major way that adventure games have changed over the years: dialogue.

Though there were exceptions, dialogue was usually pretty limited in an all-text adventure game. There were obviously only so many responses that could be programmed in, so you'd mostly see stuff like:

> WIZARD, BITE MY WEASEL

The wizard smiles at you.

> WIZARD, THERE IS A COW UDDER IN YOUR CHEESE WHIZ

The wizard smiles at you.

But dialogue changed with the changing interface, and soon the "conversation tree" became popular. So when the guard at the gate said "Who goes there?" you'd have several choices:

1. "It is I, Thud the Obese, seeking shelter from the bitter cold."
2. "It is I, Thud the Obese, coming to kill you all for the experience points."
3. "Hmmmm, I would have expected this ice cube in my pants to have melted by now."
4. "It is I, Thud the Obese, ordering you mortals to send a blank e-mail to SeriouslyWhacked - subscribe@yahoogroups.com so that you can receive the Seriously Whacked newsletter ABSOLUTELY FREE (except for some wear and tear on your soul)."

Generally, conversations handled in this fashion were kept fairly short (or else they responded to each choice with "The wizard smiles at you."). But as adventure games became more story-driven, more dialogue was needed. So instead of picking the sentence you wanted to say, you'd pick the topic.

ASK ABOUT: SWORD HAIRCUT MUCILAGE HUGH BEAUMONT: GENIUS OR MADMAN?

I know that nobody likes a whiner, but if I may revert to all-caps for a moment, let me say that THIS IS NOT REALLY INTERACTIVE! You're not actually controlling anything. All the walkthrough has to say is "Use up all conversation topics with the dead Snapple vendor."

And as you've no doubt noticed, people in some of these games can TALK! C'mon now, excellent as the game may be, aren't there characters in The Longest Journey that you want to gag with multiple layers of duct tape? You can go through entire gaming sessions without actually doing anything but clicking the next option on the list. I find myself speed-reading the captions and cutting them off as quickly as possible: "Apr--And th--Two wor--Don't tou--You per--I'll ca--"

Which is not as bad as the full-motion-video games, where you couldn't skip ahead without risking missing something important. So not only did you have to watch these long conversations, but you had to watch Gabriel Knight nod his head thoughtfully about 17,382 times.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "Gee, Dopey, Sleepy, Bashful, Doc, Happy, and Sneezy might not be here, but Grumpy sure is!" You know you were. So I'll cease the whining for a paragraph and move on to:

This paragraph, where the whining continues. Because I have to put out the garbage tomorrow. Seriously, what's up with that?

Actually, I hate to say it (though you probably don't hate to hear it), but this series on the evolution of the adventure game is just about over. But what does the future hold in store for our beloved genre?

1. Adventure games will continue to become more "immersive," meaning that players can completely lose themselves in the designer's universe and never have to think "Whoa, I'm playing a computer game! What a geek!"
2. Pretty soon the "smart cursor" (where you don't even have to pick between "look," "take," or "interact with," but simply click on an item and let the computer take over) will be replaced by the "even smarter than that cursor," where the player only needs to jiggle the mouse every few minutes to prove that he or she is still in the room.
3. Adventure games will continue to be a dead genre that somehow manages to produce new games on a regular basis.

Anyway, I hope you've tolerated this four-part series, and will join me next time for a brand-new topic of equal or lesser educational value. Thanks for reading.

BIO: Jeff Strand's novel Graverobbers Wanted (No Experience Necessary) was recently proclaimed the Favorite E-Book Novel of 2001 by Inscriptions Magazine, a coveted honor that came right after he cancelled his contract with the current publisher. Was that bad timing or what? However, the new version will be out ridiculously soon, and you can get the latest updated by visiting his website at http://www.jeffstrand.com/. His turn-ons include yogurt and moonlit walks along newly-paved beaches. His turn-offs include shameless self-promotion and people who refer to themselves in first person. His only real flaw is that he cares too much.