Monthly Archive: November 2004

Nov
23
2004

Who is ROLLERMAN?

I found this clipping from “the Licensing Book” of 1996. Its just one of the many projects advertised for licensing that never made the cut. I have searched the web and found no traces beyond this ad. It looks like you could help fund the film by purchasing the James Guran Original Movie Jacket – $1 million or a limited edition jacket for – $1 thousand. Who knows what the film would have been like. So much creativity that gets lost to the ages.

Nov
02
2004

Adventure Gamers and Adventure Developers

I have been a big fan of Adventure Games, particularly the original ones from Lucas Arts: Monkey Island, Sam and Max hit the road, Loom, Maniac Mansion. Even though the game graphics are bit limited, they are excellent examples of the Adventure Game genre that includes interaction, dialog, story, and puzzle solving all to tell a great story.

Well there are some exciting moves in the fan communities to make their own games, now that this Genre is not a big seller and companies are unwilling to take the risk of making one for the mass market. Meaning that the fans might be able to raise the work to the next level with out the worries of selling the work. Two sites to check out are:



ADVENTURE GAMERS.com
: this site has an active area for those who want to create there own adventure game, with some interesting reading even if you are a casual fan. There are also reviews on newly published games, hints, tips, tricks, and rumors.

Visit Adventure Gamers



ADVENTURE DEVELOPERS.com
: This site has just resurfaced after being gone for some time and is setup to be a meeting place online for those who want to make there own adventure game. They write:

Some people still say the adventure genre is dead. Some say it’s sleeping. Some say it’s reviving and others say the genre has never really been away. Whatever you may say, one thing’s assured: there’s still a lot of interest in the adventure genre.

Most publishers, however, seem to ignore this. They don’t believe the traditional adventure game could make enough money anymore. In an on-the-move society where instant gratification is a must, the gaming public seems to need to always keep their mouse fingers twitching in blazing first person shoot-outs and exhilarating car chases.

This has caused the market to be flooded with mindless action oriented games, leaving us adventure gamers pretty much out in the cold.

Fortunately for us, there are still people out there who do believe in this genre. And that number of people is increasing rapidly for the past few years. We’ve seen very interesting projects developing by independent studios, sometimes funded by small publishers. Also fans have been creating their own ‘amateur’ game projects, some good, some bad, some finished, many abandoned.

Adventure Developers is not only here to tell you about all of these interesting games and developing projects, but is also a source for news. Furthermore, we’re a place to discuss games, projects and other issues with our visitors. Our forums are available for developers as well, to promote their projects, ask for help, find members for their teams, and more. We also publish articles, tutorials, and other features, sometimes written by (recognised) industry professionals.

As someone who has toyed with making his own adventure game before, I am thrilled to see so much activity and the possibilities that can happen by regular folks. I just wish someone would make the tools to make a nice 2D point and click game for us Mac users. Any ideas? thoughts?

Nov
02
2004

Dr. Syn – THE SCARECROW OF ROMNEY MARSH


….THE SCARECROW OF ROMNEY MARSH is a combination of the Robin Hood and Scarlet Pimpernel stories: an outlaw robbing unjust rulers, in order to aid the people those rulers have impoverished; a man pretending to be a threat to no one, while secretly taking heroic action.

THE SCARECROW takes place in 1775….THE SCARECROW is set in the Romney Marsh region of the Kent-Sussex coast, Southeast England, and concerns the heroic exploits of the Reverend Dr. Christopher Syn – who was a first-class seaman in his youth, but is now both the Vicar of Dymchurch (a pastor) by day, and the smuggler called “the Scarecrow” by night.

This is a character I discovered who has been around for some time, and is known many many by the TVshow/films produced by Walt Disney. The character is a fantastic Anti-Hero. Lots of fun, check it out. HERE (http://users.msworldnet.com/tomhering/index.htm) and HERE (http://www.drsyn.com/)