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.
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?
