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Game Club

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Sleepy

Thu Jul 24 2008, 03:06PM

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Joined: Fri Jul 20 2007, 02:27PM
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I don't know that we'd have enough interest to make this a worthwhile endeavor right now, but I've always thought it would be great to have a video game club which would operate much like book clubs do. Groups of people would get together and pick some game to play for some predetermined amount of time and then periodically get together during that time to discuss the game as you play through it.

That way you have a group of people to talk about the game with who are more or less at the same point in the game as you. You guarantee that things you want to talk about are fresh in your mind, and it also just seems like the type of thing that Intelligent Gamers would get together and do. :)

What do you all think?

Areala

Thu Jul 24 2008, 08:08PM

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Joined: Sat Aug 04 2007, 10:48PM
Posts: 135

I'm all for it, though I imagine selecting a game could be problematic, considering that not everybody has the same game consoles, PC setups and whatnot. :)

Sleepy

Fri Jul 25 2008, 06:58AM

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Posts: 199

Yeah, that's probably true. We'd have to be careful not to pick a game that requires expensive hardware because that severely limits your audience. So that means no PS3 games or brand new cutting-edge PC games.

A good bet would probably be a multi-platform game where people could choose what to play it on. Looking at the site stats, 75% of visitors are running Windows 2000 or later. So, presumably, most of them have a decent PC that can play games that are a couple years old. So, I'd say picking an older PC game could be a safe bet too.

Areala

Fri Jul 25 2008, 10:06AM

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Joined: Sat Aug 04 2007, 10:48PM
Posts: 135

Infocom text adventures!! :)

Perfect gaming for Intelligent Gamers; there are sites on the web where you can play Java-versions of the games for free, and all the documentation and maps can be found very conveniently on Replacement Docs... Cross promotion, anyone...? ;)

*huggles*
Areala

Sleepy

Fri Jul 25 2008, 10:41AM

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Hey I'm all for Infocom text adventures. I've only played a handful (Zork I-III, Beyond Zork, Planetfall, HHGtG) but have always wanted to try lots more.

I hadn't actually thought about going that far back in gaming history, but it's an interesting idea. "The Abandonware Game Club"?

Andromus

Fri Jul 25 2008, 02:22PM

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Joined: Thu Aug 09 2007, 07:23PM
Posts: 46

Hey, this is a great idea. I've done it a couple of times on an adventure game forum and it was interesting. However, I've never been very good at the few text adventures I've sampled. Still, I'd be willing to give them another shot.

MacilAtTheFront

Sat Jul 26 2008, 04:46PM

Registered Member #60

Joined: Fri May 30 2008, 05:16PM
Posts: 37

Anything that runs easily in DOSBox works for me. That way everybody could run the game, regardless of what platform they're on.

[ Edited Sat Jul 26 2008, 07:01PM ]

Areala

Sun Jul 27 2008, 07:11PM

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Joined: Sat Aug 04 2007, 10:48PM
Posts: 135

Well, maybe a graphical adventure game would be more equalizing? No fast reflexes required like a shooter game, just puzzle solving skills.

The 80s and early 90s were an absolute haven of adventure titles, especially where Sierra was concerned. King's Quest, Police Quest, Manhunter, Space Quest, the Laura Bow mysteries, Phantasmagoria, and the early Gabriel Knight games would all be great adventure game choices. :)

*huggles*
Areala

MacilAtTheFront

Mon Jul 28 2008, 02:13AM

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Joined: Fri May 30 2008, 05:16PM
Posts: 37

I nominate Beneath A Steel Sky and Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy as possible selections. Both are freely available and are possible to get working with a minimum of fuss.

Areala

Mon Jul 28 2008, 05:14AM

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Joined: Sat Aug 04 2007, 10:48PM
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Does anybody know if they finally fixed HHgtG so that you no longer had the random problem of not actually being able to finish the game? :)

Sleepy

Mon Jul 28 2008, 07:25AM

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Ahh... good idea with nominating titles that have been released as freeware! People will have no excuses then. :)

I played HHGtG many moons ago, but never finished it. I vaguely remember that there were certain things you had to do early on in the game that, if you didn't, you couldn't finish the game... but I thought those were by design, not bugs.

Beneath a Steel Sky is one that has been on my to-play list for a long time though. I would definitely be up for trying that one out. Have you played through it before, Macil?

Alastair

Mon Jul 28 2008, 03:34PM

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Joined: Wed Aug 01 2007, 03:29PM
Posts: 23

I have finished both Beneath a Steel Sky and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Infocom, not the fan made version that was released then pulled a few years earlier), so if you need help and my memory still works then just ask. I cannot recall any bugs in HHGtG, though I did wonder what would happen if you did not feed the dog with the sandwich early on in the game, perhaps that is the game stopping "bug" that Areala mentions.

Incidentally there are a whole load of Infocom Z-machine interpreters available here
http://ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXinfocomXinterpreters.html
The Frotz ones seem to be the most complete, for MS Windows a WindowsFrotz version released on 30-Dec-2007 is the most current.

[ Edited Mon Jul 28 2008, 03:44PM ]

MacilAtTheFront

Mon Jul 28 2008, 08:01PM

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Joined: Fri May 30 2008, 05:16PM
Posts: 37

I've started Beneath a Steel Sky a few times, but other games have pulled me away, and I've never gotten too far. I've also started Hitchhiker's a half dozen times, but rarely gone beyond arriving on the Heart of Gold.

I'm certainly open to new and creative ideas/games. I wish some of the new adventure/platforming games posted in the Indie games section (Limbo, Machinarium) were out so we could try those.

I'm guessing that most of the people on this forum are more likely to have played through a significant number of good adventure games than elsewhere, which makes choosing a game everyone would enjoy playing somewhat difficult. I've played most Sierra adventures to death (except for The Colonel's Bequest and the earlier Police Quest games), as well as all the Lucasarts adventure games.

Maybe an indie text/adventure game would be best after all. Something not ridiculously long or challenging, but with great writing. Anybody found some hidden gem they'd like to share?

Sleepy

Mon Jul 28 2008, 10:10PM

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Joined: Fri Jul 20 2007, 02:27PM
Posts: 199

I honestly haven't played a lot of indie interactive fiction, but with lists like the XYZZY Awards it would probably be easy enough to find some good ones to try.

The few that I have tried came packaged with a shovelware collection of Infocom games I got a while back. I do vaguely remember one called A Change in the Weather having some very good writing. It won 1st place in the 1995 rec.arts.int-fiction competition.

If we wanted to try a short game as a sort of "test run" for the Game Club, then indie IF would certainly fit the bill. We could see how that goes and maybe learn some do's and don'ts along the way. Then, once we have an established format we could eventually expand to longer games.

[ Edited Mon Jul 28 2008, 10:16PM ]

Areala

Tue Jul 29 2008, 12:35AM

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Posts: 135

Moonmist from Infocom is a favorite of mine, especially since it is basically four games in one and the version you play is determined by some questions that you answer in the beginning. :)

You really need the docs that go with it (the two letters from Tamara if nothing else) in order to get the most out of it though.

Plus, it's rated Beginner-level, so it's not like it'll take you a year to play through it. :)

MacilAtTheFront

Tue Jul 29 2008, 12:54AM

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Joined: Fri May 30 2008, 05:16PM
Posts: 37

If we end up doing an Infocom game (I've never really played Moonmist, so Areala's idea works for me), scanned documentation can be found here. Unfortunately, it's not possible to get the full experience of the "feelies" this way, but what can you do?

I also like the XYZZY idea. If we do that, should we start from the beginning and do each of the "game of the year" selections in order, or just the last year?

[ Edited Tue Jul 29 2008, 12:59AM ]

Sleepy

Thu Jul 31 2008, 07:13AM

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Joined: Fri Jul 20 2007, 02:27PM
Posts: 199

Well, I would say starting at the earlier selections makes more sense. Could be interesting to see some evolution in game design over the years.

We have two good IF lists to pull from. The Xyzzy's are the most prominent annual IF awards and the Interactive Fiction Competition (IFComp) is the most prominent annual competition. Xyzzy has been going for 12 years. IFComp has been going for 13.

I still think A Change in the Weather would probably be a good first Game Club choice for multiple reasons: It's short, it won 1st place in the 1st annual IFComp, and one of us (me) has actually played it. We could do indie IF first and then branch out into commercial IF or other genres later.

If no one has any objections to the selection, I would say let's start playing now and begin discussion next Friday, August 8. If I recall, I finished it in one sitting, so I think a week should be plenty of time for people to get through the game.

Sleepy

Thu Jul 31 2008, 07:29AM

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Joined: Fri Jul 20 2007, 02:27PM
Posts: 199

Also, it looks like the game has been updated since the competition. So let's all make sure we are playing the most up-to-date version (release 6). Not sure what the differences are, but just making sure.

MacilAtTheFront

Fri Aug 01 2008, 11:38AM

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Joined: Fri May 30 2008, 05:16PM
Posts: 37

Just a quick note: If you don't like the way WinFrotz renders text and word/letter spacing, try Gargoyle. It doesn't do well with the registration screen of Bureaucracy and some other IF games that use ASCII art, but it does do nifty sub-pixel font rendering and good formatting. It works on both Windows and Linux.

[ Edited Fri Aug 01 2008, 11:39AM ]

Sleepy

Tue Aug 19 2008, 07:35PM

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Joined: Fri Jul 20 2007, 02:27PM
Posts: 199

So does anyone have a suggestion for another game or general suggestions about the idea now that we've had our first session?

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