I've been toying... literally for years... with the idea of making an adventure game using Poser to create the images. I've talked about various facets of this before in long-ago threads, and gotten what I consider to be good advice.

I'm currently thinking of scenarios and have no shortage of them in my mind. But I am in a quandry.

There seems to be three approaches to Advantures:

1. Myst type games - These are totally environment driven. The player is totally alone and views the world first person. Exploration, puzzle solving and escape seem to be the driving forces in these games.

2. Video Game "Buddy" Adventures - In these, you have a companion who aids you in the various goals. These typically have lots of cut-scenes in them (which to me get in the way of the gameplay, but that's me).

3. Hidden Object Adventures - Like over at BigFishGames. The adventure seems to be simply the backdrop for the "find this list of items hidden in plain sight" games that give you the inventory items you need to solve the ultimate puzzle.

My own favorite games range from Myst (all iterations) to Journey, to Flower, to Brothers, to Dear Esther. In short, let's play the game and not bother with other people.

Are there any other adventure gamers here? I own the Pro ersion of Adventure Maker, and will be using that to assemble to opus. I don't think this will be limiting regardless of the approach taken.

Anyone with thoughts on this project?

I like both the myst style and HOG games. I don't know that I've ever played the buddy style. I don't like a lot of cut scenes either. If I just wanted to watch I'd have rented a movie. There are tons of HOGs out there. I've got about 30 on my computer now and those were GAOTD freebies. I don't know that I've seen as many myst styles. Except now that I think of it, Portal was kind of like one.

I guess the question is, can you come up with enough puzzles to make a game worth wild?

Other than that, I like the Myst style games, but I can barely solve the puzzles in those.  Can't imagine having to devise them, or trying to create the sort of immersive environments that really drive those games.  Whoa.

This project sounds interesting. I've been toying with the idea of attempting something similar, only I prefer the more fast-paced action rpgs to the puzzle-driven adventure style of 2d that I remember Myst being. Never really could get into that one. Puzzles make rpgs more interesting as well. Big reason why I'm interested in this new game dev version of Poser that's coming.

~Shane

Quote - Big reason why I'm interested in this new game dev version of Poser that's coming. ~Shane

REALLY!

I must have been playing hookie the day that was announced! Can you point me to some info? I may not be using AdventureMaker after all!!!!!

wiz, sneak peek is here: http://poser.smithmicro.com/gamedev.html

jastusa.com  JAST-USA primarily makes and markets adult "dating sims" from Japan.  I think these are Flash games - I only have Lightning Warrior Raidy I and II, so I can only address them specifically.

II has a little "animation" where a scene will alternate between two stills, like a really short .gif would do.  They both have sound, including voice, and are old fashioned dungeon crawls with boss battles to clear the level.  Motion is done using the arrow keys, though the mouse can be used to click arrows on the screen.  There are potions, swords, and armor, but these only show in the inventory for artwork.

Battles are static images of what look to be hand-drawn cels with a little action overlay (like 1960's Batman, but swipes and spell effects instead of the word balloons).  The hallways and rooms are simple boxes - floor/walls/ceiling all done in whatever is natural to the area (bricks for the tower, etc).  There is a text box that tells what happens each round.  If you win, the image of the opponent changes (usually something where some or most of its clothing/armor is removed) but there are no other animations during fights.

Poser images, textures, and backgrounds would make for great artwork for these kinds of games - I am trying to do something like this myself, but I still need to get Flash and see how it actually works.

If you want to see the preview art, LWR is under Shop --> G - Collections.

I would be interested in seeing how you go about creating your own game.  I know nothing about creating games.

Quote - I would be interested in seeing how you go about creating your own game.  I know nothing about creating games.

Any story-telling vehicle will always involve a plot... that is to say, a story of some sort that will unfold throughout the narrative. Any "story" that does not have a plot is not really a story at all... it is either a character sketch or a travelogue. I have no trouble at all coming up with plots. I've written 17 novels and countless short stories and the ideas come rolling out at all hours of the day and night! :)

The issue is deciding on a point of view.

The adventure games that rely heavily on cut-scenes are what I refer to as character driven. The other people in the adventure with you are going to shape much of what the play is like based upon their (hard coded) personalities and the way the author uses them to direct the action. "Heavy Rain" is a good example of this sort of game. It is more about how the player interacts with other characters in the game than anything else.

The other type of adventures could probably be more acurately described as "alternate universes." Myst was the seminal work in this genre. You are (basically) alone in a mysterious world full of rules that are different from those we expect.

Where I am having the great problem is deciding with of the two options to explore.

I am leaning toward a Myst-like story for the simple reason that I dispise having to render animations. They just take too long for the result you get ("The pleasure ain't worth the pain.")

The fact that I've gotten multiple responses here is encouraging... there seems to be interest if I decide to move forward!

Basicwiz

I like the games that play like a movie. For me, The Last of Us and Uncharted have excellent stories lines for single player and multiplayer games are always a plus because you get to experience the game together.

As an older gamer the storylines are what keeps me playing games because then the game becomes more of an interactive movie where you have to play in order to see how the story turns out.  I understand what you mean about the cut-scenes.  That in itself is a different project that is closer to making a movie than making a game.

I have tried dabbling in this area as well, but there are few game makers out there that are easy to pick up without knowing a decent amount of coding. I had tried playing around with Adventure Game Studio. It is pretty straight forward, it's free, and there is a guy on youtube that has large number of easy to follow tutorials that basically give you the knowledge to build an entire game.

It is pretty easy to use Poser to make 2d sprites and pre-rendered backgrounds, but it is not good for video cut scenes or animated backgrounds. It is also not action oriented out of box either.

What programs do you all use that are kind of at the same user level that could make games in line with things like Myst /Zork and other old style adventure games?

Adventuremaker Pro is my platform of choice.

where do you get that basicwiz?

I'm going to go ahead and post the link because I don't feel it competes with anything sold here at Rendo... very simple... http://adventuremaker.com.

Thanks

I would also recommend adventure game creator with unity. It is a unity extension made by Animation director Chris Burton and it is really awesome. You can make 2d 2.5d and 3d adventure games with it really easily without doing any code. If you want to make a telltale type or heavy rain type game with direct control instead of point and click it is really good for that (although it's good for point and click games too.)

But if you make games in 3d be sure to purchase extended licenses for everything.

You know, this has nothing to do with the original topic directly, but it is only slightly off topic. I believe I've told peole before that the original reason I got into Poser was because I wanted to use it to create a storyboard for a screenplay I had written. (And therein lies the on topic part of the post, Wiz. Make a storyboard to help you visualize the game. It willl also help if you go after funding).

Okay, back to my ramble, so anyway I did actually end up doing that storyboard, although, I've yet to actually show it to anyone. I just think it's ironic, though, that Poser comes out with a game dev program, while a few years ago I had written a screenplay about, of all things, a video game developer trapped in one of his own games, and to win the game, he and his companions have to make it to the end of the game without dying.