When the phrase “Adventure Games” is said, what games come to mind?  Zork? Adventureland? Maniac Mansion?  The Kings Quest games?  The original 9 single player Ultima games?  Myst?  Grim Fandango? Elder Scrolls games? The Monkey Island series? Planetfall?  The genre of Adventure games has been around for quite a long time.  Dungeons and Dragons being a great example of an early one that continues to influence the imaginations and games of modern day.

With First I want to lay out what I feel is the definition of an adventure game.  Then, I want to explore one of the “standards of excellence for adventure games,” from an article that comes from Eddie Churchill & Ken Shaefer, in the Amazing Computing™ Vol 2, Number 8 Magazine from August of 1987.  One of the things the original Ultima series of games did was “advance” the Adventure and RPG genres of games.  However, does Shroud of the Avatar do the same thing, as the spiritual successor of the Ultima series?

What is an Adventure Game?

Defining terms helps readers understand where an author is coming from as well as what frame of reference I am approaching my argument from.  Please note that these are my definitions and could be very different from your own or others. Let’s start with defining the basic video game genres, and where the “adventure” genre sits and is defined by.

• Action – the action genre of games requires players to make use of quick reflexes, accuracy, and timing to overcome obstacles.
• Adventure – the adventure genre of games focuses on 3 basic elements: storytelling, exploration/discovery, and puzzle solving
• RPG – the RPG or Role-playing Game genre is on in which you the player take on the role of a character (or characters) in a fictional setting.  You the player actually take responsibility for acting out your role within the narrative
• Simulation – this genre basically are games that closely simulate aspects of a real or fictional reality
• Strategy – the strategy genre focuses on game-play that requires the player to make careful and skillful thinking and planning in order to achieve victory

 Advancement of the Adventure Genre

The article takes at look at elements of what makes an adventure game great, and not just good.  Many of these elements, we cannot address to the level I would like yet.  We are just too early in development.  But the element of advancement is one we can address at the current stage of the game. Based on what we the community have experienced via testing, dev hangouts and forum posts, and the original kickstarter…. I want to ask the question, “What honestly does Shroud of the Avatar bring the to the table that advances the adventure and rpg genres?”

Combat?  – Current iteration of combat does not feel meaningful, satisfying, nor does it have any sense of urgency to it.  The “deck system” they are working towards developing only looks like your typical hot-bar combat system. While it is more strategic, it is very much typical of other adventure games.  Some use a more action mouse clicking and reflex system and thus the “action-adventure” sub-genre was born.  Currently, I wouldn’t say combat advances the adventure or rpg genres in any way at the moment.

Crafting? – Crafting in SotA advances the adventure genre parts of the game because it is growing the learning crafting patterns and plans via discovery instead of simple purchasing.  The discovery method of crafting by placing materials on the crafting table reminds me a lot of Minecraft and other sandbox adventure games of recent years.  It is a game-play element that rpg adventure sub-genres don’t tend to use.

Story? – We don’t know much of the story, nor have we gotten to experience, but if Richard Garriott is correct that it will have the story driven focus that the Ultima series of games are known for, it will be encouraging to see another game that is very story driven.  We have had examples of this in modern games where the story/discovery of the story and the puzzles/problem-solving were a core part of what made a game great. So while this is not new, it is at least good to see story and interactive fiction being something that is focused on alot.

Map, Housing, Conversation? – Honestly, a dual scale map is nothing new, even with modern graphics and elements of entering zones/hexs as well as seeing other things going on when it comes to the larger scale map.  Player Housing and home decorating is nothing new to adventure games.  Looking back at my own gaming history, there were multiple early graphical MMOs dating back into the mid 1990s that had this.  The conversation system that we have for talking, not only to each other but with NPCs, is still very much of other conversation systems used by other games both now and in the past.  These three elements are comfortable and nice for adventure games as well as RPGs, but I don’t see them as areas to focus on advancement except maybe when it comes to the level of polish they have.

Selective Multiplayer? – This is where I think SotA succeeds in the topic of advancement. For some gamers, traditional MMOs hold no allure. By going with a combination of Offline Mode as well as Online Modes (single player online, friends only online, open online).  SotA’s selective multiplayer is a way to have an adventure game fit not only the classic solo/single player model of the 80s/90s, but also tie it in with the model of online multiplayer that so many have come to love about the rise of the internet.  No more multiple “shards”/”servers” but still having it be one persistent world regardless of what online mode selection you are using at that moment in time…. This gives people a level of flexibility to self-determine a game-play aspect, in a new way.

So what does this mean for the SotA Community?

Well honestly, it doesn’t mean too much at the moment, but it could have ramifications the closer we get to release (ie: no more character wipes and servers open every day)… The elements mentioned in the article about what make an adventure game great and put it above those that are just good, really are what SotA needs to focus on in all aspects of development.  During the Kickstarter, I had hopes that the game would be like every other Ultima game of days past, and push the bar higher and higher with each new game…. Looking at where we are at currently, that feeling is totally lost to me….

The selective multiplayer is the one feature that stands out above all else.  Now, as the dev team continues to polish, improve, get feedback, and push forward on the project, I hope and pray things like combat improves dramatically.  If the story pulls me into the world and the combat is satisfying my pledge will feel successful in my mind. So community, please be patient with the team.

I will admit that I fail to do so on many days when I look at core components of the game. The Dev Hangouts and Community Roundtables/Discussions, whether it be in one of the mean streams some of us community members take part in via chat, cam, or forum posts, are a huge way for us to help encourage as well as be critical of things.  Just remember that a game of the polish, genre advancement, consistency, coherency, humor, and fun that we want, in the past has taken years to develop… and we are not even at a year and half since the end of the Kickstarter….