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The Making of The Longest Journey 45

Posted by Zonk from the best-daughter-of-a-dragon-story-evar dept.
Rock, Paper, Shotgun is hosting an interview/retrospective with Ragnar Tørnquist talking about the classic point-and-click adventure game The Longest Journey. The piece starts off with a surprise: the game was originally intended to be a platformer. "I wanted to tell a story, a specific story - and that's why we ended up making an adventure rather than an RPG or an action game ... We were all fans of the classic adventures from LucasArts and Sierra, and I'd made a bunch of text adventures on the Commodore 64 back in the day, so the genre was a natural match. But in the end it was all about the story, and finding the gameplay mechanics to suit that."
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The Making of The Longest Journey More

The Making of The Longest Journey

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  • If you want to play it now (Score:3, Informative)

    by stoolpigeon ( 454276 ) * <bittercode@gmail> on Friday October 19, 2007 @02:45PM (#21046963) Homepage Journal
    If you missed it when it came around, you can still get it [amazon.com] for less than $8. Follow it up with Dreamfall [amazon.com] and you are all set. For the rest you'll have to wait on Dreamfall Chapters [funcom.com]

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by nine-times ( 778537 )
      You can also get one or both of the "The Longest Journey" games onSteam [steampowered.com]. I know, some people don't like Steam too much because of the DRM, but some find it convenient.
      • I think it is safe to say that you are in good company when it comes to appreciating steam. Tycho recently said After years of fairly positive digital delivery experiences through Steam, I have to say that I found purchasing a Valve product in a retail context almost unpleasant... [penny-arcade.com]
        • Yeah, I've been using it to play Half Life 2 (and Episode 1, Episode 2, Portal, and a couple other games). I didn't think I'd like it since I'm generally against DRM, but the whole thing never really gave me any problems. In fact, it's easier to deal with than some other kinds of copy-protection (I'd rather deal with Steam's online check than a CD check), and the online distribution is very convenient.
          • I don't even care about the DRM any more, it's just so convenient.

            My only complaint is that the Steam GUI performs like a poorly-written Java app, which is weird because the underlying code seems so damned solid. (actually, IS it Java? That would explain so much...)
            • Steam is so different than any other DRM that I don't even think of it as DRM. Every other DRM limits the original buyer. In all my time using steam I have never seen it do that. Multiple installs? Ok. Lost CD? Let me download that for you. Playing off line? That's fine, just register once. In fact using steam for me has made things easier. All I need is my login and password and I can play any game I have bought ever anywhere. I felt really crappy the first time I herd about steam but now I love it. It's r

              • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

                by AuMatar ( 183847 )
                Valve goes out of business- oh wow, I used to have games. Valve decides to cut you off/loses your data/etc- same thing. Someone else hacks your account and Valve thinks you're already playing- can't use your games. Nope, DRM is still evil.
                • Considering how quickly cracked versions of HL2 came out when it debuted, I'm not too worried about being able to play if Valve dies.

                  And are those other things at all common? Bet it's less likely than me losing/breaking a game disc.

                • Re:If you want to play it now (Score:5, Informative)

                  by Brian Gordon ( 987471 ) on Friday October 19, 2007 @04:14PM (#21048399)
                  Who modded that insightful?!
                  • If valve goes out of business, they will unlock all content control for all games. See this official forum post [steampowered.com].
                  • If valve cuts off your access to data and you're stuck without a CD, you can just back it up. Steam includes a handy feature that lets you burn a DVD or set of CDs (or just keep the archive files on a hard drive) from any steam game. If you lose your data then just pop in the DVD and it automatically copies the game data. Since it's steam, and games are downloaded as big archives requiring no 'installation' (all settings and cache and things are mapped to the filesystem, and game files have their own virtual filesystem within the archives), it just instantly works after copying. You still need to decrypt it with a key from the server but again see the above post, they can just disable the authentication.
                  • You can install any purchased game on an unlimited number of machines. A lot of people give out their steam information to their friends, because everyone can play! You're limited to 1 multiplayer game at a time, but you could all be playing a single player game offline and steam doesn't even care.
                  • I was very weary of Steam at first, I figured it was an "evil DRM intrusion" into my system.

                    Since I had to get it for TF2, I've found that the games are 1/2 the price of the stores, I don't need to line up and talk to smelly sales assistants and my games are pretty much safe - no discs to lose and even if I lose the backups... I can download them again. I mean, wow, that's, just, wow... go to a game shop and try to organise that kind of arrangement.

                    There's a thin line you can walk with DRM - it's valid for
                • Valve isn't likely to go out business.
                  What data can they lose? Cut you off of what? You can make a backup of the game and burn it to C/DVD. If they wanted to no longer support it or went out of business they would give you a way to keep playing.

                  Hacked account? You just need to prove it was your account, whether that be a scan of the product key or billing details. Also, don't be an idiot and you won't get hacked.

                  Steam makes gaming so much easier. It has it's problems but I'd rather pay USD for games, since
    • You can also get it on Steam, as I did last week.
    • I really enjoyed TLJ, but unfortunately the copy of Dreamfall I bought has Starforce on it, and no way am I installing that on my PC. I don't use torrents/cracks/etc. so I've no idea how to get a workaround, plus I'm too lazy to bother.
  • The making of the longest journey began with a single step...
  • *cuts to black*

  • Why dreamfall ain't as great (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SmallFurryCreature ( 593017 ) on Friday October 19, 2007 @03:23PM (#21047571) Journal

    The longest journey was an adventure. Dreamfall isn't. It is half adventure, half fighting game. What is worse, the fighting game is extremely bad, you wouldn't accept this kinda fighting game in a flash format that PAYED you to play it.

    That is what killed adventures, the constant insistance of adding things onto it to make it appeal to more people. Adventures were ALWAYS good sellers, but that wasn't enough, so lucasarts went 3D, and killed the adventure. Broken Sword added sneaking and platforming, and the series nearly died from it. Dreamfall added combat and we only forgave it because so few other adventures exist.

    STOP ADDING ELEMENTS TO GAMES JUST FOR THE SAKE OF IT.

    Platformers don't suddenly add a long story segment to appeal to adventures, so why add platform gaming to adventures. Combat games don't suddenly get a rich plot to appeal to adventures, so why add combat to adventures. Action games don't suddenly add character development to their heroes, so why add action to adventures.

    It ain't nothing new, leisure suit larry had a segment in it were you had to navigate down a river and avoid pigs on logs (don't ask), it was a very bad minigame. It played in a tiny window, was crap, hard to control, looked far more primitive then the main game, and just basically wasn't fun.

    I don't mind mixed genre's where a game really focusses on combing two different game styles together. BUT in adventure land this doesn't happen, what happens that an extremely poor version of another game format is tacked on top. I don't mind combat in dreamfall. I mind that it is an extremely poor combat engine. It responds slowly, you have no special moves, it is just crap.

    Put in a full copy of even streetfighter and I wouldn't mind, but not this 3rd rate reject of a fighting game roughly inserted in my adventure.

    A fine dinner, deserves a fine wine. BUT just because I am eating dinner, does not mean you got to shove any rotted grape juice down my throat and expect me to like it.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by nine-times ( 778537 )

      I agree. In fact, I generally don't want even a great fighting game put into an adventure game. If I'm playing an adventure game, it's specifically because I want a story-driven game that is paying attention to the story and figuring things out. If I'm getting into an adventure game, I don't want to get held up with something requiring button-mashing to twich reflexes.

      Every now and then, some game melds different game styles together successfully. For an old-school example, Hero's Quest (aka Quest for

    • Platformers don't suddenly add a long story segment to appeal to adventures, so why add platform gaming to adventures. Combat games don't suddenly get a rich plot to appeal to adventures, so why add combat to adventures. Action games don't suddenly add character development to their heroes, so why add action to adventures.

      I would disagree with this notion. Very few games are narrowed down to such specific genres these days, most are cross-overs and combinations that would have been unthinkable 10 years ago but now are quite natural together. Let me look at your arguments one by one:

      Platformers don't suddenly add a long story segment to appeal to adventures, so why add platform gaming to adventures.

      Many platformers are chock full of stories now: Super Mario Sunshine opens up with a relatively long cutscene and that's a Mario game! But there really aren't that many true platformers anymore either, look at Ratchet and Clank games. Platfo

      • If you think Half-Life, God of War or any mario game has story telling in it, then you don't know story telling.

        The story in those games is nothing more then the intro to the killing. You play these games for the shooting/platforming, NOT the story. TLJ you play for the story, NOT the puzzles.

        A long cutscene does not make for storytelling. It is the english language at fault again for not giving us enough words to detail the difference between a story that simply sets us in motion, and a story that moves

        • The story in those games is nothing more then the intro to the killing. You play these games for the shooting/platforming, NOT the story. TLJ you play for the story, NOT the puzzles.

          I am interested in the storyline of Half-Life, as are most of the game's fans. It's not "nothing more than the intro to the killing."

          Take half-life, who IS Gordon Freeman, why did he choose this career, why is he going inside. Why doesn't he say anything. Who IS HE, WHY is HE.

          Gordon Freeman [wikipedia.org] is a 27 year old MIT-trained theoretic

        • Obviously you've never played Half-Life if you don't think it has a story.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by grumbel ( 592662 )
            I have played both of Half Life and Half Life 2 and while they have a tiny bit of story, its really for most part a joke. You never learn much if anything about the whole backstory, never learn anything about the G-Man, HL2 doesn't even have a proper ending and there are way to many other holes. Its for most part a set of events that drives you from one horde of aliens to the next and gives you more cannon fodder, but it really does little else. Heck, for by far most part of the game you don't even follow a

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by grumbel ( 592662 )
        ### You can be upset that they failed at making a decent fighting engine for Dreamfall but you shouldn't be upset for experimenting and trying something new.

        Thing is, they didn't try something new, they did the same thing that as annoyed adventure gamers for already a decade or more. Full Throttle had similar issues, Indy 4 had them, Broken Sword 3 had plenty and many many other adventure games suffered from bad action sequences as well. Bad action sequence are nothing new, they have been done before and ba

    • Re:Why dreamfall ain't as great (Score:4, Insightful)

      by westlake ( 615356 ) on Friday October 19, 2007 @04:36PM (#21048763)
      so lucasarts went 3D, and killed the adventure.

      If 3D killed Grim Fandango I can't think of a better way to die.

    • Having played both The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, I can assure you that you only "have to" fight in the second game twice. All other times, and all other puzzles can be safely solved without any battle skills. So, in essence, the makers of Dreamfall tried to another way of solving a puzzle, a more straight forward approach than sneaking about on balconies, and some people may like it and some may not.

    • Quest for Glory... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by DrYak ( 748999 ) on Friday October 19, 2007 @05:30PM (#21049585) Homepage
      ...was a very successful melange of genres :
      Mainly adventure game, but with stats and inventory management inspired by RPGs, and real-time fighting system (although I liked less the mouse-driven fighting system in the 3rd installement).

      Lucas art's Indiana Jones and the Last Cursade also had a fighting system that didn't suck... ...mainly because you always had another - and usually rather complicated - solution to walk around or talk through.
      Which in itself embodies the principle of adventure games : Use your brain rather than your character's muscle and you twiching on the gamepad (... yes that. And a Diogenes syndrome [wikipedia.org] helps, too).

      Although the price for the best fighting-system-in-an-Adventure-game goes for Monkey Island.

      (And some may argue that "The Loom" was nothing more than a glorified and overblown Simon game. Thus also mixing genre but still managing to achieve success :-P )

      Adventure games can get melded with other genre, but that requires very thorough planning of it and trying to do a nice system that does interact nicely with the rest, and that bring some original new twist to the genre. Not some pale copy cat quickly tackled in.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by brkello ( 642429 )
      Adventure games had fighting in them...good ones too. I can't remember if it was King's Quest...but I remember practicing my knife throwing skills on a painted target so I could destroy some baddies trying to ambush me in a canyon. Sometimes there are fighting elements to the story. You have two choices...make the player watch or make it interactive. Both can work and will appeal to different people.

      Dreamfall just wasn't a very good game. I mean, it served its purpose well enough (my girlfriend and I
    • I'm very confused. First you say that you should never mix genres and that game genres should effectively adhere to the standards of the 80s, but then you say you don't mind mixing genres, and that you're really just objecting to the poor quality of the fighting in Dreamfall?

      What are you trying to say?
    • Adding 3D to adventures was a cost-cutting measure and had nothing to do with the featuritis you rightly complain about.

  • Great Games (Score:2, Insightful)

    by immcintosh ( 1089551 )

    I found both The Longest Journey and Dreamfall to be fantastic computer games--some of the best I have ever played to be honest. TLJ was more or less just your classic old school adventure. Dreamfall, on the other hand, while maintaining all of those adventure elements, had such minimalist "gameplay" that I would almost describe it as more of an interactive book than anything. This is not necessarily a bad thing like it might sound to some; the strength of the game just has to revolve entirely around exp

  • I love point-and-click adventure games, but that one drove me nuts. Solve a puzzle, watch a ten minute movie. Repeat ad infinitum.
  • The fact that /. is covering an adventure game is a clear sign that adventure games are becoming mainstream again. Hurray! We adventure lovers have been waiting patiently for ten years or so, but finally they're back!
    • You're being ironic, but the funny thing is that you're right. I just bought Undercover [amazon.de] (not yet out in the US, so linking to amazon.de) and Touch Detective 2 1/2 [amazon.com] for my DS, adding to a number of point-and-click adventures I already own for that system.

      There's an actuall point-and-click adventure revival going on on the Nintendo DS. If you haven't already, check out Trace Memory, Touch Detective 1, Hotel Dusk: Room 215, or any of the Phoenix Wright games for the DS. Have fun :-)

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tsa ( 15680 )
        I wasn't ironic at all, I meant it. Look at the various adventure websites around. New games galore! This is a good time for adventure lovers like me.
  • ... I would ask Mr. Tørnquist if anyone ever thought of the irony of including in "The Longuest Journey" series one of the shortest adventure games I have ever played.
    When I finished The Longuest Journey I looked forward to playing Dreamfall and I expected the same gaming challenge. Yet, Dreamfall dissapointed me with it's shortness.
  • I played TLJ right around the time I played Syberia (hey, what can I say. My PC at the time couldn't handle the newer games and I was raiding the $10 and under bargains on Amazon). I liked both games, they were similar in feel and gameplay.

    I can't remember if it was April Ryan or Kate Walker, but occasionally you would find a switch or door that would not open and every time you tried to open it she'd say "It's sssssstuck." It probably sounds a bit weird but I would keep triggering that over and over, it wa

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