Matt Barton's Blog, page 18
October 29, 2011
Josho Part III: Sierra's Epic Fail
Hi, guys! I'm back with part three of my interview with the amazing Josh Mandel. In this segment (which is frankly required viewing for any true fan of classic computer games), Josh talks about how thinks went awry at Sierra, eventually sending him on a quest to find a new publisher in Legend. He also chats about his favorite creation, Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, and the future of adventure games as a viable genre.
Download the mp4 here, and don't forget to drop a few dollars into the bard's hat!
October 16, 2011
Matt Chat 120: Freddy Pharkas & Space Quest 6 with Josho
I'm back this week with part two of my funtastic chat with Josh "Josho" Mandel. This time, the maestro chats about why point-and-clicks were a dumbing down from the parser days, the making of Freddy Pharkas, his voicework as King Graham, his thoughts on LucasFilm and Myst (loves the former; loathes the latter), and Space Quest 6.
If you want to buy Space Quest 4-6 for only $10, DRM free, get it here to support Matt Chat at no extra cost to you!
You can download the mp4 here as well.
October 9, 2011
Matt's Podcast #5: The Time Police (Design Project)
[image error]Hi, folks. I'm back this week with another podcast, this time discussing my game pitch for "The Time Police," a project I've been brainstorming and planning for some time. It still has a long ways to go, but I'm excited enough about the idea to want to make a podcast about it. If you have thoughts or suggestions, please let me know.
The Time Police (Working Towards a Pitch)
[image error]I've been working on this thing I'm calling a game pitch for a few weeks now and thought it was time to put it out there to see what people think of the general concept. In a nutshell, this is Deus Ex with Time Travel, Tactical Combat, and Disco Dancing. I've also made big changes to the way character creation, leveling, and dialog are handled.
It's not complete, but I think there's enough here for you to get the basic idea and see whether it sounds like something you'd be interested in playing. It's not totally original or super ambitious or anything, but for what it's worth I've tried to imagine the sort of game I'd most like to play and this is it.
Let me know what you like about it first, and then we can get down to what needs re-thinking.
Oh, I know for sure this is way, way beyond anything I'm personally capable of developing myself. The "dream scenario" is that we could get this to a real developer who can turn the dream into reality (without, let's hope, altering it beyond recognition).
The Time Police (Working Towards a Design Document)
[image error]I've been working on this thing I'm calling a design doc for a few weeks now and thought it was time to put it out there to see what people think. In a nutshell, this is Deus Ex with Time Travel, Tactical Combat, and Disco Dancing. I've also made big changes to the way character creation, leveling, and dialog are handled.
It's not complete, but I think there's enough here for you to get the basic idea and see whether it sounds like something you'd be interested in playing. It's not totally original or super ambitious or anything, but for what it's worth I've tried to imagine the sort of game I'd most like to play and this is it.
Let me know what you like about it first, and then we can get down to what needs re-thinking.
Oh, I know for sure this is way, way beyond anything I'm personally capable of developing myself. The "dream scenario" is that we could get this to a real developer who can turn the dream into reality (without, let's hope, altering it beyond recognition).
October 8, 2011
Matt Chat 119: Josh Mandel on remaking King's Quest
In this first segment of my interview with Sierra designer Josh Mandel, we chat about how Josh got his start, remaking King's Quest, Zeliard, Leisure Suit Larry, Laffer Utilities, and much more. We also talk about the difference between creating puzzles for parsers vs. point-and-clicks. Josh thinks the latter was a dumbing down with grave consequences for the genre.
Download the MP4.
October 7, 2011
The Systems I Wish I'd Had and When
[image error]Apple II: The mother of invention.They say hindsight is 20/20. (Actually, I think it's more like 10/40, but what can you do?) So, if you found yourself suddenly zapped back to the dawn of the videogame era, what choices would you make? Which systems would you rather have had? And what impact do you think these changes would make on your personality today?
Of course, most of us back then could only afford to support one, maybe two systems (assuming one was older). It would have been nice to have enough money and time to have all of them.
Now that I'm older and hopefully wiser, I've put together a list of the systems I wish I had had, and roughly when. I'd very much like to hear your thoughts and see your lists.
1977-1982: Apple II. There's really no doubt about the importance of this system during this period (and beyond), but it saw the birth of countless genres and franchises. Ideally, I would have been able to expand and keep this system after getting a new computer, since it was still seeing important exclusives well into the 80s, especially the Ultima games and Sierra On-Line adventures.
My second choice for this period would be the Atari 2600, a very capable games console with a respectable lineup and of course immense popularity.
October 3, 2011
Abandonia Times Issue 2 now available for download
[image error]Abandonia TimesGreat news! Abandonia Times has just released their second issue, and it's available now over at The Abandonia Times website. The theme of the issue is "Doom and Horror," and there's a slew of articles on Doom, a history of horror games piece, Noctropolis, and Super Fighter vs. Sango Fighter (heh, remember that one?).
Oh, and also a huge interview with yours truly. :)
There's a lot of meat here, so get over there right now and check it out. From the editor: allow me to boast about the variety of the articles: we have freeware and console reviews, we have history articles, two interviews with two interesting people that marked the gaming industry in their own unique way, and a wide selection of non-DOOM PC game reviews which are at least tangentially related to horror.
October 2, 2011
Matt Chat 118: The Dagger Has Fallen and It Can't Get Up!
This week, I finally get around to retrospecting Bethesda's 1996 masterpiece Daggerfall, the game that for many fans is still the best ever Elder Scrolls game. While not without its share of bugs and interface issues, it's still a terrific achievement and demonstrates the possibilities of procedurally-generated content in CRPGs. Just don't make the mistake I did of not checking ALL the options for keyboard and mouse. :)
Still, the resulting misadventures are pretty darn funny.
September 27, 2011
Matt's Podcast 4: Can a videogame get you high?
[image error]Turn on--the gameThis week, I address a question that I'm sure we've all pondered at some point--are videogames really addictive, and, if so, is that necessarily a bad thing? I'm particularly interested here in what it would take to design a videogame that would "turn you on," offering a comparable experience to taking LSD or even peyote but without the potential side effects. How close are we to developing true digital drugs? Will you be the Albert Hofmann of videogames?
Download the podcast.
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