Hi Dark, Yes, definitely. I think Shades of Doom could use for a few more areas to explore, bonus levels so to speak, as well as a couple of bonus enemies now and then. Still one thing I think Shades of Doom does well is while it has some sort of complex mazes it also offers a navigation system above and beyond the average audio game.
For example, I believe the first attempt at an audio FPS was Monkey Business. While playable I find its navigation system a far cruder and less accessible navigation system than that of Shades of Doom. Teraformers is another FPS that was decent, but its navigation system doesn't live up to Shades of Doom quality either. Its for this reason that I have attempted to borrow ideas from GMA when and where possible. As you may or may not know a couple of years ago I actually built a prototype of MOTA using a full 3d FPS environment. Turns out the Shades of Doom navigation system works just as well in a 3d FPS environment as a 2d one accept I needed to add some additional directional comments to the navigational scan such as ledge above and to the left in 15 feet, or ledge below and to the right in 10 feet. It required a little more scanning but once you got familiar with the layout it wasn't too bad. The one thing it did do for me is it was far better than Shades of Doom because the levels were larger, had more complexity to them, more rooms to explore, and that is why it saddens me that people want a side-scroller. Side-scrollers are OK, but you'll never get the same degree of exploration out of one of those as a full 3d FPS can provide just because you are limited to a 2d environment. Still I agree that we are really ready for more complex levels. Even in terms of 2d side-scrollers we haven't even began to touch the full potential of such games. Perilous Hearts is probably the first audio game that allows you to climb trees, swing from vines, and fight enemies on the ground and in the air. That is a good thing, but its easy to forget that games like Legend of Kage, which was released in the mid 1980's for the NES, had this ability 25 years ago. Seems to me Pitfall II also involved a jungle level where Harry had to climb vines, swing from tree to tree, and so forth and that was released at least 20 years ago as well. Point being that games like Perilous Hearts is just now bringing audio games up to the level of mainstream games from a couple of decades ago. Its now time to begin incorporating those ideas and showing V.I. gamers what really can be done in audio. On 3/25/13, dark <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Tom. > > As you know I'm an exploration fiend, so the maze aspect of shades of doom > is very much something else I like about the game, aprticularly given that > David did a great job with ambient sound sources in the maze which give it > an interesting background to explore too even though the game didn't involve > > much music. combine this with the item randomization and you've got a great > > game with lots of replay. > > The two things I'd have liked to see in shades most are 1, more enemies, > since the 7 or so types the game has do seem a little samy after a while > especially mid game, and 2, more areas which it was not! necessary to > complete to finish the game, but which added to the over all levels. > > To explain, as it stand you need to pretty much go everywhere on each level > > to make sure you get all the data wafers and those messages. it'd be great > to see a game that has false trails as well as genuine routes through the > levels, so that people can choose to explore fully or to just head for the > exit. This would be particularly of advantage in a game with stat boosts or > > other extras to collect, since then there is always the possibility that > exploring leads to more items. > > this is something many of my favourite exploration games do, indeed in many > > of the more recent and large size fan created Turrican levels, there are so > > many false trails that finding the correct route is near impossible, > aprticularly considdering Turrican levels can have their exit anywhere, and > > some of the fan created ones are truly gigantic! > > While I know some people find exploration in audio based games a trial, I'd > > say that thanks to shades and swamp, not to mention previous mota betas ad > games like Airic, we're familiar enough now over using things like > coordinates, difference in environment (be these sound sources, room names > or whatever), to be albe to have maps at least as complex as those in a game > > like Original prince of persia. > > Beware the Grue! > > Dark. > --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
