Message-ID: <3A68A8D9.74D5CDD6@csi.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 15:51:39 -0500
From: John Colagioia <JColagioia@csi.com>
Organization: No Conspiracy Here...
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Subject: Re: Does The Type of Compiler used affect the popularity of the game
 written for it?
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Blue wrote:

> IF "with pictures" is the way forward. Especialy now with so many kickass
> Compilers available for the task. Originaly of course PC's could hardly
> handle Zork that's how TA's were spawned blah blah blah, but now, there
> simply isn't an excuse to not use pictures in an IF game,
> the beauty of the English language (read MY English language, you stinking
> colonials ;) as well as the graphical beauty (if you can draw/shoot to save
> yourself).
> Then again, I guess it's just a matter of taste nowadays.

Now, given the fact that I've never released a game (though I've puttered
around with Inform for a few years, now), I can't really categorically say, but
it seems to me that too many things can go horribly wrong with graphics.

I mean, the technology may be there, but really, technical expertise does not
require taste.  Your idea of the perfect illustration may not be mine, and vice
versa.  And if the visual elements aren't consistent, your players basically
hate you for life because you "messed up their experience"...

And I would imagine that there's a partial portability issue with graphics,
though not much of one, these days, when you get right down to it.

I suppose an argument can also be made that you lose the potential "niche
audience" of the blind and otherwise hard of sight, as well.  However, I
suppose one cuts out a significant "potential niche audience" by writing in
English, too, so...

Of course, I have my own bias, too, here:  I dislike graphics because the files
tend to be (though they are not necessarily) bulky, and the art is frequently
harder to create and match up to the text, than writing the text, itself.  So,
usually, I'd much rather have my game be twice as big or complicated, than have
it give me astounding graphics, anyway.

But, then, I'm not really a visually-oriented person.  So I might dislike
graphical games even if the above comments were completely false...


