[arttorney]

New Worlds #50- Adventure Redesign

OK. The big epic 50th is going to fall by the wayside in favor of getting some kind of a round going. This round is a redesign of the classic 1980 era video game known as Adventure. For those of you who have never played, see the following link. Bring this one up to modern technical standards. Help each other out with critiques and comments. As always, no tracing/no paintovers. I know I am not giving extremely much detail. Ask questions if you need to.

http://www.simmphonic.com/programming/adventure.htm

Deadline: October 31, 2012.

subsequent addition of detail:
I never played the game myself, but research ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_%28Atari_2600%29 ) indicates that the game is a graphical adaptation of an earlier text based game a fellow by the name of Crowther had written in Fortran in the 1970s. ( See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure ) Mr. Crowther was an avid spelunker and a lot of where you could go in his game was modeled after Mammoth Cave, with which he was very familiar. It had an axe throwing dwarf (although luckily I didn't encounter one of those when I was in Mammoth Cave).

Subsequent people modifying the game for various platforms such as the TRS-80 etc. began adding graphics and fantasy elements such as trolls, elves, etc.

In summary, this appears to be the grandaddy of the Adventure graphic type games (as opposed to role playing games) and that it concerned an underground realm populated by fantasy creatures. Obviously, today we have graphics technology available to do the idea justice. At the time, the graphics were vector graphics similar to those of the other early game- Pong.

[Starexai]

I just got a headache from the game! lol

[arttorney]

I think we were going to have it be a multi-week thing involving some broader aspects of the field such as industrial design. If you want to put in some time designing weapons or armor for the hero, that would be within the original spirit of what was being contemplated. We were looking at designing the world in a broader sense.

Try not to have this be overly much about characters or creatures, because we have other challenges for that. Make a nice level for these folks to interact in. That would be best. If I see a lot of interest from people wanting to design both weapons/armor and a world level then I could do an extension for that.

[AlexTLe]

So i played it and i have no idea what its about. Any help?

[arttorney]

I never played the game myself, but research ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_%28Atari_2600%29 ) indicates that the game is a graphical adaptation of an earlier text based game a fellow by the name of Crowther had written in Fortran in the 1970s. ( See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure ) Mr. Crowther was an avid spelunker and a lot of where you could go in his game was modeled after Mammoth Cave, with which he was very familiar. It had an axe throwing dwarf (although luckily I didn't encounter one of those when I was in Mammoth Cave).

Subsequent people modifying the game for various platforms such as the TRS-80 etc. began adding graphics and fantasy elements such as trolls, elves, etc.

In summary, this appears to be the grandaddy of the Adventure graphic type games (as opposed to role playing games) and that it concerned an underground realm populated by fantasy creatures. Obviously, today we have graphics technology available to do the idea justice. At the time, the graphics were vector graphics similar to those of the other early game- Pong.

[JoseVega]

I think the idea here is to take a look at the game and come up with a modern version of it in your own idea. Just go crazy with it.... 1person shooter, action adventure, whatever comes up in your mind and go with that and create.... I would love to see 1-3 designs and how you came up with them...
@arttorney - thanks for posting this man! its been hella crazy for me..... but ill be around...

[AlexTLe]

hmm... so create a fantasy level for the game? Sorry if im asking too many questions.

[arttorney]

A level, a room, a cavern, a chamber, something to that effect.

[GriffGraph]

I'm going to think out loud, and hopefully help some people get an idea or a base from which to build ideas from:

The essence of adventure, where it all began.

Unknown dangers around every dark corner, endless crevasses waiting to swallow you up if you take a wrong step.

Why do you keep going? There must be a reason, some unspeakable secret to be learned or a priceless treasure to be gained.

Nothing that valuable is without it's malicious guardians though, whether it be an axe throwing dwarf, gigantic cave crawlers or sadistic spike traps. One thing is certain though, It's worth the trouble.

Puzzle after puzzle, where a wrong answer means death. Gauntlets littered with the bones of past adventurers. Eyes in the dark flicker, waiting for you to slip up.

grapling hooks, rickety ladders, broken bridges and crumbling walls are just some of the obstacles you might encounter

The bigger the better, giant statues and vaulted ceilings make even the hardened adventure gasp in awe...

[arttorney]

caves, caverns, catacombs, dungeons, doors, gates, mold, subterranean, stalactites, stalagmites, treasure room, bottomless pit, mine carts, hanging chains, torches, underground river, bones, bridges, columns, bats, eyes in the dark.

One week and one day remain, as the deadline is currently set.

[Patrik_P]

I got couple sketches from the castle thats right at the beginning, i'll post them tomorrow.

[Patrik_P]

Here's my WIP.

[AlexTLe]

@Patrik_P your style is a lot like feng zhus. Did you learn from him?

[JANJAGER]

Nice WIPs Patrik_P

I have not played the game. But it sounds fun.
Been playing with some environments.
I dont know why the picture turns up as a thumbnail.

[Patrik_P]

@AlexTLe: Absolutely, Feng Zhu is by far my favourite artist and I have probably learned about 90% of what I know from him, rest comes from various other sources.

@JANJAGER: Those sketches look really good so far.