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Published by Bitmap Books Designed by Sam Dyer Edited by Steve Jarratt Foreword by Gary Whitta Writing by Mike Bevan, Julian Hill and Damien McFerran Interviews by Mike Bevan, Damien McFerran, Caspar Newbolt and Julian Rignall Custom pixel art by Craig Stevenson Game captures by Gonçalo Lopes and Patrik Spacek CONTENTS INTRODUCTION By feature By interview Introduction Foreword by Gary Whitta 4 Al Lowe 82 The history of point-and-click adventure games 5 Aric Wilmunder 167 It may be hard to imagine now, but there was a brief time, somewhere in the Glossary 10 Billy Allison and Rolf Mohr 90 midst of the last few decades of the last century, when the point-and-click Epilogue 238 Brian Moriarty 161 adventure pretty much conquered the world. Building on the foundations Game index 239 Charles Cecil 110 of the graphic and text adventures that came before them, they offered an Thanks 240 Collette Michaud 128 intuitive control system, free of typing and random word guessing, directly Dave Gibbons 141 connecting players to their characters and environments in a way that had By year David Bishop and Richard Hare 175 1984 12 David Fox 36 never been seen before. And this, of course, meant everyone could finally 1985 14 Douglas Crockford 56 enjoy them – even those of us that were terrible at spelling. 1986 16 Éric Chahi 40 1987 18 Gary Winnick 33 Point-and-click adventures took us to wondrous locations around the globe, through fiction and reality, 1988 29 Gregg Barnett 148 back (and forward) through time, and even into the depths of outer space. We could be whisked into 1989 39 Hal Barwood 104 the heart of the Amazon jungle (albeit by crashing a transport plane into a lagoon), brought to meet 1990 51 Jacob Janerka 234 the Founding Fathers (and help Benjamin Franklin go kite-flying), in front of the World’s Largest Ball 1991 68 Jakub Dvorský 203 of Twine, and even transported to the surface of Mars in a heavily modified minivan. 1992 89 James Dollar 100 1993 114 Jane Jensen 137 These games introduced us to some of the most memorable characters ever to grace a computer 1994 138 Jay Tholen 221 screen, including a sardonic teenage wizard called Simon, a chic Parisienne called Nico, and a droll 1995 147 Jeff Stephenson 30 canine called Sam, along with Max, a hyperactive talking bunny rabbit. And who could forget the 1996 168 John Passfield and Steve Stamatiadis 153 bumbling would-be pirate Guybrush Threepwood, his long-suffering love interest, Elaine, and his 1997 176 Jim Walls 26 root beer averse nemesis, the ghost pirate LeChuck? 1998 186 Josh Mandel 115 1999 188 Louis Castle 95 Point-and-click adventures were often educational too, whether it be learning about the Minoan 2000 191 Mark Ferrari 60 civilisation of Knossos in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, how to deal with an angry goat in 2001 192 Natalia Figueroa 225 Broken Sword, that Richard Boysen invented the boysenberry in Leisure Suit Larry, or the fact you 2003 193 Neil Dodwell 145 should never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game in The Secret of Monkey Island. 2005 195 Noah Falstein 49 2006 196 Oliver Franzke 189 And with so many of these titles, the artists 2007 197 Oliver Lindau 223 behind the on-screen visuals really knocked it 2008 198 Patrik Spacek 227 out of the park. Here we have assembled some 2009 200 Paul Conway 237 of the most eye-catching (and easiest to get to 2010 207 Paul Cuisset 71 without a lot of scary puzzles) artwork from a 2011 209 Pierre Gilhodes 74 diverse range of classic adventures for your 2012 210 Robert Lindsley 78 delectation, along with a few words from the 2013 215 Robyn Miller 122 many brilliant people that helped to create 2014 216 Ron Gilbert 21 the games. 2015 220 Shawn Sharp 69 2016 228 Simon Woodroffe 131 Enjoy the book, and remember... 2017 232 Stefan Srb 231 the monkeys are still listening. Tim Schafer 217 William Tiller 182 3 3 FOREWORD FOREWORD Foreword by Gary Whitta I’m fairly certain that, without adventure the Alien Mindbenders offered a similar Credit a penchant for nostalgia, perhaps, as games, I wouldn’t be who I am today. I know combination of wild fantasy and irreverent many of today’s game developers who grew there’s a very good chance I wouldn’t have humour that I found not just irresistible up playing those early classics now channel my career as a writer, as I can so vividly but almost impossible to find in any that affection into their own new creations. trace back my affection for the written word other medium. And though the comedic Certainly we must credit the enduring not just to the comics and sci-fi novels I Lucasfilm adventure titles are the ones passion of many of those early games’ read as a boy, but to the games I played. best remembered, I’d be remiss not to also designers who still keep the flame today; Growing up in England in the 1980s, my express my love for those more serious but the LucasArts alumni who helped lead a formative gaming experiences with the equally captivating – the dark Spielbergian recent renaissance in interactive storytelling Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 sci-fi of The Dig and the dreamlike, melodic at Telltale Games, and in particular Tim were largely defined by the early text and and wondrous Loom. Schafer and Ron Gilbert, the geniuses graphic adventures of the time. The Hobbit, behind many of Lucas’ pioneering hits, Mountains of Ket (say ‘POLO’ to open the “I felt privileged to write this who continue to advance the medium while door in mint condition!), and of course foreword, but honestly the charmingly honouring its past with games those groundbreaking Infocom titles like like Broken Age and Thimbleweed Park. And real treat has been simply Zork, A Mind Forever Voyaging and The the genre at large continues to grow in a way Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Every to page through the book that has seen it evolve far beyond its humble month I’d search the pages of Sinclair User text-based roots while remaining wholly you’re holding and feel magazine for the sage counsel of Gordo faithful to its original intent – to spellbind Greatbelly, who dispensed in-character all the memories of these gamers with a captivating story that unfolds game tips and advice from his regular seat games smother me like at a deliberate pace, with puzzles and at the Dancing Ogre tavern, haven for weary narrative revelations that delight in equal a warm blanket.” text adventurers looking for solutions to measure. Modern classics like Oxenfree, obstinate puzzles (and cheap ale). So taken What Remains of Edith Finch, Gone Home, was I by the worlds these games beckoned By the 1990s I was working in games Night in the Woods, Kentucky Route Zero, me into with just the power of words, that journalism, and doing what I could to Firewatch, Papers Please, Her Story, Life is I wrote my first ever short stories as fan- still champion what by that time had Strange, The Stanley Parable and countless fiction tributes to two of my favourites: become to feel like a waning medium. others all owe at least a partial debt to the Infocom’s sci-fi thriller Suspended and the Lucasfilm Games (by now LucasArts) and games so beautifully curated in this book. Interplay detective mystery Borrowed Time. Ken and Roberta Williams’ incredibly God, it’s all coming back to me like it was influential Sierra On-Line continued to I felt privileged to write this foreword, but yesterday. Yeah, now I’m entirely sure that’s keep adventuring alive but increasingly honestly the real treat has been simply exactly when, why, and how my writing as the genre’s only remaining standard- to page through the book you’re holding career began. bearers. In the UK, where adventure games and feel all the memories of these games have always enjoyed a particularly faithful smother me like a warm blanket. I’ve always Later it would be the flashier 16-bit graphic following, the scene remained fertile ground felt like the adventure genre was worthy adventures like Magnetic Scrolls’ The Pawn largely thanks to the work of Charles Cecil of more appreciation, and you’ll find no and Guild of Thieves that seduced me with with his British-made Broken Sword series greater appreciation than this one. Here the their evocative text, beautifully illustrated by and the breathtaking dystopian vision that games speak for themselves through their 32-colour graphics, which were stunning at was Beneath a Steel Sky. But for incurable gorgeous imagery, and so too do many of the the time. It was that combination of equally nostalgists like myself it felt more and innovators who created them in illuminating sumptuous prose and illustration that more as though the sun was setting on the new interviews. I hope you’ll derive as much pulled me in, each game a lavish picture genre as burgeoning computer horsepower pleasure from it all as I did. And now… book, with me as the main character. And pushed developers toward faster, more then the world really opened up with the action-based genres. Even Sierra and > TURN PAGE advent of the computer mouse (some of LucasArts, adventurers to the core, were us are old enough to remember when that diversifying into flight simulation, sports, Gary Whitta is the former Editor-in-Chief was still a new and magical thing), which in and strategy games. Adventuring, it seemed, of PC Gamer magazine. He currently works turn led to the advent of the point-and-click was becoming a dying art. as a screenwriter for film and television adventure. Several developers blazed similar and as a video game narrative consultant. and simultaneous trails in this field but So, where are we today? The good news for me it was always the Lucasfilm games; is that all that once was old is new again. having grown up a Hitchhiker’s addict, Adventure gaming, fallow for so many of titles like Maniac Mansion, The Secret of the post-millennial years, is not only back Monkey Island and Zak McKracken and but arguably more vibrant than ever before. 4 4 THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES The history of point-and-click adventure games From its humble 2D origins to recent hyper-realistic outings, the graphic adventure has been entertaining players for decades, with companies like LucasArts, Sierra, Revolution, Westwood Studios and Adventure Soft all contributing seminal classics to the point-and-click library. Join us as we take a look back at the birth, evolution and resurrection of a truly classic genre. Despite the relentless march of technology it’s quite rare for a video game genre to boom to the point that it becomes dominant for several years and then bust Games such as The Pawn and Mystery House started to introduce graphics to accompany the text commands. so dramatically that it falls almost entirely out of favour. Shooters have evolved over time from crude, single-screen 2D affairs to intense and immersive first-person blasters, while the humble platformer has gone from the likes of Donkey Kong to Super Mario Odyssey, a game which wilfully subverts convention in the most wonderful ways imaginable. Trends come and go but no genre has experienced quite the same meteoric rise and fall as the point-and-click adventure; this game style rode a wave of technological advancement in the ’80s by taking advantage of colour displays, high-resolution graphics and mouse-driven interfaces before capitalising on CD-ROM’s ability to supply almost endless storage for animated cutscenes, full voice acting and Enchanted Scepters and Déjà Vu: A Nightmare Comes True!! were the first Macintosh titles to introduce full mouse control for commands. atmospheric soundtracks. However, after almost a decade of being one of gaming’s Early adventure games, such as Zork from 1980, were purely text-based. Despite its myriad problems – the parser was release of another piece of rival hardware, control system and high-res screen to most popular draws, the point-and-click imperfect and navigating the protagonist the Apple Macintosh, which provided the craft unique adventure titles; Silicon Beach adventure retreated from the limelight, and that could convince anybody that they were its incredibly basic vector-based around the ‘fake’ 3D space was often a final piece of the point-and-click puzzle. Software led the way with 1984’s Enchanted only recently has it emerged to reclaim inhabiting another world. The solution monochrome visuals it was a striking frustrating affair – King’s Quest sold well While Apple’s new machine shipped with Scepters, widely credited as being the first some of its past glories in a climate which, was to use text to transport the player to commercial success for the fledgling and is credited by many with establishing a a monochrome display, it boasted a much ‘true’ point-and-click adventure, but it was seemingly above all else, celebrates nostalgia. other realms and realities, and a series of studio, earning the couple a cool $167,000 template that would be copied by countless higher screen resolution than its rivals. ICOM Simulations – founded by Tod Zipnick, highly successful titles appeared, including for their efforts. Off the back of this triumph titles over the next few years. However, it was the machine’s interface who tragically passed away with Hodgkin’s Zork, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy the pair would be commissioned by IBM which was truly groundbreaking – it had disease in 1991, just as his company was “Trends come and and Colossal Cave Adventure. Using text to create a game to show off the visual Despite King’s Quest’s success and a mouse as standard. Apple co-founder beginning to become financially successful go but no genre has not only allowed developers to overcome capabilities of its new PCjr system. 1984’s Sierra’s other forays into the world of visual Steve Jobs is often credited with inventing – and its ‘MacVenture’ series which really experienced quite the the shortcomings of the hardware, it also King’s Quest showcased colour visuals, a adventures, it would take a technological the mouse but he actually borrowed the pushed the envelope. 1985’s Déjà Vu: A enabled them to leverage the imagination pseudo-3D environment and even an leap of another kind to really complete the idea from Xerox, taking the company’s $300 Nightmare Comes True!! may have adopted same meteoric rise of the player to conjure up dramatic scenes on-screen representation of the player’s picture. Typing in text was cumbersome three-button design and streamlining it into a first-person viewpoint but in all other and fall as the point- and tense encounters. However, it was character, effectively laying down many and broke the flow of the game, drawing the a single-button device which cost just $15 respects it showcased the hallmarks of the obvious that this genre would benefit greatly of the point-and-click genre’s foundations, player’s attention away from those eye- to manufacture. Game designers wasted no point-and-click genre: an inventory, action and-click adventure.” from on-screen visuals to accompany the despite lacking the one thing most players catching, 16-colour visuals. It was the 1984 time in leveraging the Mac’s revolutionary verbs – such as ‘Examine’, ‘Open’ and ‘Speak’ textual descriptions, and that came to pass would come to directly associate with this – and the ability to drag-and-drop items. The point-and-click adventure’s origins in the early ’80s, when titles like The Pawn, type of game: a mouse-driven interface. “In the early days of the industry the average personal Ironically, Déjà Vu found the most success lie in a related genre, the text adventure. Mystery House and The Hobbit skilfully Instead, King’s Quest was built using on a system that was woefully inadequate computer – intended for displaying screen upon screen In the early days of the industry the fused rudimentary pictures with words to Sierra’s ‘Adventure Game Interpreter’ – an for this unique interface; it was ported to average personal computer – intended for produce a far more immersive experience. engine which continued to use a text parser of dull text and numbers, lest we forget – simply wasn’t the Nintendo Entertainment System in displaying screen upon screen of dull text Mystery House was the work of husband- to interpret the player’s intentions, with capable of producing the kind of images that could convince 1990 with low-resolution colour visuals and numbers, lest we forget – simply wasn’t and-wife team Roberta and Ken Williams, movement being controlled by directional and a simplified control system to account anybody that they were inhabiting another world.” capable of producing the kind of images founders of On-Line Systems. In spite of keys on the keyboard. for the console’s lack of a mouse. 5 5 THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES Following the success of King’s Quest, Sierra created new franchises such as Leisure Suit Larry and Police Quest. inspired Lucasfilm’s next foray in the genre a core tenet of Lucasfilm’s point-and-click year it perhaps would have gained more and was one of the most influential point- ethos. Gilbert reasoned that punishing the recognition and lasting fame. Unfortunately, and-click titles ever made. player for simply trying things out was Loom was joined in 1990 by fellow Lucasfilm needlessly brutal and sadistic, and he made release The Secret of Monkey Island, not 1987’s Maniac Mansion was conceived by attempts to ensure that his games were free only one of the most famous point-and-click Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, the latter from situations where the player would die games ever made but also arguably one having worked as an artist on Labyrinth. or end up being stuck in a dead end because of the most beloved titles in the history The two bonded over their affection for they hadn’t collected the correct item. The of interactive entertainment; it’s fair to say B movies and oddball humour, and decided onus would be on encouraging players to that it rather overshadowed its stablemate. to create a game which reflected these experiment without fear of reprisal, and shared passions. Maniac Mansion’s non- this opened the door for the wild and often Ron Gilbert, aided by Tim Schafer and Dave linear progression, multiple characters and obtuse logic puzzles that became part of Grossman, set the adventure on a fictional King’s Quest featured full-colour ‘3D’ environments. It used the cursor keys for movement but still relied on a text parser for commands. detailed visuals made it instantly memorable, the company’s DNA. After finding success Caribbean island and was heavily inspired but perhaps its most enduring legacy is the on the Commodore 64, Maniac Mansion by Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean theme The Uninvited (1986), Shadowgate (1987) moments of mirth – despite the unnervingly Sierra would eventually retire its ageing introduction of SCUMM – also known as was ported to a wide range of other systems, park ride. What made Monkey Island and the almost inevitable Déjà Vu II: Lost in realistic depiction of police procedure thanks AGI engine and replace it with the ‘Sierra ‘Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion’ – including the Nintendo Entertainment truly unique was its humour; the game Las Vegas (1988) followed, and ICOM then to the creative involvement of Jim Walls, Creative Interpreter’, or SCI for short. 1988’s a fully mouse-driven interface which gave System – marking one of Lucasfilm’s first lampooned the common preconception branched out into the world of CD-ROM a retired highway patrol officer – but it was King’s Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella used the player a set of input commands as well big steps into the world of console gaming. of pirates and took every opportunity to with its groundbreaking Sherlock Holmes: 1987’s Leisure Suit Larry which perhaps SCI to deliver massively improved visuals, as the ability to interact with and combine The NES port created a whole new legion of poke fun not only at the setting and its Consulting Detective series. By this point the typified Sierra’s approach at the time. The and the game was also one of the first PC objects in their inventory. SCUMM would be fans, although Nintendo’s draconian policies characters, but also the player. However, company had been comfortably surpassed brainchild of Al Lowe, Larry was a balding, titles to support sound card hardware. employed in several subsequent Lucasfilm regarding software content forced significant one thing Gilbert was not prepared to do was by On-Line Systems, now known as Sierra poorly-dressed no-hoper whose singular adventure games and inspired countless changes to be made to secure a release. punish people for making the wrong move; On-Line, which continued to develop its goal in life was to bed as many women as However, by this point the company had copycat titles which adopted almost entirely Monkey Island continued the good work ‘Quest’ series of adventures. possible, ignoring the odds stacked against some serious competition in the realm the same approach. While its interface 1988’s Zak McKracken and the Alien seen in Maniac Mansion and encouraged him. The game’s visuals were blocky and of point-and-click adventures from a became practically ubiquitous, Maniac Mindbenders was the second game to utilise experimentation. The game’s combat section King’s Quest’s initial success on the PCjr crude, but its risqué subject matter ensured company founded by the man behind Star Mansion’s design was equally important; the SCUMM game engine, and boasted a was based around insults rather than trading had ensured that sequels would follow, fame and fortune, as well as multiple Wars, George Lucas. Lucasfilm Games was unlike many of Sierra’s adventure games very similar style of graphics and humour, actual blows, and this would become one of but Roberta and Ken Williams were keen sequels across computers, consoles and – established in 1982 and initially focused – in which the player could die simply by while the following year’s Indiana Jones and the title’s most famous elements; acclaimed to branch out from the fairy-tale setting more recently – smartphones. Ironically, the on intense action titles – such as Ballblazer, picking up the wrong object – Maniac the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure sci-fi author Orson Scott Card – the brains and explore new narratives. The first was franchise’s reputation for lewd content has Rescue on Fractalus! and Koronis Rift – and Mansion established what would become leveraged the fame of the popular Hollywood behind the seminal novel Ender’s Game – 1986’s Space Quest: Chapter I – The Sarien perhaps been exaggerated over time and it wasn’t until 1986 that the studio ventured action series to create a rip-roaring quest contributed some of the more cutting insults Encounter, a sci-fi adventure which didn’t the earlier entries are more memorable into the genre it would come to shape and which, for once, dialled back the zany during a visit to Skywalker Ranch. Dialogue take itself at all seriously and would set the for their witty dialogue and amusing dominate. Labyrinth: The Computer Game humour. 1990’s Loom arguably went a step trees for conversations were also introduced, tone for many of Sierra’s future titles. 1987’s storylines than the amount of crudely- was based on the movie starring the late further, presenting the player with a fantasy and the SCUMM engine was refined over its Police Quest was less humorous but still had animated flesh on display. rock star David Bowie, and used word wheels storyline so earnest it could have leapt from previous iterations. Although the original – one for verbs and one for nouns – to avoid the pages of J.R.R. Tolkien himself. Loom is PC EGA version was limited to just 16 on- “1984’s King’s Quest showcased colour visuals, a pseudo- the usual confusion generated by text also notable for forgoing the typical SCUMM screen colours, the later VGA edition gave parsers. Hitchhiker’s Guide author Douglas interface and instead using magical four- the designers 256 hues to work with, which 3D environment and even an on-screen representation Adams also contributed to the design of the note tunes to solve puzzles and interact with resulted in some particularly striking hand- of the player’s character, effectively laying down many game, which, despite its initial critical and the environment. Loom took the point-and- drawn close-ups for certain characters. commercial success, has been forgotten over click genre in an interesting new direction, Despite its enduring fame and incredible of the point-and-click genre’s foundations.” the years – an unjust fate, since Labyrinth Labyrinth’s verb and noun word wheels. and had it been released in any other influence, The Secret of Monkey Island 6 6 THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES “Despite its enduring fame came thick and fast; the SCUMM engine was first-person perspective, this imagery and incredible influence, comprehensively overhauled, removing the drove gaming realism to a whole new level. verb tiles at the bottom of the screen and Myst in particular was notable for taking The Secret of Monkey bonding them to the mouse cursor, where the core mechanics of the point-and-click Island was not a massive they could be cycled through using the adventure – mind-bending logic puzzles commercial success at right-hand mouse button. The inventory and a gripping storyline – and placing was also relocated to its own screen. The them in an immersive first-person world the time of release.” end result was more real estate for the fashioned using cutting-edge, pre-rendered gorgeous artwork, and it also made locations graphics. Traditional hand-drawn 2D art, as rabbit duo were the stars of a comic created feel bigger and more expansive. Finally, attractive as it undoubtedly was, seemed by artist and LucasArts employee Steve the conversation trees were altered so that old-fashioned when placed alongside Purcell, who’d previously contributed to players could select an icon representing these hyper-realistic worlds. Copycat titles Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, their response – a change that prevented inevitably followed as millions of PC owners both Monkey Island games and Fate of upcoming punchlines being ruined because invested in CD-ROM drives to play this new Atlantis. LucasArts saw Purcell’s comic book you could read them before the characters generation of adventure. Despite the fact creation as a viable franchise and offered delivered them. that such games were incredibly linear and him the chance to turn the property into a often little more than glorified puzzle-solving point-and-click adventure. Like Day of the By this juncture the humble point-and-click exercises, they sold by the truckload and, Tentacle, Sam & Max used a bold cartoon adventure had begun to dominate the sales perhaps, convinced companies like Sierra style which made the whole thing feel like charts, at least on PC. However, the advent and LucasArts to rethink their approach an interactive animated movie – a feeling of CD-ROM technology, while enabling to art design. Systems like SCUMM – with that was reinforced by the fact that it was companies to enrich adventure games its verb tiles and inventory drawer taking one of the first games to utilise CD-ROM with voice acting and additional animation, up almost half of the screen – were the old technology for full voice acting. LucasArts introduced the first genuine threat to the way of thinking, and studios realised they had created enhanced CD versions of past genre’s commercial fortunes. Titles like had to alter the way their games looked; as titles, like Loom and Monkey Island, but had The 7th Guest and Myst used CGI visuals much of the screen as possible should be used the space for improved music instead and full motion video to create realistic- used for eye-catching artwork, which meant of vocal tracks. Elsewhere, the innovations looking environments; viewed from a streamlining the interface dramatically. Maniac Mansion introduced the revolutionary SCUMM engine, whose clickable verbs performed actions such as ‘Open’ and ‘Read’. wasn’t a massive commercial success at in the first game was turned up a notch too, the scene at the start of the adventure – the time of its release. Development of the and Monkey Island 2 became one of the a feature which would become a sequel began before the original was even year’s stand-out PC gaming hits – a fine way prerequisite as CD-ROM technology gave published, and had the studio waited to see for the newly-rechristened LucasArts to kick game developers so much storage that the numbers we may never have gotten a off a new period in the company’s history. they struggled to fill it with anything more sequel. Thankfully, that particular timeline meaningful than music and FMV sequences. never occurred and 1991 saw the release of 1992’s Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge. The toned down the humour while presenting “1987’s Maniac Mansion evolution that had taken place between players with three possible pathways through was conceived by Ron the two games was obvious: the 256-colour the adventure, and sold over a million copies Gilbert and Gary Winnick, VGA graphics, while still limited to just across all of the formats it was published 320x200 pixels, possessed astonishing on. Visually similar to Monkey Island 2, the the latter having worked detail and created a truly evocative game tried to create realistic representations as an artist on Labyrinth. atmosphere. Whereas the original game – of human characters – something which even in its enhanced VGA iteration – had could not be said of 1993’s Day of the The two bonded over their a rather basic visual style which used Tentacle, a sequel to Maniac Mansion which affection for B movies few colours, Monkey Island 2’s gorgeous used a sumptuous cartoon-like art style that and oddball humour, and hand-painted artwork made its locations would become a signature look for LucasArts spring to life, and the characters themselves games over the next few years. Inspired by decided to create a game boasted superior animation and detail. The Looney Toons animated shorts (apparently which reflected these widespread adoption of sound cards on PCs the legendary Chuck Jones even visited meant that audio could be refined to the the team during development to provide shared passions.” point where music would react to on-screen feedback and ideas), the game’s bold visuals events; the iMUSE system – created by allowed for more expressive characters To release a game as good as Day of the Michael Land and Peter McConnell – allowed which in turn enhanced the already side- Tentacle in a single year was remarkable tracks to blend seamlessly into one another splitting level of humour. The in-game enough, but what’s truly stunning is that rather than ending and beginning abruptly. animations alone took a year to create, LucasArts also published Sam & Max Hit The amusing and witty writing so prevalent and a lengthy introduction sequence set the Road in 1993 as well. This dog and LucasArts followed up Maniac Mansion with a string of hits, including titles such as The Secret of Monkey Island and Loom. 7 7 THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES A misguided attempt to update the Simon incorporate the designs of highly respected By the middle of the ’90s, the unthinkable the Sorcerer franchise with 3D visuals in comic book artist Dave Gibbons, famous for was happening: point-and-click adventures 2002 found a less receptive audience, but illustrating the cult graphic novel Watchmen. were beginning to lose favour with gamers. the continued popularity of point-and-click The end result was 1994’s Beneath a Steel The real-time 3D revolution had begun in games in mainland Europe enabled German Sky, a game which is still regarded as a earnest, and a new generation of graphics developer Silver Style Entertainment to masterpiece of interactive storytelling to cards were about to hit the PC market, produce the fourth and fifth Simon games this day. Gibbons created the initial scenes making visually-opulent, three-dimensional in 2007 and 2009. Simon the Sorcerer 6: using pencil, and these were later coloured titles the norm. LucasArts had dabbled in Between Worlds was mooted in 2014 – with in and scanned into a computer where they this arena with the likes of Star Wars: Dark Barrie returning on vocal duties – but in could be transformed into the gorgeous Forces, X-Wing and Outlaws, but it continued 2016 the project appeared to have stalled. 256-colour, 320x200-pixel graphics seen to support the adventure genre with big-name in the PC version. The power of CD-ROM releases. 1997’s Curse of Monkey Island was harnessed for a full ‘talkie’ version of was significant in many ways: it was “While LucasArts carved the game, for which Revolution enlisted the first outing in the franchise to lack the out a profitable niche classically-trained actors from the Royal involvement of series creator Ron Gilbert, Shakespeare Company. Despite spending and the final game to use the SCUMM creating cartoon-like CD-ROM titles The 7th Guest (left) and Myst (right) embraced the latest technology, using pre-rendered CGI visuals to impressive effect. two days recording more than 5,000 engine – although the massively refined adventures bursting with lines of dialogue, the results were deemed ‘verb coin’ interface bore little resemblance to While LucasArts carved out a profitable to be released exclusively on CD-ROM. The (released in the US as James Bond: 007 – character and amusing unsuitable and everything was re-recorded the system introduced in Maniac Mansion niche creating cartoon-like adventures title took advantage of the increased storage The Stealth Affair), Future Wars and Cruise using voice actors instead – an indication of more than a decade earlier. The game was one-liners, rival Sierra bursting with character and amusing of the format by including epic animated for a Corpse, while Italian outfit Dynabyte how serious Revolution was about making also notable for being the first in the series one-liners, rival developer Sierra On-Line sequences (some of which made use of contributed the offbeat Nippon Safes Inc. in On-Line decided to take a the project perfect. The hard graft paid off as to utilise voice acting, with Dominic Armato decided to take a somewhat different route pre-rendered backgrounds and vehicles), full 1992. Westwood Studios – previously famous Beneath a Steel Sky won praise for its adult bringing hero Guybrush Threepwood to life somewhat different route with its 1993 title Gabriel Knight: Sins of voice acting (including the talents of Mark for its strategy titles and the excellent first- tone, engaging dialogue and striking comic- with a superb vocal performance. 1998’s the Fathers. Designed and directed by Jane Hamill), a lengthy storyline packed with person dungeon-crawler Eye of the Beholder with its 1993 title Gabriel book art style, and established Revolution Grim Fandango saw the studio move away Jensen, Gabriel Knight had its moments of unique locations, and a licenced soundtrack – contributed the Legend of Kyrandia trilogy Knight: Sins of the Fathers.” as one of the world’s leading point-and-click from hand-drawn 2D visuals entirely and brevity but was primarily focused on the by American rock band The Gone Jackals. to the genre, a series which boasted some studios. The company followed up with adopt a 3D approach using the new GrimE titular character’s investigation of a series Full Throttle sold over a million units – a gorgeous 2D artwork from Rick Parks, who Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars Engine, which mixed real-time 3D with of grisly local murders for his new book. considerable success for LucasArts at the tragically passed away in 1996, aged just 46. Core Design – the UK outfit which would in 1996, a title which had more in common pre-rendered backgrounds. Tim Schafer was Despite a rather convoluted interface the time. 1995’s other title was one of LucasArt’s later become famous for creating Lara with Sierra’s Gabriel Knight than it did with once again at the helm, imbuing the game game was a commercial and critical success, biggest-selling yet, but endured a troubled In 1993 – the same year that Sierra started Croft – released Curse of Enchantia in 1992, LucasArts’ brand of chucklesome adventures. with a dark and witty sense of humour, which and Sierra wisely used the storage potential gestation and ultimately disappointed many the Gabriel Knight series – a comparatively following up with its spiritual successor Its storyline focused on the mysterious won it numerous admirers and plenty of offered by CD-ROM to include full voice fans of the studio. The Dig was conceived small UK studio by the name of Adventure Universe two years later. Revolution Knights Templar and – despite its cartoon- critical acclaim. However, it underperformed acting with Hollywood talent that included by director Steven Spielberg many years Soft released a title that would carve out Software, another British codehouse, also like visuals, courtesy of animator Mike commercially and put LucasArts one step Tim Curry, Mark Hamill and Michael Dorn. previously but was shelved as he deemed its own niche. Simon the Sorcerer was the jumped on the point-and-click bandwagon Burgess and Don Bluth studios’ Eoghan closer to pulling out of the genre; 2000’s A 1995 sequel – The Beast Within – used it too expensive to film. In 1989, Spielberg creation of a father-and-son team; Mike with a title which attempted to cater for Cahill and Neil Breen – Broken Sword dealt Escape from Monkey Island proved to be the FMV and digitised actors to great effect, attended a meeting at Skywalker Ranch with Woodroffe served as director and producer, more mature audiences. Having released with some particularly mature themes. company’s final contribution to the world of while the third outing – 1999’s Blood of the the objective of turning the idea into a game; while his son, Simon, wrote the dialogue. It the well-received Lure of the Temptress in Predictably, sequels would follow, and even the point-and-click adventure, even if its Sacred, Blood of the Damned – showcased it would take another six years for the project copied the SCUMM interface almost to the 1992, Revolution – co-founded by Charles today Revolution continues to push the cumbersome keyboard-or-joystick interface 3D visuals that have, ironically, caused it to see the light of day. Although it sold briskly letter, but infused the entire experience with Cecil – adapted its ‘Virtual Theatre’ engine to franchise forward using current technologies. meant that it wasn’t technically point or click. to age far worse than its forerunners. upon its initial release, The Dig received a Terry Pratchett-style humour and some some lukewarm reviews due to its difficult sumptuous artwork, created by a team of “However, the advent of puzzles, uneven voice acting and lack of artists – Paul Drummond, Kevin Preston, trademark LucasArts humour – although Maria Drummond, Jeff Wall and Karen CD-ROM technology, while this was perhaps less of a fault with the Pinchin – who worked separately from the enabling companies to game itself, and more to do with the studio’s main development team, producing black- run of amusing adventure titles which led and-white designs which were scanned into enrich adventure games fans to expect more of the same each time. a computer and then colourised. While some with voice acting and Ironically, as LucasArts was taking flak for critics grumbled about the game’s linear additional animation, not sticking to its humour-led formula, titles nature, Simon the Sorcerer was a smash such as 1995’s Flight of the Amazon Queen – hit for Adventure Soft and would later be introduced the first genuine an Indiana Jones-style caper clearly inspired re-released on CD-ROM with Red Dwarf’s threat to the genre’s by LucasArts’ output – hit the market to Chris Barrie voicing the lead character. relieve some of the disappointment. A full-blown and well-received sequel commercial fortunes.” followed in 1995 with Brian Bowles replacing Indeed, the market for point-and-click Barrie as the voice of Simon, and in 1997 1994 would be a year of rest for LucasArts, adventures was burgeoning, and more Adventure Soft launched The Feeble Files, but in 1995 it returned with two of its most and more studios around the globe were a sci-fi comedy which used CGI visuals and ambitious projects to date. Tim Schafer getting involved. In France, Delphine featured the dulcet tones of Barrie’s fellow helmed Full Throttle, LucasArts’ first game Software produced Operation Stealth Red Dwarf cast member, Robert Llewellyn. A variety of developers, including Delphine and Adventure Soft, jumped on board the point-and-click bandwagon. 8 8 THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES of execution for the otherwise ailing genre, the open-source Adventure Game Studio which had seen its reputation plummet engine, including The Shivah (2006), The against the rise of the first-person shooter. Blackwell Legacy (2006) and Blackwell LucasArts and Sierra had, by this stage, Epiphany (2014). Tim Schafer’s Double effectively walked away from the point- Fine Productions – the studio he founded and-click adventure, and other high-profile after parting company with LucasArts – has projects – such as Jordan ‘Prince of Persia’ recently remastered Day of the Tentacle, Mechner’s lavish, rotoscoped adventure Grim Fandango and Full Throttle as well as The Last Express and Virgin’s technically producing Broken Age (2015), a point-and- stunning Toonstruck – were crushing click outing which used crowdfunding to commercial disappointments. However, in raise its $3.45 million budget. Ron Gilbert, Europe the genre continued to be a viable David Fox, Mark Ferrari and Gary Winnick proposition, albeit on a much smaller scale. joined forces to create 2017’s Thimbleweed Norwegian studio Funcom’s The Longest Park, which is perhaps as close to an old- Journey arrived in 1999 to critical acclaim, school LucasArts adventure as we’re ever while French firm Microïds enjoyed similar likely to get. Meanwhile, Telltale Games has success with Syberia three years later. Both produced a series of episodic adventures titles used high-resolution CGI visuals to based on properties as varied as The superb effect, creating a deeply immersive Walking Dead, Batman, Sam & Max and experience while remaining true to the core Monkey Island, helping these classic series mechanics of the genre. to live on. Elsewhere, titles like Machinarium, Curse of Monkey Island featured cartoon-style animation and full voice acting. 1997’s Blade Runner featured pre-rendered images and voxel graphics. Fran Bow, The Lion’s Song, Paradigm, Caren “With sales of over a million and the Tangled Tentacles and The Darkside units, Blade Runner provided franchises for the world of smartphones, logic puzzles and item collecting. These Detective are fresh takes on the genre created an act which placed the genre back in the include King Art Games, famous for The by those who experienced the zenith of the a stay of execution for the consciousness of gamers the world over. Book of Unwritten Tales (2011) and The point-and-click era from the perspective of otherwise ailing genre.” Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief (2013), wide-eyed players, and are now pushing the Today, the humble point-and-click may not and Daedalic Entertainment, which was genre in new and exciting directions. Despite these minor triumphs, it seemed carry the same commercial weight as it did responsible for The Whispered World like the mouse-driven adventure had during the glory years of the late ’80s and (2009) and A New Beginning (2010). Modern-day adventures such as Heavy Rain, reached the end of the road; it would early ’90s, but it continues to find a receptive Outside of Europe there are pockets of Life is Strange and Beyond: Two Souls owe a take two significant technological leaps and passionate audience. In Germany, where point-and-click resistance, emboldened massive debt to point-and-click productions to revive the fortunes of the genre. The the distribution of violent video games has by the arrival of indie publishing avenues of yesteryear, too. So, despite falling from first occurred in 2004, when Nintendo always been strictly controlled, point-and- on both PC and consoles. In 2006, New grace not so long ago, it would seem that the released its DS handheld. Equipped with click adventures have remained incredibly York native Dave Gilbert founded Wadjet humble graphic adventure is finally back for a resistive touchscreen and stylus, the popular, and numerous companies have Eye Games, and in the years since, the good – even if the mouse and keyboard have diminutive console revolutionised the way capitalised on the country’s appetite for studio has published many games using perhaps been lost a little along the way. in which players interacted with games. It also provided the perfect platform for an adventure game revival, with Revolution Software’s Broken Sword getting a timely re-release on the system. This was accompanied by a new generation of titles which shared a vital connection with the Grim Fandango was the first LucasArts title to feature 3D pre-rendered backgrounds. glory days of the genre. Capcom’s Ace Attorney series – which actually began life Sierra encountered similar woes, too: 1998’s stepped into the void left by its two erstwhile on the Game Boy Advance in its native King’s Quest: Mask of Eternity used polygon opponents with one of the most celebrated Japan – took puzzle-solving and character visuals but failed to recreate the commercial point-and-click outings of the decade. 1997’s interaction and placed them within a success of previous games in the series. By Blade Runner was set in the same timeframe courtroom environment, while Secret Files: the end of the decade Sierra had been sold to a as the iconic 1982 movie of the same name, Tunguska adapted the Windows version of larger firm and its original studio shuttered. and used a combination of pre-rendered the game for portable play. The Nintendo While the company name would endure, it images and voxel graphics to concoct a DS introduced touch-driven controls to had little connection with the studio founded rain-soaked 2019 Los Angeles. Even more millions of players, but the next step of by Ken and Roberta Williams in 1979. remarkable was the fact that the game ran this evolutionary process followed in 2007, in real-time, unlike other examples of the with the launch of the Apple iPhone. Within Westwood Studios – which had attempted to genre, which would only move forward as the space of a few years, the App Store challenge LucasArts and Sierra’s dominance the player solved puzzles and interacted triggered a self-publishing explosion and of the genre in the early ’90s with the with other characters. With sales of over a saw companies like Revolution, LucasArts aforementioned Legend of Kyrandia trilogy – million units, Blade Runner provided a stay and Adventure Soft resurrect their classic The point-and-click genre is currently thriving with titles such as Broken Sword 5, Thimbleweed Park and The Darkside Detective. 9 9 GLOSSARY GLOSSARY Glossary Point-and-click adventures consistently pushed the technology available. Because of this, some of the terms used in this book can get a little technical. Below are some useful explanations: AGI Copy Protection Digitise Flöda The Adventure Game Interpreter Came in various forms but the The process of taking pictures A suspicious lederhosen (AGI) engine developed by Sierra most popular were code wheels. or sound and converting them company based in the for early adventures like King's Without one you couldn't access into a form that can be used Amazon jungle. Quest, which allowed the use of a pirated copy of the game. on a computer. In the case a text parser and 16-colour of adventure games, digitising Floppy Disk EGA graphics. Cutscene artwork involved scanning a 3-inch floppy disks were the A non-playable part of a game physical drawing or painting standard game media in early Bitmap that is usually animated and then retouching it in an art DOS, Amiga and Macintosh A style of video game graphics used to advance the story. package such as Deluxe Paint. adventure games. Due to their that are built using a series of The term was coined by Ron limited storage, these were coloured dots called pixels. Gilbert to describe a scene EGA later replaced by CD-ROM. that cut away from the action An early PC graphics mode, CD-ROM in Maniac Mansion. replacing CGA, that allowed Graphic Adventure Optical media that can store 64 colours on-screen. A genre of video game that large amounts of data, using Dead End includes point-and-click the same technology as a When a player is stuck with no Engine adventures like Maniac Mansion music compact disc (CD). way of finishing the game due The software framework used and King's Quest, but also text to making a incorrect choice to create and execute a game. adventures with graphics like CGA or failing to pick up an object. In the point-and-click adventure Scott Adam's Questprobe series A primitive PC graphics mode that genre examples include LucasArts' and The Hobbit. allowed 16 colours on-screen. Deluxe Paint SCUMM and Sierra's SCI. Also known as DPaint - a bitmap Hard Drive CGI graphics editor that became the Feelies A large internal or external Computer-generated imagery standard for creating graphics The goodies that came inside storage system. Games on floppy (CGI) is a term usually used to and backgrounds for adventure a game box. Included items such disk could be installed to the describe pre-rendered digital, games during the '90s. as stickers, badges, T-shirts, hard drive to avoid tiresome rather than real-time imagery comic books, posters, and even swapping of multiple discs. in a video game. It became more Dialogue Tree scratch-and-sniff cards. commonplace with the advent A series of alternate questions of CD-ROM. and answers used in adventure game conversations, which can become quite convoluted. 10 10

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Published by Bitmap Books Designed by Sam Dyer Edited by Steve Jarratt Foreword by Gary Whitta Writing by Mike Bevan, Julian Hill and Damien McFerran Interviews by Mike Bevan, Damien McFerran, Caspar Newbolt and Julian Rignall Custom pixel art by Craig Stevenson Game captures by Gonçalo Lopes and Patrik Spacek CONTENTS INTRODUCTION By feature By interview Introduction Foreword by Gary Whitta 4 Al Lowe 82 The history of point-and-click adventure games 5 Aric Wilmunder 167 It may be hard to imagine now, but there was a brief time, somewhere in the Glossary 10 Billy Allison and Rolf Mohr 90 midst of the last few decades of the last century, when the point-and-click Epilogue 238 Brian Moriarty 161 adventure pretty much conquered the world. Building on the foundations Game index 239 Charles Cecil 110 of the graphic and text adventures that came before them, they offered an Thanks 240 Collette Michaud 128 intuitive control system, free of typing and random word guessing, directly Dave Gibbons 141 connecting players to their characters and environments in a way that had By year David Bishop and Richard Hare 175 1984 12 David Fox 36 never been seen before. And this, of course, meant everyone could finally 1985 14 Douglas Crockford 56 enjoy them – even those of us that were terrible at spelling. 1986 16 Éric Chahi 40 1987 18 Gary Winnick 33 Point-and-click adventures took us to wondrous locations around the globe, through fiction and reality, 1988 29 Gregg Barnett 148 back (and forward) through time, and even into the depths of outer space. We could be whisked into 1989 39 Hal Barwood 104 the heart of the Amazon jungle (albeit by crashing a transport plane into a lagoon), brought to meet 1990 51 Jacob Janerka 234 the Founding Fathers (and help Benjamin Franklin go kite-flying), in front of the World’s Largest Ball 1991 68 Jakub Dvorský 203 of Twine, and even transported to the surface of Mars in a heavily modified minivan. 1992 89 James Dollar 100 1993 114 Jane Jensen 137 These games introduced us to some of the most memorable characters ever to grace a computer 1994 138 Jay Tholen 221 screen, including a sardonic teenage wizard called Simon, a chic Parisienne called Nico, and a droll 1995 147 Jeff Stephenson 30 canine called Sam, along with Max, a hyperactive talking bunny rabbit. And who could forget the 1996 168 John Passfield and Steve Stamatiadis 153 bumbling would-be pirate Guybrush Threepwood, his long-suffering love interest, Elaine, and his 1997 176 Jim Walls 26 root beer averse nemesis, the ghost pirate LeChuck? 1998 186 Josh Mandel 115 1999 188 Louis Castle 95 Point-and-click adventures were often educational too, whether it be learning about the Minoan 2000 191 Mark Ferrari 60 civilisation of Knossos in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, how to deal with an angry goat in 2001 192 Natalia Figueroa 225 Broken Sword, that Richard Boysen invented the boysenberry in Leisure Suit Larry, or the fact you 2003 193 Neil Dodwell 145 should never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game in The Secret of Monkey Island. 2005 195 Noah Falstein 49 2006 196 Oliver Franzke 189 And with so many of these titles, the artists 2007 197 Oliver Lindau 223 behind the on-screen visuals really knocked it 2008 198 Patrik Spacek 227 out of the park. Here we have assembled some 2009 200 Paul Conway 237 of the most eye-catching (and easiest to get to 2010 207 Paul Cuisset 71 without a lot of scary puzzles) artwork from a 2011 209 Pierre Gilhodes 74 diverse range of classic adventures for your 2012 210 Robert Lindsley 78 delectation, along with a few words from the 2013 215 Robyn Miller 122 many brilliant people that helped to create 2014 216 Ron Gilbert 21 the games. 2015 220 Shawn Sharp 69 2016 228 Simon Woodroffe 131 Enjoy the book, and remember... 2017 232 Stefan Srb 231 the monkeys are still listening. Tim Schafer 217 William Tiller 182 3 3 FOREWORD FOREWORD Foreword by Gary Whitta I’m fairly certain that, without adventure the Alien Mindbenders offered a similar Credit a penchant for nostalgia, perhaps, as games, I wouldn’t be who I am today. I know combination of wild fantasy and irreverent many of today’s game developers who grew there’s a very good chance I wouldn’t have humour that I found not just irresistible up playing those early classics now channel my career as a writer, as I can so vividly but almost impossible to find in any that affection into their own new creations. trace back my affection for the written word other medium. And though the comedic Certainly we must credit the enduring not just to the comics and sci-fi novels I Lucasfilm adventure titles are the ones passion of many of those early games’ read as a boy, but to the games I played. best remembered, I’d be remiss not to also designers who still keep the flame today; Growing up in England in the 1980s, my express my love for those more serious but the LucasArts alumni who helped lead a formative gaming experiences with the equally captivating – the dark Spielbergian recent renaissance in interactive storytelling Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 sci-fi of The Dig and the dreamlike, melodic at Telltale Games, and in particular Tim were largely defined by the early text and and wondrous Loom. Schafer and Ron Gilbert, the geniuses graphic adventures of the time. The Hobbit, behind many of Lucas’ pioneering hits, Mountains of Ket (say ‘POLO’ to open the “I felt privileged to write this who continue to advance the medium while door in mint condition!), and of course foreword, but honestly the charmingly honouring its past with games those groundbreaking Infocom titles like like Broken Age and Thimbleweed Park. And real treat has been simply Zork, A Mind Forever Voyaging and The the genre at large continues to grow in a way Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Every to page through the book that has seen it evolve far beyond its humble month I’d search the pages of Sinclair User text-based roots while remaining wholly you’re holding and feel magazine for the sage counsel of Gordo faithful to its original intent – to spellbind Greatbelly, who dispensed in-character all the memories of these gamers with a captivating story that unfolds game tips and advice from his regular seat games smother me like at a deliberate pace, with puzzles and at the Dancing Ogre tavern, haven for weary narrative revelations that delight in equal a warm blanket.” text adventurers looking for solutions to measure. Modern classics like Oxenfree, obstinate puzzles (and cheap ale). So taken What Remains of Edith Finch, Gone Home, was I by the worlds these games beckoned By the 1990s I was working in games Night in the Woods, Kentucky Route Zero, me into with just the power of words, that journalism, and doing what I could to Firewatch, Papers Please, Her Story, Life is I wrote my first ever short stories as fan- still champion what by that time had Strange, The Stanley Parable and countless fiction tributes to two of my favourites: become to feel like a waning medium. others all owe at least a partial debt to the Infocom’s sci-fi thriller Suspended and the Lucasfilm Games (by now LucasArts) and games so beautifully curated in this book. Interplay detective mystery Borrowed Time. Ken and Roberta Williams’ incredibly God, it’s all coming back to me like it was influential Sierra On-Line continued to I felt privileged to write this foreword, but yesterday. Yeah, now I’m entirely sure that’s keep adventuring alive but increasingly honestly the real treat has been simply exactly when, why, and how my writing as the genre’s only remaining standard- to page through the book you’re holding career began. bearers. In the UK, where adventure games and feel all the memories of these games have always enjoyed a particularly faithful smother me like a warm blanket. I’ve always Later it would be the flashier 16-bit graphic following, the scene remained fertile ground felt like the adventure genre was worthy adventures like Magnetic Scrolls’ The Pawn largely thanks to the work of Charles Cecil of more appreciation, and you’ll find no and Guild of Thieves that seduced me with with his British-made Broken Sword series greater appreciation than this one. Here the their evocative text, beautifully illustrated by and the breathtaking dystopian vision that games speak for themselves through their 32-colour graphics, which were stunning at was Beneath a Steel Sky. But for incurable gorgeous imagery, and so too do many of the the time. It was that combination of equally nostalgists like myself it felt more and innovators who created them in illuminating sumptuous prose and illustration that more as though the sun was setting on the new interviews. I hope you’ll derive as much pulled me in, each game a lavish picture genre as burgeoning computer horsepower pleasure from it all as I did. And now… book, with me as the main character. And pushed developers toward faster, more then the world really opened up with the action-based genres. Even Sierra and > TURN PAGE advent of the computer mouse (some of LucasArts, adventurers to the core, were us are old enough to remember when that diversifying into flight simulation, sports, Gary Whitta is the former Editor-in-Chief was still a new and magical thing), which in and strategy games. Adventuring, it seemed, of PC Gamer magazine. He currently works turn led to the advent of the point-and-click was becoming a dying art. as a screenwriter for film and television adventure. Several developers blazed similar and as a video game narrative consultant. and simultaneous trails in this field but So, where are we today? The good news for me it was always the Lucasfilm games; is that all that once was old is new again. having grown up a Hitchhiker’s addict, Adventure gaming, fallow for so many of titles like Maniac Mansion, The Secret of the post-millennial years, is not only back Monkey Island and Zak McKracken and but arguably more vibrant than ever before. 4 4 THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES The history of point-and-click adventure games From its humble 2D origins to recent hyper-realistic outings, the graphic adventure has been entertaining players for decades, with companies like LucasArts, Sierra, Revolution, Westwood Studios and Adventure Soft all contributing seminal classics to the point-and-click library. Join us as we take a look back at the birth, evolution and resurrection of a truly classic genre. Despite the relentless march of technology it’s quite rare for a video game genre to boom to the point that it becomes dominant for several years and then bust Games such as The Pawn and Mystery House started to introduce graphics to accompany the text commands. so dramatically that it falls almost entirely out of favour. Shooters have evolved over time from crude, single-screen 2D affairs to intense and immersive first-person blasters, while the humble platformer has gone from the likes of Donkey Kong to Super Mario Odyssey, a game which wilfully subverts convention in the most wonderful ways imaginable. Trends come and go but no genre has experienced quite the same meteoric rise and fall as the point-and-click adventure; this game style rode a wave of technological advancement in the ’80s by taking advantage of colour displays, high-resolution graphics and mouse-driven interfaces before capitalising on CD-ROM’s ability to supply almost endless storage for animated cutscenes, full voice acting and Enchanted Scepters and Déjà Vu: A Nightmare Comes True!! were the first Macintosh titles to introduce full mouse control for commands. atmospheric soundtracks. However, after almost a decade of being one of gaming’s Early adventure games, such as Zork from 1980, were purely text-based. Despite its myriad problems – the parser was release of another piece of rival hardware, control system and high-res screen to most popular draws, the point-and-click imperfect and navigating the protagonist the Apple Macintosh, which provided the craft unique adventure titles; Silicon Beach adventure retreated from the limelight, and that could convince anybody that they were its incredibly basic vector-based around the ‘fake’ 3D space was often a final piece of the point-and-click puzzle. Software led the way with 1984’s Enchanted only recently has it emerged to reclaim inhabiting another world. The solution monochrome visuals it was a striking frustrating affair – King’s Quest sold well While Apple’s new machine shipped with Scepters, widely credited as being the first some of its past glories in a climate which, was to use text to transport the player to commercial success for the fledgling and is credited by many with establishing a a monochrome display, it boasted a much ‘true’ point-and-click adventure, but it was seemingly above all else, celebrates nostalgia. other realms and realities, and a series of studio, earning the couple a cool $167,000 template that would be copied by countless higher screen resolution than its rivals. ICOM Simulations – founded by Tod Zipnick, highly successful titles appeared, including for their efforts. Off the back of this triumph titles over the next few years. However, it was the machine’s interface who tragically passed away with Hodgkin’s Zork, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy the pair would be commissioned by IBM which was truly groundbreaking – it had disease in 1991, just as his company was “Trends come and and Colossal Cave Adventure. Using text to create a game to show off the visual Despite King’s Quest’s success and a mouse as standard. Apple co-founder beginning to become financially successful go but no genre has not only allowed developers to overcome capabilities of its new PCjr system. 1984’s Sierra’s other forays into the world of visual Steve Jobs is often credited with inventing – and its ‘MacVenture’ series which really experienced quite the the shortcomings of the hardware, it also King’s Quest showcased colour visuals, a adventures, it would take a technological the mouse but he actually borrowed the pushed the envelope. 1985’s Déjà Vu: A enabled them to leverage the imagination pseudo-3D environment and even an leap of another kind to really complete the idea from Xerox, taking the company’s $300 Nightmare Comes True!! may have adopted same meteoric rise of the player to conjure up dramatic scenes on-screen representation of the player’s picture. Typing in text was cumbersome three-button design and streamlining it into a first-person viewpoint but in all other and fall as the point- and tense encounters. However, it was character, effectively laying down many and broke the flow of the game, drawing the a single-button device which cost just $15 respects it showcased the hallmarks of the obvious that this genre would benefit greatly of the point-and-click genre’s foundations, player’s attention away from those eye- to manufacture. Game designers wasted no point-and-click genre: an inventory, action and-click adventure.” from on-screen visuals to accompany the despite lacking the one thing most players catching, 16-colour visuals. It was the 1984 time in leveraging the Mac’s revolutionary verbs – such as ‘Examine’, ‘Open’ and ‘Speak’ textual descriptions, and that came to pass would come to directly associate with this – and the ability to drag-and-drop items. The point-and-click adventure’s origins in the early ’80s, when titles like The Pawn, type of game: a mouse-driven interface. “In the early days of the industry the average personal Ironically, Déjà Vu found the most success lie in a related genre, the text adventure. Mystery House and The Hobbit skilfully Instead, King’s Quest was built using on a system that was woefully inadequate computer – intended for displaying screen upon screen In the early days of the industry the fused rudimentary pictures with words to Sierra’s ‘Adventure Game Interpreter’ – an for this unique interface; it was ported to average personal computer – intended for produce a far more immersive experience. engine which continued to use a text parser of dull text and numbers, lest we forget – simply wasn’t the Nintendo Entertainment System in displaying screen upon screen of dull text Mystery House was the work of husband- to interpret the player’s intentions, with capable of producing the kind of images that could convince 1990 with low-resolution colour visuals and numbers, lest we forget – simply wasn’t and-wife team Roberta and Ken Williams, movement being controlled by directional and a simplified control system to account anybody that they were inhabiting another world.” capable of producing the kind of images founders of On-Line Systems. In spite of keys on the keyboard. for the console’s lack of a mouse. 5 5 THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES Following the success of King’s Quest, Sierra created new franchises such as Leisure Suit Larry and Police Quest. inspired Lucasfilm’s next foray in the genre a core tenet of Lucasfilm’s point-and-click year it perhaps would have gained more and was one of the most influential point- ethos. Gilbert reasoned that punishing the recognition and lasting fame. Unfortunately, and-click titles ever made. player for simply trying things out was Loom was joined in 1990 by fellow Lucasfilm needlessly brutal and sadistic, and he made release The Secret of Monkey Island, not 1987’s Maniac Mansion was conceived by attempts to ensure that his games were free only one of the most famous point-and-click Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, the latter from situations where the player would die games ever made but also arguably one having worked as an artist on Labyrinth. or end up being stuck in a dead end because of the most beloved titles in the history The two bonded over their affection for they hadn’t collected the correct item. The of interactive entertainment; it’s fair to say B movies and oddball humour, and decided onus would be on encouraging players to that it rather overshadowed its stablemate. to create a game which reflected these experiment without fear of reprisal, and shared passions. Maniac Mansion’s non- this opened the door for the wild and often Ron Gilbert, aided by Tim Schafer and Dave linear progression, multiple characters and obtuse logic puzzles that became part of Grossman, set the adventure on a fictional King’s Quest featured full-colour ‘3D’ environments. It used the cursor keys for movement but still relied on a text parser for commands. detailed visuals made it instantly memorable, the company’s DNA. After finding success Caribbean island and was heavily inspired but perhaps its most enduring legacy is the on the Commodore 64, Maniac Mansion by Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean theme The Uninvited (1986), Shadowgate (1987) moments of mirth – despite the unnervingly Sierra would eventually retire its ageing introduction of SCUMM – also known as was ported to a wide range of other systems, park ride. What made Monkey Island and the almost inevitable Déjà Vu II: Lost in realistic depiction of police procedure thanks AGI engine and replace it with the ‘Sierra ‘Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion’ – including the Nintendo Entertainment truly unique was its humour; the game Las Vegas (1988) followed, and ICOM then to the creative involvement of Jim Walls, Creative Interpreter’, or SCI for short. 1988’s a fully mouse-driven interface which gave System – marking one of Lucasfilm’s first lampooned the common preconception branched out into the world of CD-ROM a retired highway patrol officer – but it was King’s Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella used the player a set of input commands as well big steps into the world of console gaming. of pirates and took every opportunity to with its groundbreaking Sherlock Holmes: 1987’s Leisure Suit Larry which perhaps SCI to deliver massively improved visuals, as the ability to interact with and combine The NES port created a whole new legion of poke fun not only at the setting and its Consulting Detective series. By this point the typified Sierra’s approach at the time. The and the game was also one of the first PC objects in their inventory. SCUMM would be fans, although Nintendo’s draconian policies characters, but also the player. However, company had been comfortably surpassed brainchild of Al Lowe, Larry was a balding, titles to support sound card hardware. employed in several subsequent Lucasfilm regarding software content forced significant one thing Gilbert was not prepared to do was by On-Line Systems, now known as Sierra poorly-dressed no-hoper whose singular adventure games and inspired countless changes to be made to secure a release. punish people for making the wrong move; On-Line, which continued to develop its goal in life was to bed as many women as However, by this point the company had copycat titles which adopted almost entirely Monkey Island continued the good work ‘Quest’ series of adventures. possible, ignoring the odds stacked against some serious competition in the realm the same approach. While its interface 1988’s Zak McKracken and the Alien seen in Maniac Mansion and encouraged him. The game’s visuals were blocky and of point-and-click adventures from a became practically ubiquitous, Maniac Mindbenders was the second game to utilise experimentation. The game’s combat section King’s Quest’s initial success on the PCjr crude, but its risqué subject matter ensured company founded by the man behind Star Mansion’s design was equally important; the SCUMM game engine, and boasted a was based around insults rather than trading had ensured that sequels would follow, fame and fortune, as well as multiple Wars, George Lucas. Lucasfilm Games was unlike many of Sierra’s adventure games very similar style of graphics and humour, actual blows, and this would become one of but Roberta and Ken Williams were keen sequels across computers, consoles and – established in 1982 and initially focused – in which the player could die simply by while the following year’s Indiana Jones and the title’s most famous elements; acclaimed to branch out from the fairy-tale setting more recently – smartphones. Ironically, the on intense action titles – such as Ballblazer, picking up the wrong object – Maniac the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure sci-fi author Orson Scott Card – the brains and explore new narratives. The first was franchise’s reputation for lewd content has Rescue on Fractalus! and Koronis Rift – and Mansion established what would become leveraged the fame of the popular Hollywood behind the seminal novel Ender’s Game – 1986’s Space Quest: Chapter I – The Sarien perhaps been exaggerated over time and it wasn’t until 1986 that the studio ventured action series to create a rip-roaring quest contributed some of the more cutting insults Encounter, a sci-fi adventure which didn’t the earlier entries are more memorable into the genre it would come to shape and which, for once, dialled back the zany during a visit to Skywalker Ranch. Dialogue take itself at all seriously and would set the for their witty dialogue and amusing dominate. Labyrinth: The Computer Game humour. 1990’s Loom arguably went a step trees for conversations were also introduced, tone for many of Sierra’s future titles. 1987’s storylines than the amount of crudely- was based on the movie starring the late further, presenting the player with a fantasy and the SCUMM engine was refined over its Police Quest was less humorous but still had animated flesh on display. rock star David Bowie, and used word wheels storyline so earnest it could have leapt from previous iterations. Although the original – one for verbs and one for nouns – to avoid the pages of J.R.R. Tolkien himself. Loom is PC EGA version was limited to just 16 on- “1984’s King’s Quest showcased colour visuals, a pseudo- the usual confusion generated by text also notable for forgoing the typical SCUMM screen colours, the later VGA edition gave parsers. Hitchhiker’s Guide author Douglas interface and instead using magical four- the designers 256 hues to work with, which 3D environment and even an on-screen representation Adams also contributed to the design of the note tunes to solve puzzles and interact with resulted in some particularly striking hand- of the player’s character, effectively laying down many game, which, despite its initial critical and the environment. Loom took the point-and- drawn close-ups for certain characters. commercial success, has been forgotten over click genre in an interesting new direction, Despite its enduring fame and incredible of the point-and-click genre’s foundations.” the years – an unjust fate, since Labyrinth Labyrinth’s verb and noun word wheels. and had it been released in any other influence, The Secret of Monkey Island 6 6 THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES “Despite its enduring fame came thick and fast; the SCUMM engine was first-person perspective, this imagery and incredible influence, comprehensively overhauled, removing the drove gaming realism to a whole new level. verb tiles at the bottom of the screen and Myst in particular was notable for taking The Secret of Monkey bonding them to the mouse cursor, where the core mechanics of the point-and-click Island was not a massive they could be cycled through using the adventure – mind-bending logic puzzles commercial success at right-hand mouse button. The inventory and a gripping storyline – and placing was also relocated to its own screen. The them in an immersive first-person world the time of release.” end result was more real estate for the fashioned using cutting-edge, pre-rendered gorgeous artwork, and it also made locations graphics. Traditional hand-drawn 2D art, as rabbit duo were the stars of a comic created feel bigger and more expansive. Finally, attractive as it undoubtedly was, seemed by artist and LucasArts employee Steve the conversation trees were altered so that old-fashioned when placed alongside Purcell, who’d previously contributed to players could select an icon representing these hyper-realistic worlds. Copycat titles Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, their response – a change that prevented inevitably followed as millions of PC owners both Monkey Island games and Fate of upcoming punchlines being ruined because invested in CD-ROM drives to play this new Atlantis. LucasArts saw Purcell’s comic book you could read them before the characters generation of adventure. Despite the fact creation as a viable franchise and offered delivered them. that such games were incredibly linear and him the chance to turn the property into a often little more than glorified puzzle-solving point-and-click adventure. Like Day of the By this juncture the humble point-and-click exercises, they sold by the truckload and, Tentacle, Sam & Max used a bold cartoon adventure had begun to dominate the sales perhaps, convinced companies like Sierra style which made the whole thing feel like charts, at least on PC. However, the advent and LucasArts to rethink their approach an interactive animated movie – a feeling of CD-ROM technology, while enabling to art design. Systems like SCUMM – with that was reinforced by the fact that it was companies to enrich adventure games its verb tiles and inventory drawer taking one of the first games to utilise CD-ROM with voice acting and additional animation, up almost half of the screen – were the old technology for full voice acting. LucasArts introduced the first genuine threat to the way of thinking, and studios realised they had created enhanced CD versions of past genre’s commercial fortunes. Titles like had to alter the way their games looked; as titles, like Loom and Monkey Island, but had The 7th Guest and Myst used CGI visuals much of the screen as possible should be used the space for improved music instead and full motion video to create realistic- used for eye-catching artwork, which meant of vocal tracks. Elsewhere, the innovations looking environments; viewed from a streamlining the interface dramatically. Maniac Mansion introduced the revolutionary SCUMM engine, whose clickable verbs performed actions such as ‘Open’ and ‘Read’. wasn’t a massive commercial success at in the first game was turned up a notch too, the scene at the start of the adventure – the time of its release. Development of the and Monkey Island 2 became one of the a feature which would become a sequel began before the original was even year’s stand-out PC gaming hits – a fine way prerequisite as CD-ROM technology gave published, and had the studio waited to see for the newly-rechristened LucasArts to kick game developers so much storage that the numbers we may never have gotten a off a new period in the company’s history. they struggled to fill it with anything more sequel. Thankfully, that particular timeline meaningful than music and FMV sequences. never occurred and 1991 saw the release of 1992’s Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge. The toned down the humour while presenting “1987’s Maniac Mansion evolution that had taken place between players with three possible pathways through was conceived by Ron the two games was obvious: the 256-colour the adventure, and sold over a million copies Gilbert and Gary Winnick, VGA graphics, while still limited to just across all of the formats it was published 320x200 pixels, possessed astonishing on. Visually similar to Monkey Island 2, the the latter having worked detail and created a truly evocative game tried to create realistic representations as an artist on Labyrinth. atmosphere. Whereas the original game – of human characters – something which even in its enhanced VGA iteration – had could not be said of 1993’s Day of the The two bonded over their a rather basic visual style which used Tentacle, a sequel to Maniac Mansion which affection for B movies few colours, Monkey Island 2’s gorgeous used a sumptuous cartoon-like art style that and oddball humour, and hand-painted artwork made its locations would become a signature look for LucasArts spring to life, and the characters themselves games over the next few years. Inspired by decided to create a game boasted superior animation and detail. The Looney Toons animated shorts (apparently which reflected these widespread adoption of sound cards on PCs the legendary Chuck Jones even visited meant that audio could be refined to the the team during development to provide shared passions.” point where music would react to on-screen feedback and ideas), the game’s bold visuals events; the iMUSE system – created by allowed for more expressive characters To release a game as good as Day of the Michael Land and Peter McConnell – allowed which in turn enhanced the already side- Tentacle in a single year was remarkable tracks to blend seamlessly into one another splitting level of humour. The in-game enough, but what’s truly stunning is that rather than ending and beginning abruptly. animations alone took a year to create, LucasArts also published Sam & Max Hit The amusing and witty writing so prevalent and a lengthy introduction sequence set the Road in 1993 as well. This dog and LucasArts followed up Maniac Mansion with a string of hits, including titles such as The Secret of Monkey Island and Loom. 7 7 THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES A misguided attempt to update the Simon incorporate the designs of highly respected By the middle of the ’90s, the unthinkable the Sorcerer franchise with 3D visuals in comic book artist Dave Gibbons, famous for was happening: point-and-click adventures 2002 found a less receptive audience, but illustrating the cult graphic novel Watchmen. were beginning to lose favour with gamers. the continued popularity of point-and-click The end result was 1994’s Beneath a Steel The real-time 3D revolution had begun in games in mainland Europe enabled German Sky, a game which is still regarded as a earnest, and a new generation of graphics developer Silver Style Entertainment to masterpiece of interactive storytelling to cards were about to hit the PC market, produce the fourth and fifth Simon games this day. Gibbons created the initial scenes making visually-opulent, three-dimensional in 2007 and 2009. Simon the Sorcerer 6: using pencil, and these were later coloured titles the norm. LucasArts had dabbled in Between Worlds was mooted in 2014 – with in and scanned into a computer where they this arena with the likes of Star Wars: Dark Barrie returning on vocal duties – but in could be transformed into the gorgeous Forces, X-Wing and Outlaws, but it continued 2016 the project appeared to have stalled. 256-colour, 320x200-pixel graphics seen to support the adventure genre with big-name in the PC version. The power of CD-ROM releases. 1997’s Curse of Monkey Island was harnessed for a full ‘talkie’ version of was significant in many ways: it was “While LucasArts carved the game, for which Revolution enlisted the first outing in the franchise to lack the out a profitable niche classically-trained actors from the Royal involvement of series creator Ron Gilbert, Shakespeare Company. Despite spending and the final game to use the SCUMM creating cartoon-like CD-ROM titles The 7th Guest (left) and Myst (right) embraced the latest technology, using pre-rendered CGI visuals to impressive effect. two days recording more than 5,000 engine – although the massively refined adventures bursting with lines of dialogue, the results were deemed ‘verb coin’ interface bore little resemblance to While LucasArts carved out a profitable to be released exclusively on CD-ROM. The (released in the US as James Bond: 007 – character and amusing unsuitable and everything was re-recorded the system introduced in Maniac Mansion niche creating cartoon-like adventures title took advantage of the increased storage The Stealth Affair), Future Wars and Cruise using voice actors instead – an indication of more than a decade earlier. The game was one-liners, rival Sierra bursting with character and amusing of the format by including epic animated for a Corpse, while Italian outfit Dynabyte how serious Revolution was about making also notable for being the first in the series one-liners, rival developer Sierra On-Line sequences (some of which made use of contributed the offbeat Nippon Safes Inc. in On-Line decided to take a the project perfect. The hard graft paid off as to utilise voice acting, with Dominic Armato decided to take a somewhat different route pre-rendered backgrounds and vehicles), full 1992. Westwood Studios – previously famous Beneath a Steel Sky won praise for its adult bringing hero Guybrush Threepwood to life somewhat different route with its 1993 title Gabriel Knight: Sins of voice acting (including the talents of Mark for its strategy titles and the excellent first- tone, engaging dialogue and striking comic- with a superb vocal performance. 1998’s the Fathers. Designed and directed by Jane Hamill), a lengthy storyline packed with person dungeon-crawler Eye of the Beholder with its 1993 title Gabriel book art style, and established Revolution Grim Fandango saw the studio move away Jensen, Gabriel Knight had its moments of unique locations, and a licenced soundtrack – contributed the Legend of Kyrandia trilogy Knight: Sins of the Fathers.” as one of the world’s leading point-and-click from hand-drawn 2D visuals entirely and brevity but was primarily focused on the by American rock band The Gone Jackals. to the genre, a series which boasted some studios. The company followed up with adopt a 3D approach using the new GrimE titular character’s investigation of a series Full Throttle sold over a million units – a gorgeous 2D artwork from Rick Parks, who Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars Engine, which mixed real-time 3D with of grisly local murders for his new book. considerable success for LucasArts at the tragically passed away in 1996, aged just 46. Core Design – the UK outfit which would in 1996, a title which had more in common pre-rendered backgrounds. Tim Schafer was Despite a rather convoluted interface the time. 1995’s other title was one of LucasArt’s later become famous for creating Lara with Sierra’s Gabriel Knight than it did with once again at the helm, imbuing the game game was a commercial and critical success, biggest-selling yet, but endured a troubled In 1993 – the same year that Sierra started Croft – released Curse of Enchantia in 1992, LucasArts’ brand of chucklesome adventures. with a dark and witty sense of humour, which and Sierra wisely used the storage potential gestation and ultimately disappointed many the Gabriel Knight series – a comparatively following up with its spiritual successor Its storyline focused on the mysterious won it numerous admirers and plenty of offered by CD-ROM to include full voice fans of the studio. The Dig was conceived small UK studio by the name of Adventure Universe two years later. Revolution Knights Templar and – despite its cartoon- critical acclaim. However, it underperformed acting with Hollywood talent that included by director Steven Spielberg many years Soft released a title that would carve out Software, another British codehouse, also like visuals, courtesy of animator Mike commercially and put LucasArts one step Tim Curry, Mark Hamill and Michael Dorn. previously but was shelved as he deemed its own niche. Simon the Sorcerer was the jumped on the point-and-click bandwagon Burgess and Don Bluth studios’ Eoghan closer to pulling out of the genre; 2000’s A 1995 sequel – The Beast Within – used it too expensive to film. In 1989, Spielberg creation of a father-and-son team; Mike with a title which attempted to cater for Cahill and Neil Breen – Broken Sword dealt Escape from Monkey Island proved to be the FMV and digitised actors to great effect, attended a meeting at Skywalker Ranch with Woodroffe served as director and producer, more mature audiences. Having released with some particularly mature themes. company’s final contribution to the world of while the third outing – 1999’s Blood of the the objective of turning the idea into a game; while his son, Simon, wrote the dialogue. It the well-received Lure of the Temptress in Predictably, sequels would follow, and even the point-and-click adventure, even if its Sacred, Blood of the Damned – showcased it would take another six years for the project copied the SCUMM interface almost to the 1992, Revolution – co-founded by Charles today Revolution continues to push the cumbersome keyboard-or-joystick interface 3D visuals that have, ironically, caused it to see the light of day. Although it sold briskly letter, but infused the entire experience with Cecil – adapted its ‘Virtual Theatre’ engine to franchise forward using current technologies. meant that it wasn’t technically point or click. to age far worse than its forerunners. upon its initial release, The Dig received a Terry Pratchett-style humour and some some lukewarm reviews due to its difficult sumptuous artwork, created by a team of “However, the advent of puzzles, uneven voice acting and lack of artists – Paul Drummond, Kevin Preston, trademark LucasArts humour – although Maria Drummond, Jeff Wall and Karen CD-ROM technology, while this was perhaps less of a fault with the Pinchin – who worked separately from the enabling companies to game itself, and more to do with the studio’s main development team, producing black- run of amusing adventure titles which led and-white designs which were scanned into enrich adventure games fans to expect more of the same each time. a computer and then colourised. While some with voice acting and Ironically, as LucasArts was taking flak for critics grumbled about the game’s linear additional animation, not sticking to its humour-led formula, titles nature, Simon the Sorcerer was a smash such as 1995’s Flight of the Amazon Queen – hit for Adventure Soft and would later be introduced the first genuine an Indiana Jones-style caper clearly inspired re-released on CD-ROM with Red Dwarf’s threat to the genre’s by LucasArts’ output – hit the market to Chris Barrie voicing the lead character. relieve some of the disappointment. A full-blown and well-received sequel commercial fortunes.” followed in 1995 with Brian Bowles replacing Indeed, the market for point-and-click Barrie as the voice of Simon, and in 1997 1994 would be a year of rest for LucasArts, adventures was burgeoning, and more Adventure Soft launched The Feeble Files, but in 1995 it returned with two of its most and more studios around the globe were a sci-fi comedy which used CGI visuals and ambitious projects to date. Tim Schafer getting involved. In France, Delphine featured the dulcet tones of Barrie’s fellow helmed Full Throttle, LucasArts’ first game Software produced Operation Stealth Red Dwarf cast member, Robert Llewellyn. A variety of developers, including Delphine and Adventure Soft, jumped on board the point-and-click bandwagon. 8 8 THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES THE HISTORY OF POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES of execution for the otherwise ailing genre, the open-source Adventure Game Studio which had seen its reputation plummet engine, including The Shivah (2006), The against the rise of the first-person shooter. Blackwell Legacy (2006) and Blackwell LucasArts and Sierra had, by this stage, Epiphany (2014). Tim Schafer’s Double effectively walked away from the point- Fine Productions – the studio he founded and-click adventure, and other high-profile after parting company with LucasArts – has projects – such as Jordan ‘Prince of Persia’ recently remastered Day of the Tentacle, Mechner’s lavish, rotoscoped adventure Grim Fandango and Full Throttle as well as The Last Express and Virgin’s technically producing Broken Age (2015), a point-and- stunning Toonstruck – were crushing click outing which used crowdfunding to commercial disappointments. However, in raise its $3.45 million budget. Ron Gilbert, Europe the genre continued to be a viable David Fox, Mark Ferrari and Gary Winnick proposition, albeit on a much smaller scale. joined forces to create 2017’s Thimbleweed Norwegian studio Funcom’s The Longest Park, which is perhaps as close to an old- Journey arrived in 1999 to critical acclaim, school LucasArts adventure as we’re ever while French firm Microïds enjoyed similar likely to get. Meanwhile, Telltale Games has success with Syberia three years later. Both produced a series of episodic adventures titles used high-resolution CGI visuals to based on properties as varied as The superb effect, creating a deeply immersive Walking Dead, Batman, Sam & Max and experience while remaining true to the core Monkey Island, helping these classic series mechanics of the genre. to live on. Elsewhere, titles like Machinarium, Curse of Monkey Island featured cartoon-style animation and full voice acting. 1997’s Blade Runner featured pre-rendered images and voxel graphics. Fran Bow, The Lion’s Song, Paradigm, Caren “With sales of over a million and the Tangled Tentacles and The Darkside units, Blade Runner provided franchises for the world of smartphones, logic puzzles and item collecting. These Detective are fresh takes on the genre created an act which placed the genre back in the include King Art Games, famous for The by those who experienced the zenith of the a stay of execution for the consciousness of gamers the world over. Book of Unwritten Tales (2011) and The point-and-click era from the perspective of otherwise ailing genre.” Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief (2013), wide-eyed players, and are now pushing the Today, the humble point-and-click may not and Daedalic Entertainment, which was genre in new and exciting directions. Despite these minor triumphs, it seemed carry the same commercial weight as it did responsible for The Whispered World like the mouse-driven adventure had during the glory years of the late ’80s and (2009) and A New Beginning (2010). Modern-day adventures such as Heavy Rain, reached the end of the road; it would early ’90s, but it continues to find a receptive Outside of Europe there are pockets of Life is Strange and Beyond: Two Souls owe a take two significant technological leaps and passionate audience. In Germany, where point-and-click resistance, emboldened massive debt to point-and-click productions to revive the fortunes of the genre. The the distribution of violent video games has by the arrival of indie publishing avenues of yesteryear, too. So, despite falling from first occurred in 2004, when Nintendo always been strictly controlled, point-and- on both PC and consoles. In 2006, New grace not so long ago, it would seem that the released its DS handheld. Equipped with click adventures have remained incredibly York native Dave Gilbert founded Wadjet humble graphic adventure is finally back for a resistive touchscreen and stylus, the popular, and numerous companies have Eye Games, and in the years since, the good – even if the mouse and keyboard have diminutive console revolutionised the way capitalised on the country’s appetite for studio has published many games using perhaps been lost a little along the way. in which players interacted with games. It also provided the perfect platform for an adventure game revival, with Revolution Software’s Broken Sword getting a timely re-release on the system. This was accompanied by a new generation of titles which shared a vital connection with the Grim Fandango was the first LucasArts title to feature 3D pre-rendered backgrounds. glory days of the genre. Capcom’s Ace Attorney series – which actually began life Sierra encountered similar woes, too: 1998’s stepped into the void left by its two erstwhile on the Game Boy Advance in its native King’s Quest: Mask of Eternity used polygon opponents with one of the most celebrated Japan – took puzzle-solving and character visuals but failed to recreate the commercial point-and-click outings of the decade. 1997’s interaction and placed them within a success of previous games in the series. By Blade Runner was set in the same timeframe courtroom environment, while Secret Files: the end of the decade Sierra had been sold to a as the iconic 1982 movie of the same name, Tunguska adapted the Windows version of larger firm and its original studio shuttered. and used a combination of pre-rendered the game for portable play. The Nintendo While the company name would endure, it images and voxel graphics to concoct a DS introduced touch-driven controls to had little connection with the studio founded rain-soaked 2019 Los Angeles. Even more millions of players, but the next step of by Ken and Roberta Williams in 1979. remarkable was the fact that the game ran this evolutionary process followed in 2007, in real-time, unlike other examples of the with the launch of the Apple iPhone. Within Westwood Studios – which had attempted to genre, which would only move forward as the space of a few years, the App Store challenge LucasArts and Sierra’s dominance the player solved puzzles and interacted triggered a self-publishing explosion and of the genre in the early ’90s with the with other characters. With sales of over a saw companies like Revolution, LucasArts aforementioned Legend of Kyrandia trilogy – million units, Blade Runner provided a stay and Adventure Soft resurrect their classic The point-and-click genre is currently thriving with titles such as Broken Sword 5, Thimbleweed Park and The Darkside Detective. 9 9 GLOSSARY GLOSSARY Glossary Point-and-click adventures consistently pushed the technology available. Because of this, some of the terms used in this book can get a little technical. Below are some useful explanations: AGI Copy Protection Digitise Flöda The Adventure Game Interpreter Came in various forms but the The process of taking pictures A suspicious lederhosen (AGI) engine developed by Sierra most popular were code wheels. or sound and converting them company based in the for early adventures like King's Without one you couldn't access into a form that can be used Amazon jungle. Quest, which allowed the use of a pirated copy of the game. on a computer. In the case a text parser and 16-colour of adventure games, digitising Floppy Disk EGA graphics. Cutscene artwork involved scanning a 3-inch floppy disks were the A non-playable part of a game physical drawing or painting standard game media in early Bitmap that is usually animated and then retouching it in an art DOS, Amiga and Macintosh A style of video game graphics used to advance the story. package such as Deluxe Paint. adventure games. Due to their that are built using a series of The term was coined by Ron limited storage, these were coloured dots called pixels. Gilbert to describe a scene EGA later replaced by CD-ROM. that cut away from the action An early PC graphics mode, CD-ROM in Maniac Mansion. replacing CGA, that allowed Graphic Adventure Optical media that can store 64 colours on-screen. A genre of video game that large amounts of data, using Dead End includes point-and-click the same technology as a When a player is stuck with no Engine adventures like Maniac Mansion music compact disc (CD). way of finishing the game due The software framework used and King's Quest, but also text to making a incorrect choice to create and execute a game. adventures with graphics like CGA or failing to pick up an object. In the point-and-click adventure Scott Adam's Questprobe series A primitive PC graphics mode that genre examples include LucasArts' and The Hobbit. allowed 16 colours on-screen. Deluxe Paint SCUMM and Sierra's SCI. Also known as DPaint - a bitmap Hard Drive CGI graphics editor that became the Feelies A large internal or external Computer-generated imagery standard for creating graphics The goodies that came inside storage system. Games on floppy (CGI) is a term usually used to and backgrounds for adventure a game box. Included items such disk could be installed to the describe pre-rendered digital, games during the '90s. as stickers, badges, T-shirts, hard drive to avoid tiresome rather than real-time imagery comic books, posters, and even swapping of multiple discs. in a video game. It became more Dialogue Tree scratch-and-sniff cards. commonplace with the advent A series of alternate questions of CD-ROM. and answers used in adventure game conversations, which can become quite convoluted. 10 10

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