Documentation as part of the game

[Andrew_Baker]

Thank god!  Ever since that damned Myst, designers seem to have decided that manuals are no longer an important part of a game's release.

I, too, would crack open a new game box and read the manuals and maps first thing.  Sometimes it was more satisfying than playing the game.  Also, there was a game called Weird Dreams (the game itself was buggy as hell) that came with a full novel, wherein were hints to help solve the game.

[Allen]

1st of all,
No offence andrew, but you shouldnt go bashing Myst. The entire idea of the game was to find out everything yourself.
I quite liked Myst and it's sequels and I enjoy playing them as much as I enjoy playing AGI/SCI games.

Secondly, Thats a great idea to have the documentation in the game, It's kinda like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade by Lucasfilm.

[Nick Sonneveld]

Myst was pretty awful as far as I'm concerned.. since it's sucess, hundreds of myst clones were released and I'd hazard a guess and say it may have led to the industry shying away from adventure games in general.

- Nick

[Te Rangi]

Myst is a glorified collection of puzzles, although I'm sure many people will disagree with me. (Including my best friend)

[Allen]

Well, there actually was no need to have a manual for Myst telling you the history, there are 3 novels by the creators of Myst explaining the background and stuff

We've gone off-topic here haven't we?

[Te Rangi]

We sure have. To be an asshole, I might put copy protection in the game to increase the hits to our website, and downloads of the manual