December 1999


Adventure Game Making : Episode 1

**Part 0: Intro

Ok, so you're making an Adventure or an RPG which requires a puzzle for the player to solve, just to add some brain to the whole shebang. No prob.

**Part 1: What is a Puzzle:

What is a puzzle? (For those who are new to the Adventure biz) A puzzle is when you come to a situation in which you must get past an NPC, or some other obstacle that prevents you from continuing, and eventually ending the game. Usually, you'll find items by buying, trading, finding, stealing, whatever, somehow AQUIRING an item, and:

-Using it in an area, which will alter it somehow
-Giving it to somebody, who may give you something in return, be it info or another item.
-Altering it, either by combining it with another (Or several) other items, or screwing with the insides or whatnot, and somehow changing the item to use in a different way.

And then ya use this new item to accomplish the puzzle, and usually another puzzle presents itself and the whole process starts again.

**Part 2: Why is it so hard?

Why is it so hard? Sometimes they aren't. But usually, it requires great thought to relate the items to be used together. That's what makes a good puzzle, if it's creative. So, instead of USING the Pencil with the Pencil Sharpener (Which isn't original at all), you could use a small tree in the Pencil Sharpener and somehow end up with a pencil. =) Understand? Yes or no, read on.

**Part 3: How do I create a Puzzle?

Ok, no prob. All you've gotta do is wait 'til Saturday, grab the remote, and watch some cartoons on TV. Don't have cable? Splice your neighbours line, believe me, it's worth it.

Now, let's see what we've got. Ah yes, the infamous RoadRunner and Coyote cartoon. Now, everybody loves it when you bring in a puzzle that people will recognize when they see the pieces come together. Say you have a ROCKET and a GIANT SPRING, and are near a ROCK FACE. Come on now, we all know what we should do, so why bother explaining it? =)

A word of caution though, some puzzles are overused. Avoid these, or lose respect in the gaming world. Although, if you take an overused one, twist it and make fun of it's overusedness, THEN it'll be cool! =)

**Part 4: Conclusion

That's basically it, I've probably left something out. Oh well.

Questions? Kermit@webjetters.com
Comments? Kermit@webjetters.com
Complaints? Don't bother. =) j/k

That's it. Tut's over.

By The Specialist