Hello everyone; I am a fledgling game designer and wish to know what, to you, composes an ideal adventure game. Although I think I have the general idea, I haven''t exactly played much in the way of good adventures. I would like to thank all of you ahead of time for your input.

Adventure''s not my most favorite genre, but I think I can offer some tips...

You probably want:

* A good story. This is something you can do well even if you don''t have the best graphics or greatest coding skills.

* Good gameplay / story integration. The story should be interspersed throughout the game, maybe in character dialog or notes / books / journals. I think players enjoy being able to discover bits and pieces of story as they go along. It''s a reward for playing.

* Clever but sensible puzzles. This one''s hard, and since I suck at puzzle solving I can''t give you any decent advice other than to say that the puzzles should be a natural part of the world. It''s always great when players can use what they know about the story and their own wits to solve a puzzle.

Things that you probably don''t need but I think you should have:

* A hint system for people who get frustrated and stuck

* Ability to save game anywhere (just was playing Omikron, and they didn''t do this. It was annoying to lose an hour of playing time because I couldn''t find the save spot!)

* Some type of repeatable gameplay that players can enjoy while they''re trying to figure out the puzzle. Stuff to fight, or difficult terrain to explore might work. I think it''s bad when players have to put the game down because they''re stuck at a puzzle (but, like I said, puzzles aren''t my specialty )

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Just waiting for the mothership...

Just a few additions...

Storyline: A good story, like Wavinator said, which is revealed incrementally. However, in the interests of replayability, you may want to have mutliple story elements that affect which "story" the player experiences. Hints and clues uncovered would naturally point a player toward certain objectives, but not all hints have to be uncovered every time through . This lengthens the lifespan of the game considerably.

Non-linearity: This is closely tied into the above. In some older adventure games, you couldn''t "cross the Bridge of Despair" unless you had given the "Old Man" the "Magic Lantern", and so forth, or characters would force you into choices. This has been discussed at length, and I suggest you read the excellent, dense "Conventions which must go" thread for detailed examples, explanations and alternatives.

Enjoy!

Atmosphere! Make sure the atmosphere matches the feel of the game. Make the player feel a part of it by influencing his or her emotions.