TWP Puzzle dependency chart

Development/Design
1

Any chance we can see the final Puzzle dependency chart with spoilers?

https://blog.thimbleweedpark.com/final_puzzles

3 Likes
2

It would probably quite a lot of work but having finished it, one might be able to do it yourself.
Maybe start at end and then work backwards to the beginning.

3

Well… I’m pretty sure Ron has it somewhere and not only I’m lazy, but also the reasons for hiding the content of those boxes is not longer.

4

Well if there is demand and I was them I´d try to sell it, because it´s bascially a walkthrough.

5

If they refuse, we could just hire Ray and upload her to Ron’s house.

6

As someone who also “deconstructs” adventure games, I would really be interested in what the creator of the Puzzle Dependency Chart™ leaves out specifically from them.

The thing is, and maybe I just go too much over the top probably, that when I deconstruct one, I usually write down every single piece and interaction (or most of them, I suppose) and their outcome from start to finish.

In the last one I wrote, I analyzed the adventure game Technobabylon and “went berserk” writing down also every piece of information about the background story, the game world and characters.

I know that this is probably too much for Puzzle Dependency Charts’ sake, but made me realize clearly that, while Puzzle-wise, Technobabylon is made of different “closed compartments”, it had a huge amount of narrative detail (love it or not, that is).

3 Likes
7

Gimme that chart, NERD!

8

Should I assume that your analysis is full of spoilers?

I’ve purchased that game but I’ve not played it, yet.

9

It is 100% spoilers! Play the game before!

10

Thanks for the warning. :slight_smile:

Did you do similar analyses for other point-and-click adventure games?

11

Not many but I always plan to do more :slight_smile: the thing is they got more and more time consuming every time I did one as I kept adding “layers” to the analyses.

http://www.christophersacchi.com/unpoint-unclick/

If I had to suggest you one to read, it would be the one for Broken Age (if you have played the game) as I like the way it turned out showing some kind of “symmetry” in the way the two characters go on in their respective sides of the story

Thank you for your interest :slight_smile:

2 Likes
12

Thanks to you! I have played Broken Age and since I’m interested in articles about game design, I’m sure that I’ll find the time to read your analysis. :slight_smile:

1 Like
13

I think Agent :ray: stole it for her Japanese investors…

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14

To anybody who is interested: I really enjoyed this website with the dependency chart of Day of the Tentacle:
http://thewebsiteisdown.com/twidblog/day-of-the-tentacle-dependency-graph/

8 Likes
15

Just occured to me, could this be an analogy of the Japanese (Nintendo) taking over the domination of the games market from the Americans (Atari) in the mid 80s?

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16

I still think DOTT is the most effectively designed adventure from a puzzle standpoint ever.

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17

Yes. It’s my all time favorite. Closely followed by MI and Indy.

18

*beepin* *beep*! This is great!
Thanks for sharing, I have never stumbled upon it before!

I wish I had the same polish and depth in my own analyses :stuck_out_tongue:

19

very interesting. the chart shows that the game is a “sequence of cages”, it does not have the “parallel” nature of Ron Gilbert’s puzzles.

I wonder: can the “puzzle dependency chart” help you detect other problems in the puzzle structure, like “you find a key soon before the lock”. That is another thing to avoid. (the key must be found either much later than the lock, or much earlier, as Ron teaches. )

20

Yes. If you have a path from the key to the lock, the player finds the key before the lock.