i dont think zork games have been influencial at all. if they had, we would have seen a lot more adventure games that had magnificent stories, but the norm really seems to be stories that were just ok, but include good graphics and sound. In that sense, kings quest was definetly more important. i think most gamers would rather see something than read about it. thats just the way most people are, otherwise books would be more popular than tv. i guess it should be that way, but it’s not.
i think its unfair to compare the two since they are entirely different styles though. i mean, to say kings quest was lacking because it included graphics and sound is just dumb. i think the biggest problem i have with playing old text only games is that i have to ask the parser what is around and what things look like just so i can get a feel for what is going on. not only did you have to solve a puzzle, but you usually had to ‘discover’ the puzzle first, i dont like that. in a kings quest game, everything is presented for me to become a part of. i feel like i am in daventry, but i didn’t get that feeling from zork. it’s true that a picture is worth a thousand words.
i dont know, maybe my mind is less imaginative than the zork lovers. i guess it does remove something from the experience if you just give the player everything and not make them imagine it for themselves. i am a big final fantasy fan, and i do feel that way about the newer games. i think they are too detailed. back in the mid 90s, you had a little sprite guy that represented your character, but you also had a more detailed image of that character in you mind. now, they are so detailed it leaves nothing to the imagination. i guess i think some place in between ALL text and ALL graphics is where i prefer games to be. maybe thats why i spend most of my free time playing 15 year old sierra games.