The Exchange Student contest - Win 5 copies of The Exchange Student Episode 1

[Dimitris Manos]

Hello everyone. Pan Metron Ariston is proud to take place in this year's Adventure Developers Online Conference, and our little present to the visitors of the event is a contest. We give away 5 free serial numbers for The Exchange Student Episode 1: First Day in Sweden. All you need to do in order to join the contest is to answer the following questions:


1. What is your opinion about episodic gaming? Would you be reluctant to buy a game sold in episodes due to its episodic nature?

2. Do you think there is a place in the market for adventure games that use 2D graphics?

3. Our background artist, Bill Eaken, has worked on several popular adventure games in the past. Those are: The Curse of Monkey Island, The Dig, Shannara, Day of the Tentacle, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, The Secret of Monkey Island and Leisure Suit Larry 3. Which one is your favourite? And what do you think of Bill Eaken's artwork in The Exchange Student?


The contest will end on Saturday December 1st 2007 at 23:59 GMT. All the usernames that will respond to this thread will be collected and we will randomly choose 5 that will win the free copies of Episode 1. You get only one 1 entry per username even if you respond twice in this thread. The winners will be announced on Sunday afternoon. Good luck everyone, we are looking forward to your answers.

[soundguy]

I will answer - even though i bought episode 1 already, but not 2, yet.
I'll answer the questions just for fun.

1. I love episodic, in my awfully busy life as a gamedev (and in general) i find myself playing games in shorter session. I don't really see myself starting too many long games just becuase i think i won't have the time to finish them quick enough. Episodic solves this problem.

2. I love 2D games, if they look good and have good story and especially good voice acting. (like TES1 had)

3. I think the artwork in TES is gorgeous ! I happen to love all the games you mentioned, I think the graphics i loved most from all these was The Dig.

[Gelert]

1). Well, I guess this may discount me from winning but I have to say I'm not yet a fan of episodic games. I'd much rather play the whole thing through in a few nights of intensive adventuring, rather than wait for the next episode. Also, I may have been soured by such games as The Forgotten and Zelenhgorm which promised so much but subsequent episodes never did materialise. Having played the demo of The Exchange Student I do admit having been tempted though.
2). 2D graphics Adventure games were what I was weened on. I have the fondest memories of games like Secret Of Monkey Island, Broken Sword and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. Those hand-painted backrounds on some of the best 2D games were superb.
3). Out of the ones you mention I was enamored by the graphics of Secret of Monkey Island, The Dig and Shannara the most. The Exchange Student graphics are crisp, clear, colourful and uncomplicated. I like them.

[shae]

1. I'm not a fan of episodic games. Can't say I've played many (any?), but I generally like my games/books/movies long (or even longer :). If multiple "episodes" really tie together into a cohesive single game then they might be interesting as a whole, but in that case I'll just wait until all of them are out.

Some games that aren't dubbed "Episodic" also have the problem of being way too short. There's a relative deluge of short (non-adventure) games recently, with less than 10 hours of single-player, sometimes as little as 6 or 8. I find that disappointing. This is partially offset by every 2nd game having an expansion or two (or more). In that case, it's just like episodic games; I'd prefer waiting for everything to settle then play the game with all expansions in one fell swoop.

2. 2D is fine for adventure games. But I think in a few years, when 3D can easily create backdrops as detailed as 2D, things will change.

3. I liked many of the listed games. Graphically-wise, maybe The Dig is my favorite. I have not played The Exchange Student.

[PolloDiablo]

1. What is your opinion about episodic gaming? Would you be reluctant to buy a game sold in episodes due to its episodic nature?
I used to be reluctant, but Telltale have proven with their Sam&Max games that it can work beautifully. I still prefer physical media though, so if there would be a similar system with a free CD/DVD at the end of the season that would definitely lower the barrier for me. It would have to be clear from the start just how many episodes there will be. Also, I would like some kind of guarantee that if I buy the whole season and for some reason it gets cancelled after a while, I can get the money back.

2. Do you think there is a place in the market for adventure games that use 2D graphics?
Absolutely, as long as they have an interesting, immersive story.

3. Our background artist, Bill Eaken, has worked on several popular adventure games in the past. Those are: The Curse of Monkey Island, The Dig, Shannara, Day of the Tentacle, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, The Secret of Monkey Island and Leisure Suit Larry 3. Which one is your favourite? And what do you think of Bill Eaken's artwork in The Exchange Student?
I loved the Monkey Island series, The Dig and DotT. I haven't played Shannara and Indiana Jones and wasn't interested in Leisure Suit Larry at the time (I have since bought a Collector's Edition but not yet played them). So it's hard to name one favourite... I haven't played the Exchange Student, but the graphics look great.

[xelanoimis]

1. What is your opinion about episodic gaming? Would you be reluctant to buy a game sold in episodes due to its episodic nature?

I preffer full games, with eventual sequels.
But, I'm OK with episodic games as long as each episode has enought content to finish it's determined part of the story.
Story must not feel like cut in the middle.
There must not be too long waitings between episodes.
They must be like a comics magazines, or some cartoons with related episodes.
And of course the price must reflect the play time.
Collection releases must be available.

2. Do you think there is a place in the market for adventure games that use 2D graphics?

Of course there is, most of the best adventure games are 2D, and I don't think the audience for adventures requires fancy 3D
Even if 2D or 3D a good adventure game must focus on the story and let the player think on it, rather than request him to do some skilled jumps. That's why point and click is better than keyboard character controls.

3. Our background artist, Bill Eaken, has worked on several popular adventure games in the past. Those are: The Curse of Monkey Island, The Dig, Shannara, Day of the Tentacle, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, The Secret of Monkey Island and Leisure Suit Larry 3. Which one is your favourite? And what do you think of Bill Eaken's artwork in The Exchange Student?

I always declare my favorite adventure to be Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.
The art style of The Exchange Student is different from my favorite (more to DOT), but I think is exactly as it should be for this kind of game.

[Marco Rosenberg]

1. What is your opinion about episodic gaming? Would you be reluctant to buy a game sold in episodes due to its episodic nature?

I like the concept of episodic gaming, because It allows me to play an episode in one session, just like watching a movie. Just like a TV series you have reappearing characters, inside jokes and running gags. Also it allows the game designers to quickly respond to player feedback in following episodes.

2. Do you think there is a place in the market for adventure games that use 2D graphics?

Certainly. I'd rather play an adventure with good 2D graphics than one with average 3D graphics. I believe that, like in animated feature films, there will be a 2D revival in the near future.

3. Our background artist, Bill Eaken, has worked on several popular adventure games in the past. Those are: The Curse of Monkey Island, The Dig, Shannara, Day of the Tentacle, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, The Secret of Monkey Island and Leisure Suit Larry 3. Which one is your favourite? And what do you think of Bill Eaken's artwork in The Exchange Student?

The graphics of Day of the Tentacle are my favorite, followed by Curse of Monkey Island.
I like the illustrative style of the backgrounds in The Exchange students. The character Designs are good too, but seem a little bit stiff in the screenshots. But I'd have to see animation in the full game before I decide. (*hint, hint*)

[Dimitris Manos]

The contest has now closed. The winners will be announced tomorrow.

[Dimitris Manos]

There were 6 entries, and Soundguy voluntarily accepted that the rest of you would win the award because he already owns Episode 1. So the winners are:

Gelert
shae
PolloDiablo
Alexandru Simion
Marco Rosenberg

You will shortly receive a private message with instructions. Congratulations!

[Gelert]

Thanks very much Dimitris.

I'm looking forward to playing this asap. ;D

[shae]

Thanks.

[axelkothe]

So, now that the contest is over I will give you my opinion (I already own Ep. 1)

1. I actually like episodic games, if the contents fit the format. Sam & Max Season 1 is a very good example, but also the CSI games would work wonderfully as episodes. BUT: I'm a collector, so having a box, manual & a disc is always preferred (again: The Sam & Max approach is perfect, IMO).

2. I hope so! I love good 2D graphics, I actually prefer them oftentimes over 3D graphics. I think thats because 2D graphics age better than 3D graphics, where there is always sth. new and sth. better. I think Runaway 1 still looks very good, whereas any 3D game of the same year looks quite dated...

I'm really looking forward to those Deadalic Games "A new beginning" and "A Whispered World" that feature great hand drawn graphics and also One upon a time in Japan, which also looks fantastic.

3. Hmmm, hard to say. I think I'll go with Monkey Island, although I like all of them. The style used for TES is not my favourite, but it still looks good..