27th March 2006, 1:29 AM
Quote:I think you have it backwards, really. I think the reason manuals are disappearing is because they are less necessary than ever. With the age of PDF files and informative websites, not to mention a gaming population that is older and more experienced than in years past, it's just not as feasable to spend money writing and publishing a gigantic novella for a game. I know you like them for the novelty, but the fact is, an instruction manual is primarily intended to serve as a guide to initiate the gamer into the various basic functions of gameplay. As I stated before, there are so many websites now devoted to the more superfluous aspects of what used to reside in manuals that now it's just not worth the effort involved in making a large manual, or the added cost of shipping a box that is larger and heavier for it. If they were really that necessary, it's likely they would remain. That they don't is proof that they are not.
I cannot possibly disagree more in every conceivable way...
-PDFs are horrible, horrible things... even worse than text documents... Adobe Reader is an awful program, it scrolls so slowly and has the most broken "search" function I have ever seen... and you can't have the PDF and the game on the screen at the same time, and you often need to refer to the manual while playing a game; what do you do, print out a 500 page document? That'll be expensive!
-Information websites/FAQs serve a purpose too, but a properly done game should have the information in the box to teach you how to actually play the game. (I know that lots of oldschool games, particularly console ones, (and even many newer console games, especially in the RPG genre) do not ascribe by this concept, but it would be nice...)
-"like them for the novelty"? ... huh? What in the world does that mean? "Novelty"? What does novelty have to do with good manuals? Decent design and care is what it's about! Manuals aren't just acoutrements where you stick the "how to install" card, they are an integral part of the game... they can showcase game art, backstory, presentation... so many games had great manuals... and not just for "novelty". For interest, for making you laugh (Space Quest V's manual is priceless! It's like a Star Trek-ish tabloid... :D (it's also got the copy protection hidden in it too, in one of the cleverest forms of copy protection I ever saw)), for story the designers think would be just boring or unnecessary in the actual game (Warcraft I, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, Starcraft -- the backstories are told in the manuals, not in the games. They also include art, good writing that goes beyond the normal boring stuff, complete spell/unit lists (RPGs also often have (had? :() complete spell tables with images and descriptions, charts for level-up stats, weapon lists, etc, in their manuals)...
Console manuals are, in contrast, usually much less interesting and useful, but even there they often served as a place for extra backstory and character/enemy information... yes, you could put that all into the game, but it's simpler, and just as effective, to put it in the manual...
Really, the purpose of a manual is to serve as a manual that teaches you about the game and what it is, and then a guide for how to play it. The first task is one that is meant to be done before you ever play the game, and the second one as one you do while simultaneously playing the game -- and both NECESSITATE a format of manual that is NOT JUST ELECTRONIC! That Wizardry VII CD comes with a great full text document manual, but using it while playing is a major pain unless you print out several hundred pages, and it's meant to be used exactly then...
Quote:As I stated before, there are so many websites now devoted to the more superfluous aspects of what used to reside in manuals that now it's just not worth the effort involved in making a large manual, or the added cost of shipping a box that is larger and heavier for it. If they were really that necessary, it's likely they would remain. That they don't is proof that they are not.
Manuals have not, actually, ever been about being complete strategy guides. They teach you how to play, but not every detail and not specific strategies for beating levels or whatever. That's a different product's task...
As for the second point, not quite true. Game stores forced these smaller boxes on the industry; it was not really their choice. I'm sure Blizzard would have preferred to make a real manual for Warcraft III and not this stupid thing, and the same for other developers, but they're stuck... Yes, before that manuals gradually thinned and shrank for many titles, but major ones would have more substantial manuals. Even if games weren't making big 250-page manuals like the old Maxis games had in the later years of the large boxes, they still often had manuals truly worth reading...
Falcon 4.0's binder case, Baldur's Gate II's spiral-bound manual full of information, Warcraft I's double-sided manual with stories for each side inside, SimEarth's voluminous tome that explained every single option and feature in the game in great detail (that was the thickest of all of the SimGame manuals that we had, I think, though most of the others weren't far behind... Unnatural Selection, A-Train, Klik & Play, SimCity, SimCity 2000... Civilization II... Civilization I... Space Quest V... the manual sets found in the Quest for Glory games (the generic Sierra Adventure Game Information Manual (found in all sierra adventures of the day), the main game manual (funny though...), the Famous Adventurer's Coorespondence School manual (a guide to the Spielburg Valley, for people right out of the Famous Adventurer's Coorespondence School for Heroes! (QFGI; later games are of course different)... so many great manuals... how many of those games would have manuals worth such mention if they were somehow released now? Maybe a few, but not many...
Reading the QFGI-IV manuals on the CD (Quest for Glory Collection)... versus reading the real paper manuals from our copy of Quest for Glory I... there is absolutely no comparison... one is great, the other merely ... makes do... ... provides the information, without the detail, the feel...
I used to read manuals, always... now I often don't... and part of that is because games more often have decent tutorials now, so it is often less necessary, but it's certainly also because the manuals do not have the same kind of attention put into them.
I can give no better example than Civilization II with its thick manual and full-size wall poster of the tech tree, units (all) and terrain types (also all), versus Civilization III with its ... eh, thin, average manual... and that's about it.. but if you pay $10 extra you can get it in a metal tin with a few extras that make it seem cooler again! Joy!
Quote:ABF/ Why is it when i read your posts that you seem to be making excuses of how it cant be done?
Not excuses, good reasons. I've been reading about the oncoming ascendancy of digital distribution for some time now (some Microsoft people, etc), and I just don't see it...