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Video game manuals nowadays suck.

gentlemanorcusgentlemanorcus
edited 2011-10-21 22:46:07 in General
Look at the manuals for Fallout 1 and 2. They all contained lots of flavor text (Fallout 1's manual started with a complex lesson on the immediate and long term effects of nuclear weapons, Fallout 2's manual started with a tale from the hero of the first game). They contained detailed instructions of anything you needed to know. They even had recipes in the back.

The manual for Baldur's Gate 2 is another great example. Along with long, detailed explanations of the game rules, it also has lots of flavor text about the world, the city, and possible companions. There's a touching dedication to a passed-away worker in the beginning. The commentary between Volo and Elminster adds a nice touch.

Most of all, these manuals were fun to read. I remember, back when I first played Fallout when I was 11, reading the manual multiple times, just for fun. What happened to well-written manuals (PDF or not)?
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Comments

  • ChagenChagen
    [tɕagɛn]
    Man, you are so right.

    I remember reading manuals with glee. Part of the fun of buying a new game was ripping open the manual on the drive home.

    Now they suck
  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    My computer way back when couldn't play Mega Man X correctly, so I actually repeatedly read the MMX PC version manual while prizing the CD-ROM as some sort of magical macguffin of unknown power, a la Metroid Zero Mission's "unknown item"s.

    I know Dr. Cain's backstory a bit too well because of that.
  • MalkavianMalkavian
    MORONS! I'VE GOT MORONS ON MY PAYROLL!
    I think by and large it's because games don't need manuals to explain things anymore so it's not really a bad thing, but I do miss manuals will all sorts of extra tidbits like Zelda had.
  • WaltzyWaltzy
    BradyGames makes the shittiest guides ever. Especially Eternal Sonata's guide, there's so many things wrong with it that it's almost funny.
  • MalkavianMalkavian
    edited 2011-10-21 23:14:07
    MORONS! I'VE GOT MORONS ON MY PAYROLL!
    Arkham City didn't even have a manual. It just had a pamphlet of Batman merch, one of which is a 'batarang' x-box controller that looks nothing like a batarang.
  • ChagenChagen
    [tɕagɛn]
    I thought Prima was the one with the shitty guides
  • ClockworkUniverseClockworkUniverse
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!
    Print guides are all shit.

    The Dark Souls guide was made by the devteam, and even in the 16-page excerpt that came with the collector's edition, I found some inaccuracies.
  • ChagenChagen
    [tɕagɛn]
    Doublejump's Disgaea guides prove you wrong.

    I have never found inaccuracies in all three of them, and theu give you so much info it's insane. ALL Disgaea players reccomend that you have one, you'd be insane to play the games without one.
  • ClockworkUniverseClockworkUniverse
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!
    Haven't ever heard of Doublejump before. So maybe they're the exception.
  • gentlemanorcusgentlemanorcus
    edited 2011-10-21 23:21:59
    When I was younger, 8 or so, my parents said they'd buy me the guide for Mario Sunshine if my grades stayed an A for an entire quarter. I did so, they bought me the guide, and it... wasn't really worth it. I felt severely jipped. 

    I just got Fallout 2 from steam (I lost my old copy long ago), which made me think this topic up.
  • RedEyedAbyssRedEyedAbyss
    edited 2011-10-21 23:22:12
    ^^^If I have to use a guide to beat a game, then the game favours being obtuse over being well designed. Please tell me that it's only essential for min-maxing and you don't actually need to know it to get to the ending.
  • MalkavianMalkavian
    MORONS! I'VE GOT MORONS ON MY PAYROLL!
    You asked for a game guide and not a proper game for getting all as?
  • gentlemanorcusgentlemanorcus
    Yep. Like I said, I felt severely jipped. 

    Though, in retrospect, I think it was As and Bs. That's not as bad.
  • ChagenChagen
    [tɕagɛn]
    Abyss: The Doublejump guides are good for:

    -Stat tables

    -Figuring out how to unlock late-game stuff

    -Min-Maxing

    -Beating the optional Dark World/X-Dimension stages, which are quite often filled with puzzles so maddeningly difficult that a guide is pretty damn helpful

    -Figuring out how to do the most damage possible
  • CrimsonCrimson
    Give us fire! Give us ruin! Give us our glory!
    @Waltzy: No, Prima is definitely worse. At least Brady doesn't leave out huge sections of the game for the sake of not revealing spoilers.
  • MalkavianMalkavian
    MORONS! I'VE GOT MORONS ON MY PAYROLL!
    Have they not acquired Area 51's revolutionary gadget the spoiler tag?
  • CommandoDudeCommandoDude
    CRIMINAL SCUM!
    They're getting supplanted by tutorials.
  • DYREDYRE
    Printed guides seem extremely pointless, since all the useful information will be available online, for free and with significantly more accuracy and thoroughness.  Even if the guides for Disgaea are as Chagen says, I have a hard time imagining that not a single person has ever written up the same information somewhere online.
  • ChagenChagen
    edited 2011-10-22 10:53:58
    [tɕagɛn]
    I have doubts in online people's abilities to make good guides. I trust professionals much more.

    But Gamefaqs does have some really in-depth guides. I'm amazed that people do this shit for no money
  • ForzareForzare
    Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the last Day.
    Gamefaqs guides >>>>>> official guides.
  • CrimsonCrimson
    edited 2011-10-22 10:57:56
    Give us fire! Give us ruin! Give us our glory!
    ^^^They were popular back in the day when Gamefaqs didn't exist. Nowadays the only reason to buy a guide is for maps or don't have the time/ink to print out 100+page online guides.
  • RedEyedAbyssRedEyedAbyss
    Wait, do you actually print out the entire thing. I figure that if you need to print it out at all, just print out the section that's relevant.
  • ChagenChagen
    [tɕagɛn]
    Still, what compels people to do this for no money?
  • MillerCrossMillerCross
    You can change. You can.
    Asperger~

    Joking aside, some people find it fun.
  • CrimsonCrimson
    Give us fire! Give us ruin! Give us our glory!
    ^^Hell no. I print out sections myself. The problem arises when I don't print out enough...
  • TheConductorTheConductor
    The only time I've ever printed off a guide was when I didn't have a laptop and I was playing Fallout 2 at my dad's house.
  • DYREDYRE

    Still, what compels people to do this for no money? 

    They think it's fun, or they want to be helpful, or numerous other reasons.

  • gentlemanorcusgentlemanorcus
    The only time when I printed out the entirety of an online guide was when I was playing the first three Monkey Island games.
  • IanExMachinaIanExMachina
    I am Dr. Ned who is totally not Dr. Zed in disguise.
    @INUH
    I got that mini guide with Dark Souls, what inaccuracies were in it? (As I can't remember off the top of my head.)
  • gentlemanorcusgentlemanorcus
    "They're getting supplanted by tutorials."

    The thing is, I don't really get why. Baldur's Gate 2 had a tutorial, Fallout 1 and 2 had tutorial levels, and they all still have the great manuals I mentioned.
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