One change to ET that would have benefited the game's reputation

[Inky]

I was thinking about ET and it's status as "worst game ever" (it's not,) and something occurred to me.

There are no pits in the movie. There is a scene where ET is found in a ditch, but no pits. Falling into the pits is probably the biggest complaint about the game. My idea (and I'd hack this if I could,) is to get rid of the pits and replace them with trees that the parts are hidden behind. Now the game is more faithful to the movie, and the most frustrating element of the game has been corrected. Now you'd have to adjust other gameplay components to make the challenge at about the same level (starting energy I think) and you've got a better,more playable game.

Thoughts?

 

[bomberpunk]

a hack already exists that make the pits smaller. by removing the pits altogether, you can't collect the phone pieces and win.

[WolfAmongWolves]

I think that's a pretty good idea. To build on it, and to make the game even more faithful to the movie, you could have the search take place inside Eliot's house rather than outside. If I remember correctly (it's been a while since I've seen the movie) most of the phone pieces, e.g. the Speak'n'Spell, the circular sawblade, etc. were found inside Eliot's house and not somewhere in the woods. You could replace most of the outside screens with several rooms with different pieces of furniture that you need to search, kind of like Sneak'n'Peek, with the searches costing time and energy, all while being chased by the FBI agents and scientists. In the movie those guys showed up in the house as well.

[Army Of 2600]

Why is this game consistently considered the worst of all time? It's hardly a classic, but I'll take ET over any of the horrendous Swordquest releases, just for starts.

 

Anyone else wish to contribute an Atari 2600 title that is worse than ET?

[Inky]

Where to start? Karate, most Games by Apollo, Swordquest series...

[WolfAmongWolves]

There are tons of games that are worse than ET. I think one of the reasons the game has such a bad rep is that it was the wrong type of game for its target audience (kids) back when it was first released. As a kid, I had the typical short attention span. All of the arcade games that I knew and loved where full of immediate action, and that's what I wanted and expected from my Atari. That's why as a kid I didn't care much for ET or any of the other adventure-type games like Adventure or Haunted House. I thought they were boring. When I popped a cartridge into my Atari, I wanted to shoot stuff, or dodge/jump over stuff, or punch stuff. I didn't want to endlessly wander around looking for stuff, and then have to run like a pussy every time an FBI agent/a dragon/a ghost showed up. As a grownup I developed more patience and a different taste in gaming, and now I really enjoy games like ET and Adventure with a focus on exploring and strategy. That's probably a development many gamers went through, but people are still remembering how much they disliked it as a kid.

[moycon]

Why is this game consistently considered the worst of all time?

 

The myth. Not one of my friends thought the game was terrible and we all had a copy back in the day. Other than a few old school players who couldn't get beyond a game that required you to do more than dodge and shoot, and a whole bunch of kids and/or non-gamers who repeated the myth that the media perpetuated, that being that E.T. was terrible, everyone returned their copy, it caused the industry to crash etc... Most gamers who bought and played the game when it was new to the market wouldn't have even considered it bad much less the worst EVER!

 

I like the pits. I always associated them with that scene that made everyone weepy, when E.T. was found almost pure white and obviously dying. It was more than a little ditch in the movie in my eyes. Maybe I'm remembering it wrong, it's been years since I saw this movie but didn't the people had to climb way down to get to the little fella who was lying in a running creek bed. A ditch is something you could trip over at night, I always pictured E.T. very sick, stumbling along, trying to get his phone pieces and falling way down the embankment into the creek below, no longer able to move because he is so weak, it's just lucky someone found him in time. Considering the system and it's limitations, I think it was an amazing translation. Wouldn't come close to being anywhere on the list of worst of all time.

[roadrunner]

What if ET was hacked into one of the Swordquest games?
ET could go into different rooms to collect the pieces.

[bomberpunk]

sounds like a great candidate for the video game crash of 2015.

[+Random Terrain]

I was thinking about ET and it's status as "worst game ever" (it's not,) and something occurred to me.

 

There are no pits in the movie. There is a scene where ET is found in a ditch, but no pits. Falling into the pits is probably the biggest complaint about the game. My idea (and I'd hack this if I could,) is to get rid of the pits and replace them with trees that the parts are hidden behind. Now the game is more faithful to the movie, and the most frustrating element of the game has been corrected. Now you'd have to adjust other gameplay components to make the challenge at about the same level (starting energy I think) and you've got a better,more playable game.

 

Thoughts?

 

Sounds familiar:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/43395-make-the-e-t-landfill-true-project/?p=524435

. . . I'd rather have items hidden behind trees or something like that, but as it is, the game still has replayability, great graphics and sound (for the time it was made), and is better than most of the crap made for the Atari 2600. . .

 

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/65462-have-a-burning-desire-for-your-anti-et-message-to-be-heard/?p=807471

Yeah, like how about changing the wells into trees or boulders? Instead of falling in a well, the next screen would be the back of the tree or boulder. There would be no levitating, you'd just walk or run out of there to the left or right.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/72574-games-that-were-nearly-great/?p=889620

E.T. would have been perfect if it used something other than wells. How about having the stuff behind trees or bushes or boulders? Instead of a well screen, you'd have a 'behind the bush' screen and when you walk off the left or right side of the 'behind the bush' screen to leave, E.T. is plopped to the appropriate side of the object he was just behind. Then there would be no complaints from people who can't figure out how to levitate or catch themselves in mid-air or who constantly fall back into a well. No more levitating, just waddle or zip over to side of the screen.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/224815-poll-is-et-as-bad-as-people-claim/?p=2986530

I could make a similar game to the original with some of the changes people have wanted, but I'd also like to make a newer version where Washington, D.C. has its own screen, Elliott's house is on a different screen, and the phone pieces are hidden behind trees or something. Maybe there won't even be a Washington, D.C., just government goons chasing him.

 

[Saneless]

You sure do love those trees

[bomberpunk]

that dying ET looks a lot like uncooked bacon.

 

[+Random Terrain]

that dying ET looks a lot like uncooked bacon.

 

Maybe E.T. tasted like bacon. That could be why the government was after him. Imagine eating "bacon" that could heal you with one bite and never clog your arteries. It would change the world!

 

 

This post is probably not constructive, so hurry up and read it before it gets deleted.

 

[Inky]

So you want me to go back and necro old threads?

[+Random Terrain]

So you want me to go back and necro old threads?

Just pointing out that it has been brought up before and hardly anyone seems to care. Once somebody does it and people can play it, then they might care.

[bomberpunk]

who you callin a necro, hacker?

[Inky]

RT, It's all good in tha hood.