quote:
Originally posted by Spectator Beholder:
Perhaps [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/tongue.gif[/img]. But, as I told Unicorn in an e-mail to him, I've begun to suspect that there might be very few, or perhaps no true SIMs, because that most SIMs I've seen/heard off seems to contain at least a few adventure elements, making it kind of hard to say whenever we should think of it as a SIM, a SIM/ADV or an ADV with a few SIM elements.
Well, it all depends on what
you call a SIM.
For instance, if you consider Tokimemo (all), Pia (all), Comipa, Mitsumete Knight, PM3, Sotsugyo (I and II) as being SIM/ADV, because you can choose to go somewhere and talk to people, then, of course, I don't have anything to add...
For me, a game is a SIM as long as it is divided into regular time intervals, during which you can choose between different activities/plan activities which would modify the main character's (you, or your daughter, or your slave, or your student, etc.) stats AND that gameplay is an important part of the game.
OTOH, an ADV is a game in which you're free to choose your moves through a GUI and the flow of the game depends on your interactions (actions and talks) with the other characters.
A NVL is a simplified ADV, without the GUI but just text-based choices.
For instance, "Darcrows" (to take an example you're familiar with and apparently enjoyed) is a SIM because every half-day you can choose the training you're giving to the girls, it modifies their stats and this training is the main part of the game.
It is NOT an ADV because you don't choose to go to locations where your decisions would be what influence the flow of the game.
The same way, TM isn't an ADV, because even if you can choose to go to locations to interact with the girls (the "dates") or trigger off events, it's not what influences the flow of the game.
"Snow Drop" OTOH isn't a SIM, even if each day is segmented into time intervals, because in those time intervals, you don't choose activities to perform (or locations to perform an activity) but a location to go where events would happen for your character to react to. And it's an ADV because your decisions are what makes up the game's flow and there's a GUI.
"To Heart" is a NVL, because, even if your decisions are what makes up the game's flow, it's text only (no GUI).
EDT: Of course, we could also argue about who should give a definition or where to take it from. My answer would be to analyze definitions are needed for words. Words are part of a language, and the essential function of languages is to allow people to communicate and understand each others. Definitions are needed to provide a common ground for understanding through common meaning for the same word. Therefore, I think we should try to go for finding what is apparently the common definition. AFAI'm concerned, I'm basing mine on those found in the bishoujo magazines I read... which can be a bad thing, since I'm not reading the most widely read ones, but... [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/tongue.gif[/img]
[This message has been edited by olf_le_fol (edited 12-18-2002).]