Duncan on 20/7/2009 at 13:43
One of the best manuals I remember reading was for XCOM UFO: Enemy Unknown. I'll have to dig that out again and take a look. All the little stories from squadies recalling what you can expect when you first land at a crash site (chaos and death!) and their tips for surviving.
Another would be the intro story for Dungeon Keeper about the hero setting out for fame and riches.
Matthew on 20/7/2009 at 13:54
I quite liked the random poetry in the Diablo II manual at the time.
Poetic thief on 20/7/2009 at 14:37
Yes!
When the devs were asking for what we would like to see in Dragon Age, one of the top things that people asked for was a huge, epic TOME of a manual that actually contained useful information in addition to extra lore and cool background information.
It does seem like most "manuals" these days are just a one page slip with useless, obvious information like "insert disk into dvd drive" :grr:
Here's to hoping that more developers see that manuals are important too. :thumb:
Stitch on 20/7/2009 at 16:13
You know, as much as I miss those juicy manuals of yore, for the most part they were either unnecessary or a symptom of inferior game design. They typically served to either explain gameplay or convey back story, but these things are better done in-game anyway.
There are obvious exceptions--lists of ships and spells and the like for strategy games or RPGs are essential--but for the most part I'm fine with fat manuals growing increasingly rare.
Morgoth on 20/7/2009 at 17:45
I don't fucking miss manuals at all.
What, are you too stupid to play the game without?
Stitch on 20/7/2009 at 17:47
Right now I wish posting required a manual.
Renzatic on 20/7/2009 at 17:50
How to be bad 'n rad and FUCKING A EDGY DUDE on the internet. A manual of style, by Morgoth.
catbarf on 20/7/2009 at 17:57
Quote Posted by Morgoth
I don't fucking miss manuals at all.
What, are you too stupid to play the game without?
Hurr durr, maybe the appeal of manuals is something other than having a fucking instruction guide?
nicked on 20/7/2009 at 19:01
I can certainly see that not needing a manual can be a good thing - unless the game is a complex RTS/RPG, you should certainly be taught how to play the game while ingame. But the point of the thread was to find examples of manuals that were entertaining and impressive in their own right, not simply instructional.
And I forgot to mention the Unreal Tournament games' well-thought-out, in-depth weapon descriptions that included histories of their design and manufacture.
Ulukai on 20/7/2009 at 19:27
I seem to recall the F-15 Strike Eagle (II, maybe) manual being the size of a small potting shed in relation to any other game manual I owned, with detailed explanations of lift, drag, aileron rolls and how to lock onto a MiG-27 1 pixel wide.
Those Flight Sim guys though, you know they loved it even more than I.
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