Mechanics Investigation - Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? - ADG Pro 31

[@verysoftwares]

interesting video Kris, your analytical approach fits ADG Pro videos so well.

[@Pixelmusement]

Part of the reason why I started the "Pro" series of videos! (The other part being that I wanted an excuse to be able to play these games again!)

[@toastrave7820]

after years of searching i finally found your channel again & i'm glad to be back

[@JamieBainbridge]

Deep dive into DOS game mechanics like this is really comfy. Great video. I think you actually hit the point on the head exactly. If a game can get kids to remember "so-and-so's flag is these colours" and other things, then it's taught them geography facts, which was the whole point.

[@horrorboy81]

I love this game! I used to play it everyday when I was a child

[@solsticeprojekt1937]

The NSA will send you a recruitment letter soon.

[@Pixelmusement]

That would be an exceptionally unusual thing to receive in the mail as a Canadian citizen! :P

[@dinitroacetylen]

@@Pixelmusement This would mean that you awesomeness transcends national borders.

[@endymallorn]

A little anachronism here, but… Until next crime, Gumshoe.

[@Compucles]

Hmm, interesting. The Deluxe Edition uses separate speech bubbles or something like that to indicate crook hints. I believe the hints themselves are also less ambiguous in that regard.

[@Compucles]

Yeah, I just play without any reference materials to make it a proper challenge, aside from the promotion questions which I look up online if necessary.

[@djnak7856]

Great analysis. I gave up on this game early on because it "cheats" - it forces certain game outcomes, sort of like Mario Kart forces a close race finish. Once I realized the crook will never be at the next stop (until you've passed the forced sequence of trips) I stopped playing. I prefer Bushbuck, where you can fly to a city of your free choice, and have a chance of catching the crook (or item) right then and there.

[@AronFigaro]

Is it skunny time again?

[@7thDementia]

Strangely, the version of Carmen Sandiego I played as a kid was the later Deluxe Edition on CD-ROM (which is also DOS). Had voice acting and audio clues, so it was a little tougher.

[@BBHood217]

That's also the version I played. I wonder if the mechanics mentioned here also apply to that version.

[@megamanfan3]

It might be possible that the Deluxe Edition had some of the mechanics retooled. I don't really know for certain. That would require comparing the coding between the two versions.

[@MrBenMcLean]

I love the TV show. I love the TV show so much. Early 90s Rockapella will always be the epitome of cool to me. But the computer game is poorly designed. There's no way around it: this game fails at teaching geography and at being a fun game because of the terrible hint design. At every turn it's doing something stupid where the content is at odds with the mechanics instead of their reinforcing each other. I'm sorry, this is just a bad game. But I really love the TV show and would never want to say anything bad about it.

[@Pixelmusement]

To be fair, this game was pioneering its own unique form of edutainment back in the mid-80s, thus why it got so popular to begin with. Sure, in retrospect it has problems and shortcomings, but it did the job for its time. :B

[@JamieBainbridge]

I think that's untrue. Not many 6 year olds knew as much about Europe as I did thanks to the old CGA Carmen in Europe game. Some years later I needed to un-learn Yugoslavia.

[@Compucles]

As mentioned, the clues refer to the country rather than the city, which isn't a problem once you know that and isn't that hard to figure out after a few cases anyway. How else is the hint design stupid?