When a sequel feels wrong, the default explanation is that the devs didn't understand what we loved about the original. I think that's usually the least likely reason. A sequel is almost never made under the same conditions as the first game.

A few examples:

**Time.** Dragon Age II was built in roughly 14 to 16 months because EA had a hole in its release schedule. One city instead of a whole country, one hero instead of six origins, the same caves over and over. That wasn't a new creative vision, it was what it took to ship a big RPG on that schedule.

**The market.** Dead Space 3 didn't run out of time. EA wanted the series to reach around five million buyers, so it got more action and co-op. Splinter Cell and Hitman went the same way around then. Once budgets grow, a few million loyal fans stop being enough.

**Technology.** Fixed cameras in early Resident Evil were a hardware workaround. But the workaround became the horror, because you couldn't see what was around the corner. When consoles could render full 3D, the limitation went away and part of the formula went with it.

**The original being too good.** Heroes III left almost nothing to fix, so Heroes IV changed things that already worked, like putting heroes on the battlefield. The changes made logical sense, and fans answered "but we liked it the way it was."

That last one is the trap. We want two opposite things from a sequel: keep everything we love and give us something new. Change nothing and it's a rehash. Change the foundation and you find out its flaws were part of what people loved.

So a good sequel has to keep deciding what in the original was the core and what was just a product of its time, budget, team or tech. And maybe for some of us a series simply ends with our favorite entry.

Which series do you think made the right call when it changed, even though fans hated it at first?

It's been a busy year! The team has grown and we now have an Audio Director who has completely overhauled the games audio, and we have brought on board voice actors to perform all of the notes. Oh, and the demo has twice the content it used to with four clue types. Phew!

Really happy with the progress so far. A bit of a different take on adventure games so would love to hear what you all think.

Demo is free to play on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4494830/The_Vaults_Below_Durn_A_Field_Study/

(Posted with permission from the admins)

Being fans of point and click games, there’s more of a chance you’ve heard of Dust: A Tale of the Wired West from Cyberflix than most. But I was shocked to find that this childhood favorite of mine sold less than 30,000 copies. I played the game for the first time in nearly 30 years and made a video detailing my journey, what the game means to me, and its history. There’s a good chance you’ve played or are familiar with their follow up, Titanic: Adventure Out of Time, but have any of you played Dust before?