SQ1 VGA: Stop the Hate

[Frede]

It's not even the fact that the Two Guys did not work on it that bothers me the most. I'm not that adamant about the original creators always having the final say. Sometimes, bringing in other people can be a good thing - "Star Wars" is probably the best example. But I do think it sucks that they weren't even told anything about the project. There's just no explanation for that, other than someone wanting to spite Scott and Mark. They had no chance at all to approve anything related to the game, so it makes sense to me that they'd disown it.

 

I think it's fair enough to let that sour my impression of the game, to a degree where I prefer the original one. It's not as if I want the remake to be forgotten or anything. But I would actually like to see a sanctioned remake by the Two Guys themselves, assuming they could make it more interesting than LSL:R.

[BlockMaster]

Stop thinking about it as the same game. Even if they're both called "Space Quest I", there are so many differences that it's like comparing two versions of a super-hero movie with different directors and actors. They're different. I prefer the VGA version for more than one reason. First, for young boys like I was at the time, a point-and-click interface was easier to control than a parsed interface. Space Quest I VGA is the first Space Quest game that I played, and the just-enough-detail trick of VGAs always caught my eye. The images give you enough details for you to be able to recognize your surroundings, but still leaves you with possibilities to imagine behind the scenes. The narration is absolutely excellent, and the death messages in the VGA version are so hilarious, that it makes me want to find more ways to kill Roger just to see them. The soundtrack is absolutely amazing; it gives a great ambiance to the gaming experience.

 

I totally agree about the arcade sequences in VGA games. If I could name one thing that I dislike with VGA games, it would be that. On the other hand, EGAs can be really frustrating (don't ask me how many hours it took me to realize that I needed to type "HOLD BREATH" before diving in the swamp hole in Space Quest II). I understand that a lot of you played the EGA first, and therefore you like it more. I played the VGA first, so I see it from a different angle. Right from the start with the amazing soundtrack, passing in the part where a ship shaped like a chicken is chased by an interstellar mantis, to the abandoned amusement park of Ulence Flats (I caught that joke later), finishing with escaping from the Deltaur after self-detonating the Star Generator, everything seemed so cool, from the beginning to the end. Unlike other ones, I do not think that it stands out from the rest of the series. Instead, I see it as an intergrated part, an expansion, with new graphics and soundtrack, to the wonderful world or Roger Wilco.

 

BlockMaster

[Fronzel Neekburm]

*takes a look at the poll results*

 

I did not expect this.

[Troels Pleimert]

But I do think it sucks that they weren't even told anything about the project. There's just no explanation for that, other than someone wanting to spite Scott and Mark. They had no chance at all to approve anything related to the game, so it makes sense to me that they'd disown it.

I'm not sure that's exactly what happened. I think they were told about it, but they were busy doing SQ4 and not able to be directly involved in the remake. Scott tells the story that they were asked to make comments, but when they did, they were told, "Yeah, we can't change that. Anything else?"

[Fronzel Neekburm]

I dread what's going to happen when Scott Murphy hears about the results of this poll.

 

[Frede]

"Hey, Scott! A whooping five people have said they prefer the VGA remake of SQ1!"

 

Yeah, I can feel WilcoGate coming... ;)

[Fronzel Neekburm]

Yeah, I can feel WilcoGate coming... ;)

 

"Hey, Scott! A whooping  have said they prefer the VGA remake of SQ1!" :D

 

Yup, WilcoGate coming!

[drdrslashvohaul]

Kudos on the new sig. :)

[JimmyTwoBucks]

"Hey, Scott! A whooping five people have said they prefer the VGA remake of SQ1!"

 

 

To be fair though, it's five out of ten... 50% of the electorate, which is pretty high.

 

Would be interesting to run the same poll somewhere with a higher sample size, to see if these

results scale up at around the same percentages.

[MusicallyInspired]

I can almost guarantee that the preference at large would be due to the easier p&c interface rather than a preference of VGA's art direction over EGA's. Or even the simple fact that it's VGA and higher resolution, has a soundtrack, etc. Any bias towards the actual artistic direction would originate from that.

[BlockMaster]

I can almost guarantee that the preference at large would be due to the easier p&c interface rather than a preference of VGA's art direction over EGA's. Or even the simple fact that it's VGA and higher resolution, has a soundtrack, etc. Any bias towards the actual artistic direction would originate from that.

Or in my case, all of that, plus loving the amazing VGA version for what it is : an amazing game by itself.

 

Go VGA! ;)

[drdrslashvohaul]

To be fair though, it's five out of ten... 50% of the electorate, which is pretty high.

50% of a 0.0001% turnout. So about 0.00005% of the electorate. ;)

 

But I would agree with our MusicallyInspired comrade that most people probably prefer the VGA version for ease of access, and a number of other reasons. But then many people prefer CD to vinyl...

[Frede]

Objectively, it is indeed a very pretty game to look at. But, again, I think it's a bit too colourful. Much like SQ6 is a bit too cartoony for me. SQ5 remains my favourite game, but I've really grown to think of the high-res (compared to AGI, at least) EGA of SQ3 as the definitive look for the series.

[Fronzel Neekburm]

VGA is in the lead again.

 

[Capn_Ascii]

Hmm. There seems to be a bit of vitrol bubbling up in this thread. I was afraid of this; I still remember some of the same things being thrown around back in the old days. SRS BZNS and all. ;)

 

For what it's worth, I prefer SQ1 VGA. There's a few reasons for this, but by far the biggest one is this one:

Josh Mandel wrote some killer new material for the click events

 

Simple fact of the matter is, IMHO, Space Quest didn't really hit its stride writing-wise until SQ3. There's nothing *wrong* with SQ1EGA and SQ2, but like many of the other adventure game greats (especially Sierra's own AGI games), the writing was a bit tame compared to what they started coming up with in later games. Most of the written humor in SQ1EGA and SQ2 is either expospeak gags or dry wit; nothing bad about either of those, but it does make for less 'punchy', laugh-out-loud humor. Right around SQ3 is when the smartassery quotient (towards both the player and the sci-fi material they were mocking) really took off, which is easily the series' strong point. SQ1 VGA, being a later release, incorporated that more developed sense of humor - add Josh "Reward exploration! More random messages! MORE!" Mandel into the mix, and you get a game that gets me laughing as much as SQ4 and SQ5. :lol:

 

Another reason: The music. Good god, the music. :blink: Easily my favorite score in the entire series. The bombastic new version of the SQ theme alone won my heart, and much of the rest of the soundtrack seems to be a loving homage to Star Wars's similar style of orchestral epic-ness. I mean, heck, go back and listen to the end-credits medley, and tell me they're not ripping off A New Hope. But, that's a good thing. ;)

 

As for the art style...I'll admit, I think I like Mark's unique sci-fi designs (not just in SQ1, but in general) more than the raygun gothic look VGA went for. But like someone else said earlier in this thread, it's not unlike someone writing a cover of your favorite song. It's *different*, sure, but not necessarily worse than the original. Just...different.  ;)  I like the occasional foray into 'what if' scenarios, just for the sake of variety.

 

As for the behind-the-scenes aspects of development...I'm not going to get into that. I make it a point to judge games based on their own merit, not because of its pedigree.

[JDHJANUS]

So, I have a question about the art design with the remake. From my understanding, Douglas Herring did a lot of the background art (and he even posted on Facebook about doing the artwork for the Keronean desert, including the giant skeleton). He is credited in the game as both Director and Art Designer. I may have asked this before in other places, but what exactly was outsourced artwork wise with the game, and where is the evidence that this was done? (Not that I don't believe you guys, I just couldn't find anything in the credits or manual about the artwork being outsourced). Has anyone confirmed this with Douglas Herring? If anyone would know, it would be he. Just curious.

 

Talk to you later!

 

JDHJANUS

Josh

[MusicallyInspired]

You generally won't see outsourced work credited. But I'm curious about this as well. I actually don't remember where I heard that it was outsourced. I don't know why I would believe it if it didn't come from an official source, but I could be wrong. Must have been a long time ago I heard it.

[Fronzel Neekburm]

But I'm curious about this as well. I actually don't remember where I heard that it was outsourced. I don't know why I would believe it if it didn't come from an official source, but I could be wrong. Must have been a long time ago I heard it.

I kinda had a feeling that googling "Scott Murphy interview" would provide the answer. Turns out, I was right.

[Collector]

Perhaps mostly the VIEWs?

[JDHJANUS]

Ah, well that's good to know. At least we have some sort of confirmation. It would be nice, though, to hear from Douglas Herring just how much of the artwork was actually outsourced. I have reached out to him on Facebook, so I hope to hear something back from him soon!  I will keep you updated with whatever I hear!

 

Thanks, Fronzel! :)

 

What are the VIEWs, Andrew?

 

Talk to you later!

 

JDHJANUS

Josh

[MusicallyInspired]

Basically the animations. Items, props, actors, etc. Anything that's not a background.

[Fronzel Neekburm]

Kudos on the new sig. :)

I had never heard the expression "mealy mouthed" before, so I was quite impressed with that.

[Decaffeinated Jedi]

Space Quest 1 EGA holds a special place in my heart as my first Space Quest (and my second adventure game after King's Quest II). When I think "Space Quest," Roger wandering through the 16-color corridors of the Arcada is still one of the first images that springs to my mind.

That said, I like the B-movie style of the VGA remake quite a bit; it always seemed like a good fit for the overall tone of the series. It also made the remake feel markedly different from the original, which I would argue is a good thing. The rather unfortunate King's Quest I remake didn't achieve that. Also, as others have mentioned, the SQ1VGA soundtrack is outstanding.

If you asked me to choose a favorite, SQ1EGA is the obvious choice. I think it's bogus that Sierra didn't involve the Two Guys in the VGA remake, but I can still appreciate it as a new spin on an old favorite.
 

Also, I wanted to come back to my favorite quote from this entire thread:
 

Hahaha, I love how European and confused this community is.

 

The Wilco World Wide Web: European and Confused Since 1995.

 

Jess

[Troels Pleimert]

Wha-- where? Who? How? What year is it?

[Johnathon]

VGA, though I'll admit I wasn't quite old enough to play EGA when it was released. Therefore, I don't suffer the particular nostalgia "bias" that some older fans may.  ;) 

I was first introduced to the series through sq3 (my personal favorite), and the sq1ega and sq2 diskettes had already been lost by my father by the time I'd become old enough to be curious about the games (age 8). From there, I played sq4, and then sq6, and then sq5 (all purchased separately as single box editions).

I remember how bitch'n hard games 1 and 2 were to get ahold of, and therefore, after I'd exhausted my energy on games 3 through 6, I proceeded to cry and whine to my parents about how horrible my life was because stores never sold sq1 or sq2,  because I was so curious about them and desperate to play them.

Where was I...? Oh yes.. so my chronological sense of the games has been all screwed up from the beginning, and it wasn't until I found the six pack collection at Costco that I finally got my hand on the first two chapters. Naturally, I played sq1VGA first, and quite enjoyed it.

I wouldn't say it's an unsubstantiated bias. SQ1vga has a lot of good qualities, though I am quite willing to believe had it been Scott and Mark's vga version, it'd be loads better.

That having been said, I also greatly value the ega version, because while I'm slightly more of a late 80's/early 90's art style biased fan, I'm also an sq fanatic and purist. EGA was, of course, much easier to beat after playing the point n click vga version, but it's still a fun little gem. No different than being able to appreciate an old black and white film in it's original context, really.

I know, this didn't really help much.