nockgeneer

Fantastic points, Frede.
 
I have no idea what Paul was thinking, but it's clear all agree that what he's doing is completely asinine. And I don't think that's just because we're fans of Space Quest and/or friends of the Two Guys. It's because we're all decent people, and despite not really knowing what's going on with the project, we would rather be patient than speculate and potentially hurt the project. For a CEO to do this is inexcusable. Don't get me wrong, I certainly have no regrets about my involvement in Larry and appreciate the many wonderful opportunities to work with the talents of Al Lowe, Josh Mandel, the folks at N-Fusion, and some amazing fellow volunteers; All of those people were absolutely fantastic to work with, it's just a shame the guy that's head it all and brought so many fine people together is the very person that's running it into the ground. It's more disappointing than anything, really.
 
To your point, there are plenty of things anyone could find about Paul with a simple Google search, and that's not even counting the stories former co-workers might have about him. But you're right, we have more integrity than to get into specifics and completely trash Paul, despite any of us possessing the power to do so.
 
I'm very proud of this community for not putting up with the BS while still being civil about the situation. It's these sort of friendships people like Paul cannot appreciate, which really sucks but it's the path he's chosen.

I (Tom King) left a knee jerk comment on the Kickstarter thread, which I probably shouldn't have done. But it should be no surprise that Paul isn't the most pleasant person, so I don't think I'm necessarily letting the cat out of the bag there.
 
This is nothing but a big play for attention, and is best left ignored.

Sigh.. this is wrong on so many levels..
Why not offer suggestions on helping fix things? Isn't it in everyones best interest that adventure games will make a great comeback?
*sigh*

Please take what I have to say below with a grain of salt, as it is only my immediate sense on the matter. Nonetheless, given that I probably don't have as much know-how or background information as some of you guys do on Trowe, given what I did witness him saying here on this board months ago, and what he's just posted now on the update, here is what I honestly think; clear-cut, and non-sugar-coated. I could be wrong on some points or even on all, but anyhow:
 
If you ask me, Paul does believe in the project, and he does not believe that it is going to fail, and that is why he is behaving the way that he is. He is jealous of the Two Guys. He is jealous of the uniqueness and quality of the product they're producing, in comparison to his own resevoir of accomplishments at replay, and he is threatened by the idea of the project being finished and being successful.
 
I also believe that some of the influence to his sour behavior roots back to some bad blood between him and Mr. Scott Murphy, and the possibility that Paul, in some twisted sense, feels that Scott owes him something, because, unfortunately, Mr. Trowe doesn't seem to possess a true understanding of the concept of "charity" towards a friend. He seems, for example, to hold the unfortunate misconception that charity by definition means to help someone who is desperately in need so that you can grow him/her as a plant later on, only to cash in for your "friendly deed," because that is the easiest and most personally beneficial application of the virtue. (See Paul's attitude here)
 
And, I also believe that holding the position of CEO of a company implies it's own unique stresses.
 
And I think, as others have mentioned already, that he is also jealous of Chris Pope.
 
And... most notably... I believe that the more he continues, as he has been, the better he's going to make SpaceVenture look, and possibly the worse his own company. I take no pleasure in the irony of it for his company's detriment, but I must say, if it helps the Two Guys...
 
 
...not that they need it, Paul, not that they need it.
 
 
Again, I could be wrong, but this is what I've taken away from what I've seen over the past year. You guys tell me if I'm making any careless judgements here.

In my view, there would have to be a lot more than bipolar disorder going on. Granted, I haven't had the "pleasure" of dealing with the man himself, but I am privy to a certain amount of inside information that I've pretty much sworn I'll never share. Suffice to say, Paul Trowe is anything but your average Joe.
 
I don't personally mind that he doesn't believe in the project. He's not the first and he probably won't be the last. That's part of the package when it comes to crowdfunding, and even to adventure games. But he's been exploiting his professional status to privately harass Scott and Mark (especially the former), to deliberately delay the project and to discredit Chris Pope. There's documentation for every claim I've made here available. Some of it widely; I find it important to note that there are no baseless accusations in this thread.
 
I may come across as outrageously unsympathic here, but I don't even care much if he's suffering from mental disorders. If he is, I'm sorry for him, of course, and I hope he eventually seeks treatment, but a mental disorder is just not a licence to be as much an asshole as he has been since this campaign kicked off. There's just no excuse.
 
The funniest, and most tragic, thing in all of this is that he seems to really expect that Scott and Mark will jump ship and join Replay. It's just so obvious that he's aiming for that to happen. Is he really that delusional? At this point, it's a no-win scenario for him. Even if he was to step in and replace Chris Pope, his reputation would forever be in ruins among us "Space Quest" fans, and some of us might even choose to end our support for the project if this was to happen. I love Scott and Mark dearly, but I would personally pretty much be done with this, were it helmed by Paul Trowe. Just as I wholeheartedly support Al and Josh returning to the industry, but wouldn't dream of throwing money after the Replay LSL games.
 
And yes, Brandon is very right that this discussion is happening publicly. In my view, there's nothing harmful about that. Paul Trowe presumably knows that what he's doing is not okay by any definition, so we may as well talk about it. There's the old saying that "silence gives consent" and while I don't want to play as dirty as Paul clearly does, he sure as hell isn't going to catch me accepting this kind of behaviour either.

Paul Troll again? I thought the hatchet was buried and a deal made (as stated by Josh Mandel) that would insure his silence. It's not fair. 2GFA and Chris Pope have been nothing but supportive of Replay's endeavours (even advertising and promoting then in their updates) and, as far as I know, haven't said a single negative thing against them, have they? Is he really just so butthurt over them not joining forces with Replay? Or is he really just a troll? I just don't get it. If you don't like it then fine, but leave us alone who are grateful and trying to enjoy it. Wait until it fails, at least, before badmouthing it.

Good call, Fred.
 
It's worth reiterating that there will be a grand Kickstarter update to shed light on the status of the project and what the difficulties have been on October 16th.
 
That announcement/update was actually planned before Paul made his comment, so it's kind of annoying that he's accusing 2GFA of being secretive and sly and not giving out any information, which makes it seem like the update is a direct reaction to his criticism. It isn't. :)

I've obviously shared my thoughts on this on the Kickstarter comment page itself, but I'm glad we're having a discussion about it here too.
 
I'd personally like to urge you other fans to either ignore Paul or let him know, politely, that his services are not requested. Finding dirt on Paul actually isn't very difficult, considering he's been covering his tracks with about the same grace as an elephant in a porcelain store.
 
But here's the thing: we're better and, well-documented delays aside, we're getting an original game. We're not getting a remake and we're not getting a "Space Quest" game licenced from Activision. There's no CEO involved who'll poke and prod the Guys till they change the interface during development. Nosiree. We're getting a brand new and exciting sci-fi comedy adventure game from Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe. We can afford to be better.
 
Paul seems to have the idea that this is a black and white 1960's thriller where he can drive Chris Pope mad by continuously harassing him. I say we ignore him and his sad delusions.
 
tl;dr SpaceVenture is happening, the Guys have finally gone independent and there's nothing Paul "I like to pretend I'm Ken Williams" Trowe can do about it.

Those who like reading sci-fi and have (literally) a dollar to spare should go check out this short-story project
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/647049806/derelict-a-short-story/

That's awesome, guys! Really happy you're on board with the idea. :)
 
I see what Chris is saying about VSB. And I realize there will be quite the overlap between the VSB and Incinerations commentaries. You can fight amongst yourselves who wants to show up for which commentary -- I'm all for the relaxed atmosphere; meaning, for instance, Blackthorne could sit in on the Incinerations commentary if he wanted to, just as long as we remember what game is in focus. ;)
 
As for the nitty-gritty: Really, the idea came from me just wanting to play these games again. So I'm thinking, I'll be hosting the Hangout and playing the actual games (start to finish), but it's really you guys I want to hear from. So I won't be mouthing off all the time, like I usually do in Hangouts. Actually, it's kind of like a "commentary /slash/ guide the idiot through my game" situation :) which will give you plenty of opportunity to comment. And also the trick is to get me through the game in 4 hours or less (which is the limit on the YouTube stream).
 
Hope that all sounds good to you. As for when, well ... here's my dream playlist. Depending on what weekend the VSB guys are free, we can sort of figure out when the rest of you need to think about clearing schedules. ;)
 
1. Vohaul Strikes Back
2. Space Quest: Incinerations
3. Space Quest II VGA
4. Pledge Quest I & II
 
(I'm thinking the Pledge Quest games are just the right ones to finish off on. Looking forward to the future and all that. Plus, maybe we can get The Pope to show up for it.)

I had one of my crazy ideas today. Hearing The Two Guys comment on each of the original Space Quest games was a fun thrill. However, today it dawned on me that it had been over a year since I played "The Big Three", i.e. the three Space Quest fan games that came out around the start of 2012 - Space Quest: Incinerations, Vohaul Strikes Back and Space Quest II VGA. In fact, I only played the two first as betas and, yeah, I've taken SQ2VGA for a spin around the block a few times, but not in one solid stretch. Not to mention the two Pledge Quest games.
 
So maybe you've already guessed what I had in mind. Instead of just playing them again by myself, I thought it'd be a perfect opportunity to make a public ass of myself again. And I'd always loved to pick the brains of the wonderful people who made them.
 
I was thinking of maybe firing up a trio of Google Hangouts at selected times and inviting the clever, creative minds of the fan games in to join me on a play-through commentary. Chris Ushko (and whoever wants to butt in) for Incinerations; Frederik Olsen and PCJ (and whoever wants to butt in) for VSB; Blackthorne (and whoever wants to butt in) for SQ2VGA. I'm just mentioning these people because they've been in Hangouts before. Oh yeah, and while we're at it, why not take a marathon stroll through Pledge Quest I and II with DecafJedi and Akril? Could be fun.
 
Only question is, of course, would they be up for it? Consider this an open-letter invitation. I'm thinking of weekends. Weekends are good.
 
Personally, I'd really like to start with Incinerations. It's the one that's been the longest. Chris, when's good for you? Huh? Huh? ;)
 
Edit: We would, of course, be live-streaming these babies on YouTube for the world to see and laugh at.

Someone (cough) needs to do a video of this. ;)

I'd like to see a picture of Roger Wilco laughing J. Jonah Jameson-style at this thread. Barring that, Space Quest Gangnam Style.

Loved the stuff in the kickstarter video!
 
Highlights for me:
 
 
- TACO NOVA!!!! Yessss, tacos in space are what I'm all about!
 
- Landfill and gas station!!! Great place for lots of cool things, especially liked the gas station part of it.
 
- Ace's cool van-shaped ship! Awesome idea...
 
- Drop-down icon things! Walk! Hand! Look! Talk! WRENCH! Can't wait to get ta pressing!
 
- Rooter transforming! Nuff said...
 
- Drain-snake and blender! Amazing.
 
- Guy who looks like Watto! A spoof of Episode 1 in there maybe?
 
 
Some people seemed concerned at the main site that it's taking a long time and that the video suggested not
much has been done so far?
I'm not really bothered as long as at the end all of these great ideas come together fully formed and done the
justice they deserve... I know projects like this can take a long time, so I'd rather wait than have them rush it.
 
Also, hard to tell if the video really represents how far along they actually are if they don't want to show
too much stuff just yet.

Kickstarter? ;)

Hey kids!
 
James Mulvale here, I wrote the score for Quest for Infamy, the Cluck Y'egger game, SpaceVenture prototypes and a bunch of other stuff...I am NOW writing an album of both orchestral and organic-sound musical compositions that are recorded in true 3D audio meaning you will hear things coming from in-front and behind your head, above and below it... Not just left and right. My music will sample nature as well as human and household sounds and I intend to make my listeners feel like they are a million light years away. Please spread the word and if you think this is a pretty cool idea (it's definitely an unusual experience) then throw a few dollars in this direction and you'll be in for a treat!
 
KICKSTARTER PAGE
 
and here's another 3D audio tune made entirely from DUCK TAPE... Headphones Necessary for 3D!!
 
DUCK TAPE SONG
 
 
Love JM (sickfiction)

I think Frede was more referring to the way it was made rather than the actual content, though that plays a part as well. You're, of course, welcome to enjoy it.

Sent some recordings, let me know if you want tweeks to something or think I should try for one of the other characters.

I hereby nominate pcj for Best Intra-Community Awards Suggestion! ;)
 
Jess

Jess is right. We need to have our own awards and give them only to ourselves. :y:

It was the RESOURCE.CFG file. The directories were incorrect: it was pointing to "C:\SIERRA\SQ4" as the "directory" and "patchdir," and it was pointing to "D:\sq4" as the "audio" dir. Correcting those to all be "C:\" fixed the problem. My kids, who are excited to play the game with me will be glad to learn of this development.
 
And, in the intro, the alien melts into his vomit. :)
 
Because I had it set to "display mode" of "speech," I wasn't seeing the text boxes either.

I'm working on a "behind the scenes" article about Space Quest for next month's GamesTM in the UK. Scott and Mark gave a great interview about the development of the various SQ games that will be used in the article.
 
There will also be a sidebar with few quotes from fans about their favorite Space Quest memories. So far no one in the GamesTM community has responded ( :( ) so I'm on the hunt for people I know love Space Quest!
 
To share your SQ memories, just post on the thread here: http://www.gamestm.c...php?f=3&t=21730
 
The best 3 or 4 responses get reprinted in the article.
 
Thanks!

As long as there's a tongue and a nose icon I'm good.

Hey!
 
 
I'm Javacat and some of you may recall me from my old alias, "JesseJames". I was a bit of a troll, wrote complete nonsense and caused a bit of trouble at times. I first appeared in a Space Quest community when I emailed Jess in 1999, when I contacted him with a query about SQ7 (I had forgotten about this, was just looking for when I joined that site and found the email from Jess :D ) and then registered in the SubSpace Channel not long after it was created in mid 2000.
 
Anyway, after joining the SubSpace Channel I moved into #sq and was a member of the JT for a while, although not so active in there. I stopped visiting the JT a long time ago but always stayed on #sq for some reason (nostalgia?). It was pretty much dead in #sq, with only me and PCJ in it for a few years, with E1ven occasionaly appearing. A year or so ago I switched into the channel after I saw something had been said and was surprised to see a channel full of people with various ramblings about the Two Guys reappearing :D
 
Didn't pay too much attention after this, just taking a little peek at the new game coming up and occasionally having a little gossip with Troels. Got a bit more of an interest now and finally decided to reappear on here!
 
Not much else to say, other than I've finally gotten an MT-32 and frickin love watching and listening to it whilst playing SQ3 :wub:
 
I should also probably get around to playing VSB now :ph34r:
 
 
Edit: Oh, my signature has just reminded me that I also did a HTML conversion of the Space Quest FAQ back in 2003. Totally approved by Troels :lol:

And now that you bring this up, I just thought I'd add: I think I recall Scott and Mark mentioning (or someone else saying they mentioned, during an interview, not necessarily recently, but years ago), that it was because of the "current" (of that time) goings on that Space Quest 4 resulted as such a dark game.
 
However, Space Quest 4 is a jewel of its own species (still worthy of being part of the series, in every respect, I think; yet so unique in its apocalyptic undertone), and I do believe such is one of the most invaluable qualities of a great author and storyteller; that is, to be able to utilize his/her current state of mind, whether on the up or down, to inspire his/her work in a way which brings it to life in an honest and convincing way.
 
I realize we're discussing a comedic series here, but I think the concept still applies. In any form of creative expression, an author's desire must be into it if it's going to be worth expressing to others - and that means if the work needs to ring a little close to home for the author, or to a degree serve as a means of therapeutic outlet, then, all the better - so long as it is balanced and doesn't completely overtake the work.
 
Perhaps I'm projecting too much my own strategy and values here. I'm not certain exactly how Scott and Mark have felt throughout the years; but every work is an expression and revelation of its creator(s), that is unavoidable.
 
Just try and tell me for a moment, even looking at Space Quest 3, that the whole bit about the Software Pirates ruining the series, and the cubicles with the overworked programmers being whipped wasn't a form of comedic outlet, or displacement therapy. And, if you ask anyone, they'll probably tell you they found it funny as hell when they played it.
 
From what I've read here, I have no doubts that Scott and Mark have every ability they need to make SQ7, and if they decided to (even and despite whatever feelings from the present or past that reside) it would still be awesome.
 
It's simply a matter of whether or not they desire enough to do it.