pcj

Well, that and the fact that Roger was hanging out with Latex Babes by SQX suggests that their marriage didn't work out too well, for one reason or another. The arguments that VSB and Inc make seem as valid as any other in that context.

Dear all,
 
I am pleased to inform you that the unofficial SQ prequel "Decisions of the Elders"  has been released yesterday.
Playing Roger's parents it's up to you to save the legend.

Decisions of the Elders is a full length (about 30 rooms) retro game (320x200 EGA graphics, AGI fonts) with challenging puzzles. But don't worry! Even though this game is a tribute to the beloved Sierra adventure games there are no dead ends. And there is a walkthrough available!

If you loved the old Sierra adventures there's a really good chance for you to like this game!

You have heard of this game before? That's because a short part has been pre-released in 2012. Now the game is completely finished!
 
The game can be found in the games database of AGS (adventure game studio).
You can also download the game directly at: http://www.tonundtext.at/downloads/DOTE.zip
I will also try to attach the ZIP-file to this thread.
 
Have fun!!!
 

I also have to stress that I did enjoy Moebius a great deal. The same goes for Phoenix‘ previous effort Cognition (even though I haven't finished that one yet). They both have their flaws - and those are severe enough to prevent these games from attaining widespread appeal - but to me they felt like the gaming equivalent to a fun B-movie. One of the things that work really well about Moebius is how Jane Jensen clearly relishes in doing all those things you‘d never get away with once the big studios are involved (naming your main character Malachi Rectum, having him be a condescending bastard to everyone, the sexual tension between the two male leads). All that doesn‘t matter with Moebius, it doesn‘t need mass-market appeal. That‘s what‘s great about it. Moebius was also one of the more pleasant backer experiences I had and I‘d be inclined to support them again, were it not for the fact that I basically swore off Kickstarter altogether.

That being said, I‘m quite apprehensive about GK20 for the exact same reason I was convinced Moebius was going to (and does!) work: GK20 has that whole „It needs to be successful for there to be a GK4“-stigma attached to it. I have absolutely zero confidence that the technical polish Frede hopes for is going to happen. I remember when the first Moebius Alpha was released, they urged backers not to post videos of it on youtube, due to the unfinished nature of the build. Funny thing is, all the stuff that people complained about because it felt unfinished in the Alpha was pretty much identical to how it appears in the final game. Gameplay-wise, there were some debates, but technically, everyone agreed that the animations are garbage. And still, they didn‘t change it. Maybe they could, you know, hire a certain spacequest.net forum user to do the animations for them...


Just as a side note: Phoenix Online Studios ought to change their name: That POS abbreviation is quite unhelpful.
 
 
 
 
edit:
Another concern I forgot to bring up: Mark my words, when GK20 comes out, it‘s going to raise all sorts of hell among the SJWs. I'm willing to bet money that there will be a ton of reviews that will contain words like „racist“ or „stereotype“. And I don‘t think they will have Dr John to suddenly be a white guy and have his sanctuary somehow not be draped with manflesh. So, have your popcorn ready when that shitstorm hits.

That's probably because the guy two posts above yours designed a lot of the animations in TSL but had nothing to do with Moebius ;) 

I helped kickstart Moebius, largely to help the adventure game revival along. I haven't played Moebius yet but didn't really get a good impression of POS's stuff when I played TSL, so I will probably give Moebius a pass as well.

That's probably because the guy two posts above yours designed a lot of the animations in TSL but had nothing to do with Moebius ;) 

I helped kickstart Moebius, largely to help the adventure game revival along. I haven't played Moebius yet but didn't really get a good impression of POS's stuff when I played TSL, so I will probably give Moebius a pass as well.

That's probably because the guy two posts above yours designed a lot of the animations in TSL but had nothing to do with Moebius ;) 

I helped kickstart Moebius, largely to help the adventure game revival along. I haven't played Moebius yet but didn't really get a good impression of POS's stuff when I played TSL, so I will probably give Moebius a pass as well.

That's true, but be careful. If you don't watch yourself you may find yourself with a game like Jurassic Park that omits walking entirely, which also prohibits freedom of exploration and that requires a bit of non-linearity, something narrative can't provide. I'm not one to completely follow narrative solely.

Not sure if this has been discussed, but I believe it is an important consideration.
 
What is something many of us do as soon as we start certain adventure games? Turn up the character's walking speeds, right? Who wants to sit and wait while a character lumbers from one side of the screen to the next, over and over?
 
I was recently playing Moebius (disappointing product from a developer who apparently struggled technically to make the game work, but no need to get into that here), and I found it annoying how slowly the main character walks around and performs many actions. Even in tense scenes, where the character's safety is at risk, he still strolls around as if he hasn't a care in the world.
 
My suggestion for SpaceVenture: definitely give us the option to make the playable character run/jog whenever we want, rather than simply walk.

"Worst" is harsh, IMO. There are many fans who like SQ1 and 2. In my opinion, they have aged more gracefully than pretty much all the other major AGI games from around that time period. Okay, I'm not the biggest fan of SQ2, but give me that over KQ2 any day.
 
Consider SQ3, then. It has plenty of funny settings, like outside the Mog on Phleebhut. There are a few visual gags aboard the Garbage Freighter. But the majority of it looks like something out of a straight sci-fi game. Parts of SQ4 being even darker as well. And yeah, both games have their share of generic corridors. Not every location has to be Nigel's room from SQ6 to have fun stuff going on in it.
 
Not going to touch SQ1VGA. Yes, it's a Space Quest game, but it's not really a Two Guys from Andromeda game (they both resent it, I believe, but Mark is, by his own admission, generally less outspoken than Scott). Unless you will also consider Magna Cum Laude and Box Office Bust to be Al Lowe games.

Or the robot from SQ4/SQ12 just shoots you.

This could be like an anti-Kickstarter, where people would pay to PREVENT a developer from making a game.  Kickstopper?

Right on, brother. Who gives a fuck if prevailing attitudes against women and ethnic minorities keep white men in power. I'm a white man. Why should I give a shit?
 
The only thing more annoying than a PC bore is an anti-PC bore. I have no problem with jokes or themes that aren't "polite", providing there's a point to them and providing they fit properly within the context of the story that is being told. It's the unthinking, cliché drivel that turns me off. A film like Dallas Buyers Club, for example, isn't PC, but tells an important story about how screwed up the world is/was. A film that simply shouts "fag" to get laughs isn't. Not a difficult concept to get your head around, really.
 
All I'd ask of developers is that they don't live in the 1950s. I find the sorts of stories that play on the "thou gaineth a WOMAN" plot tropes to do something new and interesting are worthwhile in themselves because... er... they're new and interesting. 
 
The ultimate ideal of political correctness, by the way, is that people won't have to censor themselves because they won't think like idiots in the first place. :)
 
I do love how "er... quite like this game, but does it have to treat women as objects>" is automatically painted as "free speech chilling". A very good tactic by those who want the freedom to act like dicks to censor... well, obvious irony is obvious.

I think you also have to remember that most of the stuff we've seen involve being on a ship
with corridors...
 
You could judge all the Space Quests pretty harshly if all you saw was:
 





 
 
And I think this Spaceventure room and others from the demo are already up there with the best and most interesting ship
rooms from the Space Quests:
 

Why must everything be politically correct? If we want blandness, then we could apply a politically correct standard and "make a few simple changes" over and over to works until there is finally nothing "offensive" to a particular narrow way of thinking. And it would still never be enough.  
Please, all you developers out there, resist the urge to comply with the free speech-chilling, politically correct rules. I find it refreshing when games and other works show irreverence to the PC sensibility. Make the games the way you want to make them, and remember that there's nothing wrong with a little fan service. If you're worrying about whether your game will be perceived as classist or sexist or whatever-ist, and you're self-censoring yourself as a result, then you've already started the slide down a slippery slope with no end.
 
Anyway, I loved AGDI's KQ2+. It was brilliant how they tied everything together and improved upon the original. It still felt like the original, but augmented, as someone said earlier. I enjoyed every minute of that game, and after I finished it I told myself I would download or buy anything that team did in the future. That team clearly understands the classic Sierra adventure spirit very well. I hope they become hugely successful in the future and get to retire with private yachts just like the Williams have. AGDI/Himalaya are my heroes.
 
As for The Silver Lining by Phoenix Online Studios and what they did with the story and that game's overall quality, I thought it was atrocious, amateurish dreck.

I feel the opposite on this one...
I loved a lot of the locations and rooms so far, the demo went a long way in convincing me that
the graphic style works... I particularly liked the lab room place where something has escaped from and
the room with the magazines, etc. in it.
Also the pic of the potential desert planet location looked awesome.

Even if I sort of agree, they're obviously not going to release their best stuff right now. The style of the Crowemurphyist cult (as led by the Space Pope) has been to release pretty underwhelming spoilers, with the hope that hardcore fans will be turned on (without spoling the actual plot/surprises for said fans).
 
Is that a good strategy? I don't know. But I would see these scenes as "typical" or "average" examples of what's going on. Not the best-of-the-best.
 
But I don't know anything. If I ran a games company, I'd probably base it around boobs. Toleman isn't as much as a caricature as I'd like him to be...

Big Finish already had a team in place and they also have a lot of knowledge on how FMV is done. Also doing FMV is much, much more easier today than it was in the 90's. You can get better results with on the shelf applications today with more ease than you could when FMV games were actually hotter than hot. Also Chris Jones is a long term producer as well as a designer, so he seems to have a very good grasp on financial realities. And they had their own money to spend as well, so their budget is higher than what they got from the KS.  There's also some speculaton that Atlus might have pitched in some extra.
 
What comes to SpaceVenture, I wouldn't be surprised if they'd announce the game to be split in half in the vein of Broken Age and Broken Sword 5. The guys have been stretching the budget pretty thin, so there must be pressure to get something released so they can get some cash flow.

If people with money can't dictate to the poor what clothing is acceptable, where will it end? It all went to hell on a hand cart once we let people without property vote, imo. ;)

@Decaffeinated Jedi just reminded me of the dystopian document thriller Papers, Please. I highly recommend it.

@Decaffeinated Jedi just reminded me of the dystopian document thriller Papers, Please. I highly recommend it.

I just finished Vohaul Strikes Back and Incinerations back to back, and I really enjoyed both of them :). Right now I am playing Bastion, and I might start Runaway 3 after that. I've also been playing the official Space Quest games :)

That somehow reminded me of "The Stanley Parable", a lovely little game which I recommend.

For an upcoming podcast episode, I wanted to highlight some of the fan fiction that has come out of the Space Quest community.
 
For that, I really wanted someone with a cool, deep, emotive, professional sounding voice to read some passages from some of the stories and novels that have been created over the years. Pretty much someone with a voice completely antithetical to my own. ;)
 
Applicants are welcome. Please submit a short sample of your voice reading, well, whatever you feel like. Just so I can get an impression of how you sound. You would also need to have some halfway decent recording equipment, just so there isn't too much distracting background noise and so we can hear your inflections clearly.
 
Any takers?