Frede

VS3; "Vohaul Strikes 3ack".

As far as I'm considered, that's Incinerations. I also kinda consider VSB a one-off. I don't think any of us plan on working on more fan games. But if anyone else wanted to do a sequel, that'd be fine with me.

The attitude is what's important to me. I'd prefer a narrator who just "gets" it - which Gary Owens appeared to do - rather than one who sounds the part to a tee.

I'm assuming you're running the games on a modern system. In any case, it sounds like you may have run into a pair of timer bugs. Space Quest 4-6 (and the VGA remake of the first one) are notorious for those. The games will run fine on an ancient CPU, but attempt to run them on anything faster than what was the norm back then, and all hell breaks loose as soon as you reach a puzzle dependent on timing. If you've gotten the games on GOG or Steam, the timer bugs shouldn't be present, however. But if you've gotten the games elsewhere, you might want to do clean installs using Collector's Sierra installers. They include patches to fix the timer issues. Oh, and welcome! :)

I'm actually leaning towards Incinerations as well. VSB wound up as a comedy game which has more in common with Space Quest 6 and the LucasArts classics. What is said and what happens during the course of the game aren't always supposed to hold any meaning in regards to the plot, but they're nearly always trying to raise a laugh from the player. I like to think it turned out a funny game. But it's not too preoccupied with any relationship with the rest of the series, other than trying not to break canon. The humour in the game also stems from distinctly different cultures. The bulk of it was written by Andres, who's an Estonian. A few of the jokes, references and design ideas in there are mine, and I'm Danish. And Martin, who's Australian, just crammed a ton of sci-fi references into every little corner of all the locales. Most of the people on the team throughout the game's development were also quite young. All of that serves to make the humour more European/British, and overall less subtle than something Scott would write. Incinerations, on the other hand, is indeed a plot-first game, and Chris infused it with a more American kind of humour that is closer to what Scott came up with in the first four games. Like the first Space Quest game, it's a serious sci-fi story at heart, in which the comedy mostly occurs because the main character is so removed from the stereotypical space opera hero. It's a subtle aspect of the series that I've only really come to appreciate quite recently, and Incinerations nails that completely. And hey, let's not forget that the story is actually very well-written. It'd have worked well on its own terms; actually, Chris planned to rename the returning characters, vehicles and locations, should he receive any attention from Activision. I'm glad that didn't come to pass, though. As long as we get no more official instalments of the series, Incinerations is to Space Quest what Fury Road is to Mad Max. So, yeah, Incinerations it is. But I am immensely proud to have worked on both games (though I'd love to beef up my parts of the Incinerations soundtrack), and I'm proud that these two fanmade games were actually deliberately made to fit together - something I still think is unique for fan games...

Yeah, for the next one, we're at least going to try to ensure our webcam thumbnails are on-screen for the duration of it. Until I saw the YouTube stream, I assumed they were, given that I could see them on the computer I hosted the Hangout from all the while. Turns out you can't rely on that, which is odd, cause back in the day, you were pretty certain that what the host saw was what everyone watching would also be seeing. Seeing our faces should at least break some of the monotony, I think.

Noted and appreciated. We ultimately have to work with the cards we're dealt, so not all combinations will be winning. We've seen some fairly boring ones while testing, but even those will spark some interesting discussions. In this particular case, I suppose the easiest thing is to resort to bathroom humour, though. Which I immaturely enjoyed, but it may not be everyone's cup of pee. Sorry, tea. I suppose on-air art sketches wouldn't be completely out of the question, if we ever have a guest who's up for that. At the moment, we'll probably just be encouraging people to submit their OCS-inspired artwork, though. We did actually discuss bringing Kevin in as a "staff artist" who would sketch out characters, locations and situations from the game designs on the air. But we ultimately chose to simplify the concept for the time being to avoid most logistic nightmares. Which I think was a safer route to go, considering we're having trouble even getting audio to play properly... But thanks for watching! Here's hoping the next one will be more satisfactory. Or that you'll be getting drunk while watching, which is always an easy way out.

There is a place where you can use the gardening tool (you've actually been there before), though whether you've reached that point is hard for me to say.

The pilot is now available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFtkzWy_RkY

Nothing will ever top doing chores for the wizard, talking to Cedric, and climbing the beanstalk. Old Ken Williams knew how to get a good game done.

I also finished it today, coincidentially. And I really, really enjoyed it. In my opinion, this is the best "modern" adventure game yet. I do agree with Brandon that more interactions would have made it more interesting, but even though it's highly streamlined (or "dumbed down" if you're a curmudgeon), it plays better than most Telltale games. It still feels like a "real" adventure - partly because of the lack of fast travel. It also has multiple paths. It's been a while since I've seen an adventure game with that, not counting "The Walking Dead" and games like "Quest for Infamy" that features decision-making as more of an RPG element. I wonder if this is going to be a "Mass Effect"-type thing where choices you made in early chapters will be able to affect the later ones? It is also hilarious and wonderfully self-ironic, both of which I find very welcoming. It's one of the funniest adventure games I have played in a while, even if the humour is often rather in-your-face. However, the serious scene Brandon mentioned actually rather moved me. Assuming Graham's life story is gonna contain some darker chapters (the ending of this one does, in fact, hint that the next episode will be off to a more sombre start), I have no doubt The Odd Gentlemen are able to handle those two contrasts very well. I also agree with Brandon that it looks and sounds beautiful. I can't think of other adventure games that have done full 3D this well. And the narration is a stroke of genius - this is where the game actually adds something rather revolutionary to the genre, in my opinion. Overall, this game is well worth the time of any adventure game fan. Trust me.

I think we've yet to see some character development in Graham. Right now, he's just a teenager aspiring to be a knight. He's certainly got little in common with his older counterpart who narrates the game. I can't imagine that he bumbles his way through all the chapters. That said, this is arguably one of the first times Graham has been given a disctinct personality in an official game, and I appreciate that. In the old ones, you could usually sum his personality up with one single word. "Brave", "cunning", or "buff", the latter of which was the only direction Josh Mandel was given for his voice work in KQ5. If you read too much into what is probably caused by technical limitations, he even comes off as a bit of a douche in the earliest games. Like when he literally pries the crown from King Edward's cold, dead hands and sits down on the throne without bothering to have the body removed. I knew they had an agreement, but jeez!

Now, Scott and Mark may no longer be as young as they once were, but that's just damn rude.

Easy there, tiger! Some of us managed to grow up without these games without turning into assholes :P Had he been a teenager, then fair enough. Most of us were a little dumb around that time (yes, you were), which is easily attributtable to puberty. But at age 25, it's a little too late to blame his age. I jump for this argument mainly because I dislike ageism. I'd probably buy it if I hadn't met some many opionated old people who have no idea what they're talking about, "life experience" or "proper upbringing" be damned. Stupidity comes in all shapes and sizes. As far as I can tell from some of the stuff he posted, he has had a ton of real life issues which he has yet to solve, and he's trying to get a kind of acknowledgement out of these places that they're simply not for. It's deeply unhealthy, I have no doubt it ultimately makes you lonelier and it's bound to make anyone blow a fuse, which basically appears to be what happened. And, to a certain extent, I do sympathise with him because I can relate to bits and pieces of that. And I think most people can if they look inward a bit...

It's technically still in progress, but we haven't made any progress in a while; everyone seems to be busy with other stuff :( Hopefully, we will still be able to finish it some day; AFAIK, more than half of it is done.

Yeah, I'm very well aware of what Ryan did. That said, there was already a lot of overzealousness present in those groups. That doesn't vindicate Ryan's actions, but I'd felt bummed about those particular Sierra communities on Facebook prior to that. As far as I can tell from your post, I'm not being completely unfair towards them. Your experiences kinda prove my point - there are just too many fans of these games who are too slow on the uptake. How does someone not know about your work? They'd have to be pretty inept with Google, for which there is no excuse if you're on the Internet anyway. To be blunt, discussing Sierra there simply lacks the fun. I've already made my mind fairly clear on Ryan, but I can kind of agree with you about spreading the community to thin. The current number of Sierra Facebook groups is too damn high. But, again, I like how this is a group that focuses on what could happen with this IP in the future. Not a group in which many members throw a bitch fit when the new King's Quest is inevitably revealed not to be classic P&C. In my opinion, the other groups focus near-exclusively on semi-sycophantic "Do you remember..."-talks, which is also a point of contention for me. But I'll admit that maybe, I'm just not sentimental enough to get anything out of those discussions. The admin of the Space Quest group is David Maunder, I think.

I'm wary, but meh, I've joined. There are more admins in the group, after all. I can't see it hurting anything. At least it's a positive statement to make. I did quit Sierra Gamers and Sierra Chest because of those massive flamefests, but truth be told, the impulse to do so had been there for a while. Nostalgia is often spoken of as a good feeling, but in my experience, it's also responsible for a lot of vitriol and miscomprehension. No, a game published by a major studio in 2015 is never going to boast VGA graphics and a point'n'click interface. Said major studio will never "give" or "lend" its valuable IP to the original designers. Ken Williams was a shrewd businessman, not Santa Claus. Addressing someone as "Sir Knight" and referring to your social sphere as "Daventry" will never be anything but extremely awkward. And so on. On a more superficial level, I've also found it tiring to have to scroll through the same questions asked by newcomers who are seemingly unable to stay informed. There's no excuse for a "fan" of Space Quest to have missed SpaceVenture at this point. Am I being too harsh? Quite possibly. But I do think a Sierra-related group that looks forward is a breath of fresh air. I always make a point out of reminding people that Sierra never looked backward. That said, all things above considered, I did turn down a friend request from Ryan in the aftermath of those incidents. It's no different than Ben Lindelof and Benjamin Penney who aren't my cup of tea at all. I have been able to gather that the feeling is mutual, so it's not something that bothers me, but why pretend people like that are my "friends" just because of one shared interest? I have little doubt Ryan regrets some of his antics. I've been there. But it's a little too son after telling everyone they should "fuck off and die". People probably didn't really feel like chatting with me after the infamous SpaceQuest.Net hack or some of the other crap that went on back then anyway. Some people mellow. We'll see, but till then, I don't mind giving him the benefit of the doubt with something like this.

Space Quest: Incinerations, I presume. Sierra aren't making a new Space Quest game as of now.

That was pretty awesome! I like it :D

Well, admittedly, the above has made me more critical of SQ1VGA. As a fan, I care about this kind of trivia, so how could it not? Something that has not been mentioned is that KQ1 got a remake that is way closer in spirit to the original. Which is interesting, because King's Quest, as Ken's darling, was always used as the guinea pig for technical innovations. Interestingly, this one time, this status arguably allowed KQ1 to get a faithful, authorised-by-the-designer remake. I think that's rather telling as well. That said, SQ1VGA was always the odd man out, style wise. And I definitely fell for it more so than the original back when I first discovered Space Quest. It had more immediacy to it, so it got easier across to me. Now that I'm older, it feels a little overblown.

Good question! :) I think Gareth said it pretty well. To me, the remake eschews all kinds of subtlety. With all fear of sounding a tad pretentious, it's just a loud, busy game. A spaceship entering hyperspace looks like Space Quest IV's time rip tunnel on LSD. Yes - merely travelling in space apparently looks more spectacular than travelling through time or entering a black hole. Roger screams like the Wicked Witch when he's melted by acid, and BOOM - we've got an instant replay lined up for you too! Which I don't really think of as a classic Space Quest moment, btw. It's a one-off that's unique to this game, isn't it? The backgrounds look like Ray Harryhausen on a sugar rush. I could go on, and I do realise that none of the stuff I highlight above is inherently bad. But it makes it extremely different. I'm not sure I agree 100% with Gareth that the remake has no artistic value. It does have a very interesting style, which adds a unique twist to the game, but we do know that adding artistic value to SQ1 was not Sierra's main motivation for remaking it. Applying the jazz standard terminology, the loud, busy SQ1VGA is not just another interpretation of Some Day My Prince Will Come or Greensleeves. It's Weather Report's take on Rockin' in Rhythm. And, like I said I do enjoy SQ1VGA's art style, I actually like that version, but I can also totally understand why an oldschool jazz purist probably won't. Much like I can relate to the more negative points of view here.

I like the art style, even though it's different, and I very much like Josh's writing. SQ6 is more overtly funny than the other games, and that resonated very well with me, back when I'd still miss some of Scott's more subtle jokes because of the language barrier. It's the Curse of Monkey Island of Space Quest, and CMI is one of my overall favourite adventure games. But the story I find very forgettable. I don't care much for Stellar either. So the whole plot, in my opinion, ends up playing second fiddle to the click events, the dialogues, Roger bickering with the narrator, etc. And that's ultimately quite a weakness. I reach for SQ6 very rarely, but when I do, it always manages to at least raise a chuckle. But the story never manages to make me care.

Something I always like to bring up when people ask why SQ1VGA is disliked by many is that Ken Allen's soundtrack is excellent. And everyone seems to be in universal agreement about that. I think I prefer it to that of SQ4. Also, let me confess that I actually like the art style, being a fan of 1950's sci-fi. Including the cheesy varieties. But SQ1VGA just doesn't have the feel of a Space Quest game to me. Whenever I play it, I get a completely different vibe from it than I get from most of the other games. It's not really something that's quantifiable or anything, but it's just... different. Again, except for the music. The story about the outsourcing and this being done without Scott and Mark even knowing about it doesn't help matters. I'll admit that this has to do with my own loyalties, but still. Sierra was really cutting corners when doing those cash-grab remakes. I'm generally pretty cynical about the gaming industry, cause even the most well-meaning, authentic indie developer will eventually have to put business first if he's looking for financial success. I don't view Ken Williams and his achievements with the same rose-tinted glasses as many other fans evidently do. But I do think there are limits, and the story of the development of SQ1VGA reminds me of Pete Toleman.

Isn't that pretty much normal fare for retro adventures on Steam, though? It's still not the most popular of genres, and certainly not among the mainstream gamer crowd. Reading that Al gets no royalties for a game he basically designed is, of course, infuriating. But hey, whenever dirt like this is published, the chances of Paul ever working on a game again are lessened dramatically. It's already been more than a year since "Serena". I doubt we'll see him again. It's a great interview, by the way. It's always fascinating to read anecdotes about the early days of PC gaming from the people who were there.