Troels Pleimert

How did this topic suddenly escape my attention? Just when it was starting to get interesting. ;) Because when Daniel Stacey and Fred Olsen visited me this summer, we had a long and somewhat tipsy discussion on whether or not Roger is actually a hero. And it turns out that this character trait of Roger Wilco has never been properly defined. I've had some chats with Scott Murphy about what kind of guy Roger is, and we're really in agreement that Roger wasn't supposed to be the "oh, I'll go save the galaxy, then" type of guy. He just wanted to crawl back into his broomcloset and get back to that nap he was having. In fact, you could argue that Roger has an anti-heroic stance throughout the entire series, we found out, but only IF ... (cue dramatic timpani roll) ... ONLY IF the above isn't true. You could argue that Roger blasts off in a fit of sudden heroism to defeat the Sariens before they can destroy the Earnon sun. You could also argue, however, that Roger has no choice than to go because he literally has no choice. It's do or die. Those are the only coordinates he has. It actually all hinges on one question: is Kerona anywhere near Xenon? If Roger's "in the neighborhood," so to speak, he'd probably have gone straight to Xenon, called the authorities, then gone to bed. But he seems completely and utterly lost, so he's only got that one set of coordinates. Also, once you get to the Deltaur, the game actually asks you if you really want to proceed. If you say no, you die, because the Sariens managed to destroy the galaxy before you could get back to alert the authorities. Meaning going back to Xenon, even if it was in the vicinity, wasn't an option. Because you are literally the only thing between the Sariens and your own death. When Roger gets back, he's suddenly hailed as a hero, even to his own surprise. Following a whirlwind of celebrity stardom that he doesn't appear fit to handle (see the SQ2 comic), he's assigned to Xenon Orbital Station IV and forgotten about. From then on, he's kidnapped and never heard from again until SQ5 begins. So every Space Quest up until SQ5 could be viewed as Roger's egotistical journey to just get the hell back home and finish that nap he was having, and all these saving-the-galaxy gigs just keep getting in his way. At least, that's how I like it. ;) And that's why SQ5 and SQ6 feel so disjointed to me, because Roger actually exhibits real heroic behavior in these, and in my personal preference that's out of character for him.

It's like you imagine watching someone compose a song would be a really fascinating, enlightening experience, but really it's just incredibly dull. ;)

If you can find me on WhatsApp, you can also leave me a voice message. I can extract the sound files from my phone and use them in my podcast. If we're friends on Facebook, you should also see me in your WhatsApp, if you have it installed.

Everyone else sends theirs in secret, but Jason goes PUBLIC, man! ;)

The clicking-and-dragging thing is one of the things from the alpha that the Guys have gotten really focused on. In the alpha, you couldn't tell if an object in the game world was draggable or not. Right now, they're working on a system where the cursor changes to indicate a draggable object, as well as other steps to make all the dragging-shit-around stuff intuitive instead of frustrating.

So, yes, as you've probably noticed from the Kickstarter update, I've made the transition from video to audio. I'm now hosting "The Space Quest Historian Podcast" which is going out on Chris Pope's TechJives.net network, and will also be receiving its own iTunes feed sometime. For now, you can check out the first episode here: http://techjives.net...sode-1Copy.mp3 (Three cheers to Christian Giegerich for the perty, perty logo he made out of Mark Crowe's Historian-portrait!) The first episode features illustrious veteran alumni Jess Morrissette talking about how The Two Guys invented the adventure game arcade sequence; and illustrious veteran alumni Frederik Olsen talking about how there actually were some of the Space Quest music that sounded better on an old AdLib than with the MT-32. But more than that, there's also the "Braying From the Masses" segment: Like I say in the podcast, I wanna hear from you guys. 'Cos it's talk radio and what better way to create total utter chaos than by letting you guys go all Fraiser-call-in on me. The topic for this week's episode was "what games were delayed, but not worth the wait? What games were delayed, but TOTALLY worth the wait? And what games came out when promised, but you wish they could've used a bit more time in the polish department?" Send me your answers -- you have answers, right? -- preferably in audio form, if you want to immortalize your own voice on the podcast. You can also leave a message here, and the most intriguing ones will get read on-air (most likely in a silly voice, so I'd get those microphones dusted off if I were you ;) ). If you wanna keep your answer/input/response/whatever a "secret," you can always e-mail me your mp3 at troels@pleimert.dk. Oh, and if you just want to leave a comment about how crappy you think the podcast is (or, conversely, if you somehow perversely enjoyed it), go ahead. I can take it. The next episode comes out in two weeks, which is October 30th -- the day before Halloween (and coincidentally my birthday, ugh). Ain't that funny? If you guys wanna send me some scary tales of space Halloweeny stuff, too, feel absolutely free!

Yeah, maybe we should just give all the Guys Instagram-accounts, so they can take blurry pictures of their workstations or something. I think maybe they've been hung up on that thing where, if you're gonna show something, you want it to be perfect and pristine, because you don't want to hear any moping about, "hey, this looks weird," even if it's just a work-in-progress. Which leads to not much being shown, because not much is in a state of perfection at this point. But really, any signs of life are encouraging; someone on the Kickstarter comments said he'd be happy just to see a snippet of a screen where something is being worked on. It seems Chris and the Guys are focused on bringing more of that stuff up, even though it seems to be hard to wrestle stuff out of Mark Crowe's hands, despite him working at a furious pace. The guy likes his element of surprise. ;)

I agree; Replay Games have suffered enough. The people that put all this hard work into making LSL:R should not be punished for what one person did all on his own and against the advice of those close to him. I think the petition to inform CodeMasters not to let Paul near the license again is the way to go, and I hope Replay somehow sort themselves out, regroups and come out on top after this.

It would make for a compelling ... uh. Nope, I don't know how to finish that sentence. :) How about Android/iPhone lock screen/background screens? We got any of those?

If you meet a Sequel Policeman on the moving walkway, it means the timer ran out. Or you strayed and tried to exit the mall. I'm not sure if any of these deaths are different than the standard "zap zap, you're dead" deaths?

Cool, I'll play. But I'll let you know, I hate Big Bang Theory. ;) But let's say beating the Skate-o-Rama for the first time is a 10 and trying to find your manual to beat the Datacorder is a soggy 2, then the SpaceVenture plot is a definite 9. That is, if evil cybertronic mindfuckery is your thing. If it's not, you may have to adjust for personal inflation. ;)

For future reference, the freeware Oxelon Movie Converter is fantastic. Sure, it opens Internet Explorer when you quit it (I mean, wtf?), but it does its job admirably.

Oh, and it's no secret anymore that I actually DO know the plot of SV and Ace's character at this point, is it? I can't talk about the plot, obviously, but I really want to hear more about your opinions on Ace's character.

I've actually pushed Scott to give out more info to fans on what kinda guy Ace is. He's one of those characters that are fun to play with because he speaks his mind, however dejectedly, but gets shit done when need be. Very different from Roger, but just as funny to write for.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and speculate it's WAY more than 50%. ;)

Oh yes, please, let's get some Sabine Duvall attitude up in this motherfucker.

I think Fred is absolutely right about the SpaceVenture crowd getting off the Trowe-train at this juncture and concentrating on looking forward. You have my signature for a joint letter, however.

Great stuff - I reshared this on the Two Guys From Andromeda page on Google+. :)

Wish I had two screens at this point.

Perfect! My sob story about being a lonely 16-year old was supposed to be my emotional moment -- I did have friends, and some of them weren't made up. I guess I can wave my bid at the Oscar goodbye for being too subtle in my acting. ;) All kidding aside, I'm glad you liked it, Brandon. The Guys are gonna love it. Really great idea, this was. :) Having Serena on is going to be a scoop. Jason, you already appeared in one of my videos and you flipped a table on me, so I have a feeling you're gonna be alright. ;)

Happy birthday, indeed! I do have fascinating dreams about Scott's beard; I'll tell you about them someday ...

Brandon, your check is in the mail. Except it's a video, not a check, and it's in Google Drive, not your mail.

I'm just going to shoot something with my ugly face with my mobile camera. I'm going for the Oscar performance.

It's really turning sad now and to the point where there's not really anything funny about it anymore. A company seems to be unraveling from within, affecting not only those we have heard about who got slapped silly with the ban-hammer, but probably also a number of Replay employees who had no real horse in this race to begin with. I agree with MI that there's really nothing more to gain from this speculation into Paul's mental health. Instead, I'll try and get a sappy video bit shot sometime during the day and send it his way. :)

This. Very this. I think you hit the nail on the head there, Brandon. For my sake, at least, one of the key things that made SV happen was that so many bridges were built, animosities forgotten and sour relationships patched. That's what makes me really proud to be in this crowd. Sure, at the end of the day, we're just a bunch of nerds who like our sci-fi comedies a little on the sarcastic side. But the community spirit -- I mean, just look at how fast the SQN/Broomcloset merger suddenly happened! -- is really second to none. Paul is like the Blue Meanie at the end of Yellow Submarine, trapped in a land of colors and flowers. (And, if you've ever seen that acid trip of a movie, you know he comes around at the end. Not holding my breath for that one, but still.)