Decaffeinated Jedi

Hey gang! You may have seen this already on the front page, but -- just in case -- I wanted to invited everyone to join us tonight (Friday, June 1) at 8:00 PM Eastern time for the Space Quest Superfan Hangout. Basically, a group of diehard Space Quest fans are getting together to play our favorite games from the series and stream the results live. The goal? Rally support for the SpaceVenture, of course! More details are available here, with the highlights copied and pasted below. The link for the live stream is on its way. Won't you join us tonight? And spread the word? Jess

Good luck!

Done!

The plan at this stage is to move ahead with AGS. My feeling is that we have more folks who have experience working with that engine. If we're going to make this happen, what we need -- and need fast -- are people who will step up and volunteer to generate the art and do the scripting. Specifically, these hypothetical individuals should have experience working with AGS and plenty of free time on their hands over the next five days or so. If we can't nail it down soon, I think our window will close. Jess

I have a design document written (rough, but I think it covers most of what the promo "needs" to happen, as far as puzzles, items, and so forth). Let's do AGS. That seems to be where the talent lies. Graphics? Sound? Programming? I figure we get the graphics and puzzles nailed down, then I can go back and write click events, descriptions, and so forth like a madman. Then again, I've never done this before. Is that a reasonable way to proceed? Jess

pcj is right, as usual. Without the team in place to carry out the plan, all the executive decision-making in the world isn't going to make this happen. Especially not in a week's time. Who came up with this half-baked idea in the first place? Jess

"IT'S A FREE GAAAAME, AND YOU DON'T EVEN PAY..." Jess

Are we too late to pull something like this together -- whether it's using AGI, AGS, or something else -- with only two weeks to go in the Kickstarter? I approached a SQ fan with quite a bit of AGi experience a little over a week ago, but he couldn't fit it into his schedule on such short notice. Again, it was just a crazy idea that popped into my head. Who knows if it would even generate interest in the project or bring any new backers to it. After all, if it's only going to reach people who've already pledged, it doesn't make much sense to devote a lot of time to developing it. Jess

Hey, gang! I've had an idea kicking around for the last few days, so I thought I'd throw it out there for the community to digest. Inspired by the guy who created a short LucasArts-style adventure as a job application for Double Fine, I thought it might be a fun idea to create a one-room AGI adventure to promote the SpaceVenture Kickstarter. My concept was a short adventure featuring a Space Quest fan completing a couple of puzzles (finding his/her wallet, accessing his/her computer, etc.) that culminate in the character pledging to the campaign. Of course, the whole thing would end by encouraging the player to follow up with a real-life pledge. I have some general ideas about the design and writing, but I have absolutely zero knowledge of AGI -- so I can't really pull together the graphics, sound, and programming on my own. Is there anybody out there with AGI experience that wants to work with me on putting this together? Clearly, the timetable is tight; I assume we'd want to wrap it up within the week. Having never played with AGI, I have no idea whether that's even feasible. That said, it seemed like a fun idea. I'm curious what you folks think... Jess

These are incredible! Great work! Any chance we could see the Hero from Quest for Glory? Jess

Not the most positive spin on the project there. :unsure: Jess

Where's Jeysie when you need her? Jess

Any big news from the chat? I wanted to join in, but I only had an iPad (without Flash) handy. Jess

A "voice parser" (using Siri or similar technology) sounds fascinating. It would certainly break new ground for the adventure genre. Jess

I could be convinced to participate. :) Jess

Were we really teenagers when this whole Wilco World Wide Web thing started? Time flies when you're debating why a main character's hair changed colors between sequels... Best of luck with the marathon! It's been ages since I've actually sat down and played the Space Quest games. Maybe I'll have to give them another spin sometime soon and rekindle those memories. Jess

Awesome! I hadn't heard that piece of news yet.

I think this is probably one of the biggest problems we're facing right now. The gaming sites covered Double Fine like crazy -- and rightfully so. There was perhaps slightly less coverage for the Leisure Suit Larry Kickstarter, but it was still out there (including a two-part profile by Forbes). Along the way, the media has already presented two dominant Kickstarter narratives: 1) "Wow! This Kickstarter thing is for real! Look at how much money DFA raised!" 2) "Hey, remember Leisure Suit Larry? Kickstarter can bring old classics back from the dead!" Since the Two Guys' Kickstarter mirrors the second narrative so closely -- and since Kickstarter gaming projects aren't as novel as they were a couple of months ago -- it's not easy to convince the gaming news sites to give it virtual ink. I know I'll mailed at least a dozen myself trying to "sell" them on new developments, different angles, and other factors that set this Kickstarter apart from the pack. I've had some luck (as have others), but Kickstarter fatigue is tough to beat. We know this project is something special. We just have to convince the gaming sites that it's special enough to merit a little more of their attention. Jess

Thanks for that link, pcj. If anyone else enjoys obsessively tracking these things, you can follow along at Kicktraq's page for the SpaceVenture. Jess

Holy monkey bladders! I had no idea AGD did a KQ3 remake. How did I miss that? KQ3 is the only King's Quest game that I really loved growing up. That said, I still have the occasional stress-induced nightmare that Manannan is going to show up and kill me before I can stash away some spell component. Downloading...downloading...downloading... Jess

I'm definitely drawn to the Space Quest games' sense of humor, but I also like the whole "reluctant hero" aspect of the story. Roger is just an ordinary guy -- arguably the most ordinary guy imaginable -- who gets thrust into extraordinary circumstances just by slacking off on the job at a very opportune moment. From there, he's on a wild ride to heroism, often at the mercy of forces beyond his control. I know it sounds corny, but those kinds of stories have always been a bit inspirational to me. I'd like to think that, under the right circumstances, I could rise to the occasion and do something heroic too. Looking back, that may have been a better response for my "Why I Love Space Quest" video than the Roberta Williams gag... ;) Jess

My contribution... http://youtu.be/8Jh3gYci8G0 Jess

I wonder if MicroProse intentionally set out to make a game "inspired" by the Space Quest series, or if the similarities are primarily a result of the shared genre of sci-fi comedy adventure. At least we can rest assured that Space Quest is the only adventure game starring a space janitor. Jess

Quest for Glory 2 remains one of my favorite adventure games of all time. I never got around to playing QFG5. Maybe this is my chance. Jess (proud alumnus of the Famous Adventurer's Correspondence School)

I find it interesting that a decent chunk of the criticism on message forums and comment sections has focused on the Two Guys' promise to include SQ-style death sequences in the game. I get the impression that, for a lot of younger gamers, deaths are essentially "what's wrong" with old school adventure games -- especially Sierra games. Somewhere along the way, the LucasArts model seems to have prevailed, making games that feature character deaths seem "behind the times" or "unfair" in some sense. In many ways, the Space Quest series' emphasis on gruesomely hilarious (or hilariously gruesome) death scenes makes it emblematic for what a certain segment of the audience perceives as a "broken" gameplay mechanic. Naturally, as SQ fans, we view these death scenes as part of the charm of the series. For some, though, I think the tendency is to lump character death right alongside unwinnable states as an unpardonable adventure gaming sin. Just a largely irrelevant observation... Jess