Does anyone know if we're still on track to get the official project update today?

Does anyone know if we're still on track to get the official project update today?

 

Yes - we are.

It'd be really amusing if the reason for the delay is that Activision contacted them about doing a proper Space Quest game on the sly and SpaceVenture had to be shoved to the side. I don't think that's the case but I'd pay money to see a certain someone's reaction at that. Double bonus if Josh is involved.

Update just went up!

 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spaceventure/two-guys-spaceventure-by-the-creators-of-space-que/posts

Just read the update. Tossed in a little tongue-in-cheek humor in my comment, but overall I'm happy with the transparency. The only real concern I had was the lack of communication and it's being addressed, so I'm happy.

Yeah, if we keep getting updates that are this detailed and at least throw us a little teaser to whet our appetites over, I think I will be more than satisfied until the game comes out.

 

Now being patient for the game to come out is a whole different story :P

I made a new thread for this topic as I don't think it's necessary to associate it with the other criticism thread any further at this point. Carry on!

This was a good update, and for the future, I'd hope the updates would be like this as well. It was honest and re-assuring that the project is handeled like it should, despite they have ran over schedule. The big things they've done are technical and not that sexy subjects for updates, so I do understand why the previous updates have been a bit bony, but now that the framework has been done, I hope updates of this quality to continue. And more love to SVrewards as well :)

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. ;)

This was a good update too since, I felt, Chris's character shines through. He really is a class act. Looks like he knows when to get the whip out too ;). On the other hand... who's this Space Quest Historiaflopamajig? What's his handle? He (or is it a she? Can't tell with all that hair) sounds like some random brown-noser wet behind the ears trying to muscle in on something he doesn't have any experience in just for the money and the kicks. I bet he's never even played Space Quest! I call for public lynching! B)

To be fair to the guys, they tried releasing imperfect stuff to show their work (the prototypes) and it über backfired. Perhaps swinging between extremes isn't the best policy (;)) but this is uncharted territory for them. Mistakes are bound to be made.

 

I liked the update a lot. Very self-aware and honest. I would hope that we get some more content just to show life. The podcast is a good start. It doesn't have to be game footage. Just the odd message / community-created content. Where's Glans Handerson when you need him?

To be fair to the guys, they tried releasing imperfect stuff to show their work (the prototypes) and it über backfired. Perhaps swinging between extremes isn't the best policy ( ;)) but this is uncharted territory for them. Mistakes are bound to be made.

 

The problem with the demo was, that it actually wasn't a demo as such, but more like an alpha prototype demo. So it was sold to the public a bit poorly and that caused people to backlash a bit. But in general I think it did a world of good for the Guys and the project, as it did provide a lot of feedback from controls to bugs.

Nice update! Good to get some info what's happening. Keep up the good work!

Yeah, maybe we should just give all the Guys Instagram-accounts, so they can take blurry pictures of their workstations or something.

That's not such a bad idea.

Liked the update, it was really informative and I have a better idea of where things stand now.

 

The problem with the demo was, that it actually wasn't a demo as such, but more like an alpha prototype demo. So it was sold to the public a bit poorly and that caused people to backlash a bit. But in general I think it did a world of good for the Guys and the project, as it did provide a lot of feedback from controls to bugs.

 

That was a really rough demo, but definitely an alpha build. I liked the bits I could play, even though I got stuck on the first screen because it took me way too long to realize you had to click and drag to open the airlock. Despite the issues it was great to see something in action and it showed the art and animation worked fine.

I liked the bits I could play, even though I got stuck on the first screen because it took me way too long to realize you had to click and drag to open the airlock.

 

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.

Nice update (I really liked the video they uploaded). I'm really looking forward to this game, as Space Quest was always my favorite Sierra series and from what's been released so far it seems the Guys From Andromeda still have that ol' Sierra spark. :)

 

And Ken Allen definitely still has it as well (can't wait for Under The Half Dome!)

I can totally relate to not feeling like you have enough to share, or stuff interesting enough to share! In the past few months, the sheer amount of code I've personally written for Quest For Infamy has delighted me personally, but I'm not going to take a picture of it!

 

It's boring, plus this is the internet and some jackwagon would come along and tell me how my code sucks, and how because of that he wishes death upon me and my loved ones... or something!

 

I enjoyed this update, and I really liked the animation and music bit.

 

 

Bt

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

I've gotta give them some major props for still doing a shout-out for Larry after what happened. Now that's class. :wub: :y:

Yep, Chris Pope has been the classiest of classy in Sierra Kickstarters so far, I couldn't be 1/3rd the diplomat he is!

 

Onto the video: Music was the highlight for me (duh ;) ), but I really liked the animation too. Kinda reminded me of an updated SQ6-look. Very promising, will be interested in seeing a town or colony and seeing what SV's "street life" (one of my favourite things from SQ6) is like. I'm hoping for a more populated world and less empty, ala SQ1-3.

 

The update- Chris nails it, every time. Great job. I think he was honest about both shortcomings and positives, and you really know where you stand with the guy. And can't help but feel loved and optimistic as a fan after reading his words. :)

 

Kudos team SV and we await future developments with bated breath!

 

BTW- do we know yet if this game will have Sierra-style icons, like look, talk, etc?

BTW- do we know yet if this game will have Sierra-style icons, like look, talk, etc?

The demo already does, yes.

The demo already does, yes.

 

There's been some talk of refining it, though. ;) I will, however, always push to not fix what isn't broke. The UI has to become second nature and not get in the way of the gameplay experience.

The problem with the demo was, that it actually wasn't a demo as such, but more like an alpha prototype demo. So it was sold to the public a bit poorly and that caused people to backlash a bit. But in general I think it did a world of good for the Guys and the project, as it did provide a lot of feedback from controls to bugs.

 

I didn't mean the demo, although that did cause some issues. I was glad the demo came out because it showed that something had been done, and clearly the bare bones of an adventure game engine (2GFAGI?) had been realised.

 

I was more talking about the prototypes during the Kickstarter (which were unlocked each time they raised $100k). The HTML5 ones that, according to some, were going to lead directly to the apocalypse...

Excellent work on the update!

 

There seems to be some confusion as to how to put the SVRewards to good use. Here's an idea: Why not borrow one of the most enjoyable aspects of the Pinkerton Road campaign and release one or two pieces of music composed by Ken Allen for backers to download at the beginning of each month? Regardless of the reception of the demo, everyone agrees that Ken's music is absolutely brilliant!

 

The clicking-and-dragging thing is one of the things from the alpha that the Guys have gotten really focused on.

 

I don't know about that. IMHO, the best way to fine-tune swiping would be to get rid of it altogether, as all this valuable time wasted on an entirely superfluous feature would be more wisely spent in making other components of the game work. The only thing swipe controls did for me was giving me this creeping feeling that this game caters mostly to the tablet crowd. Not a nice feeling at all. And if I want to shove crates, I'll stick to Tomb Raider. Clicking-and-dragging would make sense in some ultra-annoying plunger-related minigame (Ace is a plumber, after all), but other than that, I really don't want to see any of it in the actual game. Even making it optional probably won't be enough, as the mechanic itself is likely to poison the overall puzzle design.