Jump to content

I'd like to see SQ3 redone like SQ2 was


SteveHNo96

Recommended Posts

For a while IA was working on SQ3, there was even a plan to make this first section of SQ3 playable when you beat SQ2 as an easter egg if you beat it with full points or something. Instead we just put in the trailer sequence.

 

It takes a long time to do a remake and it's a lot of work especially if you're not being paid. And now that all of these adventure Kickstarters have become so successful, it was deemed unnecessary and not worth it to do whole remakes like that. For one thing, ActiVision could take more notice of these things now that they're in the public eye more. IA managed to slip by under the radar without getting the same license that AGDI and POS got (and that SQ7 was offered), so we figured we'd better not push it. Also, after doing someone else's games for years it's about time to start doing something original. Who wants to be doing remakes forever?

 

It's too bad SQ3 never got remade (or KQ4 either, for that matter). It'd be nice to have all the EGA games get the VGA treatment, but I think IA made a good decision to bow out when they did. For years groups like AGDI and IA kept adventures alive with great remakes, and now the genre has finally made a comeback. Remakes aren't needed anymore, really.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get that, and I fully understand that you guys need to make money (that goes without saying) but I think for me there's a nostalgic value to the old Space Quest games. I'm going to be honest with you. I like the pretense and the humor of SpaceVenture but I don't know if it's going to feel the same as an official SQ game.

 

If SQ7 is made through Activision or whoever, I'd be first in line to buy, download and play it, especially if the Two Guys were there to make it as hilarious as possible. Again, it's something we've really been waiting since the 1990s for, and the remakes would bide our time until they finally give us what we're waiting for.

 

I fully get why you don't want to do it (especially if you run the risk of lawsuits and aren't getting paid), but I still kinda hope to have more SQ games until we get new ones, in my eye.

 

I'm always amazed at the amount of completed SQ fan games there are and that they do not suck

I think SQ -1 was pretty bad, at least as far as one of the jokes were concerned (saying the "bush" was named after a stupid President -- c'mon. this is 400 years in the future and he's still getting crapped on?), but for the most part, I think you're right.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As much as I get cranky about remake hype, it would be nice if SQ3 got its VGA remake as well. Considering the QFG series can be fully played in VGA thanks to the AGDI remake, SQ3 kind of feels like unfinished business at this point. Same with KQ4 and PQ2, but time will tell. If AGDI and IA can get some quality remakes out, there's always a chance another team might rise to the challenge. It'd be harder to do with all these licenses bouncing around, but it could still be happening.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As much as I get cranky about remake hype, it would be nice if SQ3 got its VGA remake as well. Considering the QFG series can be fully played in VGA thanks to the AGDI remake, SQ3 kind of feels like unfinished business at this point. Same with KQ4 and PQ2, but time will tell. If AGDI and IA can get some quality remakes out, there's always a chance another team might rise to the challenge. It'd be harder to do with all these licenses bouncing around, but it could still be happening.

 

First of all, I can't believe how the rights-holders would ever get mad about a free game made to look like it was done with outdated technology (we're talking VGA remakes, after all). I know it all boils down to legal talk, but I still don't get it. It's just a convenient way of holding leverage over other people. "Ah, I see you're doing something grand and fantastic in your own free time for everyone else to play and enjoy at no charge. This will not stand! Where's your business plan, man? Where's your Dilbert calendar and walls full of budget spreadsheets? Oh, but you have a Latex Babes wallpaper on your desktop, I see. My eyes cannot stand such frivolty. I gotta shut this down."

 

Okay, that was stupid, I'm sorry. ;)

 

Anyway ... more to the point, I'm actually pretty cool about remakes. While they usually can't hold a candle to the original, it's always interesting to see reinterpretations of ideas. Think of all the bits in SQ3 you could have fun with trying to expand. The arcade sequences, particularly the space combat at the end, are the glaringly obvious things you could improve on (was the Skull Fighter shoot-out ever supposed to work like that?).

 

But also flying from one planet to the other; maybe toss in a few side-quests on unrelated planets. I dunno, the universe of SQ3 on reflection seems a little limited -- you've only got Phleebhut and Ortega as planets you can go to, along with Pestulon (Ortega's moon) and Monolith Burger (which doesn't count as a planet, I'm sure you'll agree).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The thing about SQ3 is that all remake efforts have been cursed from the get-go. Okay, maybe not Infamous' attempt, but the SQ3VGA projects I've seen rise and fall have usually been less than impressive. Either they were gaussian blur-fests where someone had just dragged Mark's original artwork into Photoshop and applied some colour tinkering and blurring to make it look "newer", or they'd have overly garish artwork that would merely have been painted over Mark's originals. And never with any sort of gameplay expansion. Same game - only with new audio and new visuals.

 

The problem with SQ3 is that it looks great to begin with. Mark really got the most out of those 16 colours. Unless the developers of a remake wanted to really play around with the boundaries, there'd be nothing to gain from a VGA remake. Yes, you'd have 240 more colours, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? An SQ3 remake would have to be a well-done overhaul rather than a new paint job if I were to feel something had been gained by remaking it.

 

Infamous Quests could get a way with a - mostly - 1:1 remake of SQ2 because there wasn't much to work with to begin with, in terms of the visuals. With SQ3, it's as if - because the original is near-perfect - no one really wants to replace the original aesthetics. Just arbitrarily make them "better". Which I'd argue is exactly the approach that'll never lead to a successful SQ3 remake.

 

I want to see the backgrounds from new angles, a bigger Garbage Freighter, new planets, etc. Don't just give me what the Two Guys released back in 1987 with a new coat of paint. You'd be doomed to fail because the old coat of paint is still damn impressive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's one thing I really pushed for with SQ3 when we were working on it. Different camera angles. I even drew (oh my!) A concept sketch of a reimagined first screen for SQ3. Some were for it and some were against it. In the end we compromised between a handful of traced ones and a handful of new ones. With some new ones being from the same angle, but painted from scratch with different details. I'll post my sketch later today when I get back home from work.

 

We also planned new planets. One was going to be a casino planet. Don't remember its purpose, though.

 

IA really was lucky for not being approached at all by ActiVision. They must have just thought we were AGDI because they DID approach us there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There were several IA projects in development before any possible SQ3VGA. The two that had been announced were KQ3VGA Gold and a new KQ game based on the novel Kingdom of Sorrow. All of the IA freeware games were abandoned when IQ was formed. I don't think that there was anything about the projects themselves, simply that it was time to move on to getting paid for doing what they loved.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Absolutely I'd talk about this. I'm busy right now, but I'll totally dish on this. Got art and everything.

 

MI's right - he totally wanted alternate camera angles, and the few tests done with ideas like that turned out cool.

 

 

Bt

 

Awesome! I'd love to hear from you, and we can toss some of the art up on the GFA Tumblr and Google Plus profiles, then direct listeners to those.

 

As for your schedule, there's no rush -- I'm just amassing as much content as I can to spread out over the episodes. We could carry on discussions on details in a PM.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's the terribly drawn concept I had for the opening scene of the garbage scow. The camera was on an angle to the left of the original perspective and would show a huge backdrop that would seem endless with mountains of trash in the distance obstructed by a bright distance fog. I don't know how else to put it.

 

I imagined things like puddles and dripping garbage water in places. I thought it would be hilarious if Roger popped open the hatch and landed in a puddle of garbage water lol.

scow_image.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...