Something that DOES worry me...

[Fronzel Neekburm]

I'll be blunt (it's not like I'm capable of being anything else): All the locations so far have been extremely dull, uninteresting and utterly unappealing. The pipes scene video should serve as a pretty good example.

 

I challenge anyone to make this room interesting! Seriously, I'm willing to bet money that not even Josh Mandel could come up with funny replies for this room. The demo rubbed me the wrong way for exactly the same reason. The rooms don't look like cool places you('d want to) explore, but seeem to serve no other purpose than being thinly veiled, crappy puzzles.

The absurd thing is that the graphics don't even look half-bad. It's just that the locations themselves couldn't be any more bland and uninteresting.

[drdrslashvohaul]

Even if I sort of agree, they're obviously not going to release their best stuff right now. The style of the Crowemurphyist cult (as led by the Space Pope) has been to release pretty underwhelming spoilers, with the hope that hardcore fans will be turned on (without spoling the actual plot/surprises for said fans).

 

Is that a good strategy? I don't know. But I would see these scenes as "typical" or "average" examples of what's going on. Not the best-of-the-best.

 

But I don't know anything. If I ran a games company, I'd probably base it around boobs. Toleman isn't as much as a caricature as I'd like him to be...

[pcj]

To be fair, there is a bit more going on in that scene than is shown in the video (this won't be PlumberSim 9000). As Gareth said, the scenes shown have been carefully edited to not show spoilers, so you aren't seeing the whole thing.

 

This is supposed to be a "typical" example of puzzles that the player might encounter, not an example of plot exposition.

[JimmyTwoBucks]

I feel the opposite on this one...

I loved a lot of the locations and rooms so far, the demo went a long way in convincing me that

the graphic style works... I particularly liked the lab room place where something has escaped from and

the room with the magazines, etc. in it.

Also the pic of the potential desert planet location looked awesome.

[PurpleTentacle]

Maybe some of the scenes we've been shown seem a bit sterile, but it's hard to say at this stage.

 

For comparison, I remember loving how almost every new scene or location in SQ4 had that "wow, cool!" factor.

 

I think there will be plenty of impressive scenes in this new game, though, if the art shown in the attached image file is any indication. Really, the quality of the SpaceVenture art we've seen so far has surpassed my expectations.

[JimmyTwoBucks]

I think you also have to remember that most of the stuff we've seen involve being on a ship

with corridors...

 

You could judge all the Space Quests pretty harshly if all you saw was:

 

 

 

And I think this Spaceventure room and others from the demo are already up there with the best and most interesting ship

rooms from the Space Quests:

 

[drdrslashvohaul]

Corridor Quest 2015.

 

Sign me up.

[JimmyTwoBucks]

Corridor Quest 2015.

 

Yes! It could be everyone's favorite corridors from all the SQ games linked together, and you've basically just got

to run away from the slime from SQ4 and the robot from SQ2...

 

And at the very end of all the corridors is the SQ4 skate-o-rama where you have to dodge the sequel police and the

slime and the SQ2 robot all at the same time.

[Caldric]

This could be like an anti-Kickstarter, where people would pay to PREVENT a developer from making a game.  Kickstopper?

[JimmyTwoBucks]

The Kickstopper could also have stretch goals, like:

 

-- The whole game runs as if you're trying to load SQ6 on a 386 computer with a 2x CD-ROM drive, for that "authentic" nostalgia feel.

 

I would gladly pledge extra to have that not be a feature.

[pcj]

Yes! It could be everyone's favorite corridors from all the SQ games linked together, and you've basically just got

to run away from the slime from SQ4 and the robot from SQ2...

 

And at the very end of all the corridors is the SQ4 skate-o-rama where you have to dodge the sequel police and the

slime and the SQ2 robot all at the same time.

Or the robot from SQ4/SQ12 just shoots you.

[Fronzel Neekburm]

This could be like an anti-Kickstarter, where people would pay to PREVENT a developer from making a game.  Kickstopper?

Sadly enough, that wouldn't be the first time somebody asked for a Sierra-related Kickstopper campaign.

[Caldric]

Oof. That is just painful.

[Frede]

To be fair, that Kickstopper campaign was started from within Replay Games fairly long ago. And it was so malicious, stupid and clumsy that it felt more like Curbstomper, if you ask me.

 

Overall, I agree with JimmyTwoBucks. Also, the Guys are trying to recapture the classic "Space Quest"-feeling, I guess. How many outright visually funny locales did SQ1 and SQ2 have? I can think of parts of Ulence Flats. The rest is pretty generic space ship/desert planet/jungle planet stuff. It's what unexpectedly transpires on in those serious-looking rooms that's funny.

 

Bringing in Josh Mandel isn't really fair. SQ6 had some brilliant jokes and gags and it's possibly the most outright funny game in the series. At times, it's also the least subtle, which in itself would make it very different from something penned by Scott Murphy.

 

I haven't lost confidence in the Guys. We just have to remember that they're carrying on from where they left in 1991 and not from where Josh left in 1995.

[PurpleTentacle]

I'm totally lost. What is Kickstopper? I don't get it. :-( Also, that EuroGamer review calling LSL sexist and racist is ridiculous and seems like self-parody.

 

Anyway, as for SpaceVenture and whether the scenes look uninteresting, I think a lot will depend on how much opportunity there is to examine and explore all the parts of each scene. I hope the narrator responses in the game often provide useful or relevant info to help the player with the puzzles and also enrich the story and atmosphere. They can still be funny. Sometimes just having a bunch of random gag responses to all areas of the screen is less satisfying than more game-relevant info. What I mean is, sometimes narrator responses can sound like they were written after the fact, as if someone were going down a list of items thinking of something funny to say for each one just because they had to complete the list. Please, make sure most of the writing is given purpose, beyond just fulfilling "need for gag when player looks at such-and-such."

 

So, that, to me, is more important than whether the environment "looks" interesting in a screenshot. But I have to say that, reviewing the new art (what little we've seen), I'm not at all worried that we will be given lots of cool areas to explore.

 

P.s.- about the writing: less is more. Keep it pithy. Oh, and please don't have the narrator describe the main character as doing something without animating the action for the player to see. LSL:R often let the narrator describe actions that were never animated, and the result was to help make the game feel cheap and the narration sometimes seem like optional fluff that could be routinely ignored.

[Fronzel Neekburm]

How many outright visually funny locales did SQ1 and SQ2 have?

 

At least the VGA version of SQ1 - which Scott apparently hates - tried very hard to liven things up. Besides, SQ1 and 2 aren't exactly the fan favourites from the series. Why would SpaceVenture want to compete with what many consider the worst of the bunch? I hope SV turns out more SQ3/4 than SQ1/2. This being the two guys' big comeback after 20 years, I'd hope that SV will live up to the best of their work, not their worst.

 

 

Also, that EuroGamer review calling LSL sexist and racist is ridiculous and seems like self-parody..

Since the PC debate is already well underway in another thread, I'll just add that as far as that Eurogamer review is concerned, I'm with PurpleTentacle . What good are gaming journalists if they are more concerned about a game being in line with their sociopolitical school of thought than about the game being any good?

[drdrslashvohaul]

And given that LSL was always tongue in cheek (and in other places too), engaging with it might have uncovered some of the great humour in the series. It is worth noting the article was written by a Brit (I'm assuming you guys across the pond/Channel have zero clue who Rory McGrath is), and LSL is very hyper-American. It's a piss take on the US porn culture and a multitude of other things, most of which I'm not sure most of us Commie Limeys really "get". That said, a lot of the jokes the author makes in that article are pretty funny - and probably mean nothing to people younger than 25 living outside of England! :D

 

That said, I think the general criticism that the humour and gameplay mechanics were still stuck in the late-80s is somewhat fair, if clumsily made.

 

Anyway, back to the topic: this is why I hope SpaceVenture is a modernisation, not a rehash.

[Frede]

At least the VGA version of SQ1 - which Scott apparently hates - tried very hard to liven things up. Besides, SQ1 and 2 aren't exactly the fan favourites from the series. Why would SpaceVenture want to compete with what many consider the worst of the bunch? I hope SV turns out more SQ3/4 than SQ1/2. This being the two guys' big comeback after 20 years, I'd hope that SV will live up to the best of their work, not their worst.

"Worst" is harsh, IMO. There are many fans who like SQ1 and 2. In my opinion, they have aged more gracefully than pretty much all the other major AGI games from around that time period. Okay, I'm not the biggest fan of SQ2, but give me that over KQ2 any day.

 

Consider SQ3, then. It has plenty of funny settings, like outside the Mog on Phleebhut. There are a few visual gags aboard the Garbage Freighter. But the majority of it looks like something out of a straight sci-fi game. Parts of SQ4 being even darker as well. And yeah, both games have their share of generic corridors. Not every location has to be Nigel's room from SQ6 to have fun stuff going on in it.

 

Not going to touch SQ1VGA. Yes, it's a Space Quest game, but it's not really a Two Guys from Andromeda game (they both resent it, I believe, but Mark is, by his own admission, generally less outspoken than Scott). Unless you will also consider Magna Cum Laude and Box Office Bust to be Al Lowe games.

[PurpleTentacle]

At least the VGA version of SQ1 - which Scott apparently hates - tried very hard to liven things up. Besides, SQ1 and 2 aren't exactly the fan favourites from the series. Why would SpaceVenture want to compete with what many consider the worst of the bunch? I hope SV turns out more SQ3/4 than SQ1/2.

I definitely agree with this.

 

I believe most of the iconic Space Quest scenes are from 3 and 4.

 

Also, I actually loved the whole bright, colorful look of SQ1VGA. It totally livened up things from the original. Now, I might get excommunicated from the SpaceQuest.net site for saying this, but I felt like the SQ1VGA music and art outshone the actual game and puzzle design for the game. So it puzzles me somewhat to hear that both the Two Guys still resent that remake. But I guess I don't know what all went down behind the scenes. Of course, with Space Quests 3 and 4, the games are brilliant all around.

 

So, count me as one of those hoping for a lively, striking, sometimes comical look rather than all drab, straightforward settings.

[Frede]

The music, I must add, is the one redeeming feature of SQ1VGA, in my opinion.

 

I do agree that SQ3 and SQ4 also feature the most iconic locations. I myself would say that the location that springs to mind when I think of SQ3 is the Garbage Freighter. In SQ4, it'd have to be the post-apocalyptic setting of Xenon. None of which is a barrel of laughs until you begin looking around, triggering hilarious responses for seemingly innocuous objects. So, sci-fi locations that are cool to look at it.

 

Also, your opinion won't get you excommunicated - we don't do that here. We'll just bitch and moan about it.

[Johnathon]

The music, I must add, is the one redeeming feature of SQ1VGA, in my opinion.

 

That, and the Goofy scream when Roger sticks his hand in the pool of acid. Best part of the game.  :D

[Frede]

"I'm meltiiiiiiiiing!"

 

Okay, good point. That and the music  :D

[Fronzel Neekburm]

That and the music  :D

That, the music and the audacity to further piss off Toys-R-Us by adding their giraffe mascot to the Droids-B-Us storefront.

[PurpleTentacle]

I really like the new art revealed in the latest update. What do you all think?

[Frede]

I think it looks great. I love that the Mallard is parked there.