Sierra may be coming back (New KQ Game)

[Frede]

Replay doesn't own jackshit. They got a license from Codemasters to remake the first Larry game, nothing more. Codemasters owns LSL.

At this point, I don't think there even is a Replay Games. There's a Twitter account that sucks up to Codemasters and mentions whenever LSL:R is on sale, and there's a website that lists Paul Trowe on its "About"-page. But as far as game projects go, Fester Mudd remains the latest endeavour of that company...

[Fronzel Neekburm]

But as far as game projects go, Fester Mudd - Episode 1 remains the latest endeavour of that company...

Fixed. I do feel sorry for the devs behind Fester Mudd (which wasn't developed by Replay, they merely published it). People who played it seemed to genuinely like it, hopefully the devs will be able to move on to some greener pastures to continue working on new episodes.

 

 

The things he learned from those games lead into IMO the best Larry title, Love For Sail.

 

I dunno, as far as Larry goes, I always preferred #6 to #7. Love For Sail tried too damn hard at UI innovashun (they probably needed some selling points for the back cover), the worst offender being the re-introduction of the (mostly unresponsive, especially if you were playing a localised version) parser, which didn't serve any real purpose other than making the easter eggs harder to find.

 

And don't even get me started on that strip dice minigame!

[Frede]

True, I'd forgotten that this was an episodic game that was never finished. I haven't played it, but I agree with you that it'd be nice if the people actually behind it get to wrap it up properly.

[tomimt]

 

I dunno, as far as Larry goes, I always preferred #6 to #7. Love For Sail tried too damn hard at UI innovashun (they probably needed some selling points for the back cover), the worst offender being the re-introduction of the (mostly unresponsive, especially if you were playing a localised version) parser, which didn't serve any real purpose other than making the easter eggs harder to find.

 

And don't even get me started on that strip dice minigame!

Personally I liked the UI quite a bit. The parsers could have used a bit more functionality, but all in all it was a decent experiment. And that Liars Dice game, while annoying, isn't anything a bit of good, old save/reload magic doesn't pretty quickly fix. But yeah, LSL7 would have worked without it a well.

[suejak]

True, I'd forgotten that this was an episodic game that was never finished. I haven't played it, but I agree with you that it'd be nice if the people actually behind it get to wrap it up properly.

 

Fester Mudd is EXTREMELY good if you like early-90s LA adventure games and Josh Mandel-style humour.

[Troels Pleimert]

I dunno, as far as Larry goes, I always preferred #6 to #7.

I agree, but not because of:

 

Love For Sail tried too damn hard at UI innovashun (they probably needed some selling points for the back cover), the worst offender being the re-introduction of the (mostly unresponsive, especially if you were playing a localised version) parser, which didn't serve any real purpose other than making the easter eggs harder to find.

Bullshit. :D

 

LSL6 was a better game, in my opinion, only because it was funnier. And I liked the spa setting better than the cruise liner. And I liked the graphics better, too.

 

But LSL7 deserves a million pats on the back for figuring out a way to reintroduce a parser to a point-and-click adventure game and actually making it work!

 

I wish more games had used LSL7's interface. Imagine a Space Quest game using LSL7's interface! Scott would be pissing himself at the prospect.

 

(And, nope, before you ask -- sorry, SpaceVenture will not be using a similar interface. SpaceVenture is point-and-click only.)

[Collector]

The only complaint that I have with the parser is when it is badly implemented or incomplete. It drives me nuts if the vocabulary is so sparse that you have to play the "guess what word I am thinking of now" game with the developer. That breaks immersion. It should recognize all synonyms and variants of the word in question. I would go as far as to have it recognize all alternate spellings.

 

Other than that, I can see no reason that the parser could not find a place in a modern game.

[Troels Pleimert]

The only complaint that I have with the parser is when it is badly implemented or incomplete. It drives me nuts if the vocabulary is so sparse that you have to play the "guess what word I am thinking of now" game with the developer. That breaks immersion. It should recognize all synonyms and variants of the word in question. I would go as far as to have it recognize all alternate spellings.

 

Other than that, I can see no reason that the parser could not find a place in a modern game.

There ya go. What Andrew said.

[Capn_Ascii]

Love For Sail tried too damn hard at UI innovashun

 

 

Perhaps, but they did one thing right - they changed from Sierra's classic verb-centric icons (boo) to a noun-centric interface (yay!). Instead of having a limited selection of actions to apply to everything, you chose the object first, and then got a context-sensitive list of actions to perform on it. That part's important, because it opened the door for all sorts of hilariously specific things you could do to objects (and the resulting funny messages) that would never be possible using generalized actions. It's a brilliant idea; I've always been baffled why more adventure game makers didn't pick up it, instead insisting on classic verb/icon sets (or worse, the dreaded 'one click for everything' interface).

 

And that Liars Dice game, while annoying, isn't anything a bit of good, old save/reload magic doesn't pretty quickly fix.

 

 

Or you could take the SQ1 Slots-O-Death route, and just cheat. ;) I forget the actual buttons, but there's a key combo that removes the lid from Dewmi's dice cup, letting you see her dice rolls as well as your own. Because of the way the game works (you're trying to guess how many of a given die face is on the table in total), this makes it extremely easy to win - you can see exactly how many there are, and don't have to guess or risk calling her bluff.

 

Retries completely ruin the whole point of deaths.

 

 

I beg to differ, good sirrah. At least one major reason for deaths is the potential for laughs. As a good friend of mine whom I'm sure we all know has showcased for us all, dying in cruel and/or ridiculous ways is one of the highlights of adventure gaming, Sierra's games in particular. This is the very reason why Lucas' lack of deaths annoyed me - it took away the ability to have those "Oops, you screwed up, hah hah!" moments. The retry button allows you to have them back, but without the risk of losing actual game progress. Just add an option to remove the 'retry' button for obvious masochists like yourself ;) and everybody's happy.

 

Some Sierra games were just illogical and cruel.

 

 

Oh, absolutely. Sierra's adventure games were easily some of the most punishing, unmerciful ones ever made - not just in terms of unexpected deaths, but also with regards to classic 'dick moves' like no-win situations (forgot the translator from the Arcada? You're boned, sorry.). Admittedly, though, they were only following the design trends of their time - previous adventure games of the interactive fiction era were just as mean to the player. You were *expected* to die dozens of times - in their mind, death and dead-ends were part of the learning process. Puzzles were solved through trial and error - that's just how it was done in those days. Lucas's no-deaths, no-dead-ends policy was made specifically to *counter* this school of design.

 

Speaking of which, this reminds me of the hairpin puzzle in LSL2. Al was a bit of a dick with that one - the 'puzzle' is specifically *designed* so that you can't solve it unless you have information from a previous 'life'. You have to fish a hairpin out of some food or else Larry chokes on it, but the game doesn't ever tell you the pin is there until *after* it kills you. Looking at the food, the plate, etc. gives no warnings whatsoever. You have to specifically type 'get hairpin', at which point the game is all like "Oh, hey, yeah! There *is* a hairpin in here. Wow, however did you know that?". The sarcasm is palpable. :rolleyes:

 

Incidentally, those of you who *enjoy* that sort of meta-puzzling might want to look into the Zero Escape series. They're basically visual novels with 'room escape' gameplay intermissions, but the plots revolve heavily around meta stuff like that. Especially the second one...

[suejak]

Did you guys see the King's Quest trailer? 

 

http://blog.theoddgentlemen.com/post/104464765209/kings-quest-trailer-debut-at-the-game-awards-we

 

Looks bizarrely action-focused and very much like a platformer to me.

 

Hope it was just a misleading trailer.

[Datadog]

It might be. The fact that Graham is riding a mattress down a river suggests adventure game logic happened.

 

I really like the trailer, though Graham looks a little too stylized in it for me. The re-imagining of the world looks a little akin to Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies, where all the simple things from the original have now been expanded upon. Seeing him jump around doesn't bother me yet since it could be a cinematic choice rather than a platforming aspect.

[Fronzel Neekburm]

Yes, but will it have dedicated servers?

[Troels Pleimert]

NEEDS MOAR SLIDER PUZZLES

[Fronzel Neekburm]

Achievements or GTFO!!!!

[Frede]

I had really been hoping for a classic point'n'click game. I nearly tripped over my Buffalo shoes and knocked over the fondue kit when I saw the trailer. Now I'm listening to Ace of Base to soothe the pain.

 

Yes, that was really what the 90's were like here in Europe. I know, right?

Edited December 8, 2014 by Frede

[MusicallyInspired]

Looks promising. I'm still cautious, though. I don't think it'll be traditional platformer so much as Tomb Raider-inspired. They've already said it'll be an adventure but not point & click.

[Fronzel Neekburm]

Looks promising.

 

 

I don't think it'll be traditional platformer so much as Tomb Raider-inspired.

So, it'll be cinematic, QTE-ridden shit?

[MusicallyInspired]

Uh, no. By Tomb Raider-inspired, I'm referring to the original game which was neither cinematic nor QTE-laden. And I don't even think it'll be a carbon copy of that, just inspired by it. I'm thinking something like Alone in the Dark/Indy: Infernal Machine meets traditional puzzle adventure. That's my guess. Could be way off.

[Happy Cock Head]

Looks generic and tired. I'm severely unenthused. More white noise as far as i'm concerned. Pity...   

 

HCH

[Troels Pleimert]

NEEDS MOAR SWITCH-FLIPPING

[Fronzel Neekburm]

THE DIVINE SQUIRREL, TROELS! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO NOT FORGET THE FUCKING SQUIRREL!

 

(Come to think of it, a divine squirrel would fit right into the world of KQ.)

 

By Tomb Raider-inspired, I'm referring to the original game which was neither cinematic nor QTE-laden.

Ah, gotcha! I still suspect that it'll be more like NuTomb Raider in terms of gameplay, only with less attempted rape.

[tomimt]

The trailer did actually remind me of Trine. I can see how a KQ game could work as such a game, especially if it's retelling of the previous games.

[MusicallyInspired]

It won't be. At least, that's what they're desperately trying to reassure us of.

[MusicallyInspired]

I'm really digging the artwork in this game. Take the backdrop in this scene for instance...

 

 

It's huge! And so dynamic! At least it makes the world LOOK big.

[suejak]

I agree that it looks awesome!

 

They keep saying on Twitter that "it's definitely an adventure game!!" But I'm not really convinced they mean "an adventure game with inventory puzzles consistent with King's Quests 1-7."

 

And if it's not that type of adventure, what's the point...?