Still, I would appreciate for some stuff to be "consistent". Like if you removed the hints, not to need to remove them again at each episode.
I personally don't see a reason to remove the voodoo lady scenes or anything for it to be one single game. Just, you know, not being kicked out of the game and having to choose the next episode. Instead, once the episode is over, having a "start next episode" thing in the menu or something.
The story is seamless, but the narrative is episodic. The games are designed to end with cliffhangers; what would be the point of hiding Morgan's face at the end of Chapter 1 if you were going to reveal it three seconds later? There's some really good structural work in this game, and I don't think that should be thrown away just to satisfy a desire for it to be something it isn't?
Chapter 1 end:
Guybrush: But I don't even know who you are
Chapter 2 start:
Morgan: Well let me introduce myself then....
As for hiding her face, that could be just to show her sneaking up on Guybrush, which she did anyway.
All other chapters after that end up replaying the previous scene, Chapter 3 starts off with the Chapter 2 ending and rolls right into the next scene. Chpater 3's ending has Guybrush blacking out so the start of Chapter 4 with him in the boat is good enough to be the next scene.
Again, the only one that would require work would be Chapter 4 ending and the start of Chapter 5, cutting from that ending and then going to the cards would seem a bit odd as a large amount of time has passed on in the game between those points.
edit: And I don't really like arguing on this point, since it'll never happen anyway, but I'm just pointing out that the game CAN be a Full Game, all this "but it's done as Episodes so should stay as that" is just a weak comeback as to why you wouldn't want it as a full game.
If I have to be honest, they arn't really a part of the plot, they are more like catch up segments, which makes sense for a Monthly release, a brief catch up from the Voodoo lady reminded people what happened in the previous episode. The only time they are a part of the plot is during the Chapter 5 intro, which only features the cards and sound clips from Chapter 4.
The actual story is seamless, Chapter 1 ends with a sword at Guybrush's throat, Chapter 2 starts with that sword being pulled back as Morgan reveals herself, Chapter 2 ends with the ship being ate by the Manatee, Chapter 3 starts off by actually replaying that scene and continuing it on, Chapter 3 ends with Guybrush being knocked out, Chapter 4 starts a few hours later with Morgan rowing Guybrush back to Flotsam Island. If that could be combined into one long game it would work.
Even though it won't happen, at least having an option to skip the credits and Voodoo Lady Intro's would be nice.
Thank you for pointing me that the intro sequences recap previous events, I couldn't have figured out that myself. IMO it's not what is said in those sequences, but how it is said. These Voodoo Lady sequences gave subtle hints about the nature of her character relatively early in the game, without those scenes later "Voodoo Lady is evil" stuff would have came out of nowhere.
I vote as a continous full game. Its very simple just remove the credits sequences of each episode with a replacement Chapter screen (no need to remove intro of each chapter) and keep murray for the final end game credits. Sorted
I voted for Episodes. Exit the Game and start a new episode is not that big deal.
You all remind me of the mac-guys *whine* "i don't want to install bootcamp and windows, cause i don't wanna restart my mac, when i wanna play games originally made for PCs" *whine*
I quite agree, I just can't see the point of glueing the episodes together (unless you're some kind of Murray-hating anti-episodic ungrateful hate monster, of couse... )
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Hmm, so let me (some kind of Murray-hating anti-episodic ungrateful hate monster) tell you something.
Putting this chapter-games into one big full-version with chapters like in the first 4 Monkey island Games would be the best thing they could do. Why not. Theres Time enough. I have no problem to wait a few months more for the dvd. There was a lot of waiting anyway. So in the end you get the perfect game.
I voted for Episodes. Exit the Game and start a new episode is not that big deal.
No. It isnt. But it kills the feeling. You feel like playing minigames, or stuff. Less epic. Thats the reason i dont download episodes. I wait for the dvds. And if they put it into "one game" its perfect for me.
I vote as a continous full game. Its very simple just remove the credits sequences of each episode with a replacement Chapter screen (no need to remove intro of each chapter) and keep murray for the final end game credits. Sorted
Yes. That would be the best thing they could do.
The story is seamless, but the narrative is episodic. The games are designed to end with cliffhangers; what would be the point of hiding Morgan's face at the end of Chapter 1 if you were going to reveal it three seconds later?
Strange argument. So i get the dvd, i will play chapter one, and after finishing i wait a few weeks to start the next one, because i dont want to reveal the secret about morgan too early? .............. No, think not. There are always cliffhangers. If i watch an episode from a tv-show, before every single commercial-break, and in former monkey island adventures before every new chapter. Who cares.
A lot of people keep saying this isn't MI5, but if it could be played seamlessly as one big game, I can't see how they can say it's not MI5.
No. It isnt. But it kills the feeling. You feel like playing minigames, or stuff. Less epic. Thats the reason i dont download episodes. I wait for the dvds. And if they put it into "one game" its perfect for me.
Come on, it's the same with tv-shows which have a connected plot. if you don't wanna wait one week for the next episode you have to wait for the dvd-release. So you tell me you don't watch any TV Shows on television either?
No wonder so much good tv-shows get cancelled after one or two seasons, lol...
Come on, it's the same with tv-shows which have a connected plot. if you don't wanna wait one week for the next episode you have to wait for the dvd-release. So you tell me you don't watch any TV Shows on television either?
No wonder so much good tv-shows get cancelled after one or two seasons, lol...
TV shows are very different though, it's a shame because Tales of Monkey Island could of been an epic game as all one story, if it was all combined it could of been one of the longer Monkey Island games too.
Come on, it's the same with tv-shows which have a connected plot. if you don't wanna wait one week for the next episode you have to wait for the dvd-release. So you tell me you don't watch any TV Shows on television either?
Cant compare it. Were not talking about a television Show.
TV shows are very different though, it's a shame because Tales of Monkey Island could of been an epic game as all one story, if it was all combined it could of been one of the longer Monkey Island games too.
Exactly. It would make the whole Monkey Island Experience better.
So you tell me you don't watch any TV Shows on television either?
No wonder so much good tv-shows get cancelled after one or two seasons, lol...
The X Files and Star Trek were the last good television shows, anyway. :-) However, a Television Show is made for an episodic experience. You know what you get. But not the same with Videogames. For me the episode is one Game. Secret of Monkey Island is an Episode. Le Chucks Revenge is the next episode. But not 2-3 hour Epissodes which could work as one game. The Fans of the old MI Games never had the chance, to decide if they want episodes. But everyone had the chance to download episodes. So give the fans the chance to buy a full game, too.
The X Files and Star Trek were the last good television shows, anyway. :-) However, a Television Show is made for an episodic experience. You know what you get. But not the same with Videogames. For me the episode is one Game. Secret of Monkey Island is an Episode. Le Chucks Revenge is the next episode. But not 2-3 hour Epissodes which could work as one game. The Fans of the old MI Games never had the chance, to decide if they want episodes. But everyone had the chance to download episodes. So give the fans the chance to buy a full game, too.
What's the big deal? As far as I am concerned I have already completed the full game. I had never played episodic game before TOMI and I was highly sceptical, but it convinced me so much that I bought both seasons of Sam & Max too. Intro and credit sequences between episodes and manually selecting next episode from menu are minor issues and I much rather see bugs fixed. Also intro cutscenes are something which I don't want to see removed, because I don't want to have DVD version with lesser content than downloadable version?
I bought the Sam and Max Season One, too. And thats the reason i want TOMI on DVD not episodic. Didnt like it with Sam and Max. Although the game was good.
True that ToMI is not a TV show, but TV shows certainly seem to be a model for Telltale's game structures. The previous MI games were definitely structured more like movies (or novels). Lost is a good example of a TV show with an epic serialized story, with virtually every episode ending in a cliffhanger. If you want the seamless experience, you can wait for the DVDs and hit "Play All," but you're still gonna have to fast forward through credits and recaps, not to mention swap discs.
I wouldn't be against them adding this feature if it was doable, but I can't really see the benenfit for me personally. What am I gonna do, play the entire season in one sitting? I usually break even a single episode into two or three play sessions.
Before you guys go getting your hopes up, I'm just going to say right now that it would be a pretty monumental technical hurtle to get the episodes to play contiguously.
The previous MI games were definitely structured more like movies (or novels).
Which i prefer
Lost is a good example of a TV show with an epic serialized story, with virtually every episode ending in a cliffhanger.
Yes. I dont like television Shows like that. 24, Prison Break and stuff, prefer more the television shows where every episode ends with closure including an serialized story as well.
Matter of taste.
But for me, its still not comparable with Monkey Island. Think we cant come together in this question.:)
Before you guys go getting your hopes up, I'm just going to say right now that it would be a pretty monumental technical hurtle to get the episodes to play contiguously.
Somehow I think your statement won't end the discussion, you should send Yare - The Crusher of Hope - to say "It won't happen"
Before you guys go getting your hopes up, I'm just going to say right now that it would be a pretty monumental technical hurtle to get the episodes to play contiguously.
Yes. I dont like television Shows like that. 24, Prison Break and stuff, prefer more the television shows where every episode ends with closure including an serialized story as well.
Matter of taste.
Well, matters of taste aside, you heard it from the man himself. Unlikely as hell, but if you guys keep carping about it, maybe they'll implement the "play all" in a future season. In the meantime, I have a totally practical solution. Just set up five computers side by side (on a really long desk), with each episode preloaded and ready to go!
But for me, its still not comparable with Monkey Island. Think we cant come together in this question.:)
Jeez, you'd think we were trying to end world hunger or draft a congressional health bill or something.
I wouldn't be against them adding this feature if it was doable, but I can't really see the benenfit for me personally. What am I gonna do, play the entire season in one sitting?
What a silly comment! Well what did you do playing the previous MI games? They werent episodic! Did you complete them in one sitting? I dont think think so. You might wanna try to SAVE GAME.
If the DVD release will be a full game (which I hope it will) it doesnt affect your playing sessions as your probably going to save your game anyway.
Before you guys go getting your hopes up, I'm just going to say right now that it would be a pretty monumental technical hurtle to get the episodes to play contiguously.
Surely it cant be that hard to combine the 5 episodes/chapters into a normal full game!? Can it really!??
I dont believe we get the Full-Version on DVD, anyway. So its more a suggestion. I just think it could be the best thing for TOMI and for everyone who cant accept this to be "MI5". If its Episodic its still playable for me, but if the episodes were put together I would feel much better about it.
I will buy the DVD anyway (but only the german translation), and I'm looking forward to it.
Before you guys go getting your hopes up, I'm just going to say right now that it would be a pretty monumental technical hurtle to get the episodes to play contiguously.
Really? Why? Sorry for the stupid question.
But nice to see some Telltale-Guy's interest, about this discussion.
This is a really REALLY good idea. Shame about the seemingly technical impossibility of it. Like above poster; why? Would playing large amounts of time or launching all the content at once take so much memory it could crash the program or something?
I have had several crashes with launching Monkey Island episodes (and one ingame after the chapter IV credits) already, so I guess that could be it, never had that happen with either Sam&Max episodes. Or maybe my PC is just getting more unstable.
Just signing up to say how much I would like it if this happened, monumental task not-with-standing. Time to pray for miracles it is now, not?
For how this would work best in my opinion:
* Chapter titles get moved from somewhere in the middle to the begin. After that, the voodoo lady recaps. Sure, it may make not much sense to have a recap if it's one continues game, but what is worse is losing content, so it stays!
* Credits get removed and combined in one big one before the final cliffhanger for season 2. There is a major overlap already. And as another poster already said, the episodes can still be included seperate for those who want individual ones. The large list of chars/voiceactors can be somewhat overcome by listing all characters at once and then the actor, instead of all individual and then the actor as it is now. There aren't that many different voiceactors over the season anyway. Murray could still give comments being mounted on a pike in the Crossroads. And what murray hating person would not love murray added to the end of Chapter 5?
* The idea of the credits menu to make starting in the middle possible is very good.
Ah, I would be so happy if that was what happened for the DVD. Now where is my miracle?
For the people that somehow object to this idea (on other basis than it being technically very difficult, I can understand THAT reasoning...):
what would be the point of hiding Morgan's face at the end of Chapter 1 if you were going to reveal it three seconds later?
I don't understand those TV makers? They make a cliffhanger for a mid-season episode, and I see the resolvement 3 seconds later when I click the next episode in my DVD-box. Silly TV-developers.
Still, I would appreciate for some stuff to be "consistent". Like if you removed the hints, not to need to remove them again at each episode.
Okay, while this is not anti-one global, I just wanted comment on this that this was never needed for me downloading all 5 episodes seperately. It automatically set the others to 1440x900 and tip-level 0 after done so in episode I. :?
I voted for Episodes. Exit the Game and start a new episode is not that big deal.
It ain't. But then it feels like episodes instead of one big game. And one big game would be awesome. I feel sorry for you if you can't feel like that.
if you don't wanna wait one week for the next episode you have to wait for the dvd-release
Wait, weren't we talking here about the dvd-release? I am getting so confused now.
You know what's funny? All Pilots of TV-shows I have are one big episode, unlike the 2-parter they used to be on TV at that time. I wonder why they did that? Should've just sticked both parts on the DVD and have me click through them, no?
A common anti-comment heard in this thread. I just don't see how combining them prevents TTG from bugfixing, also people seem to somehow assume bugfixing takes no time or technical expertise, first you need to identify the cause, then fix it, then properly test if it's fixed after all (and doesn't cause mess-ups on other places). It takes time too, probably more than making all the seasons fit if it wasn't for engine-limitations. But you know, oddly enough to fix the bugs you complain about they need to modify that engine, since they seem to be issues in there instead of some messed up text/animation etc. that are the issues). So the same people who fix these bugs are the ones who can work our little miracle. Personally I would prefer combination above bugfixing for those guys, especially since I barely got any bugs aside from the starting crashes (which can be circumvented by... not starting the game all the time. Or switching out episodes... hmmm).
Okay, while this is not anti-one global, I just wanted comment on this that this was never needed for me downloading all 5 episodes seperately. It automatically set the others to 1440x900 and tip-level 0 after done so in episode I. :?
Really? It puts hints back every time for me... Maybe that's because I deleted each episode after playing it? It's my husband's computer so I didn't want to have lots of stuff on it.
I can see how it would use data from previous games for that, rather than use data that would be stored online... Mmh, if that's the case, then the hints and stuff should be consistent on the DVD either way, which is good.
I don't understand these things well, but I guess putting all episodes together goes beyond "when episode x ends, auto-start episode x+1". Stuff might needs to be merged, data placed in appropriate folders or things like that. I can see it becoming a lot of work in that case.
I wouldn't want the team to go through that hassle, if it's that much work it's probably not worth it. It would be nice, but I can do without.
Maybe that's because I deleted each episode after playing it?
Most probable.
It probably seeks for the prefs.prop in the my documents folder, so you should think about keeping those if you want to uninstall yet not set those options each and every time you install a new chapter (for future games).
I don't understand these things well, but I guess putting all episodes together goes beyond "when episode x ends, auto-start episode x+1". Stuff might needs to be merged, data placed in appropriate folders or things like that. I can see it becoming a lot of work in that case.
Yeah, me neither. I would figure it (besides altering credits and the chapter screen and removing "continues in", that would be done in episodes) could be just done as you mention it even if not running it as one big .exe, auto-launching the newly modified next game (neatly disguised as loading screen) at a chapter break (new game mode). Saving and loading would be probably somewhat more challenging then yes, as would making a good chapter selection screen instead of seperate shortcuts (probably not even being any episode, but a seperate running program. But that then makes saving and loading more complex ). But apparently from the post of the TTG dev last page it's even quite more complicated.
This is obviously hard to do perfectly judging from TT's responses. You can't start a program half way through, only at the beginning, so 'editing' the voodoo lady's scenes out looks impossible. But you can end a program whenever you want & tell the launcher to load a new program immediately.
So the way I see it, it may be possible for TT to work out a way of stopping the chapter just before the credits & the launcher immediately loading the next chapter. The DVD will probably need its own launcher coded for this & that might be too much to expect.
However unlikely this is to happen, I will remain hopeful until a TT member comes in here & tells us it's definitely not happening.
Maybe the easiest way to do this would be that at the end of each episode, it doesn't return to the main menu, but quits immediatly, and the the next episode is automatically launched, but skips the main menu. Like that, you'd get about ten seconds of loading screen and you'd return to your desktop for a few seconds, but it'd still feel like you're playing one big game, and I imagine it would take much less programming then to stick them all together.
A common anti-comment heard in this thread. I just don't see how combining them prevents TTG from bugfixing, also people seem to somehow assume bugfixing takes no time or technical expertise, first you need to identify the cause, then fix it, then properly test if it's fixed after all (and doesn't cause mess-ups on other places). It takes time too, probably more than making all the seasons fit if it wasn't for engine-limitations. But you know, oddly enough to fix the bugs you complain about they need to modify that engine, since they seem to be issues in there instead of some messed up text/animation etc. that are the issues). So the same people who fix these bugs are the ones who can work our little miracle. Personally I would prefer combination above bugfixing for those guys, especially since I barely got any bugs aside from the starting crashes (which can be circumvented by... not starting the game all the time. Or switching out episodes... hmmm).
My 2 cents.
First of all, you could have used names in the quotes, especially because you quoted more than just one person. Luckily I happened to remember exact phrasing I had used, despite the fact that you quoted only the later half of my sentence.
But back to the actual business. Like you said yourself, bugfixing takes a lot of time. And because we want to see DVD version before next Christmas, Telltale has limited amount of time. Now let's ask from ourselves which is more important, improving the quality of the game itself or using all resources to combine episodes into one long experience?
I'm not programmer, but one thing I have learned when I was betatester (not to Telltale though) is that when people who made the game say that something is very difficult to implement, then they know what they are talking about. While you may think that something is rather easy to do, in reality it may require heavy editing of the source code and then you have to test everything again to see that there are no bugs in the new code. All episodes have been made to work as stand alone programmes, so combining them to one big game probably requires a lot of programming and testing. While it would be nice to have such option, I rather see those resources to be used to make the game better.
I want the FULL game, like the old Monkey games, and if is possible, with the min'n mojo or deal a pirate wheel!!! and for this version wit vodoo lady tarot included! it's enought?
After the "Comedy", Dante has wrote "The Secret of Monkey Island tm".
First of all, you could have used names in the quotes, especially because you quoted more than just one person. Luckily I happened to remember exact phrasing I had used, despite the fact that you quoted only the later half of my sentence.
Fair enough. Done. Although I just used that very line for a very specific reason, I could have just used any of the several instances it can be found on pages 1 and 2 of this thread as well
Now let's ask from ourselves which is more important, improving the quality of the game itself or using all resources to combine episodes into one long experience?
The trick to this question is that the second option actually includes the first option. Combining all episodes into one big game IS improving the quality of the game. Seeing it as such I vote for #2 .
I'm not programmer, but one thing I have learned when I was betatester (not to Telltale though) is that when people who made the game say that something is very difficult to implement, then they know what they are talking about.
My experience (with modgroups though, not real developers) is when the codemonkeys say something is very difficulty to implent, they eventually come up with a way to do it anyway, or a good enough alternative to do something almost exactly the same which isn't that difficult to implent.
All episodes have been made to work as stand alone programmes, so combining them to one big game probably requires a lot of programming and testing.
Yeah, just read in a thread not all games even use the same version of the engine/tool, especially a lot of differences where added between chapter 1 and 2. That complicates matters a lot beyond what it seemed. Still, that means that if a full version was realised, any source fixes implented in #2 are now also inside #1 (even if that may cause new complications, true) and similar. Also there is an additional market for people who rather want 1 full game or buy boxed versions in shops. Although I have to admit the added profit from this group most likely isn't enough to cover the additional expenses.
Still, a man can dream, can't he? It would certainly make me love TTG (more).
EDIT: I would even be willing to pay more than just shipping costs for the DVD if TTG made this happen (am I the only one?). That way they could reduce the loss or... *gasp* even possibly make profit!
The next chapter is just a click away, true. So essentially it's no really that big a deal. But I played Sam&Max season 2 from the dvd and while that game isn't really a continuous story, returning to the menu takes you out of the game no matter how you look at it.
I agree it must be a tremendous task to make one single executable containing all five chapters, and even if a similar effect can be achieved in the global Windows environment by keeping the five separate programs intact but with a launcher containing automatic links from one program to the next, I don't want to force anyone to spend long hours creating such a device, and if it still really is such an gargantuan task I'd rather they'd let it be and focus on the next installment of my favorite game series.
I know squat about programming and game design, but I do know a thing or two about tv, film, and music production. In TV especially, once the final cut and uprez is done, the raw footage and audio is chucked so it's next to impossible to alter it. This is why I'm saying that if you guys really want this, keep voicing it to Telltale and maybe they'll be able to implement it from the start on a future project. Just don't expect them to retroactively hack it into a finished product.
Aren't there like 5 cuts of Blade Runner? Same with the LOTR-series?
I also know the DVD-versions of Stargate are modified (intercut gone, interlaced music instead of commercial breaks and even extended versions on the last Atlantis DVD). Maybe it isn't so uncommon for films and movies as you think?
I know squat about programming and game design, but I do know a thing or two about tv, film, and music production. In TV especially, once the final cut and uprez is done, the raw footage and audio is chucked so it's next to impossible to alter it.
I've never heard of any company throwing something away it spent money to produce.
Okay, I explained myself poorly. My bad. What I meant to say is that a post house that edits a TV show doesn't hang on to the resources afterward, but the studio or network does. And what I meant to imply by that is that it's probably much harder in game programming to "re-cut" something. I don't really know, but I'm taking Telltale's word for it. Having said that, maybe they work on this feature in future seasons.
I would even be willing to pay more than just shipping costs for the DVD if TTG made this happen (am I the only one?).
I would even pay for the ships fuel, if it gets me that. ^^
Serieously. If i had to wait longer for it, and to pay a few euros more, it would be worth it.
I have to admit, I have no idea about programming. But how do they do it with games like "Fallout 3" for example, where you can buy an extended version with additional quests, built in the main game? Maybe some other kind of thing, but seems to be work, too.
This is an awesome idea, and it's been considered around the office but at this time it doesn't seem plausible for a DVD release. It's a lot more work than just wiring games together, as far as I've heard, so it does not seem like it will make an appearance on the Tales DVD.
We've never had such a seamless story in a season before, so now that the precedent has been set and the seed planted, we entertain the notion of combining episodes the future, with proper preparation of course. However, we don't seem to be ready to do it right now. It's good to know that so many people are interested in seeing it happen!
Comments
I personally don't see a reason to remove the voodoo lady scenes or anything for it to be one single game. Just, you know, not being kicked out of the game and having to choose the next episode. Instead, once the episode is over, having a "start next episode" thing in the menu or something.
Chapter 1 end:
Guybrush: But I don't even know who you are
Chapter 2 start:
Morgan: Well let me introduce myself then....
As for hiding her face, that could be just to show her sneaking up on Guybrush, which she did anyway.
All other chapters after that end up replaying the previous scene, Chapter 3 starts off with the Chapter 2 ending and rolls right into the next scene. Chpater 3's ending has Guybrush blacking out so the start of Chapter 4 with him in the boat is good enough to be the next scene.
Again, the only one that would require work would be Chapter 4 ending and the start of Chapter 5, cutting from that ending and then going to the cards would seem a bit odd as a large amount of time has passed on in the game between those points.
edit: And I don't really like arguing on this point, since it'll never happen anyway, but I'm just pointing out that the game CAN be a Full Game, all this "but it's done as Episodes so should stay as that" is just a weak comeback as to why you wouldn't want it as a full game.
Thank you for pointing me that the intro sequences recap previous events, I couldn't have figured out that myself. IMO it's not what is said in those sequences, but how it is said. These Voodoo Lady sequences gave subtle hints about the nature of her character relatively early in the game, without those scenes later "Voodoo Lady is evil" stuff would have came out of nowhere.
You all remind me of the mac-guys *whine* "i don't want to install bootcamp and windows, cause i don't wanna restart my mac, when i wanna play games originally made for PCs" *whine*
Hmm, so let me (some kind of Murray-hating anti-episodic ungrateful hate monster)
Putting this chapter-games into one big full-version with chapters like in the first 4 Monkey island Games would be the best thing they could do. Why not. Theres Time enough. I have no problem to wait a few months more for the dvd. There was a lot of waiting anyway. So in the end you get the perfect game.
No. It isnt. But it kills the feeling. You feel like playing minigames, or stuff. Less epic. Thats the reason i dont download episodes. I wait for the dvds. And if they put it into "one game" its perfect for me.
Yes. That would be the best thing they could do.
Strange argument. So i get the dvd, i will play chapter one, and after finishing i wait a few weeks to start the next one, because i dont want to reveal the secret about morgan too early? .............. No, think not. There are always cliffhangers. If i watch an episode from a tv-show, before every single commercial-break, and in former monkey island adventures before every new chapter. Who cares.
True
Come on, it's the same with tv-shows which have a connected plot. if you don't wanna wait one week for the next episode you have to wait for the dvd-release. So you tell me you don't watch any TV Shows on television either?
No wonder so much good tv-shows get cancelled after one or two seasons, lol...
TV shows are very different though, it's a shame because Tales of Monkey Island could of been an epic game as all one story, if it was all combined it could of been one of the longer Monkey Island games too.
Cant compare it. Were not talking about a television Show.
Exactly. It would make the whole Monkey Island Experience better.
The X Files and Star Trek were the last good television shows, anyway. :-) However, a Television Show is made for an episodic experience. You know what you get. But not the same with Videogames. For me the episode is one Game. Secret of Monkey Island is an Episode. Le Chucks Revenge is the next episode. But not 2-3 hour Epissodes which could work as one game. The Fans of the old MI Games never had the chance, to decide if they want episodes. But everyone had the chance to download episodes. So give the fans the chance to buy a full game, too.
What's the big deal? As far as I am concerned I have already completed the full game. I had never played episodic game before TOMI and I was highly sceptical, but it convinced me so much that I bought both seasons of Sam & Max too. Intro and credit sequences between episodes and manually selecting next episode from menu are minor issues and I much rather see bugs fixed. Also intro cutscenes are something which I don't want to see removed, because I don't want to have DVD version with lesser content than downloadable version?
|Play All| |Chapter 1| |Chapter 2| |Chapter 3| |Chapter 4| |Chapter 5| |Extras| |Interview with Tom Pravetz|
I wouldn't be against them adding this feature if it was doable, but I can't really see the benenfit for me personally. What am I gonna do, play the entire season in one sitting? I usually break even a single episode into two or three play sessions.
Which i prefer
Yes. I dont like television Shows like that. 24, Prison Break and stuff, prefer more the television shows where every episode ends with closure including an serialized story as well.
Matter of taste.
But for me, its still not comparable with Monkey Island. Think we cant come together in this question.:)
Somehow I think your statement won't end the discussion, you should send Yare - The Crusher of Hope - to say "It won't happen"
Well, matters of taste aside, you heard it from the man himself. Unlikely as hell, but if you guys keep carping about it, maybe they'll implement the "play all" in a future season. In the meantime, I have a totally practical solution. Just set up five computers side by side (on a really long desk), with each episode preloaded and ready to go!
Jeez, you'd think we were trying to end world hunger or draft a congressional health bill or something.
What a silly comment! Well what did you do playing the previous MI games? They werent episodic! Did you complete them in one sitting? I dont think think so. You might wanna try to SAVE GAME.
If the DVD release will be a full game (which I hope it will) it doesnt affect your playing sessions as your probably going to save your game anyway.
Surely it cant be that hard to combine the 5 episodes/chapters into a normal full game!? Can it really!??
Those are my specialty.
Oh, man. You can do that?
I have no idea, but Will seems to think so.
I will buy the DVD anyway (but only the german translation), and I'm looking forward to it.
Really? Why?
But nice to see some Telltale-Guy's interest, about this discussion.
There is no hope anyway, only a suggestion.
I have had several crashes with launching Monkey Island episodes (and one ingame after the chapter IV credits) already, so I guess that could be it, never had that happen with either Sam&Max episodes. Or maybe my PC is just getting more unstable.
Just signing up to say how much I would like it if this happened, monumental task not-with-standing. Time to pray for miracles it is now, not?
For how this would work best in my opinion:
* Chapter titles get moved from somewhere in the middle to the begin. After that, the voodoo lady recaps. Sure, it may make not much sense to have a recap if it's one continues game, but what is worse is losing content, so it stays!
* Credits get removed and combined in one big one before the final cliffhanger for season 2. There is a major overlap already. And as another poster already said, the episodes can still be included seperate for those who want individual ones. The large list of chars/voiceactors can be somewhat overcome by listing all characters at once and then the actor, instead of all individual and then the actor as it is now. There aren't that many different voiceactors over the season anyway. Murray could still give comments being mounted on a pike in the Crossroads. And what murray hating person would not love murray added to the end of Chapter 5?
* The idea of the credits menu to make starting in the middle possible is very good.
Ah, I would be so happy if that was what happened for the DVD. Now where is my miracle?
For the people that somehow object to this idea (on other basis than it being technically very difficult, I can understand THAT reasoning...): I don't understand those TV makers? They make a cliffhanger for a mid-season episode, and I see the resolvement 3 seconds later when I click the next episode in my DVD-box. Silly TV-developers. Okay, while this is not anti-one global, I just wanted comment on this that this was never needed for me downloading all 5 episodes seperately. It automatically set the others to 1440x900 and tip-level 0 after done so in episode I. :? It ain't. But then it feels like episodes instead of one big game. And one big game would be awesome. I feel sorry for you if you can't feel like that. Wait, weren't we talking here about the dvd-release? I am getting so confused now.
You know what's funny? All Pilots of TV-shows I have are one big episode, unlike the 2-parter they used to be on TV at that time. I wonder why they did that? Should've just sticked both parts on the DVD and have me click through them, no? A common anti-comment heard in this thread. I just don't see how combining them prevents TTG from bugfixing, also people seem to somehow assume bugfixing takes no time or technical expertise, first you need to identify the cause, then fix it, then properly test if it's fixed after all (and doesn't cause mess-ups on other places). It takes time too, probably more than making all the seasons fit if it wasn't for engine-limitations. But you know, oddly enough to fix the bugs you complain about they need to modify that engine, since they seem to be issues in there instead of some messed up text/animation etc. that are the issues). So the same people who fix these bugs are the ones who can work our little miracle. Personally I would prefer combination above bugfixing for those guys, especially since I barely got any bugs aside from the starting crashes (which can be circumvented by... not starting the game all the time. Or switching out episodes... hmmm).
My 2 cents.
Really? It puts hints back every time for me... Maybe that's because I deleted each episode after playing it? It's my husband's computer so I didn't want to have lots of stuff on it.
I can see how it would use data from previous games for that, rather than use data that would be stored online... Mmh, if that's the case, then the hints and stuff should be consistent on the DVD either way, which is good.
I don't understand these things well, but I guess putting all episodes together goes beyond "when episode x ends, auto-start episode x+1". Stuff might needs to be merged, data placed in appropriate folders or things like that. I can see it becoming a lot of work in that case.
I wouldn't want the team to go through that hassle, if it's that much work it's probably not worth it. It would be nice, but I can do without.
It probably seeks for the prefs.prop in the my documents folder, so you should think about keeping those if you want to uninstall yet not set those options each and every time you install a new chapter (for future games). Yeah, me neither. I would figure it (besides altering credits and the chapter screen and removing "continues in", that would be done in episodes) could be just done as you mention it even if not running it as one big .exe, auto-launching the newly modified next game (neatly disguised as loading screen) at a chapter break (new game mode). Saving and loading would be probably somewhat more challenging then yes, as would making a good chapter selection screen instead of seperate shortcuts (probably not even being any episode, but a seperate running program. But that then makes saving and loading more complex
So the way I see it, it may be possible for TT to work out a way of stopping the chapter just before the credits & the launcher immediately loading the next chapter. The DVD will probably need its own launcher coded for this & that might be too much to expect.
However unlikely this is to happen, I will remain hopeful until a TT member comes in here & tells us it's definitely not happening.
First of all, you could have used names in the quotes, especially because you quoted more than just one person. Luckily I happened to remember exact phrasing I had used, despite the fact that you quoted only the later half of my sentence.
But back to the actual business. Like you said yourself, bugfixing takes a lot of time. And because we want to see DVD version before next Christmas, Telltale has limited amount of time. Now let's ask from ourselves which is more important, improving the quality of the game itself or using all resources to combine episodes into one long experience?
I'm not programmer, but one thing I have learned when I was betatester (not to Telltale though) is that when people who made the game say that something is very difficult to implement, then they know what they are talking about. While you may think that something is rather easy to do, in reality it may require heavy editing of the source code and then you have to test everything again to see that there are no bugs in the new code. All episodes have been made to work as stand alone programmes, so combining them to one big game probably requires a lot of programming and testing. While it would be nice to have such option, I rather see those resources to be used to make the game better.
After the "Comedy", Dante has wrote "The Secret of Monkey Island tm".
Still, a man can dream, can't he? It would certainly make me love TTG (more).
EDIT: I would even be willing to pay more than just shipping costs for the DVD if TTG made this happen (am I the only one?). That way they could reduce the loss or... *gasp* even possibly make profit!
I agree it must be a tremendous task to make one single executable containing all five chapters, and even if a similar effect can be achieved in the global Windows environment by keeping the five separate programs intact but with a launcher containing automatic links from one program to the next, I don't want to force anyone to spend long hours creating such a device, and if it still really is such an gargantuan task I'd rather they'd let it be and focus on the next installment of my favorite game series.
I also know the DVD-versions of Stargate are modified (intercut gone, interlaced music instead of commercial breaks and even extended versions on the last Atlantis DVD). Maybe it isn't so uncommon for films and movies as you think?
They are also planning to re-release the pilot as a movie... altered somewhat though.
So, not that improbable for TV either.
I've never heard of any company throwing something away it spent money to produce.
I would even pay for the ships fuel, if it gets me that. ^^
Serieously. If i had to wait longer for it, and to pay a few euros more, it would be worth it.
I have to admit, I have no idea about programming. But how do they do it with games like "Fallout 3" for example, where you can buy an extended version with additional quests, built in the main game? Maybe some other kind of thing, but seems to be work, too.
We've never had such a seamless story in a season before, so now that the precedent has been set and the seed planted, we entertain the notion of combining episodes the future, with proper preparation of course. However, we don't seem to be ready to do it right now. It's good to know that so many people are interested in seeing it happen!