loyal fans betrayed, the graphics issue
hi all, this is my first post.
Basically, I wanted to just put up a copy of a letter I recently wrote to tell-tale about the new sam and max season. Part of it includes a request to cancel my pc subscription for a PS-3 subscription. But the main point is that of two computers, neither is able to play Sam and Max at the lowest video setting. My basic point, the one I want to put out in the forums, is that the casual-gamers graphic-adventure enthusiasts (and nostalgics)--at least if they are like me--cannot play the new tell tale stuff. My feeling is that it is because they are making games for two types of fans/platforms: casual gamers who own shitty (from a gamer POV) PCs, and console owners looking for an alternative style game. I feel as a loyal lucasarts, sierra obsessie grown older, I fall into the former category, and I feel a bit betrayed. I was wondering if any other graphic adventure enthusiasts were feeling similar.
My letter:
My name is ____ I have been a long-term tell-tale subscriber, (and an even longer-term graphic-adventure-game enthusiast) and have loyally ordered all seasons of Sam and Max, Tales of Monkey Island as well as additional games. I also took the time to do a user-survey to help with the pre-release of the current Sam and Max season
I have two computers, a dell Inspiron D620 from September 2006, and an HP mini 110 from this september (both Windows 7 32 ed). The latter was able to play S&M seasons 1 &2 fine. TMI worked decently (at lowest graphics setting) on the mini, less so on the old inspiron. Neither of my computers can handle S&M on any graphics setting -- after the first 5 minutes, all the animation is running at a rate 6-10x slower than the sound to the point that gameplay--not to mention cutscenes--is unbarable.
MY problem: My current computer really cannot handle this season of Sam and Max, even at Graphics setting one. It just laggs too much. I had this problem (minimally) with TMI but it just meant restarting my computer after an hour of gameplay. Now, with the current season of S&M I simply cannot play the games at all.
--> I have a PS3 and would like to switch my computer order for the PS3 games. Now, I imagine such an easy switch is not easy. If this is true, i am requesting that you cancel my Season Three subscription, refund my money, and allow me to purchase the season on the PS-3. Under normal circumstances, I understand that this is asking alot--since the subsequent re-purchases would be handled through the playstation network. However, I am hoping that since I am such a long-term customer, you will be willing to assist me. In my fantasy, you can cancel my PC subscriptions and issue me playstation credit, or a cash-refund...
Without being rude, but just offering my feedback, I will also say that, as a long-term customer, I cannot help but feel that--perhaps in the haste to make everything console competitive-- you have alienated loyal casual-gamer fans by making games that cannot run on our kind of PC. And, since most other graphic adventure producers are producing stuff that works for the low-performance machines casual-gamers use. With all respect, there graphic adventure competition may not be great, but only TMI, I think, has come close to the kind of satisfying gameplay I felt with Ben there Dan That, or even Machinarium, and the system requirements those games had were practically xilch. It may be that the new Season of Sam and Max will outdue your previous work, and these competitor titles, but at the moment, I cant find out, because my computer suddenly cant handle the basic games you produce... On top of this fact, I am frustrated that you have no daytime customer support number, as a phone conversation would have made this much easier.
my telltale account is at this email, so you can verify all that I am saying. My phone number is _________. I would have contacted you earlier, after the first game was released, but I only just graduated from college this week and have not had the time to sit down and play till now. Please help me.
Again, I love the work you do, I just wish I could keep up with it on my PC...
--_______
P.S. I have written in such detail because many of my friends, lucas-arts style graphic adventure enthusiasts, have all expressed the same concerns (many of them could not play Sam and Max 1 when it came out!). I am proud to support the games you produce, especially at this risky time for producing graphic adventures, and--throughout college when I have had little cash to spare, have continued to shell out money to support your endeavors. If there are other departments of tell-tale--such as pr, marketing, etc.--who would find these comments useful, I give formal permission to pass them on.
Basically, I wanted to just put up a copy of a letter I recently wrote to tell-tale about the new sam and max season. Part of it includes a request to cancel my pc subscription for a PS-3 subscription. But the main point is that of two computers, neither is able to play Sam and Max at the lowest video setting. My basic point, the one I want to put out in the forums, is that the casual-gamers graphic-adventure enthusiasts (and nostalgics)--at least if they are like me--cannot play the new tell tale stuff. My feeling is that it is because they are making games for two types of fans/platforms: casual gamers who own shitty (from a gamer POV) PCs, and console owners looking for an alternative style game. I feel as a loyal lucasarts, sierra obsessie grown older, I fall into the former category, and I feel a bit betrayed. I was wondering if any other graphic adventure enthusiasts were feeling similar.
My letter:
My name is ____ I have been a long-term tell-tale subscriber, (and an even longer-term graphic-adventure-game enthusiast) and have loyally ordered all seasons of Sam and Max, Tales of Monkey Island as well as additional games. I also took the time to do a user-survey to help with the pre-release of the current Sam and Max season
I have two computers, a dell Inspiron D620 from September 2006, and an HP mini 110 from this september (both Windows 7 32 ed). The latter was able to play S&M seasons 1 &2 fine. TMI worked decently (at lowest graphics setting) on the mini, less so on the old inspiron. Neither of my computers can handle S&M on any graphics setting -- after the first 5 minutes, all the animation is running at a rate 6-10x slower than the sound to the point that gameplay--not to mention cutscenes--is unbarable.
MY problem: My current computer really cannot handle this season of Sam and Max, even at Graphics setting one. It just laggs too much. I had this problem (minimally) with TMI but it just meant restarting my computer after an hour of gameplay. Now, with the current season of S&M I simply cannot play the games at all.
--> I have a PS3 and would like to switch my computer order for the PS3 games. Now, I imagine such an easy switch is not easy. If this is true, i am requesting that you cancel my Season Three subscription, refund my money, and allow me to purchase the season on the PS-3. Under normal circumstances, I understand that this is asking alot--since the subsequent re-purchases would be handled through the playstation network. However, I am hoping that since I am such a long-term customer, you will be willing to assist me. In my fantasy, you can cancel my PC subscriptions and issue me playstation credit, or a cash-refund...
Without being rude, but just offering my feedback, I will also say that, as a long-term customer, I cannot help but feel that--perhaps in the haste to make everything console competitive-- you have alienated loyal casual-gamer fans by making games that cannot run on our kind of PC. And, since most other graphic adventure producers are producing stuff that works for the low-performance machines casual-gamers use. With all respect, there graphic adventure competition may not be great, but only TMI, I think, has come close to the kind of satisfying gameplay I felt with Ben there Dan That, or even Machinarium, and the system requirements those games had were practically xilch. It may be that the new Season of Sam and Max will outdue your previous work, and these competitor titles, but at the moment, I cant find out, because my computer suddenly cant handle the basic games you produce... On top of this fact, I am frustrated that you have no daytime customer support number, as a phone conversation would have made this much easier.
my telltale account is at this email, so you can verify all that I am saying. My phone number is _________. I would have contacted you earlier, after the first game was released, but I only just graduated from college this week and have not had the time to sit down and play till now. Please help me.
Again, I love the work you do, I just wish I could keep up with it on my PC...
--_______
P.S. I have written in such detail because many of my friends, lucas-arts style graphic adventure enthusiasts, have all expressed the same concerns (many of them could not play Sam and Max 1 when it came out!). I am proud to support the games you produce, especially at this risky time for producing graphic adventures, and--throughout college when I have had little cash to spare, have continued to shell out money to support your endeavors. If there are other departments of tell-tale--such as pr, marketing, etc.--who would find these comments useful, I give formal permission to pass them on.
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Comments
On the other hand, there are lots of people out there who will dismiss a game solely because the graphics aren't Crysis-quality.
I don't think Telltale can grow unless it attracts newcomers to the adventure genre, and that means making the game visually appealing, sometimes at the cost of losing customers with older hardware. Advancing the graphics and lighting also permits Telltale to make its storytelling more compelling -- witness how shadows and enhanced facial expressions add to the experience of playing a game. If you play the PS3 version, I think you'll notice how the technological leaps help improve the game.
Fortunately, Telltale is very generous in issuing refunds if your system isn't up to spec. You'll have to purchase the PS3 version directly from Sony -- Telltale doesn't have a way to transfer a season from PC to PS3.
that seems like a complaint of "The Graphics are too good to work on my computer." which kinda makes me laugh.
But get the PS3 Version when you can, you will love it. When you can afford it get a new computer and go nuts.
I think it's dumb that people will say a game sucks because it's graphics aren't the best in the world. Some games are supposed to be cartoony and dont look right like that. If it's a 2D game when it claims to be 3D, then I'm mad
It's like you were saying "It doesn't work on my Playstation One! You betrayed me an all Playstation One users!"...
I can understand you feel bad that you cannot play what you bought. Hope that TT does something, but it's mainly your fault IMHO.
And I still hope TT continues to improve their graphics, I think that S&M3 is very good, and it has great effects, but the engine has still low polygon count compared to other products.
There are a lot of people nostalgic for the old style of adventure gaming, and those people would feel betrayed by improvements which, in aiming to keep abreast of hardware developments, render a typical home computer owned by a non-gamer, inadequate.
In fact, having to upgrade your computer constantly in order to experience bigger and better graphics with each new game is one of the very things that turned away many of these people from modern gaming in the first place.
Read the system requirements before buying? Seriously who does that? People that actually understand the system requirements will likely always have sufficient hardware.
A computer from 3.5 years ago is fine. I bet it would run TMI fine with a bit of a cleanup. And that game is only a few months before Devil's Playhouse. It wouldn't seem unreasonable that Devil's Playhouse would come with an option to crank the graphics down to a level where such hardware would be able to play the game.
I would just phone your local computer guy and ask for his opinion. It probably won't cost much to get the computer in a workable state.
If you post your system specs here I'm sure someone could advise you.
I myself have bought several games in which the minimum requirements are way above the specs I have for my own PC. I never feel betrayed, simply because I just like to collect games, no matter how high the requirements.
That reminds me, I still need to find God Hand for the PS2. After which I need to get myself a PS2.
This PC I made last year, using slightly out of date components, and it cost me less than £500. With it, I can play Sam and Max on, well, max. Although my video card does protest slightly so I should probably turn it down to 7 or something.
So to sum up, and please understand I'm not being rude when I say this, but it's time to suck it up and start upgrading your PC, or just buy a new one. You don't even need to buy top of the line. You could get the parts and build a fairly cheap PC like I did. Hell if you went for a £500 one now it would probably be better than mine!
Also Gary, I too want God Hand on the PS2. I bitterly regret not buying it when I saw it appear pre owned in my local Game. It was gone soon after.
Anyway, i'd be in a similair boat, if i hadn't had mine upped to have blu-ray (because it had to be custom built they doubled all my specs for £12 extra, and can play all TTG's on highest settings). I don't expect to have to look at system specs for a game that isn't top of the range, on my laptop which isn't ancient.
I would feel incredibly annoyed and betrayed if it didn't work (though probably moreso at the fact i'd chosen a crummy computer)
As for advice, i can only say to update your drivers. Telltale has to move on sometime, it's just a shame some people are left behind.
As the post above mine indicates, the new PC is a Netbook, and therefore should not be expected to run any type of game whatsoever. Any game it can run should be considered a bonus. And a stock PC from 2006 with zero upgrades is ancient, yes.
I bought this PC in 2006, but have upgraded it sufficiently that it is able to run modern games at max settings.
I couldn't run Sam & Max Season 3 either. I discussed it with my husband and we came to a consensus: we purchased a better videocard this time, and next time we can't play a telltale game on this computer without having to change a part, or replace the whole thing, we'll stop buying telltale games. So far we've spent double what we spent on games just to get systems that could play them, it doesn't sound normal at all.
This being said, they're not going to do things any differently, you know. Just as you're complaining that they're putting too demanding graphics in their games, there are people complaining that the graphics aren't good enough. And they're probably a majority, those who want more and more powerful graphics.
As I said, it's sad, but it's not a betrayal or anything like that.
That's why you should save up and spend 400 bucks or more on a desktop pc that will stay up-to-date for longer.
Oh, buy the parts online and assemble them yourself. Don't buy a prebuilt pc from a distributor like Dell or HP.
For one, they charge way too much for RAM compared to RAM manufacturers like Crucial.
For another, if you buy from a distributor, you're paying alot more, primarily for the tech support, and if you know anyone who knows anything about PC's, you don't need to pay more for that.
This doesn't include RAM bought from Crucial.com, and I haven't bought Sam&Max TDP yet, but I can run ToMI at 1440x900 at quality level 9 with zero issues.
get that, and if I was going back in time I might do that. But now I've bought this computer and I'm planning on using it for longer.
But heh, when it needs replacing, the one I'll get will probably be able to play some more games. I guess I can live with being a few years behind, especially since games will be cheaper then too.
I don't really care about being the first person playing something anyways, although I guess I'd rather support telltale more.
Oh well, we got a card that can play The Devil's Plahouse on level 9, hopefully t will be a few years before we're faced with a game we can't play on level 1.
If you want to offer more than that, there are certain possibilities to enhance the visuals for higher specced systems without hurting low end systems too much like for instance offering different AA levels, higher resolutions, bigger textures and so on. As TTG wants to offer their content on a wide range of systems, they automatically have to implement such screws.
One problem TTG seems to face is that they expanded their platforms rather quickly without having the time giving a lot of polishment to each platform which results into suboptimal performing games. Another one is that there seems to be a focus on aspects which simply aren't this important to experienced adventure gamers but might be more valuable for newbies and as TTG obviously wants to enlarge their userbase this seems to be a valid option to them.
I suspect that things will improve in a way that the minimum specs won't increase in the near future due to the fixed specs of the consoles and due to more optimized platform support, so if you're current system can deal with some settings, i think it's safe to assume that it will also run upcoming games quite well, maybe even better.
There is room for improvement, they are aware of the situation and so time after time things should improve. Looking at the Mac for instance things aren't perfect but the situation enhanced significantly already.
Saying so i also would welcome more focus on that things look nice on low end systems instead of that it's more a way to play the game but with some distracting glitches beeing involved, thinking of the models for instance.
If adventure games were still 320x200 resolution with 256 colors, we'd still play them, but they would never attract new customers. New customers = more money = higher game quality and length = we get to still keep playing their games at the cost of updating our rigs every few years.
Really, if all you spend is $50-$100 a year upgrading your PC (don't buy top of the line parts, waste of money unless you are obsessed with bleeding edge tech, buy ones that are 1-2 generations behind the current one, you'll pull almost the same level of performance at a fraction of the cost), you'll easily be able to keep pace with Telltale releases, and run them at maximum as well.
Yes, it is an expensive hobby, and I feel confident I'll be keeping up with Telltale for a while, and people with older computers need to realize that. You have to keep up with the system reqs of a game. I know I'm not about to start pouting just because my pc can't play a game, it just means I need an upgrade. Simple. It's like saying you feel betrayed by battery companies because you have to buy more batteries. It shouldn't be an issue, it's just a fact of life.
This is what i get for skimmming ¬_¬
Yes, and also the *ahem* animation level. Let's get some more emotional animation in with the great script writing. If the virtual actors fall flat on delivering lines, then what's the sense in having voices?
I'd like to say that pushing the graphics to a better level is a good thing, but as long as it does so in good reason, and I believe TTG are certainly doing their best in that dept.
As in response to the original post, it's unfortunate your current system can't play Sam & Max S3 to it's full potential, as that's always frustrating. However, I must say, even knocking it back doesn't ruin the experience at all.
It runs on low settings on video cards that are 5+ years old unless you have a bargain bin piece of junk PC with a low end or integrated video card. If you aren't willing to shell out for a decent video card once every 5 years, you can't possibly expect gaming to wait for you.
Surely you don't need to spend £800 on a computer unless you want everything cranked up to maximum. Mine only cost £479 from Dell 18 months ago and it runs Tales + S&M Season three at level 9 - although that's hardly the mark of a good system. To compare, it runs GTA4 at a low setting with a small amount of lag.
But the adventures are fun and very entertaining.
At the end of the day if your computer cant handle this level of gaming you should drop your PC out of a window from a great hight , get a new PC, get a PS3, get a 360 .. but dont create threads claiming that Loyal Fans are being betrayed! ya frickin idiot.