Sam and Max, and my thoughts on the games so far.

edited March 2007 in Sam & Max
Hey,

I am new to Sam and Max but Does anybody know how They meet?

My thoughts on the game:

I think the two episodes are great fun however I think they are continuing with the wrong story.
To continue with the hypnotism is pointless and very childish
I think they should have combined the two stories for Ep 3 and 2. Instead of Sybil seeing the horrific crime that will get her killed, How about Myra sees the act and is going to be killed. So in a desperate act to survive she holds her audience hostage and tries to keep the show going forever so she doesn't have to go outside and get murdered. This would have been a far more adult story and is much better then
a hypnotism
story.

Thoughts? And also please answer the question above
~Matt / Me
«1

Comments

  • edited January 2007
    I agree that the video game about the talking dog and rabbit needs to have more adult plotlines.

    Here are some ideas that the people at Telltale games would be fools to ignore:

    Sam gets cancer, and because they don't have health insurance, Max holds a hospital staff at gunpoint until they agree to treat his partner.

    One of them gets pregnant and they have a frank discussion about abortion.

    They go in search of the cold-blooded murderer of Sam's father. (Possible dialog line: "I'm looking for the man who shot my paw.")
  • edited January 2007
    I think season 2 should be about a serial killer going around killing victims in hilarious yet dark ways.
    It's Sam & Max's job to find out who and how the victims are related.
    One victim per episode!

    I'm actually thinking about writting a Sam & Max novel/story about this
  • edited January 2007
    I've already developed an interpretive dance routine chronicling Sam and Max's investigation of hilarious yet dark serial killings. I plan to post it on YouTube once I make a friend and convince him to hold a camera.
  • edited January 2007
    "more adult storyline"???

    Please tell me your joking. What do you want, lagomorph porn?

    A legal drama?

    Sam getting Sybil pregnant and selling their children to the black market, thus forcing her to get a restraining order and move to Istanbul and in a whirlwind passion marry a tragically misunderstood ex-juggler named Herschel, much to the chagrin of his former lover who turned out to be a schitzophrenic mass murderer who just happens to have it out for former psychotherapists?

    It's a DOG and a RABBIT solving wacked-out mysteries. I repeat. A DOG and A RABBIT. I love a good thriller and all, but we're talking about a game starring a DOG and a RABBIT, for crying out loud.
  • edited January 2007
    ShaggE wrote: »
    "more adult storyline"???

    What do you want, lagomorph porn? .

    OH YEAH !!!
    that would be awesome :D
  • edited January 2007
    salmonmax wrote: »
    Possible dialog line: "I'm looking for the man who shot my paw.")

    lol, sheer genius! :D
  • edited January 2007
    Ooh, I want to play this game:

    Max has an uncle in the music industry looking for the next sensational music group. Sam starts a musical group of singing dogs just for this; they practice every evening and even record a music video.

    Sometime later Sam finds out that he's not doing so well in one of his classes. He doesn't quite have a straight A average, and he definitely needs one to get in Stanford. So he decides to study real hard. Unfortunately, his burgeoning musical career needs some study time too.

    With such a busy schedule, Sam has begun to pop caffeine pills in order to study all day and sing all evening. Sybil finds out about his burgeoning drug addiction, so she tells him that "those things are trouble."

    In a particularly frightening scene, Sam sits in an empty hallway, sneaks a look around him and pops a pill. 'No Sam!' you will cry, as you begin to see his descent into madness.

    Later, Sybil confronts Max about Sam's drug use, which he refuses to believe for some reason. "He's my friend!" Max loudly screams. Max must have alcoholic parents, because he's an enabler in the very worst way.

    Finally the day of reckoning comes. It's the big audition day, but it's also the day of that major test that Sam has been up studying for a week.

    In the classroom, Sam twitches and speaks much too loudly as he proudly finishes his test with what appears to be 100 percent correctness. Well by-gummit, the little druggy has really done it! Now all he has to do is finish the audition and his plan for domination is complete.

    Alas, that is not to be. Our next scene opens on Sam asleep on the bed. Max enters the room eager to wake him. The audition is about to start. Sam groggily wakes up and begins to spout useless math terms like a drunken Einstein. Max tells him that he's confused and he already had the test. Sam needs to get ready but Max tells him that there's no time.

    Sam: "No time! No time! There's never enough time!"
    Max: "C'mon Sam! You have to sing!"
    Sam: "Sing? Sing? I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so...scared!"

    Sam collapses into Max's arms where he begins to tell him about the good times they had together when they were young.

    Meanwhile, at the studio, The group performs with Bosco in Sam's role. This is stupid beyond the use of words. So is the end of the episode, where the gang gathers around Sam's bed. He's getting help he tells the gang. End of episode.



    With apologies to Jessie's Song
  • edited January 2007
    BAHAHAHHAHAHA! I'd play that with the quickness :D
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited January 2007
    Geez you guys are harsh. :( What's wrong with sharing some ideas?


    Mattb - I think Sam & Max met when they were were kids... They're shown together in the comics as kids quite a few times, including the cover of the Epic Color Collection:

    snmkids.jpg

    Other than that, their origins are a mystery (probably for the best).
  • edited January 2007
    I haven't got an idea for an adult plot (some good ones above), but point-click games are pretty outdated. How about making the next story based around D20 dice-thowing rules (like Bioware's games). So instead of just clicking through a conversation, you'd need to earn wisdom and intelligence points, and then win a conversation based on your character's skill level. Similarly Sam's driving skills and Max's shooting skills in the chase sequence would be less twitchy, and based on what profession the duo were most proficient in (say sniper / pilot).

    Sam could earn bulletproof armour / flak jackets etc to up his chances of winning in a firefight.

    And if you don't like that idea, let me tell you about my thoughts on a Sam & Max RTS.
  • edited January 2007
    Sam gets shot so Max partners with Dexter and they go around killing other serial killers in Miami..
  • edited January 2007
    Thank-you Jake,

    I also quite like Hero1's Idea; however does anybody have any thoughts on my idea?
  • edited January 2007
    Jake wrote: »
    Geez you guys are harsh. :( What's wrong with sharing some ideas?

    Hehe, no harm was intended, I just found the idea of a Sam n' Max drama too funny to pass up :P
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited January 2007
    There's one issue of the Sam & Max comic - one that Steve Purcell's never finished (I guess because he's just never found the time, busy with other stuff), in which Max gets shot and hospitalized while he and Sam are on a drug bust. If it weren't for the fact that they were so adorable (and that Sam has to temporarily use a crazy monkey sidekick while Max is hospitalized) that would sound like an 'adult' plot, on paper.
  • edited January 2007
    Jake wrote: »
    (and that Sam has to temporarily use a crazy monkey sidekick while Max is hospitalized)

    Ah, so *that's* where the art on the last page of Surfin' the Highway is from!
  • edited January 2007
    "Max the lovable bunny shot!". I remember that was was a big one page comic at the end of Surfin' the Highway, never knew it was supposed to have been a full comic.
  • edited January 2007
    that comics been sitting unfinished in steve purcells drawer for over 10 years now :D :D
  • edited January 2007
    I often wonder how many parents bought their kids a Sam and Max comic, judging by the cartoon or the game... I also wonder how quickly they threw it out in disgust after looking through it :P
  • edited January 2007
    If you ask me the games could have been even crazier than they are right now. There´s nothing wrong with how they are right now (except puzzle wise, hehe) so it´s not a fault or anything. Heck, even Hit the Road could have been crazier IMO.

    IMO Brady, Myra, Soda Poppers, Sybil and Bosco (he is hilarious, though) shouldn´t have been included and istead there should have been villains with fish bowls as their heads, roaches and Flint Paper. The games feel quite how should I put it, "safe", like a cartoon for children even though with mature content. And the stories have been quite safe too, I would have preferred more twisted and weird world (and I am not talking about mystery vortexes and stuff like that) where there´s nothing predictable. You know, like skinbodies from ep.2, that cracked me up.

    But, it´s not even an issue worth complaining about, it´s more of an opinion how I would have liked it better. Heck, maybe the story takes just the turn I am talking about.
  • edited January 2007
    istead there should have been villains with fish bowls as their heads

    What about with scary giant Teddy Bear masks as heads?
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited January 2007
    Fish bowls only.
  • edited January 2007
    If you ask me the games could have been even crazier than they are right now.

    - -

    The games feel quite how should I put it, "safe", like a cartoon for children even though with mature content. And the stories have been quite safe too, I would have preferred more twisted and weird world (and I am not talking about mystery vortexes and stuff like that) where there´s nothing predictable. You know, like skinbodies from ep.2, that cracked me up.

    I kind of agree with this here, actually. They do feel a bit 'safe' for the lack of a better word. Though I also agree that this isn't really that big of a deal, but hoping that the games would improve from where they are now, more crazy, interesting and unpredictable storylines and characters would be nice.

    The comics have also had the duo traveling through time and space, so here's hoping Season 2 will expand upon some more ambitious plot lines. Though thinking about the names of the upcoming episodes, the later episodes in this season might turn out to be pretty zany as well.
  • edited January 2007
    Maybe safe isn´t the best word. How about "conventional"?

    You know, a conventional and safe storyline would be a story about former childstars getting hypnotized and a villain with a hip afro trying to be "popular".

    Something unconventional and not so safe would be a story about rats who are "skinbodies" and shave their hair and misbehave (Hehe, I loved how they were introduced). Or maybe a story about going to the moon with paper bags as helmets and there would be giant cockroaches and stuff.

    I am talking about something a little more original. Also, the games shouldn´t be too tied to this time. I am talking about Idol and millionaire stuff. Those things will get old soon enough. I am hoping for something more timeless.
  • edited January 2007
    jp-30 wrote: »
    What about with scary giant Teddy Bear masks as heads?

    Well, fish bowls would be avantgarde, and I like avantgardish stuff. You know, Teddy bear masks are kinda "safe", but fish bowls, they would be pretty unpredictable. Maybe I just wish there were more "hehe, what... the... fuck..." -kind of moments in the games.
  • edited January 2007
    by the way, are we gonna see them skinbodies again ?
    I LOVE 'EM :D
  • edited January 2007
    I too agree with the games feeling a little safe, with the original comics feeling totally unsuitable for children.
    It's not just the "wackiness", which by now seems to be getting into its stride (though not quite reaching the clever surrealism of the comics yet), but I guess Max... could do with being a bit more psychotic. So far there's been the
    bowling ball
    and... that's about it?

    I appreciate, though, that there might be some kind of age rating concerns and it's not that big a deal for me either. Still, some more gratuitous acts of senseless violence would be nice (I never thought I'd say that about a game!)
  • edited January 2007
    I just miss being able to use Max as your default item to try when you got stuck like in HtR. I mean, seriously, where's my strangely appropriate opprotunity to abuse the indestructable lagamorph like with the fuse box in the tunnel of love or at the driving range filled with alligators?!

    Instead I get Sam slapping Max out of the way to a gleeful "whee!" sound as he flies off camera.
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited January 2007
    Zeek wrote: »
    Instead I get Sam slapping Max out of the way to a gleeful "whee!" sound as he flies off camera.

    Is that so bad?
  • edited January 2007
    I think the remaining episodes will get weirder.. the upcoming teddy bear masks mafia looks promising
  • edited January 2007
    Jake wrote: »
    Is that so bad?

    It was fun until you guys removed the sound bite in Episode 2. Now he doesn't even say "Whee!" when Sam slaps him off camera.
  • edited January 2007
    Zeek wrote: »
    Instead I get Sam slapping Max out of the way to a gleeful "whee!" sound as he flies off camera.

    It would seem to me that the replacement or equivalent to using Max as an inventory item is that there are a small number of times in the first two episodes where you can direct what he says, which is certainly something you couldn't do in Hit the Road.
  • edited January 2007
    Now I understand the sentiments of this Kotaku comment (2nd comment on page, though 1st one also fits...).
  • edited January 2007
    The Sam slapping is pretty disturbing, especially without any lighthearted soundbite accompanying it.

    How about an interface option for slap/noslap? Kind of like the old blood/noblood option in FPS games? =p
  • edited January 2007
    Udvarnoky wrote: »
    It would seem to me that the replacement or equivalent to using Max as an inventory item is that there are a small number of times in the first two episodes where you can direct what he says, which is certainly something you couldn't do in Hit the Road.
    You kind of had that option when you
    dressed like a big foot to sneek into their convention
    ... now why I put spoiler tags on that, I will never know.:rolleyes: But, yes, you did have the option for a short while to talk like Max.

    Unfortunately, if memory serves me correctly, there was only one time you could actually control Max through dialouge choices, which was when
    you had to get the phone back from Jimmy
    . Other than that, Max would always use an inventory item whenever a gratuitous (sp?) violent moment was about to happen.

    I'd actually like to use max in a similar fashion to how you "used" him
    in the Brady Culture Dream Sequence
    or in HtR where you used him as a pair of scissors, a weight, an extension of your arms, to put out a fuse box, etc.
    numble wrote: »
    Now I understand the sentiments of this Kotaku comment (2nd comment on page, though 1st one also fits...).
    But you'll notice that's the only thing I'm complaining about. Then again, I can only speak for myself. I love everything else about the game, particularly the humor and jazzy soundtrack.
  • edited January 2007
    Zeek wrote: »
    Unfortunately, if memory serves me correctly, there was only one time you could actually control Max through dialouge choices, which was when
    you had to get the phone back from Jimmy
    . Other than that, Max would always use an inventory item whenever a gratuitous (sp?) violent moment was about to happen.
    You can also talk as max then
    you stop random cars
    and then you
    talk to Myra, in the Myra show
    ... and if you haven't tryed those, i'll promise you that you will have a good laugh ;)
  • edited January 2007
    ^been there, done that, enjoyed all the jokes. Particularly the one where Max
    asks if the person you rear ended has any Grey Poupon
    and
    the referance to the Freelance Police trailer involving the purse snatcher and Max yelling "DIE! WHY WON'T YOU DIE!"
    .
  • edited January 2007
    I think there should be a whole season devoted to portraying the dark childhood of Max. All the hours he spent shivering in the closet after being beaten half to death in school and then raped by his father. Maybe include the heart tearing story of how Sam tortured and murdered 12 pre-school children and their teacher after being dumped, fired and falling flat before almost recovering from his diabetes.

    Dead horse beating aside, I think the
    hypnosis thing
    was unnecessary to have in two episodes, but it's partially excused since they were making fun of the fact in the dialogue.

    First post, btw...
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited January 2007
    dunkpork wrote: »
    The Sam slapping is pretty disturbing, especially without any lighthearted soundbite accompanying it.

    How about an interface option for slap/noslap? Kind of like the old blood/noblood option in FPS games? =p

    It's back in in 3-6. The "Wheee" was left out of ep 2 by mistake, so rest easy.
  • edited January 2007
    Thank you!! Now I won't feel strangely uncomfortable every time Sam slaps Max out of the way.
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited January 2007
    Sam is actually an abusive father.
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