Are there any plans to finish up certain projects that as yet have been left incomplete, such as making available the Earl Boen-voiced ToMI Chapter 1 for download?
The fact that Sam and Max, Monkey, Strongbad and W&G are great adventure games (IMHO) is something we are very proud of but we didn’t build Telltale to build one type of game. Our goal is to create play experiences that are new and unique, where you are interacting with characters in new ways that aren’t limited to doing an errand for them or murdering them. We want users to consider many things when making a decision in a tense environment, we want to progress storytelling in games however we can. Doing Adventure puzzles is a safe zone for us and we want to push the limits. That said challenge can come in many forms and that is definitely something we will be reviewing.
So you would explicitly not rule out other genres for TTG in episodic format - the action-adventure game possibly, even the RPG? I have a lot of criticism (yet to voice) for Jurassic Park, but I do think that the chosen genre fits the franchise, whereas many other genres would really feel weird in the JP universe. Still I always thought one of the main reasons for the focus on adventure games in episodic format was that this genre is (relatively!) easy, cost-effective and fast to produce.. Do you think you can make such big, genre-transcending steps with the TTG engine alone?
You are right in synch with us. We have a concept done that integrates musicians into a Telltale game. The idea was to create a place where you could have different adventures with famous musicians at a Telltale club. We could include all kinds of crazy stuff and maybe introduce original music.
I think Diduz asked what the vision for Telltale in 2011 is.
The vision remains what it always has been for Telltale and I have said consistently since 2004 that Telltale wants to build games based on great characters and stories. The fact that Sam and Max, Monkey, Strongbad and W&G are great adventure games (IMHO) is something we are very proud of but we didn’t build Telltale to build one type of game.
Of course not!
Being a fan of old LucasArts, I've never thought their greatness was only in Adventure Games. E.g., I think Star Wars Dark Forces was an epic, fantastic game, on par with their best adventure endeavours.
You cannot go on on with the "solve three things to go on" formula forever, actually I DON'T want you to get stale, believe me.
I appreciate your attempts with Jurassic Park: The Game, which feels freshier than BTTF, no doubt about it.
I just don't understand why you borrowed QTE to do "new" things, when you were masters in designing original looping sequences. I'm talking about those fast looping adventure scenes, where the player has to use an adventure game interface to take fast decisions.
I saw examples of these in The Great Cow Race, the first two Sam & Max seasons, Tales of Monkey Island and The Devil's Playhouse, where they were perfectly crafted. Those are funny, interactive and more personal than QTE.
I wish I had've noticed this thread when it was first posted!
I have a couple of questions if you're still around:
1) In the very very early days of TellTale, I recall reading (or watching) an interview (which I believe was with you) where it was said that TellTale's goal was not to make adventure games, but to tell compelling stories and have gameplay that matched the premise and execution of those stories. I believe that you guys have succeeded at maintaining that approach (something I find quite admirable), and I've tried to remind people of this discussing BTTF and JP with people, but I totally have no idea where I read/watched it to begin with. Any chance you would remember a URL?
2) Have you considered additional character DLC for Poker Night (this would allow you to expand the game without disappointing those hoping for new not-poker Inventory games)?
On a side note, you asked what kind of characters we'd like to see in an Inventory game. Here's a quick off-the-top-of-my-head if-anything-were-possible wishlist: GLaDOS, James Raynor (I imagine he'd be pretty hard to read), Bender, Fry, Zoidberg, Ben Throttle, Erasmus from QFG, John Freeman (who was Gordon Freeman's brother), Peter Venkman, Ellis from L4D2, Francis from L4D, Wally B Feed, A Sam Clone, any of the characters from Trine, Captain Veridian, Vermillion from VVVVVV, Marvin the paranoid android, Arthur from H2G2 (who'd much rather be having a cup of tea than playing a game), MOAR WINSLOW.
3) I've heard lots of talk abnot wanting to alienate new players with early difficult puzzles, but do you recognise the value of getting stuck? When I've overcome something that made me stop playing a game, I feel empowered and far better about the experience. Having time to step away lets story sink in, gives me extra time to ponder settings and elements (the latter being something I suspect the episodic format is meant to promote as well). Do you believe that well structured difficulty curves can play a role in allowing new players to come to terms with challenging games?
4) Is native Linux support anywhere on your road map? If not, would you ever consider distributing the Windows versions inside a bundled Wine wrapper (like Google do with Picasa or Magrathean are currently doing with SickBrick) as a "Linux friendly" version?
5) Are Pushing Daisies and The Tick on the list of franchises you've investigated?
6) If you had the magical ability to get the rights to any franchise, which would you choose?
Thanks for posting in this thread and staying in touch with the community. It's always great to see this kind of interactivity with any developer.
I'd be very excited to see new interactive content for Sam & Max's 25th. At the very least, Season 3 case file and soundtrack would be pretty neat.
Are there any plans to finish up certain projects that as yet have been left incomplete, such as making available the Earl Boen-voiced ToMI Chapter 1 for download?
Or finally releasing the Nutrition Specs and subsequent quest for the pc. I used item editing software to activate the specs, but had to temporarily write over one of the other items in max's inventory to do it. And when I finally got them, I found a card in the Pudding Lincoln head that said that I should head to snmsecretfile.com. Please don't hold out on us, we want that site and those items. It will give us Sam and Max fans something to do while we are waiting for the possible season 4.
Me and my friend RingmasterJ5 were just wondering about something. NBC has voiced it's support of the SOPA bill, and Ringmaster told me that because of the deal with NBC Universal, Telltale might also have to publicly support the bill.
Long story short, I know that you probably don't like to discuss politics, but... What's Telltale's official stance on the SOPA bill?
Me and my friend RingmasterJ5 were just wondering about something. NBC has voiced it's support of the SOPA bill, and Ringmaster told me that because of the deal with NBC Universal, Telltale might also have to publicly support the bill.
Bit of a clarification: NBC is trying to "strong-arm" its business partners into publicly supporting the bill, as not doing so could "harm relations" with them.
Thanks for answering these questions, interesting stuff. I'm enjoying Jurassic Park so far (I've only had time to play episode 1 and part of episode 2 so far, I've been pretty busy, but I can't wait to check it out a bit more very soon). I love how cinematic these games have become. One of my favorite things about playing Telltale games is seeing the technological advantages from game to game. Can't wait to see more of Walking Dead and the other coming projects!
Some questions:
1) I agree with the guys who suggested doing something for Sam & Max's anniversary. Obviously a new game would be the best thing ever. Maybe something really special, like revisiting the highlights of their freelance police career over the years. Just one epic story were elements from the Telltale episodes, the comics, the cartoon series and Hit the Road (although those last two might be difficult) come together. Or something. You guys are better at thinking up stuff like this than me anyway.
Some other ideas about what I would like to see in a Sam & Max game: Season 3 was the ultimate 'Sam & Max in New York'-experience (not to mention my favorite Telltale game ever), so perhaps it would be cool to go to a completely different set of locations for a fourth season. Like another road trip through America or the entire world, or space. Other things that I would kill for: Mack Salmon and Fizzball. Yeah, just forget about all the other things I mentioned, Mack Salmon and Fizzball should be top priority. And maybe force Steve Purcell to start working on another comic.
2) Would you ever consider making a game in an entirely different genre (while obviously still focusing on story and character). I know Jurassic Park is already pretty different, and I would love to see what a Telltale platformer/rts/whatever would look like.
3) I know you probably can't answer this one, but would you ever consider doing a Doctor Who, Discworld or Muppets-game? Those are probably the three franchises that I would be most excited about. Oh, and Indiana Jones.
4) You mentioned a website redesign. Can you talk a bit about what we could expect?
5) Is Law & Order still getting released this year, and is it still based on the LA-version of the television show?
I'll stop here, because those are probably too much questions already. Thanks for taking the time, and please keep on making awesome games.
Hi Tjibbe
2)We would try other genres or incorporating parts of other genres, but our real goal is to create a genre, a Telltale Game if you will. That should consists of a great story, a well paced plot, strongly integrated puzzles, appropriate activities (dodging dinosaurs, shooting porridge, busting heads with a crowbar, reading blueprints etc) well acted characters (intelligent) great cinematography. It will be the combination of the best of what we have done to date
3) Awesome licenses I think the Muppets is most exciting to me but they are BIGTIME again
4) The new website is going to be a pretty dramatic overhaul. The community piece and the account piece are going to be dramatic for our costumers. We definitely want to find a way for people who enjoy multiple Telltale experiences to accumulate points and rewards and bonus. I can have the guys jump on and chat with everyone about it
5) Law and Order is getting really close we are putting the finishing touches on the distribution technology. The first two episodes should be out on IOS very soon. It looks really good it might be a little casual for some of the harder core gamers, but the cases are super interesting and the writing is really good. Everyone here has really enjoyed it
4) The new website is going to be a pretty dramatic overhaul. The community piece and the account piece are going to be dramatic for our costumers. We definitely want to find a way for people who enjoy multiple Telltale experiences to accumulate points and rewards and bonus. I can have the guys jump on and chat with everyone about it
This is news to me. When could we expect to see this redsigned website?
5) Law and Order is getting really close we are putting the finishing touches on the distribution technology. The first two episodes should be out on IOS very soon. It looks really good it might be a little casual for some of the harder core gamers, but the cases are super interesting and the writing is really good. Everyone here has really enjoyed it
And we haven't gotten a smidgen of info since it's annoucment. Ahh, good ol' Telltale!
Hi Tjibbe
2)We would try other genres or incorporating parts of other genres, but our real goal is to create a genre, a Telltale Game if you will. That should consists of a great story, a well paced plot, strongly integrated puzzles, appropriate activities (dodging dinosaurs, shooting porridge, busting heads with a crowbar, reading blueprints etc) well acted characters (intelligent) great cinematography. It will be the combination of the best of what we have done to date
It looks really good it might be a little casual for some of the harder core gamers, but the cases are super interesting and the writing is really good. Everyone here has really enjoyed it
Is there any chance that this kind of information about a game could be communicated more clearly per title? It would be great if you would clearly label each release as "adventure" "puzzle" "casual" "interactive movie" "hardcore" or any other descriptive labels you feel capture the target demographic for the game.
The reason myself, and many others, have been so upset about BttF and JP is that we had initially assumed, based on the company's prior releases, that they would be pure adventure titles, and were completely let down by how casual and streamlined they were, to the point that many of us feel that we were intentionally misled.
With JP, it was a little more apparent upfront that it was going to be a more mainstream and casual game. BttF, however, had little to no gameplay shown beforehand, and no real indication that it would be any less challenging than prior TTG titles. I recall some discussion saying there would be attempts to make it more accessible to a wider audience, but none of us ever assumed that meant removing the puzzle element almost completely. A new hint system, built-in walkthroughs, optional goal trackers, etc is what we had expected, but we got those as well as the removal of all real challenge from the game.
Note: I am not against providing options for less skilled players to be able to progress through a game. I just think it should be done in such a way that players looking for a challenge can still find one.
I'm just thinking about how sweet it would be for you guys to produce and sell some freelance police badges for the 25th Anniversary. Also, you should totally bring back the protected by Sam and Max decals.
With King Quest on the horizon is finally Telltale raising the bar of difficulty and overall challenge?
I mean you claim to be some sort of LucasArts heir but (to me) your games are not even close to the challenges those games presented. Now you are aiming to the mother of all adventuregaming frustrations, and im not asking for that, but at least the difficulty levels should be finally close to those of the classic lucasarts games.
Isn't it time to, at least for this one (just this one game then you can continue with your own standars) make a game aimed primarly (but not specifically) to the old adventure fans?
Just not hold hands for this one, see what happens, how people react to normal puzzles, and after it you can go back to the usual?
With King Quest on the horizon is finally Telltale raising the bar of difficulty and overall challenge?
I mean you claim to be some sort of LucasArts heir but (to me) your games are not even close to the challenges those games presented. Now you are aiming to the mother of all adventuregaming frustrations, and im not asking for that, but at least the difficulty levels should be finally close to those of the classic lucasarts games.
Isn't it time to, at least for this one (just this one game then you can continue with your own standars) make a game aimed primarly (but not specifically) to the old adventure fans?
Just not hold hands for this one, see what happens, how people react to normal puzzles, and after it you can go back to the usual?
This might actually become a real problem. I'm working on making Flaming Max sugar cookie logs. (You know how you can buy a premade sugar cookie log with an image on the cookies when you slice it into individual cookies like this:
Anyway- that's based on an old clay beading technique, which I'm learning to do for the sake of AWESOME COOKIES. Seriously... getting to bite into Max's flaming head!
If they turn out good, I'll be shipping out a few boxes.
I think the main point sorta fell on deaf ears though, it concedes that the game hasn't gotten great reviews. Well actually it says it was 'polarizing' which is a bit of a stretch, but I get what they were trying to say.
I have been traveling so I have been a little out of the loop. I am speaking at Game Connection in France if anyone is going. Also if anyone knows of a good place to go in Paris let me know I am staying in La Defense which I gather is not the cultural hotspot. Any how I was answering questions in order but a couple easy and timely ones popped up so i will answer those.
First off reviews we did not expect that everyone would get what we were trying to do with JP and expected people to jump on it. I think our transition from walk and talk games to action games made us a more susceptible to criticisms about assets loading. A pause before a dialog line plays while the user is standing still, definitely is a lot less noticeable then one while you are being chased by a Dinosaur. So we are really getting super disciplined about Improving that.
As far as how it looks I think launching on the Xbox 360 this Christmas has put us up next to some pretty stiff competition. In many ways it is the best looking game we have ever done but I do wish it could be more consistent. I think by Eps 3 and 4 its really strong but first impressions are lasting.
Finally stuff about the gameplay some people don't like it, so much so, they seem insulted by the games existence thats a matter of taste so I get it. Its the people that say I enjoyed it, or it was some of the most riveting sequences I ever played, or its a great story and I played it in one sitting and then give it a low score that is definitely a disconnect and that is what we are calling out in the blog. The JP reviews have better comments about the game then our games with great reviews. I can think of a 90 review for one of our products that said "If you have the patience to play this it is brilliant" I also had a review say about a game I worked "The development team must have been made up of Monkeys who created this game by throwing their dung at the computer screen...." that one was not a 90
Any how the reviewers make valid points and just like these forums we use it to get better at what we do. JP is a big time franchise so that comes with a lot of weight. Check out the GameCritics review cause that guy definitely got what we were up to.
Second me verse Bruner in a fight over the last cookie is easy. This happened once in 2007 and bruner swung his hockey stick at me and knocked over the pirate we were growing in a bottle. Jon Sgro then ate the pirate and we were so disturbed we swore to never fight again
Good to see that you're answering a lot of questions, Dan! However, I noticed that you skipped over a few (particularly a few that had to do with Sam and Max).
I hope this doesn't mean you're... leaving THEM out of the 2012 schedule! Please tell me you're kidding!
Good to see that you're answering a lot of questions, Dan! However, I noticed that you skipped over a few (particularly a few that had to do with Sam and Max).
I hope this doesn't mean you're... leaving THEM out of the 2012 schedule! Please tell me you're kidding!
Hey lattsam,
I didn't know why you were so into getting the original VA's from Hit The Road until last night when I played it for the first time. They are amazing!!!
Also, on a Dan related note, do you have plans for the Sam and Max fans for 2012?( Like perhaps rereleasing the Sam and Max sketchbooks and making them regularly stocked items instead of the clusterfrick of an impossibility that they are to find for less than $300.00) MOAR SAM AND MAX MERCH PLZTHX
Hey lattsam,
I didn't know why you were so into getting the original VA's from Hit The Road until last night when I played it for the first time. They are amazing!!!
Also, on a Dan related note, do you have plans for the Sam and Max fans for 2012?( Like perhaps rereleasing the Sam and Max sketchbooks and making them regularly stocked items instead of the clusterfrick of an impossibility that they are to find for less than $300.00) MOAR SAM AND MAX MERCH PLZTHX
The Season 3 Soundtrack!!! I hope no one else has forgotten about it.
Just want to say you guys at TTG rock. I'm just old enough to remember playing Sam and Max Hit the Road and when I saw you guys doing Sam and Max Season 1 some years back I about hit the roof. And Poker Night at the Inventory, while simple and straight forward, was a fricking classic and I hope there's more to come with that.
I can imagine the licensing for some of these games can be a pain, but I've always wanted to see you guys do Day of the Tentacle, for the life of me I'm drawing a blank of the actual title of the series for that game... If anything I hope to see ToMI and S&M continue, without a doubt the best on your roster. Keep up the great work, if I wasn't in school for Electrical Engineering I would absolutely love to do what you guys do.
I think this is a good idea and you can expect us to provide more info about the type of game. I know on Sam and Max 2 we tried to communicate difficulty through a five star system.
As far as breakdown of gametype would you expect us to put BTTF and JP in the same category or would you separate the two. I would say Sam and Max is an adventure game, BTTF is an easy adventure (EZ) or casual adventure and JP is a cinematic adventure. Would that make sense to everyone
Comments
Are there any plans to finish up certain projects that as yet have been left incomplete, such as making available the Earl Boen-voiced ToMI Chapter 1 for download?
So you would explicitly not rule out other genres for TTG in episodic format - the action-adventure game possibly, even the RPG? I have a lot of criticism (yet to voice) for Jurassic Park, but I do think that the chosen genre fits the franchise, whereas many other genres would really feel weird in the JP universe. Still I always thought one of the main reasons for the focus on adventure games in episodic format was that this genre is (relatively!) easy, cost-effective and fast to produce.. Do you think you can make such big, genre-transcending steps with the TTG engine alone?
You are right in synch with us. We have a concept done that integrates musicians into a Telltale game. The idea was to create a place where you could have different adventures with famous musicians at a Telltale club. We could include all kinds of crazy stuff and maybe introduce original music.
One of these days (a cool song)
Of course not!
Being a fan of old LucasArts, I've never thought their greatness was only in Adventure Games. E.g., I think Star Wars Dark Forces was an epic, fantastic game, on par with their best adventure endeavours.
You cannot go on on with the "solve three things to go on" formula forever, actually I DON'T want you to get stale, believe me.
I appreciate your attempts with Jurassic Park: The Game, which feels freshier than BTTF, no doubt about it.
I just don't understand why you borrowed QTE to do "new" things, when you were masters in designing original looping sequences. I'm talking about those fast looping adventure scenes, where the player has to use an adventure game interface to take fast decisions.
I saw examples of these in The Great Cow Race, the first two Sam & Max seasons, Tales of Monkey Island and The Devil's Playhouse, where they were perfectly crafted. Those are funny, interactive and more personal than QTE.
I wish I had've noticed this thread when it was first posted!
I have a couple of questions if you're still around:
1) In the very very early days of TellTale, I recall reading (or watching) an interview (which I believe was with you) where it was said that TellTale's goal was not to make adventure games, but to tell compelling stories and have gameplay that matched the premise and execution of those stories. I believe that you guys have succeeded at maintaining that approach (something I find quite admirable), and I've tried to remind people of this discussing BTTF and JP with people, but I totally have no idea where I read/watched it to begin with. Any chance you would remember a URL?
2) Have you considered additional character DLC for Poker Night (this would allow you to expand the game without disappointing those hoping for new not-poker Inventory games)?
On a side note, you asked what kind of characters we'd like to see in an Inventory game. Here's a quick off-the-top-of-my-head if-anything-were-possible wishlist: GLaDOS, James Raynor (I imagine he'd be pretty hard to read), Bender, Fry, Zoidberg, Ben Throttle, Erasmus from QFG, John Freeman (who was Gordon Freeman's brother), Peter Venkman, Ellis from L4D2, Francis from L4D, Wally B Feed, A Sam Clone, any of the characters from Trine, Captain Veridian, Vermillion from VVVVVV, Marvin the paranoid android, Arthur from H2G2 (who'd much rather be having a cup of tea than playing a game), MOAR WINSLOW.
3) I've heard lots of talk abnot wanting to alienate new players with early difficult puzzles, but do you recognise the value of getting stuck? When I've overcome something that made me stop playing a game, I feel empowered and far better about the experience. Having time to step away lets story sink in, gives me extra time to ponder settings and elements (the latter being something I suspect the episodic format is meant to promote as well). Do you believe that well structured difficulty curves can play a role in allowing new players to come to terms with challenging games?
4) Is native Linux support anywhere on your road map? If not, would you ever consider distributing the Windows versions inside a bundled Wine wrapper (like Google do with Picasa or Magrathean are currently doing with SickBrick) as a "Linux friendly" version?
5) Are Pushing Daisies and The Tick on the list of franchises you've investigated?
6) If you had the magical ability to get the rights to any franchise, which would you choose?
Thanks for posting in this thread and staying in touch with the community. It's always great to see this kind of interactivity with any developer.
I'd be very excited to see new interactive content for Sam & Max's 25th. At the very least, Season 3 case file and soundtrack would be pretty neat.
GLaDOS (Portal/2)
Meathook (Monkey Island)
Homestar (Homestar Runner)
Allie (Hyperbole and a Half - Blog)
Problem Sleuth (Problem Sleuth - MS Paint Adventures)
^w^
Or finally releasing the Nutrition Specs and subsequent quest for the pc. I used item editing software to activate the specs, but had to temporarily write over one of the other items in max's inventory to do it. And when I finally got them, I found a card in the Pudding Lincoln head that said that I should head to snmsecretfile.com. Please don't hold out on us, we want that site and those items. It will give us Sam and Max fans something to do while we are waiting for the possible season 4.
Me and my friend RingmasterJ5 were just wondering about something. NBC has voiced it's support of the SOPA bill, and Ringmaster told me that because of the deal with NBC Universal, Telltale might also have to publicly support the bill.
Long story short, I know that you probably don't like to discuss politics, but... What's Telltale's official stance on the SOPA bill?
Bit of a clarification: NBC is trying to "strong-arm" its business partners into publicly supporting the bill, as not doing so could "harm relations" with them.
Hi Tjibbe
2)We would try other genres or incorporating parts of other genres, but our real goal is to create a genre, a Telltale Game if you will. That should consists of a great story, a well paced plot, strongly integrated puzzles, appropriate activities (dodging dinosaurs, shooting porridge, busting heads with a crowbar, reading blueprints etc) well acted characters (intelligent) great cinematography. It will be the combination of the best of what we have done to date
3) Awesome licenses I think the Muppets is most exciting to me but they are BIGTIME again
4) The new website is going to be a pretty dramatic overhaul. The community piece and the account piece are going to be dramatic for our costumers. We definitely want to find a way for people who enjoy multiple Telltale experiences to accumulate points and rewards and bonus. I can have the guys jump on and chat with everyone about it
5) Law and Order is getting really close we are putting the finishing touches on the distribution technology. The first two episodes should be out on IOS very soon. It looks really good it might be a little casual for some of the harder core gamers, but the cases are super interesting and the writing is really good. Everyone here has really enjoyed it
This is news to me. When could we expect to see this redsigned website?
And we haven't gotten a smidgen of info since it's annoucment. Ahh, good ol' Telltale!
Half-life game confirmed.
Is there any chance that this kind of information about a game could be communicated more clearly per title? It would be great if you would clearly label each release as "adventure" "puzzle" "casual" "interactive movie" "hardcore" or any other descriptive labels you feel capture the target demographic for the game.
The reason myself, and many others, have been so upset about BttF and JP is that we had initially assumed, based on the company's prior releases, that they would be pure adventure titles, and were completely let down by how casual and streamlined they were, to the point that many of us feel that we were intentionally misled.
With JP, it was a little more apparent upfront that it was going to be a more mainstream and casual game. BttF, however, had little to no gameplay shown beforehand, and no real indication that it would be any less challenging than prior TTG titles. I recall some discussion saying there would be attempts to make it more accessible to a wider audience, but none of us ever assumed that meant removing the puzzle element almost completely. A new hint system, built-in walkthroughs, optional goal trackers, etc is what we had expected, but we got those as well as the removal of all real challenge from the game.
Note: I am not against providing options for less skilled players to be able to progress through a game. I just think it should be done in such a way that players looking for a challenge can still find one.
Will the general reception of JP put the will to experiment and cross boundaries to rest?
(I really really really hope not) :P
With King Quest on the horizon is finally Telltale raising the bar of difficulty and overall challenge?
I mean you claim to be some sort of LucasArts heir but (to me) your games are not even close to the challenges those games presented. Now you are aiming to the mother of all adventuregaming frustrations, and im not asking for that, but at least the difficulty levels should be finally close to those of the classic lucasarts games.
Isn't it time to, at least for this one (just this one game then you can continue with your own standars) make a game aimed primarly (but not specifically) to the old adventure fans?
Just not hold hands for this one, see what happens, how people react to normal puzzles, and after it you can go back to the usual?
Marketplace realities.
Also.. thanks for the games.
Anyway- that's based on an old clay beading technique, which I'm learning to do for the sake of AWESOME COOKIES. Seriously... getting to bite into Max's flaming head!
If they turn out good, I'll be shipping out a few boxes.
Like this, apparently
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/jurassic-park-the-game/trailers
Jaysus, that post did not go down well at all!
I think the main point sorta fell on deaf ears though, it concedes that the game hasn't gotten great reviews. Well actually it says it was 'polarizing' which is a bit of a stretch, but I get what they were trying to say.
Interestingly enough now, if you check its page on the app store or iTunes or whatever you call it it has quite favourable user reviews, this is where you're gonna get your most non-traditional gaming audience.
I have been traveling so I have been a little out of the loop. I am speaking at Game Connection in France if anyone is going. Also if anyone knows of a good place to go in Paris let me know I am staying in La Defense which I gather is not the cultural hotspot. Any how I was answering questions in order but a couple easy and timely ones popped up so i will answer those.
First off reviews we did not expect that everyone would get what we were trying to do with JP and expected people to jump on it. I think our transition from walk and talk games to action games made us a more susceptible to criticisms about assets loading. A pause before a dialog line plays while the user is standing still, definitely is a lot less noticeable then one while you are being chased by a Dinosaur. So we are really getting super disciplined about Improving that.
As far as how it looks I think launching on the Xbox 360 this Christmas has put us up next to some pretty stiff competition. In many ways it is the best looking game we have ever done but I do wish it could be more consistent. I think by Eps 3 and 4 its really strong but first impressions are lasting.
Finally stuff about the gameplay some people don't like it, so much so, they seem insulted by the games existence thats a matter of taste so I get it. Its the people that say I enjoyed it, or it was some of the most riveting sequences I ever played, or its a great story and I played it in one sitting and then give it a low score that is definitely a disconnect and that is what we are calling out in the blog. The JP reviews have better comments about the game then our games with great reviews. I can think of a 90 review for one of our products that said "If you have the patience to play this it is brilliant" I also had a review say about a game I worked "The development team must have been made up of Monkeys who created this game by throwing their dung at the computer screen...." that one was not a 90
Any how the reviewers make valid points and just like these forums we use it to get better at what we do. JP is a big time franchise so that comes with a lot of weight. Check out the GameCritics review cause that guy definitely got what we were up to.
Second me verse Bruner in a fight over the last cookie is easy. This happened once in 2007 and bruner swung his hockey stick at me and knocked over the pirate we were growing in a bottle. Jon Sgro then ate the pirate and we were so disturbed we swore to never fight again
Double - this was the wrong thread entirely.
http://www.game-connection.com/gameconn/content/telling-tales-importance-narrative-gaming-0
I would be very interested to read/hear the last part of your lecture,
Where Telltale – and storytelling - is going in the future
I hope this doesn't mean you're... leaving THEM out of the 2012 schedule! Please tell me you're kidding!
Hey lattsam,
I didn't know why you were so into getting the original VA's from Hit The Road until last night when I played it for the first time. They are amazing!!!
Also, on a Dan related note, do you have plans for the Sam and Max fans for 2012?( Like perhaps rereleasing the Sam and Max sketchbooks and making them regularly stocked items instead of the clusterfrick of an impossibility that they are to find for less than $300.00) MOAR SAM AND MAX MERCH PLZTHX
The Season 3 Soundtrack!!! I hope no one else has forgotten about it.
Any chanche to have a recording?
I can imagine the licensing for some of these games can be a pain, but I've always wanted to see you guys do Day of the Tentacle, for the life of me I'm drawing a blank of the actual title of the series for that game... If anything I hope to see ToMI and S&M continue, without a doubt the best on your roster. Keep up the great work, if I wasn't in school for Electrical Engineering I would absolutely love to do what you guys do.
As far as breakdown of gametype would you expect us to put BTTF and JP in the same category or would you separate the two. I would say Sam and Max is an adventure game, BTTF is an easy adventure (EZ) or casual adventure and JP is a cinematic adventure. Would that make sense to everyone