How about a book?

TsekoSifona

So, I see you make comics about Sam & Max, but what about a book, explaining some stories about them? I have read some detective books, but if a book about this duo comes out, it would be my favourite
Maybe starting with how they met... "From when the little homeless puppy Sam started using the fire hydrant on the corner shop, he and Max, a rabbity-thing, or lagomorph as he likes to call him now, were very close friends.", or something like that. The book should cover their first moments together, how they got the idea to start jobs as detectives (policemen), moments from hit the road, (now to the comic by Steve Purcell at the blog) dying for some reason, re-aliving and going back to their home, noticing something has changed, the cases with Lucas Arts and after that with the hypnotics, and if made before season 2, or season 3 (hopefully there would be a 3), getting something to start before the season, like Telltale do it at the end of every episode by now.
I can imagine it now... page 241, line three... "It was like any other day, boring. For the past 13 years, Sam and Max didn't have a new case. It was so boring, that they neither played something different from "shoot the apple above Max's head, nor did they notice Jimmy two teeth stealing their phone."
I personally would love it, and even buy it. Maybe styling it like a comics, but with more text. Just like every single detective book. Think about it Even if I knew the story, I'd buy two books (like Max did), and read every one of it like 1000 times. (literally) And I'm sure everyone that loves Sam & Max would do, too. :cool:
I though of making one about season One, but since I'm a "very good" writer, I though of passing it as an idea here. Hope you understand my Bulgarian-English accent, without calling interpreteurs that examine everything and talking with everyone about thing that no one cares about

Bubbel

I don't think a book would work. Or rather, not a book like that. I honsetly don't want to hear everything about their childhood, or why they decided to become Freelance Police.
What could work, though, is a book about a new case we haven't heard about before. If it's done well, I would read that. Maybe have some sketches by Purcell in it too, to get the right feeling.

doom saber

Didn't purcell or was it Telltale said that Sam and Max can intergate into any medium? I agree.

I would think it would be written like the Roger Rabbit books.

However, I don't know if anyone wants to read a novel version of season 1. Seems weird. It can be done since there are lots of movie to books book.

But the thing is, would people read them? I don't read any books based on games even though I know they are made. Books about Halo and Doom comes to mind. Just that if they do do a book for Sam and Max, I think they have to make more mature than it is. I don't mean mature as in add lots of gore and sex, but mature as in having a more serious, yet comical look to it.

For instance,

Sam stands over the lifeless corpse surrounded by blood. The stench of blood reminds Sam in his younger days as a pup living in the mean streets of L.A.

Bubbel

Purcell said that in an interview, I think.

And yes, people might read them. I've bought most of the Warcraft books and they're actually quite good. Books based on Halo or Doom seems a bit off to me, though.
I also agree with the more maturer style, I think. Depends so much on how you do it.

ShaggE

The first two Doom books were surprisingly entertaining. The one based on Doom 2 had a hilarious scene involving zombies and citrus fruit, which was worth the cost of the book alone They changed the demons to aliens, though...

xChri5x

I suggest for people to read Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocolypse.
It always reminds me about Sam & Max. It's a british book for adults about this kid and a detective teddy bear who go around solving crimes in Toy City. It sounds lame but the way it's written is hilarious and grim. I think Sam & Max would do very well in book form if it was written right.

Christovsky

I don't think Sam and Max really lends itself to representation in literature, mainly because it's so story-driven: there's lots of action, dialogue and visual gags, but not much going on at a deeper level. A picture speaks 1000 words, as they say - it's brilliant to be able to explore the immense detail of the artwork in a comic panel or wander about the office finding funny items and comments, but can you imagine representing all that in a book without it deteriorating into a monotonous list of actions and jokes? Think of all the little things you only spot the fifth time you look - they'd all have to be explicitly mentioned, which would be very tedious. And if you were to avoid that by omitting the detail, you'd be left with nothing worth writing about. That's not a bad thing; it just means Sam and Max is strongest in the media in which it's currently represented.

Kaldire

Lets go one step higher... Purcell.. Jake.. Emily.. nice idea... Popup book! Rated T for teen since max would have to smash or break something. You could even wait for the next gen augmented reality books .. aka 3d video books

http://geeklit.blogspot.com/2006/04/pragmatic-augmented-reality-book.html

Just symbols in a book to the naked eye. Put on glasses and poof.. a 3d book that tells the story with full audio and sometimes animation! :P
Its new tech so I doubt they will go for it but common I wanna see the sam & max augmented reality artbook or popup. Imagine purcells arts in 3d.. you can actually walk around the image and see the sides and back !

Ok call me dork now. My fav show is beyond tomorrow :P


EDIT : OMG perfect video that shows kinda what i mean
Here is the book
http://www.hitlabnz.org/route.php?r=prj-view&prj_id=1
Here is a video for gaming application thats insane
http://gprime.net/video.php/totalimmersion/

ShaggE

About that last link: I couldn't understand most of what he was saying... are the 3D models actually "visible" without a screen, like if someone was just walking by the table, they'd see the 3D cars and buildings?

Kaldire

yes if you wear the headgear.. or just glasses.. but thats no sound.. the headgear comes with headphones mic and goggles with flip down mode lol. Basically like the book in the top link only picture glasses that let you see full video and animations. Its insane man.. dunno why comic artists arent on this ball yet. Prolly just to expensive.
The show I watched on augmented reality (not altered :P) said that in 5-6 years the streets will be covered in these symbols... like in the book.
you have a part in the car window that has built in sensors like the glasses or you wear special glasses. Both are being tested. Anyway you look at the signs and all you see is a shape but put the shades on and blam whole 3d ads or directions with arrows pointing how to get somewhere.
Its gunna be a crazy world soon.. well... more crazy
:P

ShaggE

Wow... I've always been a nut for technology, but only in the last couple years have I seen tech gadgets that are absolutely mindblowing like this...

Of course, I'm mostly focused on what this will mean for gaming :P

Mel

This looks like a good time to highlight Dave Grossman's latest poem (which I'll also paste here)

The obvious temptation this week was to write about tuberculosis, but that will have to wait for another day while I consider a different sort of insidious plague. Earlier this week I got myself a new one of those little USB drives for carrying files around on, one that attaches to my keys so I won't lose it. And when I plugged it into my computer, a giant icon appeared in the corner of my screen and windows started popping up to say, "Hello there, I'm your friendly USB drive, and I'm going to give you the marvelous opportunity to run software, or at least, software which is compatible with my proprietary operating system, and by the way, here are some interesting pieces of software (provided by my business partners) which you might like to try." I, you may have noticed by now, am a curmudgeonly type who resents any attempt to hijack his eyeballs, and this really irked me. I didn't want any new software or a new way to control my computer, all I wanted was an electric box to put things in. The dumber the better. It started me thinking about how objects in general seem to be getting too intelligent for their own good these days:

Bonus Features

A pair of shades with trim displays for looking where I'm not
Show useful maps for driving mixed with pop-up advertising spots
Potato chips with microchips to help me watch my weight
In case I missed the nagging of my web-enabled plate
A coffee mug that lets me check my email while I guzzle
And also eats my scrambled eggs and solves the crossword puzzle
Designer shoes that take me where they think I ought to be
To view the other products that they know I'll want to see
I'm rarely in the meetings when my shirts and pants confer
The things I own are smarter than I mostly wish they were

Kaldire

must make a new post to explain a little more after doing a little more digging
The video aspect requires NO GLASSES now.

"Total Immersion's D'Fusion software solution allows for real-time video capture and perfect merges between video streams and 3D objects. All you need is a camera, a few sensors, and a HUD. This turns your world into an immersive gaming experience, where you are IN the game...or where the game is all around you. Words cant really describe this, so just check out the video."

It was talked about by Nintendo to use this tech in the wii but the moved toward the wiimote due to insane costs lol. Anyway the book thing is alot cheaper but requires a headset or glasses :P
Either way awesome stuff. And by now this is old news .. 2004-5 :P
Expect to see it sooon. They already have children's books done in this way with full speech. It reads your kids to sleep. Of course imo thats a bad thing but... still awesome tech

Kaldire

http://www.t-immersion.com/video_gallery/main.asp?idf=a0

Home site and many many vids. wow.....

Harald B

:eek: just... wow. That's the kind of technology you see in science fiction. If those videos aren't faked, that is some ungodly good technology they've got going on there.

Bubbel

I've never heard about this before! :eek:
If I hadn't seen the videos, I wouldn't have belived it... When I showed it to my brother, though, he wasn't impressed at all.

Kaldire

he probably thinks its computer added effects like its not really there. Tell him people can see this LIVE not just across video.. sheesh, how can someone see this and not just go... WOW....lol all I know is microsoft and nvid are on board. Anyway I dont want this thread to be somewhat unrelated to sam and max so lets just say... I foresee artists and business's of all kinds using tech like this soon..instead of just the few that can afford it.
Me I just cant wait to have my own hud and some software I can program so that one day I can have a convo with sam & max in my bedroom and we can go on an adventure together!

Awww a guy can have his dream right?

Harald B

I wonder how long it will take for this to become a bit more publically noticeable. The only thing I knew of that comes anywhere near this is the 3d tv Philips is working on. I saw a nice working prototype of that a year or two ago, but haven't heard a thing about it since.
Still, with Microsoft and nVidia they probably won't have to worry about funding any time soon. And even if this tech remains expensive enough to be available only in cinemas and arcades, that would still be quite brilliant.

Bubbel

Kaldire wrote: »

he probably thinks its computer added effects like its not really there. Tell him people can see this LIVE not just across video.. sheesh, how can someone see this and not just go... WOW....

Well, I tried to explain it to him as best as I could, but either he was too stupid to understand or it just didn't impress him.

TsekoSifona

hey, I got a new idea. What about... an animated movie with a story like the one on the first post, a movie like those Cars (or something), TMNT, etc. with the computer graffics, covering a story from when they met, Hit The Road, the comics and Season 1?
Yeah, I know there are TV series, but like TMNT had TV series they did a movie

Cyberlink420

^ Don't forget: Steve Purcell IS currently working as part of Pixar.

AdamG

Jeez, he's working at Pixar? He sure gets around... : /

tobar

Kaldire wrote: »

he probably thinks its computer added effects like its not really there. Tell him people can see this LIVE not just across video.. sheesh, how can someone see this and not just go... WOW....lol all I know is microsoft and nvid are on board. Anyway I dont want this thread to be somewhat unrelated to sam and max so lets just say... I foresee artists and business's of all kinds using tech like this soon..instead of just the few that can afford it.
Me I just cant wait to have my own hud and some software I can program so that one day I can have a convo with sam & max in my bedroom and we can go on an adventure together!

Awww a guy can have his dream right?

Augmented reality with a live Sam and Max adventure.....GENIUS!

Kaldire

... you didnt know steve works at pixar? yea.. oohh kayy... Moving along now..
Steve has told many he doesnt see sam & max commin to a movie or tv series near you. But who knows .. people say loads of things that they mean at the time but then come to realize it actually might be better to do the opposite.. right steve? Wink wink...