TT's King's Quest: R.I.P. (aka Really Improbable Project)

edited February 2013 in Kings Quest Game
I've heard that they have problems with the Activision's rights. Any TT official news or reference about the game (aside this forum thread) was deleted. They had a placeholder website similar to the Fable one, and it's not available anymore.
The last statement about it was "The genre doesn't need us anymore".
No official comments on the forum aside Mods, the last one being one year old.

So.....
Telltale's King's Quest R.I.P.?
:(
«134567

Comments

  • edited November 2012
    I guess we'll see.

    I'm just waiting for Roberta Williams to come out of the woodwork like every other Sierra person did to make a new game via Kickstarter.
  • JenniferJennifer Moderator
    edited November 2012
    I wouldn't worry too much. You're looking too hard into it. The comment you're talking about was said in jest (note the [laughs] after it). He was just commenting that because they have so many adventure veterans making adventure games again, Telltale is no longer the flag waver for the revival of adventure games. That's all the comment was meant to convey.

    Also, the placeholder site didn't disappear, they never had a WIP site. I've been looking for http://www.telltalegames.com/kingsquest and http://www.telltalegames.com/kq since the game was announced and nothing was ever put up there.

    As for being silent, Telltale just doesn't talk about stuff until they are just about to release the game. Look at Fables, it's coming out soon, and all that Telltale said about it lately is a tweet that said they're making a Fables game and nothing else. And other than that, they didn't say anything at all about Fables since the announcement, just like they haven't said anything about King's Quest. Once Fables wraps up, we'll start to hear about King's Quest.
  • edited November 2012
    I don't know where you heard that there were legal issues with Activision, but there's no way Telltale would've announced a game if they hadn't secured a license yet.

    As for why we haven't heard anything...Telltale's just really bad when it comes to giving information on upcoming projects. I wouldn't count on hearing anything until Fables finishes.
  • edited November 2012
    Jane Jensen's "Mystery Game X" could well be King's Quest. She co-developed KQ6. Mystery Game X is supposed to be a "dark mystery game", but that type of story could be done in the KQ universe. A King Graham noir.
  • edited November 2012
    Telltale's King's Quest is dead in the water. Or I'll eat my hat.

    And thank GOD, too.
  • edited November 2012
    Well could be, but if it does come out, you need to put your hat eating on youtube. I'd recommend a Nacho Hat, its at least easier on the bowels...
  • edited November 2012
    It's interesting idea, that Jensesn MGX might be King's Quest. She did say that the game will be episodic, so it just could work.
  • edited November 2012
    I just read from Jane's forum, that she's not working with Telltale, so MGX won't be King's Quest.
  • edited November 2012
    Wrong thread.
  • edited November 2012
    Not really. Admittedly the topic has been discussed in another thread, but the conversation here seemed to veer in the same direction rather naturally. Besides, that variation seems to have been terminated thanks to updated information from the source itself, so perhaps we should just let the matter rest.

    (Oo, hark at me and my fancy words.)
  • edited November 2012
    Over a year ago, people were complaining that Telltale had the audacity to even think they could touch King's Quest. Today, people are complaining that Telltale have ignored King's Quest.
  • edited November 2012
    Over a year ago, people were complaining that Telltale had the audacity to even think they could touch King's Quest. Today, people are complaining that Telltale have ignored King's Quest.

    Nope, I am celebrating the fact that they won't be touching King's Quest.
  • edited November 2012
    Lambonius wrote: »
    Nope, I am celebrating the fact that they won't be touching King's Quest.

    Well duh!

    I really want you to be so wrong now. Bet you go hide if you are though.
  • edited November 2012
    I have been dreaming of a new King's Quest since 1998. That is 12 years, people! I really hope Telltale has not abandoned the project. The announcement that King's Quest would be coming back made me happier than any other gaming news I had received in close to 30 years of gaming. If for some reason it has fallen through however, I hope the recent Kickstarter adventure revival has been strong enough to inspire Jane Jensen or Roberta Williams or... someone.... to step in and save it. I just hope it's an entity with enough resources (money, talent, creativity and passion for the series) to do it justice.
  • edited December 2012
    It's actually 14 years.
  • edited December 2012
    TTG has always been tight lipped about their games... It was really out of character when they announced a list of games they would be working on.

    We are not even through that list and they already added to it with law and order and a second walking dead series... We see a lot of newer forumites in a panic about the status of games.. I'm sort of surprised to see some long timers doing it here... I'm not claiming any insider knowledge but this is not out of the ordinary for ttg to not talk about their games until about a month before release.. Remember Monkey Island? They must have been sitting at that for a long time, they announced it and a month later we were playing the first ep.. This time they for whatever reason decided to let everyone know "hey there is a kq game coming"

    I see no reason to assume its still not coming... Unless we hear otherwise from someone at ttg.. Or Activision.
  • edited December 2012
    You'll see.
  • edited December 2012
    I've noticed Infamous Adventures has been pretty tightlipped about Kingdom of Sorrow too... They recently cancelled production on King's Quest III Gold Edition over legal and monetary reasons...

    Infact when they made the announcement they stated;
    The world, though, has changed so much now that we don't really need to keep these franchises alive anymore. All the old series are available once again for sale through various websites such as Good Old Games, and other professional outfits are making games again. And with the advent of technology such as tablets, and online console stores, these franchises are worth something again... The King's Quest rights have been licensed out for new games...

    The other harsher truth is that we have flown under the radar for a long time, in a legal gray area with these fan remakes. Even though they are entirely not-for-profit, and are 100% original works (we didn't use anything from the original games in our remakes) the games themselves are copyrighted. We have only ever treated these games with respect and didn't do anything to degrade the value of the titles. But bottom line, if the owners of the copyrights wanted to, they are within their rights to issue cease and desist notices. With these franchises actually profitable (and the titles for sale again) it's not worth our effort to continue to make these without monetary return.

    The fact is that problem is, that not only would "legal issues" potentially affect a KQ remake, it would be more likely to affect a brand new 'original' (ok semi-original) game in the series by a fan development team. Certainly, they aren't going to get 'monetary' return on Kingdom of Sorrow either from a fan development standpoint. If the same standards are applied to Kingdom of Sorrow, my guess its possibly cancelled as well. They certainly haven't given any updates on the game since like 2011.

    Only other possiblity I could see is somehow IA is making some kind of deal with Activision to license King's Quest, and sell Kingdom of Sorrow for profit. But I think that outcome is probably very unlikely.

    We do know apparently, that most of the teams at Infamous Adventures are switching over to develop Quest for Infamy which will be an original IP and sold for profit.
  • edited December 2012
    It still baffles me how these teams who once made fan-games at a snails pace, then blaming it on ensuring quality and low personal priority, are taking forever on their retail games.

    Time is money. The more time they waste before releasing a game, the less money they get. Certainly, quality control and attention to detail are important, but taking years to complete a for-profit project which honestly should take months makes no sense to me when there is money to be made on the finished product.
  • edited December 2012
    Months? lol. You try it.
  • edited December 2012
    Come on... they're making old-school adventure games, drawing old school graphics and using a long-existing game engine. They're not making Skyrim... nor The Walking Dead, for that matter.

    I would think the design phase should take the longest amount of time, what with writing the story, working out the individual settings, composing the music, etc.

    Once it's worked out what you're going to do, actually doing it shouldn't take years with this small of scope a project, especially when the longer you take the more potential profits you lose.
  • edited December 2012
    Fresh hand-drawn artwork and music probably takes a long time? Especially if the artists aren't particularly motivated? At least that's what it seems like happens with most of the fan games, they spend much of their time hoping to get finished pieces sent to them.

    Of course there is a story that the music for KQ4 only took a week or so, but they had to keep getting onto the musician to keep him motivated, LOL. Following him around his house, and the town he lived in.
  • edited December 2012
    So go ahead and do it then if you think it's so easy. :p You're overlooking hundreds of unforeseen complications that you can't even begin to anticipate.
  • edited December 2012
    POS took just over a year to release the first episode of Cognition, didn't they? Isn't that exactly what they said they'd do?

    As for IQ, we're only about 6 months out from our Kickstarter at this point, and I can personally vouch for the fact that significant work is being done daily on the project. And it's also worth mentioning that hand-painted (not just drawn) art takes just about as long as it would to make a full-size physical painting, even at low resolution, if you want it to look any good.

    The only fan-turned-commercial group that is taking an inordinately long time to release games is Himalaya, and they are entirely funded out of their own pockets.

    And lets also not forget that the entire budget of our game is probably less than the typical salary of one individual person working on professional industry teams like Bethesda or even Telltale.
  • edited December 2012
    Yeah, I'm pretty confident that Tell Tale's King's Quest is dead. It's just not in their wheelhouse anymore. They've had great success with The Walking Dead, and I think that's propelling the company, and development, into other areas.

    In fact, I'm so confident that they won't be making King's Quest, I'll give everyone who posts in this thread a free copy of Quest For Infamy next year if they're still making it.


    Bt
  • edited December 2012
    We'll hold you to that, lol. :D




    Lambonius wrote: »
    The only fan-turned-commercial group that is taking an inordinately long time to release games is Himalaya, and they are entirely funded out of their own pockets.
    I suppose that's what it is.
  • Macfly77Macfly77 Moderator
    edited December 2012
    In fact, I'm so confident that they won't be making King's Quest, I'll give everyone who posts in this thread a free copy of Quest For Infamy next year if they're still making it.


    Bt
    I'm already getting a copy through the Kickstarter, but you can't have too many. Thank you! ;)
  • edited December 2012
    In fact, I'm so confident that they won't be making King's Quest, I'll give everyone who posts in this thread a free copy of Quest For Infamy next year if they're still making it.

    I'd like a freebie as well.
  • edited December 2012
    It's true! If you've posted in this thread, and Tell Tale makes and releases King's Quest, I'll give you a copy of Quest For Infamy.

    Cause it ain't gonna happen.


    Bt
  • edited December 2012
    Hahhahah
  • edited December 2012
    Awesome.
  • edited December 2012
    Once it's worked out what you're going to do, actually doing it shouldn't take years with this small of scope a project, especially when the longer you take the more potential profits you lose.

    It doesn't work like that, EVEN with a small-scoped project. Tons of stuff change a lot mid-development. Even if you spend a year in pre-production, planning everything perfectly out... The end result would still be greatly different.
  • edited December 2012
    It's never as easy as you think it's going to be, there's definitely far more involved than what you're thinking, and trust me, we are ALL aware of time = money!

    And yes, it was almost exactly a year between launching the Kickstarter for Cognition & releasing Episode 1, nearly to the day in fact. :)

    Of course, as long as we come in under 8 years of development time, we'll still be beating our time spent making TSL Episode 1, so I think we're good there. ;)
  • edited December 2012
    Yeah, I'm pretty confident that Tell Tale's King's Quest is dead. It's just not in their wheelhouse anymore.

    A couple of years ago nobody would have said a game like The Walking Dead was in Telltale's wheelhouse and yet they pulled that one out of the bag. Just because they haven't made a game like King's Quest in a while doesn't necessarily mean they can't. Only time will tell.
  • edited December 2012
    You'll see.
  • edited December 2012
    Woodsyblue wrote: »
    A couple of years ago nobody would have said a game like The Walking Dead was in Telltale's wheelhouse and yet they pulled that one out of the bag. Just because they haven't made a game like King's Quest in a while doesn't necessarily mean they can't. Only time will tell.

    It's just not their concern any more. Honestly, it's a project better left to a smaller studio - the audience isn't big enough for what Tell Tale does now.


    Bt
  • edited December 2012
    So I'm taking it that King's Quest is a no go? A few months ago, I could have sworn that TT was working on KQ from their Twitter bio. Looks like any mention of the game is removed and only Fables is there now.
  • edited December 2012
    In fact, I'm so confident that they won't be making King's Quest, I'll give everyone who posts in this thread a free copy of Quest For Infamy next year if they're still making it.

    Wow. This is the kind of post people really end up regretting that they posted a few months after they posted it.

    On the other hand, I missed out on the Quest for Infamy Kickstarter when it was running. So I'm looking forward to getting my free copy. Thanks!
  • edited December 2012
    It's just not their concern any more. Honestly, it's a project better left to a smaller studio - the audience isn't big enough for what Tell Tale does now.

    Telltale are moving into a bigger office so we can safely assume that they'll be able to go back to tackling more than one project at a time. It's always possible that a main team works on the bigger budget games like TWD and BttF second seasons while a smaller team work on the more niche titles like Fables and King's Quest.

    Just a thought.
  • edited December 2012
    magodesky wrote: »
    Wow. This is the kind of post people really end up regretting that they posted a few months after they posted it.

    On the other hand, I missed out on the Quest for Infamy Kickstarter when it was running. So I'm looking forward to getting my free copy. Thanks!

    I don't think so. But, hey, if I do - I know you'll enjoy QFI and if I'm wrong, I'll gladly give you a copy!!


    Bt
This discussion has been closed.