The installer does work like that, but afterwards all the resource files are on your hard drive.
That's OK then!
It'd be nice if Telltale made a bit of a fuss about how it worked before you download it (that said, I've only downloaded the demo of Bone myself, BUT I was a bit irked to find I had downloaded a downloader).
That's OK then!
It'd be nice if Telltale made a bit of a fuss about how it worked before you download it (that said, I've only downloaded the demo of Bone myself, BUT I was a bit irked to find I had downloaded a downloader).
True, but you can choose where to download the installer aswell. The default path is %temp%/DrDld or something, but you can change it to what you want, and back up the installer to cd or whatnot.
Another thing I have to say: I think that our doubts about the episodic format are due to the fear of having lots of mini-adventures instead of a BIG COMPLETE one.
It's not a matter of downloading the game or buying it in a store (also if I'd prefer to find it on the shelves).
The problem is: MAKE A COMPLETE ADVENTURE, not lots of mini-episodes. Please, guys
I think that having episodes is OK, CD format, or not. You see it all the time: Halo, Halo 2; Half Life 1-3; DOOM 1-3; but you need to have a substantial game in order to do it, so make 'em longer than a mini game.
Most people are forgetting that Telltale is an independant developer and the reason they are making it episodic is not because they believe it's the best method for the consumer, clearly releasing the game in one large chunk and charging the consumer one lump sum is the ideal situation but being an indy developer they cant afford to do this... they cant afford to work on a game 2 years without seeing a profit, that is why indy developers are moving towards the episodic format.
Adventure games are niche... People have been saying for 20 years the adventure game genre is dead ever since Infocom closed down. It's not dead it's just past its prime and has become a niche genre.... Block buster adventure games like Broken Sword III lasted 2 weeks at EB and barely returned a profit.... Blockbuster budgets for adventure games are a thing of the past... If you want to have adventure games the only way viable is using a different economic model... episodic content allows the developers to have less crunch time and get a constant stream of revenue.
Yes I understand you all want the episodes all in a single box... but Telltale cant afford to produce all the episodes at the same time... Independant developers cant afford that, and publishers like LucasArts, Atari, Vivendi have all made it clear that they arent willing to fund large block buster sized video games. Even Revolution Studios is struggling.... however The Adventure Company has been quite successful with its medium budgeted adventure games... perhaps after all the episodes are complete they may be in a position to distrubute a boxed version... but until then.. Telltale cant afford to produce them all at once.
Whats all this nonsense about wanting it on a CD.... Just burn it.... Most games dont even come with printed manuals anymore, or if they do its in black and white and only one or two pieces of paper. Even if Telltale did release a version in a box they dont have the money to stuff it full of free extras like Infocom used to an Electronic Arts sometimes still does. Hell I I throw out boxes and all the stuff and keep all my CD's in spindles or folders anyway.... With over 5000 CD's I would need a spare house if I stored all that extra crap.
i have slow internet. i cant download games. i cant get faster speed it is not in my town. if i will find this game in store i will buy it. if i will only find this game online i cannot. this is my problem. there will be others with the same probem. how to fix? put game in stores. thank you. -jerry van dyke
well jerry. Hopefully you get a faster connection soon. I couldn't imagine the world in 56k ever again. Would you be willing to buy it if telltale had an online store and they shipped you a copy of the intaller? I know a lot of people say that they would buy the game if it was in the store but well at this point it is too much for this fledgling company to make a retail release. If the game doesn't sell in a retail release there is a good chance the company will go bankrupt. I know for example digital extremes would have been gone if some of their games didn't sell as well as they did when they were first starting out.
These are hardly what I'd call huge downloads for the episodes... on a 56k connection you'll probably get anywhere from 5-10kbps downloading these episodes, and since it seems they'll likely always be under 100 megabytes, it seems totally feasible to get them overnight.
I still think people who have an inherent problem with digital distribution of these games has yet to actually try it out first.
i have slow internet. i cant download games. i cant get faster speed it is not in my town. if i will find this game in store i will buy it. if i will only find this game online i cannot. this is my problem. there will be others with the same probem. how to fix? put game in stores. thank you. -jerry van dyke
Again, they cant afford to release it in a shop.
Besides I am on a 56k MODEM thats as fast as you can get in my town in Australia as well (without ISDN) and I downloaded it over night. Whats the problem?
I'm also on 56kb dialup (that connects around 40kb), and I downloaded the Bone game in about 3.5 hours while I was out shopping.
Admittedly I would like to be able to download the installer .exe in one hit for ease of backup and so I can use a download manager like getright (so I can resume a broken download).
But still, anything under around 80 meg is easily accomplished overnight or during a school/work day on slow dialup.
I'm kind of torn on this. On the one hand I'm happy to see Sam and Max finally make their triumphant return. On the other hand I really, really like decent game packaging.
I like the idea of episodic. If its packed full of enough stuff to keep you interested for a while (easter eggs and alternate ways to do bits and lots and lots o' laughs) I'll be perfectly happy in having a whole bunch of not incredibly long games slowly popping up every once in a while. But what I want to see is maybe them all collected and crammed onto a few discs and sold in a spangly big box with a fancy special edition DVD and... I don't know... comics and posters or a shirt and stuff. You could stick the games in and then make the discs worth buying by sticking a whole lot of other stuff like making of etc.
Kind of like the Lord of the Rings Speical Edition DVDs. That would probably make them the best thing ever and let our friends with slow connections (I had a 56k modem until about 9 months ago) join in on the fun.
Having just read this I'm struck with just how awesome that would be. Telltale should totally do that.
Usually when you buy in a store you have to pay more because of the box and CDs and general store mark ups. Downloading just gets you the game and it doesn't have to be marked up with GST or whatever equivalent etc.
Also, forget CDs and DVDs!
Use thumbdrives- more original!
Er...yes, original... but thumbdrives cost like $25, and that's just for a 128mb one. Add that to the cost of the game itself, packaging, and other associated retail costs. A CD or DVD cost maybe 25 cents, especially in bulk. Sorry, but selling games on thumbdrives is insanity. 8-}
Going through any kind of publisher will eat into Telltales profit... The whole point of episodic content is avoid a publisher... They self publish online.. Perhaps one day after all the episodes are created and they have got a nice some of money they can afford to sell it in a box through a publisher... but until then Independant developers find it very difficult.....
And the fact remains when ever adventure games are released through publishers they rarely do well.... unless have something VERY special going for it, and copious amounts of money are spent on the marketing, ie something like Fahrenheit.
Actually, the download manager will resume a broken download where it left off.
Oh, really? That's good to know. I was one of those who downloaded the original 75Mb version and had problems when my connection dropped out. Good to know that this shouldn't be a problem in future.
It's a bit hazy, but I think there was data being transferred after the dropout, but the grey loading bar reset back to zero, so it was a bit confusing as to whether the game has resumed or restarted.
Here's an idea. Why not include zip files with little extras that are unlocked when you buy the game. For example for Bone, there could be a pdf file with copy of the map found in the demo or a poster advertising the spring fair.
Not in any way related but what are the chances of a dance sequence in the game? I know it's going to be different to Freelance Police but I would be infinitely happy to see the pair dancing like in the trailer (looky here . Thanks for www.sam-and-max.de.vu by the way. Try looking in the forums under Memberzone for an awesome surprise everyone...).
But what I want to see is maybe them all collected and crammed onto a few discs and sold in a spangly big box with a fancy special edition DVD
Hey, why not. EA does it with The Sims. :-P
And to bring up an old subject in this thread, dubbing games is unholy and the work of the Shaitan. Voice Actors never seem to be that good here in Europe. If you need to localize, I remember a game, Critical Mission, I believe. It was about a guy who lost his memory in a planecrash, and had to find out why he was on an island or something, but I digress. It was spoken completely in English, but the subtitles over people's head were in Dutch. This was very comfortable for me, since I was a kid back then.
Not that I complain about full English games, though. It taught me English. Sam & Max Hit the Road, Day of the Tentacle, ahh, the good old days. And now I score 5 out of 5 on my English test.
I'm not the only one that hates dubbing, by the way. Holland is generally very much against it. It showed when Black and White was released. People screamed foul when it was dubbed in Dutch here. Hell, Lionhead even released an English patch over it! I think it's the Germans and the French who are whining again that it isn't in their language. Can't be arsed to adapt, I guess. :-P
First, no filthy greedy publisher interfering with the creative process!
Second, a closer contact with their customers (you) than with a publisher.
Third, a small company can release a game with very little capital.
Fourth, the profits come in quicker
Fifth, it's perfect for the new online distribution systems aimed at casual gamers (like gametap or xbox live)
Six, production costs are broken into smaller pieces, with smaller investment risks
Seven, as the new episodes are released, they can keep up with new changes in graphics cards
Eight, after the set of episodes in complete, you can go and buy your precious box set in a store. But Analog Distribution is wasteful and keeps prices high. You're paying for packaging, storage, shipping, box art, printing and CD pressing.
Save money and time, go digital. C'mon it's the future. You don't need big chunky plastic cartridges or CD's or DVD's.
Also, best of all, episodic distribution can be a big nasty chink in the armor of the evil publishing companies which rob most developers of their profits, meddle with their creative freedom, hold their intellectual property licenses, and bully the creative people around.
Personally i can assure you that episodic games are not the future. Its is however for small companies because most people will always prefer at full games. Its just to annoying later on when you wanna play a game you have to play it in 20 parts..
Also if telltale was alittle smart and wanted to. they can easly merge it all so that atleast 1 season is one big game...
Personally i can assure you that episodic games are not the future. Its is however for small companies because most people will always prefer at full games.
You might be surprised at the number of people out there with families, jobs etc and very little leisure time who (like myself) absolutely prefer shorter games. Longer games almost always get abandoned before completion, mostly due to external factors (ie. not the game's fault).
True. I have so many unfinished games on my shelf, it's not funny. Sam & Max was the first game I completed since years. I have a fulltime job, I'm maintaining a website, building a game, and then there's some other hobbies as well. Not to mention spending time with family and friends... Gah! Oh, and of course I have to sleep too. It's amazing I can find time to hang out on these forums!
You might be surprised at the number of people out there with families, jobs etc and very little leisure time who (like myself) absolutely prefer shorter games. Longer games almost always get abandoned before completion, mostly due to external factors (ie. not the game's fault).
You're right. I think I read somewhere that 75% of games are never completed...
Comments
That's OK then!
It'd be nice if Telltale made a bit of a fuss about how it worked before you download it (that said, I've only downloaded the demo of Bone myself, BUT I was a bit irked to find I had downloaded a downloader).
True, but you can choose where to download the installer aswell. The default path is %temp%/DrDld or something, but you can change it to what you want, and back up the installer to cd or whatnot.
I think that having episodes is OK, CD format, or not. You see it all the time: Halo, Halo 2; Half Life 1-3; DOOM 1-3; but you need to have a substantial game in order to do it, so make 'em longer than a mini game.
Also if its too short, no one will buy it...
Adventure games are niche... People have been saying for 20 years the adventure game genre is dead ever since Infocom closed down. It's not dead it's just past its prime and has become a niche genre.... Block buster adventure games like Broken Sword III lasted 2 weeks at EB and barely returned a profit.... Blockbuster budgets for adventure games are a thing of the past... If you want to have adventure games the only way viable is using a different economic model... episodic content allows the developers to have less crunch time and get a constant stream of revenue.
Yes I understand you all want the episodes all in a single box... but Telltale cant afford to produce all the episodes at the same time... Independant developers cant afford that, and publishers like LucasArts, Atari, Vivendi have all made it clear that they arent willing to fund large block buster sized video games. Even Revolution Studios is struggling.... however The Adventure Company has been quite successful with its medium budgeted adventure games... perhaps after all the episodes are complete they may be in a position to distrubute a boxed version... but until then.. Telltale cant afford to produce them all at once.
Whats all this nonsense about wanting it on a CD.... Just burn it.... Most games dont even come with printed manuals anymore, or if they do its in black and white and only one or two pieces of paper. Even if Telltale did release a version in a box they dont have the money to stuff it full of free extras like Infocom used to an Electronic Arts sometimes still does. Hell I I throw out boxes and all the stuff and keep all my CD's in spindles or folders anyway.... With over 5000 CD's I would need a spare house if I stored all that extra crap.
I still think people who have an inherent problem with digital distribution of these games has yet to actually try it out first.
Besides I am on a 56k MODEM thats as fast as you can get in my town in Australia as well (without ISDN) and I downloaded it over night. Whats the problem?
Admittedly I would like to be able to download the installer .exe in one hit for ease of backup and so I can use a download manager like getright (so I can resume a broken download).
But still, anything under around 80 meg is easily accomplished overnight or during a school/work day on slow dialup.
I like the idea of episodic. If its packed full of enough stuff to keep you interested for a while (easter eggs and alternate ways to do bits and lots and lots o' laughs) I'll be perfectly happy in having a whole bunch of not incredibly long games slowly popping up every once in a while. But what I want to see is maybe them all collected and crammed onto a few discs and sold in a spangly big box with a fancy special edition DVD and... I don't know... comics and posters or a shirt and stuff. You could stick the games in and then make the discs worth buying by sticking a whole lot of other stuff like making of etc.
Kind of like the Lord of the Rings Speical Edition DVDs. That would probably make them the best thing ever and let our friends with slow connections (I had a 56k modem until about 9 months ago) join in on the fun.
Having just read this I'm struck with just how awesome that would be. Telltale should totally do that.
What about doing both?
Also, forget CDs and DVDs!
Use thumbdrives- more original!
And the fact remains when ever adventure games are released through publishers they rarely do well.... unless have something VERY special going for it, and copious amounts of money are spent on the marketing, ie something like Fahrenheit.
Oh, really? That's good to know. I was one of those who downloaded the original 75Mb version and had problems when my connection dropped out. Good to know that this shouldn't be a problem in future.
It's a bit hazy, but I think there was data being transferred after the dropout, but the grey loading bar reset back to zero, so it was a bit confusing as to whether the game has resumed or restarted.
Hey, why not. EA does it with The Sims. :-P
And to bring up an old subject in this thread, dubbing games is unholy and the work of the Shaitan. Voice Actors never seem to be that good here in Europe. If you need to localize, I remember a game, Critical Mission, I believe. It was about a guy who lost his memory in a planecrash, and had to find out why he was on an island or something, but I digress. It was spoken completely in English, but the subtitles over people's head were in Dutch. This was very comfortable for me, since I was a kid back then.
Not that I complain about full English games, though. It taught me English. Sam & Max Hit the Road, Day of the Tentacle, ahh, the good old days. And now I score 5 out of 5 on my English test.
I'm not the only one that hates dubbing, by the way. Holland is generally very much against it. It showed when Black and White was released. People screamed foul when it was dubbed in Dutch here. Hell, Lionhead even released an English patch over it! I think it's the Germans and the French who are whining again that it isn't in their language. Can't be arsed to adapt, I guess. :-P
First, no filthy greedy publisher interfering with the creative process!
Second, a closer contact with their customers (you) than with a publisher.
Third, a small company can release a game with very little capital.
Fourth, the profits come in quicker
Fifth, it's perfect for the new online distribution systems aimed at casual gamers (like gametap or xbox live)
Six, production costs are broken into smaller pieces, with smaller investment risks
Seven, as the new episodes are released, they can keep up with new changes in graphics cards
Eight, after the set of episodes in complete, you can go and buy your precious box set in a store. But Analog Distribution is wasteful and keeps prices high. You're paying for packaging, storage, shipping, box art, printing and CD pressing.
Save money and time, go digital. C'mon it's the future. You don't need big chunky plastic cartridges or CD's or DVD's.
Also, best of all, episodic distribution can be a big nasty chink in the armor of the evil publishing companies which rob most developers of their profits, meddle with their creative freedom, hold their intellectual property licenses, and bully the creative people around.
Also if telltale was alittle smart and wanted to. they can easly merge it all so that atleast 1 season is one big game...
You might be surprised at the number of people out there with families, jobs etc and very little leisure time who (like myself) absolutely prefer shorter games. Longer games almost always get abandoned before completion, mostly due to external factors (ie. not the game's fault).
--Erwin
You're right. I think I read somewhere that 75% of games are never completed...