LucasArts/Telltale - When dreams come true

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

If Telltale bought from LEC the rights to make a sequel, which one would you like most?
Maniac Mansion 3? Monkey Island 5? THE REAL Monkey Island 3? Indiana Jones and whoknowswhat (but a GRAPHIC ADVENTURE)?
This thread isn't obviously dedicated to any Telltale member, I'm not asking anything 'cause I know I won't get an answer :D
All of the other ones start daydreaming!!!

[Udvarnoky]

You must really hate yourself to start a thread like this.

My choice would be Maniac Mansion 3/Day of the Tentacle 2. It's easily the most open-ended series, and Dave Grossman is Telltale's Senior Designer to boot.

[anonima]

Something involving Maniac Mansion. I would like something involving the characters from Day of the Tentacle.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

You must really hate yourself to start a thread like this.

My choice would be Maniac Mansion 3/Day of the Tentacle 2. It's easily the most open-ended series, and Dave Grossman is Telltale's Senior Designer to boot.

Well, the imminent release of S&M has woke up my masochist side :p
I'd choose MM3/DOTT2 too, also if the one I wish most is Monkey Island 3 made by Ron Gilbert... I don't even consider EMI and CMI as official sequels, even if they're made by LEC.
Anyway, DOTT is probably the one that's already got a small trace to be continued: Purple was sent to Syberia and swore for revenge.
The other games (MI4 aside) don't seem to have a potential sequel, or at least not as clear as a Maniac Mansion 3.

[anonima]

you don't consider CMI a sequal? i like cmi the best out of all MI games... i don't consider EMI a sequal as it's a poor attempt at making a 3D cartoon game... whitch is preety hard... or atleast it was hard when EMI came out...

Matt

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

I'm not saying CMI wasn't good (my favourite is MI2, anyway), just saying it's clear that it's not a proper sequel for 2 brilliant games made by Ron Gilbert. Take CMI alone, it was wonderful. Take it as a sequel of LeChuck's Revenge and see lots of stuff never explained, just ignored to go on with the story. Monkey Island 1 and 2 were dedicated to a certain public, CMI was more commercial, more cartoonish,
more... childlike, I'd say.
Ron Gilbert knows how MI3 should be, he always told MI was planned to be a trilogy (so YES, EMI shouldn't even exist). He also told there were some big mistakes in CMI.
However, it would take another thread to speak about this, so never mind :)
I just hope to see the real Monkey3 once.

[jp-30]

Ahh, the official glimmer of hope from July 2006;

(Source (http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200607/N06.0724.1923.35414.htm));

GI: A lot of those LucasArts franchises are still very popular – you spoke about Day of the Tentacle. Is there a chance you’ll be able to wrangle a few more of those away for more episodes? Are you working on that at all?

Connors: It’s definitely on our minds and it’s definitely something we think about. Maybe I can give you more information a while from now. It’s definitely something that makes good sense to everybody. For them it’s the same thing. For them it’s "What’s the business model? What’s the retail model?" It’s not their type of game – it’s not Star Wars, it’s not with the movie, with the lightsaber – an action game. When trying to do the two things at the same time it makes it challenging. They’ve been trying to figure out the right solution, and hopefully Telltale is part of it.


:D

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

FINGERS CROSSED!!! ;)
As the guys from mixnmojo said, it would be definitely weird to see something like DOTT2/a, DOTT2/b, DOTT2/z being released, but who cares, after all? Doc and Bernard have been dead for too long!

[anonima]

Good thread! though you forgot some other good games, like Grim Fandango, for example.

Anyway, if i'd had to choose i'd definetly go for the secuel to Day of the Tentacle. That one and Sam and Max remain as my favourite graphic adventure games ever.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

Well, I didn't mention GF because I think it's REALLY over. As Bill Tiller said, it would be like doing a sequel for Orson Welles' Citizen Kane :))
Speaking of other games, it would be possible (Full Throttle, The Dig(?!?!?), even Zak McKracken) but I'm sure DOTT is the best one to focus on in the case of a deal!
And it looks like lots of people here think the same...
Hope you're reading this, Telltale boys! :D

[anonima]

DOTT is perfect the way it is. It's a game that wouldn't really do well with a sequel.
Full Throttle on the other hand would be awesome

[Udvarnoky]

Look at the similarities between Maniac Mansion and DOTT (Hint: There aren't any). The MM series has the most potential to continue because it really doesn't have to adhere to any rules. I think Full Throttle on the other hand is best left alone. The story was told, no point risking a game that doesn't live up to the characters. (I'd make the same argument for Grim, only it's infinitely more the case with Grim.)

[anonima]

Full Throttle could be the coolest adventure game there is. It would be awesome to have a TellTale™ 'sequel' for it. The athmosphere in that game is something any game could learn something from.

[Alucard]

I'd like to see another DOTT game.
Full throttle wouldn't be bad but it can't have Ben in it. That character died with Roy Conrad.
Just like how Troy McClure died with Phil Hartman

[Jake]

Look at the similarities between Maniac Mansion and DOTT (Hint: There aren't any).

Except for the actual structure of the games! In both games you play as 3 teenagers from different classic-teenager walks of life (though in DOTT they're of course more exaggerated), the puzzle solving is split between those three characters, and the game is solved by all of those puzzles interweaving to effectively become one giant epic puzzle. DOTT does it all with a lot more grace, humor, polished visual design, and tighter puzzles, but they're both pretty similar structurally.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

DOTT is perfect the way it is. It's a game that wouldn't really do well with a sequel.
Full Throttle on the other hand would be awesome


I don't think so, remember the DOTT final and answer yourself.
It's obvious that LEC left that door open, isn't it? Sure, they smashed every door before us and every good graphic adventure, now.
Full Throttle 2? Possible to do but unlikely to choose.
Unless you choose to keep one or two characters and let a brand new story begin (a poor excuse as "Ripburger's alive because he fell down on a river" would makes us all laugh), in some other State and totally separated from the first game. Men, it would be cool!!
If we think about it well, the same thing's happening with Sam & Max (MORE OR LESS).
Since they're cops (and due to the dementially-creative nature of Sam & Max), it just takes some imagination to invent something new, fresh and never seen before, lots of other quests and stories can be told!

Except for the actual structure of the games! In both games you play as 3 teenagers from different classic-teenager walks of life (though in DOTT they're of course more exaggerated), the puzzle solving is split between those three characters, and the game is solved by all of those puzzles interweaving to effectively become one giant epic puzzle. DOTT does it all with a lot more grace, humor, polished visual design, and tighter puzzles, but they're both pretty similar structurally.
Your enthusiasm is encouraging, Jake! :D

[Udvarnoky]

Look at the similarities between Maniac Mansion and DOTT (Hint: There aren't any).

Except for the actual structure of the games! In both games you play as 3 teenagers from different classic-teenager walks of life (though in DOTT they're of course more exaggerated), the puzzle solving is split between those three characters, and the game is solved by all of those puzzles interweaving to effectively become one giant epic puzzle. DOTT does it all with a lot more grace, humor, polished visual design, and tighter puzzles, but they're both pretty similar structurally.

You couldn't be more right, Jake, but besides exaggerating I wasn't talking structurally (which I should have clarified). What I was getting at was that unlike say, Full Throttle or Grim Fandango, which would be a bit more difficult to continue for obvious reasons, DOTT proved that the Maniac Mansion series just doesn't have that kind of baggage. While some characters from the original made a return, the two games are night and day. DOTT doesn't even seem to exist in the same universe as MM. It has a different brand of humor and vastly different inspirations (saturday morning cartoons as opposed to horror/scifi b-movies). Yet it was relentlessly successful and somehow still distinctly a Maniac Mansion game. Like Sam & Max, but for different reasons, it just seems to me that there's a lot more freedom than other licenses...the series somehow dodges the need to be faithful to its predecessors' style (not that I would mind seeing a "Day of the Tentacle 2").

I totally agree with everything you said about the game's core formula. You gotta have a team of characters who work together to solve effectively one giant puzzle in a confined but complex setting. But as far as what the excuse is to put those characters in that setting, where that setting is, and the general direction the game takes, there's no boundary.

[Jake]

Ah I see what you're saying. Yes.

[anonima]

dott originally was going to have 6 characters..maniac mansion 3 could focus on the other 3 characters.. I think it would be kool if they went even further into the future..with a new mansion.. of course I dont see there being any chance of lucasarts giving telltale the rights..i mean they cancelled freelance police!! maybe if season 1 is enormously successful they may be persuaded..but I aint gettin my hopes up

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

A Maniac Mansion game without Bernard? Please, no! :((

[Pvt._Public]

I wouldn't mind seeing what happens between Ben and Maureen in Full Throttle. I think there's still a lot which can be done with that license. Even if it appeared appeared around a decade ago and hasn't been spoken about for about as long.

The Maniac Mansion games seem to me to be an interesting choice for episodic games. Imagine it: three teenagers (preferably the ones from Day of the Tentacle but maybe occasional cameos from MM) go around and have bizarre little adventures in and around a great big weird mansion occupied by a mad scientist! It's like one of those cheesy 80's cartoon shows made into a game.

Monkey Island. Seriously, someone get Ron Gilbert and tell him to do whatever he likes, just make the final game. He can ignore the last two games if he likes (write them off as a crazy dream or something) or he can include them, but Guybrush needs just one more final definitive outing. And it's very important that it's Ron who finishes it all. What with the whole Pirates of the Caribbean craze goin' on it might even be considered financially viable!

As for Grim Fandango: NO, NO, OH GOD NO. Don't spoil the sacred name of Manuel Calavera by squeezing him out of where ever he is now and forcing him to somehow do another game. And there's no way in hell I want to play another Grim Fandango game without Manny as the main character. Except of course Glottis. But that wouldn't be a full new game. Maybe a sequence of episodic games under the GF title headed by different characters so we can see what they're doing now or what they did before and during the game time.

[anonima]

The continuing adventures of Zak McKraken?

[Pvt._Public]

The continuing adventures of Zak McKraken?

That too. Tell you the truth, I haven't ever gotten around to finishing Zak McKracken. Maybe when I've finished this enormous mound of other games. But seeing as I've just won an auction for Discworld Noir and my preordered copy of Resi 4 for PC will be sent tomorrow, it seems unlikely to happen anytime soon...

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

Pvt._Public, your words sound like sweet music to my ears, I totally agree with everything you just said (but go finishing Zak now!!!).
1) Make Maniac Mansion 3/DOTT 2;
2) Visit www.grumpygamer.com and engage mr. Ron Gilbert;
3) Let Manny R.I.P., I think he deserves it after all.

[jannar85]

My vote goes to MM3. The last thing I want to see now, is another MI-copy. I got tired of EMI.

If the licence ever goes to Ron, then sure, bring it on!:)

[anonima]

These threads are fun. I'd like to see Telltale have at least one more series going before anything like this, but I think new Maniac Mansion or Full Throttle games could be potentially great. As has been said before Maniac Mansion provides so much flexibility (though I think the mansion itself and probably the Edisons need to be included in some form) while Full Throttle has an incredibly cool lead character and setting. While Full Throttle works extremely well self-contained I don't think that's really a problem, certainly not as much as it is with Grim Fandango; the events of Full Throttle aren't really portrayed as the defining arc of Ben's life the way Manny's journey is in Grim Fandango; I could definitely see Ben and the polecats getting involved in a lot of other worthwhile things without tainting the orginal game. Roy Conrad and finding a way of maintaining the game's emotional core (mainly seen in the relationship between Ben and Maureen) would be the most major obstacles.

I'd love to see the Dig revisited with its artstyle, musical approach, atmosphere and concept folded into a better realised game. It would be perfect episodically, with each episode charting a different day spent exploring the alien world.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

An episodic new The Dig series would be interesting, though it's the game that inspires me less for a sequel.
Don't forget it would take Spielberg's support to do something really special.
Doing it without his help would be someway like doing another Monkey Island without Ron Gilbert: a big mistake, as we've already seen before.

[anonima]

An episodic The Dig could be something similar to Lost, the TV-series. That could be interesting. Let's hope something like that will come when TellTale expands after the huge success it will be.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

And let's hope they'll make something actually new, they're talented so I think they could also think about making a game that's not the sequel of another one or that doesn't take a license to be done. A lot of these guys worked for LucasArts, and the others are sure as good.
So I do expect to see some hat tricks. At least, I wish.

[anonima]

That's what I meant actually, wrote it wrong. I meant an episodic game similar to The Dig, as in some sort of otherwordly mystery that a team of people uncover, slowly unraveling the mystery via each episode - much like Lost.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

When did my current status turn into "Yakster", anyway?

[anonima]

DOTT doesn't even seem to exist in the same universe as MM.

Maybe, but MM does exist in DOTT's universe. Precisely, inside Wierd Ed's Computer. ;)

[Alucard]

Another dott game would be interesting if you could be purple and green tentacle.

Hmm I don't think I finished zak mckracken (sp?) either. I got to the part just after getting to the planet and got stuck. I didn't have the internet back in those days so I couldn't look up some hints. I wonder why I didn't go back and finish it though.... probably started playing indiana jones, loom or one of the other games instead.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

Another dott game would be interesting if you could be purple and green tentacle.


I never thought about it before!
A "jump to" standard command replacing the good old "walk to" would be exhilarating if we still had the good old SCUMM.

Or you're meaning that another DOTT game would be interesting only if I was Purple and Green Tentacle.
I'll do what I can, guys!

[Alucard]

err.. yes of course. :-/

but if YOU the player took the role of purple and green.... sure it was fun playing as the other guys but being a vallain in an adventure game would be new. It would have to be a comedy still to keep things light. I'd be a little weary of a csi game where you were the killer and you have to cover up your tracks.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

Whew, I was lucky you didn't want me to become a tentacle, I'm so attached to my legs :))
Jokes aside, it's not a bad idea, you know?
But I think it'd be wiser to try these kind of experiments with new games... You must always watch your step when you're about to apply big changes like this to a series like Maniac Mansion.

[Alucard]

Here are a few funny quotes that I found while looking for info on the game.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203441/quotes

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

Bernard: How's Dr. Fred?
Nurse Edna Edison: He's doing much better now that he's stopped sleepwalking.
Bernard: How did he stop sleepwalking?
Nurse Edna Edison: He stopped sleeping.

I forgot this one, it's made me laugh out loud right now!

[Pvt._Public]

The Dig could be done. Though there would have to one major change from the original game: Make any new games not mind numbingly boring.

I said it. Uh-huh. I really, REALLY wanted to like The Dig. I played it all the way through. But somehow it seemed more like a chore than enjoyment. It was so... lifeless. I know that's what the designers were going for, but there were a few small sections where something interesting or engaging was happening, and a huge busload of boring wandering around and clicking on things in the hope that they would solve puzzles. And none of the characters were interesting or even particularily unstereotypical (Is that a word? No? Well it is now) until the last 10 or so minutes of the game.

I mean (and I'm taking this from fuzzy memories of a game I haven't even seen for 3 years) wasn't one of them a german? While this in itself isn't bad, the fact that he turned out to be an evil german scientist or something similar is pretty bad. And the main guy was a perfect All American Hero? Wait, don't go forgetting the tough as nails, sassy yet smart heroine who ends up falling in love with the lead character. And in the end the lead saves the day, stops the German from being evil (and makes him totally subservient to his mighty American ways) and gets away with the gal.

Filthy American Capitalist propaganda is what it all is! Mother Russia! Mother Russia! All hail the ghost of comrade Lenin!

*Cough*. Sorry. Don't know what just came over me.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

Without any doubt, it's the graphic adventure I liked least.
Speaking about LucasArts' ones, of course.
I never played it again, it totally lacked of humour. Though it was a "serious" adventure, I need to smile sometimes while I play. It was boring, you're right.

[anonima]

THE DIG. I finished it with a walkthrough...it sucked, really bad. None of the characters were memorable AT ALL! I can't even remember their names. What were they thinking? Definitely devoid of any life. I can't even remember what the plot was. The colour scheme was also extremely garish - orange, orange, orange, grey, humour here and there, grey, yellow tinkly light somewhere, purple, orange...standard sprites for the characters, nope. Didn't like it. But I played it.

[Alucard]

I picked up the dig years ago in a discount bin for 5 bucks. It was a fun game and I didn't even realize it was made by lucasarts until I got it home. It was worh the 5 bucks I paid for it but it was probably my least favourite as well. It wasn't funny but at least it was more fun then the other adventure game I was playing at the time, space quest 3. I really didn't like most of those sierra games.....

Speaking of adventure games does anyone remember blue force? It was pretty easy as far as adventure games go but it was interesting. I forget what company made it but I'm sure it would be easy to google. I'm just too lazy right now.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

It's abandonware, so no one would mind if I tell you:
go get it here http://(censored)
Hope this helps :) (I doubt about that)

[Alucard]

ummm you might want to edit that out. I already know that it is abandonware. I've still got the discs for it kicking around too...

Anyway, when this forum first started there were some issues regarding "abandonware" on the telltale site and I think something was put in the rules against posting links to games. Thanks for the thought though.

Feels strange having been a part of the forums for almost 2 years now...

[Haggis]

"Abandonware is computer software which is no longer being sold or supported by its copyright holder. Sometimes, it is used as a blanket category for any software over a certain age, usually five years.

The term has no legal meaning. This means that labeling any kind of software 'abandonware' does not make it legal to make copies of it or publish it on a website. Unless the author puts the software in the public domain, abandonware remains covered under copyright law until its copyright term expires." -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

ummm you might want to edit that out. I already know that it is abandonware. I've still got the discs for it kicking around too...

Anyway, when this forum first started there were some issues regarding "abandonware" on the telltale site and I think something was put in the rules against posting links to games. Thanks for the thought though.

Feels strange having been a part of the forums for almost 2 years now...

Humm, I didn't think someone would have been bothered by that...
Anyway, rules are rules, so no problem.
I just wanted to help :)

[anonima]

That too. Tell you the truth, I haven't ever gotten around to finishing Zak McKracken. Maybe when I've finished this enormous mound of other games. But seeing as I've just won an auction for Discworld Noir and my preordered copy of Resi 4 for PC will be sent tomorrow, it seems unlikely to happen anytime soon...

Tell me about it - I've still got games I bought last Christmas that I've yet to get around to playing - Definitely keeping my purchases to a minimum this year :D

[anonima]

Full throttle wouldn't be bad but it can't have Ben in it. That character died with Roy Conrad.


I hadn't realized the guy had passed away - That's bad news
(Though I'm sure that wasn't the reason LucasArts scrapped the sequel just before release)

[anonima]

A "jump to" standard command replacing the good old "walk to" would be exhilarating if we still had the good old SCUMM.


Definitely would have been sweet if LucasArts had made the ScummVM open source once they replaced it with the engine used for Grimm Fandango

[Pvt._Public]

Mr IronCladChicken, no offense or anything but there's an edit button down there for extending your posts if need be so you can easily fit three posts made one after the other into one post. Normally I wouldn't really care but someone told me to do the same thing as I'm now telling you once and I'm still snipey about it so now I go out of my way to tell people and generally be a bastard. I'm quite good at it. Being a bastard and all. Great fun.

[anonima]

It's easier that way if you want to quote a lot of different sources.

[Heatherlee]

If Telltale bought from LEC the rights to make a sequel, which one would you like most?
Maniac Mansion 3? Monkey Island 5? THE REAL Monkey Island 3? Indiana Jones and whoknowswhat (but a GRAPHIC ADVENTURE)?
This thread isn't obviously dedicated to any Telltale member, I'm not asking anything 'cause I know I won't get an answer :D
All of the other ones start daydreaming!!!

Loom.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

Loom!
You're going against the grain, Heather! :D
Just kiddin', I'd like SO MUCH to see Bobbin back...
That game is just preying for a sequel!
Strange thing nobody mentioned it before page 6 of this thread :-/

[Haggis]

Strange thing nobody mentioned it before page 6 of this thread :-/
Even stranger is that nobody seems to want a Monkey Island sequel. :(

[Squinky]

That's not strange at all. I think a Monkey Island sequel would just ruin things. [>:)]

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

Well, me and someone else (I'm lazy to go check) already spoke about it...
Monkey Island 5? Bad idea.
Monkey Island 3? Not without Ron Gilbert. What a waste of genius, anyway.

[Haggis]

How is more Guybrush a bad thing? Someone could make Monkey Island 467 and I'd still get it. Pirates just never get old for me. :(|) 8-X

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

I understand the point, it's just that I don't think that releasing a game with the Monkey Island logo and the main chapter named "Guybrush" are enough to make a REAL Monkey Island sequel.
We already got it with EMI and (less painly, but what the hell) with CMI. Lots of people should admit it, instead of saying CMI was the best chapter in the series.
CMI was a cartoon, MI1 and MI2 were cartoon-styled but NOT CARTOONS.
Just take a look at the first two box covers and then at the third one. What happened? A tragical change of dimension? Or maybe the real curse due to Big Whoop was to be turned into a cartoon with a giant nose and toothpick-like legs.
Come on, they were two pale monkey-inspired games, nothing to do with the first two chapters.
Sorry for this outburst but someone had to say it, sooner or later.

[anonima]

When Ron Gilbert left LucasArts, the new team had to change the plot direction of the Monkey Island sequel. The graphics changes were a necessary progression due to the increase in resolution, and I can easily imagine Ron making similar changes.
Whether or not CMI was a faithful sequel to the first two games is debatable, but CMI holds its own as a fine example of an adventure game, even if is different to the original two games.
For that reason, I don't see why anyone shouldn't be allowed to have CMI as their favourite of the Monkey Island games.

[Alucard]

I mentioned loom back on page 4, so no this isn't the first time it has been brought up. =P

[Udvarnoky]

Saying that CMI and EMI are not true Monkey Island games is a slap to the face to two great teams. They are the true sequels because they are the ones that ACTUALLY EXIST. The game wasn't stolen from Ron; he left Lucas on his own accord and had to have known that the series could be continued. (That was his job, you know, to make viable IP for his company to make sequels to, with his involvement or not.) Ron may have envisioned MI as a trilogy and have MI3 in mind, but that doesn't mean you can assume it's better than Monkey 3 or 4 because you don't think they "fit in" with the "real" MI story. Be honest: You wouldn't question Part 3 and 4's credibility if you didn't know about the team change.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

Hehe, I expected such a reaction! :)
What I haven't explained is that I like CMI and EMI if considered as self-conclusive stories inspired by the M.I. universe (actually I played'em billions of times).
My disappointment comes out only when I see them as sequels.
I'd buy even a "Guybrush goes to space" game, to tell the truth. But I can't accept them as sequels, just as good tales superbly developed by a great team.

You wouldn't question Part 3 and 4's credibility if you didn't know about the team change.
You can see that EMI just doesn't fit when you listen to Herman's incredible story. In fact, during the travel in MI1, you can read the diary and see that his real name was actually Herman Toothrot.

The graphics changes were a necessary progression due to the increase in resolution, and I can easily imagine Ron making similar changes.
Graphics changes were necessary, of course!
But in CMI Guybrush looks more like Bernard then like the man we knew.
Perhaps a more George-Stobbart-like look would have been more appropriate. And I'm not a Broken Sword die hard fan.
Really, I'm not.

[anonima]

Graphics changes were necessary, of course!
But in CMI Guybrush looks more like Bernard then like the man we knew.
Perhaps a more George-Stobbart-like look would have been more appropriate. And I'm not a Broken Sword die hard fan.
Really, I'm not.
Perhaps, perhaps not. Many people are happy with the style it did use. But everyone's entitled to their own opinion.

[Udvarnoky]

They are sequels and of course you don't have to like them, but you really can't use the fact that Ron had a different idea to justify any problems you may have had with them.

The Herman Toothrot backstory has a ridiculously complicated solution but I'm not about to go into it. Besides which, a plot hole would not be a result of being oblivious to the story but simply of sloppy writing.

Who's to say Ron's MI3 wouldn't have looked just as cartoony? Weren't his comments on the look positive? Do you see what I mean? You're acting like you know what Ron Gilbert's version would have looked like. Because the CMI art style wasn't 100% what you wanted, it's easy enough to assume that the version that exists only in someone else's head would have been exactly what you wanted. CMI can only be judged on his own merits.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

Well, we could speak about this forever and still keeping our opinions steady.
De gustibus, too bad for the Herman "plot hole", it totally changes the story and it's based on a mistake.
I respect everyone's opinion, anyway.

[anonima]

I really liked CMI.

Anyone disagreeing with me are entitled to be wrong.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

I really liked CMI.

Anyone disagreeing with me are entitled to be wrong.
Yeah, whatever.

[anonima]

:-/ Come on, it was just a joke.

It's not like these conversations are that serious. :)

[anonima]

Someone brought up Grim Fandango a while back, and the scenario that has played through my head over and over has been "What was Manny like when he was alive?"

I keep imagining a Grim Fandango prequel.

I know it's something of a stretch, but whenever someone mentions adventure game sequels, it just pops in there.

[Pvt._Public]

Honestly, I really liked CMI. Hell, I've only just finished replaying it for the 14th time! But somehow it just doesn't seem like the next game that the previous games were leading up to. It's not to say it's a bad game (In fact, it's definitely one of my favourite games ever) but it's just not really the true continuation in the series if you know what I'm saying. It sort of feels like there's something missing in the whole timeline. And yes, I'm perfectly aware we don't know how Guybrush escaped from Big Whoop but that's not it.

EMI was pretty so-so. On the other hand, it's the first game I played that actually got me interested in gaming! I still remember buying it and thinking "Hey Pirates. Cool. And it looks like the same sort of thing as The Carmen Sandiego games" and so started down the slippery path to adventure gaming geekdom.

A sequel to Loom would be cool. Unfortunately just about no-one would buy it apart from those who've played the first game. And still remember it. That's like 5000 people. Possibly less. :p

I think all the goodness of Manny Calavera in GF came from his shady past. Revealing what he did, although pretty interesting would sort of ruin his character I think. Maybe not. Who knows.

I remember starting a pretty big topic about abandonware back when I first joined. Basically everyone just pulled out definitions of Abandonware and told everyone else that they were wrong. I felt pretty proud of that. :D

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

:-/ Come on, it was just a joke.

It's not like these conversations are that serious. :)

Ahahah, no problem :))
I just forgot to put a smiley in my last post!
Anyway, I knew this was a HOT, BOILING thread ;)

[anonima]

Mr IronCladChicken, no offense or anything but there's an edit button down there for extending your posts if need be so you can easily fit three posts made one after the other into one post. Normally I wouldn't really care but someone told me to do the same thing as I'm now telling you once and I'm still snipey about it so now I go out of my way to tell people and generally be a bastard. I'm quite good at it. Being a bastard and all. Great fun.

Sorry Pvt._Public!

[anonima]

Didn’t mean to offend!

[anonima]

[>:)]

[anonima]

I think GRIM FANDANGO never sold a lot because CD-WRITER'S became popular around the same time it was released. I'm sad to say.

[Udvarnoky]

I don't think that was the case.

[Haggis]

How many copies did Grim sell anyway? Was it really that bad as people say?

[Udvarnoky]

Not according to Tim Schafer who says the game "sold pretty well" and "made money" and that he "got a royalty check from it."

Maybe the exaggerated reports of Grim's sales were based off the belief that the game didn't sell as well as hoped, or people were just looking for more ways to prove that adventure games were dead.

[anonima]

http://www.bruandboegie.co.za/bruandboegie/aah_man_web_1.gif

I knew it was too good to be true.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

I think graphic adventures are victims of a conspiracy. Damn Ward.

[Alucard]

I remember when I got grim fandango there was a mail away for a free copy of full throttle...
yes grim was the last in a great era of adventure games....
monkey 4 was mediocre in comparison and it felt more like an attempt to squeeze all the money they could out of the franchise.

[jannar85]

Ah, yeah.. Loom.

[anonima]

Here's my wishlist ;) :

- Monkey Island 3a: The Secret Revealed Or Your Money Back (hiring Ron, of course ;) )
- Maniac Mansion 3
- Zak 2
- Loom 2 (I loved it! And the story begs for a sequel.)
- Full Throttle 2
- anything with a Rubber Chicken With A Pulley In The Middle in it :))

[anonima]

... and since we're dreaming, let's exaggerate:

Another World 2, hiring monsieur Chahi :D

(I think it's "Out of this World" for you on the other side of the Atlantic ;) )

[anonima]

It's been a long while since I've played "Loom", but I think I enjoyed "The Dig" more. In fact "The Dig" was the only adventure game that somewhat touched me emotionally, probably because of its out-of-this-world atmosphere. It's not the best LA adventure, by any means, but I liked it.

To me "Day of the Tentacle" is - besides "Monkey Island 2" - still ranking as the BEST adventure game ever made. What I liked about "Zak McKracken" was mainly it's epic feeling, with all the travelling (even more than Indy, since Zak was more of a regular guy). The only modern adventure game that managed to give this feeling again was the newly released "Secret File: Tunguska".

The difficulty with a "Maniac Mansion 3" would be to get away from the mansion. After all that's the (sub)title of both games, and getting the mansion out of the story would mean getting rid of the Edisons. On the other hand you can't have stories concering the mansion all the time, so this would be a little tricky.

[cp31734]

It's been a long while since I've played "Loom", but I think I enjoyed "The Dig" more. In fact "The Dig" was the only adventure game that somewhat touched me emotionally, probably because of its out-of-this-world atmosphere. It's not the best LA adventure, by any means, but I liked it.Many adventure games have touched me emotionally, but one of the most haunting moments was when I replayed The Dig not long ago. Out of curiosity, I revived Maggie to see what happened. Man, that was shocking. And then she got angry at the end as well.
I don't think I've got the nerve to ever try that again.

[Derwin]

While I would love a sequel to almost any LucasArts adventure game, I think what I would like most is to get a new game from the classic LucasArts game creators.

We already have pirates, the dead, a biker, teenagers, aliens, etc... What don't we have now that is so cool it just demands a video game?

The only thing I can think of is a humorous adventure game involving ninjas. Yes, I would buy that.

[Oilers99]

While I would love a sequel to almost any LucasArts adventure game, I think what I would like most is to get a new game from the classic LucasArts game creators.

We already have pirates, the dead, a biker, teenagers, aliens, etc... What don't we have now that is so cool it just demands a video game?


Satan's minions, perhaps? :D

[numble]

I really think that Pixar, which also happens to be a Lucas spin-off, has been really creative in coming up with such ideas--just look at what they've come out with: zany stories involving toys, superheroes, fish, bugs, cars, and monsters. Really out-of-the-box stuff... Heck even Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell is working for them.

So, the zany ideas that would make for a good movie in their works probably would work as ideas for games as well.

[DaEvilZombiePirateLeChuck]

The "real" Monkey Island 3 would be relly awsome to see but to make that u need Ron Gilbert and i doubt someone will get him to work on that... and thats too bad :(

A Monkey Island 5 would only make the serie look bad (like Monkey Island 4 but worse). Maybe a chanse of succes if they get someone like Tim Schafer to work on it...

Grim Fandango is already the perfect game and i cant really so how the story would be able to continue on that one.

And that leaves Maniac Mansion as the only one with a chanse of succes.. It has great characters that woulde be lovely to see in a new adventuregame and in one way or another the story can get a good continue.

But instead of followups to these games i think it would be best if the "New super adventure game" would be a whole new story instead of a continue on an old one... But thats just my opinion ;)

[IronCladChicken]

Grim Fandango is already the perfect game and i cant really so how the story would be able to continue on that one.

I guess Manny could get 'pulled' out of heaven by an unknown bad guy, the land of the dead is collapsing and people are getting murdered - & it's up to him to reluctantly solve the murders, save the citizens, get back into heaven and generally save the day?... Or some nonsense like that; I guess if they wanted to make a sequel, theres always a way?

[Derwin]

Satan's minions, perhaps? :D

Actually... yes!!! Playing as seemingly insignificant little demons could be great fun, and could lead to some humorous situations. I like it!

[Jokieman]

My vote goes to MM3. The last thing I want to see now, is another MI-copy. I got tired of EMI.

If the licence ever goes to Ron, then sure, bring it on!:)

I've actually talked to him about this. He says Lucas Arts won't loosen their grubby hands enough to give him back the license. He's a pretty unhappy guy honestly. I had initially wondered why companies like Autumn Moon and TellTale hadn't hired him, but now I can kind of understand. He seems to me to be a fairly bitter kind of guy. Take the Lucas Arts MI problem and then combine it with him having major difficulty finding someone to publish his other ideas and I guess that can happen.

I liked the entire Monkey Island Series. Including 3 and 4. They weren't on the same level as the first two (Basically due to the writing.) And I hated the Monkey Kombat "puzzle". But they were still good none the less.

What really gets me about adventure games these days is the writing/dialogue or lack of it. Most of the stuff just isn't funny. It's like everyone focuses on the graphics and gaming engine, but the dialogue always feels like it was just "tossed" in there at the last minute.

There's plenty of themes open to Adventure games, including another Pirate's title, it's the writing that needs to be recaptured like it used to be, but I guess that may never happen now.

Adventure games will always have a special place in my heart. They remind of me things like Christmas, and Family, and Fun, but there has been no adventure game to rival that of the old lucas arts stuff (with the exception of Loom and the Dig. Those two were my least favorite titles, with Full Throttle coming a close third.) And I think mostly it's due to the writing. Since those games were done, other games have been either able to capture the DETAIL, the WIT, or the DIALOGUE, but never all three.

The New and Improved Lucas Arts is just a joke now though. The same week the new "president" killed all of the old projects, he said he wanted to get back to the gaming company's roots (yet he had just killed all the new adventure game projects they were in the process of making.) Then they went and fired all of their adventure team designers in favor of producing more lackluster and boring star wars games.

Lucas Arts hasn't had an original idea since they quit making adventure games. Their Battlefront games were cheap knockoff's of Battlefield 1942, their Jedi Outcast games were cheap copies of (insert first person shooter of your choice here.) For their KOTOR games they had to go outside of Lucas Arts (Bioware).... Then there's THRILL VILLE. Which is basically a cheap knockoff of a cheap knockoff (and not even a new one. As those roller coaster games/railroad games have been around for ages.) Then of course we can't forget the Age of Empires knockoffs (I can't even remember the name of this one.) And of course there is the biggest money loser of all time, Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Laughed At, produced by Sony Online Entertainment for a whopping estimated $30,000,000.00 (Or, about 30 times the budget of the Blair Witch project, an ACTUAL movie. heh.) (SOE hasn't made money since the original Ever Quest, which was basically a 3d knock off of Ultima Online.) If George Lucas Didn't have his head so far up his butt, he might just take time to be appalled at how his gaming company hasn't had an original idea in over a decade, and he might not wonder so much why the company hasn't done so well either.

Lucas Arts used to be a pioneer in the gaming industry, they were the ones that inspired lesser game companies to make cheap knock off's of THEIR stuff. Now they ARE the cheap knock off producer. The Talent that Lucas Arts used to have is long gone, and I just wish they would get it over with and auction off their adventure game licenses to game companies that will do them justice.

[DaEvilZombiePirateLeChuck]

Originally Posted by DaEvilZombiePirateLeChuck
Grim Fandango is already the perfect game and i cant really so how the story would be able to continue on that one.
I guess Manny could get 'pulled' out of heaven by an unknown bad guy, the land of the dead is collapsing and people are getting murdered - & it's up to him to reluctantly solve the murders, save the citizens, get back into heaven and generally save the day?... Or some nonsense like that; I guess if they wanted to make a sequel, theres always a way?

Ok i agree that there is always a way if you want to but i'm gonna rewrite my text a little...

Grim Fandango is already the perfect game and I can't see how the story will be able to continue inn a good game that does not destroy the great story the game already have.

That's why i think they should try a new Maniac Mansion instead of a Grim Fandango of they get the chanse

[Pvt._Public]

Ok i agree that there is always a way if you want to but i'm gonna rewrite my text a little...

Grim Fandango is already the perfect game and I can't see how the story will be able to continue inn a good game that does not destroy the great story the game already have.

That's why i think they should try a new Maniac Mansion instead of a Grim Fandango of they get the chanse

Basically you're saying what I said earlier, don't pull an MI4. Grim Fandango 2 could be done, sure, but it'd be forced. It's remembered as a perfect game. Don't ruin it by forcing a sequel out of it. MI4 was not a labour of love like the previous games. It felt more like Lucasarts churning out another Monkey Island game simply because they could, not because they wanted to.

[subwarm]

I'd really like to see another Monkey Island game, however I'd much rather prefer it in the cartoony style of Curse of Monkey Island. That game, is visually and audibly my favorite adventure game I have played. The writing in that game has some great moments (how can you beat the dialogues between Murray and Guybrush, cmon?)

Guybrush Threepwood: How can you see without eyeballs?
Murray: How can you walk around without a brain? Some things no one can answer.

Although I may be biased because I have never tried the first two MI games (im guesing i will probably get flack for that). Full Throttle was a fun game too though it didn't have the lasting effect that Monkey island had on me over the years.

My vote is for Monkey Island - and I will share with you this comic as another bid for remake (and a shameless plug).

http://www.geeklikeme.net/dotcomic

-------------
Vin
www.geeklikeme.net

[Oilers99]

Actually... yes!!! Playing as seemingly insignificant little demons could be great fun, and could lead to some humorous situations. I like it!

Close, but I had something slightly different in mind. Yes, they'd be similar in purpose and position, but they wouldn't be "demons", per se; merely ordinary humans who are enslaved to Satan. Similar potential for comedy, more potential for examining human character.

This is actually a rather shameless plug for my design, Macabre. I think the world it allows for is definitely intriguing, and could be populated by all manner of delightful badness.

[Oilers99]

Grim Fandango 2 could work, but I don't think it should focus on Manny. Manny's story is fully explored, but the Land of the Dead... not so much. It's such a lovely, rich world that I would love to see another game set there. It could use some of the same characters as Grim Fandango, the ones who remained in the Land of the Dead, but it would feature an entirely new cast.

It's still not necessary. It's better to see some genuine originals come out.

[thom_h]

I saw an interview about 6 months back where the head of Lucasarts had plans to start 're-making' those point and click games, in about 8 years time when they'd finished making more Star Wars game.

Wtf.. I can't remember where I saw it aswell.

[jp-30]

Roll on 2015...

New MI games equivalent to Bewitched, Hazzard movies. (http://www.mixnmojo.com/php/news/showfile.php?id=2064&category=lucasartsnews)

I don't think you should be taking Jim Ward quite so literally.

[thom_h]

Haha - thanks anyway. Yeah I couldn't see it happening anyway.

[rosshoogle@hotmail.co.uk]

I'm saying Monkey Island. It has a great potential since it still has a story that needs an end. We need Ron Gilbert. I would just ignore the last two games CMI and EMI but I would keep one thing from those games, the voice actors I think they fit the parts completly. If Lucasarts does happen to make a MI in 2015 they have to include Mr Gilbert.

[Roft]

I would be over joyed to see a Day Of the Tentacle 2. I purchsed the game back in '94 and still play DOTT to this day. I actually played it through just the other day so a friend could experience the joy. I forgot just how much laughing you do the first time through. That isn't to say I don't still chuckle at jokes on the 30th play through.

God I hate that clown. He just laughs and laughs. ;)

[bashar]

That would be Monkey Island for me. I liked MI 3, and even Ron Gilbert appraised it. He didn't comment about number 4 though :O. Guess he didn't want to say it in the face. Anyways, I hate to ignore MI 3 and lovely Murry :). But they have to get Ron to finish the story this time and reveal the secret of monkey island. Man, some fans died out there without a clue what it is!