E3 - Brief new King's Quest info
 

"Grossman said Telltale actually approached Roberta Williams, one of the designers of the original games, to see if she was interested in working on the new one. While she declined by saying she had retired from games, she did offer the development team advice, some of which was "very valuable," according to Grossman. "

http://pc.ign.com/articles/117/1174593p1.html

Is it just me, or is it strange, and kinda insulting that IGN calls Roberta Williams, just 'one of the designers...?

Rather than pointing out the fact that she was the 'original' creator of King's Quest series, wife of the owner/CEO of Sierra On-line? ...or the fact that she was usually the producer of the series?

Its almost as if she has been forgotten and sent to the dustbins of history. Kinda sad really...

Now the fans can commence with the arguments on if this has the rights to be a true or canonical KQ game or not... ...and I'm sure some fans will start that debate, since there is now confirmation that she has virtually no involvement with the game (and likely little involvement with the story)... We still don't know how much involvment Josh Mandel (or other former Sierra King's Quest developers) have or are giving towards the game...

Gee.....that sure was a lot of information.

Here is a clear example of Telltale doing exactly the right thing for King's Quest. Is someone going to argue otherwise...? :)

Yeah I was disappointed by the lack of info on this :(

There are 2 arguments that can be made saything that they did not do the right thing. First, they knew Roberta Williams would turn them down and so all they did was try to make people think they did the right thing (they got you to buy in). Second, they perhaps wanted to bring her in, she saw their direction and said, "I don't want to work with them on that, the direction is awful!" She then turned them down and once again, it would show the direction TellTale is taking is something she did not want to be a part of. If they would have offered her 100% control of the project, she might have actually come onboard. Until I hear they offered her that, I think it is just for press and they think we as fans are too stupid to know the difference.

If they're going to do it right, they need the same amount of depth and puzzle design in the game that KQ 6 had. In KQ 6 you could use each of the interactions (look/eyes, touch/hands and talk/mouth) on pretty much anything (and there are a lot of things you can interact with) and you would get a unique response from the very funny narrator pretty much every time. And deaths are humorous.

But alas, it's probably going to be a BTTF clone with 5 things to click on, 2 items in your inventory and a generic response for everything.
My fate in humanity is at its all-time low.

If by a BTTF clone you mean KQ7 split into separate chapters and sold individually you might be right! KQ7 game has zero interactivity, was extremely dumbed down...and too cartoony. Hell the only things you could look at were objects you could pick up, characters to talk to, or things that needed to be manipulated for sake of puzzles...

BTTF has more non important scenery things to examine,
, and get messages than KQ7 had... But still less than KQ5 even (that game had more to look at than the previous games in the series)...

If Telltale can overcome the urge to carbon copy the format and look of KQ7 (which closely resembles their business model the most) and instead copy KQ5 or KQ6's approach they'll have already gained some of my respect. But I doubt it. I'm expecting a KQ7 clone. I mean it's right there. Visible in KQ's history as something perfect for Telltale to model and they can say that they're being true to the series without lying! The only problem is, it's the one KQ game that is hated the most (besides MOE).

This was very nice to see:

I'd think a nextgen MOE 2 would be hell of a lot more fun than KQ7 clone.... The original is probably my 2nd or third favorite KQ game (although it could have been better), but now there are technologies that could make Roberta's more ambitious ideas (that were ahead of there time or the the technology back then) for that game a reality, and even go beyond them.

But I'd want to see a bit more light hearted fairy tale mixed in as well, less of the epic fantasy/biblical/mythology. More Dreamfall less high fantasy (But some is ok). There needs to be a balance. A sequel does not need to be as atmospheric or dark, it worked for that story, but MOE sequel should have a different direction for the story. There is room for more whimsy, but keeping fighting in in some form. I wouldn't want MOE 2 to be an exact clone of the first.

Were you really expecting Telltale to offer her 100% control? The idea that Telltale would offer significant control to anyone outside their own management team is unrealistic. TT doesn't work that way, and really, no established game company would. In fact I think it's unrealistic to expect that any of the original KQ creators will have direct involvement in the project at all.

More importantly, I don't believe that's an appropriate standard to which to hold Telltale. I think it's theoretically possible for a development team that does not include the original designers to produce a game that fits into the KQ universe and captures what the fans most enjoyed about the existing KQ games. (Whether Telltale can or wants to actually produce one is, of course, an entirely separate question, one discussed ad infinitum in many other threads.)

So I don't see any reason to be ungenerous to Telltale on this, especially since there is precedent with Ron Gilbert and Monkey Island. I have no trouble believing that Telltale would have liked to have had Roberta come in for a day and talk about KQ with the staff, and that she declined for her own personal reasons. I think they could ask the same from one or more of the other people who worked on KQ at Sierra, and while it might not have any direct influence on the final product, it won't be just for show either.

The only cartoony art style that could work I think, on levels of nostalgia, would be something that harkens back to the old AGI games. Think yellow people (The Simpsons meets King's Quest). KQ2 with smooth lines, less jaggies. As a bonus you could unlock a 3-D '8-bit'-style model for Graham as an easter egg!

I agree fully. A modern King's Quest RPG/fighter would be fantastic. But that's most likely not going to happen.

Which is one of the reasons exactly why I've been against this from the start.

The difference between these two opposing points is the belief that it's not possible for Telltale to create something in Sierra's style therefore there will be compromises to fit the business model and appeal to a wide range of gamers and non-gamers to make the biggest profit possible. They simply haven't proven themselves worthy or able to continue a Sierra series.

I see no reason to be optimistic at all. I'm curious to see what'll end up happening, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

They promised us we would see more at E3 and didn't even bother including any concept art... bah...!

Well, a KQ7 clone would still be better than BTTF, gameplay-wise. :p
It was easier than the previous entries in the series, but you had to solve puzzles to finish the game.
I agree with KQ6 being the best one, though. ;)

I never said KQ6 was the best. :p

But I did. And KQ6 is the best game.

KQ6 would've been the best.....if KQ5 hadn't existed. ;)

You say KQ5 is best, I say KQ6 is...but which opinion is the right one?