Changes from SBCG4AP for Season Three?

[Harald B]

SBCG4AP had a bunch of interesting features, some of which might be interesting for Sam & Max. Which do you think would be a good idea to add? As for my own views:

Cartoon shading
A lot of people have been asking for this, but I think it would be a step back. Purcells art is more advanced than that, and better captured by what we have.

Map
Very yes.

Icon-based dialog system
I'm not sure. I guess it worked out fine for Hit the Road and SBCG4AP, but sometimes the Sam & Max lines had me laughing before even clicking them.

Trophies
Too meta to be appropriate.

Collectibles
Frankly, they pick up enough souvenirs already. The Desoto thing was nice, but did get a bit out of hand.

Costume items
Out of character. Plus, where are they going to put them?

Mini-games
I dunno, we've had good ones but getting formulaic about it could be bad.

Awesomeness rating
Meh.

Preview
That could be nice.

Extended Mode
Ditto.

Only four save slots.
I'm going to assume this was because of Wii limitations. Otherwise: what were you thinking?!

[Awesomepantsman]

Maybe Max could wear the costumes (Sam seems too ... I cannot believe I'm saying this- mature to wear costumes. And only in extended play.

[der_ketzer]

I would really like to see an extended-mode for the Sam & Max games oh and a map

[Breakman]

Yeah, the only two things I would highly suggest are the map and extended mode. I could live without previews and I never liked cell/"Cartoon"-shading in games (though I kinda made an exception for Strongbad). The rest of the poll choices fit well in the Strongbad games, but I feel those features would be too distracting in a Sam & Max episode.

[splash1]

I agree on costumes, but Extended Play is just to much, Sam & Max has an on going plot that leads to one thing to another.
Map is to un-Sam & Max, sides they have a car, and few locations to go to.

[Gman5852]

From what I have saw from season 2 videos(since I've never played season 2) extended play won't be the brightest option. If they did something like sbcg4ap episode 4 extended play since it was just a bonus features on the movie since they couldn't have an extended play in anyother way. that would be fine.

[StinkomanFan]

All

[Ashton]

Originally Posted by StonkBad

Maybe Max could wear the costumes (Sam seems too ... I cannot believe I'm saying this- mature to wear costumes. And only in extended play.

we're talking about the dog who wore a spaghetti strainer on his head for the final battle in episode one...

I'd like to see some costume items for Max, even if only used for puzzles (i.e. having to sneak into a hospital so he has to wear a Dr outfit) but he should have a varied speach pattern for each costume (and be able to wear them at any time, just not be very useful) if you want to get complex, have characters respond differently to him in costume. Just my take on it.

Maps would be nice for areas with multiple connected rooms, like the studios where it took me hours to find the Idol room because after the first puzzle you always came in through the other door. but overall they're rather useless in these tiny environments.

I dont really care for cell shading either.

I dont fully know what "extended play" means, unless it's like a video game where when you collect 100% of items or something it unlocks another boss battle and a new ending. In that case, meh, as somone said it woudl interfere with the plot form epp to epp, unless it just gave insight to other events, like maybe come background on a character or what happens to a certain char after the eppisode ends.

Trophies aould be cute but ultimately just eye-candy unless they unlocked extra animations or info or something (like trophies in the SSB games)

I dont like the icon-based system from HtR, and I've not played Strongbad so I dont knwo how it was used there, but unless it's radically different, I dont like it, too limiting in HtR...

[Teeth]

Cartoon Shading: No, that was just there to emulate the art style of the cartoon, plus money would have to be spent on adding this to the character models, which I think are fine as they are (though a little bit polygonal)

Map: When S&M came out, I didn't think a map was necessary, but after playing SBCG4AP, Sam and Max now feels really slow. Even in HtR I try to find the map icon instead of walking all the way back to the DeSoto. So that's a yes.

Icon-based dialog system: Only if the rubber ducky icon is in it. One problem I found with the icon system is you don't know if there are more things for the character to say, which led to me getting stuck a few times. There's also jokes to be had in S&M and Monkey Island where your character doesn't want to say what you selected. (Like asking Bosco if the carpet matches the drapes in 205)

Trophies: Sure.

Collectibles: Yes, it adds a lot of replay value.

Costume items: Sure, Sam and Max and costumes go well together. I always love the dress up game in HtR.

Mini-games: They were in it already, so yes.

Awesomeness rating: Again, replay value.

Preview: This might be hard to pull off, since all the clips have to be in the same location. In SBCG4AP you could get away with showing everything in the field because those green hills and plants are everywhere in Free Country, USA. But in Sam and Max it might be harder to pull off, unless it's like the 106 credits where all the locations are mashed together into one "set". Or pre-filmed as an FMV sequence.

Extended Play: Yes, but only if it's still possible to get all the collectibles and stuff in Extended Play. It's kinda annoying having to play the whole game again just to ask Marzipan the right question at the right time.

[LittleBuddy]

I dont fully know what "extended play" means, unless it's like a video game where when you collect 100% of items or something it unlocks another boss battle and a new ending. In that case, meh, as somone said it woudl interfere with the plot form epp to epp, unless it just gave insight to other events, like maybe come background on a character or what happens to a certain char after the eppisode ends.

It's a feature in Strong Bad that allows you to continue playing after you finished the story of that chapter to collect the extras you missed or new ones. As it is it doesn't make much sense to put it in S&M, because there is nothing else to get other than story items you get while playing the game. They could add some extra lines or gags though...

I think trophies would be nice if they put them like Xbox 360 achievements, though in an adventure they'd be rather limited. They could work as an in-game "Did you try...?" in any case.

[Some Manner Of...]

I'm picturing Max wearing a Strong Bad mask and a Phoney Bone T-shirt.

And I'm LOVING IT.

[Ashton]

Originally Posted by Teeth

Cartoon Shading: No, that was just there to emulate the art style of the cartoon, plus money would have to be spent on adding this to the character models, which I think are fine as they are (though a little bit polygonal)

wouldn't require much at all, there's a cartoon (cell) shader built-in to Maya (presuming they're using a recent edition)... though that doesn't make it the best rout to take... Though it might be funny for a gag in a short sketch...

[deadlinejon]

Originally Posted by Ashton

wouldn't require much at all, there's a cartoon (cell) shader built-in to Maya (presuming they're using a recent edition)... though that doesn't make it the best rout to take... Though it might be funny for a gag in a short sketch...

umm. they built their own game engine so they dont use maya.

[Ashton]

Originally Posted by deadlinejon

umm. they built their own game engine so they dont use maya.

Wrong.

They've said many times they use Maya. Maya is 3D modeling/rendering Software, they build their models in Maya, then import them into T3 (as per what's been said in the past, this *could* have changed but I highly doubt it)

EDIT:
here's the link explaining it:
http://www.adventuregamers.com/forum...p/t-14355.html

[Guybrush Threepwood]

The only thing that really stands out for me that I'd like to see on Sam & Max games is the map, but then again I might not even use it as you don't really need to travel that far.

[Jon NA]

As for cartoon shading, no.
Sam and max character`s shading should be just like what it is right now.

And as for preview, again no.
Because, I think I would like to be surprised about what their next case is about.

The only options I like are extended mode and mini-games.
It would be great if we see S&M and their antics a little bit more till next episode comes.

They've said many times they use Maya. Maya is 3D modeling/rendering Software, they build their models in Maya, then import them into T3 (as per what's been said in the past, this *could* have changed but I highly doubt it)

I guess they only used Maya for making cinematic trailer of season 2.

[Udvarnoky]

I was really impressed by the way environments were recycled in Strong Bad. I have a feeling a lot of the lessons learned during its development will benefit Season 3.

[Harald B]

That I don't doubt. Telltale is still getting better and better with each episode. I'm not sure the environment-recycling is the best example though; it was always obvious, which is easy to get away with (expected, even) for Strong Bad but not very appropriate for Sam & Max. Besides, there was some pretty good recycling in the last two Sam & Max episodes.
On a vaguely related note, I wonder if the "hyper-realistic" "dream office" in Dangeresque 3 foreshadows the kind of graphics we can expect in Wallace & Gromit. That's certainly something to look forward to.

[jmm]

I don't know if a map is required, after all, in most episodes you have
a) The Street (Office, Sybil's, Bosco's, etc.)
b) Ad-hoc/Topical location (like the TV Station or the North Pole)
c) "Random" Streets (Used mainly for mini games)

IF and only IF locations become more complex a location layout (w/50-60% transparency, max 10% of the screen used) can be added somewhere in the screen (only the rooms you've discovered appear, if you walk into a new room the layout is updated). That way you can simply click over the room in the layout.

Something I really like is a simple "DeSoto" or "Car Keys" icon/inventory item that you can use to directly go to a location using a location dialog menu (similar to the one used when clicking over the DeSoto). I can't stress this enough: Avoid having to walk around three or more rooms just to get to the DeSoto so you can go to another location (Think the War Room in S1E04)

Shading:...no, It's not S&M style.

Trophies: already in, they're called "decals" and you have 4 kinds: regular, bronze, silver and gold.

Collectibles: Check the office in the future (S2E04)

Costumes: nah (besides having the slight possibility of having a "female" Max scares me)

Awesomeness rating: only if it is based on S&M's body count.

Icon Based dialogs: no.

Preview: what? Rather have the S&M theme song back.

Extended Play: What's the point?. Just add a way to access the mini-games from the main menu after finishing the episode (without loading a saved game!)

[S@bre]

I'd be happy if they were able to make the Season 3 the same graphical quality as the Season 2 trailer, what with all the Phong effects, improved normal mapping, dynamic shadows (would beat those blob shadows) and the lovely reflective shine on the DeSoto. The PC can certainly handle that level of graphics, but I don't know about the Wii. Making all new enhancements to this Telltale Tool thing would go down a lot better in my view than merely transferring the ones from Strong Bad. Something certainly needs to be updated, the Sam & Max graphics are starting to look old.

As for all this map business, I would only want to see something like that in the same vein as Hit the Road, but we rarely have enough locations to visit to warrant any map at all.