Consolidated "Adventure Games We'd Like to See" thread

[SHODANFreeman]

Originally Posted by TheJoe

Myst - Myst was a one off, I will kill anyone who tries to do that again, it was special.
Maniac mansion - Maybe. But again, it was a one off
Grim Fandango - Definitely.
The Dig - Again, The Dig was a one off
The Feeble Files - This was a one off, and should not be remade
Blade Runner - That was a one off

You mention all of these other games are one offs, but don't seem to think that Grim Fandango was?

[tbm1986]

Leisure Suit Larry - the last one Al Lowe made (LSL7) was the best in the series. Plans to make its sequel were shelved then axed due to lack of funding and confidence, I'm led to believe. Sierra/Vivendi Universal lost their way with MCL (but I still enjoyed it) and BOB got such terrible reviews that places like Amazon are dropping prices to £6 just to get rid of the damn things! The original Larry franchise lends itself perfectly to the episodic format and TT have a reputation for hauling the original design teams in. To top this, at the beginning of another thread, it appeared a forum member got in contact with Al Lowe about this and he didn't say no (personally, I think he wants his character back and revert Larry's reputation to an extremely witty tease).

DuckTales - I loved that show when I was a child! This too would fit an episodic format perfectly. Disney are far too busy with High School Musical sequels and Pirates of the Caribbean to worry about a forgotten thing such as DT. If TT politely drop Disney a line, enquiring the possibility of negotiating a licence, they might get it. If they can get Monkey Island off LucasArts, I believe TT are geniuses when it comes to bargaining!

[Toothless Gibbon]

Anyone play Rex Nebula? That could work...

[GuybrushWilco]

Space Quest for sure.

[guitarsareboring]

I'm not sure if there'd be any point to a Hitchhiker's game when most of the people playing it would already know the story and therefore it wouldn't be challenging at all. If Douglas Adams was still with us I'd love for him to write the script for a game but alas that could never happen.

I still say Jasper Fforde's 'Thursday Next' series would be great and the episodic format would fit nicely too (although I'd prefer them to follow on in the same way they've done MI).

I agree with the Discworld recommendation 100%. The first two games were fantastic and Discworld Noir was very playable.

You'll be hard-pressed to find someone here who doesn't want to see a Grim Fandango sequel and Telltale would be perfect for the job!

[Toothless Gibbon]

Originally Posted by guitarsareboring

I'm not sure if there'd be any point to a Hitchhiker's game when most of the people playing it would already know the story and therefore it wouldn't be challenging at all. If Douglas Adams was still with us I'd love for him to write the script for a game but alas that could never happen.

Have you played the Hitchhikers text adventure game? I had read the books many times and that was still really tough.

I'm not saying it would work in episodic format though.

[SHODANFreeman]

Originally Posted by guitarsareboring

You'll be hard-pressed to find someone here who doesn't want to see a Grim Fandango sequel and Telltale would be perfect for the job!

I don't really think Grim Fandango should necessarily get a sequel, and if it did, I'd prefer that Mr. Schafer's lads over at Double Fine do it.

[guitarsareboring]

Originally Posted by Toothless Gibbon

Have you played the Hitchhikers text adventure game? I had read the books many times and that was still really tough.

I'm not saying it would work in episodic format though.

Yeah, it was TOO tough, I hadn't read the books at the time and it really punished you for it!

[guitarsareboring]

Originally Posted by Pale Man

I don't really think Grim Fandango should necessarily get a sequel, and if it did, I'd prefer that Mr. Schafer's lads over at Double Fine do it.

I retract my statement then!

[Darth Marsden]

I actually went through the whole list from the first post, but as it was such a big block of text, it didn't get approved or something. Good thing I copy-pasted it to a text file so I could try again at a later date!

Let's go through that original list and see if they'd be good ideas or not. I'll even link the less familiar ones to their respective Wikipedia pages, so you don't have to. You're welcome!

• Rex the Runt - this could possibly work. The humour is a cross between Sam & Max and Strong Bad, and Telltale do already have ties with Aardman Animation. It's not the most popular show in the world though, and it has been 8 years since it aired.
• Day of the Tentacle - I'm not sure this would work well as an episodic series, but otherwise I'm all for it.
• Myst - Wouldn't work. It's a very serious series, and primarily played from a first-person perspective. It'd be too much of a shift for Telltale, not to mention that Cyan Worlds, the original developers of the series, are doing fine on their own.
• Indiana Jones - Again, not at all sure this would work as a series of episodic adventures. The games have moved into that awful catch-all phrase 'action adventure', and dodgy Wii controls and unskippable cutscenes aside, it's worked out pretty well.
• Simon the Sorcerer - Doing fine on its own. Well, I say fine, but has anyone here actually played the newer ones? Yeesh. Besides, there's a new one out in Germany anyway. It doesn't need a helping hand - it needs to be shoved over the edge.
• The Simpsons - Really cannot see this working as an adventure game. As with Indy, 3D platformers seem to be working pretty well for that particular franchise.
• Doctor Who - I would love this. I think there was another thread mentioning that this was a possibility, and I think it'd work pretty well. It's also guaranteed to be better then previous Doctor Who games - Top Trumps, anyone?
• Gabriel Knight - This was an old adventure game series that did everything wrong (odd 2D interface, FMV, dodgy 3D camera), yet still worked. If Jane Jensen ever finishes Gray Matter, she'll probably make a GK4.
• Pushing Daisies - I suppose this could work, as a series of Private Investigations, but I think Bryan Fuller is actually going ahead with a comic book "third series", much like Angel or Buffy.
• Maniac Mansion - If you've heard of LucasFan Games, chances are you know about both Maniac Mansion Deluxe (the remake) and Maniac Mansion Mania, the Reality-On-The-Norm style series set within the Maniac Mansion universe. That's more than enough MM. Provided you speak German.
• Grim Fandango - I'd much prefer a remake with better controls to a sequel that would need a completely different story set in the same world to avoid invalidating the greatness of the original. It was such a beautifully self-contained story, I can't think of a single way you could continue it.
• Space Quest - I think this is a series from a bygone era. Or, to put it another way, it's Monkey Island in space, and we don't need another MI, do... we...
• Futurama - Yes please! The writing is, and always has been, the best thing about Futurama, and an adventure game would be the best way to make use of that. The characters, the setting, the chance to make Bender tell people to bite his shiny metal... I think this could work extremely well. Plus, with the announcement of a new series coming in 2010, this could be an excellent tie-in.
• Red Dwarf - Again, could work well but I think Doug Naylor would have to let other people at least help out with the writing in order to make it funny, and I don't think he'd really be willing to do that. Shame. Plus, they'd never get the look of the characters just right.
• The Dig - Self-contained story that doesn't need to be picked up again.
• Full Throttle - I'd love to see more adventures of Ben Throttle (yes, that's his full name), but I really doubt this would work episodically, and I think it'd be too dark for Telltale.
• MacGyver - Somehow, I doubt most players would be able to figure out they need to put sodium metal into a cold pill casing and drop it into a container of water in order to make a hydrogen bomb*.
• Family Guy - As before, this'd work better as a decent 3D platformer, unlike the abysmal effort that most people have played.
• Doctor Who - wait, didn't I already..?
• King's Quest - I think that's died a well-deserved death. Don't believe me? Try playing the first one and see how long you can go for without dying.
• Police Quest - The life and times of modern policeman are bogged down in paperwork, basic crimes and more paperwork. I highly doubt it'd make a particularly interesting series of video games, and if you ever played Police Quest 2, I'm almost certain you'll agree.
• Quest For Glory - Another self-contained series which wouldn't really benefit from being forcibly re-opened. Or picked open, anyway. (Now that's what I call an in-joke.)
• Loom - Given the new relationship between Telltale and LucasArts, I suspect this would work extremely well. Not sure if it'd actually sell, but that's not really my department.
• Calvin and Hobbes - While the comics themselves were wonderfully charming and very funny, I really don't see how they'd make good adventure games. Unless they were something like Pajama Sam. *shudder*
• Star Trek - Given that the series now has a blank slate, there's really no limit to what could be done, and sadly, given all the possibilities, I don't think they'll decide to do a bunch of adventure games. 3D platformers or space RTS titles are more likely.
• The Mighty Boosh - I've never watched it, and having read the Wikipedia page, I don't see how it'd work out as an adventure game. It seems a little too surreal.
• Get Smart - Never saw the TV show (before my time), but I can imagine what it's like. Again, not altogether sure it'd cross over into an adventure game particularly well, and it's a pretty old franchise...
• 'An H.P. Lovecraft based game' - This just plain wouldn't work as an adventure game. HP Lovecraft wrote extremely dark and macabre stories, and they'd only really translate into video games as horror titles. Not at all appropriate for adventure titles made by Telltale.
• Garfield - He's had two lousy movies and a repetitive comic strip. These do not make for a good game. Besides, he's had plenty and they've all been rubbish.
• Barney Google Too old and too irrelevant.
• The Boondocks - Again, I've not seen the show, but I doubt it'd work as an adventure game series. I'll have to YouTube it, seems like an interesting show.
• Discworld - I think this would work pretty well. The Discworld series has always had a slightly (but not overpowering) British sense of humour about it, and it's had adventure games before. Given how long it's been since the last one, a return for Eric Idle as Rincewind in a series of episodic titles would be extremely welcome, I feel.
• Monk - I've seen a couple of episodes of this, and again, I think it's too quirky for a video game. Though I'd say the same for House, and they made a DS game of that, so what do I know?
• Psych - See 'Monk'.
• Laura Bow - The games were great, but they're a long gone relic of a golden era. Modern replacements are Art of Murder (No Wikipedia page, sorry) and Secret Files, though I'll agree that they're not as good.
• Simon the Sorceror - Again? Did you even check this list?
• A Nuklear Power RPG - If by 'Nuklear Power RPG' you mean 'get Brian Clevinger of NuklearPower.com to help script a game', then YES. Given that 8-Bit Theater, the main attraction of NuklearPower.com, is a sprite-based comic retelling of the very first Final Fantasy, a Nuklear Power RPG would basically be a remake of Final Fantasy I. And hasn't that been remade enough?
• Sanford and Son - Why would anyone think this would make a good game?
• Leisure Suit Larry - I think this has had it's day, unless you could get Al Lowe back on it. Even then, it'd be too adult for Telltale anyway.
• The Neverhood - You know that this had a sequel (Skullmonkeys) and they're making a film of it, right? If the film takes off, then yeah, this may be good. But I think Doug TenNapel would make it rather then Telltale.
• The Feeble Files - I don't think the original was good enough to warrant more of it.
• Beneath A Steel Sky - I highly suspect that if Revolution are still going, they'll make this eventually.
• Blade Runner - We already got one fantastic adventure game. Let's leave it be.
• Gateway - I think the original poster was referring to this, in which case I don't think it'd work out as an adventure game. Maybe as an Elite-style flight sim or something like Mace Griffin, which had spaceship-stlye segments and First-Person shooter aspects. Well, maybe.
• Death Gate - Never heard of it, which doesn't bode well at all.
• Shannara - I really do doubt this would work out at all. You'd have to be incredibly faithful to the books to avoid some sort of uprising from the fans, and somehow I doubt that anyone would honestly want that job, especially when the world has been going for thousands of pages already.
• Blazing Dragons - A much better suggestion then some of the others in this list, but it's too old a title and it's too obscure, even by Telltale's standards.
• Digimon - Ha!
• So Blonde - A little early to be calling for more, isn't it? Besides, they're already doing a 'what if..?' remake for the Wii and DS. I'm looking forward to it, actually.
• Kyrandia - I'd actually like to see these remade, perhaps allowing players to explore for 5 minutes without dying.
• Normality - This could work I suppose, but you'd pretty much have to redo everything about the game in order to make it work. Would you really want that?
• Nightlong - Too old, not obscure, too much work.
• Sanitarium - Self-contained story, doesn't need or deserve a sequel.
• Stupid Invaders - There was an incredibly faithful game (which I really should track down at some point), but the series is originally French and sadly too obscure to really warrant a repeat.
• Ceville - Again, this only recently came out. Stop jumping the gun!
• Flight of the Amazon Queen - It's not a bad little game, but it's too similar to Indiana Jones for most people to want another one.
• Still Life - A sequel for this just came out! Gah!
• Chewy - You mean Chewy: ESC from F5? That was a terrible game! Terrible!
• The Accolade adventures - Wikiepdia turned up nothing, so I'm gonna leave this one alone.
• Zak McKracken - There's several fan sequels for this. The New Adventures of... is one, Between Time and Space is another. A remake of the first one would be much appreciated though, it looks pretty basic these days.
• Gang Garrison - Cute. But no.
• Neil Gaiman's 'The Sandman' - This would most definately not work as an adventure game. And even if it were to somehow be made into a game at all, Telltale would not be the people for it.
• Lucifer - See 'The Sandman'.
• Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - With the new one by Eoin Colfer due out later this year, a game wouldn't be amiss, but somehow I can't really see it happening. How would you go about doing it, anyway? Remake the old one that was absurdly difficult?
• Dilbert - I'd actually quite like to see this. Think Strong Bad in the office he works at, then set a series of random adventures there. You wouldn't be too far off the mark, and I think (with enough imagination and occasional adventures 'out there') it could work pretty well.

*An actual plot device from the very first episode.

[SHODANFreeman]

Originally Posted by Darth Marsden

[*]Zak McKracken - There's several fan sequels for this. The New Adventures of... is one, Between Time and Space is another. A remake of the first one would be much appreciated though, it looks pretty basic these days.

Actually, if you can get your hands on the FM Towns version of Zak Mckracken, it looks pretty nice.

[quickfics]

Because many of these suggestions are both cool and extremely unlikely, I'll go ahead and throw this one out there:

The Venture Brothers

I imagine it to be similar to the Maniac Mansion/Day of the Tentacle style of gameplay, with the ability to switch between characters. One can always dream.

[GaryCXJk]

Okay, how about this:

The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
You play as the Ant Hill Mob and occasionally as Penelope Pitstop. Your goal is to keep the fourth wall breaking Hooded Claw from kidnapping and killing Penelope Pitstop. Of course, no real action, as in the series you'd get plenty of time to save her (for some odd reason). It also gives you two inventories, one for the Ant Hill Mob, one for Penelope Pitstop. The action is fast-paced, but you can do each short "puzzle" in your own tempo. The biggest puzzle elements come when the Ant Hill Mob gets into some kind of trouble causing Penelope to save them so that they can save her.

Scooby Doo
Seriously, do I really need to explain why? Also, why wasn't this on the list yet? Oh, and it of course needs the musical chase scenes in every episode. I miss songs in the recent Telltale Games games.

Dora the Explorer
Yeah, never mind about that one...

Another Code
LOLWUT? Yes, a Nintendo exclusive game. Sure it wouldn't be fair towards people who don't have a Nintendo console, but to them I'd say:



Disney's Filmore
Don't shoot me, but I loved the series. And, it's a great way to show that Disney games can still be good. And it already seems that Disney hires cheap developer studios, so why shouldn't they hire Telltale Games for a detective-like game with awesome chase scenes and stuff like that.

Street Fighter
I actually don't know why the hell I even put this on the list.

A game based in the world of one of my novel projects
Would be interesting once I finally released my first novel. I mean, it could work. I'd imagine it having five different stories, with the final story being one of the stories described in the first novel.

Telltale Games: The Game
Work your way up as a developer for Telltale Games? Sounds like a brilliant idea for a video game.

Also, why does Maniac Mansion appear twice in the list? I mean, everybody surely knows that Day of the Tentacle is just another Maniac Mansion game.

Oh, and we should make petitions for each and every suggestion.

[Darth Marsden]

Originally Posted by Pale Man

Actually, if you can get your hands on the FM Towns version of Zak Mckracken, it looks pretty nice.

Looks nice, plays awkwardly. Too many commands to choose from. And it's kinda fiddly to get working on a PC. But your point remains a valid one.

Now to pick apart the newer suggestions...

• The Venture Bros. - While it's certainly an interesting show, I don't think it's popular or flexible enough to be made into a video game series. Then again, I'd say the same about Harvey Birdman, so what do I know?
• The Perils of Penelope Pitstop - I'd say that this was too old a show to really work as a video game series, but then they did make a Wacky Races video game not so long ago. That was a racing game though, which lends credence to the theory that an adventure game wouldn't really benefit the characters.
• Scooby Doo - No. Just... no. We already have one crime-fighting team, why would we want another, far more annoying one?
• Another Code - It's a nice idea, but I doubt the series would do particularly well as an episodic series. Plus, the games seem to really emphasize the interactivity of the systems they're on, which I think would be pretty hard to replicate on the PC.
• (Disney's) Filmore! - It last aired in 2004, so I think it's had its day, really. It's a nice idea, but I have my doubts as to how long you could get away with kid-versions of real-life crimes. Who wants to investigate stolen scooters or illegal frog racers?
• DuckTales - This has very much had its day. Plus, it's a Disney trademark, and I highly doubt they'd let anyone else make games on it.
• Toonstruck - Yes please! There was actually supposed to be a sequel, but sadly the first didn't sell well enough to warrant the making of one. Be nice to see it made some day...
• Psychonauts - It's a self-contained story, and even if a sequel were to be made, not only would it be another action-adventure, but I strongly suspect that Double Fine, or more specifically Tim Schafer, would be the ones to make it.
• Quantum Leap - Again, the show's had it's day. Besides, it finished. Properly. With a finale and everything. Why would you want to undo that?
• Peasant's Quest - You tryin' to be funny, boy?

[GaryCXJk]

Okay, how about:

South Park
After whoring out the series with racing games, first person shooters, pachinko-like games and tower defense games, a point & click game would not look that odd.

HomestarRunner.com
Yeah, that would-wait, never mind...

Doctor Who
Just making you write again about Doctor Who.

Johnny Bravo
Yeah, we still need to make a petition for it.

Captain EO
... is what I WOULD say if Michael Jackson was still alive.

MS-DOS
What do you mean, point & click? Back in the old days, we typed our verbs!

[Darth Marsden]

Ok.

• South Park - I could see this working. Won't happen, but I could definitely see it working.
• HomestarRunner.com - No! Terrible idea! That'd never work! Well... not unless you focused on one of the other characters. Like, I dunno, the Cheat? No, that'd get old. Uh...
• Doctor Who - I've said before and I'll (probably) say it again: I think this would work exceptionally well. You can't really do any other kind of game with the character - he's not a gun-toting action hero, so most types of games are out, and he does normally talk his way out of situations, which adventure games are well known for... Plus, if it were done episodically, then there'd be a chance of using different Doctors in each episode. That'd just be awesome. And I'm almost positive that the remaining Doctors (Tom Baker and Christopher Eccleston excepted) would be more then happy to provide voices, not to mention the companions. Why hasn't this been done already, dammit? Do you need me to write up the design specs? 'cause I will. Seriously. I'll go off and do it. Just watch me.
• Johnny Bravo - Ha, I remember him. While an adventure game would probably work, chances are it'd end up being like Leisure Suit Larry, and I think most people are sick of that type of game. Besides, Dexter's Laboratory would be way better.
• Captain Eo - I think they're actually still working on a Michael Jackson game. It's no secret they were working on one before he died, so I'd imagine they'd keep working on it, if only to help alleviate the massive debt he built up during his life (though renewed sales of his albums are doing a lot to help that).
• MS-DOS - DOS sucks. Old games suck. Old DOS games where you had to type out your verbs sucks three times as hard.

[SS the Free!]

Originally Posted by Darth Marsden

Ok.

• South Park - I could see this working. Won't happen, but I could definitely see it working.
• HomestarRunner.com - No! Terrible idea! That'd never work! Well... not unless you focused on one of the other characters. Like, I dunno, the Cheat? No, that'd get old. Uh...
• Doctor Who - I've said before and I'll (probably) say it again: I think this would work exceptionally well. You can't really do any other kind of game with the character - he's not a gun-toting action hero, so most types of games are out, and he does normally talk his way out of situations, which adventure games are well known for... Plus, if it were done episodically, then there'd be a chance of using different Doctors in each episode. That'd just be awesome. And I'm almost positive that the remaining Doctors (Tom Baker and Christopher Eccleston excepted) would be more then happy to provide voices, not to mention the companions. Why hasn't this been done already, dammit? Do you need me to write up the design specs? 'cause I will. Seriously. I'll go off and do it. Just watch me.
• Johnny Bravo - Ha, I remember him. While an adventure game would probably work, chances are it'd end up being like Leisure Suit Larry, and I think most people are sick of that type of game. Besides, Dexter's Laboratory would be way better.
• Captain Eo - I think they're actually still working on a Michael Jackson game. It's no secret they were working on one before he died, so I'd imagine they'd keep working on it, if only to help alleviate the massive debt he built up during his life (though renewed sales of his albums are doing a lot to help that).
• MS-DOS - DOS sucks. Old games suck. Old DOS games where you had to type out your verbs sucks three times as hard.

Do Doctor Who.
The idea of being able to use the sonic screwdriver in different ways, as well as you would need an item combination would make instant win!

[GaryCXJk]

Yeah, only, the general rule is that the sonic screwdriver is never used as a way to get him out of trouble. Ironically. Even though he always has his sonic screwdriver.

Oh, and:

Dexter's Laboratory
Because you said so.

High... School... Musical
Because I say so, and because I know you'll puke your eyes and ears out.

Docto-*SHOT*
Telltale, by now you should get the message. Get the license for Doctor Who. NAO.

WALL-E
Okay, I know people didn't really appreciate his voice and all, but hear me out... You know what, never mind. WALL-E's awesome. Making a game around his period of solitude or his period of happiness would be awesome. Imagine him trying to help the humans build up a civilization, by doing the trivial tasks, like finding a way to irrigate water, or to power a small settlement using the Axiom. Maybe even a climactic episode where he needs to clear the way for a landing platform of yet another space station coming back to Earth.

Soulja Boy Tell'Em
Because everybody loves that prick.

Cooking with Telltale Games
Okay, how about this? An interactive cooking program, where you decide the tempo of the game. You'll actually make real recipes. Good idea? No. Idea? Yeah, but not a very good one.

[PariahKing]

I keep on hearing about Telltale and Doctor Who. I have no idea what Doctor Who is. :/

[SS the Free!]

Originally Posted by PariahKing

I keep on hearing about Telltale and Doctor Who. I have no idea what Doctor Who is. :/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who
Read!