Season 4: Finalization of a Cancelled Project, or an Original Concept?

[Vyse220]

Originally Posted by lattsam

I didn't necessarily say they should steal it. I think they should walk right up to the president of LucasArts, and say "I know you want to put Freelance Police behind you, but I want to continue working on it, so I would appreciate it if you would give us permission to continue the project"... or something to that effect.

probably the president would say something like this:
GIMME SOME MONEY NAAAO

and the they will decide that is better to do a new and good sam & max game without worrying about the past

[1nky]

As much as a nice scenario that would be, Lattsam, that's... rather naive of you. No offense.

Still, that would be pretty cool to have that game back in production. Granted, I'd prefer the 'Plunge Through Space' concept, but really, I'm just up for any new material, regardless of concepts being dredged back up from cancellations, or being completely new.

[RAnthonyMahan]

As awesome as it would be, the sad truth is we're more than likely never going to see these games come to fruition.

Freelance Police is still LucasArts property. Telltale can't finish the game, nor can they use anything from it, just like with Hit the Road. Even if LucasArts wanted to finish the game (and they don't), they no longer have the Sam and Max license. You may ask yourself "Can't Telltale and LucasArts work out a deal?" Probably, but it wouldn't benefit either of them as much as what they're doing now. Telltale can make Sam and Max games by themselves just fine without having to share the profits with another company, and LucasArts does well enough by releasing an endless sea of Star Wars crap.

Plunge Through Space is a different story. Infinity Machine, the company developing it, went bankrupt, so I don't really know its legal status. Did it revert to LucasArts when they re-acquired the Sam and Max license? If that's the case, could it belong to Telltale already since the Sam and Max license is now theirs? Did Steve Purcell get the rights after Infinity Machine went bankrupt since he owns Sam and Max? Are the rights just floating around, belonging to nobody, waiting for someone to get their hands on them? I don't know. But I do know that if Telltale was able and willing to finish Plunge Through Space, it would've happened by now.

[Irishmile]

I wish they could make the abandoned game plots into DVD movies or something....

[SHODANFreeman]

Originally Posted by Irishmile

I wish they could make the abandoned game plots into DVD movies or something....

What about a book?

[RAnthonyMahan]

Originally Posted by Irishmile

I wish they could make the abandoned game plots into DVD movies or something....

I think Steve has expressed some interest in making Plunge Through Space into a comic.

Of course, he's too busy with Pixar to do anything Sam and Max-related right now besides be an advisor for Telltale.

[CartoonistWill]

Originally Posted by ragdoll556

I don't see why lucasarts can't just let telltale use elements from the cancelled games. It's not like they're going to be using them anytime soon in another game. They should just give them to someone who can use them.

The same went for using the Sam and Max characters in games (Lucasarts abandoned the two). Steve Purcell had to wait for years to get the rights to his own characters back!

[CartoonistWill]

Originally Posted by lattsam

Freelance Police Freelance Police Freelance Police Freelance Police Freelance Police Freelance Police Freelance Police Freelance Police Freelance Police Freelance Police!

Yeah, I really think Telltale should do this, regardless of whatever LucasArts tells them to do.

I think so too, but George Lucas has more money to spend on lawyers than they do.

[CartoonistWill]

Originally Posted by Hayley the Hedgie

See, I wouldn't know would they be able to re-work on Freelance Police and Plunge Through Space 'cos they were like for LucasArts and stuff. Other companies. So all that development that they had... I dunno would they need to ask permission from LucasArts in order to continue development and to use that stuff.

But I'm the same, I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE for Season 4 to be Plunge Through Space. Everything I saw for that was just epic and I'd love to fly around in a flying DeSoto!

I wish I had seen the stuff for that... That'd be awesome. But sadly I think you're right about Lucasarts' rights on Freelance Police and Plunge Through Space. There's a lot of original developers that would either need to be credited or further paid as well as TellTaleGames purchasing the rights to those individual games, which they may or may not want or are able to spend the money on.

[CartoonistWill]

Originally Posted by RAnthonyMahan

I think Steve has expressed some interest in making Plunge Through Space into a comic.

Of course, he's too busy with Pixar to do anything Sam and Max-related right now besides be an advisor for Telltale.

I would buy that book.

[Shyguy]

Originally Posted by SunnyGuy

Yeah, I mean, how could any fan not want to fly around in this?


Seriously. I want to fly it and see if every key on my keyboard actually does something like Steve said they would.

I might try to model this.

[S@bre]

I support resurrecting the SCUMM sequel planned for a year or so after Hit the Road, where development was to be headed by Grossman.

[Hayley the Hedgie]

Originally Posted by RAnthonyMahan

I think Steve has expressed some interest in making Plunge Through Space into a comic.

Ah, God a new Sam & Max comic would be just what the doctor ordered...

because, in reality, it's quite a shame that the franchise's original format is almost extinct.

[Sausy Gibbon]

'Plunge Through Space' was based on a story idea Purcell had before production so atleast the core outline of the story would belong to him. 'Space was planned to be an action/adventure, an outlet that I think Sam and Max shoud experiment with. So should Telltale make a game about 'Space? I think if they do they should make it as it was meant to be played, if not they should leave it be.

[CartoonistWill]

Originally Posted by Sausy Gibbon

'Plunge Through Space' was based on a story idea Purcell had before production so atleast the core outline of the story would belong to him. 'Space was planned to be an action/adventure, an outlet that I think Sam and Max shoud experiment with. So should Telltale make a game about 'Space? I think if they do they should make it as it was meant to be played, if not they should leave it be.

I wholeheartedly agree. And I've always thought Sam and Max should integrate more action. The Sam and Max from the comics are more likely to use violence than their adventure game counterparts. It'd be nice to have gameplay include using the gun more and beating criminals senseless. You know, like in the source material. ;-)

[CartoonistWill]

Originally Posted by Hayley the Hedgie

Ah, God a new Sam & Max comic would be just what the doctor ordered...

because, in reality, it's quite a shame that the franchise's original format is almost extinct.

You're right. Although not everyone agrees, as a comic artist myself I would be more overjoyed to hold a new Sam and Max graphic novel in my hands than a new video game. I'm fascinated by ink on paper. Something about lines on paper that really fascinates me and causes me to be a dreamer.

[splash1]

I think they should do a Plunge Through Space theme, give Max back his Psychic Powers and make them drive to a space statue of liberty in a badass space car with a cannon in the front.
Of course, it probably will be fresh and new. An older canceled game is highly unlikely as Telltale has said about Freelance Police many times.

[Chowderface]

Okay, here's what I want to see:

First, Steve magically comes by that thing from that show where you go inside and do stuff for a year, and then you come out and only a day has passed, which enables him to make Plunge Through Space as a graphic novel without getting in the way of his other obligations (alternately, Steve gets a gigantic advance which allows him to do away with those obligations without the need for fictional, metadimensional spaces).

Telltale magically comes into an enormous sum of money which they use to buy the rights to Freelance Police from Lucasarts. BUT, "Freelance Police" isn't Season 4. Season 4 (and 5, and 6, and so on; end list at whatever point Telltale decides to stop making Sam & Max games) proceeds as normal, and Freelance Police is a side project; a small team is dedicated to it and takes a couple of years to work on it while the main staff gets on with their thing.