Maniac Mansion / Day of the Tentacle

Alongside Sam & Max Hit the Road, these were my favourite games ever. Its yet another franchise I think LucasArts neglect. Who would like to see Telltale work some episodic magic on the Maniac Mansion series if Sam & Max is successful?

Some 3D art to give you an idea of what it could be like:

http://www.christerb.com/?page_id=21

Tom

[Emily]

Did you know that Dave Grossman (co-designer on DOTT) is the lead designer on Sam & Max?

[Haggis]

And he also worked on the Monkey Island games. *hint, hint*

By the way, I love those 3D images.

[jp-30]

Hey Tom, check this thread out and in particular;

(Source);

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.

Awesome stuff man! I'd love to see day of the tentacle games.. I just have no faith in LucasArts at this point..

How about a Dead Cousin Ted spinoff. Can you see the possibilities?

[jp-30]

How about a Dead Cousin Ted spinoff. Can you see the possibilities?

Grim-Fandango crossover?

[Pvt._Public]

Grim-Fandango crossover?

Hell no. It'd have to be an action game.

[jp-30]

Hell no. It'd have to be an action game.

Glottis vs. Ted vs. Sam in a kart-race spectacular?

Lavern was always my favourite character. She reminds me of a Thrift store employee. I'm getting all teary eyed now...

[Pvt._Public]

Glottis vs. Ted vs. Sam in a kart-race spectacular?

You'd better believe it. Set to some "phat choons" and littered with explosions, violence, sex, gore, drug abuse and rock'n' roll. Ted would be one of the more useless characters as all he can really do is be propped upon the accelerater. No steering. And Sam would have to keep stopping because Max would have to go to the toilet or stop and see stupid road-side attractions.

Ever since the episodic approach of "Sam & Max" got announced, I thought that "Day of the Tentacle" (or "Maniac Mansion" respectively) would lend itself perfectly for sitcom-like episodic games. In fact that's just what the guys over at Maniac-Mansion-Mania.de are doing. Reviving the series with the different episodes having different protagonists every time (like Dave in MM and Bernard in DOTT) wouldn't be too bad of an idea.

Reviving a classic like Sam and Max is fine and all, but I'd rather see some original games come out. There are some amazing storytelling and design possibilities yet to be explored. I want to play adventure games and go "wow, that's a story that's going to stick with me". Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango, Curse of Monkey Island, The Last Express... those games stuck with me, and although revisiting them in extensions of those games is great fun, that nostalgia still pales in comparison to being floored by a completely original, completely brilliant design/tale.

Don't get me wrong, there should still be tributes to the classics and updates, but that is only half the equation.

Reviving a classic like Sam and Max is fine and all, but I'd rather see some original games come out. There are some amazing storytelling and design possibilities yet to be explored. I want to play adventure games and go "wow, that's a story that's going to stick with me". Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango, Curse of Monkey Island, The Last Express... those games stuck with me, and although revisiting them in extensions of those games is great fun, that nostalgia still pales in comparison to being floored by a completely original, completely brilliant design/tale.

Don't get me wrong, there should still be tributes to the classics and updates, but that is only half the equation.

i agree with all my heart !!!!!
i want some new and original stories !!!
they should be in the vein of those old stories with wacky, absurd
and total outrageous humor, maybe even more mature
(monty python ?) and some good art-style. I dont care if it's 2D or 3D.....
2D still could have its place in adventure games. use the gpu-power for antialiasing and really detailed art as opposed
to the more clinical, shiny, sterile lookin 3D-art of today.

Hey! Those are very cool 3D images! You should work at TELLTALE! Like, SERIOUSLY MAN!

Woop!

I'd rather have full throttle. Day Of the Tentacle more of a stand alone game. Everything about it is classic and if a new one was made, complaining for mass destruction would follow.

To avoid it being the same game it would have to be completely different.
It's like giving a sequel to a Tim Burton film (Nightmare, Sleepy Hollow). It won't work unless it's a rehash.

I'd rather have full throttle. Day Of the Tentacle more of a stand alone game. Everything about it is classic and if a new one was made, complaining for mass destruction would follow.

To avoid it being the same game it would have to be completely different.
It's like giving a sequel to a Tim Burton film (Nightmare, Sleepy Hollow). It won't work unless it's a rehash.

The major characters of Day of the Tentacle are alive at the end of the game. Maniac Mansion III would probably not deal with a crazed tentacle taking of the world, but it would probably feature much of the same humour, style and characters. It's not like there's some central theme that would be undermined if a sequel was created. Since the first game was just the mansion, the second was about the mansion in different eras, I suppose the third one would be about the mansion in various parallel universes. There'd be a pretty good story to eke out of that premise.

To be perfectly factual, DOTT is not really a stand-alone game, because it's a sequel...

For what it's worth, I actually think DOTT is a better game than Sam & Max Hit the Road. It's not nearly as funny, of course, but... Well, it's kind of like comparing Lord of the Rings to Airplane, if you know what I mean.

Although the Sam & Max revival has far more potential than a DOTT revival, don't get me wrong. Not that we can't have both.

To be perfectly factual, DOTT is not really a stand-alone game, because it's a sequel...

For what it's worth, I actually think DOTT is a better game than Sam & Max Hit the Road. It's not nearly as funny, of course, but... Well, it's kind of like comparing Lord of the Rings to Airplane, if you know what I mean.

Although the Sam & Max revival has far more potential than a DOTT revival, don't get me wrong. Not that we can't have both.

Day of the Tentacle and Sam and Max were definitely not as dissimilar as Lord of the Rings and Airplane. Not even close.

As for which one's better, I think Day of the Tentacle more varied settings, three different characters, and slightly more sensical puzzling made it the better game. But you're right. I'd rather have a Sam and Max follow up, because I think the duo are among the most delightful ever conceived.

[jp-30]

To be perfectly factual, DOTT is not really a stand-alone game, because it's a sequel...

It's a stand-alone game! I played it before playing Maniac Mansion, and didn't suffer one bit for it. Aside froma couple f in-jokes there's really nothing in MM that's needed to be known to play / enjoy DOTT.