Q&A With the Design Team

[Harukuro]

Hey there Telltale. I have a couple of questions regarding the recent iPad edition to Sam & Max. First off, I noticed in a screenshot that there were blue dotes to indicate what Sam could interact with. This reminded me of a feature used by the company (forgot the name) that created Steel Sky and Broken Sword for their iPod versions of their games. Were you inspired by this or is it just coincidence?
Second, will there be a demo version of episode 301 for the iPad? I ask this because I think it would be a great way to introduce people to the game.
Thanks.

[mechtroid]

Question: Knowing all you developers love TF2 so much, how about a staff-fans game of friendly TF2?

[Cheri]

Oh man, I'm all for that.

[Pak-Man]

Will we be able to keep our stickers and upgrades in Season 3?

[Jake]

Originally Posted by Pak-Man

Will we be able to keep our stickers and upgrades in Season 3?

I think this was answered earlier up, but DeSoto upgrades aren't part of Devils Playhouse, sorry!

[Nintendo Boy1]

Originally Posted by Jake

I think this was answered earlier up, but DeSoto upgrades aren't part of Devils Playhouse, sorry!

Awww

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by Jutia

Now that is all well and good, but with the sole exception of S&M, all of your franchises have been done before...And better.

Wait, how is Sam and Max an exception? If anything, it's exceptional in how MANY times it has been done before. It was an underground comic strip, a LucasArts adventure, an animated series, and the subject of two cancelled projects before Sam and Max: Season One.

[Hassat Hunter]

Ehm, S&M has been done before too... Hit the Road, heard of it?

[Icedhope]

Originally Posted by Jutia

To clarify: I am not making fun of how many times it has been done before, but rather the lack in quality of the other Telltale games compared to the source material. They have taken series that I personally grew up with, and while S&M was great,the other series are nowhere near as good. I watch Homestar Runner regularly, I grew up with Wallace and Gromit, and I have beaten the first three MI games a number of times, and they each hold a place in my heart. I will admit, S&M seasons 1+2 are not as good as the source material, but they come pretty close. However, the rest of the other stuff, at least to me (everyone has their own opinion), isn't anywhere near as good as the source material.

Honestly, I don't think Telltale will ever reach a level where they are better than the memory. So...What I am asking for, instead of trying to appeal to people by recreating existing franchises, why don't they create the nostalgia instead by making a new franchise. What I am seeing is that the fan base already has that trust and faith in the Telltale brand, so why don't they create their own original franchise. That's just a thought.

Cheers,
Obsolete Critic

I do agree with you on a couple of points, but it's Nostalgia that makes these games great, and well you know as I say I'm glad S&M, MI, W&G. Were made, they have cultivated new fans, and new people into the adventure gaming Genre. Wich to be said, is a great thing, I personaly adore, the fact that TTG hits our Nostalgia, with little things here and there during the games, I think thats what makes the games memorable. They may not be as good as the source material, but they come damn close, and for what they are doing I applaud them. I do agree on one point that I would love to see a new Original IP, In time I think they will, but for now. I love what they are doing.

[Joop]

I've still got a burning question that I've been trying hard not to ask in this forum.
I now this probably won't be answered if there hasn't been anything defenitive about it, but has Telltale at any point considered hiring Al Lowe or had contact with him about it?

[Didero]

Oh, I thought of a question:
Will Season 3 have an easy way of patching the game? I ask because there were some bugs in some of the ToMI episodes, and fixing one of the bigger ones required redownloading the entire episode.
I do want to make it clear that I'm not annoyed at the bugs. Every software product has its share of them, and with the time schedule you guys are on, it's entirely understandable some go unnoticed during the QA sessions. I also don't mind redownloading episodes, since I've got a reasonably fast internet connection and no download limit, but other people here aren't so lucky.

Also, and this isn't a question, I can imagine why Telltale hasn't created their own IP (yet?). It's hard for a small and recently-founded company to get gamers and game news sites to notice their new creation. By starting out with a (somewhat) well known property, they have a higher chance of getting noticed.
That said, I think Telltale is now large enough to be able to create a new IP and have it get enough exposure, especially with the increase in fans from ToMI. So, guys, get to it

[MRN]

Did it ever occur to you for you to be playing the game and saying "We shouldn't have done that like this..." or " Oh, this would look better like this."? If so, in wich situations?

[Hassat Hunter]

Huh? Are artists ever pleased with their work?

[Avel]

[redacted]

[Mixu]

At last i got nearly read all questions! It was a hard work... phew
At this point is difficult to ask new questions, nearly all have already been answered, but I've got some!

I'm also a supporter of the GNU/Linux world and as well I'd like to see a Linux port of the game, because now that you have done ports to OpenGL for PS3 and Mac, and minor versions like ES it wouldn't be much hard to make the Linux version. But you have your point in not to make it though...
That was one question I wanted to ask, but it's already answered, although I encourage you to make a port for getting more people into Linux each time so we all can have more games in our favorite OS!

Another question... About the Narrator of the trailer, don't know if you have seen any of my posts about it but... what was your inspiration about him? How did you manage to make someone like that so similar to that famous humorist? Say the truth, you all are big fans of them!

One more questions... I'd like to know how you organize the creation of each episode, I mean... you first start with an idea, consult Steve for it, validate it, make an sketch and distribute the tasks to the teams, then each one has a part, then you unite them... and... here it is a new episode! Or more or less how is your way of working and organizing tasks.

Even one more... Have you thought on adding some kind of fur to sam n max? I would say no because on the comics they don't seem to be furry, but perhaps someone thought on it

And that's all for now, thanks for your answers!

[ShinTav]

I've never tried it, but theres a post in the game support forum on how to get TTG games to run on linux using wine.

[comitob]

Will I be able to use my xbox remote to play the game? Also, How closely do you work with Steve Purcell in making the 3 Seasons?

[flesk]

Originally Posted by ShinTav

I've never tried it, but theres a post in the game support forum on how to get TTG games to run on linux using wine.

Yeah, but it's really a far from optimal solution, requiring too many hacks to be worthwhile for your average linux user. An official port would be much better, and hopefully not too much to hope for in the near future, now that there is a Mac port, which shouldn't be all that different.

[Hassat Hunter]

So, is that countdown clock on the front page to release (meaning I would have to wait till 8PM tomorrow) or just the end of pre-orders and then wait some more?

[Metiphis]

Hey Chuck I just wanna say I love you guys, and Telltale is one of my favorite studios right now. I have purchased every game you guys have released on either the PC or Xbox 360 (I double dipped on Sam and Max seasons 1 and 2). Thank you for bringing the Puzzle Adventure genre back to life.