Double Fine Game Club: Police Quest 1 (part three, dev chat)

(07:08:58 AM) Fireflower: let's try again
(07:09:21 AM) Lodium [55a769b9@hide-6C77D8AA.mibbit.com] entered the room.
(07:09:43 AM) Cheeseness: Hi Lodium
(07:09:43 AM) Fireflower: better?
(07:09:54 AM) danharibo [dan@hide-B7BC62EB.co.uk] entered the room.
(07:09:59 AM) Cheeseness: Hi danharibo
(07:10:04 AM) jfrisby: Nice accent, cheese :)
(07:10:05 AM) danharibo: Helo
(07:10:06 AM) Syd: Hey Lodium and danharibo
(07:10:10 AM) Cheeseness: Everybody seeing the stream OK?
(07:10:15 AM) danharibo: your social media tactic worked Cheeseness :P
(07:10:16 AM) Lodium: hello
(07:10:22 AM) Cheeseness: Huzzah ^_^
(07:10:36 AM) Chrono: I'm seeing it :)
(07:10:42 AM) Syd: Yeah, it looks fine
(07:10:48 AM) Cheeseness: Good good :)
(07:10:53 AM) Schmuppes: yah, great
(07:10:54 AM) Lodium: I usally miss these streams becasue of time zones ::p
(07:11:05 AM) Chrono: You know, I never did play this remake.
(07:11:39 AM) Lodium: never did either. considering getting it from gog
(07:11:40 AM) Warpgate9 left the room (quit: Quit: http://www.mibbit.com ajax IRC Client).
(07:11:45 AM) jfrisby: There isn't to resize the region to fill twitch?
(07:11:53 AM) Cheeseness: For anybody who may not have seen the original: http://www.thehouseofgames.net/files/p/police_quest1/police_quest1-3.gif
(07:11:58 AM) Cheeseness: jfrisby: We'll play with it later
(07:12:03 AM) swordfischer: Cheeseness: got it working with mplayer :)
(07:12:04 AM) Syd: It's hard to schedule something like this. Too early and Australians and New Zealanders can't make it. Too late and some people in Europe can't make it.
(07:12:10 AM) Chrono: We used to have the original on our old Tandy 1000 :)
(07:12:10 AM) Cheeseness: swordfischer: Win :D
(07:12:36 AM) Schmuhf [a@hide-7E9C4D3D.dip0.t-ipconnect.de] entered the room.
(07:12:42 AM) Cheeseness: Hi Schmuhf
(07:12:43 AM) Fireflower: :)
(07:12:46 AM) Cheeseness: :O
(07:12:48 AM) Cheeseness: Another car!
(07:12:56 AM) Syd: Hey Schmuhf
(07:12:58 AM) Schmuhf: hi
(07:13:13 AM) jfrisby: I played these back when the first boxed collection 1-4 came out....  Think I have the hint book here somewhere
(07:13:51 AM) Lodium: Yea i know Syd. Your efforts are at least apricated. So il say at least thanks for the work from me
(07:14:14 AM) Cheeseness: :)
(07:14:53 AM) jfrisby: Shoot him, fireflower
(07:15:01 AM) Fireflower: :)
(07:15:05 AM) Schmuppes: haha
(07:16:14 AM) Cheeseness: Tense
(07:16:29 AM) Schmuppes: oh my
(07:16:32 AM) Fireflower: what :S
(07:16:46 AM) Syd: That didn't go quite as planned
(07:16:53 AM) Schmuppes: you spaced out on the job!
(07:16:57 AM) Cheeseness: Ha, I didn't hear the death laugh last time we died >_<
(07:17:18 AM) Fireflower: :)
(07:17:20 AM) Cheeseness: heh
(07:17:22 AM) Schmuppes: lol
(07:17:31 AM) swordfischer: hah
(07:17:39 AM) Lodium: Coud you get difrent endings depending of what you did in those police quest games or was it scripted limited  route?
(07:17:40 AM) Syd: Mwahahaha!
(07:17:43 AM) Schmuppes: can you punch him?
(07:18:03 AM) Cheeseness: Lodium: I'm not certain, but I think it's got a single ending
(07:18:12 AM) Schmuppes: like, knock him out through the window?
(07:18:26 AM) Fireflower: hmm, am i too slow`?
(07:18:43 AM) Cheeseness: I'm not sure, but that laugh never gets old >_<
(07:18:53 AM) Schmuppes: can you ask him to get out of his car while staying in the copper car yourself?
(07:19:06 AM) Syd: There may be something you're not doing. The death screen said something about police procedures being very important
(07:19:18 AM) Cheeseness: Ah, nice
(07:20:01 AM) Cheeseness: That's pretty tricky - there's not a lot of feedback on when you're doing the right thing, but not quick enough
(07:20:18 AM) jfrisby: are police allowed to order you not to breathe?
(07:20:18 AM) swordfischer: 'thats not necessary' :P
(07:20:30 AM) Cheeseness: Yeah, police brutality is unnecessary
(07:20:35 AM) Cheeseness: Wait, what did he shoot you with before?
(07:20:36 AM) Cheeseness: Oh
(07:20:41 AM) jfrisby: use gum
(07:20:48 AM) Syd: Death screens, when done well, are good at giving you hints at what you did wrong. Vague death screens aren't too helpful though. :P
(07:21:06 AM) Cheeseness: Yeah
(07:21:21 AM) swordfischer: Syd: better than 'Hint: Press space to jump' and all that useless nonsense
(07:21:25 AM) jfrisby: that criminal sprite looks like Josh Mandel
(07:21:30 AM) Cheeseness: geg
(07:21:31 AM) Cheeseness: heh
(07:21:58 AM) Cheeseness: Speaking of which, I was hoping he'd be here by now. He had a countdown timer and everything >_<
(07:22:11 AM) Cheeseness: Perhaps something's come up
(07:22:25 AM) Syd: Perhaps
(07:22:35 AM) Lodium: how the heck did you manage to get josh mandel apear here btw? if hes coming of course
(07:22:43 AM) swordfischer: Cheeseness: the countdown was a little odd, it was 20 min off for me, and when I refreshed (2 min before you started), it reset to 40 mins
(07:22:48 AM) Cheeseness: I've been emailing him for a week or so, Lodium :)
(07:22:57 AM) Cheeseness: swordfischer: Really? :/
(07:23:01 AM) swordfischer: yup
(07:23:04 AM) ganoo left the room (quit: Quit: http://www.mibbit.com ajax IRC Client).
(07:23:15 AM) swordfischer: might be because I use linux, and should get a real OS!
(07:23:17 AM) Cheeseness: If you've got time, can we have a play with it after the session?
(07:23:23 AM) Cheeseness: Bah, I use Linux and I made it :b
(07:23:23 AM) swordfischer: sure
(07:23:25 AM) jfrisby: He's been pretty actively available to the communities through the years, it's seemed.
(07:23:37 AM) Cheeseness: I gave him a timeanddate.com link anyway
(07:23:52 AM) jfrisby: check the trunkl
(07:24:24 AM) Cheeseness: Why is the glove box on the driver's side?
(07:24:28 AM) swordfischer: though Cheeseness it said NOW when you started (but was at 40 mins or something before that)
(07:24:29 AM) jfrisby: wow, tricky
(07:24:38 AM) Fireflower: drugs?!
(07:24:39 AM) Cheeseness: He has bread and seaweed!
(07:24:42 AM) jfrisby: oh man, loafs of bread
(07:24:55 AM) Lodium: he also migth be late
(07:24:59 AM) Syd: lol, that ain't bread.
(07:25:23 AM) Josh_Mandel [4a462c71@hide-50D287EE.mibbit.com] entered the room.
(07:25:28 AM) Cheeseness: Hi Josh_Mandel!
(07:25:34 AM) Josh_Mandel: Good afternoon!
(07:25:34 AM) Chrono: Hello Josh_Mandel.
(07:25:37 AM) Josh_Mandel: Sorry I'm so late!
(07:25:41 AM) Cheeseness: It's OK :)
(07:25:42 AM) Syd: Hey Josh_Mandel!
(07:25:48 AM) Fireflower: hi Josh
(07:25:49 AM) Cheeseness: We've just found the missing Mercedes
(07:25:54 AM) jfrisby: Hey Josh :)
(07:25:55 AM) Lodium: stuff happens
(07:26:15 AM) Josh_Mandel: :-) It's a pleasure to be here!
(07:26:30 AM) Lodium: So can we just ask questions if we have any?
(07:26:47 AM) Cheeseness: Josh_Mandel: I was thinking it'd be nice to start with a quick history of your work at Sierra and any memories you might have of the Police Quest remake
(07:26:50 AM) Josh_Mandel: Sure! Although I have to say up front that my memory of many things PQ is very vague.
(07:26:50 AM) jfrisby: I love how unforgiving the sequences in this game are..
(07:27:10 AM) Josh_Mandel: Yes, "unforgiving" was a common aspect of Jim Walls games, I think. :-)
(07:27:30 AM) Cheeseness: I think that comes back to that "police simulator" aspect, where in real life, consequences are usually pretty harsh
(07:27:50 AM) Cheeseness: lol
(07:27:52 AM) Josh_Mandel: Well, I joined Sierra in 1990. I'd been betatesting for them for about 2 years. I started as a Junior Producer, but quickly moved into the design realm. ...
(07:28:38 AM) Josh_Mandel: My very first project was the remake of KQ1...
(07:28:45 AM) jfrisby: Is this criminal's sprite based on you?
(07:28:58 AM) Josh_Mandel: I believe it is, yes.
(07:29:00 AM) Cheeseness: :D
(07:29:04 AM) jfrisby: lol, awesome
(07:29:06 AM) Fireflower: :)
(07:29:31 AM) Lodium: What was the inpiration behind the remake?
(07:29:55 AM) Josh_Mandel: I ended up writing things like Jones in the Fast Lane, the story for Laura Bow 2, much of SQ4 and LSL1-VGA and LSL5...
(07:30:08 AM) Josh_Mandel: ...and then there were Freddy Pharkas and SQ6. ...
(07:30:57 AM) Josh_Mandel: Ken had been feeling that Sierra games had come so far graphically and musically from what they had been when the original versions of games like KQ1, SQ1, and PQ1 were made...
(07:31:16 AM) Cheeseness: Were the VGA remakes considered successful? Did gamers appreciate them?
(07:31:21 AM) Josh_Mandel: That if we could learn to produce VGA remakes cheaply and quickly enough, we could greatly sustain the lifecycle of the designs.
(07:31:36 AM) Cheeseness: (for better or worse, I preferred the original QFG ^_^ )
(07:31:47 AM) jfrisby: Loved Laura Bow 2..  the first game I actually played through myself :)
(07:31:50 AM) Josh_Mandel: No, they weren't very successful. They were too work-intensive for how much they earned us in sales...
(07:32:03 AM) Lodium: ouch
(07:32:12 AM) Cheeseness: It's a shame - I imagine it would have been really exciting to go back and revisit the older titles
(07:32:15 AM) Josh_Mandel: Especially because they essentially had to be redesigned. The originals were all parser-based and the remakes were all point-and-click...
(07:32:28 AM) jfrisby: Wasn't the artwork for the remakes outsourced to Korea, or something?
(07:33:01 AM) Josh_Mandel: ...which means you had to figure out all-new ways of making the puzzles interesting, because a point-and-click game is much easier to solve puzzles with.
(07:33:02 AM) Cheeseness: Fireflower: What happens if you enter the wrong numbers here?
(07:33:34 AM) Josh_Mandel: Sometimes, the artwork was outsourced overseas, yes. We had discovered that during KQ5.
(07:33:36 AM) Lodium: But i hear sometimes programmers and such at least in the old times did work out of passion though. Sleepless nigts and sleep in the office space and the like
(07:34:01 AM) Chrono: I've always been a fan of the text parser.
(07:34:04 AM) Cheeseness: Lodium: Some devs still take sleeping bags to their offices ;)
(07:34:22 AM) jfrisby: Is this the copy protection?  The codes..
(07:34:25 AM) Syd: I've heard some funny stories of the things devs have done to keep themselves awake during the crunch.
(07:34:40 AM) Josh_Mandel: Oh, absolutely. A significant percentage of the people at Sierra were in it for the love of it, and consistently put their all into the games. ...
(07:34:51 AM) Cheeseness: Syd: It can be fun from time to time, but it's not a healthy practice
(07:35:00 AM) Syd: But yeah, I think some devs are still just as passionate as ever, working tirelessly on their projects.
(07:35:04 AM) Josh_Mandel: Other people were basically locals who came to Sierra because it was local and paid well and not too hard to get a job at.
(07:35:13 AM) jfrisby: Sad to hear the parser didn't make the cut in the Larry remake :(
(07:35:43 AM) Josh_Mandel: I think the parser will make a comeback someday. I think we're already partway there...
(07:35:59 AM) Cheeseness: I think Telltale have been putting some effort into parser tech
(07:36:01 AM) Josh_Mandel: Mobile gamers are getting used to texting/typing again. There was a period when nobody wanted to do that. ...
(07:36:11 AM) Lodium: but if you do that nowadays isnt there potential legal issues. At least it seams you can be sued for almost anything in the us at least
(07:36:25 AM) Josh_Mandel: I think the time is about right for parsers to come back. It just has to be a terrific one.
(07:36:29 AM) Syd: I remember hearing that at Valve that one of the writers (I think) would sit in a rather uncomfortable chair they nicknamed the Throne of Woe to keep himself awake, but now I'm getting off-topic. :P
(07:36:29 AM) Josh_Mandel: Legal issues?
(07:37:11 AM) Josh_Mandel: You mean legal issues with working that kind of overtime?
(07:37:17 AM) jfrisby: I'd hoped Starship Titanic would bring it back... way back when...  Seems like someone needs to hook Siri or Wolfram Alpha up to a game parser
(07:37:23 AM) Syd: Oh topic, I have a soft spot for text parsers. They can be fun.
(07:37:32 AM) Lodium: yea if workers was allowed to sleep in office space today i mean
(07:37:32 AM) Cheeseness: I still need to play Starship Titanic :/
(07:37:38 AM) hng [~hng@hide-8D6D676F.maine.res.rr.com] entered the room.
(07:37:41 AM) Cheeseness: Hey hng!
(07:37:45 AM) Syd: Hey hng
(07:37:59 AM) hng: hii!  sorry I've been watching I just haven't felt chatty :>
(07:38:31 AM) Cheeseness: It's OK ^_^
(07:38:49 AM) Josh_Mandel: That's possible, yes, I guess. Part of it might be related to whether an employee is salaried or hourly.
(07:39:17 AM) Naron [51a751f3@hide-6C77D8AA.mibbit.com] entered the room.
(07:39:26 AM) jfrisby: Double Fine needs to ween there employees off latte's and arugula.
(07:39:33 AM) Lodium: Also, what bacground do you have? education and the like?
(07:39:37 AM) jfrisby: (kidding(
(07:39:58 AM) Cheeseness: Hi Naron
(07:40:25 AM) Josh_Mandel: People did indeed regularly work vast amounts of overtime to get games done on time. From Ken and Rick Cavin and others, we'd get pressure that amounted to "The entire fate of the company rests on whether this game gets out on time and on schedule, and how good it is." That was the standard line.
(07:40:27 AM) Naron: Hi cheese
(07:41:01 AM) Cheeseness: I prefer a lower pressure approach to making games ^_^
(07:41:08 AM) Cheeseness: (which might be why I don't have so many releases :D )
(07:41:13 AM) Josh_Mandel: My background? Theater. Which translates really well into game design, because the designer is part screenwriter, part director.
(07:41:24 AM) Babloyi [Miranda@32B1E143.71631BB1.83382450.IP] entered the room.
(07:41:28 AM) Cheeseness: Fantastic
(07:41:33 AM) hng: Cheeseness: you may like making games in space then!
(07:41:40 AM) Lodium: And what did the most impact on you during the sierra days?
(07:41:41 AM) Cheeseness: Ho ho ho!
(07:42:19 AM) jfrisby: haha, maced memos
(07:42:33 AM) Cheeseness: Ooh, we're going undercover
(07:42:36 AM) Fireflower: :)
(07:42:58 AM) swordfischer: are there black borders around the stream, in flash too?
(07:43:00 AM) Josh_Mandel: I was just blown away by what a creativity incubator it was. All those people, crammed into a relatively small space (and generally living within extremely close proximity to each other), all spending all day trying to think of creative ideas and ways to make games better. That was absolutely inspiring.
(07:43:21 AM) Cheeseness: Josh_Mandel: Do you think that that's something the industry has lost?
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(07:43:30 AM) Babloyi is now known as Babar
(07:44:58 AM) Lodium: Some people feel that the indie sceene has taken over a good chunk of what used to be the industry in the old days but it migth not be just the same, what do you think about that?
(07:44:59 AM) Josh_Mandel: Somewhat, yes. Which I think happens with any industry; when's it's small (and not necessarily profitable), it attracts mostly people who are interested in innovating. When the industry gets bigger, you still get isolated pockets of people who truly want to innovate, but the vast majority become followers...
(07:45:02 AM) Naron: Josh_Mandel: How do you set up the company to allow creativity to blossom ? Open offices, many meetings or other?
(07:45:34 AM) Josh_Mandel: ...content to try for work that's just incrementally better (maybe) than what the innovators came up with themselves.
(07:45:58 AM) jfrisby: I've loved the Larry updates, Josh -- excited to hear what the music sounds like...
(07:46:31 AM) Josh_Mandel: Naron, open offices for sure. Sierra went through many gyrations, attempting to come up with the ideal environment to foster both creativity and efficiency. I don't think we ever hit on a magic formula, though.
(07:46:34 AM) Naron: The sort of society we have now where there are no losers, and participating is all that matters, breeds the grey mass of followers
(07:46:51 AM) Naron: interesting
(07:47:07 AM) Josh_Mandel: Thank you, Frisby! This past week, we got a whole lot of music from Austin. Really brings a whole new dimension to the game.
(07:47:27 AM) Cheeseness: I'd imagine that there probably is no perfect way and that the best results come from giving people the flexibility to oscillate between open and isolated work environments with as little disruption as possible
(07:48:36 AM) jfrisby: I prefer my method of posting to the Double Fine forum a lot making them feel guilty for living the rich life in San Francisco.
(07:48:49 AM) jfrisby: Maybe that will drive creativity
(07:49:06 AM) Cheeseness: lol
(07:49:29 AM) Josh_Mandel: Life in San Francisco isn't necessarily rich...you have to spend three-quarters of your income just on housing.
(07:49:47 AM) Cheeseness: Yeah, haven't DF had some fairly poor conditions?
(07:49:54 AM) Lodium: and tax?
(07:50:14 AM) Cheeseness: I seem to recall Tim talking about rats and backing up toilets (although that could have been another dev)
(07:50:18 AM) Syd: DF started off in basically a big garage, to my knowledge.
(07:50:38 AM) Syd: Yeah, you're remembering correctly, Cheese. I remember him talking about the early days of DF too.
(07:50:40 AM) jfrisby: I know :)  I just give them a hard time, tell them they should move their studio to  Siberia to save backer dollars.
(07:50:47 AM) Naron: Josh_Mandel: What do you think of the current indie game scene, where it seems anyone can create a product from their home and sell it to the masses?
(07:51:14 AM) Lodium: i think i read that the first DFA office was a poor location. New studios have it hard
(07:51:25 AM) Cheeseness: Naron: That's how many games used to be made back in the old days as well ^_^
(07:51:28 AM) Josh_Mandel: Naron, I think it's fantastic. It makes the field a lot more level than it was back when you had to get a major distributor and compete for shelf space in Babbage's and Software ETC.!
(07:51:39 AM) Cheeseness: (although people weren't often self-published)
(07:52:25 AM) GameClubFan_118659 [546b40f9@hide-50D287EE.mibbit.com] entered the room.
(07:52:27 AM) Cheeseness: Josh_Mandel: What do you reckon the most significant changes to the industry have been over the 20 or so years that you've been involved
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(07:53:29 AM) Josh_Mandel: Oh, wow! SO MUCH in the last 20 years. We've gone from being in really in our infancy to a real industry...
(07:54:36 AM) Josh_Mandel: ...so you name it. Sound/music? Graphics? Play mechanics? Multiplayer? Free-to-play? All these things are constantly redefining the industry every few years.
(07:55:15 AM) jfrisby: Josh, have you had a chance to check out Resonance or Primordia?
(07:55:39 AM) jfrisby: ... or what have you played lately? :)
(07:55:55 AM) Cheeseness: Are there aspects that you think are less in a state of flux? Things that might be timeless?
(07:56:01 AM) Lodium: What suprises me the most though is why not more companys outlicence merchendise like they do in japan for a lot of games. Not sure if i make any sense here. English isnt really my first tounge.
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(07:56:43 AM) Josh_Mandel: I have tried neither of those, sad to say.
(07:56:46 AM) Cheeseness: Lodium: I thnk it's hard to get into. Games come and go so quickly that merchandise producers might be concerned with being able to keep up
(07:56:55 AM) Cheeseness: (that's my guess anyway ^_^ )
(07:57:33 AM) Josh_Mandel: I think sound and music are now as good as they will get, at least for a long, long time. Graphics will also get better only incrementally for the time being. ...
(07:57:42 AM) GameClubFan_893360 [546b40f9@hide-6C77D8AA.mibbit.com] entered the room.
(07:58:27 AM) jfrisby: There's only so much graphical detail I'd like to see in the Larry franchise :)
(07:58:32 AM) Josh_Mandel: This is actually good, because it's forcing designers to say, "Well, it's harder and harder to wow with graphics, so we have to find something else, maybe something in the design, to wow people with."
(07:58:55 AM) Lodium: Forexample a game in japan coud have an anime, figures, other merchindise etc, etc and the game company get money from all these sources but i dont see this method used alot in the west
(08:00:10 AM) Cheeseness: Josh_Mandel: People seem a bit more aware/wary of the "uncanny valley" these days as well. It's interesting to see more people going for stylised approaches than pushing for realism
(08:00:30 AM) jfrisby: Pixel art = $$$
(08:00:36 AM) Cheeseness: heh
(08:00:37 AM) Naron: Josh_Mandel: When making games, how much do psychology factor in to the game making progress? Is it common to have an psychologist come and help with making the player experience subconscious feeling when playing their game?
(08:00:41 AM) Josh_Mandel: Lodium, that may change with the advent of 3-D printing. Suddenly it's feasible for smaller publishers and even independent individuals to create and sell "stuff" associated with games.
(08:01:13 AM) Josh_Mandel: Cheeseness, I like to think that adventure gamers have always appreciated that style sometimes counts for a whole lot more than realism. :-)
(08:01:15 AM) Cheeseness: The judge looks a lot darker in his close up than he does in the room
(08:01:17 AM) jfrisby: Why hasn't anyone made online co-op possible in an adventure game?
(08:01:31 AM) Naron: Haha
(08:01:32 AM) Cheeseness: Josh_Mandel: I can't argue with that :)
(08:01:38 AM) GameClubFan_893360: hmm guess I never played the remake of this game only played the verb version
(08:01:50 AM) Cheeseness: Hi GameClubFan :)
(08:02:00 AM) Cheeseness: Josh_Mandel was co-designer of the VGA remake
(08:02:08 AM) Lodium: An adventure game with an co -op option woud actually be pretty intresting
(08:02:26 AM) Cheeseness: Lodium: The Cave gets released in a few days :)
(08:02:53 AM) Naron: Ok, hands up, who have pre-ordered?
(08:02:58 AM) Josh_Mandel: Naron, I think it's rare that professionals are consulted to work on games, but it's a forward-thinking, smart thing to do. Games have great power, but you have to make a concerted effort to exercise that power.
(08:02:59 AM) Cheeseness: Me :D
(08:03:03 AM) Naron: Me!
(08:03:08 AM) Syd: *hands up* I got it very soon after the preorders opened.
(08:03:12 AM) Josh_Mandel: Multiplayer adventures are an immense headache.
(08:03:22 AM) Lodium: yea i know, i have it on my wishlist but not sure if i have money this month
(08:03:45 AM) Cheeseness: Naron: If you haven't seen it, I also interviewed Greg and Nathan Martz last week looking at their cross-platform plans
(08:03:48 AM) Syd: Even with the local co-op option in The Cave, I'll be playing it solo. I prefer to get absorbed into the story and world, and it's hard to do that when you're not alone.
(08:04:14 AM) Cheeseness: I wish it had network coop. It'd be great to do a game club playthrough and bring more people in
(08:04:21 AM) Naron: Cheeseness: i haven't, is the interview still available?
(08:04:33 AM) Cheeseness: Naron: http://cheesetalks.twolofbees.com :)
(08:04:44 AM) Naron: Cheeseness: Thanks!
(08:04:52 AM) Syd: Apparently The Cave's co-op is basically game-facilitated hotseat, and that probably wouldn't work too well online.
(08:04:59 AM) Cheeseness: Ah, I see
(08:05:14 AM) Cheeseness: Still, it'd be nice to share presenting the game
(08:05:17 AM) jfrisby: Not to change the subject..  But have you heard anything from Tell Tale on their possible Kings Quest game?  I think I heard at some point that they approached you..  And Paul mentioned trying to do something KQ in the future...  Has anything moved there?
(08:05:55 AM) Cheeseness: I wouldn't mind hearing about your interactions with the TSL crew as well (you voiced Graham in their stuff as well, right?)
(08:05:56 AM) Lodium: well im not thinkink of mmmo advennture, that woud be crazy i think. more like if you coud co op with 1 friend
(08:06:01 AM) hng: I'm waiting to preorder as it's missing the little penguin icon -_-
(08:06:23 AM) Josh_Mandel: Figure it this way. Adventure games are basically stories at their heart. Now, who's going to tell the best, most cohesive, most interesting, best-paced story? A. A storyteller. B. A storyteller who asks one person to help him tell the story. C. A storyteller who asks a whole room full of people to help him tell the story.
(08:06:25 AM) Syd: The Cave will definitely be in Linux, they just haven't updated the store to show that yet.
(08:06:47 AM) GameClubFan_893360: The cave will be available on windows Linux mac said ron
(08:06:55 AM) Syd: Tim said on his Twitter that they're working on getting The Cave to properly show as having a Linux version
(08:07:07 AM) Cheeseness: Syd: hng wants to be sure that she's contributing to the peak of Linux sales when it shows Linux compatibility on the Steam store :)
(08:07:13 AM) hng: oh yaay ^_^^__^_
(08:07:15 AM) GameClubFan_893360 is now known as nulian
(08:07:17 AM) jfrisby: I'd always thought a co-op adventure...  Where different people controlled the hands/eyes/mouth/actions in turn would give a neat social element to it..
(08:07:28 AM) Cheeseness: hng: I told you that the day before yesterday didn't I? >_<
(08:07:33 AM) Naron: I wonder how much the DFA have impacted sales of double fine games like "The Cave"?
(08:07:42 AM) hng: i know i know BUT THE PENGUIN ICON aah
(08:07:46 AM) Josh_Mandel: It might be cool socially. But as a story?
(08:08:05 AM) Josh_Mandel: It is almost guaranteed not to be a memorable story.
(08:08:09 AM) jfrisby: Not ideal...  But **social***  buzzworrd
(08:08:12 AM) Babar: well, one or two extra people is okat
(08:08:19 AM) Syd: Ron said that the stats for what platform the game is being played on after it releases will be what they'll be watching.
(08:08:27 AM) Babar: I played most of the original Sierra games behind my father's shoulder :D
(08:08:29 AM) Cheeseness: I think there're possibilities for compelling multiparticipant stories (but it's definitely a tricky and fickle problem)
(08:08:31 AM) Cheeseness: Hey Babar
(08:08:35 AM) jfrisby: Soo..  no comment on Kings Quest?
(08:08:45 AM) Syd: The Steam store is platform-agnostic (Buy it on one platform, you've bought it for them all) so I don't think that it really pays too much attention to what OS you were on when you bought it.
(08:08:45 AM) jfrisby: :P
(08:08:46 AM) Babar: with comments such as "USE THE HARP! UUUSE THE HAAARP!"
(08:08:47 AM) Babar: hey cheese
(08:08:54 AM) nulian: I wonder how cave handels jumping with mouse controls
(08:09:09 AM) Josh_Mandel: I highly doubt that Telltale is doing anything with KQ. That was a long time ago, and there had to have been some point at which the license ran out for Telltale.
(08:09:14 AM) Cheeseness: Syd: Devs see stats
(08:09:21 AM) Babar: oh...that'd be sad
(08:09:22 AM) Babar: and silly
(08:09:29 AM) Babar: didn't it cost them money to buy it?
(08:09:35 AM) Cheeseness: Josh_Mandel: Was it really that long ago?
(08:10:04 AM) Josh_Mandel: Well, you have to assume that the deal went down a fair bit of time before word even leaked out. ...
(08:10:09 AM) jfrisby: Hmm..  that's the consensus of the telltale forum people too..  dang.  Seems like someone would have snatched that chance in the "renaissance"
(08:10:16 AM) hng: I actually really like the pixel style graphics of Police Quest, there's a certain magic to it
(08:10:29 AM) Cheeseness: Hmm, I thought they had announced it
(08:10:36 AM) Cheeseness: hng: Have you seen the original art?
(08:10:43 AM) Josh_Mandel: And Activision would be foolish to say, "Here, we're renting you the license to King's Quest. Do nothing with it in perpetuity."
(08:11:07 AM) jfrisby: haha
(08:11:28 AM) jfrisby: Logic may not apply to Activisions thinking
(08:11:30 AM) Babar: it is apparently "under development"?
(08:11:31 AM) Cheeseness: Oh wow, check that video
(08:11:37 AM) hng: Cheeseness, no, is an updated art remake or something?
(08:11:52 AM) Cheeseness: hng: http://www.thehouseofgames.net/files/p/police_quest1/police_quest1-3.gif
(08:12:22 AM) Syd: Looks like the original Police Quest was a CGA game
(08:12:22 AM) swordfischer: I like how the closeups change peoples ethnicity :)
(08:12:37 AM) Cheeseness: A loving tap on the chin there ^_^
(08:12:50 AM) Fireflower: hmm
(08:12:54 AM) Babar: the VGA one was with more photorealistic art than most of the other Sierra VGA games, no?
(08:13:07 AM) Lodium: I have heard that activision is planning to sell some stuff though, not sure what. But it was because of economic problems or whatnot or maybe im mixing up companies
(08:13:23 AM) nulian: I don't like the way telltale games is going to. Yeah the walking dead was a good game though without the story it wouldn't have any gameplay to speak of
(08:13:31 AM) Josh_Mandel: Telltale seems to be going in another direction anyway. Walking Dead was a hugely popular license and a big success for them, I think. King's Quest would be a big step backwards, a far less well-known and far less popular license.
(08:14:00 AM) Josh_Mandel: Lodium, yes, I think it's been safely reported that Activision and/or the Sierra licenses (except Larry) are up for sale.
(08:14:53 AM) Babar: what else is there that everyone'd want? :D
(08:14:56 AM) Babar: Quest for Glory!
(08:14:58 AM) Cheeseness: Josh_Mandel: That was their direction to begin with. I recall really early interviews with Dave where he said that their goal was to bring games to existing audiences by picking up franchises
(08:15:01 AM) Josh_Mandel: Babar, yes. PQ was Sierra's "reality" series (so to speak), so we went for strictly realistic-leaning graphics.
(08:16:19 AM) Josh_Mandel: Cheeseness, but they *had* the KQ license and did nothing with it, opting instead to pick up a license of a national television show that certainly didn't need Telltale's help.
(08:16:29 AM) Cheeseness: Mmm
(08:17:30 AM) Cheeseness: It also seems to have been unhealthy for their community
(08:17:48 AM) hng: The background in this frame looks like a painting
(08:17:48 AM) nulian: Think its the only reason the walking dead is getting these high marks is the story behind it. No gameplay so to speak of.
(08:18:03 AM) Lodium: What are you planning to do in the next few years? And do you have any juicy news or secrets you coud give us?
(08:18:11 AM) Cheeseness: hng: As I understand it, a lot of the backgrounds for adventure games were originally paintings that were scanned
(08:18:17 AM) Josh_Mandel: Unfortunately, I don't. Much depends on how well Larry does.
(08:18:36 AM) Josh_Mandel: Cheeseness, yes, that's true.
(08:18:57 AM) Cheeseness: nulian: Even story wise, I think it's a little overrated. It's an OK game, but I haven't gotten the amazing moving experience that lots of people claim to have had
(08:19:42 AM) Naron: Same with older movies, I love the storage house in Indiana Jones, which seems to go on forever!
(08:19:52 AM) nulian: Wish they go back to sam and max liked those games
(08:19:56 AM) Lodium: is it far off for the realese of larry remake btw? or is it already answered?
(08:20:34 AM) Josh_Mandel: We're still shooting for a Q1 2013 release for Larry. (Which is why we're in crunch mode!)
(08:20:49 AM) Fireflower: damn car :)
(08:20:59 AM) Naron left the room (quit: Quit: http://www.mibbit.com ajax IRC Client).
(08:21:01 AM) Cheeseness: nulian: Yeah - Sam & Max had their 25th anniversary last year. It was incredibly disappointing to see Telltale ignore that :(
(08:21:10 AM) Naron [51a751f3@hide-B64552F4.mibbit.com] entered the room.
(08:21:26 AM) Lodium: the car looks like a car in GTA lol
(08:21:27 AM) Cheeseness: Hey Fireflower, how are we going for time?
(08:21:45 AM) Fireflower: gonna finish this and save/quit
(08:21:50 AM) Cheeseness: Alrighty
(08:22:08 AM) Josh_Mandel: Could be that GTA stole *their* cars from *US!*
(08:22:15 AM) Cheeseness: Josh_Mandel: You're welcome to hang around as long as you like. I'm sure there's plenty of discussion to be had :)
(08:22:27 AM) Cheeseness: Well, GTA *is* all about stealing cars
(08:22:32 AM) Cheeseness: It would be fitting
(08:23:35 AM) Cheeseness: lol, this guy
(08:23:38 AM) Josh_Mandel: Hah!
(08:23:55 AM) Cheeseness: It seems like everyone goes into the same cell >_<
(08:24:00 AM) Josh_Mandel: I'm good for another 15 minutes or so, I think!
(08:24:05 AM) Josh_Mandel: Lytton is a very small town.
(08:24:36 AM) Lodium: shhot questions all. i havve a brain drougth now lol
(08:24:56 AM) Syd: Very few cars on the road, except for the occasional criminal.
(08:25:23 AM) Cheeseness: Josh_Mandel: What's your favourite Sierra game?
(08:25:40 AM) Cheeseness: Do you keep in touch with many of your former co-workers (aside from the ones working at Replay)
(08:25:52 AM) Naron: Josh_Mandel: How long do you think it will take video games to reach its "Maturity"? Like with movies it took a long time to become a mainstream and serious medium.
(08:25:52 AM) Josh_Mandel: Hmm...that's tough. SQ3, maybe, or Conquests of Camelot.
(08:26:00 AM) Fireflower: that's it for the stream for today :)
(08:26:13 AM) Cheeseness: I sank a lot of time into CoC :)
(08:26:21 AM) Cheeseness: Thanks for streaming, Fireflower :)
(08:26:21 AM) Syd: Thanks for streaming again, Fireflower. :)
(08:26:27 AM) Fireflower: np :)
(08:26:29 AM) Lodium: oh, I also forgot to ask what was the hardest or most challenging part when uyou made the remake
(08:26:37 AM) Naron: Thanks for streaming, Fireflower
(08:26:44 AM) Lodium: *you
(08:26:54 AM) Josh_Mandel: Getting input from Jim was the hardest part!
(08:27:04 AM) Fireflower: my pleasure :)
(08:27:13 AM) Josh_Mandel: He really didn't want to have much to do with it (or with PQ3, for that matter!).
(08:27:28 AM) Cheeseness: Was he working on other things?
(08:28:15 AM) Josh_Mandel: Not that I know of. But bear in mind that soon after PQ3, when Tsunami Media opened up in Oakhurst, Jim was the only designer to jump ship from Sierra and go to Tsunami.
(08:28:44 AM) Josh_Mandel: Mark Crowe and Jane Jensen ended up doing 95% of the design and work on PQ3.
(08:29:12 AM) Josh_Mandel: I don't know the politics behind it all, though.
(08:29:31 AM) hng left the room (quit: Quit: Lost terminal).
(08:30:27 AM) Lodium: woud you change anything if you coud go back and do it all over again?
(08:30:28 AM) Babar: he went and made another Police game there, no?
(08:31:05 AM) Babar: also, Josh, dunno if you answered whoever asked already, but what game you played recently? :D
(08:31:54 AM) Cheeseness: Josh_Mandel: Do you think there's demand/interest in modern remakes of other older Sierra titles? Leisure Suit Larry (Replay) and KQ (The Silver Lining and most recently TellTale) seem to have strong fanbases who're keen to support people working on stuff
(08:32:25 AM) Josh_Mandel: I might've tried to stick it out 'til the end of SQ6, but I was really at the end of my rope. The place was changing so drastically and so quickly that I had learned to dread going in. ...
(08:33:03 AM) Josh_Mandel: Yes, I think there's both demand and interest, and I hope Activision (especially) has noticed how successful all the Sierra-based Kickstarters have been.
(08:33:30 AM) Cheeseness: Were/are there other Sierra based crowdfunding campaigns? I feel like I've missed something >_<
(08:33:35 AM) Josh_Mandel: What game I've played recently? Hmm. I've been looking at some of the Big Fish games and trying to acquaint myself with that whole genre. It was one of those.
(08:33:35 AM) Fireflower: who owns the rights to the sierra games, Activision?
(08:33:59 AM) Josh_Mandel: Space Quest, Jane Jensen, Corey & Lori Cole, Leisure Suit Larry, and Ken Allen is about to start one.
(08:34:11 AM) Josh_Mandel: I should say "SpaceVenture," I guess, not Space Quest.
(08:34:40 AM) Cheeseness: Oh, of course
(08:34:43 AM) Josh_Mandel: I had never played one of those casual adventure/Hidden Object things 'til late last year.
(08:34:54 AM) Cheeseness: I totally forgot about the Two Guys and Jane Jensen stuff >_<
(08:34:57 AM) Lodium: Corey & Lori Cole have already done one KS i think
(08:34:59 AM) Cheeseness: And I totally backed Hero-U
(08:35:11 AM) Babar: I wikied to find out who Ken Allen was, and got a page about an orangutan :O
(08:35:29 AM) Fireflower: Ken sent me?
(08:35:32 AM) Josh_Mandel: So that's pretty good! We're only missing Jim Walls (who, I think, has lost interest in doing a Kickstarter already) and Christy Marx, who I think is happily employed at Zynga.
(08:35:44 AM) Josh_Mandel: Ken Allen! My favorite Sierra composer!
(08:35:47 AM) Babar: I thought that Ken was williams, Fire?
(08:35:50 AM) Babar: :O
(08:35:58 AM) Babar: Mark Siebert isn't your favourite Sierra composer? :D
(08:36:22 AM) Josh_Mandel: Ken did my favorite themes. What can I say?
(08:36:22 AM) Babar: Seibert Siebert...hmm
(08:36:29 AM) Fireflower: Josh_Mandel: who owns the rights to the sierra games?
(08:36:45 AM) Josh_Mandel: They're all at Activision except for Leisure Suit Larry, which was sold to Codemasters.
(08:36:50 AM) Babar: which tune was that?
(08:36:52 AM) Fireflower: ok, thx
(08:37:12 AM) Josh_Mandel: Well, Ken did the SQ3 music, for one thing. :-)
(08:37:15 AM) Cheeseness: :)
(08:37:27 AM) Chrono: SQ 3 has the best soundtrack :)
(08:37:50 AM) Babar: oooh
(08:37:51 AM) Babar: yes it does
(08:38:05 AM) Fireflower: no, Larry does :)
(08:38:08 AM) Mimness [76d0dcaa@hide-6C77D8AA.mibbit.com] entered the room.
(08:38:14 AM) Babar: hahah
(08:38:26 AM) Cheeseness: Hi Mimness ^_^
(08:38:54 AM) Cheeseness: Fireflower: We've only got one session left in Police Quest 1, right?
(08:38:54 AM) jfrisby left the room (quit: Quit: ).
(08:38:57 AM) Josh_Mandel: But there wasn't a single composer there I *didn't* like! I thought they were all incredibly talented.
(08:39:12 AM) Fireflower: yeah, think so Cheeseness
(08:39:20 AM) Cheeseness: OK
(08:39:38 AM) Mimness: Hi Cheeseness
(08:39:53 AM) Cheeseness: You're welcome to join us again next week if you want, Josh (if you're too busy, no worries ^_^ )
(08:40:00 AM) Josh_Mandel: I mean, I thought Aubrey Hodges did fantastic with Freddy Pharkas, and Neil Grandstaff and I had a ball working on a few of SQ6's pieces (esp. the Soylent Clear jingle).
(08:40:04 AM) Josh_Mandel: I'll try!
(08:40:17 AM) Cheeseness: Awesome :D
(08:40:24 AM) Naron: Cool!
(08:40:29 AM) Josh_Mandel: Gonna sign off for now...sorry again for being late, and maybe I'll see you next week!
(08:40:36 AM) Cheeseness: No worries. Thanks so much for joining us!
(08:40:40 AM) Syd: Thanks for joining us, Josh_Mandel. :)
(08:40:41 AM) Naron: Bye, and thank you !
(08:40:42 AM) Josh_Mandel: My pleasure!
(08:40:44 AM) Josh_Mandel: Bye!
(08:40:44 AM) Fireflower: thanks for joining Josh
(08:40:46 AM) Chrono: Thanks for joining us.
(08:40:47 AM) Fireflower: bye
(08:40:49 AM) Lodium: If i join next week i need to come up with better questions
(08:40:53 AM) Josh_Mandel: Hah!
(08:40:54 AM) Naron: haha
(08:40:55 AM) Babar: yeah, thanks :D
(08:40:56 AM) Josh_Mandel: *poiyt*