Telltale bidding to work on Sierra properties?

[Jenni]

I was browsing the adventure gamers forums and came across this post by (former Sierra developer) Josh Mandell that stated that he knew of at least one legitimate, well established company that is bidding to get the development rights to some of Sierra's properties.

 

After the poll that Telltale had that included Sierra games in their list of properties to work on in the future, I couldn't help but think that Telltale was the company Josh was alluding to.

 

It would certainly be interesting to see what Telltale could do with Sierra's games. I always wondered what a LucasArts-style Sierra game might be like.

[Laserschwert]

I always wondered what a LucasArts-style Sierra game might be like.

But Telltale doesn't make LucasArts-style games... I'd even go so far as to say that Telltale has actually established its own style. Telltale-style... I'm sure most adventure gaming people can now picture something when hearing that term.

[MJ]

There was a fangame effort that actually got endorsement from Sierra/Vivendi/whoever to make a sequel to King's Quest called 'The Silver Lining'. After a few years of slow progress, they finally got shut down this year. I wonder if this is why, because Kings Quest is bubbling along to start again.

 

Having said that, I'd much rather see Telltale make Space Quest or Leisure Suit Larry games.

[elTee]

I can't see the Telltale team being interested in King's Quest - although it's potentially a huge moneyspinner. Gabriel Knight might work like a less insane version of Sam and Max, though, so that would be awesome.

[Erwin_Br]

If Telltale wants to stick with comedy games, I think Space Quest or LSL would be interesting properties. Although I think LSL has already been ruined by 2 modern sequels.

 

I love light-hearted games very much, but I'd also like to see what Telltale can do with a more serious story. A Gabriel Knight story by Telltale would be very interesting for sure.

[elTee]

Space Quest is potentially the most likely series, of the Sierra brands.

[SyntheticGerbil]

Yes, I think they would do better on Space Quest than anything else. It's also my favorite Sierra series. Space Quest is really in need of some sort of proper sequel too, because I'm tired of the cliffhanger we were all left on with Space Quest 6. They would need to be able to push good death scenes upon finicky adventure gamers though, because they were a big part of every Space Quest.

 

If anything, I'm sure Telltale would handle the property better than the Space Quest 7 Scott Murphy worked on (with more fault on Sierra to make a multiplayer FPS out of an adventure series than him, since I think his involvement is key), and miles ahead of that awful Commander Keen platformer that was in development that seemed to be Space Quest in name only.

 

Also I guess we all know they won't be doing Leisure Suit Larry, since that series seems to be tied up with other developers in the constant quest to make each game uglier and more badly designed than the former.

 

And I *really* hope they aren't bidding on King's Quest, because that series can get ****ed for all I care. They were all so badly designed, ugly, and had shoddy stories, even the one Jane Jensen worked on to an extent. I'm with that angry Scott Murphy interview at Adventure Collective in which he hinted the promotion and budget for that series just came down to the seniority and favoritism of Roberta Williams within the company, not necessarily from triumphant game design or new ideas.

 

Also a new Gabriel Knight mystery type series would be nice, but while Gabriel Knight 3 looked just awful, Telltale's engine would have to be able to handle much more realistic 3D people and gritty texture in order to successfully pull of the style the GK series needs. Maybe their engine can do all this already, just none of the games call for it? I have no idea.

 

Anyway, assuming Telltale does get any major Sierra properties, I hope they get some kind of original designer involvement going.

[Haggis]

I love light-hearted games very much, but I'd also like to see what Telltale can do with a more serious story.

 

Telltale's engine would have to be able to handle much more realistic 3D people and gritty texture in order to successfully pull of the style the GK series needs. Maybe their engine can do all this already, just none of the games call for it? I have no idea.

I think Telltale showed that they can handle serious games with their CSI adventures, in terms of both tone and graphics.

[QueZTone]

the CSI games are certainly pretty good..

 

 

If they'd do something Sierra i'd want a finished Outpost! Okay but really I'd love to see the Gabriel Knight series picked up again...

[SyntheticGerbil]

I think Telltale showed that they can handle serious games with their CSI adventures, in terms of both tone and graphics.

 

Ah, I never even played them. Don't mind me.

[Haggis]

Ah, I never even played them. Don't mind me.

That's okay, I only played the first one and a demo of the second... but I plan on playing them all, even though I've never watched a CSI episode. Puzzle-wise, you can see that these games are geared towards a non-adventure playing audience, but we already know (especially from Sam & Max) that Telltale can make some great puzzles, so that shouldn't be a problem.

[clintondsmith]

The CSI games are all pretty much the same, with the exception of technical advances from one to the next. Five cases per game, in each of which you investigate the crime scene, gather evidence, talk to witnesses, process the evidence, collect a warrant, interrogate, process more evidence, collect a search warrant, find indisputable evidence, convict. That being said, they're terrifically fun, and Telltale does a great job with them. I'd like to see it enter more of a season-based format, with a new case coming out every month or so, to spread out the playtime a little more, as it's easy to get addicted and burn through five cases in a week.

 

As another dude who grew up with Sierra Online, I'm very protective of ALL of their intellectual property. There is however no other company poised to carry on Sierra's legacy than Telltale. In my mind, Sierra and then LucasArts were the kings of the adventure genre, and in their respective golden ages, nobody could touch them. Telltale is now taking the royal scepter that fell from LucasArts' hand many years ago, and I can't wait to see how they run with it.

 

Space Quest is the logical franchise for TTG: great characters, zany humor, a fantastic back story, and family-friendly. Leisure Suit Larry can be saved from its atrocious 21st-century sequels but Al Lowe MUST be involved, if not in charge. Kings Quest could work but there were some terribly weak entries in that series that have soured me on the franchise in general. My favorite franchise was Police Quest (the first three, of course), and I would love to see Sonny Bonds back on my screen. Maybe Jim Walls would even be interested?

 

Sorry this is so long. It's my first post and I guess I have a lot to say.

[Lagomorph01]

Welcome to the forum, clintondsmith.

 

Actually I think that Leisure Suit Larry deserves a worthy sequel the most.

While it may have been longer since the other games got a sequel, Leisure Suit Larry has been dragged through mud, blood, mucus, sh*t and other random dirt that I can't think of now.

Larry needs his name cleared, so we can forget about the aweful Lovage sequels.

Also I'd vote for a new Gabriel Knight game, the last one ended with such an interesting cliffhanger.

[elTee]

A Mass Effect style LSL game could be hilarious. All your choices pertain to trying to sleep with various women... it could be fantastic in fact.

[Snugglecakes]

...and miles ahead of that awful Commander Keen platformer that was in development that seemed to be Space Quest in name only.

 

Haha that brings back memories! Commander Keen was classic in its day

[SyntheticGerbil]

Well most of the Commander Keen games were pretty good, but whatever Escape Factory was going to turn Space Quest into wasn't going to be a good idea.

 

http://www.brett3d.com/ld_adventure_thumbs.html

 

Even this little boy Roger Wilco's ship looks like they stole it from Keen.

 

There's a video of the canceled game somewhere on the artist's site that shows how obnoxious the kid looks along with bad voice acting.

[clintondsmith]

I've never even heard of this. Did Escape Factory have a license to use the Space Quest franchise? And if so, was Sierra that quick to give it out? That could make it pretty easy for TTG to get hold of the license for Space Quest or potentially any of the other series.

 

Did any of y'all ever play Freddy Pharkas? That was one of my favorite adventure games and I always thought it should have received more attention and at least one sequel. Maybe take him out of pharmacology and make him a full-fledged saloon owner, or maybe a bumbling bounty hunter... Clint Eastwood's "Man With No Name" crossed with Larry Laffer.

[SyntheticGerbil]

Yes, Escape Factory did have the license, but everything was kept very hush hush besides very few teasers and assurances that the game would be, "very true to the Space Quest Universe." I'm pretty sure at that time it was Vivendi that gave them the license, not Sierra, but I could be wrong, since that was long ago. I'm still betting someone high up is going to make that artist take down his Space Quest site one day, since that is pretty much the root of all major info on that particular Space Quest reboot.

 

Obviously Vivendi at least had no problem licensing their IP out to third party developers, but I don't know if Activision cares at the moment considering they are always up to no good. I'm also not sure how big publishers would feel about Telltale developing their games since they publish them themselves and sell the games straight from their webstore. I get the feeling Activision would be too protective of that sort of thing.

 

I'm still very surprised Telltale is doing Monkey Island. I guess they let Guybrush out of his chains and realized they could make some money from a trusted developer since it's not like they were going to do much with the series anytime soon, outside of the remakes.

[Jenni]

I'm still very surprised Telltale is doing Monkey Island. I guess they let Guybrush out of his chains and realized they could make some money from a trusted developer since it's not like they were going to do much with the series anytime soon, outside of the remakes.

I'm pretty sure LucasArts has their own financial reasons for the leasing of the series. Since the new games would increase sales of the remakes and vice-versa.

 

Hopefully Activision sees that they can increase the sales of their re-releases with new games. They have been re-releasing a lot of Sierra's back catalog on GOG.com lately. Maybe it's a sign of things to come?

[Solo187]

Yeh. A Telltale take on 'Space Quest' could be nice. But what id love to see, And i know its not Sierra, But id really like to see a 'Rex Nebular And The Cosmic Gender Bender' remake. Maybe not by Telltale though. I was thinking more in the vein of the recent MI special editions. I loved this game as a kid & it seems to have been all but forgotten

[Monkey Mania]

Commander Keen was never 3D so I don't know where that comparison came from.

[purple_tentacle_]

But Telltale doesn't make LucasArts-style games... I'd even go so far as to say that Telltale has actually established its own style. Telltale-style... I'm sure most adventure gaming people can now picture something when hearing that term.

 

I agree although telltale did some Lucasarts stuff they didnt make it the same old Lucasarts Style. Like the TOMI series you dont have a table thing bellow you with commands.

[MusicallyInspired]

Space Quest by Telltale will only work if Scott Murphy or Josh Mandel is brought on board and they don't cut out the violent game deaths. Those things are integral to a Space Quest game.

[SyntheticGerbil]

Commander Keen was never 3D so I don't know where that comparison came from.

 

I don't know how the difference between polygons or drawings separates similar art direction, monsters, and game play style, but go figure.

 

Space Quest by Telltale will only work if Scott Murphy or Josh Mandel is brought on board and they don't cut out the violent game deaths. Those things are integral to a Space Quest game.

 

This is just a hunch, but I bet both guys would be all for working on new games in the series.

[MusicallyInspired]

Josh might. I don't know about Scott. Judging from his latest interview a couple years back he seemed like he's come to grips with Space Quest's demise along with Sierra and isn't very interested in returning to it. He also is completely uninterested in fangames and remakes. Actually I think he said he hates remakes (after the SQ1 remake by Sierra I can't say I blame him).

 

But you never know.