NOO!! DOTT was such a perfect game, a modren version of it would probably ruin it! i'm not saying i don't trust telltale on making great games, i'm just saying i'm not sure if it's possible to even MAKE a better game than the original DOTT... The only thing that needs a makeover to make it competable in the modren market is the graphics... Kids just love cartoony CMI styled graphics!!
Day of the Tentacle is an odd game to put on a pedestal. Some of those puzzles were just utterly incomprehensible. It could be improved.
Actually, I think Day of the Tentacle is a pretty good example of great, well reasoned puzzles, at least in the context of "the old days". You're right in that they could be pretty wacky, but they were mostly logically wacky. They had a very cartoonish logic behind them, but it was a kind of logic nonetheless.
Compare Day of the Tentacle's puzzles to the puzzles in Sam & Max Hit the Road. I thought the Sam & Max puzzles were in general much more difficult because they were insane not just directly but in the reasoning behind them. I found myself using trial and error much more often in that game than I did in DOTT.
Obviously there were exceptions. DOTT had its fair share of quirks and Sam & Max had its gems. But I think the puzzle design is much stronger in DOTT. What made Sam & Max a classic to me were more the characters, the humor, the art style, the general wackiness (of the story), etc. I think that's mainly what made all the LucasArts adventures classics, and I think this emphasis on more superficial elements of the old adventure games resulted in a lot of the...er...less-than-good ones we tend to get nowadays.
Actually, I think Day of the Tentacle is a pretty good example of great, well reasoned puzzles, at least in the context of "the old days". You're right in that they could be pretty wacky, but they were mostly logically wacky. They had a very cartoonish logic behind them, but it was a kind of logic nonetheless.
Compare Day of the Tentacle's puzzles to the puzzles in Sam & Max Hit the Road. I thought the Sam & Max puzzles were in general much more difficult because they were insane not just directly but in the reasoning behind them. I found myself using trial and error much more often in that game than I did in DOTT.
Obviously there were exceptions. DOTT had its fair share of quirks and Sam & Max had its gems. But I think the puzzle design is much stronger in DOTT. What made Sam & Max a classic to me were more the characters, the humor, the art style, the general wackiness (of the story), etc. I think that's mainly what made all the LucasArts adventures classics, and I think this emphasis on more superficial elements of the old adventure games resulted in a lot of the...er...less-than-good ones we tend to get nowadays.
The logic of some of the puzzles were downright bizarre. Remember having to wash that carriage so it would rain? I was unaware of the idea that it always rained right after you washed your car. Maybe it's a 90's thing. There were some other puzzles I have some issues with, one of them involved a cat I think, but I'd have to go back to it. I wish that the game had implemented a simple mechanic that automatically threw out any items that were no long of use when you flushed them through time.
Saying that Day of the Tentacle's puzzles were good by comparing them to Sam and Max is like suggesting getting punched in the stomach is pleasant because you aren't having your limbs decapitated. Granted, neither game was that bad, but though I had even more issues with Hit the Road's design, they didn't excuse those of Day of the Tentacle. But yeah, Sam and Max's puzzles were frequently really bizarre, and devoid of logic. Even devoid of the twisted, sub-logic of the game's protagonists.
I'm reluctant to call Sam and Max a classic. It's brilliant as a comedy, and a fun world to be in. But the puzzle design is mind-numbingly bad at times. Then again, the puzzles are occasionally fun, and when everything's clicking, it's one of the best times you'll ever have. Probably deserves the label "flawed masterpiece". Day of the Tentacle? Had some issues with it, but on the whole, the puzzles were good, and the structure of the game was entertaining. I don't have a problem calling it a classic. But flawless or perfect? Hardly.
Looking back, I've had fairly major problems with a lot of graphic adventure games, with maybe only a couple of exceptions.
Personally I think Day of the Tentacle has some of the best-designed puzzles of any adventure game. You just have to have the right 'adventure game logic' mindset to solve them. Not that I'm impugning your puzzle-solving skills, but I myself loved DotT's puzzles...
Personally I think Day of the Tentacle has some of the best-designed puzzles of any adventure game. You just have to have the right 'adventure game logic' mindset to solve them. Not that I'm impugning your puzzle-solving skills, but I myself loved DotT's puzzles...
The majority of the puzzles, as far as I recall, were fine. But I do remember a fair number of them being unreasonably obtuse. I really should go back and replay the game so I can give you concrete examples. But I will say I played through a bit of Sam and Max tonight, and without getting terribly far into the game, I encountered five questionable design decisions. I'll share them if anybody's interested, or if they just want to call my bluff, but they're not terribly exciting in of themselves.
Remember having to wash that carriage so it would rain? I was unaware of the idea that it always rained right after you washed your car. Maybe it's a 90's thing.
You either don't own a car, or never washed it before because it's true: It ALWAYS rains after you wash it. It's bloody frustrating, and a reason why I don't wash my car often anymore. :mad:
You either don't own a car, or never washed it before because it's true: It ALWAYS rains after you wash it. It's bloody frustrating, and a reason why I don't wash my car often anymore. :mad:
--Erwin
That means if you don't own a car or don't regularly wash one, you can't figure out the solution to the puzzle. :rolleyes:
Perhaps it's worth mentioning that the game designers do throw you a clue for this one.
If Bernard goes outside, and looks at the car's windshield, it says 'Wash Me' on it. Bernard turns to the camera and informs us: "Some people think that washing one's vehicle, will make it rain."
So there you go, nice easy puzzle.
As much as I loved DOTT, I can't really see where the story would go to. But hey, I'd love to see it happen I guess.
I'm more interested in seeing some new ideas though, to be honest
'Sam and Max' works as infinte stories can be made up, just like a series of crime genre shows, if you know what I mean?
Well that's what I think anyway.
I know this topic is considered dead but after the announcement of a new monkey island game i felt compelled to bring this up.
What do you think of the possiblities of a day of the tentacle episodic series now that telltale and lucasarts are on good terms?
I feel greedy for asking this as the company has already brought back two of my other favourite p&c games, sam and max and monkey island, however this game has always been such a joy for me and is probably one of my biggest influences as a art student so the thought of maybe one day seeing telltale's intepretation of dot is mind-blowing to me.
Also... if they made it then the circle will be complete for Dave Grossman. Correct me if i'm wrong but isn't dot the last series dave grossman worked on for lucasarts that hasnt been been brought back?
Please forgive my geeky hunger, the upcoming monkey island game has just got me so excited about how other lucasart classics may not have to remain left to dust.
I was expecting DOTT to be the new series, not Monkey Island. I'd love it. Time travel, switchable characters. Though I wonder if what's his face from WKRP has retired. I don't know if I could stand all the 'bernard's voice is wrong' moaning.
I was expecting DOTT to be the new series, not Monkey Island. I'd love it. Time travel, switchable characters. Though I wonder if what's his face from WKRP has retired. I don't know if I could stand all the 'bernard's voice is wrong' moaning.
I could live with voice changes, telltale have a knack for finding great replacements or voices that give a different but faithful approach to the character.
Oh yeah, i was just thinking about it but is the guy who voices purple tentacle the same guy who voices murry or am i going nuts?
I still consider Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle to be my favourite graphic adventure games, so needless to say as soon as I heard the news about the new Monkey Island episodes, the first thing I though was that the door is now open for a return of the series.
So +1 vote for a series of episodes from Telltale Games. Make it happen, Telltale!
I won't miss a chance to add to this sentiment. Another MM/DotT game would probably put me into some kind of nostalgic coma. And with the recent news of the new MI series, I can't imagine this would be out of the question.
lf they do make a sequel, l think they should use a mixture of new and old chars. lt would make the series a sequel to BOTH of MM and D0TT rather than just the 2nd game and would prevent ppl from moaning how Bernard, Hoagie, and that crazy chick sounds diff.
I would also would want to see the game follows the patterns as the other game where it doesn't use a floatin timeline but uses our timeline
For instance, DOTT takes place 5 yrs after mm, which reflects how Day of the tentacle was released five yrs after the original game.
I do not think age would be a turnoff if TT goes with a realistic timeline since the characters in MM were pretty young and a ten year difference would make them still pretty young, abeit in their 30s'. Besides, TT can make new kids and have someone like Razor, be some washed up would still resides with his mom and dad, so a ten-fifthteen yr difference wouldn't affect him at all.
l would love to see a parallel universe plot since the time travel plotline was only used for the 2nd game. The parallel concept would make it different from the other games (if you ignore laverne's placement in an alternate future) yet have the same structure as part 2.
What would make a good story for Maniac Mansion 3? Personally, I'd like to see a new group of teenagers go to the Edison Mansion. With the exception of Bernard making one last return.
Because of the episodic nature in adventure titles made by Grossman and company, I would like to see each episode usin different kids as playable characters.
Day of the Tentacle is fairly a short game and most of the rooms are of the mansion.
I can imagine each episode with some invention or creation that fredd edison has concoted goin wrong where a different trio of kids has to fix
Imean, for instance, Bernard and two other kids can be in one episode whereas Dave or Hoagie with two other kids can be playable in the next.
We thought we’d ask Telltale Games CEO Dan Connors if any classic LucasArts franchises were likely to receive the episodic Telltale treatment with brand new games. Here’s what he said:
“We’ll see. It all depends on how it goes. Hopefully it works out for both companies and it just is a no brainer to keep adding the franchises on.”
When asked if Day of the Tentacle was feasible, Connors replied: “I would say feasible is a good word.”
“To me I always think of the big three as, and maybe it’s just because of when I was playing and when I was first starting at LucasArts, I always think of Sam & Max, Day of the Tentacle and Monkey Island as the big three franchises," Connors told us. "Having access to Steve and access to Dave Grossman and everything else… I really love Day of the Tentacle.
If that happens, cool. Unlike Sam&Max or Monkey, this series is about more than just a zany cast of main characters, however. It's all about distinctive concepts. In Maniac Mansion you play a team of "burglars" in a pseudo real-time environment in which characters appear to have a life of their own. And Dott sports the most fun implementation of time travelling in a video game like, ever. Those games couldn't have been any more different.
Probably an episodic nature could lend to another concept all by itself... and I'm not thinking bit-sized-sitcom-narrative-with-overarching-plotlines-for-each-season here. As said, this has never been just about characters.
I agree, story-wise the series could go anywhere, seeing how different MM and DOTT were.
First, let it be known; the announcement of DOTT being even just a possibility from Telltale was what made me decide that I would definitely pre-order Monkey Island and support the company as much as I can.
I personally would love to see a series that is faithful to DOTT. The mansion itself is a bit smaller and manageable - I'd love to see it recreated in 3D. I'd DEFINITELY love to see Bernard, Hoagie and Laverne all make a comeback together. Very quirky, very fun trio and with tons of personality, and I bet Telltale could do wonders developing on their personalities too. I bet the in-game music would also be great.
I know the whole thing with the voice actors could possibly be risky, but Telltale have done well in this department so far. So even if they can't find all the voice actors who originally did DOTT, they could probably find new ones. Heck, they could even make the characters sound intentionally different so long as the voices still suit them!
All in all, DOTT is really in the spirit of what Telltale is already producing. The right kind of humour, the right kind of personality, it's all there. Besides, I don't think we can trust any other company in the world to continue this great series!
I don't know if there's any talk of bringing Maniac Mansion back. There was talk half a year about bringing back Monkey Island before we knew about it. If there is, and it's a secret, I doubt that the Telltale staff are going to go, "Damn, they asked, now we must reveal our secret plans!"
Monkey Island really caught most gamers off guard. There was literally no clues before they announced about it just a few months back. The grumpy gamer was gloating about how good he could keep a secret back in May too. Geesh!
I don't know if there's any talk of bringing Maniac Mansion back. There was talk half a year about bringing back Monkey Island before we knew about it. If there is, and it's a secret, I doubt that the Telltale staff are going to go, "Damn, they asked, now we must reveal our secret plans!"
Actually, I think they were talking about Monkey Island since Rodriguez became president of LEC last April.
Anyway, I doubt there would a DOTT remake before they redo Maniac Mansion. It's not exactly a famous franchise. It would be interesting if Telltale get the rights and somehow tie the Maniac Mansion and Sam&Max games together.
Whether or not there will be remake or rights of DOTT or other adventure games under LA will remain at the discretion of LA. Unlike S&M, the other brands belong entirely to LA, and hence they have to make the call whether or not a remake is worth the effort.
I do wish that TTG will resume talks with LA about the rights to Sam & Max: Freelance Police, given the sudden revival of adventure games. It was a real pity a few years back when that project which was on schedule, was suddenly called off.
Comments
Actually, I think Day of the Tentacle is a pretty good example of great, well reasoned puzzles, at least in the context of "the old days". You're right in that they could be pretty wacky, but they were mostly logically wacky. They had a very cartoonish logic behind them, but it was a kind of logic nonetheless.
Compare Day of the Tentacle's puzzles to the puzzles in Sam & Max Hit the Road. I thought the Sam & Max puzzles were in general much more difficult because they were insane not just directly but in the reasoning behind them. I found myself using trial and error much more often in that game than I did in DOTT.
Obviously there were exceptions. DOTT had its fair share of quirks and Sam & Max had its gems. But I think the puzzle design is much stronger in DOTT. What made Sam & Max a classic to me were more the characters, the humor, the art style, the general wackiness (of the story), etc. I think that's mainly what made all the LucasArts adventures classics, and I think this emphasis on more superficial elements of the old adventure games resulted in a lot of the...er...less-than-good ones we tend to get nowadays.
The logic of some of the puzzles were downright bizarre. Remember having to wash that carriage so it would rain? I was unaware of the idea that it always rained right after you washed your car. Maybe it's a 90's thing. There were some other puzzles I have some issues with, one of them involved a cat I think, but I'd have to go back to it. I wish that the game had implemented a simple mechanic that automatically threw out any items that were no long of use when you flushed them through time.
Saying that Day of the Tentacle's puzzles were good by comparing them to Sam and Max is like suggesting getting punched in the stomach is pleasant because you aren't having your limbs decapitated. Granted, neither game was that bad, but though I had even more issues with Hit the Road's design, they didn't excuse those of Day of the Tentacle. But yeah, Sam and Max's puzzles were frequently really bizarre, and devoid of logic. Even devoid of the twisted, sub-logic of the game's protagonists.
I'm reluctant to call Sam and Max a classic. It's brilliant as a comedy, and a fun world to be in. But the puzzle design is mind-numbingly bad at times. Then again, the puzzles are occasionally fun, and when everything's clicking, it's one of the best times you'll ever have. Probably deserves the label "flawed masterpiece". Day of the Tentacle? Had some issues with it, but on the whole, the puzzles were good, and the structure of the game was entertaining. I don't have a problem calling it a classic. But flawless or perfect? Hardly.
Looking back, I've had fairly major problems with a lot of graphic adventure games, with maybe only a couple of exceptions.
The majority of the puzzles, as far as I recall, were fine. But I do remember a fair number of them being unreasonably obtuse. I really should go back and replay the game so I can give you concrete examples. But I will say I played through a bit of Sam and Max tonight, and without getting terribly far into the game, I encountered five questionable design decisions. I'll share them if anybody's interested, or if they just want to call my bluff, but they're not terribly exciting in of themselves.
You either don't own a car, or never washed it before because it's true: It ALWAYS rains after you wash it. It's bloody frustrating, and a reason why I don't wash my car often anymore. :mad:
--Erwin
True.
And if you were a hermit, and hardly ever went outside, you probably wouldn't be able to solve any puzzle at all
--Erwin
And who is the primary target audience for graphic adventure games? Socially withdrawn hermits, of course.
And for the record, I don't own a car.
What does a socially withdrawn hermit need a car for anway, huh?
--Erwin
If Bernard goes outside, and looks at the car's windshield, it says 'Wash Me' on it. Bernard turns to the camera and informs us: "Some people think that washing one's vehicle, will make it rain."
So there you go, nice easy puzzle.
Not necessarily. As gamers, we've also never had a day of exercise in our lives.
--Erwin
No love for the Alien Mindbenders?
--Erwin
Just you wait. Read Adventure Gamers sometime soon.
I'm more interested in seeing some new ideas though, to be honest
'Sam and Max' works as infinte stories can be made up, just like a series of crime genre shows, if you know what I mean?
Well that's what I think anyway.
What do you think of the possiblities of a day of the tentacle episodic series now that telltale and lucasarts are on good terms?
I feel greedy for asking this as the company has already brought back two of my other favourite p&c games, sam and max and monkey island, however this game has always been such a joy for me and is probably one of my biggest influences as a art student so the thought of maybe one day seeing telltale's intepretation of dot is mind-blowing to me.
Also... if they made it then the circle will be complete for Dave Grossman. Correct me if i'm wrong but isn't dot the last series dave grossman worked on for lucasarts that hasnt been been brought back?
Please forgive my geeky hunger, the upcoming monkey island game has just got me so excited about how other lucasart classics may not have to remain left to dust.
I could live with voice changes, telltale have a knack for finding great replacements or voices that give a different but faithful approach to the character.
Oh yeah, i was just thinking about it but is the guy who voices purple tentacle the same guy who voices murry or am i going nuts?
So +1 vote for a series of episodes from Telltale Games. Make it happen, Telltale!
I would hug Telltale if I could.
This seems like an appropriate time to quote Max from Abe Lincoln Must Die:
"Hug nothing! I'm getting to third base!"
I would also would want to see the game follows the patterns as the other game where it doesn't use a floatin timeline but uses our timeline
For instance, DOTT takes place 5 yrs after mm, which reflects how Day of the tentacle was released five yrs after the original game.
I do not think age would be a turnoff if TT goes with a realistic timeline since the characters in MM were pretty young and a ten year difference would make them still pretty young, abeit in their 30s'. Besides, TT can make new kids and have someone like Razor, be some washed up would still resides with his mom and dad, so a ten-fifthteen yr difference wouldn't affect him at all.
l would love to see a parallel universe plot since the time travel plotline was only used for the 2nd game. The parallel concept would make it different from the other games (if you ignore laverne's placement in an alternate future) yet have the same structure as part 2.
Day of the Tentacle is fairly a short game and most of the rooms are of the mansion.
I can imagine each episode with some invention or creation that fredd edison has concoted goin wrong where a different trio of kids has to fix
Imean, for instance, Bernard and two other kids can be in one episode whereas Dave or Hoagie with two other kids can be playable in the next.
If that happens, cool. Unlike Sam&Max or Monkey, this series is about more than just a zany cast of main characters, however. It's all about distinctive concepts. In Maniac Mansion you play a team of "burglars" in a pseudo real-time environment in which characters appear to have a life of their own. And Dott sports the most fun implementation of time travelling in a video game like, ever. Those games couldn't have been any more different.
Probably an episodic nature could lend to another concept all by itself... and I'm not thinking bit-sized-sitcom-narrative-with-overarching-plotlines-for-each-season here. As said, this has never been just about characters.
First, let it be known; the announcement of DOTT being even just a possibility from Telltale was what made me decide that I would definitely pre-order Monkey Island and support the company as much as I can.
I personally would love to see a series that is faithful to DOTT. The mansion itself is a bit smaller and manageable - I'd love to see it recreated in 3D. I'd DEFINITELY love to see Bernard, Hoagie and Laverne all make a comeback together. Very quirky, very fun trio and with tons of personality, and I bet Telltale could do wonders developing on their personalities too. I bet the in-game music would also be great.
I know the whole thing with the voice actors could possibly be risky, but Telltale have done well in this department so far. So even if they can't find all the voice actors who originally did DOTT, they could probably find new ones. Heck, they could even make the characters sound intentionally different so long as the voices still suit them!
All in all, DOTT is really in the spirit of what Telltale is already producing. The right kind of humour, the right kind of personality, it's all there. Besides, I don't think we can trust any other company in the world to continue this great series!
Actually, I think they were talking about Monkey Island since Rodriguez became president of LEC last April.
Haven't heard anything but fantalk though.
I do wish that TTG will resume talks with LA about the rights to Sam & Max: Freelance Police, given the sudden revival of adventure games. It was a real pity a few years back when that project which was on schedule, was suddenly called off.