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Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

pfafferpfaffer
edited December 2007 in General Chat
I just had a child 4 weeks ago, so in the middle of the night while he's crying, I think about the strangest things. Well I was wondering to myself what the next great series telltale will make will be and it got me thinking. Who owns the commercial rights to develop a Hitchhikers game? Anyone know or have insight if they are they still with Douglas Adams' family?

Comments

  • LuigiHannLuigiHann
    edited November 2007
    Not sure who owns the rights, but the BBC (or perhaps, more specifically, BBC Radio 4) seems to have used them most recently, with the audio drama adaptations of the 3rd through 5th book, and the online flash version of the original text adventure. They seem to have released the later radio episodes even after the film came out, so my guess is that they'd be the current rights-holders, and if not, they at least know who to call.
  • jmmjmm
    edited November 2007
    The answer is 42!
    What was the question?
  • fajerkaosfajerkaos
    edited November 2007
    LuigiHann wrote: »
    Not sure who owns the rights, but the BBC (or perhaps, more specifically, BBC Radio 4) seems to have used them most recently, with the audio drama adaptations of the 3rd through 5th book, and the online flash version of the original text adventure. They seem to have released the later radio episodes even after the film came out, so my guess is that they'd be the current rights-holders, and if not, they at least know who to call.

    I think I saw something somewhere about the text-adventure being an actual "freeware" game, in the same sense as Beneath a Steel Sky or Flight of the Amazon Queen.
    And I don't think BBC necessarily holds the rights to making games, just because they did the radio show. But I might be wrong.

    Anyway, I would love to see a HGttG game being made by Telltale, I think it might be just the right kind of license for them. It got the right "episodic" feel, and I think the brilliant minds at telltale might be able to master the humor.
    To bad Douglas Adams himself isn't with us anymore.
  • taumeltaumel
    edited November 2007
    I still think that the 42 is based on the temperature in degrees the water in a good bath should have. After this you feel much more relaxed and this way it solves a lot of problems and so is the answer. Obviously i came to this whilst taking a bath...
  • MaratanosMaratanos
    edited November 2007
    ...

    See, I don't.


    That's pretty hot. 5 degrees celsius hotter than body temperature.


    ....

    That is, I hope you mean celsius.

    Kelvin would be deadly, and although you wouldn't get frostbite from fahrenheit, you might not like it anyway.

    Let's not even talk about Rømer and the rest. Fun fact, though. Delisle counts down.
  • taumeltaumel
    edited November 2007
    Yep celsius of course, otherwise it would be pretty cold. Actually it's not this hot if you're taking into account that you initially start with a lower temperature and after you got used to it add some more hot water but it certainly depends on your personal taste as well - do you enjoy sauna or not. Wimps stay with the body temperature...
  • Guybrush ThreepwoodGuybrush Threepwood
    edited November 2007
    Am I the only one who thought of Mario Galaxy when reading the thread title?
    Thought so.
  • WaterbottleWaterbottle
    edited December 2007
    I'd love a hgttg game by telltale, it's such a magnificent movie (never read the book, as I don't really care that much for books)!

    As for the number 42, it obviously represents the temperature which water boils at under barometric pressure of -26.455 inches of Mercury.
  • LuigiHannLuigiHann
    edited December 2007
    Guybrush Threepwood wrote: »
    Am I the only one who thought of Mario Galaxy when reading the thread title?

    *dies*
    Waterbottle wrote: »
    I'd love a hgttg game by telltale, it's such a magnificent movie (never read the book, as I don't really care that much for books)!

    *Rolls over*
  • Guybrush ThreepwoodGuybrush Threepwood
    edited December 2007
    No, no! Obviously I knew what it was going to be about (not Mario Galaxy), it just made me think of it. :D
  • TrogLlamaTrogLlama
    edited December 2007
    Waterbottle wrote: »
    I'd love a hgttg game by telltale, it's such a magnificent movie (never read the book, as I don't really care that much for books)!

    As for the number 42, it obviously represents the temperature which water boils at under barometric pressure of -26.455 inches of Mercury.
    Reading is good for you. It opens worlds and lets you skip over the paragraphs that begin with "They looked like..." and just fill in character's own looks.
    Plus, there's no commercials.
    Anyways, you really should read the books. Adams is easily my favorite author, with Pratchett trailing a bit below, and the H2G2 books are amazing.
  • BadwolfBadwolf
    edited December 2007
    TrogLlama wrote: »
    Reading is good for you. It opens worlds and lets you skip over the paragraphs that begin with "They looked like..." and just fill in character's own looks.

    Very true.

    This is why I love any of Pratchett's work much more than Rowling's (used to be a Harry Potter fan, but now I've not even read the last book, I got so bored of the series).

    Pratchett only gives you the minor details, like Teatime has a glass eye, or Rincewind's hat shows he's just as lousy at spelling as he is with spells. He doesn't tell you what colour everyone's hair is, what colour shoes they're wearing, whether they chose boxers or briefs this morning, or the exact geolocation of each and every one of a character's freckles at any one time.
    He focuses more on giving characters a personality by the way they talk and act, not what they look like, and that's why any one of his characters are infinitely better than anything I've seen from JK Rowling.

    And if JK Rowling had written The Thief of Time, I'm sure the major plot point would be spoilt from the offset (unless she managed to somehow hide it, in which case it'd be blatantly obvious she was omitting something).


    H2G2; not watched the series, the films, the radio series, or the books, I'm afraid =/. I will one day, though, I promise =P. I played a bit of the text adventure on the BBC site, does that count?
  • Murray the ChaoMurray the Chao
    edited December 2007
    Am I the only one who thought of Mario Galaxy when reading the thread title?
    Thought so.
    I actually though of Starship Titanic.
  • evilguy12evilguy12
    edited December 2007
    Read 4/5 books. The series gets gradually worse from Excellent to Good but confusing. I liked the movie...before I read the books and heard the TV series that it is...
  • MaratanosMaratanos
    edited December 2007
    I will personally and eternally hate anyone who hates the movie for not being enough like the books.

    Why?

    Because Adams wrote the script. HE knows how to turn a book into a movie. Here's a hint: change stuff up.
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited December 2007
    That doesn't mean the film itself was made well. A good script doesn't equal a good movie, it just helps. Also Adams' script seemed pretty up and down if what was up on screen is really exactly what he wrote. (Note that it isn't exactly what he wrote, because they brought in another screenwriter to take a pass on the script before shooting.) Also it's clear that that movie was trimmed to all hell in the editing room. You can tell because they cut out all the jokes.
  • LuigiHannLuigiHann
    edited December 2007
    Yeah, the problem with the movie isn't that it's "different from the book." The problem is that it's "not as good as the book." Even more specifically, it's "not as funny as the book."

    I think the movie is all right, but I think that if you enjoyed the movie, you owe it to yourself to at least read the first book. If you avoid it because you "don't really like books" the you're not just missing out on a great comedy, you're missing out on... a big chunk of human culture O_o
  • RabidZombieRabidZombie
    edited December 2007
    Murray the Chao wrote: »
    I actually though of Starship Titanic.

    Did you know, you can get the whole Starship Titanic book on the website. For free.


    Talking of H2G2, I got the radio Series on CD and the first disc was FAULTY! Can't listen until I get a replacement. :mad:

    Of course, I've read the book and watched the TV series. The film was mediocre. Not a great as the other mediums. I LOVE the text adventure! Not read the screenplay script.

    I'm trying to think how the H2G2 game would go... It'd be pretty difficult to pull it off right. And you'd need to get good writers to make sure it feels right. If there was a game, the Guide would defiantly have to be usable ('USE' the guide on objects in game?). Can't miss those hilarious extracts of text.
  • SoupSoup
    edited December 2007
    Jake wrote: »
    You can tell because they cut out all the jokes.
    Oh come on, you have to admit that seeing Mos Def approach a speeding car with his giant grin and flowers was at least chuckle-worthy.

    I think the film did okay for what was an impossible task to begin wtih. So much of the humor of the book was in the descriptive narration, which doesn't lend itself to tight plot development. The book interludes were funny (if only because they parroted the book almost verbatum), but they completely messed with the momentum of the film.

    ANYWAY, H2G2 as a game would be quite an undertaking, and perhaps not cost-effective in the long run.

    now, a Doctor Who game...
  • pfafferpfaffer
    edited December 2007
    I like Mos Def and thought the movie was pretty funny considering how unfilmable a lot of the book is IMO.
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