Episodic game affects the gameplay?
I was wondering how does the episodic presentation affect the gameplay?
Does it stop there or what?
I'd like to see it work like this:
(Let the Sam & Max 1 be the guidance to following explanation)
Once you have spoken to Dougie it will unveil the Ball of Twine to the map. But it is locked (and unveiled now) since you don't have episode that unlocks it. Now the next episode allows you to go actually that place by unlocking the Ball of Twine to visit. But will you be able to still play (the areas already unlocked) even though you have not unlocked the next episode that allows you to enter Ball of Twine? Or how does it exactly work?
What i most definietly does not want to see is that it stops there and you can't wonder around the areas you have already unlocked by getting the episode.
It would be more fullfilling to be able to wonder around already unveiled and unlocked places as waiting for the next episode. Perhaps even unveil more locked places if possible. Since there is possibility that there is more to do in the area you have already unlocked. Like loosen the screw below the big fish
...or drive to Snuckey's and fetch the bathroom key.
I hope there are telltale developers around, or this thread is rather useless.
Does it stop there or what?
I'd like to see it work like this:
(Let the Sam & Max 1 be the guidance to following explanation)
Once you have spoken to Dougie it will unveil the Ball of Twine to the map. But it is locked (and unveiled now) since you don't have episode that unlocks it. Now the next episode allows you to go actually that place by unlocking the Ball of Twine to visit. But will you be able to still play (the areas already unlocked) even though you have not unlocked the next episode that allows you to enter Ball of Twine? Or how does it exactly work?
What i most definietly does not want to see is that it stops there and you can't wonder around the areas you have already unlocked by getting the episode.
It would be more fullfilling to be able to wonder around already unveiled and unlocked places as waiting for the next episode. Perhaps even unveil more locked places if possible. Since there is possibility that there is more to do in the area you have already unlocked. Like loosen the screw below the big fish
...or drive to Snuckey's and fetch the bathroom key.I hope there are telltale developers around, or this thread is rather useless.
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Each epsiode will be its own "game" - you won't specifically need to have downloaded episodes 1 and 2 to run episode 3 - but obviously some locations will appear in multiple episodes (an obvious example: Sam & Max's office).
It isn't like the Bone episodes which are part of one single long story which is split into smaller pieces (or to use your example, it's not like suddenly getting the Ball of Twine on your map but not being able to go there and instead getting a "To be Continued" message when you click there or something). Each Sam & Max episode is its own fully contained story... That it happens to be related to a much larger season-wide story is a nice benefit in the long term, but the cases are being written to work on both levels.
Hopefully that makes sense?
For example, episode 2 would be located in:
Sam & Max Season One\Pack\data\episode2\
In the case of the season one CD/DVD release, this would definitely be ideal. The installation program could be tailored to install the complete season of episodes. Installing 24 episodes separately would be a nightmare.
Of course, I'm not familiar with the Telltale Tool, so for all that I know, this may very well not even be possible.
There was a chicken coop with a golden egg, a long deserted highway, a rich guy's mansion on a high-level skyscraper where Mr. and Ms. Chicken lived. (They weren't getting on with one another; something to do with wanting to have eggs or not). Also a short little rich man lived there. He had just taken a shower and Max had to pickpocket his wallet from his towel pocket. That's all I can remember from the dream, but it was flippen' awesome. In the dream I thought; "I hope I'm not dreaming this, I'll tell the guys at Telltale how cool their game was". Then I woke up, and I was sad.
Anyway, the game flowed really nicely and they managed to pack a lot in 2 hours. I spent more than that time figuring out the puzzles. Also in my dream, a sexy lady came up to me in the mansion and held my crotch, but I don't think that'd be included in the release. It was AWESOME!
Mike
www.bruandboegie.co.za
That's a bit what I was afraid of.
I'm not sure, but since you can play each episode as its own, the gameplay world will be significantly smaller. That's what I am afraid of. It will be like one big pipe where you can go only forward. You can't have like all the places on the map and travel from place to place like in Sam & Max 1.
I actually liked the idea that each episode would make the world bigger, like in Sam & Max 1 by playing you unveiled more places still been able to go to places you were before, and there were still things in the old places to do.
It could very well work like this:
Each season is own game, and each episode is chunk of that game.
It's really too early for us to say how this is all going to work. It's still being figured out. But we can say that each episode will be self-contained -- it won't be necessary to play episode 1 before you can play episode 2. We're not talking about one big story broken up into chapters that you have to play in order. Think of it like a sitcom... Friends comes to mind. A season would have a background story (like Ross and Rachel's relationship) but each episode stands alone.
And before anyone jumps on that -- no, I'm not saying Sam & Max will be like a Friends episode.
I don't like Friends! Make it more like 24.
edit: No wait. I'm just kidding. I like 24, but it's completely the opposite of what you're doing. Proceed!
Also, on the topic of Sam & Max being like a Friends episode - http://www.telltalegames.com/forum/viewthread?thread=669
I am curious about this too.
Since these are all self-contained games, I may very well be interested in the plot of one but not another, not to mention the cost of purchasing every episode. Thus, I may only purchase episodes 1, 4, and 7, for example. My question, will this work? Are these all going to be self-contained add-on packs, or will the previous packs be required in order to play each of the newest episodes?
Thank you.
I agree with Allen, having an entry in Add/Remove for every single episode would be a bit odd, expecially if there are 12-24 episodes. Although, I have no idea if these are the intentions.
It would be nice if there was a single install utility that handled the install/uninstall of all of the TTG products, or at least the S&M episodes. Much like Sierra's utility that managed all of it's products.
I'm not too fond of Steam, but it gets the job done. It's worth mentioning that with the first Bone game, one had to re-download and re-install the entire game to get an update. There needs to be an easier way to get updates. Given the number of episodes that will soon be available, this is especially critical. As meelWORM said, a program similar to Sierra's SIGSPAT would be ideal.
It's new, it's fresh, it's the next logical step - I think it's a great idea.
(When do I get my free t-shirt? Jokes.)
They should do an episode in space like that "other" game that was going to be made.
An episode based around a road trip would be awesome too. A throw back to Hit the Road. Tacky tourist traps etc. It's what they do best.
Oh and I think it would be great if you throw in some indirect lucas arts jokes.