I've got a BIT of an idea guys. Lets huddle up.

Unknown

Oh also I haven't posted here since this place first opened. How’s everyone doing?

Alright so I'm just the usual grew-up-on 2d Adventure games Sam and Max was my favorite blah blah. The only thing that lessens my excitement is that its in 3d, and if Jar Jar Binks taught us anything, its that 3d has a way of raping your childhood. I'm sure this has been debated but I just think it'd be awesome if they did one of the chapters in old fashioned SCUMM 2d just like the old game. It'd be really bizarre and amazing to see the characters in new locations and such. And also, it seems to me it'd be really easy. There's a website and some software these people made for this exact purpose http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/

I mean I'm not saying the 3d will be bad, but since we're doing a bit of a throwback with this whole thing I'd love to see some classic Sam and Max, as if they made a sequel the next year or something. What do you think?

Also! If anyone else is interested in dong a project on that software and making our own 2d game, maybe even a big forum project (the software isn't that hard and a collaborative effort could yield impressive results).

Unknown

I would be amused if the new Sam and Max did perhaps one scene in 2D, part as an homage and part as a joke, perhaps in the same sort of way that the original Sam and Max did a scene in 3D just for fun.


Also, not to start a debate, but perhaps just to play devil's advocate, it wasn't the CG that ruined the Star Wars prequels, it was the writing. No amount of graphical flair makes up for crappy writing.
The good news for us is that, as far as I can tell, the writing in this new Sam & Max seems to be great. Also pleasant is the fact that while they've moved to 3D, they haven't overdone it to the point where it's obnoxious.

Heatherlee

Also! If anyone else is interested in dong a project on that software and making our own 2d game, maybe even a big forum project (the software isn't that hard and a collaborative effort could yield impressive results).

If you folks get together and make a game, Dave Grossman and I will play it. I might be able to force Brendan and Greg to play it too, but they aren't within easy asking distance of me and we have all been chained to our desks for the time being.

We reserve the right to wait for a break in the production schedule though. Depending on when you get it done, of course.

Haggis

If there's going to be a game, I'll be willing to write dialogue or whatever. I like writing. I may not be very good at it, but I like writing.

Unknown

We'd need.

1) Writers. I write for a living and have a concept to pitch if this gets going but I'd like it to be really community-level involvment and everyone gets a voice.
2) Artists. Anyone who can draw.
3) Technical people. The software is not hard to use but it'd be good to have someone master it that and manage everything on that side.

Unknown

People have started 2d Sam and MAx fan games since forever.
3d looks beautiful

Unknown

Actually, I guess I didn't mention this but I would suggest that a community project not be a Sam and Max game but just a 2d point and click of our own invention.

Unknown

I would be happy to contribute character concept art if this is going to be a completley original project. I'm also a fairly talented writer.

I've actually had an idea for a point and click adventure game idea in mind for a while, I'll post to some character sketches later.

Unknown

My concept is this.

Title: The Ends of the Earth

The setting is an alternate history where the Roman, Egyptian, Native American and other civilizations survived up into the 21st century. So there are robots and technology but infused with the cultures of those empires.

So there's this civilization of people that discovers something called "Group Mind" and they've got this collective consciousness thing going on that enables them to do magic stuff and create this perfect society. Meanwhile the big empires are getting nuclear technology and there’s a bit of a cold war arms race. Both sides are scared that the other will use the Group Mind people to make a shield and bomb the other so they make a treaty to disband the city and spread them all out far enough so that their powers will be extremely limited. The group mind race live longer than humans so they agree, knowing that the empires will eventually bomb each other off the face of the earth. Before leaving they bury stones underground in a circle around the city and when a group-mind man stands above each one they can bring the city back to how it was exactly before they were removed. The city has become such a home to these people that it is a conductor for their energy and mind power.

The story begins in Rome with a lonely young boy who befriends a lonely elderly man. When his life is put in mortal danger, the old man uses his powers to save him and it is revealed that he is part of the group mind. At this point the cold war has heated up. Before the group mind people thought little of humans but the friendship between the old man and the young boy convinces them to travel throughout the world finding other group mind people, trying to acquire enough to reactive the city and make a shield that will protect both empires and avoid the apocalypse. But the empires catch wind of this and set their goons on them. As their group grows so do their powers and the confrontations between empires and the band of travelers escalate. As the bombs begin to fall it’s a race against time to return to the city and activate the stones to save the earth.

What do you guys think? Not exactly the typical point and click but it could be done and I think it'd be awesome.

I have a friend who wants to write the music and he's a pro-piano player so it'd be sweet ambience stuff. Also I took an animation class at USC so I have working knowledge of that, I just can't draw very well.

To all who are interested my email is kgsulliva@gmail.com and my AIM is leadzaplin.

Pvt._Public

Well, I have stuff all experience with any of this sort of thing, but I would REALLY like to help. I have a copy of AGS but have never bothered attempting to use it, but I'd certainly like to try. I am lead to believe by other people that I can write fairly well (although whether they're to be believed is another thing...). To be honest, I've wanted to try making my own game for a while now. Lack of experience has stopped me though.

I have a friend who can do some quite nice looking sprites as well so if'n anyone wants to actually go ahead and try this, I'm game. By they way Mr. kgsullivan, are you sure that's your real email address? It's missing an "n" on the end of the "sullivan" so I'm not sure. Plus, having it sitting here in the middle of a forum makes it a big ol' target for spammers.

Unknown

Definitely count me in too! - I suck at graphics and I've never designed a game, but I work as a programmer (Java & C# unfortunately), so maybe Pvt._Public and I (or if Pvt._Public is involved with game design maybe Withnail & I? or just little 'ol I) could geek it up and see if we can't figure out this ADS stuff.

Anyone able to compose a few tunes?
Can ADS handle speech???

If you like I can download ADS and have a poke around this weekend (or next weekend if I'm dragged out house hunting this weekend) - Put together a small sample demo with what I've figured out, see what you guys think? :@)

Unknown

The software is pretty easy and its interfaced so it shouldn't be too hard. I think it can do voices, but I'm not sure. My friend could write us a music but it's going to take a bit. You could just pipe in anything for now though.

Unknown

I would like to help as a writer perhaps on a project, I don't have any previous experience, but it could be cool

anyway, I think the "Ends of the earth" concept is a bit confusing, but maybe it's just me

Unknown

Yeah I wrote that in a bit of a hurry. The title is also a play on words since they're travelling across the whole earth in order to prevent the end of it. You can ask questions if you want but otherwise I'll write it up more clearly in the opening post of the official thread which I'll make in a bit.

Unknown

This is a quick set of sketches I did in about 5 minutes. This obviously is not inspired by the earlier script idea, but if anyone takes a liking to one of the characters presented, we could create an idea out of them.

Unknown

...you did that in 5 minutes? =O...these are actually pretty great

I can't really picture any of 'em as like the main character, but they could definitely work as characters you meet along the way...again just my opinion

Unknown

I would really love for the smoking dog to be a sidekick, or something. That character has been in my mind for a while and I'd like to use her in an adventure game.

That being said, we haven't even decided on a story, mood, level of realism, or anything yet... so I'll just wait with my fingers crossed.

Unknown

Can ADS handle speech????

AGS can definitely handle speech. Speech is treated differently to normal sound effects - if I recall correctly, when a game is made with speech, its speech vile (a .vox file) is optional, which means it can be downloaded seperately.

Unknown

Is there any reason for going with AGS over say SLUDGE or Agast or WinterMute?

I've not used Adventure Creation Software before, so I've just been browsing around - WinterMute seems the most fully featured (it allows 3D rendered Characters on 2D backgrounds for example), but doesn’t seem to have the same community spirit setup around it? Does anyone know which would be the better choice for our needs? - Or for a basic Adventure game are they all much of a muchness and not worth worrying about?

Unknown

Ooh- Also, maybe we Could throw together a small 4-5 screen demo first (maybe the first 4-5 screens of the full title, or just a quick minigame) - Just so we can see how the storyline, graphics, puzzles go together with the gameplay?- Just saving jumping in too deep from the start?

Unknown

Guys, I have a confession to make.

There was a 2d Sam and Max fangame in development for 2 years. I was a writer. It was scrapped back in, hmm, March maybe.

Do you know why? It's because it sounds so great at the start, and everyone's going OO A FANGAME I WOULD LIKE TO WRITE AND STUFF and drawing sketches and it's great fun. Unfortunately, two, three months later and you have a skeleton crew of people who actually want to make the game. Fast forward a year and you hvae maybe four or five people actually working. Games have been made like that, but real life eventually overtakes development.

I'm not trying to be a party pooper. I think that making a fangame would be great. However, if you want to, there's already a pretty nice start up for grabs over at http://www.penguinbros.com/flintlocked/ . If you really really care, send the Penguinbros.com admins an email and maybe you can get the ball rolling again (all the stuff is in a locked Developers section of the forum, so you'll need to grab permission).

It was a pretty good start, with a lot of backend in SLUDGE (vastly superior to AGS) running and an okay script penned out (it was for a "trilogy" of three short games, but they were really one game split into three parts). What we really needed was artists, and sadly the ones we had buggered off. I'm an okay artist, but don't have the time or skill to really pull it off. We almost had a 4 screen demo running, but needed the sprite art finished.

Edit: Operators are standing by. If you register on the Flintlocked forums, an admin will get an email alerting them to the new activity (and they'll activate your account. Isn't that nice?).




Of course, this would require that you guys wanted to make a Sam and Max game, instead of an original one. Hey, if you want to work on an original adventure, I'm sure that Twisted Mind Games could use new people, if not for Day of the Aliens then for that other project they're talking about.

Unknown

Do you know why? It's because it sounds so great at the start, and everyone's going OO A FANGAME I WOULD LIKE TO WRITE AND STUFF and drawing sketches and it's great fun. Unfortunately, two, three months later and you have a skeleton crew of people who actually want to make the game. Fast forward a year and you hvae maybe four or five people actually working. Games have been made like that, but real life eventually overtakes development.

Thats cool man - This is why I figured starting with building a mini-adventure wouldn't be a bad idea - it would mean everyone could get an idea of how much work would be involved (especially for the graphics guys) - in case they realized it would take up more time than they had to offer - let people play about with tweaking and fine-tuning a smaller title - even figure out how we can coherently pull something together with everyones different lifestyles.

Starting off by making an epic title can be a little overwhelming, and once you hit a road-block - someone decides they don't have enough time available to finish XXX - it can easily fall apart.

But having said all that - Home-Brew titles do still get made, theres millions of the buggers all over the net - We get the design, we get the graphics & were there (I don't have a problem putting it all together) - Once people see the thing in motion it adds a lot of motivation to add the spit & polish.

Unknown

We could also follow the trend and make it episodic. Instant gratification!

Unknown

Well, there's a bit of a push to get Flintlocked (the fangame I was talking about) started up again. If there's any interest from the forum, head on over the Flintlocked.com and sign up for the forums!

Unknown

If it helps, I'm a voice actor, doing mostly deep voices.

I've been in several projects, like a Warcraft III mod (as a drunken dwarf), a voice over for a game's tutorial, and currently I am working on a Halo Action/Adventure machinima (as Fix, leader of four Spartans), and a The Movies machinima (as Donovan, a crimeboss).

Unknown

I wish you guys the best of luck, and I will be AMAZED, ASTOUNDED and literally FLABBERGASTED if you even create more than 5 minutes of a playable game. I WILL BE COMPLETELY FLIPPEN THROWN BACK if you do that! PROVE ME WRONG! I WANT YOU TO! (But I somehow KNOW you won't. But that doesn't mean I don't want you to prove me wrong.)

No, no...if you create a walk-cycle for either SAM OR MAX, I will be completely BLOWN AWAY. I BET YOU CAN'T! (Please prove me wrong. taunt, taunt)

Heatherlee

Thats cool man - This is why I figured starting with building a mini-adventure wouldn't be a bad idea - it would mean everyone could get an idea of how much work would be involved (especially for the graphics guys) - in case they realized it would take up more time than they had to offer - let people play about with tweaking and fine-tuning a smaller title - even figure out how we can coherently pull something together with everyones different lifestyles.

I completely agree with Mr./Ms. Ironcladchicken. Making a game is quite a bit of work, especially if you are making one on your own or with a very small group. I would reccomend you start small and take little bites. And don't be afraid to cut things out of your grand scheme if they seem unfeasible.

I scrapped three different ideas for my thesis project before I settled on one that was actually doable. Even then I had to carve bits of it away on a daily basis so that the project would actually progress. But I wound up with something I am still proud of (ok, its not done but I will finish it some day. I like it anyway.)

I would reccomend you press forward but first plan as much as you possibly can on paper. And I think Ironcladchicken has something. Why not start by creating something that is more like a "prologue" or opening chapter of the game? This way you can see if you are heading in the direction you want to be heading in before you jump all the way in.

Unknown

God, it'd be nice to do that. Shame we never got any competent animators who could stay around

And just for the record, I could create a pretty good Sam walk cycle, except I can't draw Sam. The point is I could make a walk cycle if I wanted.

Unknown

Here's an expample of art for Flintlocked: http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/whoutsidecolor.jpg I believe we still have access to the color artist, but need somebody for line art for backgrounds. Animators are the main thing missing. I think we still have a couple programmers for SLUDGE, and a good composer for music. I think we decided voice acting would probably be too poor in quality to mess with.

Unknown

That's a flippen good picture

Unknown

That's a flippen good picture

I agree, and we don't really need an amazingly awesome animator. We need someone that can do walking and talking animation and that's about it, which really could be anybody. Even somebody that could take the old HTR sprites (which we have access to), and just raise the resolution, re-color, and tweak them to make them our own, which is legal enough for me. Our cutscenes are going to be comic book panels, so we just need someone that can do good stills. If you can do comic book stills, than you can probably do backgrounds, though it would be nice to have more than one artist. There is one promising prospect I'm in contact with right now as far as an artist goes, we'll see how he turns out.

Edit: And since we have a color artsit (I think), you wouldn't even have to color the comic panels or backgrounds.

Edit the second time: We have an animator for secondary sprites, who was doing a pleasingly average job as well, but haven't seen him for a while, but he just about started the project, so he's probably still around.

Unknown

You'll be pleased to know I have done all the research work for the next episode. I have absolute faith that this next installment with blaze the way for episodic content, and no doubt more game developers will follow suit.

Brand new image sneek-peek! WOOT!

Unknown

You'll be pleased to know I have done all the research work for the next episode. I have absolute faith that this next installment with blaze the way for episodic content, and no doubt more game developers will follow suit.

So are you going to come back and work on Flintlocked or not?

Unknown

No.

I would work with the TELLTALE team, though. They're getting paid (maybe they are) and they're all doing it seriously...not trying to figure out if they'll manage to get another background done in the next 2 weeks, because the animator's got a homework assignment to do for tomorrow, and the colourist has to go wait on tables that night.

Don't get me wrong; fangames are a noble cause...but it ends there.

Unknown

No.

I would work with the TELLTALE team, though. They're getting paid (maybe they are) and they're all doing it seriously...not trying to figure out if they'll manage to get another background done in the next 2 weeks, because the animator's got a homework assignment to do for tomorrow, and the colourist has to go wait on tables that night.

Don't get me wrong; fangames are a noble cause...but it ends there.

I only help because it requires very little of my time and almost nothing to do but tell people what to do. If I had to actually do art or something for it I would have given up already.

Unknown

After extensive market research and rough draft after rough draft, I am ready to uncover the third act in this Sam & Max double trilogy:

Unknown

That's a flippen good picture

Swish! I wonder why you like it so much

To be honest, I'm not too worried if we can't get any new artists for Flintlocked. I echo Mike's (or Mikdog's) feelings that fangames are a noble cause, but hey, sometimes they just don't work out.

If we can get artists, though, then it's bloody brilliant

Unknown

The next installment is ready.

Hey, are you guys programming these into games? You better be. Otherwise all this work is for nothing.

Unknown

If we can get artists, though, then it's bloody brilliant

Getting the artists is going to be the deal breaker here - Since graphic adventures are a little graphics lead, it's going to be tough putting together something fun using stickmen and backgrounds jotted onto a notepad.... (actually, maybe that could work for a minigame?)

I'd do it myself, but I'm so naff at art I have trouble making Speccy graphics workable! (

Warning! – Pictures may cause freak-outs, unexpected bouts of kung-fu and the desire to perm without prejudice

Unknown

The next installment is ready.

Hey, are you guys programming these into games? You better be. Otherwise all this work is for nothing.

Cool pics man! But, what are supposed to be programming here?!? - I'm confused and scared!

Unknown

Hey?! Where are the producers?! GUYS! IronCladChicken isn't sure of his task! How is he supposed to work!

Okay, script-writers! You take the concepts illustrated above, create a mini-story, and be sure to include Who, What, When, Where, How and Why? The producers decide what material needs to be created, and then the programmers start putting code together and keep telling the producers to tell the artists to create the stuff for them to program.

Easy. Okay, let's go, 1, 2, 3!

Awaiting your responses. When do I get paid?