Unconditional Support Thread
With all the negativity surrounding the specifics of the new Monkey Island series it's really brought down the whole excitement factor that there's actually a new Monkey Island title coming out. One that may spark life once again into the old friend that is adventure like it did 20 years ago. TTG and other groups have made plenty of great adventure titles recently but this is the first time I've dared to believe one might actually change the way the adventure genre looks in the eyes of the entire gaming community (and for the better). So in that light TTG has quite a burden on their shoulders to succeed. Not only for the things I've mentioned already but to live up to the expectations of everybody's vision of what Monkey Island is. Something I don't personally think TTG will have a problem with seeing as most of them worked on the previous games themselves.
I've been on the fence for a while now regarding the direction TMI was heading control-wise. I'm happy to finally say that I'm 100% looking forward to the new style! Sure point and click was fine for the 90s and even engaging at the time. But it isn't anymore. People don't want to stare at static fixed camera angled backgrounds anymore, which is all P&C is good for. A more immersive full dynamic range movable camera angle 3D world (as opposed to rooms) is just more appealing. Even to me, a LONG-TIME P&C fanatic. I'm captivated by the possibilities of such an adventure both gameplay and story-wise as well as commercial success-wise. And for such a 3D world I realize that you really do need movement controls other than a simple "walk to this point" mouse interface. And for the first time I don't see it as a step backwards! It's probably something that was attempted 10-12 years ago with games like Grim Fandango, MI4, Star Trek Hidden Evil, and even KQ8 to a degree. But for some reason or another they just couldn't get it right. Maybe because it was too ahead of its time? Either way things really do need to evolve if you want to continue to captivate the masses with your genre (if you want that genre to survive, which we now have a genuine second chance at now!). And I want adventures to succeed again.
And it's not like it hasn't happened before. Text adventures used to be the "in" thing. Then Sierra evolved them to "3D" graphic adventures. LucasArts saw the potential and evolved it further to point & click which lasted for ages! And just like now there were people then (some still even today!) who were against the change because they thought the parser was more interesting and with more ability. But the fact was that everybody wanted to point and click beause it was faster and easier allowing a broader audience to get in on the great genre that is adventure! Imagine if everything stayed with a parser interface and never did switch to P&C. Adventures would have stopped short at games like King's Quest III. And that's why I personally feel adventures died to begin with. It stayed P&C for too long while other games like FPSs were getting far more interesting with their enhancements. Now adventures really need to evolve again in order to succeed. And that's not a sell-out. They can still be very interesting and fun stories with thought-provoking puzzles as TTG has proven with all their games.
Of course if you want to stay stuck in your ways and demand your static camera-angled P&C background adventures you can, but it'll just kill the genre AgaIN. And that's not what anybody wants. It's never going to be like it was anymore than text adventures ever could flurish again. But adventures can still survive. And now that we have a tangible second chance I really don't want to blow it. If P&C never would have overtaken parsers we'd never even have Monkey Island to begin with. Or any of the other genious adventures over the course of the 90s. What else would we possibly miss out on due to another adventure death just because we wanted to keep our P&C interface the way we've always known it? I'd rather have adventures dominate the market again. And they can. Adventures used to be the games showcasing all the latest visual and audio enhancements. King's Quest IV was the first game to support sound blaster and MT-32 music support. King's Quest 5 I think was the first game with a full vocal cast and also the first multimedia CD-ROM game (and even if it wasn't, it was perfected with King's Quest 6). Adventures were always the innovators showcasing the next best thing. They didn't have to but they did because they were the best there was. After adventures died that rite shifted to the FPSs mostly by showcasing the newest graphics cards with the latest shader technologies.
My point in all this is I personally see the need for change for adventures to get to the top again. And I'm willing to accept change just as much as people were willing to abandon the parser years ago.
So, that was more than I planned on saying, but to sum up. This is a thread for those who full support TTG in the direction they're taking with TMI and the rest of their games. Be it control-wise, graphic style-wise, lack of Earl Boen as LeChuck-wise if they can't get him, etc. If you support them 100% in all of this sound off! Anybody who doesn't, well, this isn't your thread...
I've been on the fence for a while now regarding the direction TMI was heading control-wise. I'm happy to finally say that I'm 100% looking forward to the new style! Sure point and click was fine for the 90s and even engaging at the time. But it isn't anymore. People don't want to stare at static fixed camera angled backgrounds anymore, which is all P&C is good for. A more immersive full dynamic range movable camera angle 3D world (as opposed to rooms) is just more appealing. Even to me, a LONG-TIME P&C fanatic. I'm captivated by the possibilities of such an adventure both gameplay and story-wise as well as commercial success-wise. And for such a 3D world I realize that you really do need movement controls other than a simple "walk to this point" mouse interface. And for the first time I don't see it as a step backwards! It's probably something that was attempted 10-12 years ago with games like Grim Fandango, MI4, Star Trek Hidden Evil, and even KQ8 to a degree. But for some reason or another they just couldn't get it right. Maybe because it was too ahead of its time? Either way things really do need to evolve if you want to continue to captivate the masses with your genre (if you want that genre to survive, which we now have a genuine second chance at now!). And I want adventures to succeed again.
And it's not like it hasn't happened before. Text adventures used to be the "in" thing. Then Sierra evolved them to "3D" graphic adventures. LucasArts saw the potential and evolved it further to point & click which lasted for ages! And just like now there were people then (some still even today!) who were against the change because they thought the parser was more interesting and with more ability. But the fact was that everybody wanted to point and click beause it was faster and easier allowing a broader audience to get in on the great genre that is adventure! Imagine if everything stayed with a parser interface and never did switch to P&C. Adventures would have stopped short at games like King's Quest III. And that's why I personally feel adventures died to begin with. It stayed P&C for too long while other games like FPSs were getting far more interesting with their enhancements. Now adventures really need to evolve again in order to succeed. And that's not a sell-out. They can still be very interesting and fun stories with thought-provoking puzzles as TTG has proven with all their games.
Of course if you want to stay stuck in your ways and demand your static camera-angled P&C background adventures you can, but it'll just kill the genre AgaIN. And that's not what anybody wants. It's never going to be like it was anymore than text adventures ever could flurish again. But adventures can still survive. And now that we have a tangible second chance I really don't want to blow it. If P&C never would have overtaken parsers we'd never even have Monkey Island to begin with. Or any of the other genious adventures over the course of the 90s. What else would we possibly miss out on due to another adventure death just because we wanted to keep our P&C interface the way we've always known it? I'd rather have adventures dominate the market again. And they can. Adventures used to be the games showcasing all the latest visual and audio enhancements. King's Quest IV was the first game to support sound blaster and MT-32 music support. King's Quest 5 I think was the first game with a full vocal cast and also the first multimedia CD-ROM game (and even if it wasn't, it was perfected with King's Quest 6). Adventures were always the innovators showcasing the next best thing. They didn't have to but they did because they were the best there was. After adventures died that rite shifted to the FPSs mostly by showcasing the newest graphics cards with the latest shader technologies.
My point in all this is I personally see the need for change for adventures to get to the top again. And I'm willing to accept change just as much as people were willing to abandon the parser years ago.
So, that was more than I planned on saying, but to sum up. This is a thread for those who full support TTG in the direction they're taking with TMI and the rest of their games. Be it control-wise, graphic style-wise, lack of Earl Boen as LeChuck-wise if they can't get him, etc. If you support them 100% in all of this sound off! Anybody who doesn't, well, this isn't your thread...
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Comments
I think Telltale is doing a great job, though
Make the fans happy, Telltale! You guys can do it!!
/support'd!!!!!!!
* Of course, as someone that owns every Telltale game, I am more than a little biased.
Most licensed video games, like those ones based on Nickelodeon animated TV shows and Dreamworks animated movies, are generic platformer or cart racing games starring the characters of the TV show they're based on. While some of these games are quite enjoyable, they're missing the point of the IP; Spongebob isn't supposed to be some sort of action hero who fights evil robots.
Telltale is awesome because they don't change the style and feel of the IP they're working with. I was blown away by how familiar SBCG4AP and WG were; nothing was changed, and the storyline and the characters' behavior is exactly what I would expect from them (Wallace and Gromit Grand Adventures is the most accurate WG game I've ever played, seriously)
And about TOMI, I've no problem with it at all. Telltale's basically gonna do the same thing to MI as they did with Sam and Max; updating the style, but not completely pave over it. And for that, I thank you.
Never played Wallas and Gromit, but if everyone hates the controls why doesnt TellTale just add Mouse support?
Anyways, does anyone know if it will have xbox 360 controller support?
Well, I didn't hate the controls.
So, I guess by your logic that makes everything my fault XD
Anyway, there is mouse support, there is just no click-to-move. This might make sense if you think about it, due to the camera-position chosen.
You wouldn't ask for click-to-move in something like a first person shooter would you..?
Anyway, I find the OP's idea that the point-and-click style of control puts more people off than it attracts quite interesting.
Dumbing things down for the consoles is definitely a bad move. But if support for the consoles only - and strictly only - requires changing the control scheme, then it's a small loss. They're still the same games, after all.
But my support isn't fully unconditional... well, I do support them, obviously.. even though I disagree with some design choices.
Does that disqualify me from this thread?
While I prefer point and click, the controls in Wallace and Gromit are acceptable. It doesn't take long to adapt to the navigation and the tab button highlighting points of interest makes it fairly efficient. If you press tab so something is highlighted and click on it the character walks there anyway so it can be played as point and click to some extent anyway.
The concept of console controls dumbing the game down doesn't really apply here. The input requirements of an adventure game are very minimalistic, so much so that you could conceivably still play modern ones with a command line parser. It's only in games that are supposed to be a dexterity challenge (fps) or require high apm (rts) that console interfaces negatively effect the game's depth.
True story.
I'm very excited about the new series. I hope my graphics card is up to snuff...
That says it all.