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Sam and Max 2: Reloaded 135

Posted by Zonk from the hit-the-road! dept.
CamelToes writes "Sam and Max 2 is not dead! According to a Gamespot article, the team that was working on bringing the new Sam n' Max adventure game 'has formed a new studio called Telltale Games. The San Rafael-based developer will concentrate on re-energizing the adventure game market.' Amazing what an on-line petition will do these days."
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Sam and Max 2: Reloaded More

Sam and Max 2: Reloaded

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  • Petition (Score:4, Funny)

    by cbrocious ( 764766 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @03:02PM (#10415119) Homepage
    Let's start a petition to stop the "Nothing to see here, move along..." errors on nearly every flippin' /. story.

  • San Rafael? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Kenja ( 541830 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @03:02PM (#10415124)
    I live in San Rafael. Where are these people and how closely are they guarded? I gots ta get me a job programming psychotic rabbits!

  • Finally- hope it pans out! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Jarlsberg ( 643324 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @03:03PM (#10415137) Journal
    I've been waiting for this ever since Sierra got sold out. Man, the adventure games you could make with a game engine like Doom 3 or the forthcoming Half-Life 2 engine. If it were done right, I'm damn sure it'd re-energize the adventure game market.

    • Re:Finally- hope it pans out! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Flamefly ( 816285 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @04:13PM (#10415642)
      I think the adventure games (ala DOTT, Sam and Max, Monkey Island) lose the special something that comes with the timelessness of 2D graphics. 2D just has a more... magic realism aspect about it, weird things can easily happen, sam can be stretched this way and that, people can be flushed down time portal toilets and it works! In 3D it wouldn't come close, Sam and Max wouldn't be 10% as good if it was done in 3D.

      3D is awesome for somethings, but a comedy adventure isn't one, the characters are all so different that it just lends itself to 2D, people don't *want* it to be realistic, they want an escape! 2D gives you the ability to have cartoonish moves, to really give the character movement that builds that character persona rather then the standard 3D walk cycle, and in 5 years when current 3D looks, frankly, like shit, the 2D version thereof will look as fresh as it was when it was made, that's what makes Disney films so damn enduring.

      2D is easy enough to do, the engine is simple and you just need to trap a good team of artists, and a few ace scriptwriters in a room and you have a timeless classic.

      FF

      • Re:Finally- hope it pans out! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by INT 21h ( 7143 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @05:04PM (#10415933) Journal
        Grim Fandango. Nuff said.

        (Though some would say it is a 2D/3D hybrid, pshaaw I say)
      • What about Pixar/Dreamworks films then? Shrek and the Toy Stories/Finding Nemos all told endearing humorous stories.
        • It is true, but I bet that most of us don't have the kind of rendering farms that Pixar/Dreamworks have. Much less sitting in our desktops ;-).


          Cheers,

          Adolfo
          • Well, the presentation and technology are "close enough" IMO. The point was that the original 2-D adventure games didn't have the quality of Disney animated features either. They didn't have to. It still worked. Same is true for 3-D, the presentation isn't as clean as Pixar/Dreamworks obviously(duh) but again it doesn't need to be.

      • BS (Score:1)

        by Mr.Zong ( 704396 )
        3 words for ya. GRIM FUCKING FANDAGO. Now shut your mouth.
      • I'll tend to agree, but if it's done right, it may be good. F.ex. Shrek is a great 3D cartoon, quite different than the old classics of 2D cartoons, it looses some, but then again, it gains some atmosphere that wasn't there at first.

        The trouble is to rewamp a 2D character into 3D, still capturing that magic, Creating a fresh new character in 3D is easier, so I'll wait and see...

        There is a couple [longestjourney.com] of gems [adventurec...ygames.com] regarding "3D" adventures out there, so I hope the producers get it right, and let the adventure genre
      • I agree 100 percent

        I remember that some of the magic of these games was the beauty of the backdrops. Yes, even in 16 colors. 3D hardware still lacks the power to render vast and rich environments down to the smallest detail. We are getting closer and closer, but we haven't arrived to the point where we can make 3D artworks that compare to their 2D counterparts.


        Cheers

        Adolfo
        • Of course, some 3D games use beautiful, intricate prerendered backdrops. It severely cramps the flexibility, of course, but it works.

          I do still prefer 2D, however.
        • I dunno, I don't think the world of Doom 3 would be any better if it were 2D, it'd probably look worse (it'd probably be flat and boring.) It's a damn sexy game when you have the details turned way up. I just can't wait for the next great engine from ID Software and the $500 nvidia card to display it.
      • it's quite possible to blend the two together. "3d" in a game is just a way to render a 2d image after all.

        and any 2d without depth for an adventure game kinda sucks(would you rather play version of larry 1 in which you moved like in super mario bros instead of moving in a sort-or-prerendered-slash-predrawn-3d world?).

        in a way sam and max _is_ "3d".

        **people don't *want* it to be realistic*** you mean that people don't want to see live action flicks either?

        though, what you mean with 3d is bad looking obv

    • Re:Finally- hope it pans out! (Score:5, Informative)

      by Lisandro ( 799651 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @04:37PM (#10415793)
      A long time ago, Gremlin released a game called "Normality, Inc." (http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?name=Normal ity [the-underdogs.org]), which was just what you described: an adventure game with an FPS engine. The game is an hillarious adventure in a totalitarian futurustic world a-la-1984, and sadly was grossly overlooked by many. If you're on the mood, try it on DOSBox. Recommended.

      I think i'll always preffer 2d action adventures, but this has been done before, very well, and it actually worked. Imagine a terrror adventure a-la-Gabriel Knight using the Doom 3 engine...

    • Re:Finally- hope it pans out! (Score:5, Informative)

      by DavidTC ( 10147 ) <slas45dxsvadiv D ... neverbox DOT com> on Saturday October 02, 2004 @06:35PM (#10416562) Homepage
      Two words: Tex Murphy.

      For those that don't know, those were fully 3-D adventure games. Not only that, but they managed to be interactive movies at the same time, right about all the time all the 'interactive movies' were failing. (Think CD-I, if that rings a bell.) The last one, Overseer, had a DVD with DVD quality video.

      It's interesting that one of the first, and only, adventure games that managed to get 3-D enviroments right was also one of the first, and only, adventure games that managed to get full motion video right. They managed to combine DOOM quality movement (This is when we were all trying to get those fancy new VESA video cards, or running Sci-Tech if we didn't have one.) with quake quality once you stopped for a second, and a somewhat crappy actual recorded video obviously done on a bluescreen and pasted in front of the background. Rounded objects tended to be non-rotatable...

      But, seriously, while the quality of the video sucked, the very first game in the series was for DOS and required a 386/25 SX and 4 megs of RAM. You don't need all these new 3-D engines to make an adventure game. Access Software did it on a shoestring budget, using programmers and company executives as actors.

      But then damn Microsoft bought Access Software for their golf game and stopped the series.

      I own the second, The Pandora Directive and third, Overseer, and I hope that one day I can find the first cheap, Under a Killing Moon.

      • Yes, the Tex Murphy series were awesome. I remember playing Under A Killing Moon so well - it was one of those games (along with Doom, Alone in the dark & the Sierra series of games) that justified spending unbelieavable amounts of money on PC hardware at the time. I have the original UAKM in my shelf, although I'm not sure if all the CD's are still in the box (I think I lost one of them at some point).

        Did you hear about the Tex Murphy radio adventure? The official site which hosted it are down, but he

  • About San Rafael.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by simetra ( 155655 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @03:05PM (#10415157) Homepage Journal
    Here's something to try. Really, it works.

    Some time when you're around someone from San Rafael, pronounce the Rafael as it should be pronounced: Raw-fie-ell.

    They'll spin around really fast and correct your pronunciation: SAN RUH-FELL !!!!!

    Really, it's amazing.

    • Re:About San Rafael.... (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Well, same thing in Los Gatos which is not really pronounced the way you say Los Angeles or Las Vegas

      people just don't bother to pronounce spanish words correctly

      it's like BINgO GrinGo!

      • it isn't a Spanish word (Score:1, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        It's an American word, derived from a Spanish word. That's why it is pronounced differently. Basically, it got Americanized.

        Just like you don't say "bom bar die eh" when talking of those who control the release of bombs from planes. It's an American word, and we have our own pronounciation.

        It is important to remember language is a tool. It is used to communicate ideas. Thus, you want to use word forms that are most likely to be recognized by your listener. So using foreign pronounciations of Americanized
    • Hahaha, it does work. I've been to San Rafael and had just that experience. Guess if enough people mispronounce something, it becomes the way to pronounce it.

      But thats nothing new... most Americans say "ishew" when they mean to say "is-sew" or "skedule" when they mean "shedule". So technically most americans can't even speak english properly.
      And if you did start speaking proper english, most people here would look at you funny.
      • I have to point out the word is spelt 'schedule'.

        Tell me, how do you pronounce 'school'? How about 'eschew'? When did 'sch' become pronounced 'sh'?

        Someone's pronouncing the word 'schedule' wrong, but it isn't Americans.

        I will, however, admit Americans say 'issue' wrong. There's no 'h' in it. (Of course, I sometimes wonder if the word is actually supposed to be pronounced 'is-hue' and it's just the English accent dropping the h. ;) )

      • But thats nothing new... most Americans say "ishew" when they mean to say "is-sew" or "skedule" when they mean "shedule".

        Of course, it couldn't be that "i-shew" is the older pronunciation, and "is-sew" is the result of people trying to determine pronunciation from spelling in a misguided attempt to make their speech more 'correct.'

        To be utterly clear: 'is-sew' is a mispronunciation.

        (But you're right about 'shedule.' Amusingly enough, that word's pronunciation shifted in the States when the spelling was

    • Re:About San Rafael.... (Score:4, Funny)

      by MilenCent ( 219397 ) <johnwh@@@gmail...com> on Saturday October 02, 2004 @03:55PM (#10415511) Homepage
      Now that's funny. Tell me, how do they pronounce "Leonardo," "Donatello" and "Michelangelo?"
    • I can attest to this. I work as a phone operator. I tried pronoucing it the right way for about 2 days, before giving in.
    • I live in San Ruh-Fell and I have to say that simetra is right. Even the spanish speakers pronounce it san ruh-fell. I saw another post above from someone who lives here. How many slashdotters are there in San Rafael, anyhow.

      --HC
      • I grew up in No-vaa-toe and went to school in San Rah-fell and put my vote in for the "proper" pronounciation... and if people think that pronounciation is bad don't let them hear people pronounce "St. Rafael's" (the Catholic grade school)

        Side note, American English is a bastardization regardless, so you might as well run with it. Ask a Brit how to say Leisure or Oregano

  • Steam for adventures? (Score:5, Informative)

    by AvantLegion ( 595806 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @03:06PM (#10415161) Journal
    From the article:

    GS: When do you expect to announce a publishing partner?

    DC: We may not. The proliferation of broadband has opened a direct channel to fans of these types of games...

    Sounds like they may anticipate doing online distribution not unlike Valve with Steam, albeit hopefully less painful.

  • Sam & Max not dead? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Moonbird ( 625445 ) <swagner@NoSpAm.sebwagner.de> on Saturday October 02, 2004 @03:07PM (#10415172)
    Well, how so? It seems only the dev team is working on its own now. I doubt they get the rights to publish the Sam & Max game, as much as I wished they would.

  • Sam and Max 2 not officially back from the dead (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SamNmaX ( 613567 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @03:07PM (#10415174)
    Though this is certainly very positive news, they have not yet announced that Sam and Max 2 has been resurrected. I'm guessing they are in the middle of making a deal on that, though it's a touch premature to say it's back.

    From the article:

    But what about the question on everyone's mind--is a new Sam and Max title coming? Although Telltale Games hasn't specifically said anything, the upcoming first press release from the company does reference the game three times, then ends by saying that Telltale is currently "in the design phase on a well-loved license." Could it be?

    • Re:Sam and Max 2 not officially back from the dead (Score:4, Funny)

      by bobobobo ( 539853 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @03:48PM (#10415472)
      Yeah, though it looks like they're going to make more 3-D adventure games, Sam and Max 2 may not be one of them, from the article:

      GS: How is your working relationship with LucasArts today? Is there one?

      DC: We have lots of friends over there, but on a business level it's hard to get traction. They are very focused on dealing with what's in front of them. So unfortunately there is none, which is sad because we really love those old licenses, and of course Sam and Max. We do chat with Steve Purcell from time to time.

      So wishful thnking if they can iron something out with Lucas Arts, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Although I do hope their company gets off the ground and provides some qualtiy Sam and Max alternatives.

      • LucasArts (Score:5, Insightful)

        by rsmith-mac ( 639075 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @04:06PM (#10415589)
        Considering that this isn't a Star Wars title, I think we'll see LA be a little more flexable than usual. If they were to licence out S&M to Telltale(perhaps even the previous work), and Telltale did digital distribution, that would push all the risk on to Telltale. Without any risk, and a licence LA really doesn't really seem to see a future in, LA may bite as an easy way to score a cut of the revenue.

        • Re:LucasArts (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Zorilla ( 791636 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @06:32PM (#10416546)
          Problem is that they couldn't really make any cross-game inside jokes that use trademarks anymore, such as the Star Wars and Sam and Max costumes when Guybrush goes to pick up his party suit in Monkey Island 3. Then there's always the "Help me, . You're my only hope."

          I guess the rubber tree gag can still be used.
          • I'm sure they could. If Lucasarts can put Wile E. Stormtrooper into Rebel Assault II, then someone else can put Star Wars easter eggs into Sam & Max II.

            However, nobody is allowed to do what Sim Copter did. At least, not unless it's a pr0n game.
          • Would these qualify as parody or be allowed on some other basis of humour. It seems to me that Duke3d stood somewhat as a rival to doom, but nobody ever called them out on the "that's one doomed space marine" (or various other goodies) in the game.
            • I think it's all about how firm the trademarks are held, and since it's Lucasarts that's involved, you'd probably have to be careful. I'm reminded of that Family Guy where Peter says, "It'll be so much fun, it should be illegal - like copyright infringement..... [head morphs into conveniently crude version of Mickey Mouse] Hoho! See you at the game, Joe!" Seth McFarlane would have probably landed into some trouble despite "fair use" if Mickey Mouse was more than just implied just because of the way Disney h
    • Thanks for saying that. Even if it is true that Telltale is working on a Sam & Max title, we have no way of knowing that. The article never says so, it never even directly hints it. In the Q&A, the Telltale guy even mentions Sam & Max along with other LucasArts things they're not in contact with. I wish /. stories wouldn't jump the gun so badly.

      Yes everyone would be pleased as punch if when they reveal their game, it is in fact a Sam & Max title, but talk about creating false hope and fals

  • An on-line petition... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I propose an online petition, if they are truly amazing, requesting:

    1) A spell and gramme checker for the editors of slashdot.
    2) No more dupes.
    3) More Cowboy Neal poll choices
    4) No more censorship of the line '????' before 'profit'.

    Please sign this partition by replying to this post.

  • Obl Sam and Max Quote. :p (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 02, 2004 @03:09PM (#10415187)
    SAM: Max, if I start to freeze, I may have to gut you and crawl inside your body for warmth!
    MAX: Please do!

  • Prepay (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Effugas ( 2378 ) * on Saturday October 02, 2004 @03:09PM (#10415189) Homepage
    Uh, I'd prepay for a Sam 'n Max 2. Like, right now. And I'm not the only one.

    --Dan

  • On my buying list already (Score:4, Funny)

    by JamesP ( 688957 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @03:15PM (#10415246)
    If these guys make it, kudos. My money is theirs...

    LucasArts can kiss my ass...

  • And While There At It... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by dduardo ( 592868 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @03:39PM (#10415409)
    Bring Back Maniac Mansion

  • Duke Nukem demo? (Score:5, Funny)

    by lateralus_1024 ( 583730 ) <mattbaha@gmailRABBIT.com minus herbivore> on Saturday October 02, 2004 @03:40PM (#10415419)
    I heard there will be a Duke Nukem Forever hidden demo on the disc. Links to follow....

  • speaking of games .... Empire is being redone too! (Score:3, Informative)

    by kwandar ( 733439 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @03:55PM (#10415507)

    I'm thrilled that some of these games we love are being redone.

    In 1987 I purchased "Empire" for my Atari and in the early 1990's purchased "Empire Deluxe". Empire has remained at the top of the strategy games list and anyone who plays it, knows why. Its addictive as hell! I still play my old DOS version, even today.

    I just learned that Empire is now being redone too by Killer Bee Software [killerbeesoftware.com] and is now in beta! Yay!!!

  • This is the best news I've heard all day! Made me dig out my old Sam & Max and DOTT CDs. ScummVM [scummvm.org] is sweet! And I was planning on getting some work done this weekend :/ Actually played through Beneath a Steel sky the other week too. I sure miss the good old days...
  • Does this mean that LucasArts hasn't gone to the Dark Side? [vgcats.com]
  • Remember the last Monkey Island? Held nothing to the previous 3. Granted, it really wasn't that bad, but the shoddy control system really interfered with the experience (c'mon, LucasArts, what's wrong with point'n'click?)

    Furthermore, I remember salivating when I saw the Full Throttle 2 screenshots... and they cancelled that (probably to allocate more resources to their 284th Star Wars game).

    -- n
  • My wallet is an open door to these guys if they finish the game.

  • Sign me up (Score:4, Interesting)

    by t1nman33 ( 248342 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @04:38PM (#10415797) Homepage
    I just sent them an email...I bet that they could generate enough sales from Slashdot readers alone to justify the cost of making the game. Hopefully they will do some kind of pre-order thing.

    Man, LucasArts is going to be kicking themselves for this one.
  • Now, how about a Monkey Island petition. I am even willing to forget that MI 3 and 4 were ever made. ;-)


    Cheers

    Adolfo

    PS. I'll give a GMail Invite to the first 5 people to email me at adolfojp at hot mail dot com answering the following question: What is the secret of the Monkey Island?

  • O.K. but (Score:4, Insightful)

    by evil crash ( 739354 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @08:17PM (#10417097) Journal
    Who owns the rights to the characters? With out the permission of the license holder, all that coding is gonna get you a cease and desist letter.

    • Re:O.K. but (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Dimensio ( 311070 )
      Steve Purcell owns the rights to the characters, and I suspect that any Sam & Max work would get his approval.

      The problem is that I believe that LucasArts licensed the game rights to start work on Sam & Max 2, and the question now is whether or not they had an "exclusive" deal. If they did, then this could put a damper on things.

      Even if they don't, though, they probably own the rights to any work done on Sam & Max: Freelance Police, and I doubt that they'll let the project go for someone else
  • Long ago, Empire Interactive released an excellent cyberpunk-meets-lovecraft adventure game called "Dreamweb." It's a damn shame noone ever took off with it and made a sequel -- it never really achieved cult status like Sam & Max or Fandango, but it was certainly worthy of being in their company.

    With the rebirth of the adventure genre, I wish some small developer could pick up the license and run with it. It was a story that was ripe for a continuation. Although it didn't receive the attention that

  • Things I learned from Sam and Max (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The game was wonderful and I am elated that there may be more on the way. The comics were life-changing, too. I think the most important things that Steve Purcell had to tell us were:

    1) That vermin are just like everyone else, or vice versa.
    2) That friendship means more than the lives of innnocent bystanders.
    3) That the best parts are the neck and the face.

    And of course there is the discovery of the connection between rabbity things, mindless violence, and DeSotos. And to watch out for those South America
  • Does anybody remember when Lucas Arts' license expires on Sam and Max? There might be a story there. That shadow character on the projects page does look a little familiar. "We've quietly begun development on an exciting license that we can't wait to tell you about! Well, actually we HAVE to wait to tell you about it..." Hmmm....

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