I don't think you can just buy the rights to a brand name without having to buy the IP that comes with it. If that were the case, someone could buy the Sierra name and then force Activision to stop distributing the old Sierra games that were branded with that name.
There are actually other "Sierra" brands, its not something that can be trademarked or copyrighted specifically, since its named after a place.
Now if those other Sierra brands were to use the Half Dome symbol they would have a problem ;).
That would be the company name ya.
I don't think the company name would mean much without its original IPs...
During its last few years under Vivendi when it was still creating the occasional new IP or games for other brands, it wasn't really doing well.
Had they chosen to make new games in the IPs they were historically known for maybe things would have been different :p... Sadly I think they shunned their best selling series...?
Or the sweet music and twinkle: "buh buh da DAAAAA...ding...ding."
I think the main reason adventure games don't do particularly well in the market these days is because (for the most part) they aren't very good. The true spirit of proper adventure games has been torn into two pieces: the "action" adventure - Assassin's Creed, Tomb Raider, Lego Harry Potter, LittleBigPlanet, etc. and RPG's - Final Fantasy, Star Ocean, Demon's Souls (which is absolutely incredible BTW), things like that.
I think the main reason adventure games don't do particularly well in the market these days is because (for the most part) they aren't very good. The true spirit of proper adventure games has been torn into two pieces: the "action" adventure - Assassin's Creed, Tomb Raider, Lego Harry Potter, LittleBigPlanet, etc. and RPG's - Final Fantasy, Star Ocean, Demon's Souls (which is absolutely incredible BTW), things like that.
Woah, woah. Assassin's Creed is a great series. Though I wouldn't really classify it as an adventure game, despite the fact that it does have you travel quite a bit.
I personally think that in terms of mainstream success, Action-Adventures are the present, and the future. The earliest adventure games--Like Colossal Cave--had action and killing in them, it wasn't until Sierra came around that you couldn't really fight or kill things (And even in KQ1 and 2 you could kill things, though you were discouraged). Even in LucasArts games like the Indiana Jones adventures you could still fight characters.
I think the ''no action/violence whatsoever'' approach will only work for the cerebral gamer who is willing to spend hours solving puzzles or actually thinking---and that's a very small percentage of today's gamers.
Really Action-Adventures are a perfect marriage. I'm not a fan of pure Action games (FP Shooters), but really, outside of the Sierra adventure games, The Adventures of Pinocchio, The Manhole and Myst, I've never been a big fan of pure Adventure Games either. I don't like LucasArts games really, and I've tried.
I actually love FMV games, like Phantasmagoria--I think THAT was the future--at one time. The format just needed refining, but they proved to be too costly to develop and fell off. With the technology of today, ''FMV'' or Interactive Movie games--with real actors, and with today's technology, no small screen--Could be awesome.
If Adventure Games (pure Adventure games) want to stay afloat, they should go the FMV route mixed with some action. I haven't played a good 'pure' adventure game that was released after 2001. The Longest Journey was good but didn't live up to the massive hype imo.
For now, I'll take RPGs and Action Adventure games as my modern games of choice.
I've played it, but haven't gotten to that point yet. Apparently it's very hard as compared to other games in the series.Took me forever to beat that because I lost the manual. One day, I just HAPPENED upon it. Oh what a happy day that was.
And even with the manual a lot of people still struggled because it had a typo or something.There was no typo in the manual as far as I was aware; however, the ONLY walkthrough on the Internet at that moment in time DID have a typo. Specifically, and I remember with every ounce of my being, the walkthrough stated "put the dough into a cookie"; however, the correct spell step was "pat the dough into a cookie". I, however, could never figure out the correct word. (or it could have been the other way around, ugh)
If that were true, I wouldn't have beaten the game. ::)
I don't think I ever found the magic map . . .You never
I don't think I ever found the magic map . . .You neverlooked behind the cloaks in Manannan's wardrobe?
From what I remember, you could go down using the map, just not up.Yup, that's how it is.
I'm so glad they changed that in the remake though, only time you have to deal with the path in that one is the very first trip down.Eh. I wasn't too happy about it. The only thing that really makes it hard is that you have to use the keyboard, and the remake eliminates that problem. Changing the function of the map forces the game to lose a little of its authenticity, imo.
Eh. I wasn't too happy about it. The only thing that really makes it hard is that you have to use the keyboard, and the remake eliminates that problem. Changing the function of the map forces the game to lose a little of its authenticity, imo.
Now, that type of puzzle really can't exist in the same way in point-and-click. It just doesn't work. Sure you can click off the edge of the cliff and Alex will step off to his doom, but that's not really something you're going to do by accident--you have to purposefully move the mouse off the path and click.It's easy to do if you're not being careful. I know. I did it several times. It's still a pathfinding puzzle, just not as hard (though, really, the keyboard version is pretty easy itself once you've played the game a few times).
I don't remember if IA put automatic pathfinding into that area or not--I wasn't part of the team when KQ3 was being developed, and it's frankly been ages since I've played the remake.Not in the sense that you can't click off the edge and fall, because you can. Sierra did the same thing with the beanstalk puzzle and mountain pathway puzzle in the SCI remake. You can click off the edge and fall.
But I do know that we have a basic philosophy when it comes to translating obsolete keyboard-based dexterity puzzles into point-and-click in our games (there are a handful in SQ2 that we had to tangle with also)--and that's basically to scrap them completely and come up with something else in their place. ;) In the case of KQ3, once that screen loses its purpose (i.e. you walk down the mountain the first time) having to go back through that screen when you want to get back to the house is just a needless delay.Then it's simply a matter of opinion (as it was to begin with) as to whether they are truly obsolete or not. I don't think they are, you (and apparently the rest of the IA designers) do. I guess I'll not be seeing the weed monster maze in SQ2 either, unfortunately (it's been a while, but I seem to recall that being a little less forgiving than the mountain, though).
Now personally, had I been on the team back when we were doing KQ3, there are actually a number of other things in the game that I would have pushed to do differently--namely, I would have made it so the player has to physically combine items to create the spells, just like the KQ6 system, rather than having the spells be able to be automatically created once you had gathered the items . . .Well, at least we can agree on something. ;)
I also would have put in a command to bypass the waiting (because of the point-and-click interface, the clock pauses every time you access the command bar or inventory screen, so you can actually complete the needed tasks when Manannan is away much MUCH faster than you could in the original game--so if you want to see the extra easter egg scenes and stuff you have to do a LOT of waiting.) ;)Yeah, that would have been nice. I got everything I needed for the cookie (and everything else I could get) in about 5 minutes after Manannan left. :P Granted, I knew where everything was, but still.
For some reason I didn't think you had to traverse that path down and back up every single time in the original either, guess it's been too long since I've played that one.The square on the map takes you to the foot of the mountain, from anywhere in Llewdor. It does not take you to the top of the mountain.
hen it's simply a matter of opinion (as it was to begin with) as to whether they are truly obsolete or not. I don't think they are, you (and apparently the rest of the IA designers) do. I guess I'll not be seeing the weed monster maze in SQ2 either, unfortunately (it's been a while, but I seem to recall that being a little less forgiving than the mountain, though).
I can see that about the authenticity, although it doesn't really bother me as I rarely play any of the originals.
If it involves being able to hack apart that darned annoying root monster, I'll be thrilled! (alternatively, being able to get Roger to step OVER the vines like any normal person would, also a great improvement!)
I know! They'll have arrow keys that you have to click on to move! :PIf it involves being able to hack apart that darned annoying root monster, I'll be thrilled! (alternatively, being able to get Roger to step OVER the vines like any normal person would, also a great improvement!)
Lol...I won't reveal any specifics, but I will say that it's a solution that is 100% in the spirit of the series. ;)
I know! They'll have arrow keys that you have to click on to move! :PIf it involves being able to hack apart that darned annoying root monster, I'll be thrilled! (alternatively, being able to get Roger to step OVER the vines like any normal person would, also a great improvement!)
Lol...I won't reveal any specifics, but I will say that it's a solution that is 100% in the spirit of the series. ;)
I know! They'll have arrow keys that you have to click on to move! :PIf it involves being able to hack apart that darned annoying root monster, I'll be thrilled! (alternatively, being able to get Roger to step OVER the vines like any normal person would, also a great improvement!)
Lol...I won't reveal any specifics, but I will say that it's a solution that is 100% in the spirit of the series. ;)
It's 5x more difficult, it's up there with the thorn maze in KQ2.What, the mountain climb? That's way easier than trying to navigate the thorn maze (which is why you're not really supposed to navigate it at all)
I may get my butt kicked for saying this, but the root monster puzzle IS in our SQ2 remake, we've just devised an alternate solution of sorts. ;)Oh, nice. :)
The main issue that makes the puzzle nearly unsolvable the old fashioned way is the size difference between a VGA Roger sprite (a la SQ4) and the old AGI one.Well, yeah, there is that...but the only instance I can think of where that might have been a problem is at the part in the maze where Roger has to duck under one of the roots. I would think you could circumvent that by just making him crawl under on his hands and knees when he got to that part. Of course, maybe there's something else that I'm missing. But I understand that you're not allowed to talk about it; I'm just speculating.
Our SQ2 is a remake much more in the vein of Sierra's SQ1, in that several areas of the game are reimagined quite a bit from the original.I never played the original SQ1, so I can't comment on that. I do know from the plug in KQ2 that one of the ships (I'm guessing it's the Arcadia) looks radically different, but the bar and the desert, as well as the outside of the bar (which I saw in Time Rippers) seemed to be about the same.
We think that people will mostly enjoy the changes and additions we've made, which are definitely far more than cosmetic in several areas.Hmm. Well, we'll see.
(alternatively, being able to get Roger to step OVER the vines like any normal person would, also a great improvement!)I know, right? I always wondered why they didn't realize when making that puzzle that anyone else would just jump over them and be done with it. At least the mountains and stairs made more sense.
which is why you're not really supposed to navigate it at all)It's actually considered an alternate puzzle solution, which the player is forced to do if they killed the snake.
never played the original SQ1, so I can't comment on that. I do know from the plug in KQ2 that one of the ships (I'm guessing it's the Arcadia) looks radically different, but the bar and the desert, as well as the outside of the bar (which I saw in Time Rippers) seemed to be about the same.There are quite a handful of changes, in text and some story details.
where most of KQ3's visuals were very close redraws (if not straight paint-overs) of the original AGI artwork.
but honestly, that was the worst kept secret in KQ history--it was never really this huge plot twist a lot of people made it out to be.Um, don't be a revisionist about this, actually it originally was.
Um, don't be a revisionist about this, actually it originally was.
Back in the day the box intentionally advertised him as a new character, and made no connection to previous game's stories. The manual itself intentionally avoided any reference to previous game.
According to Roberta she received alot of letters from disgruntled fans who thought that Gwydion had no connection to previous games. They hadn't made it to the oracle, or overheard any of the animals that explained Gwydion's identity. It wasn't until they got to the end they discovered the secret.
By now though we all know the secret, so that plot twist has lost its strength.
It's after the credits, so it could be easy to miss if you didn't watch them. Or if your original copy like mine didn't play the credits because of some error trying to play Girl in the Tower (I was so ticked, I'd been looking forward to hearing that for the whole game!).
It's just after the ending, but before the credits, I just checked.I'm pretty sure, though, that it only gives you that message if you receive a perfect score in the game. The last time I played was the only time I got a perfect score and I don't remember ever seeing that specific message before, even though I always play the long path. I remember instead getting a message about them hoping I'll play again to try to get the full score.
Then it gives you a clue what to do to get into the other path.
"Congratulations on your excellent performance! If you want to go "beyond" the ultimate score, we recommend that you try the other, "easier" entrance to the castle. You can do so easily by restoring back to a point just before the Druid's rain storm. DON'T GO BACK TO SEE THE DRUIDS--instead, head to the castle. New puzzle challenges await you!"
I personally have never been a huge fan of the actual recorded song version of Girl in the Tower--it hasn't aged well at all, steeped as it is in heavily reverbed drums and cheesy soft rock singing. Still sounds right out of the late 80s/early 90s. But it's certainly a matter of personal taste. :)You're right, it hasn't aged very well, but I still love it. I'm betting it was all done with MIDI synthesizers, too. I'd love to hear someone cover it with real instrumentals and today's professional recording; I'm betting it would sound much better.
You're right, it hasn't aged very well, but I still love it. I'm betting it was all done with MIDI synthesizers, too. I'd love to hear someone cover it with real instrumentals and today's professional recording; I'm betting it would sound much better.