Space Quest heading to the iPad!

[dark-daventry]

I'm not too sure on the specifics, but I think it's done almost entirely through HTML code. I'm obviously not an expert in this regard and Martin is the one best qualified to answer. The iPad version does differ slightly from the "full" version in terms of general interface, so the underlying code for the iPad may be different as well. I haven't taken my coding classes at school yet (next semester... oh joy) so I'm in no way an expert on any of this.

[snabbott]

It sounds like Safari on the iPad does support JavaScript, though.

[kindofdoon]

Oh, really? Well, it's a step in the right direction, at least, though Safari is still lacking.

[dark-daventry]

And an update for everyone! Space Quest 1 is now available for the iPad! I've played it myself, and it's quite good. As is to be expected, there are some bugs, but nothing too game breaking. And, more iPad compatible games are on the way! Head over to Sarien.net to get the latest information, and perhaps join the new forum over there as well! Happy adventuring, everyone!

[kindofdoon]

It looks great, but the typeface/spacing of the text on all the games from sarien.net makes reading the prompts difficult for me.

[dark-daventry]

Unfortunately, Sarien.net has been sent a Cease and Desist from Activision. I can't say I didn't see it coming, but it's still sad to see such a marvel as Sarien.net shut down. Perhaps there will be a Silver Lining? No, that's hoping for too much.

[Baggins]

Yep, I was wondering when it was going to happen. They had many sierra games up for 'free', without any permission.

[dark-daventry]

Yep, I was wondering when it was going to happen. They had many sierra games up for 'free', without any permission.

The sad part is that the technology behind sarien.net was pretty amazing. It was all achieved without flash, and I think it would be great if activision would realize the potential. The sierra community has proven that it has the resources and the desire to create games that rival that of Roberta's. But instead of fostering the creativity of the community, they shut it down. The fan games and fan efforts don't diminish the brand name of sierra or their games; they bolster it. It brings new recognition to Sierra's games, and could even spur sale from gog of the originals. Will activision ever realize this?

[Baggins]

Well to be fair, Sarien.net, wasn't really fostering any original creativity, as far as games go. Other than showing off another emulation format, and showing off a multiplayer aspect; They ripped off Sierra's owners,directly. Especially when those games can be found for sale on GOG, and other places. What they did was not unlike, the host of 'abandonware' sites out there releasing games without permission of the companies that own them.

To truly show their ability they should create an original stand alone games that uses similar technology, but doesn't use any of the Sierra IPs.

If they had done that in the first place, Sierra wouldn't have been able to shut them down.

Seriously, if people could play through the entire original AGI games for free through some other format, why would they buy it from GOG? The KQ1-3 pack (which is AGI games only, and were the same ones up on Sarien Net for free) for instance would be completely redundant.

[KatieHal]

Activision did what they have to--protect their copyrights. If a company doesn't do so, they can end up losing them (aka abandonware).

It's possible that this could end up being great for the guy who ran the site--Activision has noticed him, he may be able to take this opportunity to talk with them, show them his ideas and plans, and turn it into something even better. I think Phoenix Online has certainly proven that a C&D need not be the end of the story.

[Baggins]

Abandonware isn't legal, either.

Just because people are spreading the games around via abandonware, the "copyrights" don't simply cease to exist. There is something like 70 years on copyrights before something becomes 'public domain'. The only way company might lose copyrights early, is if the company ceases to exist, and no other company buys the company out. Those games are technically still under copyright, but there is no one around to defend them. Their may be individuals that retain those copyrights, but sometimes, the legal ownership may be nebulous (with several groups sharing rights to the material).

Really abandonware is just another form of "warez", 'pirating' or 'bootlegging'. Torrentz?

Now, I could see Sarien.net making a deal with Activison for a play for pay model (as long as Activison gets their share). Something similar to how you can rent PC games over what is that site? Gametap? As soon as you stop paying, you lose access. I think there are a couple of companies like that.

That would make sense, considering Sarien.net was a kinda MMOG.

[dark-daventry]

I understand that activision did what they had to do; that part I get. The part I'm not getting is why they own the copyrights and haven't actually used them. There are people all over the internet who would put the copyrights to good work. Owning something is much different than actually using it. I mean, activision could make money by selling off the properties it doesn't use. Selling them to someone who would actually use them is a good idea. Though, for what it's worth, Activision didn't buy them to begin with; they acquired them through their merger with Vivendi. It's just sad that the licenses sit in a dusty old filing cabinet, relegated to the realm of obscurity. There is potential for these properties to come back. TSL has proved how popular the KQ games still are. We're a testament to how active and strong our community is. There are commercial opportunities for Sierra's properties out in today's world. But these companies have to be willing to take a risk, otherwise they aren't gonna go anywhere. If anything, they should give the licenses to TellTale. They know what they're doing, and haven't disappointed us in their games yet. They're popular and make good adventure games. If any company can successfully bring back the commercial viability of Sierra's games, it's them. Does Activision even realize all the opportunities it's missing out on? I mean, there's all sorts of devices they can make these games for. The iPhone is the perfect place to put the old games. Martin Kool (the guy behind sarien.net) was able to get the games working in the iPad. I mean, come on. There's so much untapped potential for these games in a mainstream market. But an honest attempt must be made. The games need to be of high quality, have good marketing and exposure, and have someone in charge who actually cares about the KQ series. I'm not talking about getting Roberta back; the chances of that actually happening are slim. If it did happen, I'd line up a month before release. Lucas-Arts has proven the success of it's Monkey Island games in today's world. These games are gems that don't need to be forgotten. If activision really puts effort into developing a new KQ game, it could turn out to be a huge commercial success. But real effort must be made.

Whew. You can tell I've got a passion for this.

[Baggins]

I would support an official iphone/ipad apps for Sierra quest releases (yes Lucasarts is doing that already), so has Revolution Games, and a few others. I do not support some leech out there putting the game up for free without Activision's permission (no matter how noble he beliefs his ideals are). That can't be justified, it hurts the legal sales of that product through official means (GOG, etc).

Again the discussion here is about Sierra made games, being pirated around the internets. I'll leave original Fan games (such as TSL) to another discussion.

I have to point out the same could be said for future POS games (Corridor 9), how would you feel if someone were going about spreading your original IP games around the net. But you simply didn't have the time to "make a sequel" or use the ip in some other fashion? Would you not protect your game, from people spreading it about the internet without your permission?

Seriously, Activision isn't the only one who is strictly protective of their owned IPs. I seem to recall Square Enix, have stopped a few fan made Chrono Trigger games for example, as well as unofficial game translations (made for games that never saw an english release).

[dark-daventry]

I would support an official iphone/ipad apps for Sierra quest releases (yes Lucasarts is doing that already), so has Revolution Games, and a few others. I do not support some leech out there putting the game up for free without Activision's permission (no matter how noble he beliefs his ideals are). That can't be justified, it hurts the legal sales of that product through official means (GOG, etc).

Again the discussion here is about Sierra made games, being pirated around the internets. I'll leave original Fan games (such as TSL) to another discussion.

I have to point out the same could be said for future POS games, how would you feel if someone were going about spreading your original IP games around the net. But you simply didn't have the time to "make a sequel" or use the ip in some other fashion? Would you not protect your game, from people spreading it about the internet without your permission?

Seriously, Activision isn't the only one who is strictly protective of their owned IPs. I seem to recall Square Enix, have stopped a few fan made Chrono Trigger games for example, as well as unofficial game translations (made for games that never saw an english release).

Baggins, I think you misunderstand what I'm saying. King's Quest hasn't had an official release in over 10 years (I'm not talking about colletions. I mean in terms of actual games). Technically speaking, the series is dead. POStudios, on the other hand, well, we haven't even gotten to the point of selling our own original games yet. Our main focus is on TSL. Of course we'd have an issue with someone putting our games online without permission, but Martin Kool wasn't putting Sierra's games online in that fashion. He added his own original things to them (for example, he added Ways to Go in the iPad version, which is a very unique achievement system. He also made it possible to skip any scene, he added online multiplayer, the ability to change your playable character, and more.) These weren't just putting the games up as is; he added something unique to them you just couldn't get off Gog or any other version of the game. Now, that uniqueness is gone. I couldn't tell you what would happen if someone put Corridor 9 online ten years from now without our permission. For all we know, the game could be so good to garner a sequel, or it could be relegated to obscurity and never seen again. Both of those situations would have a significantly different outcome. But again, I don't know what will happen ten years from now and I don't care to dwell on it. The fact of the matter is that KQ is a dormant franchise that, to my knowledge, has had no signs of any official activity (save for the collections, gog and steam, none of which are original games, just rereleases) in the last ten years. If Activision announced they were doing a new official KQ game, the story would be quite different. But that isn't the case.

Also, Chrono Trigger, so far as I know, is still a very active franchise. It's one thing to kill a project based off an active franchise. It's another entirely to kill something from a franchise that's been dormant for over 10 years and that added new stuff to the mix. And, Activision inherited the IPs through the merger with Vivendi; they weren't Activision's to begin with. Not that that changes anything, but I'm just pointing it out.

[Enchantermon]

The fact of the matter is that KQ is a dormant franchise that, to my knowledge, has had no signs of any official activity (save for the collections, gog and steam, none of which are original games, just rereleases) in the last ten years. If Activision announced they were doing a new official KQ game, the story would be quite different. But that isn't the case.

Why would the story be different? The dormancy of a series has absolutely nothing to do with legality. Activision owns the IP, dormant or not, and doing anything with it without their permission is illegal. TSL, KQIVGA, KQ2+, KQ3VGA.....all would be illegal without the blessing of Activision. Sarien.net is no different. So the guy added some new features and made his versions of the games unique. That doesn't change anything, because that's the same thing that projects like KQIVGA and KQ2+ did, and in fact, they did more by changing the assets. Heck, TSL had a completely different game and just used scenes and characters, all re-done from scratch, and they were still legally shut down twice! Even though the IP is dormant, that doesn't make it okay to do whatever you want with it.
And, like Baggins already stated, the games were recently added to GOG. At that point, the situation became even worse, because people could potentially not buy the games from GOG because they were available for free on Sarien.net.

But anyway. The point is that the dormancy of the franchise doesn't enter into the equation; it's still illegal any way you look at it, and Activision is within its rights. Now, it even makes business sense because Sarien.net could potentially hurt its profit from GOG sales.

[dark-daventry]

I guess it's just irritating me that a franchise like KQ that has such potential, is being wasted away in a filing cabinet. I just hope that Activision will give Sarien.net a commercial future. Or at least use the idea and do something with it.

[Enchantermon]

Well, with sanctioned fan projects like TSL and AGDI's and IA's remakes, at least it's still remembered. But yes, I do wish they'd do something more with it. I don't think I could see Activision doing something like Sarien.net, but the iPhone/iPad thing is a good idea that could be beneficial to them.

[KatieHal]

It's frustrating for fans like us, yes, and while I think KQ (and other Sierra properties) could have commercial future, I can see why Activision may disagree. For a small studio, they could be a great opportunity. But for a company the size of Activision, it's a very different story.

And yes, it doesn't change the legality of the situation either way. They own, and they have every right and incentive to protect their properties and copyrights, regardless of when the IPs were last being actively developed.

It would be cool if they took this opportunity to port the games to those platforms, though, agreed.

[dark-daventry]

It's frustrating for fans like us, yes, and while I think KQ (and other Sierra properties) could have commercial future, I can see why Activision may disagree. For a small studio, they could be a great opportunity. But for a company the size of Activision, it's a very different story.

And yes, it doesn't change the legality of the situation either way. They own, and they have every right and incentive to protect their properties and copyrights, regardless of when the IPs were last being actively developed.

It would be cool if they took this opportunity to port the games to those platforms, though, agreed.

I'd hope they do port them to the iPhone/iPad, but only time will tell I guess. They could easily incorporate some of the stuff Martin Kool developed for Sarien.net. It worked very well on the iPad.

[MusicallyInspired]

Sarien.net is coming back with ActiVision's authorization. Apparently they're letting him have the first games of each series online and then a link to the Steam page so people can buy the rest of the series. He was also asked not to put the games on the iPad, though, as ACtiVision may or may not choose to put them for sale there themselves.

ActiVision didn't mention LSL, however, because apparently they sold that IP to CodeMasters. Martin is double-checking to see if they or CodeMasters care whether or not the LSL games are ok on Sarien.net and the iPad.

http://www.martinkool.com/2011/01/sariennet-full-story.html