The Two Guys from Andromeda return (and launch Kickstarter campaign)
 

Hey all,

I dunno if any of you know this but it looks like Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy are teaming up once again for a brand new space adventure game. I am quite excited about this, yet I hope this isn't a joke.

It seems the old Sierra family strikes back!

http://guysfromandromeda.com/

If someone recognizes those two as the original designers, they're certainly not joking.

Yet another kickstarter on its way. This is starting to get tiresome.

Great news. Will support.

By the looks of it though, it won't be a new Wilco adventure, but rather a new series. They are probably going to try the same thing Jensen and Lowe are doing: get funding, make a successfull game, get enough market cred to license back the rights to their creation from activision/whatever.

TalC2: Why is kickstarter hurting in your butt? Don't you like old adventures? Are you not excited that your funding can bring back those games?

It's real.

Count me out. I want to have some money left for Tex.
Where the hogs are many, the wash is poor.

I guess I'll have some spare change for these guys, though I never did like Space Quest very much (funny writing but pretty lousy gameplay most of the time). Like Fien I'm saving my money for Tex Murphy, and the only ex-Sierra folks who could compete with him are Lori and Corey Cole.

I was told that Mark Crowe was working for another company and he couldn't get on board for something like this because of a conflict of interest.

Either way, if this is about bringing about Space Quest 7 then hell yeah count me on board. Just... space it out. Larry, Jensen and Tex are going to blow a hole in my wallet.

I don't think this new game of theirs will be a Space Quest game, but rather (as Banter stated) a new game entirely. However, if succesful they might get closer to the Space Quest IP and therefore revive Roger Wilco from his long sleep.

I think all ex-Sierra developers are slowly jumping on the same bandwagon and starting new projects to prove to the IP holders that they can make a successful adventure game and therefore claim the rights back. As far as I know, Replay Games is only "borrowing" the Larry license from Codemasters, and therefore they can remake the old Larrys but they have to prove successful to create new ones. Jane Jensen also has to prove successful in her endeavors before she can aquire the Gabriel Knight IP and therefore continue with that series.

The more we pledge and support, the more Roger Wilco, Gabriel Knight & Larry Laffer (NOT Larry Lovage!!!) get to see the light of day!

:D

That video is weird, and not terribly promising. And this is coming from someone with a Roger Wilco as his forum avatar.

I'm loving that these game designers from the Sierra glory days are making a new go for it. Space Quest was never my favorite, but I've played them all and will definatly support the guys from Andromeda. I just hope they wait till Al's and Jane's kickstarters are done, if they plan to do the same.

But this is really a dream come true for adventure game fans, if we can look forward to regurlarly releases from these designers. And I dont think they'll be asking for Kickstarters for EVERY game, just in the beginning to get a, well, a kickstart! :)

If this will be a Kickstarter, which is not guaranteed so far, then I hope they're being a bit smarter with the timing and wait for it after the Tex Murphy campaign.
If they start it in a week, then I don't think I will pledge. I was never much of a fan of the Space Quest games, I already pledged too much money on various projects and I keep some back for Tex Murphy.

They look fake, as if somebody took pictures of the two guys and did the Conan O'Brien style lip-moving.

Is there any confirmation of this from either of the two (do they have a web presence etc.)? The whole situation definitely seems weird as hell given that Replay was supposedly just speaking with them last week and the Mark Crowe conflict of interest thing. Plus Murphy, in interviews, has said that Crowe was not a good guy and he wouldn't want to work with him again (there's a chance I have the wrong guy here).

But now suddenly a company is all set up already?

Edit: Solid interview with Scott from a few years ago, in which he speaks negatively about Mark:

http://www.adventureclassicgaming.co...nterviews/234/

Josh Mandel confirmed this in the Larry comments:

That video is epic. Epically TERRIBLE.

It's awful.

that being said, I support the genre, so I'll support them in anyway I can.

That being said, I just tried to like "Spaceventure" and "Two Guys from Andromeda" on Facebook and they're nowhere to be found.

I hadn't watched the video. Now I have. Yes, AWFUL. I find it hard to believe that's not some kind of joke. I also skimmed the interview with Scott at adventure classic gaming (link in JuntMonkey's post). Incredible. Not in a million years will I pledge money to someone who talks about his co-developer and others the way he does:

Would I want to work with Mark again? No, I don't think so. As I learned the hard way, Mark was not a very good partner in the long run. When he decided to go to Sierra's Dynamix division, he didn't have the decency to tell me he was leaving until we were headed to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. The only reason he told me then was that I was inevitably going to see him talking with Dynamix management personnel about the move while we were out there. I lost a lot of respect for him, and then lost more when I learned some other things about him a couple of years later from people I am not at liberty to name who made me understand that he had loyalty to only himself. I was really bummed to learn what he was really like, or what he'd become.
When we worked on the games together and did interviews I would compliment him to the media about how great he was at what he could do with a few pixels, that he was the best in the business, but never in my memory did ever say a single good thing about what I did, and I spent a hell of a lot more time on the games than he did, not to mention the VAST majority of the writing. I was very disillusioned with him for that.

@Gonzosports: Yes, they are on Facebook. I clicked some link and there they were. The twitter link didn't work.

I try not to get caught up in the personal gossip of developers. Clearly if they're together now it represents they buried the hatchet somewhat.

If Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe go to Kickstarter I only want to know if they have a track record of delivering games on time and on budget.

inm8#2, add Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert to that image. Who the hell could have predicted this? I didn't even see Capcom coming with Ace Attorney let alone EVERY PERSON I LIKED GROWING UP making a comeback.

This is so very true!

When I first read this thread I started to feel a bit of the kickstarter fatigue (I assume it's coming), but then I scrolled to the bottom and saw that image and got a big grin on my face. It's pretty awesome really that we're getting the opportunity to see so many of the greats making adventure games again. I can be a bit too optimistic sometimes but every now and then I feel like we're watching something really amazing happening. Who knows, perhaps we are on the horizon of a new dawn for adventure games.

The message I'm getting here and in other threads is: You can trust the Big Names because they're Big Names. But if you put your trust in less well-known project creators and they take a loooooong tim to deliver, well that's your own fault for not Goooogling enough and not noticing shortcomings.

I assume you've done your research, so have they? And let's not forget they were employed at the time, not independent developers.

Have they done anything in terms of game design since Space Quest? I wouldn't know about it. The same goes for Al Lowe.
Jane Jensen and Tim Schafer remained within the game industry since the good old days and have designed many more games, but you can't say this for every oldtimer who's coming back.
Maybe that's not a problem for people who want a mere nostalgia trip, but I would want a little more, to be honest.

My logic tends to be, based on the name and the nostalgia alone I'll throw $10-$15 their way and hope for the best. I'm happy to risk that amount and not feel too bad if it goes south.

For someone I have more faith in I'll pledge a higher amount, assuming the rewards are worth it to me or I'm super excited about the game premise.

Since GK, Jane Jensen designed GM (which was delayed how many times?) and a lot of casual games. But it's okay, because she's Jane Jensen.

Well, that's not my message, is it? What I was saying is nasty quotes people say on the Internet is not the best way judge the quality of a project. Look at that Phil Fish twerp who released Fez this week. He's an unlikable prat but that doesn't negate the wonderful game he made and released (eventually).

I feel like the message I'm getting from you is "stop being positive, because you'll probably get screwed over." In my mind that's a much less refined way to evaluate something than doing SOME searching on Google.

Well, Mark Crowe has been working for an independent developer for a while now so I don't doubt his professionalism. I'll be able to make a better judgement when they talk about what they're actually pitching.

Tex Murphy priority one for me. Then Jane, then these guys and Larry if I have any dough left. Ugh!

Those two Andromeda guys have to work together. To create a hopefully humorous game. That interview doesn't inspire trust they can pull it off. If Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert held grudges against each other, I wouldn't want them to work together on a game either.

Please be as positive as you want to be.

She has designed many casual games, that's right. You may not like them (I don't either, to be honest), but my point is that she continued designing games, remained involved within the game industry and followed its recent developments. She never lost touch, basically.
And the delays of Gray Matter weren't simply her fault. She finished the design many years before Gray Matter shipped.

Boom!
 

It seems to be legit, as it is confirmed on both of their twitter accounts as well: twitter.com/#!/slashvohaul and es.twitter.com/Wilcofever Space Quest has always been my fav adventure game series, so I am excited at the prospect of these two re-teaming. As for earlier comments about bad feelings they may have had for one another in the past, noone here knows either of them for real, and so none of us are qualified to make judgements about whether or not they would get along. Obviously, whatever may have happened is in the past, and if they are re-teaming to make a game, then it's safe to assume that they aren't bothered by it anymore.

Yes, that's the long and short of it. If people are real excited about a Kickstarter project, they downplay other, possibly negative aspects. It's shut-up-and-take-my-money. Fine with me. But that awful video is simply awful, whatever way you look at it.

HA! Life has taught me differently. :crazy:

I'm not concerned about the video, as they are game developers, and making videos may not be their forte. And despite whatever your life may have taught you, your personal experiences do not necessarily reflect those of everyone else :).

A clear case of downplaying possibly negative aspects. Thank you for proving my point.

So YOU are "qualified to make judgements" on the basis of your personal experiences and I am not. I see... :P

Anyway... I'm out of here. I do hope their game-to-be will be good and everybody will be happy. But I'm not giving them one cent.

I'm not sure what judgements you are referring to on my part. I had an opinion about how the quality of the video may, or may not relate to the potential quality of the game, and that is just my personal opinion. It is a bit cheap to dismiss other peoples opinions as just downplaying negative aspects. I fully acknowledge that the game could suck, but I am excited at the 'potential' for it to be great, and I don't care that the video is crap, because really, all the other promo videos they made for their SQ games were about the same quality :).

New video confirms Gary Owens is working on the project as a voice actor - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYuKF...feature=colike

Owens is a broadcasting legend probably most famously known today for voicing Space Ghost. He also worked on the Space Quest games where he would tell players they've been a real pantload!

Hey all - as I mentioned in the Larry thread, let's please keep this one focused on the new Guys from Andromeda project (which may not even be related to Kickstarter!) and keep discussion of Kickstarter's pros and cons in the Kickstarter fatigue thread. Thanks.

Anyway, back on topic: I loved Gary Owens narrations, glad he will be the back on board :)

Oh my God, Owens is what, 75 now, and it feels) But still very cool! I can't even believe narrators are coming back :) My favourite is the one from Quest for Glory IV. I hope Coles will also make a glorious return and bring him back with them.

Even if the Coles jumped in, too, I doubt that John Rhys-Davies would want to do it again. I believe he found doing QfG4 a very unpleasant experience.

Hasn't he found virtually every job he's ever taken to be an unpleasant experience?

Oh, I didn't know it was him :) Wikipedia states that Still his narration was almost perfect.