They got sued? I thought these things fall under pardody... Hmmm, interesting.

--Erwin

If you go to Space Quest.net , I believe you can download the movie from the SQ Collection where Barry T. Smith goes to Sierra and interviews people (very funny!). One of the people he interviews is (supposedly) one of the legal staff at Sierra, and she starts naming all the people/companys that have brought a lawsuit against them. When she comes to the Duracell/Energizer thing, she says "...Duracell, or was that Eveready?"

Yea Sierra get sue putting stuff in the game tha some company to not like so they sue them and take it out of the game.

Whether it's found to be parody or not, that doesn't stop someone from suing...

First of all, you shouldn't've done that.

Secondly, your information is outdated. Yes, this ending was considered at one point when the team was under a different leader who has by now left the project. The idea was scrapped shortly thereafter because it was pretty stupid ;)

Would you mind telling us who exactly gave you this information and when? It'd be greatly appreciated.

Patrick "pcj" Johnston,
VSB teamlead

Welcome to the Forum pcj

Okay, first of all I'm going to protect my source. I might divulge his/her/its name, I might not. A lot depends on your intentions. Second, I'm glad you find that ending to be stupid and I'm glad to hear that you've decided on a new ending. If you would like to know the source, I would like to know what you intend to do once you have his/her/its name. ;)

Well, first of all, we're going to buy some plane tickets...then buy pitchforks and torches, and then... ;)

Nah, we'd just like to confirm our suspicions on who it is...if the guy is really that perturbed about it, we'd like to try to assuage the problem a bit. There's not too much we can do about it, as they're obviously no longer a part of the team, though we would like to know how it got out. :)

If you think it's a former member of the VSB team, I believe you're wrong. See, I got this information from my brother, who was very active member of the SQ Community until about 3 years ago. He talked to just about everybody on the SQ message boards, so it's probable that he might have chatted with a member/former member. Would you like to provide a name for your suspicions? If I had a name I could tell you for sure whether or not he was in contact with them.

It would probably be better if you guys continue this conversation in private. ;)

Yeah, good point. Adventurous One, please e-mail me at [email protected]

Thanks!

Now we get that done now Back on topic Please

From a theoretical standpoint, I'd be interested in seeing what did draw people to the SQ games. I mean, SQ7.org is creating a game for the fans.. We've done a lot of interviews with people from the SQ-community directly, but I'm interested in people from the extended community of Adventure Gamers.

My favorite game would probably be a toss-up between SQ3 and SQ4, depending on what day you asked me. In both, and in the series in general, what I find amusing is the absurdity of it all..

A janitor on a Starship, forced to save the world. The idea itself is just amusing.

Beyond the general absurdity of the concept, what I've found amusing is the sarcastic throwaways.. The sort of things that let you know the game designers found this as funny as you do. Just the humor of the messages, the narrator's way of putting down Roger while explaining why you fail..

It's a fun environment. It's absurd, and it doesn't take itself too seriously.

I agree that the 3d in SQ6 served little/no purpose, and shouldn't have been there.. I also disliked the overall visual style of SQ6.. While I understand the comic look they were going for, it doesn't work for me.


There's a lot that I'd love to do differently if I had the chance to make Sq7 commercially.. But the fact is Adventure games don't sell. I've looked at the numbers, and it's worse than absurd. PC games in general are a tiny percent of the market, and adventure games are a tiny percentage of that.

It might be theoretically possible if a SQ-adventure were made as a console game, but I truly doubt that a business case could be made for a game that would likely sell less than 20,000 copies.
On a PC, I'd be surprised if they got close.


That means that even if I were offered a million dollars to make SQ7 commercially, I'd have to decline.. I know that I'd likely never be able to make it back.

That is why I think that the only way the games can live on is as fan made products. Games that people make because they love them, for good or ill.


Now, I'm not claiming that I'm going to make the greatest game in the world. We've been working on it for a long time, and I'm upfront about the fact that we're just doing what we can to keep the series alive.


What we can offer is simply this.. A game, in the Space Quest series, that tries to continue the story, the feel, and the humor of the existing games.
Hopefully, once we release people can judge it, and either enjoy it or ignore it on it's merits.


But I'm doing the best I can to get this game out, and I'd love any advice from people in the community at large.

Welcome to the forum, e1ven. :)

The humor was a big draw for me with the Space Quest games, but I also played just about every game Sierra put out in the 80s and 90s, so it isn't like the humor alone drew me to the games. I just really like quests the way Sierra used to do them.

I liked most of their games as well, in particular the early Police Quest series. I feel that the key to capturing that style of game is to make something that we, the game designers, find amusing and absurd. Hopefully, you can share that with us.

I like to say Welcome to the forum, e1ven Hope you stay and enjoy it here.