Adventure Gamers - Forums
You are here: Home → Forum Home → Gaming → Adventure → Thread
New posts
No new postsThe Pandora Directive 25th Anniversary - Possible Remake/Remaster Announced!
OK. I would choose “no game at all” in 10 cases out of 10.
Same. How many games/books/movies/albums are out there which look interesting to me and have something new to offer me? A lot. And I’m supposed to want to replay some old game instead? No thanks.
OK. I would choose “no game at all” in 10 cases out of 10.
Same. How many games/books/movies/albums are out there which look interesting to me and have something new to offer me? A lot. And I’m supposed to want to replay some old game instead? No thanks.
I’m different. I try lots of new games/books/albums, but I also enjoy going back to old ones. Music is a good way to illustrate my point: I’ve listened to my favorite albums hundreds of times, but they still make me feel a certain way, so I keep listening to them. Doing so doesn’t preclude me from also having the fun and excitement of discovering new things, but each of my favorite albums hits a particular spot, tickly a particular fancy, makes me feel a particular way. So when I want those places hit, tickled, and feeling, I go back to those albums.
Certain games and books and movies are similar.
Also, going back to things you experienced in your past can be a very interesting and effective way of measuring your own personal changes. I might have reacted like [this] to a particular book or character when I was a certain age…how will I feel about that book or character today? I am in constant motion, but the media never changes. It’s a potentially entertaining and psychologically fascinating way to learn about yourself with a little objectivity.
I’m not sure replaying the Tex Murphy games will yield any such enlightenment whatsoever, but they were very good (great) games with some parts that I found frustrating. I enjoyed them enough to play them again in a ‘new and improved’ form. Also, perhaps the games would be more palatable to new players? I know I specifically did not recommend the games to my less archaic-mechanics tolerant friends because I know there’s no way they’d have the patience for all of the things I mentioned in my last post.
Player, purveyor, and propagator of smart toys and games for all ages.
Facebook.com/weplayfaves
IG @weplayfaves
My point being that any kind of new Tex Murphy content (be it a sequel or remaster) should be seen as a bonus from this point forward. It’s not like there needs to be another sequel to resolve a cliffhanger anymore. I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth and question the thinking behind Big Finish Games’ decision to remaster The Pandora Directive. I’ll gladly take whatever I can when it comes to Tex Murphy. We’re lucky to be getting anything at all, quite frankly.
Very well said. I agree! Tex fans should be very grateful and happy, even if a Pandora remaster isn’t their first choice.
Also… The Pandora Directive is an awesome game to play, even by today’s standards. However, the FMV, interface, and 3D environments could all use a technical upgrade, and there have been quite a few advances in technology in the last 25 years. This is not one of those mostly unnecessary “remasters” that are released only 5 or 6 years after the original game. (The Raven Remastered and the upcoming Life Is Strange Remastered come to mind). The technological differences between the 1996 edition and remastered edition of Pandora will be huge!
Wish there was a similar project updating UAKM, since I belong to the relatively few who love that game even more than PD.
I too prefer Under a Killing Moon over The Pandora Directive (though I love both games). Under a Killing Moon is the more pure experience of the two, I feel. It’s the more humorous game, it has the more interesting (for my money at least) and easy to follow plot and most importantly perhaps, it doesn’t have the annoying sections that are timed events at Roswell and the fireball dodging section at the Aztec Temple from The Pandora Directive.
To be honest, there’s probably also a bit of personal bias going on, as Under a Killing Moon was my introduction to the series back 1994 and I have extremely fond memories of playing through the game over and over again (I must have completed it at least 5 times in the span of that year). As for a potential remake/remaster of Under a Killing Moon, Big Finish Games addressed that on the blog post I linked to in the OP…
Some folks have already asked, “what about Under a Killing Moon?” Although many players regard Pandora as Tex’s best and most highly-regarded game, Under a Killing Moon holds a special place in many people’s hearts. Not only was it the game that introduced many to the Tex Murphy universe, but one that helped put full-motion video games on the radar (before other less than satisfactory titles proceeded to pull it off the radar years later).
While we have recovered many of the source materials used for Under a Killing Moon, the content hasn’t stood the test of time as well. Don’t get us wrong: they look great. But Under a Killing Moon was shot on a black screen (not a blue/green screen). Which meant most of the full-motion video sequences were composited using a combination of luma keying and rotoscoping. Back when the video was only 10 frames-per-second, this was not such a tall order. Upscale that to high definition and 30-60 fps, and we’re talking about a gargantuan task!
There have been some great advancements in technology that should help with the task, but many are still in their infancy, so we will be keeping a close eye on them as they develop. We’re certainly not ruling the idea out for the future. After all, as the famous Police song ‘Walking on the Moon’ goes, “Tomorrow’s another day… I may as well play.”
Fate, up against your will, through the thick and thin, he will wait until..
Yeah, I have nothing particularly useful to add. Might have to finally give these games a try, I guess? Maybe I’ll wait a while longer, to see how these remakes/remasters pan out.
What a time to be alive.
Yeah, I have nothing particularly useful to add. Might have to finally give these games a try, I guess? Maybe I’ll wait a while longer, to see how these remakes/remasters pan out.
I highly recommend playing the games. They’re some of the best adventure games ever made.
I’d recommend starting with the third game, Under a Killing Moon and going from there. The first two games have dated badly are aren’t much fun at all to play these days, but you don’t need to play either of them to understand what’s happening in Under a Killing Moon (and the fifth game, Overseer, is a remake of the first game in the series - which acts as both a prequel and sequel to Under a Killing Moon and The Pandora Directive). I wouldn’t even nessercerily wait for the remaster of The Pandora Directive before jumping into the world of Tex Murphy, as Under a Killing Moon is still an absolute joy to play to this very day and you’ll have a better understanding of who the characters in The Pandora Directive are if you start with that game.
OK. I would choose “no game at all” in 10 cases out of 10.
Same. How many games/books/movies/albums are out there which look interesting to me and have something new to offer me? A lot. And I’m supposed to want to replay some old game instead? No thanks.
I actually find the negative responses to remasters puzzling. Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course, but whenever an older game that I love gets any type of remasterization I get very excited (not remakes because I know those can go wrong more often than not, but I also feel curious and excited). Keep in mind video games are the medium that is most dependent on the technology that is used in the time, so not only they age both in terms of graphics and mechanics but are also often unplayable on modern systems if you want to revisit them.
As a personal example I’m a huge Tomb Raider fan and we in the community have been imploring them to remaster the older (and greater) titles for modern consoles and PCs. I own all of them for PC but are virtually impossible to play unless I tweak and mod the hell out of them, but it’s not something that everyone can easily do (not to mention I don’t have a CD drive anymore so they’re just basically collection items). The 25th anniversary was the perfect opportunity, just like Tex here, but no luck so far, we have to be content with whatever modern iteration we get. Imagine if on top of that the series is done and there’s no hope for more games in the future?
I actually find the negative responses to remasters puzzling. Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course, but whenever an older game that I love gets any type of remasterization I get very excited (not remakes because I know those can go wrong more often than not, but I also feel curious and excited). Keep in mind video games are the medium that is most dependent on the technology that is used in the time, so not only they age both in terms of graphics and mechanics but are also often unplayable on modern systems if you want to revisit them.
As a personal example I’m a huge Tomb Raider fan and we in the community have been imploring them to remaster the older (and greater) titles for modern consoles and PCs. I own all of them for PC but are virtually impossible to play unless I tweak and mod the hell out of them, but it’s not something that everyone can easily do (not to mention I don’t have a CD drive anymore so they’re just basically collection items). The 25th anniversary was the perfect opportunity, just like Tex here, but no luck so far, we have to be content with whatever modern iteration we get. Imagine if on top of that the series is done and there’s no hope for more games in the future?
I concur. It’s crazy to me to hear people say that they ought not to be remastering their legacy titles and instead just concentrate on making new ones. As well as being a videogame enthusiast, I’m also a cinephile and it would be the equivalent to saying “they shouldn’t bother releasing old films on superior media, with better presentation. I’ve seen the movie once on VHS and that’s enough. Just make a sequel. I don’t need to rewatch it on DVD, Blu-Ray or in 4k”. I mean, okay, maybe some folk don’t feel the need to revisit classic titles, but plenty of us do and more to the point, newer generations are a lot less likely to seek out an old title if it makes use of outdated technology.
It’s extremely important to ensure that classic games are made easily available and accessible to current and future generations. In order to do so, it would be helpful to get the title out there on platforms as a fresh remaster, with graphical and interface options to match current baseline standards, not just as a retro download on GOG (which I’d wager most sales are from people who already grew up playing the game). A legacy title with a fresh lick of paint is far more likely to entice a new generation of fans and keep the series alive, than a “creaky and clunky” (albeit brilliant) 25 year old game being sold mostly for nostalgia purposes.
People may bemoan the creative choices made in regards to the likes of the Monkey Island remasters, but I think it’s pretty much indisputable that they would have introduced a decent number of new players into experiencing the series for the first time. That’s got to be a good thing, regardless of the fact that it didn’t lead to any new sequels.
As a personal example I’m a huge Tomb Raider fan and we in the community have been imploring them to remaster the older (and greater) titles for modern consoles and PCs. I own all of them for PC but are virtually impossible to play unless I tweak and mod the hell out of them, but it’s not something that everyone can easily do (not to mention I don’t have a CD drive anymore so they’re just basically collection items). The 25th anniversary was the perfect opportunity, just like Tex here, but no luck so far, we have to be content with whatever modern iteration we get. Imagine if on top of that the series is done and there’s no hope for more games in the future?
Ya, I hear you, but proper remasters are very expensive if done correctly (Resident Evil 2). Imagine the cost of remastering “Angel of Darkness”.
I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.
As a personal example I’m a huge Tomb Raider fan and we in the community have been imploring them to remaster the older (and greater) titles for modern consoles and PCs. I own all of them for PC but are virtually impossible to play unless I tweak and mod the hell out of them, but it’s not something that everyone can easily do (not to mention I don’t have a CD drive anymore so they’re just basically collection items). The 25th anniversary was the perfect opportunity, just like Tex here, but no luck so far, we have to be content with whatever modern iteration we get. Imagine if on top of that the series is done and there’s no hope for more games in the future?
Ya, I hear you, but proper remasters are very expensive if done correctly (Resident Evil 2). Imagine the cost of remastering “Angel of Darkness”.
True, having a proper remaster and finally complete version of “Angel of Darkness” is a pipe dream but getting at least the first 3 or 4 with tweaked graphics and mechanics would be more doable, or picking one and give it the RE2 Remake or FF7 treatment…
But going back to Text I would definitely love the remaster. I played them long ago and I really enjoyed them, it would be great to revisit an upgraded Pandora Directive 
True, having a proper remaster and finally complete version of “Angel of Darkness” is a pipe dream but getting at least the first 3 or 4 with tweaked graphics and mechanics would be more doable, or picking one and give it the RE2 Remake or FF7 treatment…
To be fair, Crystal Dynamics already did this for the original game in 2007, with the excellent Tomb Raider: Anniversary.
True, having a proper remaster and finally complete version of “Angel of Darkness” is a pipe dream but getting at least the first 3 or 4 with tweaked graphics and mechanics would be more doable, or picking one and give it the RE2 Remake or FF7 treatment…
To be fair, Crystal Dynamics already did this for the original game in 2007, with the excellent Tomb Raider: Anniversary.
Yes that was a very good remake. I realized after posting it that doing that type of remake/reimagining is the hard and expensive thing to do. What we fans have been craving is just the ability to play the old games on modern systems. (And for the new games to go back to the puzzle oriented gameplay of old 
)
But I definitely agree with your previous point. The importance of bringing back older games and make them available for not only old fans but newer audiences that would have never played them otherwise.
Doing a remake like what they are proposing from Pandora Directive is also a good idea, when they have an access to their original production files, in this case, the FMV footage as well as apparently some of the original models. I understood the locations are built upon the original data, so there will be an air of familiarity with it all, even when it all will look much sleeker thanks to the technological advancements.
I’ve lamented the fact a bit, that a lot of the original artwork for Sierra games has been lost. For example, the Gabriel Knight remake would have looked so much better had they had all the original hand-painted background art at their disposal, not to mention to original video footage they used to draw the game sprites from. Essentially, all the work that was done for Gabriel Knight and all the 90s Sierra games was originally in higher resolution, but a lot of that art was lost in time.
As a personal example I’m a huge Tomb Raider fan and we in the community have been imploring them to remaster the older (and greater) titles for modern consoles and PCs. I own all of them for PC but are virtually impossible to play unless I tweak and mod the hell out of them, but it’s not something that everyone can easily do (not to mention I don’t have a CD drive anymore so they’re just basically collection items).
It’s been a while since I last played Tomb Raiders, but if memory serves, you need some Glide wrapper for the first game, which is a couple of minutes download. From the second game forward, you don’t even need that.
Perhaps you could elaborate how are they “impossible to play”. You don’t even need a CD drive, if you just have the game files on your hard drive, either as separate files, or a CD image, so you even have a couple of options right there.
If all else fails, you can re-buy from GOG.
I concur. It’s crazy to me to hear people say that they ought not to be remastering their legacy titles and instead just concentrate on making new ones. As well as being a videogame enthusiast, I’m also a cinephile and it would be the equivalent to saying “they shouldn’t bother releasing old films on superior media, with better presentation. I’ve seen the movie once on VHS and that’s enough. Just make a sequel. I don’t need to rewatch it on DVD, Blu-Ray or in 4k”. I mean, okay, maybe some folk don’t feel the need to revisit classic titles, but plenty of us do and more to the point, newer generations are a lot less likely to seek out an old title if it makes use of outdated technology.
That’s not the same thing at all!
Remasters change the content of the original game, in other words, whatever you play is not the real game as it was once upon a time designed and created.
If we ignore some things like George Lucas raping his own films by re-editing them, what Blu-rays and such attempt to do is to preserve the original content as it was on film back in the day. VHS releases mostly treated the original material like trash, especially if we are talking about those horrible pan & scan versions, and especially with foreign language films subtitles were hard-burnt on the master tape, which usually made things only worse.
Blu-rays (usually) present the content in the right aspect ratio, from the cleanest possible source with the least amount of wear and tear, and you have the option of turning on and off subtitles if you need them.
So the technology is giving a chance to experience the works in a way that is closer to the original, which is a good thing.
Game remasters work in the completely opposite direction!
They try to fix something that was never broken, like in the horrible case of Double Fine remasters getting rid of that lovely pixel arts graphics and replacing it with vector graphics that looks like a browser game.
Enhanced versions, remasters and remakes have always been a thing in computer games. They started doing them already in the 80s when technology outran the originals.
When Sierra introduced graphics to the adventure genre, developers started to remaster their own text-only titles to have graphics. The version of King’s Quest 1 you play now is not the same that was originally released for PCjr. Both Sierra and Lucasfilm did quite a few remasters and remakes of their titles.
With games, it has always been the nature of the beast, that developers have done remakes. It has been a good way of introducing an old franchise to new players as well as introduce elements to games, that were impossible to achieve with the tech that was used to originally create those games, be it higher resolution graphics or actual music and sound effects.
You are here: Home → Forum Home → Gaming → Adventure → Thread
