Al Speaks About Remake

[Collector]

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/6058 ... r-funding/

[Tawmis]

Nice. Put the video on LarryLaffer.net too.

[Collector]

Another one:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/04 ... ssic-game/

Also, a mention of KQ and TSL.

RPS: So also with King’s Quest, they’ve been uncharacteristically generous in allowing fan projects. Have you seen the project the Silver Lining?

Paul: The Silver Lining wasn’t available for sale…

RPS: That’s right, yes.

Paul:And in addition it wasn’t really a King’s Quest. In my opinion they did an injustice to the King’s Quest franchise.

RPS: That’s interesting, why do you think that?

Paul: I just don’t think it held true to Roberta’s vision, just like I don’t think the Leisure Suit Larrys that have come out after Al wasn’t involved held true to Al’s vision. And that’s why I refuse to work on a Leisure Suit Larry game if Al wasn’t involved. I refuse to work on a King’s Quest game if Roberta’s not involved.

RPS: Would Roberta be willing to be involved, she’s been out of the industry for a while hasn’t she?

Paul: I can’t speak for Roberta, but I can tell you that we’re currently talking to her and Ken.

RPS: It’s like getting the old gang back together.

Al: We’re putting the band back together!

RPS: One last gig!

Paul: I’m doing the best I can.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmmm...

RPS: Yeah. So you mentioned Tim Schafer and I think it’s interesting back in those days, maybe slightly later than the original Larry, but the rivalry between Sierra and LucasArts, a lot of it came down to deaths in games, what are you going to do about that?

Al: Y’know, there was never any rivalry between the game designers or the companies. I think there might have been a perceived rivalry from the point of the fans. I’d always look forward to whenever Lucas would ship a new game because it gave me something new to play. We swapped games back and forth all the time back then. I think you’re right about the death part, part of Larry, especially the first Larry, part of that is the dying part, although we got rid of that in later games. I think by Larry 3 it was difficult to die, by Larry 5 it was impossible, and 6 and 7, I don’t think there were any death scenes. It’s a different way of playing and we can work around it.

It's difficult to die in LSL3, impossible in LSL5, and no death scenes at all in LSL6 or LSL7? I'm sorry? OK, granted, I've never been able to die in LSL7, but there were quite a few deaths in LSL3, 5 and 6 - particularly LSL3. I can't remember how many times (in LSL3) my Larry fell off a cliff while trying to collect flowers for the lei, or my Patti was gored by the boar or flew off that log in the mini-arcade game. Granted, it was certainly much much easier to die in LSL2, but still...

[Tawmis]

Another one:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/04 ... ssic-game/

Also, a mention of KQ and TSL.

RPS: So also with King’s Quest, they’ve been uncharacteristically generous in allowing fan projects. Have you seen the project the Silver Lining?
Paul: The Silver Lining wasn’t available for sale…
RPS: That’s right, yes.
Paul:And in addition it wasn’t really a King’s Quest. In my opinion they did an injustice to the King’s Quest franchise.
RPS: That’s interesting, why do you think that?
Paul: I just don’t think it held true to Roberta’s vision, just like I don’t think the Leisure Suit Larrys that have come out after Al wasn’t involved held true to Al’s vision. And that’s why I refuse to work on a Leisure Suit Larry game if Al wasn’t involved. I refuse to work on a King’s Quest game if Roberta’s not involved.
RPS: Would Roberta be willing to be involved, she’s been out of the industry for a while hasn’t she?
Paul: I can’t speak for Roberta, but I can tell you that we’re currently talking to her and Ken.
RPS: It’s like getting the old gang back together.
Al: We’re putting the band back together!
RPS: One last gig!
Paul: I’m doing the best I can.

Hrm. I am not too sure I am 100% behind this "If they original designer is not there, it's not true to the vision" bit.

I agree the "Leisure Suit Larry" games were not done right (but then it wasn't Larry Laffer either, and they went some wild, different crazy way with the games)... I still believe, that someone with enough passion and understanding, could pull it off. Whether it's King's Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, and yes - even Gabriel Knight. We've not seen it done with Sierra games, no. (Like for me, I didn't even care for Phantasmagoria 2...) But I certainly don't think it's impossible as he seems to be implying...

... because if that's the case, I sure hope he doesn't collect comic books...!

[Datadog]

Not to mention that sometimes having the original designer on-board not does guarantee a true vision either. QFG3 was never meant to be part of the series, both SQ5 and SQ6 went off on a tangent from the other games, and I'd be hard-pressed to believe that MoE was always intended as a follow-up to KQ7.

Mind you, I've seen some great games come out when original designers weren't involved. Using SQ5 as an example again, it only featured half of the Two Guys, but it's still my favorite of the SQ series. And I thought both "Curse of" and "Tales of Monkey Island" were positively superb. And then there's "Fallout 3" which was completely re-developed by a third-party company with a complete gameplay overhaul which has gone on to great success.

While I believe vision belongs in the hands of the original designer, I also believe that torches can be passed to younger generations. Just look at the non-George Lucas-developed "Knights of the Old Republic" games or "Clone Wars" cartoons which have garnered more critical acclaim than anything George has done in recent years. And while James Bond movies may be on or off in terms of quality, even the best of them don't always follow Ian Fleming's visions. Even a few of the Beatles' greatest hits are covers of older songs.

[Maxor127]

The RPS interview was interesting. I'd definitely like HD remakes of King's Quest and Space Quest. I hope all of the old franchises get remade, but I especially want Quest for Glory.

[Collector]

I wouldn't want them to touch Glory without enough money. It would require a lot development.