If Police Quest would have continued...

[Tawmis]

... (Jim Walls?)...

... what are some things you would have liked to have seen?

Maybe story wise?
Character wise?
Voice actors?

[Rath Darkblade]

For a start, I'd have gotten rid of PQ4 and the SWAT games. I'd have liked to see more of Sonny Bonds (and possibly another Sonny / Keith game -- PQ2 was fun).

PQ1 was a lot more fun than PQ3, especially because it didn't suffer from the voodoo complication travesty.

I'm not a cop, so I don't know what Sonny could be doing. He's too senior to be a beat cop, but no-one's going to buy a game called "Police Quest: Let's Catch Up On The Paperwork".

Perhaps Sonny and Marie had a kid who's following in Sonny's footsteps? And enrolled in the Police Academy? (But no, we're not going to see any "Police Academy"-style stuff. Thank gawd).

So, Sonny and Marie's kid is now a beat cop, and out on his/her first assignment. What would he/she see? And do? Etc., etc.? This is where my lack of experience as a cop comes in, 'cos I have no idea. (Sorry).

Any ideas?

[Tawmis]

Perhaps Sonny and Marie had a kid who's following in Sonny's footsteps? And enrolled in the Police Academy? (But no, we're not going to see any "Police Academy"-style stuff. Thank gawd).
So, Sonny and Marie's kid is now a beat cop, and out on his/her first assignment. What would he/she see? And do? Etc., etc.? This is where my lack of experience as a cop comes in, 'cos I have no idea. (Sorry).
Any ideas?

I could very much see something like this; because, really, it's similar to the story of BLUE FORCE (son of an officer becomes a cop... won't spoil the rest of the intro for anyone who hasn't played it).
But I could definitely see Sonny and Marie having a son or daughter (maybe you pick at the beginning of the game, and that creates some minor replay value on how situations are handled, similar to Quest for Glory and the different "classes" you pick). But definitely would take it back to Lytton and explore that more. Maybe with the Death Angel dead, there's a power struggle that's turning bloody over the turf war.

[notbobsmith]

I'm just realizing that Sonny is the only one of the main Sierra games who was never voiced (unless you count SWAT 4). I think a clean slate is more in order. Maybe make Sonny chief of police, but make the playable character a rookie with no connection to Bonds. I was also thinking it would be cool to make the character fully customizable, like in an RPG. Personally, I would move away from any connection to Bains. The Bains' were in all three Sonny PQs. We don't need to see their 2nd cousin once removed.

[Rath Darkblade]

I'm just realizing that Sonny is the only one of the main Sierra games who was never voiced (unless you count SWAT 4). I think a clean slate is more in order.

The QfG hero was also never voiced.

Maybe make Sonny chief of police, but make the playable character a rookie with no connection to Bonds. I was also thinking it would be cool to make the character fully customizable, like in an RPG. Personally, I would move away from any connection to Bains. The Bains' were in all three Sonny PQs. We don't need to see their 2nd cousin once removed.

Hmm ... how would you make a police officer 'customizable'? What kind of stats / skills / etc. would he/she have? *curious*

In real life, people have all kinds of skills, so there are all kinds of police jobs (e.g. beat cop, drug detective, accounting, administration etc. -- not every cop is out on patrol).

Having said that, making the MC (Main Character) a "Desk Jockey" is boring. I can just imagine: "Police Quest for the Head Bean Counter's Signature on Tax Form XVS/487". (I've worked in accounting for 14 years, so I guess I'm allowed to make accounting jokes).

Suppose the MC is a Beat Cop(TM). Let's take D&D-like stats: Strength, Constitution, Agility (like D&D's Dexterity), Intelligence, Street-smarts (same as D&D's Wisdom and Charisma combined). So:

- Strength would be important for hand-to-hand combat, using a nightstick, etc.
- Constitution would help with chasing after crooks - can't catch 'em if you can't outrun 'em!
- Agility would be helpful for (again) chasing crooks and jumping over fences, etc.
- Intelligence would help with filling out forms properly after arrests are made
- Street-smarts are, perhaps, the beat cop's street-cred - it helps with questioning suspects and witnesses, etc.

I think Disco Elysium did a fairly good job of a police RPG, although it was also very tough.

[notbobsmith]

I was thinking customizable in terms of appearance. Male/female. Race. Etc.

[Tawmis]

I was thinking customizable in terms of appearance. Male/female. Race. Etc.

Yeah I was thinking the same in terms of gender (viewtopic.php?p=94339#p94339) and it'd be cool because it could be different in how certain things are approached (similar to how Quest for Glory did classes).

[Rath Darkblade]

I was thinking customizable in terms of appearance. Male/female. Race. Etc.

Hmm. Do you mean that, if you were playing (say) a policewoman, you'd have to put up with sexist crap like wolf-whistling etc.? Or if you were playing a black policeman, some people would racially abuse you? (Not only black people have to put up with racial abuse, sure, but they sure get a lot of it).

If we leave out stats and skills, I can't think of any other way this would affect the game ... *shrug*

[Tawmis]

I was thinking customizable in terms of appearance. Male/female. Race. Etc.

Hmm. Do you mean that, if you were playing (say) a policewoman, you'd have to put up with sexist crap like wolf-whistling etc.? Or if you were playing a black policeman, some people would racially abuse you? (Not only black people have to put up with racial abuse, sure, but they sure get a lot of it).
If we leave out stats and skills, I can't think of any other way this would affect the game ... *shrug*

Not... intentionally? But I guess to add realism, that'd probably be thrown in there.
But I'd try to find ways to make the game unique for both genders; like the way someone responds to you.
So that way there's replayability in the game, rather than gender just being that - a gender.
I'd want it to mean something.

[Rath Darkblade]

Oh, sure. I'm not suggesting adding racial/sexual abuse, just for the heck of it. Or for the pretentious "Hey, look at this! Aren't we being adult and all."

Most people who abuse others, for any reason, are jerks. (To put it politely). So it's good to see them getting their comeuppance. Or maybe, once the player-character responds forcefully to them, they realise they're being jerks and back down. Either way, it's opportunities for role-play.

By "the way someone responds to you", do you mean they would say either "sir" or "ma'am", and stuff like that? That's relatively easy to implement.

[DeadPoolX]

By "the way someone responds to you", do you mean they would say either "sir" or "ma'am", and stuff like that? That's relatively easy to implement.

I think Tawmis meant that a male or female suspect might respond differently to a police officer of the opposite sex versus the same sex.

[Tawmis]

By "the way someone responds to you", do you mean they would say either "sir" or "ma'am", and stuff like that? That's relatively easy to implement.

I think Tawmis meant that a male or female suspect might respond differently to a police officer of the opposite sex versus the same sex.

Correct.

[daleks13]

Tawmis i always wanted to play the police officer in the Burglary division. Maybe Sonny Bonds do some work in the Burglary division.
I always wondered how the real police search and find stolen items.

[Tawmis]

Tawmis i always wanted to play the police officer in the Burglary division. Maybe Sonny Bonds do some work in the Burglary division.
I always wondered how the real police search and find stolen items.

I would have been down to see that. Sort of a prequel of Sonny coming up (since I am pretty sure burglary is probably, oddly enough, lower end Police work compared to where we see Sonny go).

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmm. Yes -- I never thought of that, but it's odd that in PQ1, Sonny works as a beat cop for most of the game, and then -- somehow -- he ends up doing an undercover, "James Bond"-style assignment. (He even gets special spy tools, like a pen with a concealed microphone).

He has no training or experience in being undercover, and very few police departments even have the budget for this kind of specialist equipment (especially back in the 1980s).

I understand the narrative necessity for Sonny to do this, but still, I don't know if he could ever have an opportunity like this in real life. Moving him from Traffic Division to Detective is a very big, very rapid promotion. Sonny never even applies for the role, it simply "happens". (Here in Australia, a police officer has to work as one for at least 5-7 years before applying for a detective role).

In real life, he probably would investigate burglaries and such. I'm not sure if they would have the chance to solve such cases themselves, though, or if their role is limited to securing the perimeter and crowd control, before they call in specialist detectives.