First Impressions and Hima-direction

[SirWulf2]

One series that I did rather enjoy, besides Space Quest... loved those... was the Lara Bow series, in particular the first one, Colonel's Bequest.  I could see more murder mysteries in this fashion.  The interaction with the characters, each with a motive and reason for the killing... I like that kind of play.  And really, this also can fall along the LucasArts' Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle, of sorts.

[NightShift]

Two words... (well, ten including these, and these)

Gabriel Knight.

[Disco]

I am quite interested to see Himalaya continue to make games in QfGesque fantasy settings, with their own style of course. It is exciting to see that Himalaya are developing a western, not just creating parodies of their earlier work.

Aside from Fantasy adventure, I have an innate attraction toward science fiction games. Anything set in space or a non-Earth planet,  moon, or starbase gets my money :p.

Hey, why don't we have California Pizza Kitchen cater Tostada pizzas?  Kinda like taco, meets pizza, meets vegetarian meal ). I so miss their japanese eggplant and goat cheese pizzas!

[GameDevChris]

Aside from Fantasy adventure, I have an innate attraction toward science fiction games. Anything set in space or a non-Earth planet,  moon, or starbase gets my money :p.

That would explain your Avatar image. It's from Serenity, right?  

[Disco]

Correct Chris! a fellow browncoat I presume? .

[coroloro]

I am with NightShift!

Gabriel Knight!

I only played GK- the beast within, but boy, was that incredible. I am not a big fan of detective stuff, but when you mix in the fantasy element...  Another game that combined some police, detective, and pure fantasy was The Longest Journey. Anyone heard of that? It is by a relatively obscure German company and it was increeeedible. Very new, interesting, and creative- it reminded me of a Japanese game in terms of its ability to break out of any specific 'genre' and make a new story that one could not predict. Usually only Japanese games and anime have such a knack for smoothly going new directions and crossing over multiple genres.

Brit- I was thinking Asia in particular when I mentioned historical. I myself have been to the national museum in Taiwan- which, interestingly enough, holds more major historical artifacts from China than anywhere IN China (or so I was told) since the communist government which took over destroyed most of their historical artifacts. Meanwhile, the Chinese who escaped took many artifacts with them which now are, of course, in Taiwan. I snuck a camera in and took some beautiful pictures. It is fascinating to see how things like anime came clearly from Asian culture dating back thousands of years- you only need look at one of their watercolour scrolls to see the influence. I also love the idea of a scroll painting- ten feet of an image that just keeps going and going, like walking along a bridge and gazing out into the scene beyond. Beyond panoramic.

I think I know where my vote is now- be it detective, police, fantasy, historical fiction, sci fi, or a combination there-of... make it based in Asia! That would have been incredible to see. Maybe AGD should try a new approach- instead of taking an existing game and remaking it, try making an ORIGINAL game from an EXISTING series.

[Disco]

I think I know where my vote is now- be it detective, police, fantasy, historical fiction, sci fi, or a combination there-of... make it based in Asia! A developer named Himalaya making a game set in Asia!

That would make an interesting fusion of genres, I can see it now:
"Our stringent hero/exo-entomologist arrives in Kathmandu, hell-bent on saving the area's marsupial population from an extra-terrestrial flesh-eating insect horde"  

[SirWulf2]

I really enjoyed The Longest Journey.  That title is very accurate.  The sheer size of the game is huge.  And I believe it was a very successful blend of sci-fi and fantasy elements.

I just loved the fact that one moment you are crawling around the bowels of a spaceship, the next on board a wooden ship navigating by compass.  The settings nearly covered everything, deserts, forests, cities, underwater, space, other dimensions, dreams.

I was impressed on how it all came together rather naturally, no easy task at all.

[GameDevBrit]

I enjoyed the Longest Journey as well.  I played it in German, when I didn't speak the language very well, and just remember being very captivated by the surreal environment.

And Coroloro, I believe that Lori Cole mentioned that Asia was on the list for a potential Quest for Glory game if they had continued making them.  It's a shame Yosemite shut it's doors

[Cellardoor]

Hi everyone, nice to see the Himalaya forums (re-)opened. Some of you might know me from other forums - also, Luke's a colleague of mine, hi Luke! [/quote]
...I just love a good pizza - but those vegetarian ones tend to spoil my appetite.

[Gronagor]

Oooh! Forums open! Nice.

What a silly smiley. Also nice.  

[Angelus3K]

Welcome Gron!

[GameDevBrit]

Welcome Cellardoor and Gron!  Cute and very relevant smiley, by the way

[Cellardoor]

Cellardoor, for now, we've targed the adventure niche, and feel that we can contibute unique, worthwhile projects due to our love of the genre!  There is always a possiblity in the future that we could expand to other areas (i.e. adventure/rpg hybrids, etc).  But for right now, we would like to continue concentrating on what we feel we know best and contribute to a genre we are passionate about.

Yes, ofcourse. I should've made myself more clear; I was wondering if you were doing anything to appeal to a wider adventure audience besides your current Sierra-oriented fanbase.

I don't care much for hybrids myself, but I believe you guys are cutting yourself short by depending mostly on the fanbase gathered through AGDI's Sierra-remakes.

[Erpy]

What would you suggest we'd do in order to appeal to a wider audience? We already took out some of the elements that older Sierra games were often criticised for...dead ends and dying. (well, you can still die near the end, but you're automatically returned to the point where you were before you died)

[Gronagor]

Could be that I myself misunderstand Cellardoor, but I believe he asks whether you've taken steps to promote the game to all adventure-gaming fans, and not just Sierra fans. Could be that I'm wrong...

[Tom Lewandowski]

Sure would be nice to buy a 15-second plug on television...which would eat up any profits we hope to see.  

[GameDevChris]

As far as advertising is concerned, gaming magazine ads are fairly hit and miss (not to mention very expensive). Truthfully, the AGDI scene will probably be our main (and best) source of advertising initially due to our small budget.  But I expect that the demo's distribution and word of mouth will help spread knowledge about the game far beyond just the AGDI audience. We'll also be trying to get the demo on some magazine cover CDs which will help get it into people's hands who otherwise would not know about it (or may consider it out of their niche).  

Al Emmo's demo is also much larger than the average game demo nowadays (about 1/9th of the game) so it will give players a very good idea of how the full game looks, feels, and plays like. I think it was Ken Williams who said that you should set your first game in any series up for brand-name recognition, and not necessarily to make a major profit; that's what sequels are for.

For Al Emmo 1, I think there will be a lot of scepticism surrounding the game at first, but once people try it and become familiar with its characters, game mechanics, and humor, they'll discover that it includes the same charms as the adventure games of the past (along with some modern improvements) and then the game/series will effectively be able to market itself from that point onward. So, that said, the first thing we need to do is to make sure enough people play it and become familiar with it.  This is also why pricing will be important and we have some interesting ideas up in the air at the moment regarding that!  

Oh, BTW Disco:

Correct Chris! a fellow browncoat I presume?

Actually,  I hadn't ever seen (or didn't even know about) the Firefly series prior to seeing Serenity. I just saw it on DVD one day because it was lent to me. I was kind of surprised to find out afterwards that it was a sequel of sorts! The film seemed to work quite well as a self-contained story.

[Cellardoor]

Could be that I myself misunderstand Cellardoor, but I believe he asks whether you've taken steps to promote the game to all adventure-gaming fans, and not just Sierra fans. Could be that I'm wrong...

Yeah, that's basically it. I don't think Himalaya is doing anything wrong - I was just curious what it is they are doing to promote their games to the general adventure audience. Adventure gamers I've spoken with that are anticipating Al Emmo tend to be mostly Sierra fans...

And ofcourse, there's nothing wrong with that either. I just think that Al Emmo might appeal to fans that never liked Sierra's adventures.

[navynuke04]

One thing that has been done is multiple articles at Adventure Game websites. There have actually been quite a few articles written about the game. Hopefully these will attract in some people who have never played the AGDI games.

[Gronagor]

Will we be seeing a 'the making of...'??

[Angelus3K]

Will we be seeing a 'the making of...'??

That would rock!!

[GameDevBrit]

Gron, what a brilliant idea.  *Runs off with pen in hand to get to work*...

[Blind]

Wow.....the very first public thread on the new forums goes off-topic within a matter of days.

Okay, I'll steer this away a little bit from all the yummy food talk, then.

I'm afraid I'll have to side with Brit on this one. I've got a real hankering for a good police procedural these days. Hard-boiled plotline, suspect interrogation, forensic work, gritty anti-hero, shootouts with criminals... what's not to like?

When I switched to the IBM-compatible, my first favorite game was "Tass Times in Tonetown" in 1986.

Hey, I can't believe someone else remembers this gem. Very trippy game. I think I still have the fold-out newspaper that came with it tucked away somewhere.

The reason Japanese games like Final Fantasy still have appeal- despite the fighting that bores me at times- is because, while non-linear plots are interesting for a time, it is the relatively linear story that a person gets to experience that intrigues them. The player wants interactivity, they want choices, but they want STRUCTURE too. The human mind naturally wants some sort of structure and path, without which eventually we either panic, get bored, or give up. Movies, and linear stories, will never loose their appeal- and that is why I also believe adventure games like Himalaya is making have a chance still.

Well, I agree and disagree. In one sense, linear narrative structure is good because the joys of good storytelling is something no one can deny. The thing is, non-linearity can be just as amazing. If well-implemented, it can give players a sense that their actions are not pre-scripted, that their destiny is their own to write, and that their choices have an impact on a non-static game world. You gotta admit that's pretty seductive too, especially since it's unique to games as an artistic medium.

I thought it might be nice to open things up with a spot for folks to post their first impressions of Al Emmo (when it comes out)- or even their impressions prior to- and thoughts of what might come next, what you'd like to come next, etc.

Having finished the game now, I must say that Al Emmo is a lot of fun. It's got charming old-school flavour, memorable characters, and some genuinely funny moments. Puzzle-wise, it's a lot easier than I expected (and believe me when I say that I'm no puzzle-solving savant). Still, that's okay in the end, because not everyone enjoys Mensa entrance exams like the Myst games. I know I certainly have mixed feelings about that series.

That's also why I support the designers' decision to make one particular puzzle near the end easier.


I actually thought it was a stiff but enjoyable challenge, sorta like the adventure game equivalent of a "boss fight". Unfortunately, though, its difficulty really stuck out like a sore thumb in the game.

But to get back on track: after playing Al Emmo for awhile, you'll realize that it does a lot of things right that many modern-day adventure games still struggle with. It's got tons of interactive hotspots to boost immersion. It's got puzzles that are largely goal-based instead of arbitrary. It stays away from masochistic pixel-hunting. And maybe, best of all, it's got an avatar than you aren't forced to watch trudge slowly across game screens (while pixel-hunting, natch).

Could Al Emmo be a long-term franchise? Maybe. It's definitely got potential and I think many adventure gamers will be quite pleased with Himalaya's debut. But, as Yoda says: "impossible to see, the future is."[/quote]

Tass times in tinsletown was great!

Anyone remember a game where you were a pharmasisct in a old west town? I loved that game! It had a wacky sense of humor, and if memory serves correct, was similar in gameplay to what al emmo looks to be.

[Blind]

What would you suggest we'd do in order to appeal to a wider audience? We already took out some of the elements that older Sierra games were often criticised for...dead ends and dying. (well, you can still die near the end, but you're automatically returned to the point where you were before you died)

I think the best thing you can do is to get the name and idea behind the game out. Most males who play computer games in their 20-30's grew up and have a huge nostalgia for games like this.

I am a huge gamer, a LDM fanatic, and i didnt even know that this game existed. I found out by a very rare chance.

Forum marketing ~ With cool screenshots on some of the larger forurms, get it on fark, digg, etc.

After you release though. Otherwise people will forget. Forums are huge, and the best way to spread word of mouth online cheaply. Hit up treasure forums, old school gaming, etc.

Good luck! I will do my bit to get it out, and i already have!

I just wish i had found out about this game sooner. I would have killed to get into beta!

[haradan]

Hi, I'm very glad these forums are working. Although I just recently decided to register in the AGDI forums, I've been keeping track of it for a couple of years now. And by the way, I've been playing Adventure games since 1987 (all kinds, mostly Sierra), so I'm very interested to see what your game will be like.

Hey Tom, how are you? I'm the guy from Mexico that sent you those Castle of Dr. Brain mp3s. Sorry about the delay in the Island of Dr Brain files but (as AGDIs would say about remakes) mp3s don't pay the rent


Anyway, I decided to post here in the first place because, well, it seemed the right place to do it, and also to tell you that is true that you need to do some strong marketing (easier said than done, I know). I've been a hardcore fan of adventure games for almost 20 years now, and I really discovered Tierra by accident. I was searching the net to find if the original KQ1 AGI was to be found anywhere on Earth, and thats how I discovered your remakes (more the better for me).

But Al Emmo is something totally new, no one will find it that way, so you need to do something to get to the ears of all adventure fans (I'm sure there are a lot of them who haven't heard of your efforts).

Since you have fans from all over the world (from what I've seen) perhaps it wouldn't be so difficult to launch a world-wide off-internet campaign, with fliers or posters, something like that. You could design a flier and perhaps there will be people willing to help you, printing them and distributing them in their home towns.

I know I would be willing to spare some time to go around and stick some posters in all video game stores. You know, Mexico city has 20 million people in it. SOME of them MUST be adventure game fans, don't you think?

[Angelus3K]

I get the feeling that the team wants to get the Beta finished and get the game released and then bring out the marketing, otherwise its just hype.

[GameDevBrit]

Hey Blind and Haradan!

Welcome to the forums Those are some great marketing ideas.  I would agree that posting on forums where old school adventure game players frequent is a great means of spreading the word!  We would really appreciate it if would go ahead and make posts where ever you think people might be interested in hearing about our efforts.

Also, that is a really neat idea, creating a poster which can be printed and put up in shops around town in different parts of the world.  I would be up for making such an advertisement...  What does everyone else think about this idea?  Would anyone else like to participate in putting up posters that they can print out???

[Disco]

I would be all about putting up posters. There was a QfG2VGA poster made up I think nearly 2 years ago. I posted copies around my college and put them on bulletin boards in Media Play and at my local coffee shop. The latter is frequented by several people in their 20s and 30s that I've had conversations about old Sierra games with, seems like an Al Emmo poster would be at home there .

[Angelus3K]

You know Deb and I would be into putting Hima posters up! Our workplace has 1000+ over 20 year olds!

[wickedthistle]

Anyone remember a game where you were a pharmasisct in a old west town? I loved that game! It had a wacky sense of humor, and if memory serves correct, was similar in gameplay to what al emmo looks to be.

Hey Blind, that game is called Freddy Pharkas, Frontier Pharmacist.  

[haradan]

GameDevBrit wrote:

Also, that is a really neat idea, creating a poster which can be printed and put up in shops around town in different parts of the world.  I would be up for making such an advertisement...  What does everyone else think about this idea?  Would anyone else like to participate in putting up posters that they can print out???

Glad to help. As I said, consider Mexico city covered. And I know many more people will do the same (at least if they find out one day that the Himalaya forums are working. Not many people around here yet)

[GameDevBrit]

I spoke with our graphics artist, and he will be making some promotional materials.  Wow, Mexico City and a work place of over 1000 people are covered, as well as a number of coffee shops and universities.  We're off to a great start   I'll let you guys know once promotional materials are available to print out--and thank you again for offering your help!

As for these forums, if you guys can let people know by word of mouth that they are open, that would be great as well.  

Thanks again!

[Angelus3K]

Another idea for a "goodie" would be a soundtrack CD included in the box!

[haradan]

I don't know if Tom was thinking of offering the soundtrack at Queststudios, but that would definitely be a great add-on!