R.I.P Freelance Police...Long live Bone!

[LimpingFish]

The sequel to Sam & Max may be dead, but 'Bone' might turn out to be a worthy replacement...

Go Here...Ã, 

http://homepage.eircom.net/~limpingfish/index.html

...for a preview of 'Bone' from PC Zone magazine.

Then Here...

http://www.telltalegames.com/bone_the_game

..for more!

Enjoy!

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Dead? Wasn't someone else working on S&M2? Or have I been living in a dream?

[LimpingFish]

As far as LucasArts are concerned, 'Sam & Max: Freelance Police', the official sequel to 'Hit the Road', is deader than Disco.

:'(

Telltale Games, consisting of most of the development team on 'Freelance Police', are now hard at work on 'Bone', which will hopefully fill the adventuring void left by S&M...

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Yes, but I don't mean LucasArts. Someone, please prove to me I wasn't dreaming. Wasn't someone else doing it? Wasn't is "strongly hinted at" in a forum "party" at The Inventory?

[LimpingFish]

Well, I think somebody was working on an AGS sequel...but...

As far as I know, the Sam & Max license is in development limbo at the moment.

I presume LucasArts still retain it, but are sitting on it for some strange reason...Market projections, or something...

Telltale Games attempted to obtain the license and the code but LucasArts refused to budge.

Oh well...

[scotch]

Badbrain tried to get the rights to it from Lucasarts and failed, after suggesting that they would get it in public.  But apparently Lucasarts exclusive Sam & Max license ends soon, or has ended... so Steve could give anyone the franchise.  At least, that's what I think I remember hearing from people, including Ron Gilbert.
Currently though, it's dead, yes.  This bone thing looks like it could be kind of similar, I have never read the comic though.

[Disco]

As far as LucasArts are concerned, 'Sam & Max: Freelance Police', the official sequel to 'Hit the Road', is deader than Disco.

Why did you have to go and say that? :'(

[auhsor]

Ahem... http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=19417.msg238571#msg238571

But anyways, this thread is still good. I'm still really looking forward to seeing more of this game. It seems there have been more pictures released that I havn't seen yet. I must check out the PC Zone thingy

[Sylpher]

I have this game filed excitedly in the back of my brain. I am a huge fan of the comics and hope it turns out great. I am happy to see it being turned into an adventure rather then a cheap platformer or other incarnations popular characters get translated into. The art is looking much better.

In short, can't wait!

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Ah, this was the thread.

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=17995.0

Granted, rereading it gives zero certainty and only the brifest (sp?) of the glimmer of hopes...

You know, someone from current LucasArts should check out these and other forums. I mean, searching for Sam and Max on these forums I got lotsa hits. Now how often do people moan about a cancelled game for almost over a year?

[m0ds]

Has anyone thought about talking to Steve Purcell, afterall don't the rights revert back to him pretty soon? It's mad. He created the characters yet I've not heard his name mentioned at all through the "development" and "aftermath" of Sam n Max 2.

[Scummbuddy]

He and I have been shooting emails back and forth recently. I sent out the latest yesterday, and I'm just waiting on another response.

[Al_Ninio]

According to the Wikipedia article on Sam & Max Hit the Road, "LucasArts' license with Steve Purcell expired in May 2005."

[LimpingFish]

I presume "Freelance Police" was almost finished when LucasArts canned it. It's a shame that it can't see past it's own near-sighted treatment of the license, and allow the purchase of the unfinished code. I guess it's afraid of a rival company making money on something it hadn't got the balls to release. Through the demise of the Full Throttle and Sam & Max sequels, LucasArts has made it's feelings clear on adventure games.

To hell with them...

Roll on Bone...

[Esseb]

Steve Purcell has the rights to Sam & Max, but any development done to S&M2 at Lucasarts is owned by them, so any new S&M game will have to be done from scratch.

Unless LEC would sell the content created so far, which seems pretty unlikely this long after development stopped.

[Punch]

I don't really understand why LA didn't sell the rights to Bad Brain. Sure, they probably broke a non disclosure agreement somewhere there with all their non-subtle hinting, but LA has poured thousands if not millions of dollars into the development of half a game which is now just going to sit there and do nothing.

Even if they didn't think it was a commercially viable project, they should have jumped at the oportunity to recoup their investment with no further involvement on their part. They would have appeased angry fans and made money in the process.

Oh, and Bone looks awesome. I liked the comics a lot. Very nice fantasy world, involving story and lots of humour (but more subtle than S&M). I'm very much looking forward to seeing what they come up with. I'm a little worried about the perpetual world ideas I've been reading about. I don't think the concept worked very well when tried in Lure of the Temptress.