Jim Walls launching Kickstarter spiritual succesor to Police Quest

[Babar]

I wouldn't be displeased with a kickstarter from Christy Marx (Conquests), but I think she's working at Zynga now

[Gribbler]

is there anyone who worked for Sierra or LucasArts who has ''not'' done a kickstarter project for their favorite series recently?

I'm still waiting for Brian Moriarty's kickstarter succesor to Loom. And yes, I know fanmade Forge is in production, too.

[Vince Twelve]

Okay, so is there anyone who worked for Sierra or LucasArts who has ''not'' done a kickstarter project for their favorite series recently? What's next, Infocom?

C'mon Boffo Games!

[BornOfBlackEarth]

The technical details aside, I hope that the new PQ they have planned doesn't go soft with the content.  Everything has a dark side, especially police work.  It only touched on the issue of corruption in PQ3, but went completely soft in PQ4.  I'm sure Mr. Walls sees the same stories in the news as we do in the States, and notices the increasing trend in police abuse occurring here (although I'm certain that our friends across the pond are not immune to such a thing at all).

Sorry for the slightly political slant, but it would be so great to see a good, upstanding former officer use this platform to help speak against such abuses.  In PQ, you are punished for misconduct!  It's only too bad that the reality doesn't seem to mirror it...sigh.

In any event, I wish Mr. Walls and company great success in their ambitious effort.  And, of course, much love to fellow AGSers everywhere!

[Armageddon]

I really liked the pre-vis stuff. The untextured but painterly shader was pretty awesome looking.

[Knox]

I have to admit, being a huge Police Quest fan myself, Im a bit disappointed with what I saw on KickStarter...but in a weird way happy it is nothing like what Im working on, hehe!

[qptain Nemo]

Wow, that was boring. The graphics and the choice-driven gameplay look somewhat nice though.

[Gribbler]

but went completely soft in PQ4

Soft? It had a severed head in a refrigerator! With a lighter stuck in its mouth!

[AGA]

The first thing I did upon going to the Kickstarter page was misread "Fraser Canyon Police Dept." as 'Laser Canyon Police Dept.', leading me to believe this was going to be some sort of futuristic space cop thing.  Which might have been interesting.

[BornOfBlackEarth]

Soft? It had a severed head in a refrigerator! With a lighter stuck in its mouth!

I was referring to improprieties that happen inside of the "blue wall".  I agree 100% that PQ4 had some of the most graphic depictions of homicide victims in the entire series, and it shows right from the beginning of the game (a child gets murdered!).  However, the vast majority of the series went by the assumption that officers never had to deal with such things as internal politics or corruption.  That theme was only mildly touched on when (WARNING: SPOILER)

Spoiler

your hispanic female partner turns out to be corrupt and working with Bains's brother in PQ3.

[close]

[Grim]

Hey, Jim Walls sent me a friend request on Facebook! How cool is that?

I'm secretly hoping Ron Gilbert is next;)

[Chicky]

Hey, Jim Walls sent me a friend request on Facebook! How cool is that?

I'm secretly hoping Ron Gilbert is next;)

Probably looking for some advice on how to make a game that doesn't suck

[Grim]

Hey, Jim Walls sent me a friend request on Facebook! How cool is that?

I'm secretly hoping Ron Gilbert is next;)

Probably looking for some advice on how to make a game that doesn't suck

haha I don't know if Police Quest games sucked or not, really. I remember playing one or two on Amiga when I was a kid, and they kinda fascinated me... But I was too young to understand them and the floppy disk loading times were brutal- I do recall playing with that "walk" cursor while waiting by moving it around and pretending to walk on the scenery... So, I guess Police Quest was probably better on PC. Where you didn't have to wait half an hour for a screen to change.

But I read a long article about Jim Walls a few months back, and it's actually a pretty good story how he got involved into making games;) Now I'm looking at him, thinking: he's a seventy year old man, he's got this awesome white moustache, like Snake, and he's making a new game, about something he really likes. How cool is that?

That's what I wanna do when I'm his age.

[Chicky]

He does indeed have a rather badass moustache!

I think the main problem with the Police Quest games (from what i remember) was the obsessive focus on realism and subsequent neglect to include anything fun. Paperwork is never fun, even in a video game! I remember a lot of walking, talking and failure.

Running the cursor around scenery must be a pretty common pastime between adventure gamers

[Ali]

Running the cursor around scenery must be a pretty common pastime between adventure gamers

I like to make triangular pointers into wizard/dunce's caps for the characters.

[Babar]

I used make people wear the "crown" wait icon in King's Quest games

[Gribbler]

I used make people wear the "crown" wait icon in King's Quest games

Haha! Me too! 

[Secret Fawful]

He does indeed have a rather badass moustache!

I think the main problem with the Police Quest games (from what i remember) was the obsessive focus on realism and subsequent neglect to include anything fun. Paperwork is never fun, even in a video game! I remember a lot of walking, talking and failure.

Running the cursor around scenery must be a pretty common pastime between adventure gamers

Oh, by obsessive focus on realism and neglect to include anything "fun", you mean unique mechanics that set it apart from the crowd and a true-to-detail experience. Okay. At least it wasn't fuckin Minecraft.

[Jared]

Sadly, doesn't look like it's going to make it, which doesn't surprise me a lot. The pitch video was a bit weak (almost entirely Sierra nostalgia - everything on the game itself looked good but you have to wait about 4 minutes to get to it), their rewards aren't amazing, and the whole series has become fairly cult on the gaming radar. Though Jim Walls kept working until relatively recently he hasn't been involved in any games with an X factor, and the SWAT games (the closest frame of reference to the Jim Walls games for modern gamers) stopped coming out seven years ago. The average internet-goer will only be aware of THOSE games if they've watched Spoony's LPs.

It's a shame, because this looks like a pretty good game to me and I've a soft spot for Police Quest.

[Secret Fawful]

I want Jim Walls to succeed so bad. I tend to strongly identify with adventure game developers who do poorly and just want to do what they love.