Mesa LE (Police Quest)

[Matt Goble]

It's been a very long time, but I'm sure you see his bedroom at least in 3, the first morning he is a detective - don't you see him wake up and get dressed?

Screens look really good BTW, keep it up!

So are you going for a CSI feel for this as well?

[Moresco]

It's been a very long time, but I'm sure you see his bedroom at least in 3, the first morning he is a detective - don't you see him wake up and get dressed?

Screens look really good BTW, keep it up!

So are you going for a CSI feel for this as well?

I have the game, I'll look through the resources and see if I can find something.

Yup! That's the reason for the new character as well, and I hope it turns out to be a lot of fun for everyone, add something new to the game you're already so familiar with (that is, if you've played it I guess).

Edit: OK I think you're right about the house in PQ3, however...that's the house Marie and Sonny live in after they're married.  I don't even think it's the same house that Marie lived in during PQ2 (it sure doesn't look the same).  So even so, it's not much of a glimpse into his single life.  Oh well...just going to have to make something up.

[ShadeJackrabbit]

Looks like a great project!

[cosmicr]

hey looks great so far! but dont over-do it on adding new features. some people(myself included) may not like you toying with something they have known so well and love dearly. eg. dont know about controlling extra characters. sure, add some extra npc's but like I said, dont over-do it! just imho.

as for driving home, well I also remember being able to go home(well, to marie's). it wasnt an apartment, it was a small white house, but I dont think you ever got to see inside.

I'm also anxious to see how you're gonna do the underwater part, seeing that you're going with photo-realism!

good luck!

[Moresco]

hey looks great so far! but dont over-do it on adding new features. some people(myself included) may not like you toying with something they have known so well and love dearly. eg. dont know about controlling extra characters. sure, add some extra npc's but like I said, dont over-do it! just imho.

as for driving home, well I also remember being able to go home(well, to marie's). it wasnt an apartment, it was a small white house, but I dont think you ever got to see inside.

I'm also anxious to see how you're gonna do the underwater part, seeing that you're going with photo-realism!

good luck!

Yeah, I figured from day one I would upset some fans, but it's really like a personal project for me first.  If somebody doesn't like it, they can play the original, yah?  Seems like a good solution.  But I'm just saying - I think I've probably overdone it already to be honest, but maybe you won't think so when you finally play it.  Who knows?  I'll do my best ^_^

I mean if I wanted to I could set the game up to have different unlockable levels, where the core game is mainly like the original but updated slightly - no extra characters, no extra scenes...just straight PQ2, and then the Extended stuff could be for after you've achieved things like full points or whatever.  That's an option too, I might go that route anyhow, I love unlockable stuff.

Yeah the underwater area will be a tough one, I'm probably going to snag some scuba diving cam-stills to see what I can manage from those.

[egamer]

Driving the police car was one of my favorite parts of PQ1 and PQ3, so I was disappointed that in PQ2 the police car ran on autopilot.  I'm glad that driving will be in this game.  This looks to be a really great game.

[Moresco]

Driving the police car was one of my favorite parts of PQ1 and PQ3, so I was disappointed that in PQ2 the police car ran on autopilot.  I'm glad that driving will be in this game.  This looks to be a really great game.

I agree with you, driving for me was one of the highlights of those games.   I loved the driving in PQ1 EGA though, the arcade style movement and full map.  Other cars moving around, not just suspects, I liked that sort of thing - made it seem a bit more real.  I hope I can combine some of those missing elements into the current driving engine and make a really great driving sequence that people won't be begging to skip.

[Joseph DiPerla]

Neat! I look forward to a tutorial.

Can I ask for some other improvements in the game?

1) Can we take control of Keith?
2) Can we have a dialogue system where we can converse with other characters ala Indiana Jones and the last crusade adventure game?
3) A text parser to ask witnesses and people about other characters, eg: "ask about Don Colby" etc...
4) Can we please not have to drive ourselves to a location or can we atleast have an option to just pick a location off the map and it drives us there?
5) I would love to see the inside of Sonny's apartment...

These were elements missing from the original game that I wish were there...

1. Sure, I'll add it as something to unlock, how does that sound?
2.  I haven't played this game, I'll look into it.  I'm not locked into a certain style, but I do want to use a gui of some sort for dialogs.  Can you give me a sample of this or link me to one?
3.  I was just going to add a dialog list instead, but maybe an Ask/Tell/etc menu and then type in what you want to ask about in a box? I guess I could try that out?  I'll think about it anyhow.
4. Sorry, I can't really get rid of the driving bit, but I can make it more fun....or die trying.
5. He has an apartment?

1. An unlocked feature of controlling Keith would be pointless unless controlling him served a purpose. Thats what I was requesting. I always hated that whenever Sonny would get out of the car, Keith would go do something else. What was he doing? Was he really doing anything at all? I think being able to control Keith would be great. For instance:

If sonny needs backup for a certain situation, the player can take control of Keith and position him with his gun ready and then go back to Sonny for Control and take the next action. Or scenario two: Sonny gets trapped in a room and cant get out. You take control of Keith and let Sonny out...

2) for this I mean that when Sonny talks to someone, they say something, then on a gui, you have a list of options to choose so that you can pick what Sonny says next. Depending on what you pick will reveal different things or make things easier or harder for the player.

3) Personally a system like in LSL 7 would be nice. You have a GUI and a text parser for special functions. Something like that would be nice in PQ2. I mean think about it, You are interrogating a suspect. You click the talk icon on him several times and he tells you everything. Or you use the dialog tree (Suggestion 2 above) and eventually you easily find all the answers. Rather, if you had a parser which allowed you options to enter other commands in addition to whats on the gui, it would make the game more interesting. I mean "ask about" "Tell" or "warn Colby" needs to be used in a parser.

Can you immagine calling Don Colby, clicking his face a few times and have it go something like this:

Click!
Colby: Hello
Click!
Bonds: Hi
Colby: What can I do for you?
Click!
Bonds: Bains is seeking revenge for those who testified against him...

OR even immagine the dialog tree system for this particular scenario:
Click talk icon on Colby!
Colby: Yes?

Your options:
1. Hi, my name is Sonny Bonds
2. Whats your favorite hobby?
3. Would you mind coming to the station to have a few words with us?
4. Bains might seek revenge on those who testified against him... Be careful!
5. I need to go now.

I mean come on, for the serious gamer, we all know to pick option 4 when we get to that part of the game. Where is the challenge in that?

Dont get me wrong, I think using the talk icon and having dialogue tree's should be in the game, but for certain elements, it should be up to the user to figure out all on his own.

4. Ok, if your not going to get rid of the driving, please dont put that stupid option of having to walk around the car before getting into it. Also, can you have the option to activate the police siren so that we can go through red lights and have high speed car chases without getting killed?

5. This has been discussed. But I do think we should allow Sonny to go home and be able to dig deep into his personal life. Judging from the way he keeps his locker and by the vibe I get from him in the original game... I think he is a neat freak personally!

I wanted to request three other things for the time being...

1) No speed cheating. What I mean by this is that in the original game you could just go to characters and ask them about other characters without getting any information on them. For instance, in PQ1, you can go up to one of your fellow officers (This is just an example of what I mean. I didn't try this particular scenario) and ask about Sweet cheeks Marie. And both you and the other person act as if you already encountered her in the game when you didn't. Can you make sure thats not possible? Like if you havent met the witness in jail that saw bains escape or even heard of him, dont just allow yourself to go the prison, and ask for the witness before having the event occur in the game.

2) Ok, when you pull your gun out and shoot, it would be fun to actually see if the bullet hits something or someone rather than jumping directly to a newspaper article that says you went nuts.

3) Walkie Talkie usage would be nice to since cops do use them. If not walkie talkies, maybe cell phones. It would be a good feature since this is common nowadays for people.

I wanted to ask also if Adjusting your sites on your gun and accessing the departments computer would be featured in the game?

By the way... Great graphics! Awesome job. I really hope this is another game that will be released fully. Plans for a talkie?

[Moresco]

1. An unlocked feature of controlling Keith would be pointless unless controlling him served a purpose. Thats what I was requesting. I always hated that whenever Sonny would get out of the car, Keith would go do something else. What was he doing? Was he really doing anything at all? I think being able to control Keith would be great. For instance:

If sonny needs backup for a certain situation, the player can take control of Keith and position him with his gun ready and then go back to Sonny for Control and take the next action. Or scenario two: Sonny gets trapped in a room and cant get out. You take control of Keith and let Sonny out...

2) for this I mean that when Sonny talks to someone, they say something, then on a gui, you have a list of options to choose so that you can pick what Sonny says next. Depending on what you pick will reveal different things or make things easier or harder for the player.

3) Personally a system like in LSL 7 would be nice. You have a GUI and a text parser for special functions. Something like that would be nice in PQ2. I mean think about it, You are interrogating a suspect. You click the talk icon on him several times and he tells you everything. Or you use the dialog tree (Suggestion 2 above) and eventually you easily find all the answers. Rather, if you had a parser which allowed you options to enter other commands in addition to whats on the gui, it would make the game more interesting. I mean "ask about" "Tell" or "warn Colby" needs to be used in a parser.

Can you immagine calling Don Colby, clicking his face a few times and have it go something like this:

Click!
Colby: Hello
Click!
Bonds: Hi
Colby: What can I do for you?
Click!
Bonds: Bains is seeking revenge for those who testified against him...

OR even immagine the dialog tree system for this particular scenario:
Click talk icon on Colby!
Colby: Yes?

Your options:
1. Hi, my name is Sonny Bonds
2. Whats your favorite hobby?
3. Would you mind coming to the station to have a few words with us?
4. Bains might seek revenge on those who testified against him... Be careful!
5. I need to go now.

I mean come on, for the serious gamer, we all know to pick option 4 when we get to that part of the game. Where is the challenge in that?

Dont get me wrong, I think using the talk icon and having dialogue tree's should be in the game, but for certain elements, it should be up to the user to figure out all on his own.

4. Ok, if your not going to get rid of the driving, please dont put that stupid option of having to walk around the car before getting into it. Also, can you have the option to activate the police siren so that we can go through red lights and have high speed car chases without getting killed?

5. This has been discussed. But I do think we should allow Sonny to go home and be able to dig deep into his personal life. Judging from the way he keeps his locker and by the vibe I get from him in the original game... I think he is a neat freak personally!

I wanted to request three other things for the time being...

1) No speed cheating. What I mean by this is that in the original game you could just go to characters and ask them about other characters without getting any information on them. For instance, in PQ1, you can go up to one of your fellow officers (This is just an example of what I mean. I didn't try this particular scenario) and ask about Sweet cheeks Marie. And both you and the other person act as if you already encountered her in the game when you didn't. Can you make sure thats not possible? Like if you havent met the witness in jail that saw bains escape or even heard of him, dont just allow yourself to go the prison, and ask for the witness before having the event occur in the game.

2) Ok, when you pull your gun out and shoot, it would be fun to actually see if the bullet hits something or someone rather than jumping directly to a newspaper article that says you went nuts.

3) Walkie Talkie usage would be nice to since cops do use them. If not walkie talkies, maybe cell phones. It would be a good feature since this is common nowadays for people.

I wanted to ask also if Adjusting your sites on your gun and accessing the departments computer would be featured in the game?

By the way... Great graphics! Awesome job. I really hope this is another game that will be released fully. Plans for a talkie?

Wow big post, I'll try to answer everything as best as I can.

1. You're right about that, it would be pointless, but I would see that it wasn't pointless if I included the ability to control Keith - and I like your suggestions on using him that way in scenes etc.

2.  I will work on the dialog in GUIs at some point, and I'm taking notes of all your suggestions.  I'm definitely using a tree gui, and I'll consider using text-input for certain situations, I don't know how it will turn out - will be a bit before I'm quite ready to get into the dialogs, but I'll spend quite a bit of time on it until it's right.

3.  Yup, this could definitely work out.  I'm probably going to keep it as a simple talk GUI with a tell, ask button - where you are then able to choose a list or input an option yourself.  I don't know though yet, we'll see but this is a great idea.

4.  Isn't that requirement just a Police Quest 1 thing? I never really liked it, but it's probably ok in PQ1.  Well I'm still working out the details on the driving engine.  Going through a red without proper cause seems...well...kind of the opposite of being a cop.  But cops don't just blast through reds anyway, even in Code3 pursuits, that would be extremely dangerous and so it just doesn't make sense to me.

5.  I'm still going to sit on the idea of having him go home.  I'm considering it, but I just don't know how to approach that yet.



New questions:
1.  No there will be no way to progress in the game before you're supposed to.  I didn't know you could do that, but it sounds like a game design flaw to me.

2.  Drawing and firing your weapon is different.  There's a target icon and hopefully I'll be able to put bullets in more than a few things.  So yeah, you'll get your wish. ^^

3. Already added both of these.  Won't say anything else about it for now, they're in there though.

4.  Yup adjusting your sights is part of the game still, as is the department database - only it'll be an WinXP based screen on a laptop this time around.  I haven't gotten to either of those areas yet however.

Dude thanks again for all the comments and questions, I really appreciate them and all the feedback.

[Joseph DiPerla]

I replied with some references and offered myself as a team member on your boards under the post "Help wanted".

Let me know if your interested in my help at all.

[Moresco]

I replied with some references and offered myself as a team member on your boards under the post "Help wanted".

Let me know if your interested in my help at all.

Yeah so I already spoke with Joe - he's going to help with some scripting and various other things.   I'm still on the lookout for someone to do semi-realistic sprites and animation.  Feel free to contact me.  Added a new background or two, and I'm finishing up on some Cotton Cove ideas right now.  I'll post them in the first thread when I get it settled in the next few days.

That's it for now, and thanks Joe for the help!

[evilDMT]

That would be great if you could make a visual tutorial, also if you need actors for your game.  I would be more than happy to make a template of myself doing different things, if you need actors and such.  My email address is dean@team.bordernet.com.au if you would like my help.

I will either do a screen-cap tutorial or a youtube video, we'll see - but something and soon, but today I found myself too busy to do it.

Added a new WIP background to the first post, of what might work out as the interior of Lytton PD, Detective's Division.  It would be the left hallway, one of probably four hallway scenes in the PD to make up the entire building.  I have another background of the right hallway in the works, but I pretty much just need to figure out the layout of it and straighten some basic things out before I can really share it.

Awesome, I look forward to the tutorial.  I am really looking forward to the completion of this.  I really hope it doesn't die.

[Moresco]

That would be great if you could make a visual tutorial, also if you need actors for your game.  I would be more than happy to make a template of myself doing different things, if you need actors and such.  My email address is dean@team.bordernet.com.au if you would like my help.

I will either do a screen-cap tutorial or a youtube video, we'll see - but something and soon, but today I found myself too busy to do it.

Added a new WIP background to the first post, of what might work out as the interior of Lytton PD, Detective's Division.  It would be the left hallway, one of probably four hallway scenes in the PD to make up the entire building.  I have another background of the right hallway in the works, but I pretty much just need to figure out the layout of it and straighten some basic things out before I can really share it.

Awesome, I look forward to the tutorial.  I am really looking forward to the completion of this.  I really hope it doesn't die.

Well you're in luck then, because I've never given up on anything in my life.   My concept rock projects have been going on for fifteen years, and though I pause, I never quit them.  Also, when I started learning AGS I began a game almost right away .. in what 2003? Even though I've kept it tightly under wraps mostly, it's still an ongoing project that I haven't tossed.   Only reason it was never finished was due to my music career, but that's on hold now for at least a few years because I'm trying to focus on art instead of music for a change.   There's pretty much only one way this could die, and that's if I die.  So here's to me not being dead anytime soon! =p

And I will get to the tutorial, I swear, but I have a big list of things I want done and need to get done, and plus I'm like running around to birthday parties and art shows and all this craziness this week.  So it might be this coming weekend before I get the tutorial up.  If you want, you can head over to my website and check out the two tutorials that are up already.  There's one on perspective paths in photoshop, and another that focuses a little on layers and burn/dodge to add depth and detail etc.  Good stuff.

[evilDMT]

Ahh, awesome.. well I hope you don't put it on hold.. really look forward to it.

[Moresco]

Joseph is working on a dialog system, but I couldn't wait and needed to work on something for the demo we're working towards - besides it needed a graphic eventually.  So I coded something that works, albeit a bit sloppy and well, it would be a situation by situation, message by message, really tedious and ugly solution.  But whatever, it works fine and if you're playing the game you can't tell the difference.

Things I've done:
1.  You can choose generic topics of conversation.  There will be portraits, and hopefully I can manage to keep dialogs going, portraits happening, and the GUI all working together in a nice, entertaining fashion that doesn't become annoying.
2.  There are Ask About topics, and instead of Tell I went with Inform, which is essentially the same thing but sounds a little bit more interesting than "tell about the park!"   For example you could "Inform him of his Miranda rights."
3.  Basic short word parser added.  So if you wanted to you could ask questions about "Bill Cole" but you wouldn't type in "ask about bill cole".  Just the topic title is all you need, then you hit the enter/return key to make your choice.  If it's not in the system, then nothing will happen, so it makes it easy and there's no need to say "I'm sorry, but that's not a word we recognize" four billion times.
4.  Multiple pages, because there's a lot to talk about and it's not going to fit nicely on one page.  And last, a "done" button, in case you want to quit chatting altogether.

That's about it, screenshot is in the first post, so go give it a look-see and I'll let everyone know how Joseph is progressing with his hopefully easier to code version when we're further along with it.

[Samwise]

Looks like an amazing project, I'm really looking forwards to it, as PQ2 is definitely the best of the series.

[hieronymous]

the graphics look very good. i think photo-realism's a tricky one to pull off, almost impossible in fact, because although the graphics may be substantially based on photos they rarely end up looking truly photo-realistic due to the "mix and match" nature of their creation. however, the important thing is always that the player eventually gets immersed in the world, and kind of suspends their disbelief

anyway, good luck with the project. looking forward to seeing how it progresses

[ltcolonel97062]

I absolutely love the new graphics! If you are looking for beta testers, please contact me. This and all of the other Police Quest games are my all time favorate Sierra series!

[Moresco]

I absolutely love the new graphics! If you are looking for beta testers, please contact me. This and all of the other Police Quest games are my all time favorate Sierra series!

Probably will be a while before any beta testing takes place.  But, I will say again that I'm looking for an artist to assist with animation, which is holding up several scenes at the moment.  Either it will take a long time to finish them myself, or I'll need help with it.  Until then I'm still doing dialog and other scripting stuff.

Thanks for checking the project out. ^^

[dunnoson]

Beta-test
Proof-Reader
Dialogue
Storyline Advisor

PM me if you need my help!