 |
Frequently Asked Questions
|
 |
This faq is the work of the SQ7 development team. Don't steal it. Ask. Or see my private secretary [yea, right!]
colin@sq7.org
Version 0.91
Last updated 6/7/2004
You can always get the latest version of this faq at http://www.sq7.org
Questions:
Answers:
A1) Why a SQ7
Because we love Space Quest, and don't want to see it die because of financial disinterest.
We're fans of Sierra's old Quest games, just like you. I remember playing "Space Quest" with my father, on our old Apple // c. We would try to figure out the puzzles together, working to try to get through to the end of the game. Even at that age, I found the game amazingly fun, challenging, and rewarding.
In re-playing the game, I've noticed hundreds of things I missed as a child.. References to Science Fiction, innunedo, and spoofs on the absurdity of every day life.
I remember thinking as I played through the game.. "They WOULD need a janitor on those ships, Wouldn't they..."
I could cite you statistics, talking about how Adventure games have a higher appeal to non-traditional gamers, or drown you in page after page of e-mails we've received in support.. But the truth of it is, we're doing it because it's fun.
I've always loved the Space Quest series, and I don't want to see people forget. I don't want to see the enthusiasm, the love that people have for the series dry up.
So we're taking ole Roger out for one more spin around the Galaxy..
A2) Who is making it?
Well, You are!
Ok, maybe not literally. The Game is being created by a team of volunteers from across the globe. From Battle-worn Game professionals, to College Talent, We're banding together to keep the dream alive.
The game is a fully collaborative project- This means that any member's contribution can be as little or as much as he chooses. The great part about that is that you never know where unknown talent came come from. Just as Legendary Japanese game maker Shigeru Miyamoto was originally hired to paint arcade cabinets, We've had Fantastic work from individuals in areas that they never dreamed they could work in.
That said, a game's look, feel, and play pattern does demand some consistency. For that reason, we've designated leads for each team, who manage and direct those volunteers who work with them.
Some of they key players in the SQ7 team are Producers Colin Davis and Brian Lusk, Writers Josh Mandel, Gareth Millward and Matt Holden, Programmers Travis Savo, Musical talent of Dee Bloks and Troels Pleimert, and Art talents of Scott Mazurkiewicz, Chris Geibler, and Colin Panetta.
A3) Won't Sierra object?
Why should they? Although we have had some communication with Sierra regarding the project, they have not officially 'blessed' the project. Sierra's position is that the market for adventure
games is dead. The staff at Oakhurst (including the creators of the
original SQ games) has been laid off. These would seem to indicate
that there is no longer official interest in creating Space Quest
games.
One of the reasons for this is that the computer game market has drastically changed since the introduction of the Space Quest games. When the games were first sold, a production of 200,000 games was a smash hit. It meant you were on top of the genre. Now, those numbers would mark you as a failure.
While the number of Computer users has grown, most of the growth has come from "Average America". This means that, in order for a game to be successful to the new requirements, they must target the mass market, where the Adventure games usually require the type of person who is willing to think.
Several months ago members of the community
sent a letter to Sierra HQ. They asked, in the letter, for permission
to continue the SQ series of games. While Sierra didn't say yes, they also
didn't say no.
Their official response was that they don't own all of the rights involved in
The series.
Since that date, we have spoken on several other occasions, and we are confident that by the game's release, we will have full permission.
As it turns out the term 'Space Quest' as used in computer games, is registered
to
" Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Inc., The NOT-FOR-PROFIT
CORPORATION INDIANA 3000 North Meridian Street Indianapolis INDIANA 46208"
This is an active record, and has been licensed by Sierra. For more
information, please visit the Space
Quest FAQ.
Sierra has trademarked "Roger Wilco" for use in "Computer game software
and instruction manuals sold therewith."
The good news is that Sierra seems willing to work with us, if we can sort out
the legal issues.
The other good news is that Sierra hasn't gone after Vonster for SQ:TLC. (see other games). His game has been in the "wild" for over a year now, with no threat of legal action from Sierra. This would tend to indicate they are giving their tacit agreement.
The full text of the trademark application can be found in APPENDIX I
A4) How will it be made?
The game is a collaborative effort, being developed and released under an Open Source (GPL) License. It is our sincere hope that we can help to encourage the development of future Adventure games, and are doing everything we can to foster an environment where these products can live on.
SQ7 is being developed using the SLAGE engine, a game engine developed in-house, specifically for the SQ7.org project.
Our game will be released and distributed for free, through both internet and CD. We are investigating alternate means of easing the strain on our servers, including both Bittorrent/eDonkey links, and Freenet distribution. There have been several volunteers to burn CDs as-needed, and many companies, such as ZDnet provide this service. We have no intention of ever making a cent from this project.
A5) What is the SLAGE engine?
SLAGE is an acronym for "Sierra Like Adventure Game Engine", or "Silly Little Adventure Game Engine" if you prefer. It's an attempt to capture the requirements and tools necessary for making an adventure game (like SQ7) in a single open source codebase which we control and can make modifications to.
A5.1) Why isn't the SQ7 team using [insert your favorite adventure game construction engine here]?
The team has spent A LOT of time trying to use other engines out there, and has arrived at the conclusion that in order to meet our goals of having an adventure game on par with the ones Sierra made, we would need an Engine which would support all of the requested features in the game in an easy, powerful, and extensible way.
While many of the Engines out there support many of the features requested, they all have their pains and shortcomings as well. AGAST, for instance, is completely closed source, and any attempts to extend it in a sensible fashion have been met with great resistance from the controllers of the code. Rather than fight an uphill battle which could take literally years (it took one year from one release of the AGAST engine to the next) against an adversary who did not have the same goals in mind we did, we decided to take matters into our own hands.
Initially we looked at the existing Open Source adventure game engines in hopes we'de be able to take one and start making changes to it, but they all were old, unmaintained, and rather proprietary in their design, or had some other unfavorable qualities. MAD, for instance, was woefully incomplete, and made some basic assumptions about the screen resolutions. While this isn't the end of the world, it's written in C++. C++, while a very powerful language, was in the team's opinion overkill for our needs. It has a much higher learning curve than most other popular languages, and requires more work and diligence on the developers' part to program effectively in.
A5.2) So you're starting from scratch?
A: Well, yes and no. Yes, we're abandoning all work done for AGAST in favor of something we have control over. But much of the work and lessons learned from working in AGAST are translating directly into expertise in designing SLAGE. Were trying to take all the great things about AGAST and other adventure game engines we've encountered and reuse the concepts, while avoiding all the major pitfalls. All the plot work, artwork, and things of that nature are carrying over intact.
A5.3) But your starting from scratch on the Engine, right?
Again, yes and no.
See, there's really nothing new about what were doing. Sierra, Lucasarts, and Westwood basically pioneered this field back in the late 80's and early 90's. Since then, many people have done lots of work along the same lines. There's a TON of code out there which does basically all of the things were looking to do. There's just no 'package' which brings it all together in a way which is useful for making adventure games which fits our requirements.
So even though were are building the 'package' from scratch, were borrowing from a lot of the libraries and code in existence to accomplish our task, which is making for some very rapid development. For instance: There's plenty of 2d sprite libraries, sound playing code snippets, video players, scripting languages, etc. out there. All were doing is bringing them together under one roof and turning them into something useable for our purposes.
A5.4) So what are you programming it in?
Java Standard Edition 1.4.2
A5.5) Java? For a game? Why Java?
Java's language design makes it inherently more robust and make programmers immediately more productive than some of the more 'traditional game making languages', like C++. We're not saying that all programmers should abandon their language of choice and take up Java, or that other languages are bad, or that other languages aren't better for some projects, or that Java (particularly in its current state) is perfect.
Because of the language's popularity, there's a lot of support for it, and a lot of code and libraries available for us to use. This translates directly into considerably less work for us. There's also a really powerful IDE (Eclipse) which supports this rapid development nicely.
Because Java is cross-platform, the end product should be useable on any platform which the Java VM is available for. The one exception to this rule is the Java Media Framework, which comes in either Windows or Linux versions, but that's only used for playing (mpeg) movies.
A5.6) Q: Isn't Java slow?
This was true of the original versions of Java which interpreted a program's semi-compiled code. But since the introduction of the dynamic optimizing HotSpot compiler in 1.3.0, that's changed pretty dramatically.
It's still true that you can write Java programs that are slow (indeed, the standard practices seem to encourage this style). But this is true of any language... including C++. Someone recently said "if you program poorly in C, the program crashes, but if you program poorly in Java, the program is slow". The reality is unless your being inefficient (read: sloppy) in your coding style or using a library with performance issues, beyond the initial loading time of the VM, Java has proven itself to be quite fast... more than fast enough for moving a bunch of animated 2d sprites around the screen. We already have some unit tests which demonstrate numerous animated sprites moving around very efficiently, and have seen examples of much heavier workloads performing equally as rapidly. When you have a good object oriented design, it's rather easy to write good, clean, efficient code which does the job in a very attractive way.
A6) Will SQ7 and SLAGE be open source?
Yes. When we feel we have something useful to give back to the community, we will be releasing in under an open (GPL like) license which will allow hobbyists to make modifications to it and create their own fan games with it. It is our stated intent to support the Adventure Game Community wherever possible in the creation of our own game.
The SLAGE engine is designed to run SQ7, and, as such will most likely not ship with any features not needed in our game. But that does not mean that we wouldn't welcome your contribution! SLAGE is being designed in such a way that it could be used for making any type of adventure game in the 'Sierra tradition'. So if some brave soul thinks they want to make the next King's Quest, SLAGE should be an ideal solution for their needs.
A7)What Features will SQ7/SLAGE have?
Keeping with the tradition of the Space Quest series, we fully intend for our game to be the best looking, best sounding, and best playing Space Quest to date.
SQ7 will feature an Optional Text parser. Re-read the word Optional before you prepare your Flame. This parser will be unlike traditional interactive fiction and early adventure parsers, which require a player to spend hours hunting for exactly the right verb to complete the task. It will be a choice, nothing more. We expect that many players will complete the game without ever having touched the parser.
Let us look at this more closely, by way of an example. Let us say that Roger walks into a room covered in green sludge..
In early Space Quest games, like the interactive fiction which them, you would type the command you wanted the character to perform, in this case "LOOK SLUDGE".
Space Quest 4 introduced a new system of investigating, and interacting with objects. Many common actions were replaced with an iconic system. Instead of typing anything, you would click on the Eye icon, then on the Sludge.
Each is a valid means of interacting with the on-screen objects, but each has unique difficulties. Parser games were notorious for "Hunt the Verb" scenarios, where the player must try to guess the exact action the programmers had intended.. GUI games suffered from a difficulty in flexibility. No longer could you "LOOK INSIDE" something, rather you would have to look at it carefully with the eye icon..
For the SQ7 project, we believe in choice. We are providing both the parser and GUI interfaces, each with their own blessings and short comings. For GUI fans, you will never have to do anymore more complex than point and click. For fans of a parser, you will have the freedom to type as needed in a full parser, including some added bonus sillyness, such as "DANCE".
The game will be released will full support for both Music and Voice. We are using the OGG vorbis and Speex formats, which are patent-free codecs for very high quality recordings. We are using our new found freedom of music to full effect, with tracks that would have never been possible with older MIDI-based game sounds.
SQ7 will be released in pre-rendered, high quality, 3D graphics. The reason for this is to provide the community with the highest quality game to date. Modern 3d graphics have achieved a fantastic look, in use in Cinema around the world. They allow us to position the camera exactly-so, to gain just the right perspective on a shot, rather than having to completely re-draw it to move it 25 degrees.
Pre-rendered graphics give us a traditional adventure game feel. We've found that games that try to convert to a 3d environment, such as Escape from Monkey Island, suffer in the translation. The Adventure game is, in a way, tied to the 2d imitating 3d feel of the world. To do it any other way wouldn't be true to the roots of the genre. Although, a Fixed-Camera, Live rendering Game might be a feasible idea if someone were to ever create a SQ8.. ;)
A8) How will you be distributing it?
SQ7 will be released for free. We will be making no money on the game.
As this game is free, it will not be sold in retail channels (such as CompUSA), but rather downloaded for free via the internet. We will be hosting the files, in several versions, on our site.
Space Quest, in almost every edition, has been a technical improvement
over the one prior. We intend for SQ7 to carry on this tradition.
This means full voice and music support.
Providing such features, however, does greatly increase the filesize,
but there are several options we are considering to help to alleviate
some of the pain of a lengthy download.
We plan to release several versions of SQ7, as follows
- High-Bandwidth - Full Voice and Music. Full Cut Screens.
- Medium-Bandwidth - Full music and Cut Screens. Text for dialog.
- Low bandwidth - Midi versions of the music, no cutscreens, text for dialog
There are also several independent companies, such as ZDnet or Fileplanet who are
often willing to burn downloads to a CD for a small fee. As this is a
free project, we would see none of this money, however it might be a
viable option for those who wish to experience the full game while
having a limited connection.
We will also be releasing the game under an Open Source license, and we
encourage you to make your own copies of the game, and distribute them
as you see fit.
To help reduce bandwidth, we are giving full permission to "share" the game via file trading networks, such as Freenet, Kazaa, and Gnutella.
A9) What will be the plot?
That would be telling. ;)
We would prefer not to give up very much information regarding the plot, as in adventure games the story is critical. Knowing the plot beforehand could ruin the experience for you, which would make our effort a waste of time.
I'd love to tell you something fascinatingly interesting, such as Roger will be Charged with the murder of Ambassador Wankmiester, or that giant platypuses will rule the Earth but don't you think that would spoil it for you?
How about this- Roger had a sled named Rosebud, Vohaul was his father, Bea is his sister, and Fester is actually the galactic president, but has split his brain in two, forcing himself to forget. ;)
For those taking score, however, I wouldn't be placing bets on any of those predictions.
There are lots of characters that will be returning from the past, as well as some new introductions.
To quote our head writer,
When working on SQ6, I felt tugged in two directions. From a personal standpoint, I felt (and I think Scott agreed at least somewhat) that "more of the same" was just not going to cut it. We didn't want to write a "same ol'" Space Quest, meaning: Roger, Bea, Vohaul, and a rambling exploration of a lot of planets with no theme and no larger goal in sight through most of the game.
Yet we wanted to please the SQ fans, and our sense was that these people, by and large, wanted more of the game...again. When people watch another movie in a series, they don't want a lot of surprises. They expect to know exactly what they're getting, and when their expectations aren't met, they feel cheated. Sometimes they don't bother to give the "new" elements a fair shake because they're caught up in their disappointment that the "old" elements weren't all there.
What did I want to keep? Roger as a lowly buffoon. Lots of exploration. Lots of sci-fi parody. Lots of gross deaths. These, I thought, were the backbone of SQ, the essential working aspects of the format.
The result, to a great extent, inspired a lot of outcry at the time. A lot of fans WANTED a "same ol'" Space Quest: wanted a lot of past characters, the same villain, familiar plotlines revisited (perhaps from a different angle). I only carried over two characters other than Roger (Elmo and Fester), and only as really minor characters. I really believed that if the series were going to survive, it would have to "expand."
Other people didn't think SQ6 went far ENOUGH afield. Read Philip Jong's fine-print interjections in the review of SQ6 at www.adventurecollective.com, or Adam Rodman's recent review of the game at www.justadventure.com. These guys obviously felt that there was too much of the same. Both Adam's review and Philip's notes amused me tremendously because they both demonstrate their author's lack of knowledge about the series. Both these reviewers blast SQ6 because, when it starts out, you have no idea what your goal is. HEL-LO? Have these individuals played any of the other SQs? Do they REMEMBER them? Apparently not. Yet their reactions, uninformed as they may be, were not unusual.
There are two camps in the issue (with a goodly amount of people who fall in-between). On one side, you have individuals who define the working parts of SQ rather loosely (as I do), in broad terms of parody and character. These people are comfortable with a sequel that covers a lot of new ground. On the other side, you have those who have a tighter definition and who prefer to see places and (especially) characters they've already come to know and love, and want more, and you can't fault them for that.
From a design standpoint, giving people more of the same is, frankly, easier. Most SQs are very loosely plotted and have no theme. The parodic voice is very well-established. It's easier to write and design when you're working within narrow boundaries, because you know what you're "supposed" to do; the formula is tried-and-true. It's safer and surer to please fans.
On the other hand, taking the approach that we did with SQ6 -- and, I think, the way Mark went with SQ5 -- is way harder. It has a greater chance of failure because you're exploring new territory. But it also has a greater chance of succeeding BEYOND the way the others succeeded, because in exploring that new territory, you may hit upon something better. (The inherent problem is that even if you hit upon something better, you're STILL liable to alienate -- no pun intended -- those fans who were expecting something more familiar.)
While I think this is a very broad question that needs to be addressed before developing plotlines, it's easy to see that the question filters down into such minute details such as, "What kind of game would Astro Chicken 4 be?" To some, Astro Chicken 4 would be a 2-D side-scroller (only a more advanced one) because that's what Astro Chicken is. That's logical. To others, Astro Chicken is a metaphor for popular videogames in the SQ universe. In that interpretation, the analogy is better served by showing a progression in the SQ universe that reflects in some way on the progression of games in OUR universe.
Some might also reasonably argue that this is over thinking, and that SQ is not about analogies to the real world, that things within the SQ universe do not need to make statements about, or progress in fashions mirroring, the real world, and that themes and new approaches are irrelevant.
A10) Can I help?
YES!
The SQ7 project could most certainly use your help. We are ALWAYS in need of additional artists, programmers, and musicians. If you'd like to lend us a hand, email Colin@sq7.org, and let him know how, and what you might be interested in working on.
We would love to have your help and support.
8)
A11) What do I get if I volunteer?
The satisfaction of doing a job well done, and the experience in working with a team in building a game (it looks awesome on your resume). That, and the whole keeping the dream alive thing ;)
We know people are busy, and have lives. We know that things get in the way. But we're all out, just trying to do what we can to help produce something special. Something we can know people care about. We're just trying to make something we can be proud of. And I hope you'll help.
A12) How can I keep track of what's going on?
For Starters, check out the most recent Status Report. These reports help to document what has been going on in the project, and where we're planning to go in the future.
I would also suggest reading the Subspace channel. While not an
official SQ7 distribution outlet, the vast majority of the team
members frequent the board, and it is a good discussion point for anything Space Quest.
There is also a Space Quest IRC channel on Openprojects.
Join
irc.openprojects.net, and the channel #SQ. For more information on that Chat room, please see out SQ Chat Section
And, of course, visit the
SQ7 web page, available at SQ7.org.
A13) When will it be finished?
Perhaps the most common question we get in our in-boxes is "When
will
it be finished?" The main problem with answering this question is
we
don't really know. For many of us, this is the first time we have
undertaken such a big task, and even Josh Mandel has argued time and
time again that a game requires hours of painstaking work just to get
the bare essentials. Before we can write the "program" to
the game, we
need a plot. At the time of this release, the plot is just been finished in its
final draft before the fleshing out begins.
We have been way laid by Josh's ascension into wedlock, but thankfully
the ordeal is over and he has come out the other side hopefully
unscathed. Now we can begin serious work on the plot.
Another major problem is this is a PART-TIME project. We are not
getting paid, a few of us are in full-time education, and we do not
simply have the time (nor the inclination) to spend 12/15 hours a day
on the project. It is unreasonable and unfair to expect us to do so.
Do not think this means we do not try! We put in 100% effort into this
project, and hope to finally produce a top quality game.
A14) Who else is making Space Quest-esque games?
So far? The first completed Space Quest-esque game was Vonster's Space Quest, The lost Chapter. Another project, Space Quest: Replicated made a recent debut on the Space Quest scene as a completed game. A number of other projects were inspired soon after this, but the frenzy, sadly, has died down. However, many projects are still in existence, and a couple of Interactive Fictions are being worked on, to soon appear a Roger Wilco's Broomcloset, the "home" of SQ on the WWW.
In early 2001, Colin Panetta began cataloging and classifying the various Space Quest fan games, the phenomenon that surrounds them. His site has since transferred ownership to Danny Bloks, who has completely re-vamped, updated and modernized it, as well as adding in a stupering amount of games.
The site, SQfanG, can be found at SQfanG.sq7.org
The site is currently hosted by SQ7.org, but has no connection with the Sq7 project, other than a shared desire to keep the community productive.
Also worth noting is the Tierra project, to remake old Adventure games, and the KQ9 project, which is similar in size and scope to SQ7 ;)
APPENDIX I - Trademark information
|
Word Mark |
ROGER WILCO |
|
Goods and Services |
IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer game software
and instruction manuals sold therewith. FIRST USE: 19880130. FIRST USE
IN COMMERCE: 19880130 |
|
Mark Drawing Code |
(1) TYPED DRAWING |
|
Serial Number |
75590248 |
|
Filing Date |
November 10, 1998 |
|
Published for Opposition |
December 21, 1999 |
|
Registration Number |
2328593 |
|
Registration Date |
March 14, 2000 |
|
Owner |
(REGISTRANT) Sierra On-Line, Inc. CORPORATION DELAWARE 3380 - 146Th
Place S.E., Suite 300 Bellevue WASHINGTON 98007 |
|
Attorney of Record |
Kathryn K. Navarro |
|
Type of Mark |
TRADEMARK |
|
Register |
PRINCIPAL |
|
Other Data |
The title "ROGER WILCO" does not refer to a particular living
individual. |
Live/Dead Indicator
| LIVE |
Additional information available at The USPTO
|
Word Mark |
SPACE QUEST |
|
Goods and Services |
IC 028. US 022. G & S: computer games. FIRST USE: 19860501.
FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19860501 |
|
Mark Drawing Code |
(1) TYPED DRAWING |
|
Serial Number |
74173364 |
|
Filing Date |
June 6, 1991 |
|
Published for Opposition |
July 21, 1992 |
|
Registration Number |
1723972 |
|
Registration Date |
October 13, 1992 |
|
Owner |
(REGISTRANT) Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Inc., The
NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION INDIANA 3000 North Meridian Street
Indianapolis INDIANA 46208 |
|
Attorney of Record |
James A. Coles |
|
Prior Registrations |
1315930;1664619 |
|
Type of Mark |
TRADEMARK |
|
Register |
PRINCIPAL |
|
Affidavit Text |
SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR). |
|
Live/Dead Indicator |
LIVE |
Additional information available at The USPTO
Page design and implementation by
GGC Media.