The first game where I realized games had developers was Space Quest 3. At one point of the game Roger Wilco found his way into a lair of evil pirates, who had imprisoned two aliens with prominent pig snouts. My 8-year old self wasn't really sure who these aliens were, until Roger finally drove them to Earth and left them to work in Sierra. Wasn't Sierra the company that had published Space Quests? And they had two pig-nosed aliens working with them? And were these aliens actually behind this game? The name Two Guys From Andromeda was then forcefully imprinted to my mind, especially as Space Quests were my favourite games at the time.
 |
| This picture spells nostalgia for me |
I was then truly excited to hear that Joe Pranevich, who is currently playing Space Quest 4 for the blog, had contacted Guys From Andromeda LLC, the company in which the Two Guys are now working for their new game, SpaceVenture (sounds suspiciously familiar). Chris Pope, producer and co-founder of the company answered Joe and was happy to collaborate with The Adventure Gamer. They were willing to hand out a SpaceVenture Ace Hardway T-shirt as a prize for our ”guess the rating” -contest – so if you haven't picked the score you think Space Quest 4 will get, go and do it quickly in the SQ4 intro, if you wan't to get your hands on a piece of adventure gaming history.
 |
| Will this guy be as memorable as Roger Wilco? |
Chris Pope was also willing to let our readers present questions to the Two Guys. I know there must be tons of things you've always wanted to know about the Two Guys and their games, past, present and future, so please, let your curiosity take you over in the comments and ask what you want! I got the impression that the Two Guys won't directly come here to answer, but we'll be sure to select the best comments and questions and send them through Chris Pope to Two Guys. Based on their answers we'll then do a new post. Enough talking, here’s few example questions to begin with, by courtesy of Aperama:
1) Space Quest IV was your last (up until latest) venture. Given we're presently making our way through it as a blog.. any regrets? Did the infamous time crunch that Corey Cole often tells us was rife at Sierra back then catch up to you Guys or did you really get a chance to nut everything out?
2) Hertz. So Much. Controversy is always nice and all, but did it really make much of a difference creatively? (Were you secretly demanding that you have a rider of pure-yellow M&Ms and such, or was it just a throw away joke that meant nothing?)
3) As we're about to find out, Space Quest IV takes place in several different copies of Space Quest. Given we sadly had to part at 6, we never got to find out how it would have worked - would Space Quest 12 have actually been Vohaul's Revenge II?
4) Do you believe that point and click adventures are really back in vogue (given that you're putting all of your eggs in the Spaceventure™ basket available late 2015 buy buy buy)? C'mon. You can tell us. We're rabid fans who wouldn't even care if you said no anyway.
5) Space. You Guys sure love Space. Ever consider making a game set in a medieval or modern setting? What is the appeal behind 'space'? Or janitors? You guys sure seem to have a solid line on the 'space janitor' market, to be fair.
6) So. Clearly, we've bought it anyway if we're reading this blog. But tell us. Why should we hound our family, friends, pets and non-sentient lifeforms of all other natures to buy Spaceventure?
7) Will you guys give us little production tidbits on (particularly) the SQ series? We love them.
2) Hertz. So Much. Controversy is always nice and all, but did it really make much of a difference creatively? (Were you secretly demanding that you have a rider of pure-yellow M&Ms and such, or was it just a throw away joke that meant nothing?)
3) As we're about to find out, Space Quest IV takes place in several different copies of Space Quest. Given we sadly had to part at 6, we never got to find out how it would have worked - would Space Quest 12 have actually been Vohaul's Revenge II?
4) Do you believe that point and click adventures are really back in vogue (given that you're putting all of your eggs in the Spaceventure™ basket available late 2015 buy buy buy)? C'mon. You can tell us. We're rabid fans who wouldn't even care if you said no anyway.
5) Space. You Guys sure love Space. Ever consider making a game set in a medieval or modern setting? What is the appeal behind 'space'? Or janitors? You guys sure seem to have a solid line on the 'space janitor' market, to be fair.
6) So. Clearly, we've bought it anyway if we're reading this blog. But tell us. Why should we hound our family, friends, pets and non-sentient lifeforms of all other natures to buy Spaceventure?
7) Will you guys give us little production tidbits on (particularly) the SQ series? We love them.
Given that so much has changed about gaming in the 20 years (OMG, I am so old) since Space Quest 6, how are you approaching SpaceVenture differently?
ReplyDeleteSpaceVenture has been the first "Two Guys" game made in an even longer time (24 years!). What is it like working together on a project after such a long absence?
Is there one thing in one of your previous games that you look back on now and just wish that you had done differently? A puzzle or a plot point? An idea that did not make it past the drawing board that you wish had?
I'd certainly love to hear what sort of future adventures Roger might have had if the Two Guys had continued writing the SQ series. It's always been a favourite series for me.
ReplyDeleteIn important unrelated news, GOG now has Star Trek (25th anniversary and Judgement Rites)
ReplyDeleteYou guys sure seem to have a solid line on the 'space janitor' market, to be fair.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Infocom's Planetfall, 1983? If Meretzky can own up to that game's humour being a Douglas Adams knock-off, they can probably concede this point. (I guess these things come in 3-year intervals, since we got another sci-fi janitor in Future Wars in '89, with Space Quest placed neatly between them. Maybe the '80s was just the era of the "Revenge of the Nerds" underdog antihero, culminating in 1990 with Les Manley and Ernie Eaglebeak? Not actual janitors, but somewhere nearby in the pecking order.)
This isn't an actual question, just thinking out loud.
With seven out of seven games made by them (obviously other credits in their careers, but no games made as a pairing by them outside of the rather limited market of space-based janitorial services), I'd still say they've got the market largely in hand. Both Infocom and **NAME REDACTED - VIVE LA FRANCE** released several other games that neither touched on being in space, or cleaning on a manner typically known for earning the minimum wage. Not saying they are the only ones. :)
DeletePlanetfall! I read the novelization of that, and have seen the sequel in the wild.
Delete*Is there some reason why the last 2 Space Quests were handled by 1/2 of the 2 Guys from Andromeda?
ReplyDelete*What were their biggest regrets or most ambitious gaming projects left unfulfilled when Sierra was bought over?
*Why did Monolith Burger appear in Jones In the Fast Lane?
*Is there a possibility that you guys might team up with the Coles for a comedy Space Fantasy Adventure RPG?
*Who would win in a fight: Roger Wilco or Ace Hardaway?
Urgh that DreamWorks smirk on that SpaceVenture main character is so cliché and horrible.
ReplyDeleteIt is really cool that you've got more old school people coming to interview! That is one of the reasons I really want to catch up.
ReplyDelete