Sam & Max Hit the Road

[Agusia]

I think that You're just too accustomed to the new games that if there isn't an arrow on the screen leading to the next objective, You just don't know what to do.

[joeflint82]

I think that You're just too accustomed to the new games that if there isn't an arrow on the screen leading to the next objective, You just don't know what to do.

Quite the opposite, I'm accustomed to older games. I just don't understand why they took the Scumm engine and murdered it. There are too many verbs to click through (Yes, I know there are more in MI/DOTT etc, but you don't have to right click through them) keyboard shortcuts are helping, but the inventory is too fiddly.

You can comfortably make a P&C game with only two verbs (okay three) - Examine & Interact (I'm counting walk as a freebie that doesn't require selecting, and interact doubles for both talking AND using, having these seperate gives more flexibility, but it is rarely necessary)

Me not knowing to walk 'right' in the office is partially my fault, and partially a graphic issue, there is nothing in logic to suggest that the room continues.

[KuroShiro]

This is another example of how poor this game is:
I thought I had explored everything possible, and was at a massive dead end, so I decided to get a prompt from a walkthrough, the prompt said that their is a cupboard with a lightbulb in it at the office. Even KNOWING this, it still took me about 60 seconds before it became apparent that the room continues to the right.

Puzzles I can do, not seeing an object because Max is in the way, or not seeing that a room doesn't end at the obvious point I can't.

Lucasarts has always, *always* had scrolling rooms in their games. Too bad you don't like the game. No accounting for taste I suppose.

[joeflint82]

This is another example of how poor this game is:
I thought I had explored everything possible, and was at a massive dead end, so I decided to get a prompt from a walkthrough, the prompt said that their is a cupboard with a lightbulb in it at the office. Even KNOWING this, it still took me about 60 seconds before it became apparent that the room continues to the right.

Puzzles I can do, not seeing an object because Max is in the way, or not seeing that a room doesn't end at the obvious point I can't.

Lucasarts has always, *always* had scrolling rooms in their games. Too bad you don't like the game. No accounting for taste I suppose.

I can definitely think of examples of scrolling rooms in Monkey Island, I CANNOT picture one that isn't obviously a scrolling room/zone. My gripe with the Sam & Max office is that it isn't obvious, it doesn't even seem like a possibility. And you need to go right to the side to activate the scroll, even a slight movement as you moved along the room would be a useful clue.

[joeflint82]

Slightly different questions, still relating to my original post:
Is Sam & Max: Season One / Save the World any good (ie worth the effort of playing Hit the Road*)?
Does it use the same engine as Tales of MI, or is it different?
Is the engine at least better than Hit the Road?

[* - obviously I know I could probably just skip Hit the Road][/size]

[eriktorbjorn]

Is Sam & Max: Season One / Save the World any good (ie worth the effort of playing Hit the Road*)?
Does it use the same engine as Tales of MI, or is it different?
Is the engine at least better than Hit the Road?

For season one and two, there should be demos available on Telltale Game's web site that let you play through the beginning of each of them. (I think one of the episode one episodes may still be freely available, actually.) That should give you an idea what the games are like. I don't think there were demos for every episode of the third season, but I seem to remember some demo at least.

[joeflint82]

Is Sam & Max: Season One / Save the World any good (ie worth the effort of playing Hit the Road*)?
Does it use the same engine as Tales of MI, or is it different?
Is the engine at least better than Hit the Road?

For season one and two, there should be demos available on Telltale Game's web site that let you play through the beginning of each of them. (I think one of the episode one episodes may still be freely available, actually.) That should give you an idea what the games are like. I don't think there were demos for every episode of the third season, but I seem to remember some demo at least.

I've actually already bought it mate. I just wanted to complete Hit the Road before I unwrapped the box of Save the World (in case of spoilers, but more for in-jokes). It feels like shagging an ugly bird to get to a fit one.

[eriktorbjorn]

I've actually already bought it mate. I just wanted to complete Hit the Road before I unwrapped the box of Save the World (in case of spoilers, but more for in-jokes). It feels like shagging an ugly bird to get to a fit one.

The stories of Sam and Max Hit the Road and the Telltale Games ones aren't related at all. The games were released 13 years apart, and I think there was an optional line of dialog that implied that's also how much time has passed between the events of the games. The only characters I can remember - other than Sam and Max themselves - are the neighbors, and none of them played any part in Hit the Road. There were perhaps a few references to Hit the Road, but not many that I noticed.

I thought the Telltale ones were worth playing, but then again I also thought Hit the Road was worth playing, so I don't know how much that is worth. From a critical standpoint, the story of the first series is rather unfocused, some recurring jokes, characters and settings are perhaps a bit overused, and there is a fair amount of walking back and forth with no way of running (running was added in the second season). The second and third seasons feel a lot more like single stories broken into several parts and - thankfully - ditch some of the running jokes from the first season.

The stories are all pretty strange, of course, but that's Sam and Max for you.