Gary Owens and Leonard Nimoy Have Passed Away

We have recently lost two people very familiar to people who were adventure gamers in the 1990's. Gary Owens, the narrator of Space Quest 4 and 6 passed away on February 12th. Leonard Nimoy, who played his most well known character Spock in the adventure games Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Star Trek: Judgment Rites, passed away on February 27th.

Gary Owens was set to reprise his role as narrator in SpaceVenture, but his health declined before he could record his lines.  He did record a humorous "narrator auditions" advertisement for that game, which you can hear here, and did an interview with Chris Pope about the project and his time on Space Quest, which you can hear here.

Both actors were terrific in all of their roles and will both be sorely missed.

SpaceVenture Coming In 2015, Josh Mandel Will Co-Write It

The SpaceVenture team finall posted an update with news about the space themed game by the Two Guys from Andromeda, the creators of Space Quest.  They've hired Josh Mandel on as a writer.  If you don't know who Josh Mandel is, he's honorary third guy of Andromeda, who co-directed Space Quest 6, as well as Freddy Pharkas Frontier Pharmacist, and most recently Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded and Fester Mudd: Curse of the Gold.

The bumps they have been having have been ironed out, as the main problems have been on the programming end, and that is going much more smoothly now.  They are now on the final third of game development, and feel confident that the game is on track to be released some time in 2015.

Sequel to the SpaceVenture Fan Game Pledge Quest

The team of fans from the Space Quest fansite The Virtual Broomcloset that brought you PledgeQuest are back.

Like the original Pledge Quest was created to promote the SpaceVenture kickstarter, the sequel, Pledge Quest II: Noodle Shop of Horrors (or Vohaul the Cat's Revenge), was created to promote the SpaceVenture stretch goals through Paypal.

Pledge Quest II is three times as long as the original Pledge Quest, as it includes three rooms rather than the single room seen in Pledge Quest I, as well as animated cut-scenes. Like the original, it is chuck full of humor relating to Space Quest and Sierra's games in general. You may even spot some references to adventure games from other companies and pop culture references as well.

Thanks to the game's co-creator, Decaffeinated Jedi, for letting me know about the game. Give it a try, and try the original as well if you haven't already. They're both great throwbacks to classic adventure games, and well worth your time.

SpaceVenture Prototype Demo #4 Is Out

The fourth playable prototype demo of SpaceVenture, the new game by the creators of Space Quest that is going to be created if enough money is raised on the SpaceVenture kickstarter, is out now.

The new prototype has four possible deaths, a playable Cluck Y'egger II minigame, and new animation. The demo is playable in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari browsers, as well as on iPad. The final game won't require a browser to play. If you enjoyed the demo, and/or enjoyed Space Quest, back the SpaceVenture kickstarter by picking a tier on which to pledge your money, and get various goodies in the process.

The project is currently at just over $450,000US of it's $500,000US goal with just less than two days to go. It's still very possible that this will be funded, but it's certainly going to be a close one. Every new pledge (and upgraded pledge) helps.

Pledge Quest - SpaceVenture Kickstarter Fan Game

PledgeQuest is an adventure game for Windows and Linux created by a group of fans at the Space Quest fansite The Virtual Broomcloset to stir up interest in the SpaceVenture kickstarter. The game is a single room adventure game created with Adventure Game Studio starring a woman named Bea (named after Roger Wilco's love interest Beatrice). The goal is to get Bea to visit the SpaceVenture kickstarter page to pledge support to the Two Guys From Andromeda's SpaceVenture kickstarter campaign.

The the SpaceVenture kickstarter is currently at 72% of it's goal of $500,000US, and there is only 5 days left to go. If you liked the Space Quest games, pick a pledge tier. The game may not contain the Space Quest name, but it contains all of the Space Quest humor and charm.

SpaceVenture Playable Prototype Demo 3 Is Out

The SpaceVenture Kickstarter has been updated with a third playable prototype demo, that is not restricted to just Chrome this time. It's playable in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and iPad. Note that the full game won't require a browser at all. Only the prototype demos are designed that way, so they can be developed quickly and released each time the kickstarter meets another $100,000US goal.

Replay Games' Paul Trowe Sabotaging Kickstarters?

If you're not aware, Paul Trowe of Replay Games (the company who started the Leisure Suit Larry kickstarter) sent out a message to the press that he wanted to sue Wisecrack games for using Al Lowe's name and the Leisure Suit Larry name on their kickstarter. Al Lowe reponded to the message saying that he didn't intend to sue and that he gave his permission to use his name and wishes Wisecrack Games luck on Sam Suede.

However, some posters on the Adventure Gamers forums have dug up something rather concerning. According to this post by Adventure Gamers poster supaplex, a person called "gamespygeek" has been trolling the Sierra related kickstarters. There is a profile on Myspace also under the name gamespygeek that looks like Paul Trowe. Additionally, the name on the Myspace page "Jiminy Drambuie" is friends with Paul Trowe on Facebook, and both Paul Trowe and Jiminy Drambuie are listed as living in Austin, TX.

Also, an Adventure Gamers forum user by the name of Siddhi noted some similarites between Gamespygeek's trolls and Paul Trowe's own posts.

Gamespygeek wrote on SpaceVenture kickstarter:

I don’t know who the heck this guy Chris Pope is, but I believe in Scott & Mark and their ability to make a game after all these years. I originally dropped my pledge to $1.00 because of the technical screw ups but I don’t think that’s The Two Guys’s fault…I blame that on the Chris guy…he’s leading this effort.

Paul Trowe wrote:

Ask them why they didn’t join up with the folks at Replay Games to create Sierra 2.0 and instead chose some guy they’ve never heard of, Chris Pope, to run a company they don’t own.

All of this evidence does seem like Paul Trowe, or a friend of Paul Trowe, is trying to sabotage other Sierra related kickstarters. And if that is indeed the case, it's incredibly poor sportsmanship and reflects poorly upon Replay Games.

Space Quest Collection 75% Off On Steam

The Space Quest Collection is today's daily deal on Steam. For 11 more hours, you can pick up all 6 Space Quest games for only $5US.

This is the perfect time for the deal, as the games have the same humor and style as the upcoming SpaceVenture adventure, which is also made by the Guys from Andromeda, the creators of Space Quest. If you enjoy the Space Quest games, be sure to pick a pledge level and support SpaceVenture.

Playable SpaceVenture Prototype Demo Released

The Kickstarter for SpaceVenture, the planned space adventure game by Space Quest creators Two Guys From Andromeda, has released a playable prototype demo.

The prototype demo uses the Chrome browser, which is used simply to make development of the prototypes easier. The full game will not use Chrome and will not require a browser to play. An engine for the full game hasn't been decided upon yet. In the demo, you can already see the classic Space Quest humor and art style in full swing. There are three deaths to be found, along with the humorous dialog that always comes with the Space Quest deaths.

The next prototype will be released after the project reaches $300,000US, so be sure to pick a pledge level to back the game if you want to see an even more advanced prototype demo with more classic Space Quest-style humor.

A New Game by Space Quest Creators on Kickstarter

The adventure game madness continues on Kickstarter as more famous adventure game creators return, thanks to fan support.

This time, it's the Two Guys from Andromeda, Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe, who have returned. They are known for creating the popular Space Quest series at Sierra, and they have returned to bring a humorous adventure game set in space to a new generation of gamers.

The game, titled SpaceVenture, already has a cast of famous voice actors on board on this game, including Gary Owens who was the narrator in Space Quest 4 and Space Quest 6. They plan on releasing the game on PC, Mac, Linux (in DRM-free versions), iPad and Android Tablets at the same time once the game is ready to release.

Like the other adventure game kickstarters I have covered on this blog, preordering the game costs $15 and the rewards increase with the higher tiers, including a big box release of the physical game at the $100 tier.

There are 28 days to go and approximately $350,000 left until this project becomes a reality. The game certainly seems to have all of the classic elements in place that made Space Quest a household name for Sierra in the 80's and 90's. So, if you want to support the project, choose your pledge level at the SpaceVenture kickstarter.

Thanks to mjomble, a developer of the Space Quest: Vohaul Strikes Back fan game, for alerting me to the presence of this kickstarter.