Police Quest 2

[mavman]

http://www.novellice.com/theRedPress/?page_id=67

Has this been linked before? If not here it is. Looks awesome but the guy seems to need more people. So please someone help him out, I'd hate to see a 4th dead PQ2...

[Schrijvertje]

There have been several attempts over the years to remake this game. I've been looking for it ever since I discovered people are actually remaking old games like this one. I often replay the PQ series and 2 always feels awkward (though not less fun!) It would be nice to see it remade in the same VGA style as 3 and the official remake as 1. But what this guy is doing, looks far different then those two games. The remake of QfG2 fits in with the series because it looks the same as the other games. This PQ2 remake looks too realistic; it doesn't look like the Lytton I know from PQ1 and PQ3 (and while I'm willing to accept the difference in the city maps in those two games, a completely different graphics style is too much).

[MusicallyInspired]

No, it wouldn't fit in with the rest of the series (except for maybe Open Season or SWAT), but you gotta admire his goal. He's making an extended edition not just a straight remake. I'm excited about it.

[Schrijvertje]

Sure, I do admire it and if he ever finishes it I'm right there in line to play it! What he's done so far looks great. And as he states on the page, he's only making it for himself.

I remember a huge discussion about the plane scenes in a previous attempt to remake it. I wonder how he'll handle it.

[Blackthorne519]

We had a guy that was going to remake it. Sadly, he disappeared without a word leaving only a BUNCH of screens like this one.



Bt

[gargin]

I have to agree here, I can appreciate what the guy who is remaking it is doing but personally I am not to fond of the style he is using. It's kind of like when the guy was remaking Leisure Suit Larry 3 as a 1:1 remake but decided he wanted to invert all the screens so the game was backwards just to be different. The game would still be fun but most people coming back would find it kind of awkward. There are a couple facts I am a bit unsure about, like adding more villains and things that you get dispatched to do, this could detract from the original idea of trying to catch your nemesis, and the fear associated with his escape. Also, there are so many bomb threats, flooding, and robberies planned here it is almost looking like a script to 24 which kind of takes away from the average every day cop idea that was always behind the Police Quest games.

These facts don't mean the game is going to suck, far from it. The game will have the creators own personality and touches which could certainly enhance the game and maybe make it way better. Though from the sounds of it the story will be so different it will barely be the police quest 2 that people know and love.

Now when I look at the picture BT showed I feel that game would be a great style for the PQ games. I must say that I am jealous! I really wish I could learn to redo graphics like that, I am pretty good at drawing but not very good at coloring. lol =) Any chance that someone on your team will be picking up the project in the future BT?

Gargin

[Shabutie]

Woot someone likes my weird remake. Actually yeah, it doesn't fit in with the other games, that's kind of weird but it'll be ok. Now the PQ2 remake that Bt posted was something I was excited for, but the guy apparently disappeared. PQ2 was my favorite of the first two games, but it didn't quite have all the things that I loved from PQ1 --- that's why the extra scenes and things for my remake, and because then there's something new - god I don't know how many times I've played the original - thousands of times probably. I know the art style is different, I'm trying to make it look the best I can, but I'm a musician so you'll just have to deal. =]

And yeah, the extended remake is mostly just for me, it's also an experiment, a warm up of sorts before I do my original police game.

This is the 4th attempt at a remake? I don't remember that far back I guess?

[Schrijvertje]

I just checked the site again and noticed some added screens of Cotton Cove. They look good as well. But now I'm wondering, with that level of realism for the scenery, will the character models fit in, because they will have to look very much like real humans as well if you don't want the total effect to be kinda awkward.

[Shabutie]

I just checked the site again and noticed some added screens of Cotton Cove. They look good as well. But now I'm wondering, with that level of realism for the scenery, will the character models fit in, because they will have to look very much like real humans as well if you don't want the total effect to be kinda awkward.

Yeah - that's a tough one. Hopefully it works out. I bet it can be done, not so sure I'm the guy to do it, that's why I've been asking for help with animation and drawing the sprites. If help doesn't come after too long, I'll just have to make do or maybe I'll end up making over the backgrounds to fit more symbolic forms rather than realistic ones --- but I hope I don't have to do that.

[Schrijvertje]

I hope so too. I wish I could help out, but I know nothing about this business. I can only say whether I like what I see or not.

Your screenshots suggest a similar style to "Gabriel Knight 2", and I really like that game especially because of its high level of realism. If you forget about the videos for a second and just concentrate on the regular "playing screen", they modelled everything after real photographs and actors:



I think this is the required effect you need to duplicate somehow.

[Shabutie]

Yeah that seems pretty neat. I've actually never played that game, I guess I should give it a try and see how it looks when things are animated. So far I've animated several objects and two characters in PQ2, and the objects looked great. The characters have been more difficult but it wasn't too bad to look at. I'm improving slowly at animating characters, and I should spend more time practicing my art in general, just no time anymore.

Anyway I worked on the exterior of Arnie's this morning. There's actually three, I put them all up on the page if anyone wants to see em.
PQ2 Project page

[Schrijvertje]

Nice work, I especially like the reflection of the building in the wet parking lot. But the lot looks a bit too dark in the night shot. I feel restaurants and such should have a wel lit parking lot for all kinds of safety reasons. That's mostly because I have slightly poorer vision at night. You might want to add a lightpost in one of the corners or something.

Also saw the two options for the river. I like option A best. It gives a better feeling of being underwater. Option B seems ... too dry, if that makes any sense.

[Shabutie]

Nice work, I especially like the reflection of the building in the wet parking lot. But the lot looks a bit too dark in the night shot. I feel restaurants and such should have a wel lit parking lot for all kinds of safety reasons. That's mostly because I have slightly poorer vision at night. You might want to add a lightpost in one of the corners or something.

Also saw the two options for the river. I like option A best. It gives a better feeling of being underwater. Option B seems ... too dry, if that makes any sense.

Hey thanks a lot! I've been struggling with that decision. I do know what you mean about it seeming "dry". Option B has a custom texture overlapping, as well as a solid overlay of a blue to give the whole scene a muddy look - because I felt Option A was too clear. Option A seemed too crisp to be underwater, too much color popping out, but even after saying all that, I agree with you and Option A will probably be my choice for the scene.

For Arnie's, I will probably add a light post, thanks for the suggestion - I have poor vision at night too =] I can't see a thing. I might add something else as well, obviously more vehicles will be added, I'm not sure what else....but I feel something else needs to go in there. Any ideas?

[Schrijvertje]

Well, the bottom of the screen is rather empty. Perhaps you could add some bushes, something similar like you have in front of the right side of the building. Then those bushes act as some kind of front line for extra parking spaces? Because right now, you have the van parked on the left, two parking spots for the disabled and a barely unnoticable free spot all the way to the right. If Sonny drives up, is he just going to leave his car in the middle of the lot?

Now, it's extra work and will need extra programming as well, but to me it would be cool if you could see different vehicles parked there each time you visit. Because right now, it seems like that van is always there, you know? Would be logical if it belongs to an employer, but they would park in the back instead of stealing a customer's spot.

A similar thing is also done in GK2, most noticably in the Marienplatz where different people hang out there on different in-game days, and in the zoo where the wolves stand in different places in their cage each time you visit.

Of course I don't know how much freedom you plan on giving the player. In the original, you only went to Arnie's once, so such a thing didn't matter. If you turn Arnie's into a regular hangout, kinda like The Blue Room in PQ1, that might add something to the game.

[Schloss Ritter]

Just so you know, the assets in GK2...

The backgrounds are actual photographs, though touched up digitally to change signage and a few other details, the same as Hollywood would do with location shooting.

The characters aren't just modeled after the actors, but they are actual footage of the actors on bluescreen in their own studio, inserted into the game. This process (especially opening their own studio and filming) used in Phantasmagoria and its sequel, GK2, and in a few other games, was pretty expensive at the time and was partly responsible for Sierra's following financial woes, since they had to film each movement an actor's character would make. So, you're not likely to get that level of detail in the "sprites" without filming actual live actors, which is probably outside the scope of your project.

[Shabutie]

Well, the bottom of the screen is rather empty. Perhaps you could add some bushes, something similar like you have in front of the right side of the building. Then those bushes act as some kind of front line for extra parking spaces? Because right now, you have the van parked on the left, two parking spots for the disabled and a barely unnoticable free spot all the way to the right. If Sonny drives up, is he just going to leave his car in the middle of the lot?

Now, it's extra work and will need extra programming as well, but to me it would be cool if you could see different vehicles parked there each time you visit. Because right now, it seems like that van is always there, you know? Would be logical if it belongs to an employer, but they would park in the back instead of stealing a customer's spot.

A similar thing is also done in GK2, most noticably in the Marienplatz where different people hang out there on different in-game days, and in the zoo where the wolves stand in different places in their cage each time you visit.

Of course I don't know how much freedom you plan on giving the player. In the original, you only went to Arnie's once, so such a thing didn't matter. If you turn Arnie's into a regular hangout, kinda like The Blue Room in PQ1, that might add something to the game.

About Arnie's parking lot - yeah, I wasn't thinking about where I'd put the car on that one...I'll have to go back and edit in a space, or there's the space on the far right. Either way, I don't actually think there needs to be two handicapped spots there, so I'll remove one of them. Good idea about the bushes/extra parking, I'll have to see about working that in somehow. The Van is just another layer in PS, so I can turn it on and off. Just about every scene I've done so far that has parking of any kind, has a good twenty vehicles to keep things feeling lively. Haven't made them all objects in game yet though, defining regions is a pain.

Hmm, well I don't have any plans to turn Arnie's into much more than it was in the original, at least not right now. Got any other ideas or things you'd like to see?

[Schrijvertje]

Not right now. I'll try to check up on your progress.