Back to the Future

[Kolzig]

I guess Telltale is getting ready to release bttf:episode 1 as the main site is closed down right now for "maintenance."

[elmuerte]

Noooooo.....

my backlog cannot hold more...

[pabosher]

Does anyone have any idea if this is hitting Steam?

[toblix]

Just bought BttF from Telltale's store.

Jake, since I think you're still the UI man for the web site, you should start grouping all the purchases in the Your Games! section soon. The list is getting seriously long (good for you!) but it would probably make sense to at least group all the episodes in some way?

[pabosher]

Also, it says that Sam and Max save the World is $5, but when I added it to my basket it was $30. =(

[miffy495]

It doesn't have a little "coupons applied" thing at the bottom that says"- $25" or anything?

[Jake]

  toblix said:

Just bought BttF from Telltale's store.

Jake, since I think you're still the UI man for the web site, you should start grouping all the purchases in the Your Games! section soon. The list is getting seriously long (good for you!) but it would probably make sense to at least group all the episodes in some way?

I had that 90% done about 3 years ago and was told it was not an immediate priority. A few months after that, someone accidentally paved over the code. So, maybe someday someone else will get to it. I know it sucks right now.

Also I have hardly anything to do with the website anymore. Sometimes I miss it, but only a very little bit.

[ThunderPeel2001]

  Jake said:

I had that 90% done about 3 years ago and was told it was not an immediate priority. A few months after that, someone accidentally paved over the code. So, maybe someday someone else will get to it. I know it sucks right now.

Also I have hardly anything to do with the website anymore. Sometimes I miss it, but only a very little bit.

Every TellTale interface that you're not involved with visually sucks. (Yes, I can tell just by looking.)

Is anyone actually able to play this? It's totally and utterly fucked as far as I can tell... As in, it's a total bug-infested nightmare that won't install properly.

Edit: Fixed it myself.

Love the main menu! It doesn't look like a "Jake", but it's still freaking awesome.

Edited December 23, 2010 by ThunderPeel2001

[Erkki]

I don't know if the mac version is buggy but telltalegames.com seems to be having problems and launching the Mac game brings up a pretty much blank window... does this mean TTG games can't be played offline?

[pabosher]

  Erkki said:

I don't know if the mac version is buggy but telltalegames.com seems to be having problems and launching the Mac game brings up a pretty much blank window... does this mean TTG games can't be played offline?

Apparently you need to redownload it, and it'll work

[Erkki]

  SpeedyDesiato said:

Apparently you need to redownload it, and it'll work

Actually it started working now. (I just downloaded it half an hour ago so probably didn't need to redownload)

[edit] oh, now it doesn't work again . aargh

[Quanta]

Will there be a demo at some time? I don't want to buy a pig in a poke. I probably wouldn't have bought S&M S3 without a demo (to verify non-distorted voices, among other things).

[Patters]

  Quanta said:

Will there be a demo at some time? I don't want to buy a pig in a poke. I probably wouldn't have bought S&M S3 without a demo (to verify non-distorted voices, among other things).

There's going to be a free episode in February.

[HPopper]

  ThunderPeel2001 said:

Every TellTale interface that you're not involved with visually sucks. (Yes, I can tell just by looking.)

I actually like the style all right, but the interface itself seemed really lacking.

Why do we need all the icons to be visible at the top of the screen all the time? If I want a hint or to see what the current goals are (which I need infrequently, if ever), it's one click away at all times. But when I want to get an item from my inventory and use it on something (which I need to do all the time), I have to click once to go to the full-screen inventory menu, then click to the item I need, then click it again to "equip" it and back out of the inventory screen, then I can try it out on the environment. Trying to figure things out on your own has been made more complex than having the game give you the answer.

It's a small gripe, but for such a common player interaction (using inventory items in an adventure game!) it feels clunky and unpolished. Like if the next Mario game had you press both L and R to jump. It works, but it could work much better. (Which it did in the previous TT games: What was wrong with the pop-out inventory? Click or press a key to make all your items appear at once, then click to "equip" the item for use. Simple.) Is there a chance the BTTF inventory will get tweaked a bit before Episode 2?

Anyway, I like the actual game a lot. My favorite part so far was just having Marty converse with Doc. It's just nice to spend time with these characters again after so many years. A.J. LoCasico nails Marty. And I like that there's a fair amount of Einstein in the game. Letting you choose your pseudonym was a nice touch, since the characters keep calling you by it. I'm having fun so far, but the shit has yet to hit the fan, as it were, so it will be interesting to see how the later episodes pan out, assuming Doc and Marty get into a series of dangerous predicaments.

Also, is one of the horses in the Soup Kitchen horse race broadcast named Rodkin? I swear I heard "Rodkin" something something several times. Also, "Telltale" something.

Also, I giggled every time Edna said "hot scoop".

[MrHoatzin]

I think teaching disinterested grannies and people who've been asleep for the past 30 years how to play their games seems to be a more important thing for TTG than making something that is easy to play for people who already understand what interfaces are. I really wish there was a slider in the menu somewhere that goes from "I CAN BARELY HOLD A MOUSE CORRECTLY" to "I HAVE PLAYED A GAME BEFORE".

It is really fucking annoying, guys!

I understand Dave Grossmann's mother in law is an important demographic for you to reach out to and teach how to play the game, but why the fuck does it have to be at the expense of your core demographic?! ARGH.

[Erkki]

That HUGE goal popup in the HUD is annoying, especially as I the game asked me if I want goal popups and i said no.

[brkl]

Hmm, felt shorter than say a S&M Season 3 episode. Quality was mostly very good though. Voice compression ;/

[ThunderPeel2001]

The voice acting is great. Marty sounds more like Marty than Doc sounds like Doc (at least some of the time). The opening was confusing... and unnecessary to the story, and also a bit lame that it was just a dream. The voice compression is REALLY bad this time. The interface design sucks... but it's apparently much better if you play with a controller. The music is an irritating riff on Alan Silvestri's score (riffing was a good idea, at least) and often at odds with the dramatic tension of the story.

I would have preferred it if Jennifer and Clara played more of a role -- feels like Marty and Doc's lives are oddly empty.

Still -- Loved it.

On the whole: It's the game I've always wanted to play since I first saw the movie

[Quanta]

  brkl said:

Voice compression ;/

  ThunderPeel2001 said:

The voice compression is REALLY bad this time.

:(

Telltale's sound department:

When checking the Telltale forums, I found a single thread concerning this issue with only one reply sofar, stating, that he/she doesn't perceive it, and never did in any of Telltale's games. As long as only so few people complain about this issue, Telltale will not fix it. They only fixed it once, when many people complained about this issue in a particular ToMI episode.

Edited December 23, 2010 by Quanta

[ThunderPeel2001]

  Quanta said:

Telltale's sound department:

Not as bad as their QA department

[MrHoatzin]

Or their Inexplicably Convoluted Interfaces Department

[Erkki]

It seems like Telltale is working on too many games at one time and is not able to maintain their standard of quality in all of the titles. Except for the sound quality standard of course.

[MrHoatzin]

I bet Dave Grossman's mother in law has had no issues with the sound.

[elmuerte]

Crappy DRM is preventing me from playing it

[ThunderPeel2001]

  elmuerte said:

Crappy DRM is preventing me from playing it

Really? What's it saying? Are you sure you haven't got the "infinite reinstall" issue? It's defies belief that it wasn't picked up during QA.