Agatha Christie + Lee Sheldon = ?

[AFGNCAAP]

This (http://www.adventuregamers.com/newsitem.php?id=679) is awesome. So far the planned A. Christie games have interested me only as her novels' enthusiast - now I believe they will be a treat for an adventure gamer inside me.

[Jackal]

Yep, good to know they're taking the writing seriously, at least.

I was a major Poirot freak growing up, so my bias is seeing his cases get chosen (along with 10 Little Indians, which I suspect will be one of the 5).

[Zack]

Lee Sheldon is a good writer. I have the two games he helped Southpeak Interactive made, which are Temujin, and Dark Side of the Moon. Dark Side of the Moon is a great game, and I think I will play it again someday. I am pleased to hear that he's going to help write the first Agatha Christie game that TAC is making. Overall, I think I will definitely be keeping my eye on this one.

[Nomad]

I just *hope* it's not gonna be one of those crappy 1st person click-through-pictures games that TAC is releasing over here once a month. I know the situation must be different in North America where they distribute Euro adventures as well, but here everything with a TAC logo on it is pure crap, dirt, rubbish, shice. Oh, getting OT. I *hope* they're not gonna waste this precious material to produce bad games... Which I fear they will.

[Fienepien]

Imo Temujin was a good game too. ;) Nice FMV.

I hope they will choose one of the older, less well-known novels, like The ABC Murders, The Clocks, A Pocketful of Rye or even a Tommy and Tuppence story.

[Marek]

Fortunately if you thought Temujin was crap (Marek raises his hand), Lee Sheldon was brought in to try and 'fix' that game, so it wasn't something he was involved in since the beginning. Dark Side of the Moon is probably a better reflection. That game was in fact really good. It rightfully got 4 stars in the AG review.

[ConcreteRancor]

Imo Temujin was a good game too. ;) Nice FMV.

I hope they will choose one of the older, less well-known novels, like The ABC Murders, The Clocks, A Pocketful of Rye or even a Tommy and Tuppence story.
The ABC Murders is one of the less well-known ones? I thought it was one of the most famous.

They could also try and expand any of the short mysteries from Poirot Investigates. (It could also be neat to have a bunch of shorter mysteries packaged together.)

[plswdth]

I liked Dark Side of the Moon, but for me the real masterpiece he worked on is definitely Ripley's Believe it or Not.....one of my very favorite games!!

I remember reading an article by Lee Sheldon discussing the process of writing an adventure game script. I believe it references the water box puzzle in Ripley? Quite interesting!

I can't find it on his website, but his website is defintely worth checking out:

http://www.anti-linearlogic.com/

[Jackal]

I just *hope* it's not gonna be one of those crappy 1st person click-through-pictures games that TAC is releasing over here once a month. I know the situation must be different in North America where they distribute Euro adventures as well, but here everything with a TAC logo on it is pure crap, dirt, rubbish, shice. Oh, getting OT. I *hope* they're not gonna waste this precious material to produce bad games... Which I fear they will.

I hope so, too, but really there's no precedent for this. All those other titles TAC simply published, and these will be the first games they've ever developed internally, I believe. Should be interesting to see how they make out as developers.

The catch with the Christie books, of course, is that they're so well known, the "mystery" won't have much mystery for a lot of people if they're faithful to the original stories. So I wonder if they'll take any creative liberties to provide suspense.

[Fienepien]

The ABC Murders is one of the less well-known ones? I thought it was one of the most famous.

Heh... you may be right, but it was rather obscure when I read it some 35 years ago. :P

They could also try and expand any of the short mysteries from Poirot Investigates. (It could also be neat to have a bunch of shorter mysteries packaged together.)

I want Miss Marple too. The real one... slim and prim, gossipy, high-necked dress, oldfashioned views, as sharp as as her knitting needles... not that far too voluminous and active Margaret Rutherford type in the Agatha Christie films.

[lemonhead11]

I think that since so many people have read the novels, it might be a good idea to write a new story using a Christie character like Poirot or Miss Marple. This would help keep people into the game whereas with an old story you would know the ending.

[Fienepien]

I think that since so many people have read the novels, it might be a good idea to write a new story using a Christie character like Poirot or Miss Marple. This would help keep people into the game whereas with an old story you would know the ending.

I wouldn't be surprised if the copyright holders nipped that idea in the bud...

[AFGNCAAP]

The catch with the Christie books, of course, is that they're so well known, the "mystery" won't have much mystery for a lot of people if they're faithful to the original stories. So I wonder if they'll take any creative liberties to provide suspense.
She wrote some 78 crime novels, if my source is reliable, so they should not have big problems choosing rather obscure ones if they wish. On the other hand, I think 10 little Indians and ABC murders would be great choices, especially if they plan to change the plot much, as in those cases the basic premise is as exciting as the whole complex intrigue...

[Jackal]

Sure, lots to choose from, and I haven't read them all, myself. But I'd wager good money they'll pick "name" titles to help sell the games. Although now that I think about it, I barely remember anything, anyway. :crazy:

[katie]

Oh great, I can't wait for these. Have been a huge fan of Agatha Christie, Poirot and Miss Marple for most of my life. :)

Katie.

[100ja a.k.a. mr_mitja]

I probably read every Poirot title there is, started when I was 10 or so... On the other hand, I never really liked Miss Marple that much (call me a sexist ;) ). And I'm really hoping for a good game, if only David Suchet provided his voice. Or, what the hell, it can be FMV as well!

[ConcreteRancor]

I probably read every Poirot title there is, started when I was 10 or so... On the other hand, I never really liked Miss Marple that much (call me a sexist ;) ).I'm of the same mind, actually. I much prefer Poirot over Marple. I think it's the combination of the mustache and the Belgian accent that does it for me.

[AFGNCAAP]

I was a major Poirot freak growing up, so my bias is seeing his cases get chosen (along with 10 Little Indians, which I suspect will be one of the 5).
Good shot, that. :) According to the news (http://www.adventuregamers.com/newsitem.php?id=907):
The Adventure Company announced today that they've signed up AWE Games to do the first in a series of Agatha Christie adventures. TAC had already announced that they'd gotten the green light from Christie's grandson, Mathew Prichard, to make a series based off her mystery novels. The one to kick off the series will be And Then There Were None.
For those who don't know, And Then There Were None is an alternative name for Ten Little Indians (also referred to as Ten Little Niggers, I don't know what's the story behind all the different titles, maybe political correctness issues?).
And that is a great choice IMO.

[Marek]

I'm excited. This game should get a nice debut in the next Hype-O-Meter update.

[After a brisk nap]

With the Poirot TV show starring David Suchet they must have burned through most of Christie's better Poirot stories. (Looking it up, I see they've used 50 out of 72.) I think it'll be hard to find anything that is truly obscure while still decent.

I see a number of ways they could go on this: Remain faithful to the plot and just ignore the people who know the solution in advance. Remain faithful, and design the game so knowing the solution to the mystery doesn't help you solve the puzzles. Use the basic premise and setting, but modify the details so that you'll have to take another path to the solution. Or mix and match plot points from several different books along with your own inventions, only loosely resembling the title it bears.

I would imagine they will do a bit of all of the above.

Is it just me, or does an adventure game version of And Then There Were None make the most sense played from the point of view of the killer? How to set up all of these murders without being discovered is a real puzzle!

[DustCropper]

I'm really looking forward to this! At least it'll have good writing, which I think many adventure games today lack.

[Zack]

I'm definitely excited that that famous suspense film "And Then There Were None" is AWE's first adventure game. That movie was pretty surprising, and suspenseful, so it sounds like ripe material for a good old-fashioned mystery game.

Good luck to you new developers!. :D

[artwking4]

I, too, hope that they don't make these games in the 1st person.

But they can use any of the books as source material and it won't spoil anything for me because I haven't read any of them, or seen any of the TV shows/movies. Except maybe one, where Poirot was solving a murder on the Orient Express, or something like that.

[Jackal]

Great choice for the first game, definitely. I fully expect them to take plenty of liberty with the details to keep players completely in the dark.

Just so long as they don't wreck it, like that steaming colossal turd of a movie. :(

[Dragonrose]

Is it just me, or does an adventure game version of And Then There Were None make the most sense played from the point of view of the killer? How to set up all of these murders without being discovered is a real puzzle!

I don't even think that would be possible- the murderer set things in motion to kill everyone years before anyone arrives at the island. And people think Grim Fandango takes place over a long time period!

It might have some chance at working for the first few deaths, but somewhere in the middle I can't see any way of making it work anymore- the whole thing would just stop being a game and be cutscene after cutscene. There's too many plots within mysteries within enigmas within flaky pastry shells for it to be an entertaining game instead of an excercise in frustration.

[jjacob]

Oh man I hope this is going to be good, I love Agatha Christie's novels, and the show Poirot (the one with David Suchet) as well when I catch it. In any case the premise is promising :)

[Antoinetta]

Is there any hint, however speculative, of a release date or time frame?

Antoinetta

[DustCropper]

Is there any hint, however speculative, of a release date or time frame?

AntoinettaAccording to AGers, Q3 2005. :)
http://www.adventuregamers.com/gameinfo.php?id=512

[colpet]

Personally, I'm hoping they follow the template of the Nancy Drew games. These have been very successful, and already have a good following.

[Leonard Shelby]

And Then There Were None ?

What about Ten Little Indians ?

[100ja a.k.a. mr_mitja]

I, too, hope that they don't make these games in the 1st person.

They could make it FMV! WITH David Suchet! :9~