Unofficial Tex Murphy

Many on here might have played the adventure classics Broken Sword 1 and 2. A new 3D game, Broken Sword 3 was released in 2003. A huge investment, and the most significant adventure game release for a long time.

Given the projections of adventure games sales from those in the know on this board, we'd expect that BS3 sunk without trace. Evidently this was not the case since Revolution have just announced BS4. This is evidence of 3D adventure games selling. There's no FMV, but in terms of 3D adventure game BS3 is in exactly the same market as the latter tax games. The market which, let's face it, Aaron tells us is dead. It seems Revolution have found otherwise.

http://www.revolution.co.uk

Revolution staff on the forums on that site have got into discussions about quite how the sales panned out. For instance, BS3 was developed for many platforms. BS4 is likely to be PC only given how BS3 sales worked out. They also talk of distribution with THQ.

Incidentally, Revolution, a lovely UK games company are amazingly different to, say, Microsoft. Their classic old game Beneath a Steel Sky is not available in stores any more. So hey, they give it away for free on their website.
Before BS3, fans started developing their own game, Broken Sword 2.5. Did Revolution try to stop this dreadful infringement of copyright? No, they took it as a compliment. As long as the fans don't do anything ridiculous or try to sell it, let it carry on.

You see, there is another way.

Yes, I was aware of the announcement of a new Broken Sword and was delighted to hear of it. Broken Sword 3 was a very good game, though far from perfect. They'll have to rework a lot of issues and maybe this time they'll put a bit more emphasis on creative puzzles and paths, rather than the overly simplistic crate puzzles in BS3. The controls should still use the keyboard only (no mouse), but this time the game needs to feel more like a PC adventure rather than a weak console control system. Hopefully they'll work on these issues and several others addressed in BS3.

Evidently this was not the case since Revolution have just announced BS4. This is evidence of 3D adventure games selling.

Personally, I happen to disagree with this. Companies will not stop developing adventure games just because of poor selling. Look at developers like Dreamcatcher, The Adventure Company, Cryo Interactive and Microids to name a few examples. These companies have been pumping out adventure games for the past few years, most of these adventure games were completely devoid of any originality or revolutionary ideas and of course followed with some very weak sales. Yet these developers keep releasing new adventure games on almost a monthly basis.

What I'm trying to say is that 3D adventure games as a whole do not sell well, but rather GOOD 3D adventure are selling well. The only notable recent examples are BS3, Myst IV, Syberia 2, Still Life and perhaps The Moment of Silence (not sure about the latter two).

Also the term "good sales" is a bit misleading in regards to adventure game sales. "Good sales" refers to good sales in adventure games sale standard, a standard which dropped considerably in the past few years. So, if by comparison to other, more contemporary, mass-market genres, adventure game sales are not doing that well at all.

The market which, let's face it, Aaron tells us is dead.

Where have you read Aaron Conners say that the adventure games market is dead? Please read the following thread regarding his answers about the possibility of a future Tex game: http://www.unofficialtexmurphy.com/phpb ... .php?t=142

The reasons why AC and CJ are reluctant to develop another Tex game is mainly because of lack of financing and current technology restrictions (also see the link above for more info).

Regarding a fan Tex project, it has been proposed several times, but nothing came out of it. Remember, Aaron does NOT hold the rights to the Tex Murphy franchise. Indie Built, Inc. is the current holder of these rights. Anyway, I believe any Tex fan project will of course have to be screened through Indie and get their permission for such a project.

As far as I've understood BS3 did rather poorly on consoles, but OK at least on PC. BS1 and BS2 did much better though. They sold about a million each if I remember correctly (PS1+PC, premium price). More than twice what BS3 sold (PC+Xbox+PS2 (they never got a PS2 license for the US though)).

In any case I'm happy they're making a new one, even though I'd rather have BASS2. Hopefully they'll make that one afterwards.

According to Charles Cecil and Tony Warriner BS3 actually sold about as well as both BS1 and BS2 at full price. In total BS1 and 2 have sold over a million each (that was a couple of years ago), budget releases included. I don't think BS3 did as well financially though, since BS3 must've cost quite a bit more to develop. They developed their own 3D engine from scratch.

Anyway BS4 is getting closer and closer to release (September 15th), and it looks like it'll be the best 3D 3rd person adventure game so far, from an adventure gamer's perspective.

Here you can download a 4 minute in-game video (and view screenshots):
http://www.adventure-eu.com/fr/index.ph ... file_id=40

It's 47MB.

The interface seems just about perfect for a 3D adventure game if you ask me.

British PCZone got hold of a near final press copy. They awarded the game 78% in the issue just released (BS3 got 75%). They said the game was harder than it's predecessor, and more of a classic adventure game.

I'll definitely be getting this game as soon as it's released.

I never played any of the BS series but have read many good posts regarding them. Are they still available? Can they be played on XP?

Jim the old guy wrote:I never played any of the BS series but have read many good posts regarding them. Are they still available? Can they be played on XP?

Sure, they are around. BS1 and 2 are sold under the Sold Out label. At least in Europe you can often find Sold Out games in shops. You can also order them yourself from http://www.sold-out.co.uk . They work just fine with XP, and can if you wish be played using ScummVM (which works with an enormous amount of operating systems).

BS3 has been reissued under the THQ CLASSIC label. It's only three years old, so XP isn't any problem at all.

This is great news. Just got Broken Sword 3 used for 6 bucks. A good purchase. However, if anything needs the UAKM and Pandora Directive interface, it's this. Anything to make walking faster and easier. Still, it was great to be able to play a good adventure game while I'm waiting for Tex.