Laura Bow 3 (was Laura Bow and the Mechanical Codex)

[BBP]

I bought 2 copies. As a game though, I wouldn't think that Tile Tales cuts it to provide an income, even for a smaller indie studio. It's still unpolished but even in a more polished state I doubt it could face the competition of the thousands of free games with similar ish gameplay.

[Tawmis]

This is really unfortunate. There have been a few high profile disasters from big game studios the last year or so. Lots of money put into the project and a huge loss when it doesn't sell. Movies make the same mistake too. It's a shame that they can't throw some of that money in the direction of these indie developers. The game probably won't be a blockbuster, but smaller budget, better margins if successful, less loss if unsuccessful.

I understand their idea of creating their own IP, rather than waiting on the OK for the Laura Bow 3 idea... but, I think BBP said it best...

As a game though, I wouldn't think that Tile Tales cuts it to provide an income, even for a smaller indie studio. It's still unpolished but even in a more polished state I doubt it could face the competition of the thousands of free games with similar ish gameplay.

I bought 2 copies.

And thank you (for the second copy!) <3

Thanks for posting Tawm, I bought the game as well.

It's a shame if they do go under. I would love if they did at least release the Laura Bow 3 as a demo. But honestly, if it's a huge financial burden, I would completely understand if they didn't.

[Rath Darkblade]

Agreed, it would be a shame if NineZyme do go bankrupt. Laura Bow 3 was showing so much promise. But I understand it's a tough time economically for everyone. And the latest stock market convulsions certainly don't help.

I understand NineZyme were in talks with both Microsoft and Ken/Roberta. If NineZyme can't develop LB3, perhaps either M$ or Ken/Roberta can help? Or even take over the project, in the worst case scenario?

We all know that developing games as an indie company is tough. As NineZyme pointed out, the game market is incredibly competitive, and most indie studios bring out mediocre products, so consumers are put in the position of being unsure who to trust. (I've seen that doubt first hand -- the game market is experiencing a glut of games, many of which look good and interesting ... but ... I only have so much spare time to spend on games. *shrug* Not to mention that most of my budget goes on other things nowadays: my mortgage, car insurance/rego, medical insurance/bills, and of course lesser bills and food ... and then there are other things for the family. So what with one thing and another, it's really tough to decide what game to buy, if any.

I usually wait for sales, especially since game prices are very high here in upside-downy land).

Maybe NineZyme could release the demo and use it as a marketing tool? Or as a tool to raise much-needed cash, like what Al did with LSL: Reloaded, Lori and Corey did with HeroU, and The Two Guys did with SpaceVenture, etc.?

[Tawmis]

I understand NineZyme were in talks with both Microsoft and Ken/Roberta. If NineZyme can't develop LB3, perhaps either M$ or Ken/Roberta can help? Or even take over the project, in the worst case scenario?

I wonder what Ken & Roberta's stance would be - because I am curious how well Colossal Cave sold, for them, after releasing it.

Maybe NineZyme could release the demo and use it as a marketing tool? Or as a tool to raise much-needed cash, like what Al did with LSL: Reloaded, Lori and Corey did with HeroU, and The Two Guys did with SpaceVenture, etc.?

Well, if you notice the route the (former) Sierra folks took, was a whole new "game" (not Hero's Quest, Space Quest) except for LSL (because they worked with Codemasters - I believe it is/was). So if they were to go the Kickstarter route, they'd probably need to step away from calling it "Laura Bow" - and in that case, they lose some of that familiarity that might draw in Sierra fans and then are in the same situation - where, every Indie person in the world is using Kickstarter (and similar platforms) to try and launch their games through crowd funding.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmm, that's a good point. I wonder how Al was able to release LSL: Reloaded, then? Apparently Activision owns the IP to the LSL name, and even tried to stop Al from releasing the source code to the original LSL.

Coming back to the point ... I wonder how NineZyme could raise more money so they can keep the doors open. Releasing the demo as a marketing tool will be counterproductive, unless they could somehow interest a bigger company to fund them ...

[Tawmis]

Hmm, that's a good point. I wonder how Al was able to release LSL: Reloaded, then? Apparently Activision owns the IP to the LSL name, and even tried to stop Al from releasing the source code to the original LSL.

Well, for LSL - Al Lowe actually worked with Codemasters - who I believe still own the rights?

In 2008, Sierra Entertainment announced plans to release Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust.[21] It was developed by Team17, and the publishing rights were offered to Codemasters, who published the game in 2009. Box Office Bust was panned by critics, including Al Lowe himself, who thanked the publisher for keeping him away from developing the game.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmm. Codemasters do own the rights to the LSL IP, which Replay Games licensed from them to produce LSL:R.

After his two-year contract with Replay was up, Al quit the company in ... shall we say ... unpleasant circumstances, mostly to do with Replay's chief Paul Trowe ... who seems to have verbally attacked Al. (Trowe also verbally attacked the Two Guys, Jane Jensen, the Coles etc. ... and was found guilty of showing a sex film to an underage boy. Charming fellow. I'm willing to bet Trowe was one of the reasons Al decided not to renew his contact with Replay).

I do wonder, though, how Assemble Games got to do not just one but two LSL games, starting with Wet Dreams Don't Dry. (I tried playing WDDD, which has one or two, um ... questionable scenes ... but otherwise, it's a fine game. I really didn't like the ending, though, which was a cliffhanger. I tried the sequel, which also ended on a cliffhanger. After that, I gave up on it).

Any idea how Assemble got the rights? (Or did they just get the license from Codemasters?) And why does Codemasters hold on to the LSL IP, when they repeatedly said they don't want to make any more LSL games?

[Tawmis]

I do wonder, though, how Assemble Games got to do not just one but two LSL games, starting with Wet Dreams Don't Dry. (I tried playing WDDD, which has one or two, um ... questionable scenes ... but otherwise, it's a fine game. I really didn't like the ending, though, which was a cliffhanger. I tried the sequel, which also ended on a cliffhanger. After that, I gave up on it).
Any idea how Assemble got the rights? (Or did they just get the license from Codemasters?) And why does Codemasters hold on to the LSL IP, when they repeatedly said they don't want to make any more LSL games?

Well, that's the key. Codemasters doesn't have to make anymore games themselves. They can have other people pay Codemasters a percentage to use the Leisure Suit Larry name. They hold the IP, they continue to make money as long as someone out there wants to try and use the "Leisure Suit Larry" franchise.

I am pretty sure Assemble Games also went through Codemasters to use the IP. Especially since I know one of the games bares a lot of references to the original series by Al Lowe (location wise).

It's 95% off right now on GoG so I may finally pick them up -

https://www.gog.com/en/game/leisure_sui ... _dry_twice
https://www.gog.com/en/game/leisure_sui ... soundtrack
https://www.gog.com/en/game/leisure_sui ... s_dont_dry

[Rath Darkblade]

If you do, please be mindful that "Don't Dry" is the first one, and "Dry Twice" follows on from it. So it's a good idea to play WDDD first.

[Tawmis]

If you do, please be mindful that "Don't Dry" is the first one, and "Dry Twice" follows on from it. So it's a good idea to play WDDD first.

I ended up picking them up - as well as Moebius (which I already had from the Kickstarter, but figured might as well buy it on GoG), and same for LSL: Reload (have it already from KS, but nice to have one central location to grab it from so I don't need to dig for it on my external drives).

[Tawmis]

Good news, bad news, good news, mixed news?

May The Fun Be With You

May is here, and so are we - back for another monthly update on the latest NineZyme activities! We're a bit late this month, cause it has been a bit hectic with other life tasks... so we'll just get straight to the status updates!
10 Amazing Things Pirates Don't Want You To Know

We've continued to run more experiments in monetizing Tile Tales: Pirate. At the moment, the mobile version isn't doing much at all. So we've decided to release an ad supported version of the game this month on those devices. We just recently got approved on an ad platform, and we've integrated some test ads. It's actually not as horrible as I thought - and it will allow people to play through the game without paying anything, if they want to do that.

If you have purchased the game already, then it will run without those instructive ads. So, don't worry, your purchase won't be wasted! Also, we're throwing around the idea of adding couple of "bonus" puzzles, only for those people who made the purchase. Don't expect a full extra chapter or anything, because we're still working on Chapter 7. But some extra bonus content feels like it'd be a fair trade.

Anyway, this next version of the game also includes a large puzzle update (the Steam version already has this)! Some of the really difficult 3-stars have been simplified a bit, and now all puzzles can be completed in 18 moves or less. So if you were finding things a bit too challenging, give it another go, and let us know if you do better this time.

If we have any extra time after getting the ad version finished and up on the stores, we'll continue working on the Switch version. Then Xbox and Playstation thereafter.

Also, we made another fun feature list! We got the #1 slot in Debug magazine's mobile game recommendations! If you haven't picked up the latest issue of their fantastic magazine, go and get it! It's great.

Let's Tie A Bow On It

And finally, regarding the Laura Bow project... Microsoft actually has approved the project already (along with Tile Tales, finally - nearly 9 months after we submitted it to them). So that's a big step in the right direction! And it's the furtherest anyone has been to official rebooting a Sierra Online franchise in a very long time. So we're quite proud of that achievement! Hopefully it opens some doors for others too.

However, there are some caveats. Tile Tales hasn't done as well as we'd hoped, which has put us even further behind in our financial needs for finishing Laura Bow. Also, even though the game is approved, we still don't have an actual IP agreement in hand to know what kind of deal we'd be getting. The previously discussed deal probably wouldn't be good enough to run with, unfortunately. But we'll see what happens. They were meant to discuss it further amongst themselves, after some feedback, and get back to us - but we haven't heard anything just yet. And, even with a better deal, it's probably still going to be rough to get money back from that project - if we're being honest. The market is tiny, everything is getting more expensive, the USD is tanking, etc etc. It's rough out there. So we'd -really- be relying on fans for their support with it.

Anyway, there's a lot to consider and a lot we still need to know and figure out before we can truly commit to anything. As we make strides and figure out the pieces, we'll let people know.

And... before anyone goes and talks about this elsewhere - just know that we discuss things here very openly, because we're not into all of the grandiose secrecy that abounds in the industry. We're trying to be open and honest about what we do, and where we are with things. Everything is in progress. Nothing is final unless we explicitly say it is. So take it all with a grain of salt, and don't jump to any conclusions with the information that we share with you. Thanks!

Conferences Schmonferences

This month we'll also be attending GamerFest Dublin again. We'll be bringing Tile Tales: Pirate with us... and this time it is already available in several places, so we'll hopefully get some sales out of it! And we might bring along a build of Laura Bow with us, if you ask us nicely. It'll be the same version as last time though, so nothing new yet, if you already saw it last time.

On top of that, we're also meant to be participating in a round table discussion during GamingonPhone's online conference this May. Look it up, and check it out. Who knows what wise little tidbits you'll learn about indie development!

[notbobsmith]

Wow. They actually got approval from Microsoft? That's actually a pretty big deal. It sounds like it's not quite a done deal, but it's actually more than I expected.

The finances are another matter, though.

[Rath Darkblade]

That's a huge deal. Microsoft isn't exactly known for letting outsiders have access to its IP. I agree, I never imagined they'd get this far.

Finances are ... ugh. Finances always seem to be ugh, especially in the indie market.

[Tawmis]

Well you wonder if they said yes, knowing the company's finances are piss pour.

[Tawmis]

Better Late Than...

Hello again everyone... it's time again (ok, past time) for another monthly update about the various shenanigans over here at NineZyme. This is going to be a short one with just some quick updates. Yes, I know, we've said that before - but this time we really mean it!
No Booty Required

We've just launch an ad supported version of Tile Tales: Pirate for iOS and Android. That means that you can play through every glorious puzzle without the need to chunk down a bit of your booty. If you still haven't played the game on mobile, now is the time!

We also addressed some performance issues for lower end devices. So if you experienced any slow frame rates while playing - we've got you sorted! The resolution will now automatically scale based on what your device can handle.
I Don't Bow-leave It

We've made another tiny stride in our progress with Microsoft and our Laura Bow project... nothing worth mentioning here - other than the fact that it is still moving forward, bit by bit. We'll of course keep you posted when/if anything major happens.
What A Show Off

GamerFest Dublin went by without a hitch. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to play Tile Tales: Pirate and Laura Bow! And our roundtable with GamingonPhone's online conference went great - it was a really fun discussion with some other industry professionals. Go check it out on their website!

And, finally... we're anxiously awaiting the in-person AdventureX later this year, in London. We're hoping to get officially accepted/invited this time (they passed on us, last time we applied). But, if not, we'll probably just rock up anyway and bring along Laura Bow for anyone who wants to give it a try. I'm sure we'll see some of you there!