What's the matter bro? you can't handle the truth?

Well, as it was confirmed by another user above, that interview (or interviews) have been re-paraphrased several times by different media, so I will now take this whole thing with two pinches of salt, we'll just need to wait and see when the game is actually released.

I had quite a few great conversations (including face-to-face) with people from both sides of this PC debate, and I learned quite a bit about the reasoning and concerns represented by both sides, but I also started to see some flaws, which I highlighted during these chats. So from that point of view, these conversations were quite rewarding for us all. It seems many people think this whole thing with PC emerged suddenly, but actually it was in the making for many many decades (i.e. boiling). It would seem that no one complained or cared about negative stereotypes and other things in the past, but most probably that's not the case, it was mostly tolerated or suppressed within. However, the "solution" (or "blind activism" as you say it) definitely doesn't help either. I would be happier if both sides would be willing to reach out.

When I wrote those stories ages ago, I was satisfied with them. I haven't touched them for a long time. When I re-read them recently, I was shocked a few times. We could say I suddenly realised I wrongly stereotyped some characters. But here's the twist. Stereotypes are not just negative, there are positive stereotypes as well. And that's the problem I had. I based them on what I red from books from the late 80's and 90's. But many years later I had first-hand experience with many people belonging to non-European nations or religions, and realised that they are just like everyone else: some are good, some are bad, and some are proper scum. It was a proper eye-opener. It's like when you're seeing the best looking hotel on Instagram, only to realise that it's more like a pig sty when you finally get there. So now I would get rid of many stereotypes for some characters, not to make them "look" better, but instead to make them look worse, more real. Is this an act of PC, or does PC only apply when we're removing negative stereotypes?

I can agree on that. For what it's worth we are talking about assumptions based on some interviews and nobody knows right now what they changed or did not change. I will of course base my final decision on the end result and not on an interview tha's given before the game has been released.

You say "most probably it's not the case" that nobody cared about stereotyped in the "past" ... I'd like to see some sources of that. Ideally made by those that are directly affected and not some "groups" that are trying to protect them. It's hard for me to reach out if I fail to see any good reason for PC and right now I don't see it.

No, I would not call it PC because the reason for your changes was not to prevent that somebody would feel offended you simply got additional information that made you realize that you could make the characters more real which in your opinion of the creator would add to the quality of your story.

Have you guys actually read the Polygon interview with Charles Cecil? If not, it is a nice read (at least the part about the development of Broken Sword before it digresses into historical fiction and Dan Brown novels):

https://www.polygon.com/23842925/broken-sword-6-bs1-remaster-charles-cecil

Lol of course I can mate, which should be clearly evident if you would have read and understood my response. So would you like to try again, or shall I spell it out for you?

"I'd like to see some sources of that. Ideally made by those that are directly affected" - definitely. And although I could speak about my own XP, we're dangerously going off-topic. So perhaps if you see an opportunity for a chat with someone "from the other side" or neutral, whether directly or indirectly affected, might be a good idea to go for it (as long as both sides show willingness to listen and see reason for the opposite side, that's key).


I've read the interview on another website. Perhaps I shall read it on Polygon as well. Thank you :)

It's never too early to start being concerned about changes.

Just let them finish the game, then you can still decide which version you like better.

Even IF then they remove the original (which I doubt): Who didn't buy the original until then, didn't want it in the first place. After all it's almost 30 years old.



ps: Why we "need" a remake of a remake of a remake:
On the PC it is kinda obsolete, but adventure games have become more important on mobile tablets and to a certain extend also on consoles. The old versions for PC usually are not so well suited for these systems, they often miss widescreen support, one click controls, gamepad controls, have low res graphics. So yes, a remake is done with some polishing. Sadly changes to the game content often come with it, displaying a stereotype these days for some reason is threated like a crime. But it's the current way, I hope, humanity will grow up at some time and not be offended as easily or at least not be so afraid that someone might be offended (yeah, let me have my dreams, ok?).
So ... if the games would only come to consoles and tables, we would protest and rant. We get them for PC and still protest and rant. But the publisher might get a few bucks despite the ranting.

pss: I am looking forward to the third Sam & Max season, even with some Rosco lines removed.

This gonna be interesting - love the game and own the original and the "old" remaster.
Definitely gonna look for reviews and some gameplay videos to see if the 4K look and the "better" (TBD) audio is gonna be worth it.
Pretty curious if the remake is solely targeted on people who have not played the game yet or if it actually will offer any added value for owners of the older remake.
Have not played the 2010 remake in a while so dont have a really strong opinion on if there is anything that definitely could/should be improved in the 2010 version from nowadays standards (dont remember anything in particular though which i might have disliked in the 2010 version).

Gotta say though the price tag (from kickstarter) of 45 quid for the digital collectors edition seems pretty steep

It definitly is.
They currently got 330k (Euro) already after only a few days, but they aimed for 60k.
If 60k is what it takes to create the remake, then 50€for a purely digital Collector's Edition is a lot.
The extras are not THAT impressive: sountrack (~1 hour), documentary, script, comic book introduction, booklet, some posters.
I backed it just to make sure to not forget, but I am thinking of canceling.

Other projects need my money more (playing a RC of a point & click adventure right now, that will get released in a couple of days, I hope they have a foothold on GOG. But so far they have been very silent about where they are gonna release the DRM free version)

That's a fallacious argument no matter how many times it gets repeated. I didn't play Planescape Torment and many other 90s games for the first time until the mid-2015 as there was just so much good stuff released back then I couldn't keep up and it ended up on a huge Wishlist. Even today in 2024, I'm still working my way through DOS Youtube gaming channel playlists and finding titles I missed 25 years ago. Imagine how delusional "If no-one bought classic books / music / movies decades ago it's your fault for not buying it back then (even if 'then' was before you were born) and you don't deserve it today..." would sound if applied to every other form of entertainment media. Games are no different at all.

I find the exact polar opposite to be true. I can't even find most of the P&C remasters of recent years (Sam & Max series, Day Of The Tentacle, Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, Downfall, etc) on Google Play store in the first place so clearly very few remakes ended up on mobile. Many native Android ports of PC games also don't get updated anywhere near as often as PC, they stop working a lot quicker (Android 5 compatibility issues vs Android 13 tablet issues) vs PC games that still work after 25 years, and a lot more are abandoned with unfixed bugs:-

RealMyst (2014 Android port) = "As standard for Noodlecake work, this port does the absolute bare minimum to get a PC game 'working' on Android. The touch movement is abysmal, there's no way to use the classic movement mode, and other features present in the PC version are missing in this".

Riven (2017 Android port) = "Unfortunately, there are numerous game breaking bugs that can and do completely halt your progress. There's a particular bug that I'm encountering that is preventing my progression. At the fire marble puzzle, the button to activate them doesn't respond no matter where I press."

Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded = "Could be a fun game but it is very buggy. I paid for the full game and several times I hit spots where you are unable to click to continue. If you enter the convenience store for example no matter where you click you are unable to move, same with the disco." / "Games broken the chat bubble gets stuck and you can't choose any other action I have had to restart again and once more before I decided to uninstall it." That's ignoring the fact that the "In-app purchases" 'Game' = shareware demo that isn't even honestly advertised as such.

^ Guess what? Myst Masterpiece (2000), Riven (1997) and LSL1 all work fine via ScummVM for Android... Many new point & click games are released with the same VGA resolution & pixel art style as old ones (the whole Wadjet Eye series) and looking at the original Kathy Rain and Thimbleweed Park Android reviews even mobile gamers don't sit there sulking that "it doesn't look like Crysis". If anything smaller screens make it less relevant than ever (notice how 720p is back in for the Steam Deck...) And literally no-one on the planet carries around an XBox Controller in their pocket to play a point & click adventure on a mobile phone on the train vs using the touch-screen. So overall, older versions of point & click games played via ScummVM genuinely do seem to have far fewer issues on Android then half the natively Android ported remakes. If you want the new version because you like it, then buy it, but "Everything should be remade because 90s games should have only been sold in the 90s" is one giant strawman.

You already have to buy the Remaster to gain access to the original Shadows of the Templar. I suspect that they will either keep the Remaster available in the shop once Reforged gets released, or, more likely, they are going to bundle it with Reforged to incentivize the purchase for anyone interested in playing the 1996 version.

Obviously you can't mate as you took a fact as being snarky lol

Note that the Kickstarter was to fund the physical Collector's Edition. As far as I know, development of the game itself was never in doubt.

What are you on about? lol idiot