Sam & Max Season 1 Interview

Well folks, as I'm sure most of you are painfully aware of, we live in a time when contemporary entertainment (video games in particular) quite often fails to deliver the kind of comedy we honestly want see or hear. After all, when was the last time you played a video game that also included decent humor? I can't remember any, can you? Of course, just off the top of my head, I do recall Valve throwing in a bunch of cool gags and character gestures in Half-Life 2: Episode One. It made me chuckle a few times and I realized that even a small doze of humor can enrich the spirit of any game and make the experience far more enjoyable than going through your basic generic universe.

But there's hope for humor yet. The gaming industry recently saw the comeback Sam & Max - two hilarious comic-style characters from LucasArts' popular adventure game, Sam & Max Hit the Road (1993). Although the boys and girls at LucasArts weren't involved in the new project, Sam & Max Season 1, developer Telltale Games seems to have done a fairly decent job at bringing the wacky detective duo back to life.

Getting in touch with Senior Designer at Telltale Games, Dave Grossman, helped us understand more about Sam & Max Season 1. A few additional tidbits were revealed about upcoming episodes 3, 4 and 5. We also chat about how the development team works and how they manage to set certain priorities in terms of humor.

ActionTrip: When you first started working on Episode 1: Culture Shock, were you worried how the community of loyal Sam & Max fans would react to the game?  

Dave Grossman: Not really. After so many years of built-up anticipation, I can see why that might be a concern, but I wasn't worried, because I was confident we could do justice to a Sam & Max game. And now that it's out, the reaction from the loyalists has been quite positive.

ActionTrip: We understand Steve Purcell, creator of the characters of Sam & Max, helped you guys in earlier editions of the game. Is he still involved with the project?

Dave Grossman: Sure. He's not here on a daily basis or anything, but we do make sure, at the very least, to rope him in when we start designing each episode. Usually, several of us will go get dinner somewhere and toss around story ideas. Most of the really weird ones are Steve's.

ActionTrip: Admittedly, some people weren't happy with the length of "Situation Comedy." When did the idea for an episodic form first take shape? Are you satisfied with this particular type of storytelling?

Dave Grossman: Telltale was formed with the idea of episodic games already in mind, so we've been working up to it all along. And yes, I find it quite satisfying. I'm the sort of person who likes watching a TV show every week to see new or continuing stories about the same characters, as well as someone who rarely has a block of free time large enough for a novel or even a feature-length film. I think people will become less concerned with the length once they get used to the idea that they only have to wait a month for the next episode, instead of two years.

ActionTrip: When we talk about humor in general, who inspires you? Can you name some of your favorite role models?

Dave Grossman: Steve Purcell inspires me, which is fortunate since we're doing a Sam & Max series. Off the top of my head I'm also quite fond of P.G. Wodehouse, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, Bill Watterson, Kyle Baker, Richard Feynman, and whomever I happen to be reading at the moment.

ActionTrip: Like in the classic Sam & Max adventure (Sam & Max Hit the Road), there's a gag waiting beyond every corner. Do you find it challenging to come up with witty situations all the time? How exactly do you decide which prank to go on?

Dave Grossman: It's particularly challenging to come up with funny things when you need twenty of them before you can go home and your feet are too cold and you have a headache. It's hard work. But then I suppose that's why we insist on being paid instead of doing this for free just because we like it. As for deciding what to use and what not to, it's it usually pretty obvious. If we have trouble, we just calculate the ratio of the volume of the laugh we get from the gag to the amount of work required to implement it, and if that number is larger than 2.673 then we go ahead.

ActionTrip: The release of Episode 3: The Mole, the Mob and the Meatball is almost at hand. Are you happy with what you've come up with in terms of humor? 

Dave Grossman: I think it's funny, yes. And it has an excellent song in it, the best one we've come up with so far. Not that you should buy a computer game just for a song. But you can if you need an excuse.

ActionTrip: In relation to gameplay, it's always challenging to create something fun and innovative. What are your plans for Episode 3, gameplay wise?

Dave Grossman: In episode three we'll be simulating the ins and outs of that sport of kings: Indian Head Poker. Also, you'll get to whack some rats, which should please the Sam & Max faithful. I suppose that's more retro than innovative, but there is a slight twist on it that's fun (Pushing rodents around never gets tedious, if you ask me - Vader).

Tickling rabbits is against the law.

That's the scariest croupier I’ve ever seen.

ActionTrip: Without revealing too much of the plot, can you tell us what Ep. 3 is about?

Dave Grossman: Sam and Max go in search of a missing mole and have to infiltrate the Toy Mafia to find him. There are gruff guys in pin-stripe suits and an antique meatball sandwich, and Sam has to shoot somebody he likes.

ActionTrip: In terms of content, what can we expect from episodes 4, 5 and 6? Is there a chance we'll see all six episodes completed by summer 2007?

Dave Grossman: I don't like to say too much about future content because I like to leave some discoveries for later. You might be able to guess something from the titles of episodes four and five, which are "Abe Lincoln Must Die!" and "Reality 2.0." Though probably that's not very helpful. All the episodes will indeed be out by summer, so you won't have long to wait in any case.

ActionTrip: After you're done with Sam & Max, what's next for you guys? Sam & Max: Season 2, or...?

Dave Grossman: We thought maybe we'd jump straight to season three, just to be different. But then we realized that the Traveling Wilburys did that already.

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I feel like dealing out some street justice.

Ain't that the truth.

	2Lions	[STAFF] [mail] Sep 03 2009, 12:00 am EDT
	Reply Who's cuter: Sam or Max?

	Vader	[STAFF] [mail] Sep 03 2009, 12:00 am EDT
	Reply I'd say Max. Though, ultimately, it's not about cuteness. It's about complete and utter wackiness.