
When is it OK to remake a classic game? - smacktoward
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/11/22/when-is-it-ok-to-remake-a-classic-game/
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dbelchamber
I'm really disappointed in rockpapershotgun.com's adblocker strategy. They
make you click on "I'm a bad person" in order to continue without disabling
adblocker. While somewhat funny, I'm firmly on the side of ending bad ad
implementation. The advertising industry needs to improve (I actually like the
rare good ad), as most of them are trashy. Anyways, rant aside over.

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cuckcuckspruce
I take a complaint about adblocking as a sign that the creators of the website
do not understand how the Web works. Users get to choose what web browser they
use and configure it to show or hide any element that they want. If you want
to force some specific layout, use a page description language and render the
output yourself. Otherwise you're just signalling you're clueless about the
medium you're publishing in.

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mod
I'm also convinced that they haven't thought it through very far. The type of
user who wants ads blocked is highly unlikely to click on one, and has been
done a great disservice if forced to view the ad.

If the model is pay-per-impression, they are doing their advertisers a huge
disservice (and will probably run impression value down to nothing).

Either way, the site is behaving poorly and for no obvious benefit to itself.

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vskjlvew
> _I 'm also convinced that they haven't thought it through very far. The type
> of user who wants ads blocked is highly unlikely to click on one, and has
> been done a great disservice if forced to view the ad._

No, they thought further than you. If they don't punish adblocking, they risk
that eventually it becomes default in browsers, and then no one will see ads,
not even those who would click on them.

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potta_coffee
Adblockers will become the default and sites that punish users will disappear.

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vskjlvew
I hope so, but I fear it's just a pipe dream. There's too much money involved.

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tobr
If you look at filmmaking, a remaster and remake are two clearly distinct
things. A remaster is just a high quality rerelease, while a remake is a
completely new production and interpretation of the same basic story or
script.

The kinds of game remakes this article talks about are somewhere in between,
which can be awkward. The redrawn graphics frequently interfere with gameplay
in subtle ways, as Brian Moriarty’s example from Loom. And while they can make
a classic more approachable to a contemporary audience, they are usually
limited to new graphics, which can make the untouched aspects of the design
seem even more quaint.

I think it could be interesting to see more actual remakes in games; take the
most memorable aspects of an existing game (story, characters, core gameplay
ideas, etc) and see where modern game technology and design ideas can take
them. At least for story driven games, this seems to be pretty uncommon.

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aji
I've heard good things about the new DOOM remake, which seems to be in that
direction.

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slowmovintarget
It's not a remake... it's an actual sequel. And it is fantastic.

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joejev
I can see the art being preserved as a critical feature for adventure games,
but with StarCraft remastered it seems everyone loves the new art. The most
important thing for that game was to keep the gameplay exactly the same while
supporting newer displays.

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ggg9990
Lack of detail can often create stronger imagery because the reader/viewer's
brain fills in the textures. With a lo-fi King's Quest I imagined gallant
heroes on trusty steeds. The same way that cartoons can be more expressive
than live action and how books can have more vivid imagery than movies. Who
could possibly do justice on screen to the character of Ignatius J. Reilly?

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bsder
> Who could possibly do justice on screen to the character of Ignatius J.
> Reilly?

I'm going to say ... lots of people. It's basically Reality TV trash in
literary form.

I have never understood the literary lovefest that "Confederacy of Dunces"
seems to incur ...

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ggg9990
I've never heard of a Reality TV character who is as trashy as Ignatius but
has also read the Great Books and earnestly believes himself to be a Great Man

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jonathankoren
The idea of a re-releasing a classic game with running commentary is
interesting, but I can't imagine that there's much of an appeal for commentary
during the gameplay. Conversely, I did enjoy watching "We Play Doom With John
Romero"
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUU7_BthBWM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUU7_BthBWM)

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bitwize
I seem to remember this being done well for _Portal 2_. A special option would
add commentary icons to the game which, when touched by your character, would
trigger a brief commentary from a member of the staff or cast. Sometimes this
had in-game effects; for example, when an animator explained the animations
designed for Wheatley, the in-game Wheatley sprite would demonstrate them.

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ComputerGuru
Anytime you want. Anytime is a good time to remake something so long as you’re
not in a position of privilege where your decision to remake x has an unfair
advantage (I.e. other than just the actual merits of your remake).

In other words, so long as you’re not Hollywood cashing in on a remake of x,
y, or z just because you can (eg “why _not_ release a _third_ reboot of the
_Spiderman_ series in a span of just ten years?”) and people will watch it
just because of who you are and how big your marketing budget is, then by all
means. Let your remake speak for itself.

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TheCoreh
If people will buy your remake for who you are, I don't fee like that's an
unfair advantage or a privilege. If anything it's a much bigger responsibility
to make it right, since you risk ruining your reputation.

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orionblastar
Actually the SCRUMM Virtual Machine plays a lot of these old games using data
files from the original floppy disks or CDs to load the original graphics.

[http://www.scummvm.org/](http://www.scummvm.org/)

People who follow that find their old install disks, or buy one used on eBay,
and put the data files on their hard drive and run SCRUMM to see what the game
looks like when it ran on DOS, etc.

So in this instance, they just rebuild the game engine and take data files to
play the game as the original artists have intended.

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aaavl2821
when microsoft "remastered" age of empires 2 for steam ~15 years after
original release, there was a small community-built platform that had kept the
original game alive. microsoft released a buggy mess that was inferior to the
community-supported platform in every way, but it was available to a wider
audience and easier to install, so tons of people played it and it brought a
lot of people to the community version.

msft also released a paid "official" version of a fan-made expansion that was
broken and really never used. after a few years, they improved performance and
released two fully new expansion DLCs

so msft started off with a pretty horrible remake (in intention and execution)
that actually ended up reviving the community and leading to a pretty decent
new product a few years down the road

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sleavey
I recently found my old Age of Empires II CDs and thought about installing
them at some point, but then remembered the remastered Steam edition exists
and thought about downloading it. I've not done anything yet. Is it worth
getting the Steam one now - have the bugs been ironed out? (Running Linux, if
that helps)

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aaavl2821
I got the steam version in 2014 and it was the best $5 I've ever spent,
although the performance was laggier compared to the voobly platform (the
platform you use to play the cd version). I haven't played the steam one in
over a year but it had improved to almost on a par with voobly, and the new
expansions were actually pretty cool (although not many ppl played them at the
time, but that may have changed)

Can probably get it dirt cheap for the holiday sale

There is a pretty active casual and competitive scene, and it's actually a
pretty deep game that has aged well

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sleavey
It is indeed on sale. I also just saw Age of Empires IV was announced, and a
remake of Age of Empires I. Looks like I've found something to do over the
winter holidays!

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arnvidr
It's OK to remake a classic game when you've managed to come up with a title
for it that is NOT exactly the same as the old one.

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badrabbit
Just leave super mario,duck hunt and galaga alone!

