Meteor Mess 3D

whipwarrior · 07-18-2010, 07:13 PM

Has anybody seen this? It's AMAZING! Some German MM fans have been making a completely 3-D version of Maniac Mansion. I just discovered the news from the MM Wikipedia article, and then found the website. I downloaded the demo version, which went online Feb 1st. You can play everything from the main gate up to the third floor, where green tentacle halts your progress with a funny message. This game is incredible! It really captures the ambience of the original game!

I can't wait for the final version to be released!!!

LordTrilobite · 07-19-2010, 05:50 AM

The characters look pretty crappy though, not to mention the lighting in some places.

whipwarrior · 07-19-2010, 07:01 AM

Well, it's not a professionally made game, but the concept is pretty cool. I can only imagine how awesome such a project would be if LucasArts applied themselves to the task (as if that will EVER happen!).

80thBest · 07-19-2010, 06:12 PM

If you read the infos on the website you'll notice that the version that can be downloaded is an alpha(!) version and that all characters are just dummies and will be replaced. So ... if this is an alpha version the final release will be great.

In my opinion this 3D version looks and feels really great and I can't await to see the final release. All the new features that have been added sound very interesting ... all Edisons are walking through the house ??? Cool ... imagine to be caught by Dr. Fred when he's walking to the arcades ... AND I've read somewhere in the web that there are plans to make the arcades really playable(!).

I'll keep my eyes on this ...

whipwarrior · 07-19-2010, 07:10 PM

I always loved playing this game when I was a kid, and even then I found it immersive and very atmospheric, despite the pixellated graphics. It's going to be a real nostalgia trip to explore the whole mansion from the enormous telescope observatory all the way down to the scummy tiles of the 10-foot-deep radioactive swimming pool. I consider MM3D a treat for all of the die-hard fans who played the game endlessly, never tiring of it (or getting locked in the dungeon by Nurse Edna, killed by Weird Ed for nuking his poor hamster in the microwave!). That's probably the #1 trick that I can't wait to see in the new version. >:-) LOL

80thBest · 07-20-2010, 03:26 AM

Yeah ... the hamster in the microwave in 3D :-)

It's really good to hear that there will be a speech version of MM3D ... I can't wait to hear Nurse Edna speaking.

Have you seen the new youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No4UTHQNRrA

Unfortunately they only show the outside area, but if you take a closer look you'll find a lot of differences to the alpha version, e.g. a car (Dave's car???) and the mansion has a lot of changes (ivy has been added all around it and there're some broken wood trusses at the porch). I really love those changes ... looks great. Would be great to see more of the game.

ernie76 · 07-20-2010, 05:57 AM

@80thBest,

im a member of the team who develop that remake. Im glad to hear that the diffrences between the alpha Demo an the new video have been noticed

Since our Homepage has not been updated for a while now, i give you a link to some newer
screenshots, made for a German interview. The characters still have to be replaced with new better once, but the backround grafix in these screens are mostly final.
I hope you like them too.
Heres the link: http://www.gamecaptain.de/showScreen...=4451&number=1

whipwarrior · 07-20-2010, 07:36 AM

Awesome! Finish the game! Finish the game!!! We want to play!!!

80thBest · 07-20-2010, 08:05 AM

It's really awesome !!!

It looks so great when the lights are turned off in the mansion ... entrance hall and living room are awesome in the dark when the light comes from the candles.

In the video I have noticed that the cursor now reacts on objects ... looks great and is a nice feature.

@ernie76: On your website you stated that there was a 'hotspot function' added ... in what kind of way the objects are highlighted?

ernie76 · 07-20-2010, 08:32 AM

@ 80thBest:

By Pressing a key, all "usable" or interessting objects start to pulsade ( is this the right word?) in a glowy red. Looks a little bit like a red glowing heartbeat. ( Hmm why must i think about E.T. now

)
There are many more details to be found in our new version. There are Mothes flying around street lamps, steam comming out of pipes, waterdrops will be implemented soon, dry leaf is blown around by the wind allready and many many more small thing to make the place look more "alive".

80thBest · 07-20-2010, 08:43 AM

Yeah, I saw the moths in the video.
Those features sound good.

80thBest · 07-20-2010, 09:06 AM

Hey,

I found an interesting thread about this project here:

http://www.opserver.de/ubb7/ubbthrea...&Number=297845

Seems to be the board of the 3D engine used by MM3D.

ernie76 · 07-20-2010, 11:14 AM

@80thBest:

Youre right about that. Its called 3D Gamestudio an were using the A7 version but as soon as the A8 is out, we will change to the new version.
If you wanna know more about the game just read the thread you linked to the end ( 16 pages by know ).

80thBest · 07-21-2010, 09:36 AM

I like the new objects you added. Is this Nurse Edna on the picture?

Can you estimate when MM3D will be released?

Gabez · 07-21-2010, 10:38 AM

I played the demo last night. I liked the new touches like the falling leaf and the pictures on the walls. The atmosphere is very strong: you really feel like you're trespassing in someone's house!

ernie76 · 07-29-2010, 05:12 PM

Always cool to hear, that someone likes our stuff.
By the way, im searching for an Maniac Mansion related info but it seems nobody can help me with this.
I need the exact size of the Pinboard Poster that was delivered with the first US releases in 1987. If possible in cm.
I own a us first release but the poster wasnt in it and the German releases never had that Poster.
Can anyone of you tell me the size of it?

80thBest · 08-01-2010, 01:42 PM

Cool ... the gallery was updated:

http://www.vampyregames.de/pics.php

Gabez · 08-02-2010, 06:19 PM

Those new screenshots are very nice indeed... is the swimming pool new? Haven't seen it before and I don't remember it in the original game either.

Mixnmojo has published an interview with the team behind this project, and you can read it here: http://mixnmojo.com/news/Interview-T...r-Mess-3D-Team

ernie76 · 08-02-2010, 08:07 PM

There was always a pool, and it is needed to solve the game, no matter what way you choose, becouse there is a very importend item in it. Only thing is, that in the original it was a very small not very good looking room.

ernie76 · 10-19-2010, 06:01 PM

Meteor Mess 3D is mentioned in "Retro Hunter", a German Internet Video Magazin.
At aprox. 18:56 in the News section.
Link: http://www.gamersglobal.de/video/retro-hunter-5

Monkey Mania · 10-19-2010, 10:23 PM

I prefer the DOTT remake, unfortunately, I don't think they have a website.
http://www.bigbluecup.com/yabb/index.php?topic=39250.0

jannar85 · 10-21-2010, 12:51 PM

Same, MM.

ernie76 · 10-23-2010, 08:47 AM

The other Project is not a Remake of the Original. It a new interpretation of the same story.
I think that both Projects ha a diffrent goal, so its not 100% possible to compare them.

Monkey Mania · 10-23-2010, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ernie76

The other Project is not a Remake of the Original. It a new interpretation of the same story.
I think that both Projects ha a diffrent goal, so its not 100% possible to compare them.

Of course they can be compared! They are both based on Maniac Mansion, they both have the same characters, and they both have the same story.

They can also be contrasted. One is gritty stylized 3D, one is DOTT cartoon style. One keeps close to the original, the other changes some things.

ernie76 · 10-27-2010, 08:54 AM

I think the word "Gritty" dosent fit here, exept you mean the outdatet Alpha Demo.
This is an image of a newer Version, but with the old Dave Model. There is already a new Dave model wich will be replacing the one on the Picture in the final Version. ( All character models will be Replaced )
If you call that "Gritty", what ist the Dott grafix then? Its Cartoon yes, but the resolution is terrible, look at the "Dott 2" Project, were they use the same style but in much higher Resolution, wich look much better.
Heres the pic ( not a pure screenshot as you can see no inventory and so on, more a Widescreen room overview ):

Monkey Mania · 10-27-2010, 03:48 PM

The resolution of the DOTT version is just fine. It matches the classic LucasArts games. That's the whole point. When I say "gritty," I mean the art style is too dark for my liking.

ernie76 · 10-27-2010, 06:24 PM

For me the Dott style is a little bit too "classic". It was Perfect for its time and the Cartoon style realy looked good in Dott, bit For me Dott never realy was an MM2. It was a cool game using the same characters but the original wasent just comedy like dott, it also was al littlebit like thos Horror Teen movies from the 80s with this dark kind of Humor.
As a kid i always find the Mansion a little bit Creepy but if the look is in that comic style i cant feel that. In the end it is all a matter of tase i think. I like to play the Dott style game too but it itsent what i ever thought of the Mansion should look like.

Snugglecakes · 10-28-2010, 06:48 AM

I quite like it. I love DOTT but this is how I remember the mansion when I first played MM. It's like visiting your great grandparents. Uncomfortable.

ernie76 · 11-27-2010, 10:24 AM

Heres some new Videomaterial of the actual state.The Charactermodels are still the old ones. New chars will be added iin the final version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaDEv-8f6BQ

Smalltalk-80 · 12-09-2010, 11:02 AM

Shaded graphics really doesn't suit this game. They should definitely cellshade at least the characters. There is something awkward and clumsy about the look as it is now.
There should be a more lose, fluent, relaxed style to it. Not this pedantic, stiff, overtly detailed amateur CGI look.
Plus several hundreds points for the effort and idea, but minus a couple of hundred for poor execution.
What this really looks like is work from a group/committee, where there is no clear leadership or magnetic field to hold the whole thing together.
What really needs to be done, is to throw everything but the code and engine out and start over. But I doubt that will happen.

Gabez · 12-09-2010, 11:37 AM

If it did, then the fan project would never be released (and it's a miracle than any fan project gets released, even in demo form). A big project is hard enough to achieve with a team of paid people working every day in the same room.

Cel-shaded characters would look very good, I agree, though I wonder how possibly that is to do. I literally don't know.

ernie76 · 12-15-2010, 02:11 PM

Its very interessting to see how People got influenced by "Day of the Tentacle" when they think about what MM should look like.
Before DOTT came out, no one wanted a MM in Comic look.
One thing is very interessting too. Most Positive Comments in the Forums worldwide came from users with many post´s, while most of the "Bah thats bad and ugly" post´s came from "1 Post" users. This isent a Dott style Remake and never will be, if you want one, you should wait for the Dott styl version to be released or give the Final Version of this 3D version a Try when all the work is done.

ernie76 · 12-23-2010, 03:48 PM

ernie76 · 07-19-2011, 03:29 AM

Meteor Mess 3D is making rapid progress. Many rooms have their new look, the code has been cleaned up, a new System has been added that controls the new gestures while the charackters Talk and we changed the animations from vertex animation to bone animation.
What we realy need at the moment, is a 3D charackter modler. So if you are one, and want to join us, then contact the Team on our Page www.vampyregames.de

whipwarrior · 09-02-2012, 07:25 PM

Today I was playing the MM3D demo when I had a morbidly funny idea that I'd never thought of in all the years of playing Maniac Mansion. Since you can't progress beyond the green tentacle on the third floor, and you can't drain the pool to destroy the mansion, I decided on a clever way to end the game: a triple suicide. I simply gathered all the players around the microwave in the kitchen, nuked the jar of radioactive water and opened the oven door. Voilà! Three tombstones in one fell swoop. The funny part is that you can still switch between the kids, who retain their inventory items in the grave. So you really CAN take it with you!