Old screenshots (maybe not in the final game)
and some history
Zak McKracken and the Lonely Sea Monster appeared out of nowhere in May 2007. It was scheduled for release in July, then delayed, then was scheduled for summer 2008. I love the look of the screenshots, just like the original game, with the same kind of locations, and original art in the original C64 style. I really like the look of this.
This was the state of the game in May 2007, shamelessy ripped from LUniqueDan's thread at the AGS forums. Basically, most of the game was finished, but he needed help with the English translation.
"I'm (humbly) trying to render the original taste of Zak McKraken ATAM
That means :
*Creating a sense of freedom through non-linearity
*Creating a feeling of grand adventure through explorations not through puzzles exclusively.
*Keep Zak in the Sleezy Tabloids World, a World of Mysteries, Hoaxes New age Crap as seen on the shelves of your local supermarket.
"Why use plastic C4 when a Can Opener and Peanut Butter will do the job?"
Overall ------------------90%
Rooms -- 90 done -- 98%
Gui et Glob Script ---- 98%
Backgrounds -------- 110% (hey :) )
Characters ------------ 80% (need to create 2/3 others to fill emptyness)
Interactions ----------- 90% (need to removed some Puzzles and changes some others)
On March 23rd, Klaz posted this email he got from the developer:
On June 2007, alpha testing my game, I found myself with a serious issues concerning :
a) the fact that my laptop don't renders the colours properly, once tried on a different computer, my graphix where sprinkled with bad tone pixels. This problems concerns mainly C64 Black vs Typical 24-bits blacks, light green and dark grey.
b)Serious bugs who needs to put all the Game rooms under brackets, Which I patiently solve, room by room, until I discovered that I did wrong....
c) Meanwhile, I convicted myself that all my my Zak rooms where way to much on the top of the screen and the final results where pretty bad.
So, after a whole summer of procrastinations (and C and D paranoia), I started rebuilting the game from scratch (using the same graphx and original plan), with a more improved 'Main script' now that I masters AGS better. That's where I am right now. The game is actually fully working and playable, I'm into putting the Easters eggs back and the usual unhandled events.
I was planning to release it for 1st of April (Lonely sea monster and 1st of April fits good :D ) But it won't be the case. (I'm starting school again in the next weeks)
In the next months ... I hope, It's been two years now. ''
Update, January 2010
According to a friend who contacted the developer, there are no plans to update Zak McKracken and the Lonely Seamonster in the forseeable future.
Update, December 2011
Update, October 2012
The forum link is dead, so here's a backup.
And more Zak games?
And here's another sequel by a totally different "team," but there's been no news for a very long time...
Zak McKracken and the Mushroom Kingdom
Above: the dummy image I was sent. Below: a similar image I found
on the Net.
The quality is higher, but the arms look like the same artist. Is
it an updated version of the game?
It looks like something from New Adventures, but I don't remember
that scene. Very odd.
Yes, another Zak sequel! Here's the story so far:
March 24th, 2005:
Hello, i am making a new Zak game named: ''Zak McKracken in the Mushroom Kingdom''.
It's sets some time after The New Adventures of Zak McKracken, it will have references to this game,etc.
The plot it's:
Zak and Annie has just escaped of SPOILER:chucky island:SPOILER. And Annie is a bit grumpy with Zak, then, while searching something (I haven't think of something yet) in his house kitchen pipes, he is absorved to the Mushroom Kingdom (Yeah, the world where Mario games takes place), where Mario is searching for the princess again, but this time, with the help of Zak McKracken.
Zak McKracken must complete these missions:
a)Help Mario to rescue the princess
b)Find how to get out of the Mushroom Kingdom
c)Make Annie come with himI' m making the game in AGS, no screenshots yet, because I am ripping backgrounds and sprites of the Mario and Zak games, but maybe I'd post something soon.
And sorry for mi english, but I are a spanish Zak McKracken's fan.
- 'Skolarian Bosses'
December 23rd 2005:
the sprite ripping job is finishing, I am now adding twists in the plot and the puzzles. The game will also features Mario games music, maybe I can have a screenshot... Somewhere in the future.
- 'Skolarian Bosses'
December 25th 2005:
The King, a whole army of Caponians and the Ancient Ones are going to be in the plot, I am increasing game's lenght, it probably will be a bit longer than the Three Trials of Monkey Island 1.
- 'Skolarian Bosses'
December 26th 2005:
By the way, I was thinking of the father of Zak in the game, parody of Indy and his father in The Last Crusade...
- 'Skolarian Bosses'
January 20th 2006:
As LucasFan surely ain't going to make another Zak game, I will add to my game how did Zak and Annie escaped of Chucky Island.
- 'Skolarian Bosses'
May 25th 2006: first screenshots! (See above)
Watch this site for more news
Update, April 2008: Still no news. :(
And finally, from February 2008...
A Zak remake?
This is the press release, in full:
Hello and welcome to the unofficial Zak McKracken Remake Project. We are anxious to get this project underway. But we are looking for some to join our team. This is what we have currently:
*Programmer
*Writer for story and Dialog
*Minor Voice Role- Actor
*Webhost
*Italian Translator
What we need more immediatly:
*Assistant Story and Dialog writer (Looking for Max two more People)
*Background Graphics Artist, Colorer, touchups or all in one. (What I am looking for is a cross between "Day of the Tentacle" and "Curse of Monkey Island". I want the crisp clear graphics of CMI, but the goofy look of DOTT). An example of this can be found here: http://energon-plant.com/zakmckracken.org/zak2room.jpg
As far as background artists go, I can use as many as possible. There will be a process for this. We sketch the background based on what we need. We then See how we can improve it.Then trace it onto a digital image basically. Touch it up. Color it. Add shading and other needed essentials. Then we touch it up for one more final time.
After the main background is done, we do the same for objects in the room, like a bed or a desk, etc.. These will then be placed as objects in the room in the game engine.
*We are looking for Character artists.
*We are looking for animators for helping with both the background/character/gui/inventory animations as well as with animators for cutscenes.
*We are looking for musicians. We basically want to modify the original music content, but to sound more modern and with a mix between and alternative and hard rock sound.
*Anyone looking to help with designing a GUI and inventory items.
Needed, but not as badly:
*Translators for: German, Spanish, French and several other languages.
*Voice Actors. Just remember some of these characters in the game: Zak, Annie, Leslie, Melissa, Caponians and Caponian king... There are several other characters, but these are the main ones.
In order to join, here are the steps:
1) Find the right thread for the job your looking for.
2) Sign up and post what role you want to have in that department.
3) Provide on the forum, a link to some samples and try to wow me. In other words, make it the best you and show it to me. Just because your work may be incredible does not mean that you will automatically be accepted to the team. We are looking for a unique style for music, acting and art. Please provide more than one or two samples of your work. We want to see that you can be consistent in your work. So, if your applying for backgrounds, draw two or three of the typical work you can do. Same with Voice Acting and music.
4) Wait for me to get back to you.
What are the requirements to join the team:
1) Noone will get paid. If someone offers a donation to you, thats fine. But dont tell me about and dont sell any work related to the project.
2) Since noone is getting paid, I do not require constant work from you guys. I would like a status on what you did during the week every week, not to pressure you, but just to know that your still interested in the project. We understand that life comes at you fast and you have family, religion, school and many many other things. So I wont be upset if work doesn't progress as quickly. I am full aware that this project may take years to complete. So there is not pressure.
3) You must be a team player. Even though we have programmers and writers, it doesn't mean that you cant voice your opinion about features or about story lines etc... We all need to get a long and be able to communicate well. Everyone is important on the team.
Tips on rapid progression of the project:
*Set aside time in your schedule. Take 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 minutes a day to think about what you want to do and how to do it. Then once a week or two weeks, take an hour or two and work on the task.
*Communicate with team members
*Accept criticism.
*Try to find a way to keep yourself motivated for the project. Possibly play the original game over and over. Look at fan projects, fan stories, fan art. Think of the outcome once the project is over. It could be something to add to your resume. It could be a reason for you to be famous in the end. Perhaps if this goes well, we can create a commercial game together. Find ways to motivate yourself continuosly.
*Improve on your skill with PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!
Benefits of joining the team:
*Your remaking the greatest game of all time.
*Your gaining experience and adding something to your resume.
*Your improving on your skill.
*You will get your very own @zakmckracken.org email address
*You will be mentioned in the credits
*And surely there will be much much more.
So, if your interested in joining, please sign up in the forum. Thanks for your hard work. Any private questions, please email me at joey@zakmckracken.org
-Joey DiPerla
Team Leader
