Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space News

Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space has been updated to version 2.0.0, which sounds like a big huge patch, but mostly it's a few long-gestating fixes, and a new build of the game engine to fix a few deeply-rooted bugs. We published a similar patch for Sam & Max Save the World earlier this week, which is why this might all sound a bit familiar.

Speaking of sounding familiar... it's that time of year again. That spoOooOoky time. You know the one: The Skunkape Halloween Contest is back! If you're in the mood to make some Sam & Max fan art and be materially rewarded for it, now's your chance! Check out the contest post for a rundown of the rules and prizes. (Spoiler: they include Sam & Max plushies from Uncute, and the still-in-development Devil's Playhouse Original Soundtrack!)

[h2]Patch notes for today’s Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space update (version 2.0.0):[/h2]

[h3]Game-wide:[/h3]

• Fixed instances where setting the game's resolution higher than your screen's physical resolution would cause the cursor to get trapped in a small corner of the screen.
  
• Fixed crashes that occurred in rare edge cases when the engine tried to change the list of loaded dialog files when the list was in use. It feels strange explaining a bug in a decades-old proprietary game engine in the patch notes, but here we are reading it together.
  
• Reduced situations that would cause the engine's audio system to get confused and play a sound or piece of music a second time.
  
• Fixed buttons and episode thumbnails not animating when transitioning between the episode menu and chapter menu.

[h3]Episode 203:[/h3]

• Fixed Sam & Max sometimes staying attached to the DeSoto in Stuttgart, which caused Sam to spin around wildly.
  
• One of the torches in Jurgen's Lair wasn't casting light on the wall, and now it is. Finally Brett our lighting guy can sleep through the night, knowing this is fixed.
  
• Fixed Lincoln's brain not rendering when walking around in the Zombie Factory (Switch only).

[h3]Episode 204:[/h3]

• Fixed Max not looking into the camera when he mentions "...no flashback?" in the 1960s.

[h3]Episode 205:[/h3]

• Fixed lava cylinder disappearing during epilogue in Hell Pit.
  
• Fixed lite music track looping incorrectly in Street.

That's all for now! And as usual if you find a bug please point it out in the appropriate forum or the comments below, and we'll do our best to fix it in a future patch!

Here’s a scary story: last year we completely forgot to hold our annual Halloween contest. 😱

We rectified that for the holidays, but this year we’re (just barely) better prepared. We hereby kick off 2024’s Halloween contest, with entries due by 11:59pm Pacific time on October 31. That gives you three weeks to get all artsy craftsy in the spirit of the spooky season… let's go!

[h2]THE RULES[/h2]

• Send pics (or other files as appropriate) of your Sam & Max themed entry to [noparse][email protected][/noparse] by 11:59pm Pacific time on Sunday, October 31. If your file is too big to play nicely with email, sending us a link to a Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. works too. Also tell us how you want to be credited if we share your entry. (Your name or handle, website URL, Twitter, etc.)
  
  
• Your entry can be fan art, sculpture, cosplay, music, video, words... anything, really! (As long as it won't make our lawyers mad. Keep it legal!) Check out the winners from 2023, 2022, and 2021 to see which entries we’ve gone for in the past.
  
  
• You can submit multiple entries, but only win once. By submitting, you grant us permission to use your entry (with attribution) for promotion on social media, the Skunkape website, and other places where promotion happens.
  
  
• To select the winners, the Sam & Max Remastered team will hold a democratic vote overseen by a panel of objective nonpartisan observers. (Pretty sure we’ve got some of those around here somewhere…) In the event of a tie, Steve Purcell gets the tie-breaking vote.
  

[h2]THE PRIZES[/h2]

• 10ish runners-up will get your choice of a Sam & Max Save the World, Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space, or Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse key on your preferred platform
  
  
• 3ish honorable mentions will get a game key AND a Steam key for the brand new Devil’s Playhouse soundtrack (so new we haven’t even released it yet!)
  
  
• 1 grand prize winner will get a game key, a Devil’s Playhouse soundtrack key, AND a set of Sam & Max plushies courtesy of our buddies at Uncute!
  
  

Let the creativity commence! We'll announce the winners the week of November 4.

Tomorrow, the Skunkape team and a special guest or two will take over twitch.tv/GameHistoryOrg for a festive holiday stream. 🎄🎅 🎁

First we’ll reveal the winners of our holiday contest. Then we’ll play Sam & Max: Ice Station Santa and chime in with our memories of working on Telltale’s Sam & Max games and Skunkape’s remasters. And the whole time, we’ll be raising money for an incredible cause: the Video Game History Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and teaching the history of video games.

So far, the VGHF has raised about $38K toward their $50K goal winter fundraising goal. Let's help them get over the finish line!



[h3]What’s in it for you?[/h3]
Besides the chance to hear about the development of the Sam & Max games from people who made them, we have donation incentives!

We’ve dug through the vault (aka our closets) to find an eclectic mix of swag to appeal to the discerning adventure game fan. Check out the Tiltify campaign and click Rewards to see the full list.

Since announcing the charity stream on Twitter last night, we’ve already raised almost $2,500! Many of our initial rewards have already sold out, but we’re digging deeper and will add more rare artifacts before the stream starts.

We’ll give away three Friendly Demon Song mini-CDs and a signed Sam & Max Save the World vinyl soundtrack during the stream, and we have a few exciting stretch goals planned. What are they? You’ll have to tune in to find out!

We’ll start streaming around 11am PT / 2pm ET / 7pm GMT on December 20, and go for a couple hours. Follow the Video Game History Foundation’s Twitch channel to get an alert when we go live.

The past two years, we’ve held a Halloween arts and crafts contest for the Sam & Max community. This is a continuation of a tradition that started at Telltale, and we love seeing what you all come up with. Here are last year’s winners.

Then this year we were so busy working on The Devil’s Playhouse… we forgot about the contest!

Good news, Sam & Max fans. The contest has risen from the dead AND we have news about The Devil’s Playhouse!



[h2]The Power of Christmas Compels You[/h2]
We’re calling this one the “Oops, We Missed Halloween So Let’s Do a Holiday Contest Instead” contest. Here’s how it works: the holiday season is upon us. Steve Purcell is a wonderful person who gave us all the gift of Sam & Max. We really should return the favor, don’t you think?

If you could make Steve a Christmas gift, what would it be? Get creative! The only rules are that your entry has to relate to Sam & Max in some way, and it’s gotta be legal. Nothing that would make Baby Jesus cry (on his birthday, no less).

Send a picture (or other files as appropriate) of your entry to [email protected] by December 17 at 11:59pm (PST). (Copy/paste that address into your email -- if you try clicking it, Steam will give you a "blocked link" message.)

We’ll pick our favorites and reveal them during a holiday Twitch stream the week of the 18th. Before sending in your entry, please review the fine print below.

[h3]Two grand prize winners will score a bundle of Sam & Max goodies:[/h3]

• Boss Fight Studio’s brand new Sam & Max Wave 2 action figures (Scuba Max & Ratso and the Rubber Pants Commandos)
  
• Limited Run Games’ Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space Collector’s Edition for PC
  
• A game key for the platform of your choice when Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse Remastered launches in Spring 2024

Since we always have trouble picking our favorite entries, there will most likely be a bunch of runners up, too. Those people will also win a Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse Remastered game key.

[h3]The Fine Print[/h3]

• If your file is too big to play nicely with email, sending us a link to a Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. works too. Also tell us how you want to be credited if we share your entry. (Your name or handle, website URL, Twitter, etc.)
  
  
• You can submit multiple entries, but only win once. By submitting, you grant us permission to use your entry (with attribution) for promotion on social media, the Skunkape website, and other places where promotion happens.
  
  
• To select the winners, the Sam & Max Remastered team will hold a democratic vote overseen by a panel of objective nonpartisan observers (okay, maybe not). In case of a tie, Steve Purcell gets the final say.

[h2]Wait, what was that? Did you say The Devil’s Playhouse is launching in Spring 2024?![/h2]
Yes! We’d originally expected to release Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse Remastered this year, but we’ve been keeping quiet until we could be more certain of the date. Now that 2023 is almost over, we can say for sure that the game won’t be out this year. (Sorry!)

But we’re super close, and within a few months you’ll be playing the final game in the episodic Sam & Max trilogy, in all its remastered glory.

Hey there, Sam & Max community! It's the spooky time of year again—the time when the Skunkape team innocently proposes a Halloween contest and gets bombarded with so much awesome fan art and other creative goodies that we have to stop all work for a week just to sift through it and vote on our favorittes.

In other words, it's time for the 2nd Annual Skunkape Sam & Max Halloween Contest (loosely based on the Telltale "Do What You Will" Halloween contests of the mid-aughts).

Here's how it works:

• Send pics (or other files as appropriate) of your arts & craftsy Sam & Max themed entry to [email protected] by 11:59pm Pacific time on Sunday, October 30. If your file is too big to play nicely with email, sending us a link to a Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. works too. Also tell us how you want to be credited if we share your entry. (Your name or handle, website URL, Twitter, etc.)
  
  
• Your entry can be fan art, sculpture, cosplay, music, video, words, pictures of delicious cookies shaped like Max's head... anything, really! (Well, anything that won't make our lawyers mad. Keep it legal, folks!) Check out last year's Twitter thread to see which entries caught our fancy in 2021.
  
  
• You can submit multiple entries, but only win once. By submitting, you grant us permission to use your entry (with attribution) for promotion on social media, the Skunkape website, and other places where promotion happens.
  
  
• To select the winners, the Sam & Max Remastered team will hold a democratic vote overseen by a panel of objective nonpartisan observers (okay, maybe not). How many winners? Who knows! Last year we had twelve.
  
  
• Each winner can either select a Sam & Max Save the World or Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space game key for their platform of choice (PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, or PlayStation), OR a Sam & Max Save the World or Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space soundtrack key for Steam. But wait, there's more! We'll also be awarding a super secret GRAND PRIZE for our favorite entry—we can't tell you what it is yet, but it's probably not what you're expecting...
  

So, go! Make some cool art, maybe win a thing! We're counting on you.