Type Private Founded April 2012 | Industry Software & Programming | |
Founder Scott Murphy, Mark Crowe, and Chris Pope Headquarters Eugene, Oregon/Alabama/Atlanta (virtual offices) Key people Scott Murphy, co-founder and writer/programmer; Mark Crowe, co-founder and artist, Chris Pope, co-founder, producer and public relations | ||
Two Guys from Andromeda is the name of the American video game developer team of Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe, creators of the Space Quest series. After a falling-out ended their working relationship, they reunited in April 2012 and, along with co-founder Chris Pope, formed Guys From Andromeda, LLC. Their proposed first release is tentatively titled Space Venture and is expected to be an adventure game set in space – a spiritual successor to the Space Quest series.
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Formation
Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe both started working for Sierra Entertainment in the 1980s. They worked on separate projects before teaming up and working on their first project together: The Black Cauldron.
After Black Cauldron was finished the "Two Guys" wanted to work on an idea of their own, a science fiction story starring a janitor named Roger Wilco. After proving their idea could be fun, by creating a four-room demo, Ken Williams let them finish the game. That short demo became the beginning of Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter. Space Quest I was the first game that Murphy and Crowe used their pseudonym, "Two Guys from Andromeda".
The first four games in the series were designed by both Crowe and Murphy. After Space Quest IV in 1991, the team split up. Later games in the series were made, but Space Quest V was designed solely by Mark Crowe, and Space Quest 6 was designed by Josh Mandel, with later work on the project done by Murphy.
Reformation
In April 2012, Crowe and Murphy announced the reformation of the team under the new moniker of "Guys From Andromeda".
Following the success of the Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter project (as well as other successful adventure game crowd-funding), the company decided to use Kickstarter to raise funding for the game. As of June 2012, they had exceeded their amount requested, $500,000, receiving $539,767.
Co-founder of the company Chris Pope (dubbed as "Space Pope" by fans) works to operate its marketing and interact directly with fans. They also have commitments from voice actors Rob Paulsen, Robert Clotworthy, Ellen McLain, and John Patrick Lowrie to participate in their new game. (Gary Owens was also originally committed, but died in 2015, before his part was recorded) On January 17, 2013, the team announced former Sierra composer Ken Allen was joining their team to compose the music.
In regards to the team's reformation, and their approach to game development in a new decade, the two said
"We aren't straying from what has been a successful formula. We're back to make more while also incorporating what we've learned from you via comments made from the days of snail-mail and moving to email and social media. It's been interesting to learn what you've found fun, funny and/or annoying, and what games you've favored. Clearly, not everyone has well rated taste but we can work around that".
Space Venture
Space Venture was announced on Kickstarter on May 8, 2012, and is described as a "spiritual successor" to Space Quest. It was successfully funded on June 12, 2012, with an estimated delivery of February 2013. However, after a series of personal and family hardships within the team, Space Venture was delayed multiple times. As of March 2017, the game remains unreleased, and no further commitments to a release date have been made on the project's Kickstarter page. In March 2017, the team says it is committed to completing SpaceVenture but has multiple items in development.
Cluck Yegger in Escape From The Planet of the Poultroid
The Two Guys released Cluck Yegger in Escape From The Planet of the Poultroid on Steam on November 9, 2015, after it was successfully greenlit by the Steam community. A tie-in to Space Venture, the game is described as a parody of Five Nights at Freddy's. The Two Guys stressed upon its announcement that 100% of the game's proceeds would go to the development and completion of Space Venture.