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Thimbleweed Park—Maniac Mansion style game from Ron Gilbert & Gary Winnick
tomimt: Agreed, that style is a strategic decision.
Now developing: The Journey Down: Chapter Three
Been reluctant to jump in here because of something I feel I’ve plugged enough on the Adventure Gamers forums (although those curious feel free to browse through a few other adventure games currently on Kickstarter) lest people get the wrong idea and think I’m just being bitter! But I feel there has been a very mixed reaction to Ron and Gary’s game/ Kickstarter and I can understand why.
I got a text message from a mate of mine saying Ron Gilbert had just launched a Kickstarter and was immediately excited myself, he did pretty much create the genre and, above all else, his games have always been very funny. I was ready to pledge and clicked play on the pitch video but I was disappointed.
People have very strong opinions about what Broken Age became but the pitch that Double Fine/ Tim Schafer did was super impressive. I was really excited about what they were aiming to do, create a modern graphic adventure game. What they were trying to do was innovate while still preserving the soul of the golden era of adventure gaming. Maybe the final product was a bit on the short side, a little too easy for most people on here’s tastes but it was still an impressive game.
I was born in 1987 so I don’t have very much nostalgia for Maniac Mansion, it wasn’t until the latter half of the 90s that I was introduced to the Lucas Arts adventure games (admittedly they where mostly in the bargain bucket at this point, which was great for a latecomer like me!). This game is being made for people that have fond memories of gaming in the late 80s and that’s cool, but it isn’t something I can relate to.
I would love for Ron and Gary to make a modern adventure game, something similar production wise to Broken Age but perhaps aimed slightly more toward ‘hard core’ adventure fans. I understand why they can’t do this from a business point of view which is why I understand they are going all in with the very retro aesthetic.
In the meantime I’d personally rather support a project like Kelvin and the Infamous Machine (other campaigns are of course available… for a couple more days anyway!). These guys I feel are doing something very impressive that I feel will win more new adventure game fans than Thimbleweed Park will.
That’s of course just personal preference. I’m sure Thimbleweed Park will make it and the people that it is being made for I’m sure will enjoy it. It’s just not for someone like me, even though I really wish it was! 
I’m looking at this project just as a stepping stone toward the magnificent Monkey Island 3, ultimate adventure game that will dwarf everything released in the past 15 years.
The game should be done in the same style as its predecessor and judging by the answers in this thread, a great majority of players would like that. I would pledge at least 4-digits sum for this to happen.
I’m usually not a fan of games that lean heavily on nostalgia, use outdated UI, or a pixel art style that deliberately imitates a time when programmers made the artwork. With that said, if this is what sparks creativity in Ron and Gary’s minds then good on them. People clearly want to play it. Hopefully they can utilise their decades of experience and sidestep all the things that make ‘80s adventure games kind of terrible to play nowadays. If that’s the case then I’ll gladly buy the game once it’s done.
Yeah, that’s a good point. Whatever motivated Ron to go back to the traditional point and click genre, nostalgia and this old art style was clearly a part of it. So best just to accept that that’s part of why he’s doing it in the first place.
Yeah, that’s a good point. Whatever motivated Ron to go back to the traditional point and click genre, nostalgia and this old art style was clearly a part of it. So best just to accept that that’s part of why he’s doing it in the first place.
Yea, totally agree. It isn’t for everyone (admittedly myself included), though one day I’d love Ron and Gary to do something contemporary (er, that isn’t The Cave!)
I find it hilarious that Ron Gilbert, of all people, has set out to make an adventure game that seems almost explicitly designed to troll this forum. Amazing. The game’s plot could be about Ron Gilbert losing the keys to his car and deciding to sleep in his office for the night and I’d still back it for that reason alone.
Yea, totally agree. It isn’t for everyone (admittedly myself included), though one day I’d love Ron and Gary to do something contemporary (er, that isn’t The Cave!)
Seconded! Though I do think they’d have to expand their team with some more crazy-talented folks to pull that off.
The more I work with point n clicks and the more I follow the industry, the more I understand how important the whole team is. Not the one individual. The games of the LEC golden age were not amazing because of one, two or even three people, they were amazing because of the synergy between a whole big bunch of different people.
Sure, there’s always some pivotal person who’s at the core of a project and without them it would never have existed, but it isn’t solely thanks to that person that the game comes out amazing, it’s thanks to an entire team of talented people. Without either Michael Land’s catchy soundtrack, Peter Chan’s brilliant backdrops or Steve Purcell’s awesome characters, the magic of MI2 could very well have fallen completely flat. (Note: these were merely examples, the team was A LOT bigger and contained A LOT more awesome and potentially pivotal talents, Tim Schafer, Dave Grossman, Peter McConnell etc etc…).
Dunno where I’m going with this. Just rambling. 
Now developing: The Journey Down: Chapter Three
The funding is going extremely well! This may end up getting a million or three. What will happen then?
It looks great to me. I always enjoyed the Scumm interface with the different verbs.
I didn’t like that “coin” type interface thing that was used in MI3.
Like finding an old LucasArts game that you somehow missed and never played before—that’s what he’s going for—and it’s absolutely something I’d want to play. Going by how quickly his pledge level is rising, a lot of other people feel the same way.
I wonder if they’d be willing to add a 16-color mode.
Nothing quite like those bright, cheery 16-color graphics.
Yeah, it’s doing extremely well. Name recognition is everything. At the same time I keep thinking how great it would have been if Charles Dexter Ward had done just as well. That one not getting funded is my most recent KS disappointmen.
This harkens back to the old times like many recent hit indie games like NES looking Shovel Knight, and a year back Hotline Miami which was cleverly stylized but still technically on same level.
All it needs is to enhance the effects through VA’s and Music, and ofcourse like those other genres i mentioned, gamers specifically look for core design, which both Hotline and ShovelKnight delivered.
So in this case, the story,humor and Puzzles just need to hit the spot.
I’m not so sure the visuals of Thimbleweed Park will be quite as well executed and stylistically impressive as Shovel Knight or Hotline Miami.
They’re going for a style that lacks the artistry that people expect nowadays, but it’s kind of charming at the same time I guess. It’ll probably complement the type of game they’re trying to make.
Personally I think Thimbleweed looks already far better than Hot Line Miami which I think is one of the ugliest games I’ve ever played. It’s fun, but it is ugly, on purpose most likely.
I don’t think Hotline Miami is a great-looking game but it’s definitely distinctive and memorable. The psychedelic effects on top of the more traditional top-down pixel art is a unique combination.
Shovel Knight is a masterclass in 8-bit graphics. You can’t really get much better (in a platformer anyway), unless you move on to 16-bit, which most indie devs avoid because it becomes far more technical and time-consuming.
I’d love to see more games on the level of Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse.
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