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No new postsThimbleweed Park—Maniac Mansion style game from Ron Gilbert & Gary Winnick
I mean seriously, that reveal trailer was genius. Starting out zoomed all the way in onto the blackness of the eyes, and slowly pulling out to reveal the chunky pixels in all their glory.
Yeah, that reveal is great. Some years ago, I was watching a commentary on one of Warner Brothers’ Looney Tunes DVDs and whoever was speaking on that commentary called this kind of humor “bathos,” a funny contrast between the high and the low. In the case of the Thimbleweed Park trailer, the camera pulling back feels like this big, sweeping reveal (that’s the high) but the image being revealed is, in chibi-Ron’s words, “art so retro it will make your eyes bleed” (that’s the low).
I think the silly reveal is meant to be enjoyed by people who have a fondness for retro pixel art, rather than to annoy people who dislike this particular Maniac Mansion-style retro look and would prefer something prettier (though it might do that as an unintended side effect). But I think you’re right that Ron and Gary knew the art choice would be controversial, so they presented their campaign in a funny way that bears that in mind.
I think Ron Gilbert is the kind of creative person who really couldn’t care less what his detractors think. He owns his creative choices and ideas, which is what makes him a great designer. It’s the ones who get caught up trying to please everyone, the “modern” audiences and the retro-nostalgics alike, who end up stumbling in the execution. That was Tim Schafer’s problem.
I think Ron Gilbert is the kind of creative person who really couldn’t care less what his detractors think. He owns his creative choices and ideas, which is what makes him a great designer.
Sure, that sounds more accurate to me. I guess before it sounded like you were saying Ron Gilbert wanted specifically to provoke controversy in order to promote discussion, which I suppose could be a savvy marketing bonus, but I think it’s more likely that he just has a fondness for this art style (as does Gary Winnick), he expected some controversy over the chosen style to naturally happen, and he’s indifferent to that controversy and will make the game he wants. The trailer shows some humorous self-awareness that, yes, this game knows that it has simplistic art with big heads and blocky pixels, and it is embracing that 100%. So you and I are saying essentially the same thing with slightly different nuances.
When Gilbert wrote that speculative “If I Made Another Monkey Island” article, he wrote this, which fits what you’re saying above:
The game would be the game I wanted to make. I don’t want the pressure of trying to make the game you want me to make. I would vanish for long periods of time. I would not constantly keep you up-to-date or be feeding the hype-machine. I’d show stuff that excited me or amused me. If you let me do those things, you will love the game. That, I promise.
Interestingly, at that time Gilbert was also contemplating ditching the multiple verb interface, but since Thimbleweed Park is even more retro in its target audience (Maniac Mansion- and Zak McKraken-era LucasArts fans) than the imagined Monkey Island 3a would be, it makes sense that he kept the verbs here.
Also, Gary Winnick’s input as co-designer may have influenced their approach for Thimbleweed Park’s interface. With just two people on the core team, I expect this game will have as much of Winnick’s creative voice as Gilbert’s.
Yeah, I do think Gilbert does what he wants in the end. He seems to have a pretty clear picture of the game already, so it matters very little what the backers will suggest. If he dcides to take some ideas from the backers it will be bacuse he thinks they might suit the game, not because he feels forced to.
So there’s nothing wrong with fans providing early feedback on which parts of a project’s design they like and don’t like, and it might in fact be helpful for the creators if they can learn about strong audience reactions for or against certain aspects before it’s too late to do anything about them. Of course, it’s then up to the creators to interpret that reaction and decide on what (if anything) to do about it, so they’re not just letting the Internet design their game by committee.
Exactly. Feedback is extremely valuable during development, but there’s a big difference between providing feedback and, for example, demanding a different ending to a game after the fact, because it didn’t live up to your expectations.
Campaign really slowed down now, so it seems reaching “talkies” stretch goal is not so given now, as it seemed to be week ago.
Campaign really slowed down now, so it seems reaching “talkies” stretch goal is not so given now, as it seemed to be week ago.
It sucks bigtime that translations and damn iOS/Andorid versions have priority over
actual game content that can uplift the over all experience.
Other versions can be made with money, which they will earn after release, but maybe they have this idea to lure the tablet market into the funding mix.
Ironic, tablet and 80s AG in the same vein.
This has gone pretty similar road with the previous high streak of KS adventures. I’d say it’s more than likely that the talkie goal is surpassed and the final tally is closer to 800k than the needed 625k.
The community-run Double Fine Game Club is going to be playing a bit of Maniac Mansion tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 6th) with Ron Gilbert as a special guest.
I’ve never participated in this, but the gentleman who runs it (Cheeseness) is awesome and super organized so you can learn all about how it works from the links below. It sounds fairly simple, basically a two-hour chat session which you can drop in and out of:
Maniac Mansion announcement
Game Club homepage with livestream, chat interface, and countdown timer
Game Club FAQ
Campaign really slowed down now, so it seems reaching “talkies” stretch goal is not so given now, as it seemed to be week ago.
It sucks bigtime that translations and damn iOS/Andorid versions have priority over
actual game content that can uplift the over all experience.
Other versions can be made with money, which they will earn after release, but maybe they have this idea to lure the tablet market into the funding mix.Ironic, tablet and 80s AG in the same vein.
Look at any successful Kickstarter and you’ll see a dip in the middle, and then an upward curve at the end. People don’t see the rush in donating until the last two days. It’s already reached the tipping point where it will be funded.
As an aside, it is an odd quirk that although Kickstarter does not charge your account unless a campaign is successful, people generally are less inclined to pledge if it looks like a campaign is not going to make its target.
In the case of Thimbleweed Park, there is no danger whatsoever that the game will not reach the talkie stretch goal. One of the reasons why it hasn’t yet is that it is hard to envisage what other stretch goal there could be, apart from one that promises a quicker finish date for the project.
They changed the order of stretch goals - talkie version is now at $525.000 and the mobile versions is the highest stretch goal.
Talkie is definitely a lock now.
The talkie SG has been reached. It was a good thing that they switched those goals around, as I find talkie to be more important than mobile version, which can be done later.
It turned out exactly as I feared, good think that they swapped the stretch goals when they also realized what is going to happen.
Not over yet. Wouldn’t count on it reaching 625k, but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.
Not over yet. Wouldn’t count on it reaching 625k, but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.
There’s always a final push that accounts for a good percentage of the total funds, and the 48-hour reminders haven’t even been sent out yet.
Consider 625k cleared. 
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
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