Brainstorming Like It's 1987
Feb 24, 2015
Last week Ron, Gary, and I spent two days together brainstorming Act 1 of Thimbleweed Park. I knew I was going to have fun, and wasn't disappointed. Just like old times, except it was at Gary's office in the Santa Cruz area instead of a Skywalk Ranch conference room. But the coffee drinks were way better. I don't think they invented coffee drinks yet in the 1980s, at least not at the Ranch. (My new favorite, Soy Mocha Chai Latte. Almost as good as Hot Butterbeer from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.)
The first step was for me to wrap my head around the game. Having been reading the Thimbleweed blog posts from the beginning helped a bit, but the overview design docs that Ron and Gary sent to me before our meetings really got me going. From a "character bible" with a paragraph or two on each of the "actors" (lots of backstory that may never make it into the game but really helps us write dialog), to the puzzle and location maps, magically unblurred from the versions you all have seen. But there were lots of gaps in my understanding, so for the first hour Ron and Gary walked me through the game, and I asked all the questions I had saved up.
Besides coffee and a big whiteboard, what else is needed for a successful brainstorming? I've been thinking about that for the past few days. There's definitely a mental mode brainstormers want to enter, but which you can't just turn on... So you have to prime the pump.
We started by drawing the game's map with all the locations, describing what the player has to accomplish by the end of Act 1, and listing what objects would be needed to get the player to that point. We then stepped back to see if it would be any fun playing through. When we noticed that we had too many puzzles where you could buy something at one location and use it somewhere else, we pushed our creativity buttons and came up with much more interesting solutions (unlike in Zak McKracken, there are no Thimbleweed pawn shops where you can stock up on a dozen needed items in this game!).
This felt very methodical at first, but then the magic began. We saw patterns that we liked and amplified them, ending up with some great running gags. We came up with crazy ideas that made us all laugh out loud (some of which may make it in the game). We didn't care if our suggestions would be stupid... no need to pre-filter at this point, just get them all out and see which ones connect and feel right. Then we entered that unfettered mindlinked state where more than one of us had the same idea at the same time... it didn't make any difference which one vocalized it, it just had to get up on that white board.
By the end of Day 2, we felt really good about our progress. The game was coming alive, and we could picture ourselves playing through and having a blast. Can't wait to start scripting!
- David
The Kickstarter said there would be a "Maniac Mansion style manual" and a "Feelie of some kind". There's some hope.
Dial-A-Pirate remains the best copy protection scheme in a game ever. The PC versions of Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken had these codes that were just terrible to enter, but at least they tried to "gamify" it a bit. Dial-A-Pirate perfected it by making it a proper feelie. I still have my Dial-A-Pirate and I never minded using it. It got me in the mood to play the game, and you can't say that about any modern DRM mechanism.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy had the best feelies: http://i.imgur.com/f5M4Poq.jpg
Some gamers might feel scammed to get what amounts to a flea circus ("Microscopic Space Fleet"), but I think it's hilarious and justified. What a terrific gag...
Today I am sad... I can't find my original Zak McKracken And The Alien Mindbenders™ box!! The one with Amiga floppies inside, with The National Inquisitor and the security VISA codes...
Last time I remember it, it was just before the moving in my new apartment, a few years ago. I carefully put it in a plastic box, then left in a precise location. And now, when nostalgia knoked at my mind... I wanted to open my box again and... I can't find it anymore!!! Sob.
:D
By the way, I still have my original C64 version ZMKATAM box with all the goodies. It smells like history...
I won't sell them for anything (yes, I have the C64's Maniac Mansion one, too)... but it nice to know we "own" a little precious piece of videogame history. =)
When I played the game four years ago, I didn't have the problem at that point.
Also btw, I backed TP for the 150$ collectors edition box. I hope, that gives me the salvation for any Lucafilm copies beside MI and MM :o)
Thanks for the tip and the salvation. It feels like a little halo has appeared over my head, but it can also be my decreasing hair.
I recommend it to everyone who reads this blog. For me, beeing a huge fan of "Incredible Machine", I give it an easy 10/10 and will definitely play it through.
Of course, Rube Works is not really a The Incredible Machine clone... definitely inspired by that kind of gameplay, but both TIM and RW get their inspiration from Rube Goldberg cartoons, only Rube Works is true to the source material (as you can see when you complete a level). TIM gives you more opportunity for sandbox type of gameplay. Rube Works is more of a casual puzzle game.
When designing Rube Works, I definitely pulled in everything I knew about creating graphic adventure games. But as a casual game, you can complete a level in 10-20 minutes (probably less for everyone here since they know how to THINK).
I don't think Rube Works gives much of a glimpse of what TP will be... other than being fun, and hopefully lots of LOL moments.
About the comparison to TP I meant the object related puzzles. They are awesome in Rube Works.
Rube was an amazingly prolific cartoonist, having penned about 50,000 of them during his lifetime. He's a Pulitzer prize winner, song writer, screen writer (the first Three Stooges film), scultpture, but he's most known for his crazy chain reaction cartoons, and as a result, his name is in the dictionary meaning “accomplishing by extremely complex, roundabout means what seemingly could be done simply.” Which is why you get the most points for using every object in the toolbox. You can learn more about him at http://RubeGoldberg.com and on Wikipedia.
Many people are surprised to find out he was a real person, so you're not alone!
50.000 cartoons? So maybe there will be some extra level? :o) I almost finished the game.
Have you tried tea with coffee flavor? :P
Haven't tried coffee with tea flavor. I'm actually more of a tea drinker. Favorite is Earl Grey, and what we've named "Lemur Tea" from Trader Joe's, Vanilla and Cinnamon Black Tea (Google it).
Zak was my first adventure game ever and set the stone for loving this genre above all other so very much. In fact there are only a few other games which can compete with it in regards of story telling and fun. I want to see this in Thimbleweed Park again and am excited about you being on board.
Regarding Brainstorming. Here is a fun idea for the game (dunno how copyright [tm] will play into this though):
Melissa and Leslie *need* to run a shop in Thimbleweed Park. Next to shop is their special van, which can bee seen from its back. Also in the shop they sell various stuff. They should also have diplomas on the wall stating like "First humans on Mars", "Degree in Alien Space Travel Engineering", "Saved the World from alien enslavement" etc. . Of course they have a pet fish (Sushi?) swimming around in a lamp.
This is just an idea, however it would be so great to meet these characters in Thimbleweed. After all their role in Zak was a bit unappreciated. Also we never saw them coming home.
Never the less, looking forward to read your next post!
- Andreas (tcmsurfer)
Don't forget to have an awesome intro in Thimbleweed Park to set the mood for the game. It doesn't have to be in Zak style or length, however I hope you all can think of something good.
Proof?
Here you ah: https://www.facebook.com/ZakMcKracken2
In a two man team I am working on a free gfx adventure for teh c64 (yes, right, natively) and so much of this blog is exactly what we go through right now as well. It's super amazing. Scripting will be a tough one, too (still working on the engine, though).
We probably can't help but trying to catch your attention once it progressed further ;-)
This is all very exciting in more than one way!
Cheers,
Martin
I´ll assure, I´m not an english native speaker but I first had to ensure theese words don´t even have anything similar in their meaning, insured!
Reading this blog is a little bit like meeting you childhood heroes, so it's really great to see you three in action and being able to have such a close look on the development process.
Also: No need to keep a low profile here in the blog. I think every reader here absolutely craves for new entries!