Not A Postmortem
Feb 01, 2015
It's important to keep in mind that the Thimbleweed Park blog is not a postmortem. We're posting stuff as we think of it and as we try it out. It's not vetted or the product of a carefully thought out decision. It's just stuff we're thinking of.
As with any project, much of it will be wrong, not always 100% wrong, but wrong and we'll adjust it. That's part of the process. This goes not only for the design and art, but also the tech. You try things and then you adjust.
It's easy to look at game like Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, or insert your favorite game here and imagine it came out fully formed. It's not the way creativity works. I've seen "design documents" online for shipped games that I know were the product of revisions and adjustments throughout development. They do not represent what the design doc looked like when the project was started, they are the design doc when the game finished.
Publishers often require a design doc always be kept "up to date", and that is a good thing, but it's easy to lose where everything came from. It's important to remember how screwed up everything was at the beginning. It's normal. It's good.
What you're going to see on this blog is the process from crappy idea through (hopefully) a fun game.
Please keep that in mind when you see our crappy ideas (or our good ideas that never make it into the game).
- Ron
"A work of art is never finished; only abandoned."
Hey Ron, when are we going to get a sequel to Grim Fandango?
So I would say, as likely as a Leisure Suite Larry sequel by Ron ;-)
It probably looks something like this:
Gary: People fall at my feet when they see my design concepts!
Ron: Even BEFORE they smell your breath?
Ron: I once owned a dog that designed smarter games than you.
Gary: He must have taught you everything you know.
I proudly present: Detectiv A (or is it B?)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3ge7k8hshs8225s/Detectiv%20A.jpg?dl=0
Iron Beads in english.... i think
A Brand would be Perler... I dont know PixOx....
I hope Ron or Gary saw them,. I get frustrated if i dont get my credits from the makers of the heroes of my childhood... ;o)
Christopher: I don't know if the beads have any generic name; we usually just call them Perler beads because that's the brand name, and it's generally understood what they are. The brand most common in Europe seems to be Hama -- I've used beads from them on occasion because the brands have different colors.
I think it is nice nothing is written in stone yet, for me it is very interesting to see how the game and the ideas are developing.
Gives me a better insight in how games are really done.
I check out the blog everyday and I am looking forward to the finished product.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to let your fans know what is happening in your minds and with the game!
When the blog started I thought you would update it only once a month or so, I really appreciate you taking so much time to keep us up to date with your newest concepts and ideas.
Thimbleweed Park™ Blog: Uncensored [The version your momma warned you about]
As cheesy as it sounds, Monkey Island and Fate of Atlantis are solid reasons why I have the career I have today. Stumbling into insult-swordfighting is still one of my fondest gaming memories. Thanks guys, and best of luck knocking it out of the park with this one.
Will the full Puzzle Dependency Graph and all the design documents be included?
Thanks.
But plans to be more of a 'Making Of'-book in the classic sense- and will showcase most all the concept
art development and screens (locations, character development, etc.) - as well as final production visuals
(a good deal of this material likely won't be posted on the blog). The final content and format will evolve
from our game design and production process , much of which is still TBD. AT this time I really don't see it that
much as a Postmortem.
-Gary
Great work and love the "storyline" type of script as you mentioned many times in your blog when you/your team were creating Scumm you wanted it to be more like a movie script (not exactly in those lines but still)..
One thing only bothered me in the video and don't know if it bothered me in a good or bad way still trying to figure it out. At 00.06 seconds when you make the first stop as the camera scrolls , at the stop point it continues smoothly to scroll just a bit more and then stops. This was not achievable in Scumm I suppose but with this engine it works or doesn't work. I am confused about how I feel about it. I am not sure whether it removes the retroness of the game or not. It is such a smooth move for a game this old! :) What do you and Gary feel about it?
P.S KEEP UP THE EXCELLENT WORK!!
Regards
Demetris