Thimbleweed Park Podcast #31

by Ron Gilbert
Nov 21, 2015

More bla bla bla about Thimbleweed Park. Just shut up and let us play the game already! Does it really take this long to make a game!

You can also subscribe to the Thimbleweed Park Podcast RSS feed if that's 'your thing'.

- Ron

Peter - Nov 21, 2015 at 15:38

After "Thimbleweed Park" is finished, can you please continue with a Podcast? I'm every time extremly exited and hear it every week. Other question: Can you do a photo of Team Thimbleweeed (you all together on a Photo? That would be awesome! :) )

Best, Peter

Ron Gilbert ✓ - Nov 21, 2015 at 15:41

A photo might be hard. I live 800 miles from David, who lives 100 miles from Gary and we all live several thousand miles from Robert, Octavi and the rest of the crew. Maybe with Photoshop!

Peter - Nov 21, 2015 at 16:24

I remember, I saw in a Video Games Magazin a Picture from you (Ron Gilbert), David Fox and I think Brian Moriarty and Noah Falstein and some other guys, from the late eighties at Skywalker Ranch. Would be cool to compare, how you all look currently.... Yeah, Photoshop! :)))

Peter - Nov 21, 2015 at 16:27

I think a picture like this: http://images.eurogamer.net/2015/usgamer/GilbertRetrospectiveSpot4.jpg

Zombocast - Nov 21, 2015 at 20:53

Or this? http://i.imgur.com/T18nzAV.png

Peter Campbell - Nov 21, 2015 at 21:47

LOL, that's awesome!

Mike McP - Nov 23, 2015 at 21:02

That's awesome. I always laugh at the David Fox pics, because it looks like he's wearing a pith helmet, which I find really amusing!

Carlo Valenti - Nov 24, 2015 at 01:45

Patch'em'all!

Paulup - Nov 21, 2015 at 22:23

That's clearly Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys circa 1966.

Robert Megone ✓ - Nov 21, 2015 at 17:55

Let's do it! I'm well overdue a visit.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Nov 22, 2015 at 01:42

Even with photoshop, with a collage of your pictures, and the beautiful land of the Skywalker Ranch (AKA The Maniac Mansion) on the background, it would be cool!

Alessander - Nov 21, 2015 at 21:14

I second this request, but with hopes that the podcast is related to a new game from the team behind Thimbleweed Park © ! WHATEVER...

Arto - Nov 21, 2015 at 15:57

I just played Grim Fandango Remastered, and remember there was a comment in commentary, that the fastest a dev played whole GF through was under 2 hours. I haven't played GF in 16 years so can't remember anything from the first run, and as I was playing I thought the game is HUGE. I think it took well over 20 hours for me to complete the game. So if only the Thimbleweed Park's town takes 2 hours for a developer to complete might mean the whole game is larger than Grim Fandango? And therefore, I think, way larger than Maniac Mansion or the first two Monkey Islands?

Disclaimer: I've played MM and Monkey's so many times over the last 20 years that I have no idea how much time it would take to complete those the first time around.

Ron Gilbert ✓ - Nov 21, 2015 at 18:06

It take me two hours right now. As you play more and more, you find little shortcuts that make it faster and faster. By the time the game ships, it might be down might to 30 mins. For example, this is this completely optional part of the town that 95% of all first time players will do. Skipping that saves me 30 minutes right now. This is also not powering through the dialogs using the period key.

Carlo Valenti - Nov 24, 2015 at 06:34

Is the self-playing script still useful in this moment?

Zarbulonian - Nov 21, 2015 at 16:36

Do you remember what had to be cut out of Indy 3? I'm curious about what we missed.

I loved that game, I played it before I had the chance to watch the movie, so I discovered the story the way you told it. It was awesome.

David Fox ✓ - Nov 22, 2015 at 14:01

You might be the only person on the planet who played the game before the movie. So, what was it like to watch the movie afterwards? Did reversing the order work for you?

Ema - Nov 22, 2015 at 17:05

I started playing the game before I saw the movie. Then I saw the movie to look for hints, since I was stuck in the castle. Obviously it didn't work... :-)

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Nov 22, 2015 at 18:04

Just a curiosity... how did you succeed to play indy 3 before the movie?! I had the game only a few months after, on the Amiga 500... it was really funny to play a game with many parts identical to the movie (my favourite is the one located in Venice :-) )

Zarbulonian - Nov 23, 2015 at 10:02

Oh yes, it did. Among other things, it was fun to get the "don't ask" lines were referring to.

The film has a fast pace and great delivery, knowing the plot and some of the jokes wasn't an impediment to enjoying it.

Still, do you remember what had to be cut out?

Arto - Nov 23, 2015 at 14:27

It's quite probable that I played the game before I had the chance to see the movie, as the game was published on July and the movie was released Sep 15 on big screen in Finland, and I never saw it on big screen. Can't really remember if it was this way around, so I have to guess what was it like to see the movie after playing the game: I think it was thrilling to see the game to come alive on film. The places and dialogue similar to the game was like watching a high resolution talkie version of the game. It was rewarding in a similar fashion as a cutscene is usually in a adventure game.

I actually read the book some years after the movie, so I really went backwards, as it's usually book > movie > game. Then again, the book was made from the script, and not vice versa.

Zarbulonian - Nov 24, 2015 at 09:17

Yes indeed, I couldn't have expressed it better.

RedPhantom - Nov 23, 2015 at 18:05

The Indy adventure game was my introduction to the Indiana Jones franchise when I was about 5 years old. I remember watching the movie and being stoked at seeing parts from the game in the movie. They remain my favorite movies to date.

Sushi - Nov 24, 2015 at 01:21

Movie? What movie? ;-)
I do remember the confusion about the two games (action game/adventure) and disappointment when I realised that the better one was not available on C64.

Andreas Capek - Dec 03, 2015 at 02:28

I played the game before I watched (or was allowed to watch) the movie too, the game made me a fan of Indiana Jones and computer games :)

It was funny to see that there were a whole lot more action bits in the movie, but as well how quickly the Joneses got to the plane in the Zeppelin. The whole labyrinth filled with Nazi guards was only one 12 foot long corridor! What a ripoff!

mr. T - Nov 27, 2015 at 12:34

I think I saw the movie first, not sure. But for some reason it felt really exciting that the game and the movie had this pretty tight connection. Maybe you could feel the game being even more 'alive' that way? I wish it could be possible to make another classic Indy adventure game...

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Nov 21, 2015 at 16:45

Hi, it's a rainy cold night in Italy now, so... I decided to spend some hours playing Zak McKracken Between Time And Space, after a few months of stop... and I made many progresses! I remember the same thing occurred while playing Maniac Mansion or Zak McKracken: sometimes I was stuck, or I did something wrong at the wrong moment... but after a few days or weeks of stop, the game became magically clearer, and I did progresses.
10 minutes ago, I asked myself if the podcast was already ready... and with my surprise, I found it! :-)

Nothing to add, I'm happy to hear your voices, every time. Everyone of you is working hard... thanks for existing!

Carlo Valenti - Nov 21, 2015 at 17:56

also here in Genova, ten degrees lower in two hours!... But still chasing news 'bout TP!

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Nov 21, 2015 at 18:37

Ciao, I live in Brescia!
Maybe tomorrow it will snow... what a joy :-)
Nice to meet you, Carlo!

Carlo Valenti - Nov 22, 2015 at 16:45

nice for me, too!

Sushi - Nov 21, 2015 at 17:37

I can't quite make out what you're saying there at the end. "Do you guys ever shop at all weddings?" "Do you guys ever see the old headings?"
The more I listen to it the more unintelligible it becomes.

Ron Gilbert ✓ - Nov 21, 2015 at 18:03

Shop on Black Friday.

Sushi - Nov 21, 2015 at 18:27

Thx for the answer, Ron. That does make a lot more sense :) have a happy thanksgiving!

Mattias Cedervall - Nov 21, 2015 at 19:08

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROBERT!

Peter Campbell - Nov 21, 2015 at 22:21

It's funny, Ron was saying originally that the podcasts would be less than 10 minutes long from the get go, and then they kept getting a little bit longer, and a little bit longer, and now nearly a year later they're regularly close to 20-25 minutes (except yesterday's/today's lol).

I'm not complaining of course, I love all of this and when I think about it it is still pretty amazing how fan-oriented and open and honest these people are when 95% of developers would never even consider for a moment of doing a development blog site similar to this one.

Iron Curtain - Nov 21, 2015 at 22:53

To be fair, a big chunk of that 95% is due to the fact that the NDAs prohibit transparency such as those that Ron Gilbert has provided.

Mike McP - Nov 23, 2015 at 21:08

If it's a sales technique, it's working (and they're horrible planners, because anyone reading this already made that fateful decision).

It kinda seems like this is a group of people that would hang out together (at least the core team), so it's fun to listen to, because there's chemistry. In my head, I picture them just going on and on all day, spending my seed money on fine liquor and online poker.

Helge Frisenette - Nov 22, 2015 at 02:19

If Ron is the Brian Wilson of game developers then who is the Paul McCartney? Miyamoto?
Imagine those two doing a game together! It would either be a beautiful mutt or the best game in history.

Paulup - Nov 22, 2015 at 09:10

Ken and Roberta Williams are the George Martin
Tim Schafer is the Quincy Jones
Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy are the Rick Rubin

Helge Frisenette - Nov 22, 2015 at 17:26

I'm not sure how that makes any kind of sense?

Ron is equivalent to Brian because he is a lone wolf kind of creative with a childish streak. Gentle, and with the need for collaborators of his own standard and sensibility. Drifts in and out of the limelight with years of silence and then does weird projects that are only really appreciated later.

Miyamoto is Paul because his is whimsical, seemingly social and extroverted. Plays instruments and music with and earthy, folksy tinge. Haircut. Does godly work with the right collaborators and average forgettable stuff with the wrong but not necessarily bad partners. References childhood and playful secrecy/mysticism.

Paulup - Nov 22, 2015 at 19:11

Ken and Roberta are the early giants with lots of hits at Sierra, like George Martin produced hits with The Beatles...
Tim Schafer had the biggest kickstarter with Broken Age, and Quincy Jones produced the biggest selling album, Michael Jackson's Thriller...
Scott and Mark are the zany misfits with their edgy Space Quest series, like how Rick Rubin made edgy hits with Run DMC, Slayer, Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc.

Wluut - Nov 23, 2015 at 11:41

Is it just me who thinks this podcast is actually the work of a podcast bot?

Carlo Valenti - Nov 23, 2015 at 15:03

I don't know, I just switched on my ListenBot several months ago :)