Thimbleweed Park Podcast #61

by Ron Gilbert
Sep 30, 2016

Finally!!!!!

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

You can also get the podcast directly from iTunes.

- Ron

tcmsurfer - Sep 30, 2016 at 10:00

First to make a comment, however I need to go shopping first and arrive at home before I can listen to it.

Thanks Ron! Have a safe stay and trip back.

Akolade - Sep 30, 2016 at 11:50

Does anyone know more about "Cast"(?) the thing Ron says they are using for recording the podcasts (instead of Skype). Google isn't helpful, maybe it's spelt differently..

Brian Small - Sep 30, 2016 at 11:59

I don't know for sure, but perhaps: https://tryca.st/

David Fox ✓ - Sep 30, 2016 at 13:35

Yes, that's what we're using.

Ignacio - Sep 30, 2016 at 12:01

Dear Ron: unlike other podcasts, I can't download this one. You may have forgotten to activate the option to allow us to download it. If I can't download it to my phone, I won't be able to listen to it tonight while returning home on "el 71"!! (a Buenos Aires bus line).

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Sep 30, 2016 at 12:36

You are right. Me too, I can't download it from here.

Nor Treblig - Sep 30, 2016 at 13:50

You can find the download link in the RSS feed:
http://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/285421366-grumpygamer-thimbleweed-park-podcast-61.mp3

Big Red Button - Sep 30, 2016 at 16:47

Though, the RSS feed for the whole dev blog isn't updated yet.

Ron Gilbert ✓ - Sep 30, 2016 at 16:10

Fixed. Thanks for the heads up.

Tralalalah 2 - Sep 30, 2016 at 12:34

Pepe the frog is a grand wizard of the Super-KKK and a Trump supporter.... i didnt know that. But the news says so, so it gotta be true. The news never lies, unless it is Fox News. Because one can only be biased to one side. That is a fact,

Ricardo Marichal - Sep 30, 2016 at 13:17

Second try: When are you going to write about the music of Thimbleweed Park in this blog ? Thanks !!

Juan Martín - Sep 30, 2016 at 13:20

Ron, I heard you said you were going to Argentina. are you going to Buenos Aires?
What are you going to do there?
(I'm from Buenos Aires myself... though I do not currently live there)

Dieter - Sep 30, 2016 at 17:22

He is already there: https://twitter.com/grumpygamer/status/781490131257524225

Mattias Cedervall - Sep 30, 2016 at 13:24

Thank you very much for the nice birthday gift, David, Gary and Ron! <3 Although I'm not sure I have the time to listen to it today in case I get a guest soon or if I will visit a friend and get a gift.

Carlo Valenti - Sep 30, 2016 at 16:35

Happy Birthday, thimbler!

Mattias Cedervall - Sep 30, 2016 at 17:50

Thank you very much, Carlo! :-) It has been a really good day, one of the best. :D

Ema - Oct 01, 2016 at 06:22

I like the word "Thimbler".

Is this the first time it is used?

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Oct 01, 2016 at 00:28

Hyvää syntymäpäivää, Mattias!
Hope I can trust Google Translator so far!!

Arto - Oct 01, 2016 at 15:10

You got it right, with wrong language :)
Grattis Mattias!

Mattias Cedervall - Oct 01, 2016 at 19:12

Tack, Arto! :-)

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Oct 01, 2016 at 01:14

I meant:
Grattis på födelsedagen !
(I confused Finnish for Swedish, sorry :-) )

Mattias Cedervall - Oct 01, 2016 at 06:50

Tack så mycket, Zak! :-)

I know some Finnish because I have friends from Finland so that's okay.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Oct 01, 2016 at 13:12

Pohlkunka!!!
(It's khura'inese)

Flor - Oct 01, 2016 at 01:07

Where you staying un Argentina? I wanna see yoooouu 😭😭😭😭

John - Oct 01, 2016 at 04:40

Hi Ron, I've not listened to podcast yet, so maybe you addressed it there. But:

You say you'd only make MI 3a if you owned the licence. But I am confused since you didn't own the licence when you did MI 1 & 2 - LucasArts did. How is this different to making MI 3a under Disney licence? Are you primarily concerned about creative freedom? (I know LucasArts pretty much had an off-hands approach).

Anyway, As I am waiting for Timbleweed Park, I replayed the original MI 1 & 2. I really hope your next project will be MI 3a with the old school style like Thimbleweed. I hope you can sort it out, even if it means working under Disney licence (like Telltale, although I am not a fan of them due to the 3D approach rather than old-school).

If not, maybe you can come up with something similar to MI, change a few names etc :D

Love you man, keep up the GREAT work!

Balloon Boy - Oct 01, 2016 at 08:46

I can't speak for Ron, but I do know that Disney isn't much interested in making real games anymore, ie: games that aren't dull pointless freemium apps. They abruptly shut down their major game studio recently and laid everyone off, including several of my friends. But that's the way it is with Disney, artists are at the bottom of the food chain, and unfortunately that even extends to high-level art positions. So even if Ron did go back to work on a new Monkey Island, they'd probably treat him like crap and not give him any creative control over it. Every decision he made would have to be sent up the chain-o-command and be returned to him with pages of notes on what the marketing dept. wants him to change to maximize its appeal to tweens.

john - Oct 01, 2016 at 10:21

Thanks for the information. That makes sense - from earlier interviews with Ron I understood that in the early days of Lucasarts he and his small team had a lot of freedom and were pretty much left "to their own devices". As you say, this no longer seems an option with this new corporate monstrosity. Not much hope then for new MI 3a. But I still hope Ron will continue making more old school point and click 2D adventures after this project, I will certainly support them. A pirate game with different name and characters would be my second best thing!

Big Red Button - Oct 01, 2016 at 10:24

Correct. It's because of the creative freedom indeed. He assumes that the Disney marketing team would like to modernize the game.

See here: https://youtu.be/voJvtZ3jnL4?t=12m19s

Big Red Button - Oct 01, 2016 at 11:28

By the way, in this interview, he also tells later on that he would never make a Monkey Island rip-off.

In my opinion, Ron should construe the idea of a rip-off a bit more extensively: If you ignore the pirates and the monkeys, the most important ingredient of MI is the story about a fortune-favored naif, which takes place in the farther past in a maritime environment. And, of course there also would have to be both a dreadful villain and a seemingly unreachable woman (the cliffhanger).
Oh, I almost forgot about the art style and the bobbing heads! :-)

By the way, the fewer playable characters a game has, the more does the player relate to each one of them.

Dieter - Oct 01, 2016 at 12:55

But a "rip-off" hasn't to be a "rip-off" :) Ron could make a MI3a. In that game he replaces all characters and copyrighted names. I.e. the could rename Gubyrush Threepwood to "Pete Pirate". So the game doesn't violate any IPs. Then he allows the community to replace these texts and graphics, so they could ... uhm ...translate the game in other ... ehm ... languages. :)

If Ron doesn't like that idea, there is another possibility: Ron could do a MI3a fan adventure and release it for free. (Disney allows or at least tolerates free fan adventures - think about Zak McKracken 2) Problem: How to finance such a project.

Big Red Button - Oct 01, 2016 at 14:04

I like your first idea! Why not allowing a fan-made MI mod for an adventure game made by Ron, which is accidentally similar to MI! Thanks to replaceable texts and graphics, such a game would surely satisfy every fan. By the way, the TWP engine is already going to allow for replaceable texts!
If Ron really owns the IP one day (which seems to be unlikely), he could eventually replace the names officially, elsewise he at least made the third game "in disguise". Better this way than never!

Though, it seems that Ron isn't even interested in such a customizable solution. I therefore still hope that he takes my previous suggestion to heart.

Dieter - Oct 01, 2016 at 19:31

Yes, it's my impression too that Ron isn't interested in such a solution. :)

But we have to accept that Ron will never get the IP. Not in this life. Disney won't sell his IPs to one person. And no, wonders won't happen in the real world.

So Ron has to decide: If he *really* want to do a MI3a, he has to go other ways (like the ones we suggested). Otherwise he and we won't see a MI3a. I, for myself, don't believe that we will see a MI3a from Ron. (See the post from Nathan below.)

Big Red Button - Oct 03, 2016 at 06:39

It's somehow interesting that Ron would like to buy the IP even though he doubts that the game would be marketable. If the game was really appropriate for fans only, spending a lot of money in order to buy the IP first would make the game even more expensive, so that it would be even less profitable. So, from an economical point of view, there may not even be any official way to make exactly the 3a he would like to make, unless it would be much more profitable than Ron assumes.

Dieter - Oct 03, 2016 at 07:55

The game is marketable. :) Adventure games are a niche. But within this niche MI is a very strong IP. Nearly all adventure game fans are knowing Monkey Island. The sales of MI3a would be significant higher than the ones of Thimbleweed Park. And at the moment pixel graphics are state of the art. :)

Beside that, MI is Rons "baby". So it's a matter of heart for him.

Nathan - Oct 01, 2016 at 15:58

Having had imilar questions and asking Ron issesently in the past (sorry Ron), let me attempt to answer based on the things Ron has said in the past.

Now, the first thing I'm about to type is complete conjecture. I believe it to be sound though. When Ron had initially made MI I & II, he was still new to the industry. At those points in time, Lucas Arts provided a platform for creating and publishing games that was just not possible to do independently. Keep in mind both games were published long prior to high speed internet connections being commonplace.

As is the norm with any business, as an employee, all creative works are the company's property unless you are able to license them to that company. In the case of MI I & II it would appear they were created during the course Ron's work duties, which would have made it impossible for him to claim ownership of the property. This is unlike Sam Purcell's Sam & Max, where he clearly created those characters outside of the context of his employment.

At some point Ron realized that although he had technically created something, he did not own it. It only enriched that company and ultimately he had no control over it.

I'm guessing this is why Ron left Lucas Arts to form Humungous (sp?), but to be honest, I can't recall him discussing that in detail. Next Friday Questions I'll ask him.

From what I can tell, there were opportunities that started to open up to Ron when Lucas Arts was still owned by George, where he would have been open to creating MI 3a under a licensing deal. I'm assuming that was contingent on Ron having full creative control.  Unfortunately, due to what I would call complete mismanagement of the Lucas Arts business, things never stayed stable long enough for such a deal to be finalized.

Since then, Disney has now come into the picture. Unlike the quite independent environment George afforded Lucas Arts, Disney is a corporate beast. If done under a Disney license there is absolutely no way Ron would be afforded final say on anything. Disney has a very specific image to hold up and there are many layers of people responsible for maintaing that. Neither you, me, or anyone else wants a MI 3a tinged with that kind of oversight.

In addition, Making a game under Disney would only reward Disney.  Clearly, MI was created completely independently of Disney and there is no sound rationale that Ron should put in such effort to have another entity benefit from it.  It's a shame Lucas did nit release IPs to their creators prior to selling off his company. This is especially true with the Lucas Arts properties given Disney is not even in the gaming industry. It's sad really that someone can just sit on IPs like that.

I have faith that one day it will all work out. Until then Lets enjoy what Ron can control  and create.

Nathan - Oct 01, 2016 at 16:06

That was typed on my phone. Many appologies for odd spellings, grammar, and capitalizations.

Someone - Oct 01, 2016 at 06:00

Ron, in the podcast you said that you can't cut or change some things because you promised it in the Kickstarter. Could you give a (short) example? In the Kickstarter you promised only:
* five playable characters and
* multiple endings.
So all other things could be changed ...?

Big Red Button - Oct 01, 2016 at 14:19

There have been some announcements regarding the story on the website of the Kickstarter campaign:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thimbleweedpark/thimbleweed-park-a-new-classic-point-and-click-adv/description

For instance, the 'dead body found in the river'. Or, descriptions of Delores, Ransome and Franklin.

Someone - Oct 01, 2016 at 17:06

"For instance, the 'dead body found in the river'. Or, descriptions of Delores, Ransome and Franklin."

The announcements are all referring the five characters, including the dead body. :) There are only a very few descriptions of some of the buildings. Ok, and a murder - but changing that would change the whole story. :)

And the team changed the graphics style and only a few backers complained. So why not "cutting" a character if it is necessary?

Big Red Button - Oct 01, 2016 at 17:51

As to the graphics style, I think that it was pretty clear that the artworks were rather placeholders and that the style may change a bit during the development process. Anyway, they never claimed that the game would look exactly that way.
This heavy change of the art style has been enabled primarily by Mark Ferrari, whose involvement had not been foreseeable back during the kickstarter campaign. He joined the team unexpectedly a few months after the campaign had ended. Moreover, I think that the stylistic changes have been appreciated by the bigger part of the backers. I personally consider them as improvements.

The characters were described in black and white on the kickstarter page. So, there is actually a kind of a commitment to implement all of them somehow. In my opinion, a single character would have sufficed, but, on the other hand, I appreciate that they keep their promises. It's just honest and it suggests that they take the kickstarter campaign (and the backers as well) seriously.

Big Red Button - Oct 01, 2016 at 17:59

By the way, No Man's Sky reminds us of what can happen if you neglect a promise:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/37506501/no-mans-sky-investigated-over-misleading-adverts

Someone - Oct 01, 2016 at 19:05

Well, the problem here is the lack of communication and what they promised.

Someone - Oct 01, 2016 at 19:15

"I think that it was pretty clear that the artworks were rather placeholders"

Yes, but some of the backers hoped to get a Maniac-Mansion-style game. This is what the graphics (and the descriptions) implied.

"The characters were described in black and white on the kickstarter page. So, there is actually a kind of a commitment to implement all of them somehow."

Excatly. But this is the only thing the team is commited to. So I assume that Ron would like to "cut" one of the characters out of the story. :) All other changes won't even get noticed by the players because we don't know the (full) story. And that's why I would like to know what kind of things Ron would like to change. :)

But even such a big step like removing one of the characters is still possible, if the team explains (in a blog post) why they remove the character. I assume that only a hand full of backers will complain...

Big Red Button - Oct 04, 2016 at 19:11

Like the majority on this blog, I agree that the team should feel free to make any changes which they think wouldn't impair the game, no matter what they promised on the kickstarter page. Seeing the current artworks, it has been very advantageous to modernize the visual style of the game.
I'm not sure if all announcements on Kickstarter are legally binding, but, of course, the team doesn't want to disappoint the backers. For this reason, they probably wouldn't like to change everything. How would it look like, if they released a game which differed at all points from the description on Kickstarter!

By the way, I assume that the development process has already advanced too far to make such a deep cut. It would throw the team back to redesigning the puzzles. Moreover, months of work on the particular character would have been spent in vain.

Someone - Oct 05, 2016 at 10:22

Yes, but it would be interesting to know what Ron likes to cut/change (and why!). :-) I still assume that he would like to "kill" at least one character. :)

Balloon Boy - Oct 01, 2016 at 15:47

For his next game pitch Ron should just put question marks in place of all the specific information... "Back the new adventure game by Ron Gilbert! Choose from ???? different characters and explore ???? number of locations as you attempt to unravel the mystery of what a ???? is doing in the ???? and why the ???? is ????ing the ????! Let the charming ????-rez ????-D graphics and ????-bit music pull you into the world of ????! To be released in 20??!" ...I'd be fun to see how many people would still back it.

Nathan - Oct 01, 2016 at 16:15

Serriously. All I care about is having the opportunity to play games made by the "Dream Team" of Adventure game developers/artists. Actually, I would rather work for /with that team, but playing their amazing games is a nice consilation prize.

Nathan - Oct 01, 2016 at 16:16

Spelling!

Andrew Hanson - Oct 04, 2016 at 11:47

I sense a load of sarcasm and disappointment here... Personally, to hell with ruining a good story by telling the backers every detail in the game before releasing it. Everyone knows who these guys are and that the end product will be superbly executed. Who cares if things change? They're staying exceptionally close to the original feel of point & click adventure games considering the day and age we live in and the audience they have to attract if we wanna see another game from these guys, which I and many others definitely will.

Just anticipate the greatness and don't sweat all the details so much. The story, gameplay, puzzles, atmosphere... It's all gonna be amazing. It's gonna be the game you remember playing all those years ago, not the game you actually played.

Arto - Oct 01, 2016 at 16:37

Is Tampermonkey Thimbleweed Park™ blog fixes working for everyone else? My Safari refuses to show new messages count and skip-to-links. Also, I need to do the math myself and remember my name when posting a new message.

Someone - Oct 01, 2016 at 17:09

Use a real browser. ;-) No, just kidding. I'm not using Safari and have no issues.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Oct 01, 2016 at 18:38

It still works regularly on my Firefox or Chrome.

Arto - Oct 01, 2016 at 18:59

I replied with my work computer's Safari, which is magically conneced to my home Safari. At home I have Tampermonkey and at work I don't, so I guess that must have screwed the system up. I tried to reset the script, and uninstall-install, with no avail.

Nor Treblig - Oct 01, 2016 at 22:59

I don't use Safari, only tested it on Chrome and FireFox on Windows.
Did it work before? I don't know how this magical connection between those two Safaris work.
Is anything working at all, e.g. the configuration dialog? Are there any error messages in the developers console of the browser?

Arto - Oct 02, 2016 at 01:00

It worked before. I checked the developers console, and here's what it says: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/jg0nxgj8nf5ygck/thimbleweedparkblogfix.png

Nor Treblig - Oct 02, 2016 at 01:36

Strange. The error seems to happen in jquery script. I don't know where the line numbers come from because the script is only 4 lines long...
Is the settings dialog working normally? That's the first thing which is setup.

replace
// @require https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.2.2/jquery.min.js
with
// @require https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.2.2/jquery.js
and check the console again, it should now have proper line information and function names.

Arto - Oct 02, 2016 at 07:42

Settins dialog works normally.
I replaced jquery.min with jquery. This is the error I get now: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/qnmxn6oeq5xow1q/thimbleweedparkblogfix2.png

Nor Treblig - Oct 02, 2016 at 10:38

I don't know what's the problem: document (window.document) should not be undefined.
You could try the newest jQuery version: https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.1.1/jquery.js but I don't think it will be different.
Was recently Safari or Tampermonkey updated?

Arto - Oct 02, 2016 at 16:51

My computer did update something couple of days ago, and Safari's version is now 10.0, which was introduced on Sep 20, so I think Safari is the culprit here. I guess I just need to switch to Chrome.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Oct 02, 2016 at 04:55

[Insanity trend mode ON]
Pick up pen
Look at pen
"I have a pen."
Pick up apple
Look at apple
"I have an apple"
Use apple with pen
"Applepen."
...
... sorry.
[Insanity trend mode OFF]

Nor Treblig - Oct 02, 2016 at 10:13

Also you've just voided the warranty of your Apple product. Ugh.

Brian Bagnall - Oct 02, 2016 at 10:57

There's one difference between how multiple players are handled in Maniac Mansion/The Cave vs. Thimbleweed. In those two games you select characters at the beginning of your game, which means the team is creating content that players might never see and with Maniac Mansion it is probably very complex to make sure the game is playable start to finish with any combination. With Thimbleweed Park, you play all the characters with no possibility of missing out on content.

Nor Treblig - Oct 02, 2016 at 11:53

I think this was the intention that you don't have to play it all over again needing to repeat the overlapping parts (a complaint sometimes heard about The Cave).

Another difference is that the individual storylines are optional and you can get to the normal ending without them.

Big Red Button - Oct 02, 2016 at 12:28

I wonder why people complain about the overlapping parts, seeing that most of such games don't feature multiple characters at all. And, in MM there are overlapping parts, too. This is pretty usual.

By the way, if I remember correctly, Ron once said during an interview that The Cave was designed for a replay after a longer break, so that the player wouldn't remember every single puzzle.

Nor Treblig - Oct 02, 2016 at 15:26

Yes, he said he didn't anticipate that so many will play it again right away, with all characters, twice, until full completion.

Personally I really liked the game but it also came to my mind that at little tad of more variety wouldn't be bad (e.g. having random locations of the pipes on the island + an additional set of mine levels which can be alternated/randomised would have been enough).

MM: True, there weren't really a lot differences in playthroughs, also the non-Bernard-ones were pretty much the same. Even Green Tentacle didn't differentiate between the various characters when heeding the call...
But I don't think MM is really a benchmark for today's games.
But I can imagine Thimbleweed Park being the new benchmark one to match with!

Big Red Button - Oct 02, 2016 at 16:37

Well, I admit that it doesn't make any sense to compare The Cave with a game from '87, when the development of such a game was pioneer work.
As to TWP, I absolutely share your optimism.

Someone - Oct 02, 2016 at 17:05

The Cave and MM had "overlapping" parts, but for me they are completely different. I don't know why, but in The Cave the overlapping parts are *much* more annoying than the parts in MM. (I've played both games serval times to see all ends. :))

Maybe the parts in The Cave are more repetitive than the parts in MM. In MM you can explore the complete house with each character and they react different in some situations. In The Cave you have to repeat the same puzzles in the exactly same order.

Nor Treblig - Oct 02, 2016 at 18:40

You are right, in MM you could explore the house as you feel. You could do things a little bit different, try to optimse the routes while avoiding the Edisons etc.

The Cave is much more linear. Sounds plausible for being the reason feeling more annoying.

Jammet - Oct 03, 2016 at 12:37

I'd much rather compare this to DOTT. You have three characters instead of 5, but the game is completely linear, even though it's a time travel story.

Nor Treblig - Oct 04, 2016 at 03:25

DOTT reduced most of the complexity from Maniac Mansion by putting the three characters in different, enclosed areas (which was a design decision helping to keep sanity during game development).

But the puzzle solving itself is not linear though, take a look at the Puzzle Dependency Chart™: http://thewebsiteisdown.com/twidblog/day-of-the-tentacle-dependency-graph/

The chart for The Cave would look like a single chain of puzzles most of the time.

Ema - Oct 02, 2016 at 18:16

Hey!

I saw this movie before..... but I did'nt notice what happens at 9.57!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6m1BiRyzbw

Maybe they updated it?

Anyway, great locations. I envy this grown up people who have so much spare time.... :'(
Doing this must have been real fun.

Nor Treblig - Oct 02, 2016 at 18:44

I remember it from before. Maybe you read "The End" and turned the computer off right away. We are conditioned to act this way.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Oct 03, 2016 at 06:24

Ema, the locations are near Ferrara, and the director is Daniele Spadoni.
I suggested him to include the first intro of Thimbleweed Park in its Maniac Mansion movie, at the end.
He did the remaining part :-)

Ema - Oct 02, 2016 at 21:26

Uhm.... I learned not do so after finishing MI2....

Zombocast - Oct 02, 2016 at 23:33

Yet another pirates of the Caribbean movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpFMVcZ4o7U

Matt - Oct 03, 2016 at 14:53

Ron, what a pleasure was to have you hear in Argentina. I'm so glad to have backed this project, the blog and the podcasts are like a treasure for a guy who played your games growing up, and as someone interested on game dev. Managed to sneak a photo with you before the VJ16 talk ^^ I'll hang that up in frame right to my MI2 poster. You are an inspiration (and such a chill/cool guy). All the best!
- Matt

Carlo Valenti - Oct 03, 2016 at 15:33

@ThimbleMakers: are you feeling good with the end-of-January release?
And: are you looking forward to the new Trek series as I am?

Ron Gilbert ✓ - Oct 03, 2016 at 17:49

As we've alway said, it's early 2017. I can't guarantee January. There might be some good marketing reasons why we might want to move it out a few weeks, we need to see what else is releasing, how marketing is lining up etc. Feeling good about it, but it's a crazy time for a project. So much happens so fast.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Oct 04, 2016 at 06:47

Best Before March, 21st 2017. After that it's not 'early' anymore! :-)
But who cares, when it's ready, it's ready!

Someone - Oct 04, 2016 at 06:49

First: Take your time. But maybe you could write a blog post with/about the (updated) timeline? I'm just curious which tasks had to be done in the next month to finish and polish Thimbleweed Park. :-) It would be sufficient if you just post the steps without any dates. (I.e. "next we have to freeze the texts, then we will do the voice recordings...")

Stef - Oct 04, 2016 at 09:12

Ron, I think everybody here just loves you to bits (and bytes), and that we all can agree we'd better have the game delayed rather than the developer having an heart attack :-D

Carlo Valenti - Oct 04, 2016 at 13:15

Ok, got it!
But, most important: what about the new Trek series anyway?

Michael Hoffmann - Oct 04, 2016 at 20:38

Take as much time as you like, Ron! I would miss this blog so much I secretly hope the game will be postponed one or two years... :-)

Mattias Cedervall - Oct 05, 2016 at 19:48

I will watch the new Star Trek-series, but it has been delayed.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Oct 04, 2016 at 03:24

Today's work in office...
_Your password is expired. Please enter e new password._
rongilbert

_The password must contain upper and lower case characters
RonGilbert

_The password must contain numbers and at least one special character_
RonGilbertTheCreatorOfManiacMansionReleasedIn1987ZLORFIK!IMissedHim!

_Password accepted. Please retype your password_
....... doh!

Nor Treblig - Oct 04, 2016 at 03:27

Good thing you are using this password manager at blog.thimbleweedpark.com, you will never forget one again!

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Oct 04, 2016 at 05:29

Ahahaha right!

Someone - Oct 04, 2016 at 06:50

The problem is, that you have to remember the Seckrit Question...

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Oct 04, 2016 at 07:29

About which password is stronger or harder to find, according to the link in your name: I used to set a long sentence to remember my early passwords. I remember once I had to set a super-user-password for a software, which would be almost impossible to find.
Well, I chosed: "fammi vedere tutto per favore" (=let me see everything please), including spaces.
It worked, and I never forgotten it! :-)

Stef - Oct 04, 2016 at 09:04

Ahaha, I always use passwords such as "banale" ("trivial") and then tell people who ask me "la password é banale" ("the password is trivial"). They never get it.

Arto - Oct 04, 2016 at 16:51

Was The Secret of Monkey Island released by Lucasfilm Games or LucasArts? My copy says LucasArts, but that doesn't mean a lot.

Ron Gilbert ✓ - Oct 04, 2016 at 16:52

Lucasfilm Games. Monkey 2 was LucasArts.

Big Red Button - Oct 04, 2016 at 18:38

I assume that the copy factories changed the imprints, once Lucasfilm Games changed their name. So, you can read LucasArts on your copy. But, you would still see the logo of Lucasfilm Games, if you start the game.
Perhaps the CD-ROM version would show "LucasArts", because it was released later.
By the way, on the cover of my Special Editions, Disney have perpetuated their company's name, which looks out of place. Fortunately the font size is small!

Nor Treblig - Oct 05, 2016 at 15:31

According to LucasArts MI1 was released 1990, MI2 1991, MI1 CD-ROM/VGA version 1992, MI1:SE 2009 and MI2:SE 2010.
Note: While MI2 was already with LucasArts logo the VGA Version of MI1 from 1992 still used the Lucasfilm Games logo like the original did.

Are you talking about the Special Edition? It's the only one I know which shows LucasArts at the beginning. The original files still contain the Lucasfilm Games logo though.

Arto - Oct 05, 2016 at 19:17

Sorry, I was a bit vague. I meant the box, where - although it has Lucasfilm Games logo on it - the copyright text mentions that "™ and © 1990 LucasArts Entertainment Company. Lucasfilm Games is a trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd. The Secret of Monkey Island is a trademark of LucasArts Entertainment Company."

Interestingly, even though the reorganisation of Lucas companies happened 1990, the 1991 MI2 box still has a "logo" on front of the box saying "LucasArts™ / Lucasfilm™ Games". The side of the box has the LucasArts' golden guy, but even there, under the logo, it says "Lucasfilm Games".

Zombocast - Oct 05, 2016 at 19:40

Ron can you animate your terrible toybox logo. I loved the old pixilated golden guy for lucas arts... but it does get annoying when you have more than 1 company logo that animates at the start of games..so im torn on the animated or not

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Oct 05, 2016 at 23:53

Why, is there a Terrible Toybox logo?

Daniel Wolf - Oct 06, 2016 at 03:15

Good point. A quick Google search didn't bring up any logo. Then again, Thimbleweed Park is the first game created under the name of Terrible Toybox, so there's still time to create a mind-boggling animated logo.

Arto - Oct 06, 2016 at 04:20

Sure: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/652g15cwmevgpaf/TerribleToybox-logo.gif
(Not official.)

Dieter - Oct 06, 2016 at 04:48

The sound is missing ("Eeeiiioum. Ping!")

Big Red Button - Oct 06, 2016 at 06:19

... and, the resolution is a bit too high. :)

Some 8-bit-ish animations would also be nice - maybe something funny.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Oct 06, 2016 at 08:22

A Time Traveler has just given me the TerribleToybox logo, as it will be in 2018 !
- "After the great success of Thimbleweed Park" - he said - "the company changed its logo, after a big deal!"
Unbelievable!
I can show you the logo, directly from the future:
http://www.cinemapioxi.it/zak/TerribleToybox2018Logo.gif

Big Red Button - Oct 06, 2016 at 07:28

I would definitely prefer the style of the Lucasfilm Games logo. I didn't really like the LucasArts logo, because I never comprehended who that golden guy was supposed to be (not to mention what he is holding in his hands). Also, the purple 'set square' looked a bit strange.

By the way, since their corporate logo is independent from the crowd-funding campaign, they are completely unbound in creating their logo.

Big Red Button - Oct 06, 2016 at 07:46

Well, of course I know that the 'set square' is supposed to be an "L" and the golden guy is probably a symbol for a creative person who has an idea, but I nonetheless don't really like the aesthetics of the logo.

Dieter - Oct 06, 2016 at 07:59

Well, with the guy and the eye you are able to do some funny things - like LucasArts in some of their games. :)

Big Red Button - Oct 06, 2016 at 10:09

That's true, but I would have preferred a character who has been well-known from one of their games, instead of that strange guy. For instance, a golden tentacle.

Brian Small - Oct 06, 2016 at 12:22

OK, Admittedly somewhat topic - but I just found out about this retro gaming expo in my home town coming up in two weeks, and I'm trying to figure out how to carve a few ours out of my schedule to get over there for some of the talks. If anyone is in the Portland, Oregon area you may want to check it out: http://www.retrogamingexpo.com

mr. T - Oct 08, 2016 at 03:50

Perhaps it was just you being modest, but I think the podcast is on par with pro podcasts in quality. The sound fidelity is also very enjoyable. What kind of mics are you using? Do all three of you use the same model? I can't distinguish any difference on sound quality.

David Fox ✓ - Oct 11, 2016 at 19:52

We're all using different mics. I'm just using my iPhone earbuds! Maybe time for me to invest in a good USB mic.

mr. T - Oct 26, 2016 at 16:45

Interesting. I thought each of you would have had those sweet radio type mics.