Thimbleweed Park Podcast #67

by Ron Gilbert
Apr 30, 2017

The very last Thimbleweed Park podcast... can we have a moment of silence.

WARNING: This podcast is filled with spoilers...

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



Miguel - Apr 30, 2017 at 21:34
Thanks for this! I've been waiting for this podcast since I finished the game. It's so interesting to listen to the old ones and see how the team goes around spoilers... No more!

Mikee - Apr 30, 2017 at 21:38
Thanks for delivering a great game, and can I be first in line to hand over my money when you start your next one?

Nor Treblig - Apr 30, 2017 at 22:11
The bank manager's room in b&w is actually in the data, hehe.

One room I've searched in the wireframe world and couldn't find was the factory interior which we've seen in an early screenshot (hydraulic lift puzzle, complete with some rodent... :-)

Christian - May 01, 2017 at 16:22
You mean BankManagerSheet.png? That is not reachable from anywhere, is it?

Nor Treblig - May 01, 2017 at 16:50
It's not referenced anywhere.

Derrick Reisdorf - Apr 30, 2017 at 23:01
Dang.  I missed out on asking a question.  :/
Hopefully, all my questions will be answered.  Gotta beat the game 1st before listening, though.

Nor Treblig - Apr 30, 2017 at 23:56
You are playing a very dangerous game, visiting those blog posts full of spoilers...

Matt S - Apr 30, 2017 at 23:42
Loved the game, loved the ending.

Congratulations on a great game and to all involved!

The End

Nor Treblig - Apr 30, 2017 at 23:56
https://soundcloud.com/grumpygamer/thimbleweed-park-podcast-67#t=12:11

Regarding a-reno: It was already a thing on this blog post from 2015-06-30:
https://blog.thimbleweedpark.com/dialog_puzzles (now I can finally read all this stuff like early dialog without the fear of spoilers!)

Zombocast - May 01, 2017 at 00:32
Will we ever learn the secret of Thimbleweed park?

Franklin and Chuck's killer
Beta Security Tape
Buried under the X in the forest
Agent Ray's employer

Maybe the baloon animal murder weapon is the key!

Carlo Valenti - May 01, 2017 at 08:21
You can learn the secret. It's in the game, pretty much in clear.

Nor Treblig - May 01, 2017 at 09:48
The Betamax tape puzzle chain is explained in detail during this podcast.

Andrew Herron - May 01, 2017 at 00:53
Thank you for all the hard work you've put into both the game and the podcast.

Love the game and I will happily fund another kickstarter if you decide to do one!

R.C.M. - May 01, 2017 at 01:10
A very bittersweet moment, this final podcast. I think I have something in my eye...
Thanks to the TWP crew and fans, I really, really hope we get to do this again!

The most important question of all: Will we ever hear missing Podcast #46?

hoetz - May 01, 2017 at 02:30
Had a great time, thanks!
btw, do the collectors edition boxes actually exist? Can't find any youtube videos or images.
I really regret not buying one now...

David Fox - May 01, 2017 at 14:37
Not yet. Stay tuned. You'll be able to buy one, but not a signed box. That's only for backers at that level.

Soren Ladegaard - May 01, 2017 at 03:48
I think I'll wait with this podcast until I have finished the game.

But did they answer the question about the sales statistics? Are they satisfied with the number of copies shipped?

Dr_Qrunch - May 01, 2017 at 04:42
Yup. I too will wait until I've finished the game. Must remain pure!

Thomas - May 01, 2017 at 04:44
Thanks for all the insight into game development  and thanks for that wonderful game.

Robert Green - May 01, 2017 at 05:14
Thanks for the podcast-a-renos. I look forward to their return for your next game-a-reno.

Dominik - May 01, 2017 at 05:22
Great podcast - let's hope it's not the last one EVER :-)

Regarding judging the game:
I feel like I have to look at the game in two different views: a) Look at it like it objectively is and b) look at it knowing the development history. Judging by a) i think it's a really solid, funny adventure game. Judging by b) it's an increddible accomplishment. I feel like a lot of the smaller things that bug me wouldn't be there had you guys had more resources - but even witht his niggles it holds up really well. But knowing what resources you had it's just fantastic. Thank you guys very much for some wonderful pseudo-co-op gaming evenings my wife and i had :-)

Regarding characters not talking to each other:
This is something that I also noticed a few times. Like: Why would Ransome help them out? One thing that could've really helped would be an introduction dialog between the characters (like when Ray and Reyes decided to keep pushing forward together). But other than that; I didn't mind the typical "What do you think we should do now?"-pseudo-help-dialog. One thing that would've been cool (and can still be implemented, since it can be cut together from what you have): Characters could "greet" each other when passing them. Walk with Ray past Reyes and it would go like "Reyey." and the response would just be "Ray." . But pass another character with Ransome and he would say "Hello again *beep* face" and the answer would depend on the character. This would make them feel much more alive and organic. Now it feels like robots that are on standby when you are not controlling them (also: my interpretation for the blackouts are debugging sessions)

Verbs on/for characters:
I didn't mind this. I think it was actually helpful that the game just didn't give you some sentences so you would know not to explore in that direction. One thing I would've liked is a special quirk for each character. Like Franklin did have his very own set of verbs. Ransome could have an "Insult" verb that you could use on other people to trigger responses. It would have been especially funny to repeatedly insult the Voodoo-Lady and she would threaten you with a different course each time. Ray could have a "Bade" verb to hold the badge in front of everyone and so on.

Regarding broader audience:
Since you already have two game modes and enhanced all backgrounds to full screen for your transparent UI, why not add a "Story mode" that is a lot closer to Tell Tales Stuff and ditches the verb menu for a simple UI? Of course it's also a lot of work - but since you alrady have all the cool fullscreen background art and two game modes in place a simplified half-automatic mode could be feasible if you really want to reach a wider audience. It wouldn't take away from the hard core mode.

To use Rons phrasing: I hope the game has a strong, thick, and very long tail.... :D

Looking forward to the box! Bye!

tomimt - May 02, 2017 at 04:46
What you said about "story mode" does remind me a bit of Shadowgate remake. Now, they didn't do full out story mode, but they did include several difficulty levels, of which the most difficult one is very punishing, but the easiest one removes a  lot of puzzles that have no direct plot connection as well as makes the gameplay more forgiving.

The easy mode in it is suitable for the first timers, who don't necessarily want to drown in swapping torches all the time or want to solve every obscure puzzle the game has and want to see the story, whereas the hardest mode is suited for those who want a challenge.

Claire - May 01, 2017 at 05:37
I'm still playing Thimbleweed Park (slowly to make the amazingness last) and so I haven't listened to the podcast fully. But I wanted to say thank you for the interesting podcast each "week" and the blog too. It's been a pleasure to read and hear about everything that has been going on in the game and game design. If you guys were thinking about it, I would be interested in listening to a podcast where you guys talk about different aspects of the games industry, game creation, the relationship between art and coding, etc. I thought I would throw that out there and if something came from it then awesome, if not, no problem! Also sorry if something like this was mentioned in the podcast... When I finish the game, I will listen to it and read the final blog posts.

Big Red Button - May 01, 2017 at 06:23
I don't understand either why some people complained about the number of references. Well, I'm convinced that the game wouldn't have needed it, because the creators are creative enough to make the game equally interesting without them. I also think that the game could have been more individual without this number of references, and, there were much less references in the Lucasfilm games. But, seeing that this has been a Kickstarter project which is not only made possible by fans of the Lucasfilm games but also supposed to be a spiritual successor of MM, I'm totally okay with it. Maybe some non-backers had no appreciation for this fact.

Mister T - May 01, 2017 at 12:29
Because it takes away from the originality. The steady refering to past glory is something one expects from fan made games. A new game needs to establish its own world first. E.g. I like that one can phone Edna, because it is an easter egg. I don't like that the diner is obviously run by two former game characters, because that is one in-your-face name-dropping. So even as a backer I think it could have been toned down.
Which ironically it gets later in the game as most references are built into the environment, therefore one finds them when exploring it, early in the game, which is also the time when the game has to show the reviewers that it is more than a retro exercise. In that light I am not sure one can blame the journalists for not refusing the easiest narrative and for being more influenced by the talk about the past and the picture of a dusty 5,25" floppy disc on the kickstarter page than anything Ron has said about the game since then.

Big Red Button - May 01, 2017 at 16:22
Well, I was happy about several easter-eggs such as Chuck the plant and the navigator's head, but I hadn't expected this number of easter-eggs either. It's a matter of opinion whether it annoys you. However, seeing the new characters, the noir style, the introduction of the two agents and the short chapter of Boris at the beginning, I think that the game establishes its own world right from the start.
If there is an aspect in the game that impairs the narrative, it might be the large number of characters, as I recently mentioned on this blog.
By the way, the number of parallel storylines is also a weak point of the Lord of the Rings movies, in my opinion. When you intend to create a dramatic story, you better focus on extremely few characters. That's why the Star Wars saga has been primarily about the Skywalker family, even though it takes place in an infinite universe.

Nor Treblig - May 01, 2017 at 16:59
I even liked the tutorial screenshots, a pre-intro before the intro.

Carlo Valenti - May 02, 2017 at 14:21
That was really nice, indeed

Big Red Button - May 02, 2017 at 14:36
Yeah, I agree.

DrJ - May 01, 2017 at 07:16
Thanks to all of the team. Good night and good bye. :)

Arto - May 01, 2017 at 10:28
Ah, my question about box cover art was answered! Thank you. I'm glad it will be a painted classic cover.

DZ-Jay - May 01, 2017 at 10:43
Regarding the characters talking to each other and people getting stuck in some puzzles, I can relate to the concerns.  More than once, I struggled with getting a particular character to do a task because he or she is the one with the knowledge of its solution.

For instance, when Agent Reyes got stuck in the sewers and I couldn't find a dime, my wife suggested that I use Agent Ray's cell phone.  I quickly turned her down saying, "but I can't hand over the cell phone to Agent Rayes... and he's the one who found the emergency phone number..."

In my mind, I quickly ran through various ways I could somehow "convey" the emergency phone number to agent Ray for her to call, and I got slightly stuck there.  It didn't occur to me at all that *I* had knowledge of the number and because of that *I* could have Agent Ray dial the number.

It was my wife who gave me that solution, to which I responded with "DOH! Of course!" -- yet felt a bit like cheating since *I* was not "in" the game.  It really felt like a work-around to finding the dime, and not natural at all.

I also noticed in the comments that this also happened to others in various other places, like getting the tools from Sexy Rikker.  Myself and others seemed to have fallen in the trap of expecting the character who followed Rikker to his room to somehow be the one to enter the room.  Then the puzzle becomes a struggle to figure out how to leave the door unlock, how to steal his card-key, how to sneak into the room after him, and any other completely useless action.

In a sense, it's hard to leave the game immersion in order to step out of the in-game logic and apply your personal understanding of the game world with a different character.  It feels... unnatural, and somehow incongruent with an adventure game.  Like a mixed metaphor.

    -dZ.

Ron Gilbert - May 01, 2017 at 10:57
If the "player" knows something and the "character" in the game does not, trust me, from years of experience, it would become beyond frustrating.  It's why we try and use objects as information. It's clear that one character is holding an object, and that is needed to solve a puzzle.  

What would happen if Reyes knew the phone number, and you switched to Ray and tried to dial it?  Would she refuse saying she didn't know the number?  That's would be odd since you (the player) can just blindly call numbers, why would she refuse to call this one number? Would number just ring and ring and no one answers?  That would also be very misleading, and maybe cause players to assume the number was wrong or disconnected. Why would it magically start to work when Reyes dialed it?

Unless the phone number was turned into a physical object that was also used to dial the phone, it would just be frustrating.  Of all the play testing we did, this issue with the phone never once came up, so I don't think it's a common issue.

Always error on the side of less frustrating.

Someone - May 01, 2017 at 11:29
"What would happen if Reyes knew the phone number, and you switched to Ray and tried to dial it? ..."

You could solve this, if you turn ...

"Unless the phone number was turned into a physical object that was also used to dial the phone, it would just be frustrating."

...  the phone number into an object. :) Let Reyes write the number on a piece of paper.

"That's would be odd since you (the player) can just blindly call numbers, why would she refuse to call this one number?"

Don't refuse it. Let her call the phone number. She could say: "That was luck." (or something more funny ;))

The "problem" with the phone numbers in TWP is, that the system behind it is complex. The player can call any time any number. This causes serverl problems.

Ijon - May 01, 2017 at 16:04
She would refuse to dial a random number because she has no idea whom to call due to a lack of information and there exist too many options for trial&error (this would be a waste of time and money). I'm fine with the way it was done, as long as it's consistent, but doing it the other way could have been fun as well (offering additional puzzle situations). In the end it's about how you prefer spending your resources.

DZ-Jay - May 01, 2017 at 16:08
Sorry, it wasn't meant as a criticism.  Perhaps it's a testament to the immersion created by the story.  It was just strange to think in terms of knowledge I am getting from one character but applying it to another.

I agree that blocking a character from performing an action that the player knows about but the character does not would lead to a lot of frustration.  I am not saying I have an answer for it, but perhaps there's a better way?  It seems to me that it reduces the efficacy (or the need to have) multiple playable characters.

Don't get me wrong, I like the multiple personalities of the characters, but their collaboration (such as it was) didn't feel so much as integral to the story or puzzles, but more like fully interchangeable "costumes."  Most of the time, I would pick one character to perform a solution because I already had him there, or because I got used to using that character.

Anyway, as always, I appreciate your responses. :)

   -dZ.

tomimt - May 02, 2017 at 05:00
I agree with you about that Ron. There's nothing as frustrating as you as a player knowing something and the characters just don't know it. It's just the worst thing you can do to a player to make them run around the game area, finding the right thing to do in order to make the character know that as well.

Someone - May 01, 2017 at 11:21
DZ-Jay: I totaly agree. I had exactly the same experience.

And you are absolutely right when you say: "In a sense, it's hard to leave the game immersion in order to step out of the in-game logic and apply your personal understanding of the game world with a different character."

In the podcast and earlier blog posts there is/was a comparison with Maniac Mansion: In that adventure all kids have the same goal, they are friends - and most people I know/knew played the whole game with only one kid. Only if you have to use the special abilities we switched to another kid(*). In TWP you have to switch between the characters several times, each of them has his/her own story and they are not closely relatetd to each other. That all together makes it more complicated for the player.

And another remark on marketing: In my perception TWP was marketed as an old-school adventure with retro stile. A lot of reviews emphasized that and implied that the game is primarily for old adventure fans. I think this prevents a lot of "new players" from buying TWP. And I don't think the easy mode was/is that important: The story catches the player very early. And with that you "force" the player to keep playing. :)

btw. Thanks for the podcasts! I will miss them! (And how do I now find out how the weather is ...? )

(*) All my friends played with Bernard ;). A typical session was: Let Dave open the door, walk with him into the kitchen so Enda was gone and Dave could open the door in the prison if needed. Place the second kid downstairs so you can open the door to the basement if needed. Switch to Bernard and solve the rest of the game. If you are fast enough Bernard can even feed the green tentacle. :)

Ron Gilbert - May 01, 2017 at 11:34
"In my perception TWP was marketed as an old-school adventure with retro stile"

That is not true at all. We never ever marketed the game that way, that was the press. They could not stop calling it a "throw back game". Even when they understood, they begin each article with how retro it was. It was amazingly frustrating for us. We never once (since the Kickstarter) called it a retro game.  Looks at the website. It doesn't talk about that at all, it's all about the story.  It's other people that can't get over that.All of our PR and trailers and social media was about the game, it was never about retro.

Someone - May 01, 2017 at 12:09
"We never ever marketed the game that way, that was the press."

Yes. But the result is the current situation. I don't know what you could have done to prevent that - I'm no marketing expert. :)

"We never once (since the Kickstarter) called it a retro game."

But you wrote it in the Kickstarter text. In addition with the graphics most backer/people/press thought of it as an old school adventure. And that was kept in their heads. Many press guys even used the old Kickstarter art ...

"They could not stop calling it a "throw back game". Even when they understood, they begin each article with how retro it was."

What if they are right? ;-)

- The game with his big pixels looks like an old Monkey Island. Modern games have hand drawn 2D art or using 3D characters.
- The game references the old games. You only get *all* jokes if you played MM, Zak and MI.
- The old verb interface is back. Most modern adventure games uses a one-click interface and they displays all hot spots.
- You have to solve puzzles! That's a shock to most new players.
- Most backers are old(er) adventure fans.
- Playing TWP feels like playing Maniac Mansion and/or Monkey Island.

If you take a step back, the game looks like an old school adventure, behaves like an old adventure game, so maybe it is actualy one? I know, you don't want to hear that. :-)

Anyway. I don't think, that this is a bad thing: With this "old school adventure" you got more attention. Even a german radio station mentioned TWP.  If you want to attract new gamers, why not with this claim: "If you want know what your parents played - try our game". (Have I said that I'm not a marketing expert? ;-))

But I think you can't make a game that satisfies all people: If you make a game for new players (like "Silence" or the Telltale games), the old players won't like it and vice versa. It would be really hard work to satisfy both groups. (But you did that partially with the Humongous Games: Children and adults liked them.)

Nor Treblig - May 01, 2017 at 12:29
Does it quack like an old school adventure game?

DZ-Jay - May 01, 2017 at 16:24
  It's other people that can't get over that.All of our PR and trailers and social media was about the game, it was never about retro.

Except for the whole "it's like finding an old LucasFilms game that you've never played in a dusty old drawer" bit.  That was the primary motivator of the Kickstarter and, for better or worse, the game is still linked to that as its genesis.  Many reviewers start their reviews pointing this out.

I know you guys tried really hard to point out that it's a modern take on the "Point-And-Click" adventure, but the pixelated graphics and the old-school verb interface reinforce to many the image of a "retro game."

I wouldn't blame the press on their own; the game can also be seen as a wonderfully heartfelt love-letter to old-school adventure games.  And I mean that in the most sincere and positive way imaginable. :)

I personally think the game has very wide appeal.  The rapid-fire in-jokes for fans of the genre may distract some (especially because there are sooooo many at the beginning that any non-adventure gamer who doesn't get them would still notice their copious abundance), but overall, I can imagine my nephews and nieces playing the game.

    -dZ.

tomimt - May 02, 2017 at 04:58
Well, considering it looks, feels and plays like a retro game, I can't really fault the press on calling it a throw back game, even if it was a modern take on them.

In the end what you did is modern retro., hence it goes in the slot of "throwback" wanted you it or not.

entropy - May 01, 2017 at 12:02
** SPOILERS **

Thank you again, TWP Team!

This has been a fantastic ride! :)

I wanted to finish this game without external help but failed.
It started off very good but with the radioactive waste I was lost.
I'm sure I could have strayed TWP for months without using it on the puddle.
And indeed, first time I got into the forest, I immediately knew
I should give it a try with the navigator head. :D
Not sure, though, if this actually prevented the puddle thing, since it's not
really an obvious thing to *me*.
Since I can't remember that forest entrance, when I first reached it:
Do we get to see water foot steps that fade when someone walks through the puddle?
This might have helped ... or, if so, I simply didn't take enough care. ;)

Then, Xavier's crystal gave me lots of headaches as it seemed to *me* that
there must be an solution when I actually had no chance to get it at that time.
Once the time has come, you get the crystal actually for free.
So there is one more option in the dialogue without a reason why this has actually
changed.

Since I was stuck with the puddle thing, the crystal was one of two
unsolved puzzle (other was the battery) so I invested quite a lot of time in this.
Obviously, the battery puzzle wasn't also solvable without the puddle. :D

Long story short, I tried hard (almost 30 hours) but failed to finish TWP without
two hints. *damn*

** SPOILERS **

When Ron says something about making direct sense of some scenes, and that sometimes
there isn't something like that; instead one should take it as a metaphor this strongly reminded
me of David Lynch answering questions targeting "Lost Highway" and "Mulholland Drive". :D
(I love these movies)

Somone - May 01, 2017 at 12:19
"When Ron says something about making direct sense of some scenes, and that sometimes there isn't something like that; instead one should take it as a metaphor this strongly reminded me of David Lynch answering questions targeting "Lost Highway" and "Mulholland Drive". :D"

But it's frustrating and disappointing for the most players. It's like the filmmaker said: "And I never will tell you what I meant with that, you *beeping* losers!" or "I didn't know how the story should end. So go ahead and make your own ending."

Ron Gilbert - May 01, 2017 at 12:24
That because modern audiences want every aspect of their stories hand feed to them. I don't and I won't do it. I love that you have to really think about Mulholland Drive or Eraser Head to make any sense of them. It's interesting to watch people slowly start to unravel what's happening in Thimbleweed Park. If it's frustrating, then this isn't the game for you. I'm OK with that.

Someone - May 01, 2017 at 12:59
"If it's frustrating, then this isn't the game for you. I'm OK with that."

But the players don't know that when they buy/bought the game. If you write: "A game like Mulholland Drive" all would be fine. :)

DZ-Jay - May 01, 2017 at 16:35
:: "If it's frustrating, then this isn't the game for you. I'm OK with that."

Said the game designer who wishes for wider appeal of his game in order to design more.

I'm sorry, as much as I respect you, Mr. Gilbert, such comments come across as extremely arrogant and condescending.  If a share of people have a problem with a particular aspect of your story, it must be us who are too dense to get it or too lazy to want to "think" about it.

I enjoyed the game but at the end of the day, it's just a video game, not high art.

     -dZ.

Ron Gilbert - May 01, 2017 at 16:48
Condescending? Really? All I'm saying is I'm not upset if you don't like the game. That's all. We made the game we wanted, and if you don't like it, that's OK with us. People like different things. The world is an interesting place BECAUSE we all like different things.

My goal is not to make watered down entertainment for the masses. That is not interesting to me. I like entertainment where I have to think about and ponder it. I don't like books or movies where everything is wrapped up in a neat little package at the end.  All I'm saying is I understand some people like that, and that's fine.

Ijon - May 01, 2017 at 17:46
I have seen people talking about TWP in negative ways when it comes to situations when they're unsure if gaps/objections exist due to true intentions with a meaning behind or simply because they are based on a lack of writing, design quirks and bugs. The adventure gamers I know, enjoy option number 1 but aren't interested in the second.

It comes down to trust and curiosity. Are you curious enough to find out something you don't understand on a first view and is it worth the effort because you can trust a creator. A painter like Klee can talk to you via your subconsciousness, even when you aren't trained, but if you're interested in why a painting has an effect on you, digging into the theory/history can result into a very satisfying experience.

On the other hand there exists a lot of 'art' where further thoughts and research are a waste of time because the work is simply flat and dull (you would end up over-interpreting the work). In my opinion a dev, if his game or vita isn't enough, takes a huge responsibility here. Video games isn't an art form best known for its maturity, depth and responsibility, the exception proves the rule.

Overall I very much enjoyed TWP and I'm so happy that someone finally made such an adventure again, but it's not perfect and there are a number of issues, people complain about for a reason. I wouldn't want to tell those people they're stupid, because they are not. They're adults, have decades of (adventure) experience, partly are devs on their own ...

Would you still work on adventures if you couldn't afford buying a coffee?

Someone - May 01, 2017 at 18:39
"Would you still work on adventures if you couldn't afford buying a coffee?"

Isn't that a little bit too harsh? The story in TWP is working and good, the end satisfying. There are only some small story parts that aren't "told to the end" or "left open".

Ijon - May 01, 2017 at 19:02
This wasn't meant in a harsh way.

I was just wondering about this whilst thinking of artists who dedicated their life for their work vs. 'artist' you can run into on certain conferences.

Maurizio - May 02, 2017 at 14:45
"it's just a video game, not high art."

please man, stop digging your own grave. Ron Gilbert is already becoming green and muscular.

Mister T - May 01, 2017 at 12:49
Lost Highway was written for the format it appeared, Mulholland Drive was a failed tv series concept, which then got crammed into a movie, with all the flaws concerning dynamic and pointless elements. So those movies are entirely different, even though both are mainly defended by saying that they are "art", and there is something about considering both the same quality, which just rubs me the wrong way, as it implies that screenwriting is not a craft but simply "art" with no need to justify anything, because, hey, "art" is all the same. Just "art".

Of course a movie is a movie, its whole purpose is to be shown. A game isn't just the story, it is also the riddles. And the other stories. The sideplots. The easter eggs. Reducing it to the simply question whether one can put two stray cut scenes into a wider context does not really do justice to the final result (even if it is done by Ron Gilbert himself).

entropy - May 01, 2017 at 13:01
I know that Mulholland was based on material that is actually a pilot to a cancelled show.
So indeed, it is a bit different from Lost Highway.
Still, I don't think he would've directly revealed lots of the open questions.
I'm absolutely fine with all this.

And do you remember that abc had to *force* Lynch to reveal the murderer of Laura Palmer? :D

Mister T - May 01, 2017 at 13:22
Because Lynch started into Twin Peaks without having a clue how to resolve it and instead "arted" up everything on the way. Which is why the show in the end fell apart and got cancelled. Lynch simply did not know the answers. So the debate whether he would answer a question is an academic one: he simply can't.
Which raises the question: was anything lost by ABC forcing him to pull the answer out of his own *beep*hole, when apparently that is his usual strategy anyway?

(Okay, now it sound like I dislike Lynch in general... which is not true, The Straight Story is one of my favourite movies. I just think with Lost Highway he has perfectioned his style and everything weird past that movie is pure self-reference and looks like someone trying to be as Lynch as possible and to take over as little responsibility for whatever the result may turn out to be as possible because... art. And I know that I am totally guilty of blaming him for not making a movie I like to watch (because I know he could) when in fact I should just ignore him.)

Mister T - May 01, 2017 at 19:05
(And because I say it not often enough between my nitpicking and Lynch-ranting: I couldn't say I am frustrated at all by the details I dislike. for me the whole Thimbleweed experience has been simply amazing, and the blog entries have been very interesting, way deeper than the monthy kickstarter feedbacks one would expect as a backer. This way backing the game was not just a way to say that the game should be made, also the approach itself added a lot of value.
My interest for point and click adventures in general has respawned and I am happy that I made the decision to back it. And I would love to see the engine in action once more now that it has been born into the world...)

Stef - May 01, 2017 at 20:53
*spoilers*

That's funny, I solved the radioactive waste puzzle in like zero minutes... I had the flier for the gathering in the woods, I had noticed people going in the woods and that I wasn't able to follow them, and I had noticed the pool in the *beeping° middle of the screen, so when I was able to pick up the green fluo radioactive waste it was almost obvious what its purpose was.

Schala - May 01, 2017 at 21:49
The radioactive waste puzzle was the biggest one that stumped me; I'm honestly not sure if I would have ever connected the puddle with the waste. I did quickly figure out that I should fill the trophy with the waste, but I had no idea what it was going to be used for, hehe. Plus, that puddle was really subtle; the first few times I saw someone walking into the forest, I didn't notice them stepping in it at all. (Also, I think the PCs don't splash through it when they walk by, do they?) It was only much later in the game that I accidentally ran my cursor over the puddle and realized it was something I could interact with, and at that point I had just the barest inkling that maybe I could mess with it somehow.

On the other hand, other puzzles that people have said they had trouble with, I solved easily, such as the stamps puzzle and using the flower with the Book of the Dead.

John - May 02, 2017 at 16:08
The radioactive puzzle was also the hardest one for me, but for a very personal reason. My girlfriend works in a nuclear plant and she has LOTS of gruesome stories about people suffering a horrible, horrible painful death because of being in contact with radioactive stuff. It can literally destroy your body in a matter of hours. Being meters away from radioactive waste is already a death sentence, so you can imagine why it never occurred to me that you had to put that stuff in your pocket. (Also, I'm pretty sure that everyone who stepped on that green poodle lost their feet).

Anyway, thank you so much for making such a perfect game (and such a perfect blog). Despite my issues with radioactivity, I think the puddle puzzle was one of the cleverest ones. If you do another Kickstarter, I will give you all my money (again).

David Fox - May 01, 2017 at 22:17
Stef, just curious, had you played Monkey Island and had you already picked up/seen the Navigator Head? I'm wondering if this puzzle is more difficult because of that misdirection.

Nor Treblig - May 01, 2017 at 22:57
It's extremely likely the head gets picked up by most players before leaving town. But IMHO the navigator head puzzle turns out quite obviously as an Easter egg (e.g. speaking about treasure of another game).
Mean thing is only the shovel part...

But I think the actual problem appears when people solve the puzzle with the thimbleberry bush before finding the bunker. It seems like they mark it as done and never think about the forest again.

Christian - May 02, 2017 at 02:38
For me it felt like I needed the navigator head to find the berries. Later I noticed that I reach the berries anyway when I make a wrong turn, but I still feel like the head was a real puzzle not only leading to an easter egg.

I think you should have made it that way because the navigator head is such a nice puzzle: It does something original inside the GUI, there is no look at, but instead relies on changing the icon. This puzzle kind of breaks out of the boundaries of the GUI and convention

Marco - May 02, 2017 at 01:53
Can only speak for myself but what was missing for me was that to realized people like the Pigeon Bros. or the Pizza guy really stepped into the water. A little sound effect or a dialog line like "Darn - now I got wet feet" while they are walking into the forest would have made it clearer to me. I ended up trying it by coincidence actually - once the radioactive waste was in it, I realized what I just did :-D

Guga - May 02, 2017 at 02:06
I had.

I was pretty convinced I had to do something with the puddle since it was there and everyone was stepping on it, but I didn't have the radioactive material, so I had no idea.

Then I found the navigator head and thought "ok, I was on the wrong track". But then I understood it was just an easter egg thanks to the Steam achievement popping up, so... it wasn't "more difficult", but still I felt betrayed :P I was so happy I thought I had solved it...

Schala - May 02, 2017 at 02:46
Speaking as someone who DIDN'T play Monkey Island: I had no idea the head could be used for anything at all. Ransome wasn't carrying it when I brought him into the forest so I never noticed it spinning around.

What I think was problematic for me with the radioactive waste puzzle was the fact that the "secret meeting" was so, well, SECRET. I had heard the DJ on the radio talking about a meeting, but I never thought to follow up on it -- I thought it was just one of the random anti-government things she says. And then too, the first time I visited the forest after I got the county map, it was Chet whom I saw disappearing into there, and I didn't think he'd appear back in town; I thought he'd just be staying out in the forest and that was where I needed to find him. So I never found the pizza flier until after I got stuck in the factory (and after I had consulted hints online, I will admit). So I guess the fault lies with me because I didn't think to check back around town to see if I could find anything new.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - May 02, 2017 at 03:05
The real difficult is to pick up the navigator head :-)
The first time, the character I have used didn't want to pick it up, so I assumed it was there just for fun.
Then, I tried again and... surprise! The navigator head was in the inventory.
But since I had already discovered the hidden pizza-man place, I reloaded a previous saved game where that place wasn't discovered yet.

Big Red Button - May 03, 2017 at 05:43
I didn't recognize the purpose of the navigator's head, even though I had considered it originally. Well, I'm not sure, but, if I remember correctly, I "used" the head when the head had turned to the right inside of my inventory in order to see if the head would look to the right again after rotating, but it turned back to look at me. Could this be a bug?

But, I solved the puzzle with the puddle very quickly, maybe with a kind of luck. When I saw the radioactive waste at the factory, I wondered what to do with it. It was my first idea to fill a vessel with it and the trophy was the only vessel in my inventory. Later when I was at the puddle in the forest, I simply tried to use the radioactive liquid with the puddle, because it's not far-fetched to mix two liquids with each other. Until then, I still wasn't sure what it was worth for, but it became obvious once an NPC had left the puddle behind, of course.

David Fox - May 03, 2017 at 21:56
As long as the head continues to point in the correct direction when you move, then it's fine. Seems like it does.

Stef - May 03, 2017 at 07:48
Hi David, sorry for the late reply! I played all the old lucasfilm games multiple times, and of course taking the navigator's head to the forest was the first thing I did when I found it! Can't say exactly why but it was very clear to me that it was only a stunt, possibly something I read at the X spot clarified it. To be honest I knew the pool was important from the exact moment I saw it, even if I didn't know why, so maybe it's just that I'm experienced at adventure games. Great game and wish you the best with the sales. AND thank you for Zak!

David Fox - May 03, 2017 at 21:55
Great, Stef. Glad you figured it out. And you're welcome!

Zak Phoenix McKracken - May 04, 2017 at 03:25
Quote: "AND thank you for Zak!"

Hi, good to know you! :-D

Peter - May 04, 2017 at 13:08
Stef: Same with me. I'm almost surprised at how many people found this the hardest puzzle, as it was one of the easier ones for me. The presence of the puddle stymied me a bit, and I wasn't sure if it was just a red herring like the Betamax tape, but once I found the radioactive glop it was clear what to do.

The puzzles that I embarrassingly got stuck on are the checkbook stub (for some reason, I knew what to do, but I just didn't see that darn checkbook stub until what felt like my 50th return to that room), figuring out that I could "Zap" doors open in the hotel, and that staircase puzzle early on. I was stuck on that for like an hour or two and then it dawned me. "Naw, it can't be THAT easy, can it?" Sure enough. Loved it, though. I felt clever and embarrassed it took me so long to solve it at the same time.

Carl Docto - May 01, 2017 at 12:51
In-game, read my Dolores library books "2.6 My Alien Girlfriend" and "3.2 BRAINS!"

My Alien Girlfriend is for my wife.
BRAINS! is for my childhood.

<3

Carl Docto - May 01, 2017 at 13:05
I can't listen to this final podcast until I complete the game. I almost don't want to finish it, because I don't want it to end :)

Can we get a bulletin board / forums for all of us to hangout at?

I hope this game team's next project is crowd funded and has plenty of stuff for us fans to be involved.

I really wish I was in Thimbleweed's phonebook!

<3

Darkstorm - May 01, 2017 at 13:05
Thanks for answering my question about using "Look at" on people.

Interesting answer as I never considered the issues that could occur with being able to use lots of verbs on actors.  It's a shame, even the active verbs could have been fun to use on people - I think "Pick up" could have been a good one for Ransome to see him get turned down by every woman in the town a'la Kate Capsize in Monkey Island 2.  I do like it when you can do stuff like that - Using "Push" to topple the mime in TP was one of my favourite moments.

Matt - May 01, 2017 at 14:11
Ron, how did the Loom™ salesman gag in Monkey Island come about? Did that game have particularly obnoxious marketing or something? Also, were you a fan of the game Loom?

N. Harold Cham - May 01, 2017 at 18:06
The first question was recently answered by Brian Moriarty himself on The Retro Hour: http://www.theretrohour.com/loom-the-inside-story-with-brian-moriarty-the-retro-hour-ep67/

Matt - May 02, 2017 at 22:52
Interesting interview. Moriarty doesn't really go into detail about the MI Loom gag, other than implying that there was a bit of a rivalry between the different games, and it was just a good ribbing.

Rob Noah - May 01, 2017 at 15:17
I loved the game guys, let me just say, as someone who has played adventures since the late 70's with Hitchhiker's Guide et al, this is the first time an adventure has taken me back and made me feel like a kid again, you managed to somehow pull it off, you really did make an adventure game "just the way you remembered it". I didn't know what you meant initially but after playing through I realised you'd done that to perfection. I loved the ending - I played through it again just to understand better, I thought the ending was perfect, it gave me many a hearty laugh when I saw what was going on, and the Commodore screen at the end as he/she is typing... perfect.

So thank you guys, thank you so much. Needless to say I could play another, and another of games made by you guys but of course time, effort, etc... but still, i'm hoping for another because this was a wonderful gift you gave us all.

THANKS GUYSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!  : )

Brian Bagnall - May 01, 2017 at 16:26
SPOILERS
Here's my stab at an explanation for the brief fuzzy glimpse we get of Agent Reyes on the coroner slab. The ending of the game reveals that their world world runs inside a computer and it is being played countless times by strange people (us) outside of the world. That little glimpse is probably what happened in someone else's play-through of the game.

LogicDeLuxe - May 01, 2017 at 17:32
If it were someone else's play-through, it won't make sense having him unavailable for some time when this happens.

Brian Bagnall - May 01, 2017 at 17:51
Okay I never tried switching to him during that time. It would be worth replaying the game to see if the ending now sheds light on some of these mysteries.

Brian Small - May 01, 2017 at 19:46
MORE SPOILERS:

That's an interesting theory, Brian - I need to think about that, and look for more clues.

Has anyone else noticed that when you look at the photo of Agent Reyes as a child and his father holding the watch, sometimes the watch is in his father's right hand, sometimes in his left hand?  I don't know if I'm remembering this correctly, but it seemed like this 'glitch' in the photo only happened when Reyes was looking at the photo, but I'm not 100% sure I'm remembering that correctly.  I thought this might be related to his "abduction" (the slab scene) in some way, but I am not sure.  I did notice after the scene with Reyes on the coroner's slab, he was unable to switch to for a few minutes....

Nor Treblig - May 01, 2017 at 22:14
I noticed the same thing, the hand holding the watch changing during the same playthrough. I don't know how this is connected to anything though.

Nina - May 01, 2017 at 16:39
Waiting fr this! Need some quiet time to listen to it! Thanks!

Big Red Button - May 01, 2017 at 16:49
On one hand I'm glad that you were able to raise half a million in addition to the Kickstarter money and I'm grateful, because these private investors helped to make the game even better, but, on the other hand it's a pity that you haven't broken even yet. Therefore, this grant impairs your well-deserved gain significantly, even though you will break even soon. Also, it reduces your leeway for creating another game (unless you change your mind and do another Kickstarter campaign - which would be absolutely feasible, if you set realistic goals on Kickstarter).
All I can tell you at this juncture is that I would back any further project of you as well where required. I don't want Ron to have to get a real job and I hope so much for more adventure games from you.

Someone - May 01, 2017 at 17:18
"All I can tell you at this juncture is that I would back any further project of you as well where required. I don't want Ron to have to get a real job and I hope so much for more adventure games from you."

Same here! I would back immediately another adventure game by Ron, Gary and David!

Marco - May 02, 2017 at 02:02
I would back another game at the same level (signed box level) right away - if the same team is working on it.
IMHO, we got way more than expected and it would be just awesome if something new would arrive within 2-3 years from now.

Gabarts - May 01, 2017 at 19:08
For all nerds, tireless retrogamers, one-eyed pirates out there, I've made some changes to my favourite desktop wallpaper (I don't know the author), an homage to the best secret ever! :)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzmqWMLwscwmWG1zU3lTTlZ4anc/view?usp=sharing

Gffp - May 03, 2017 at 08:41
+1.  One eyed pirate here!!!

Stef - May 01, 2017 at 21:22
*spoilers*

I know i'm late for the podcast but this is a question for the players/fans: is anybody else, apart from me, "diggin" the game for more easter eggs? I'm playing the game a second time after finishing it, based on the fact that the timestamp in the savegames is cumulative if you start playing again after watching the credits at the end (it may not mean anything, but i don't really care). I spent a lot of time going through the library and I found a book in section 2.7 called "stuck" by meta twist which is actually a huge spoiler about the ending of the game and quotes Edmnud along with another character named "Durant". I also found another interesting (twp related) book in the poetry section (2.5).

Biggest mysteries for me atm are the following:
1) the clock in the bank (you can open it, i can't remember it having any use, maybe it's just the n-th red herring)
2) the drinking fountain (ray/reyes re-enter the game in front of it after being kidnapped, and the sequence of gurgles in the dialog when you drink from it could be a combination that could trigger something. Also, there should be a secret passage here becuse the sheriff/coroner goes from the sheriff's office to the coroner's lab without using the hallway)
3) the other fountain in the hotel
4) the computer in the reception of the hotel. When zapped by franklin, it shows a "password: " screen but i found no way to enter a password as the next time i look at the screen it's back to normal
5) the rocky wall right of the entrance of the sewers, which is an active hotspot and explicitly labeled. I found no purpose for it and i suspect it to be part of a cut puzzle chain involving Doug's shovel or something like that

Nor Treblig - May 01, 2017 at 22:43
One Easter egg for example I've found was only after reading you can do something else with the radioactive waste on this blog.

ad 1) The bank scene was created early on and so was the clock, also see the WF world and this blog post: https://blog.thimbleweedpark.com/wimpy (conspiracy not confirmed)
ad 2) Yes, the sheriff is definitely getting around in very mysterious ways... Hm, I never thought about the fountains being more than a gag. Btw. its dialog was crowd sourced: https://blog.thimbleweedpark.com/drinkingfountain
ad 3) Also don't forget another one is in the factory! (Illuminati confirmed!)
ad 4) That's just normal computer behaviour. After booting, wake up or returning from a screensaver you (should) have to enter a password. The hotel manager knows the login, that's why the only way to peek is when he is using it (even Delores cannot access it, we have all tried it).
ad 5) I think they've said in this podcast there was a puzzle chain involving Doug.
I tried to blow up the rocky wall using C4 but nope. Putting a working chainsaw and C4 in one adventure game is a very bold choice :-)
I expect the next engine version supporting destructible environment.

Nor Treblig - May 01, 2017 at 23:08
Oh, also with the next update you will be able to kill every NPC and still be able to complete the game, Larian style.

LogicDeLuxe - May 02, 2017 at 00:39
Also there must be another entrance to the sewers. Willy lives there, you wake up there, the sheriff gets you out there blindfolded. All while the only obvious entrance is still blocked by the tree.

Stef - May 02, 2017 at 02:32
It does actually make sense, adding it to my personal list :D cheers!

Nor Treblig - May 02, 2017 at 09:09
You just have to use the 'peek' verb while being blindfolded.

Stef - May 02, 2017 at 02:31
Unfortunately (for me) I already knew about all that... but if you read the comments in the post with the request for suggestions about the dialog for the fountain, there is people suggesting using morse code and other things, and Ron replying he will use some of those suggestions (he didn't say which, though).

I'm not persuaded about the normal computer behavior but it definitely is a possibility... :( also yes, they definitely say in the podcast that there was a puzzle chain involving Doug's shovel, but they removed it and they don't mention the rocky wall near the sewers entrance but it could definitely be involved.

Another thing I should have added to the list. Ransome wants to go into the factory to retrieve the prototype of its doll... is the doll actually there to be found? I couldn't find it anywhere.

Thanks for replying!

martin - May 01, 2017 at 21:27
thanks guys, I loved the game!. I actually got into steam for it.

Peter Campbell - May 01, 2017 at 23:52
I'm afraid to listen to the podcast because I haven't finished the game lol, but did they mention anything about doing possible future content updates?

Joakim - May 02, 2017 at 02:28
Love the game and it was very interesting to hear this last pod.
Regarding bugs. The only thing that I found at the start is that at some part in the beginning in the sheriff office where the sound of Antonio disapears. But othervice it's run smooth and nice :)

Christian - May 02, 2017 at 03:05
Did someone notice that the phone call cutscene of the sheriff changes based on whether the first kidnapping has already happened yet or not?
He either says  "They have been taken care of" or "They will be taken care of".
Because the animation for killing Boris and for hitting the agent are the same, I'd say the sheriff is the one who did both. Chuck can't kill Boris because he is already dead yet.

Also there is a dialog between Sandy and Dave after leaving the diner (maybe with the door open and one person still in it) where they say
"Where did we go wrong Dave?" and "But if we can pull this off, I think we'll be fine again."

What do they want to pull off?

Mattias Cedervall - May 02, 2017 at 03:20
I will listen to it when (if?) I have finished the game...

Enrico - May 02, 2017 at 03:41
I have a suggestion for Ron and the team: why don't you add a *SMALL* discussion forum to the official website?

Just three categories: "Official news", "Hints" and "General discussions".

It seems to me that backers and other people who loved your game would like a place to interact with each other. The comment zone in this blog wouldn't be the best way to organize the many topics that we have discussed along the road and the new ones that will be discussed in the future.

An official forum would also easily attract the traffic of those people who will search for anything related to the game, in the following years. It could be a nice marketing tool for the long term, *IF* you find a way to keep the costs low.

Cheers!

Ron Gilbert - May 02, 2017 at 11:04
That's good idea. I'll do that next week.  Any good suggestion for software? Something other then phpBB? Kind of tired of seeing that all over the internet.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - May 02, 2017 at 11:38
phpBB is free.
vBulletin is probably the best software to make forums on the internet, but it costs hundreds of dollars.

Don't know other alternative software.

Enrico - May 02, 2017 at 18:21
Yes, vBulletin is the more sophisticated one and it has a lot of configuration options, which can make its management more complex. Usually I don't recommend to use this kind of giant complex CMS, unless there is actually the need for more sophisticated features.

Most of the long-term costs, though, are related to the time needed for maintenance and to moderate the forum, even for communities that don't have many active users. This is not an aspect to overlook, because all the days/year needed to manage a forum can easily amount to a quantity of money that is orders of magnitude larger that the price of the software.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - May 02, 2017 at 11:47
I have found FluxBB (it's free), but I have never tried it by myself. It seems really a good alternative to phpBB.
Just found it while browsing the internet, though.

Ron Gilbert - May 02, 2017 at 11:56
Discourse is also interesting, although it is a little "free form".

https://www.discourse.org/

Someone - May 02, 2017 at 12:12

Zak Phoenix McKracken - May 02, 2017 at 18:04
I like the intro sentence: "Civilized Discussion".

It looks interesting, with avatars, a vertical timeline, the ability to include multimedia...

The cons: 100$/month ... a little bit expensive, in my opinion.

Someone - May 03, 2017 at 04:31
"Discourse is 100% free, open source software. Forever."

You can install Discourse yourself:

https://github.com/discourse/discourse

It's very popular.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - May 03, 2017 at 09:18
Oh, I was looking at a page with pricing for different configurations:
https://payments.discourse.org/pricing
I thought it was the official site.

Rodney S. Hall - May 03, 2017 at 10:13
It is, but the prices are for hosting plans, not the software.

Someone - May 03, 2017 at 10:15
It is the official site. :) The prices are the fees for using the pre-installed version in the developer's cloud.

Robin Ward - May 03, 2017 at 22:03
Hi Ron!

I'm the cofounder of Discourse and also a backer and huge fan of the game. I actually sent you an email about setting up a free forum back in the early days of the project but maybe my timing was off! Send me an email if you'd like to make this happen and we can work it out.

Enrico - May 02, 2017 at 13:06
> Any good suggestion for software?

Yes. You have basically two options:

1. If your website uses WordPress and you expect to keep this CMS for a long time, go for a WordPress plugin like https://bbpress.org/
This choice will completely avoid some issues related to search engines indexing but it will probably produce an old-style and uglier user interface.

2. If you want a forum more usable and with a better interface, or if you don't expect to use WordPress for a long time, go for a standòalone and more modern software like Discourse or http://flarum.org/
The user interfaces that they create are by default more mobile-friendly and *way* more usable, but they use extensively JavaScript and this can give an headache to some search engines.

My proposal: since one of the goals is to get a forum visible on search engines,  let me do a quick evaluation of the HTML code created by "the new kinds on the block". If I don't find giant issues, I'll give you the go-ahead to use one of them.

DZ-Jay - May 03, 2017 at 07:01
AtariAge.com uses something called "Community Forum Software by IP.Board".  I really like it and it seems to go well with the hundred of thousands of users.
https://invisionpower.com/features/apps#forums

The mobile version is very good as well.

Gabarts - May 02, 2017 at 04:09
I tought there was something with Doug and his shovel to actually dig in the pile of dirt in the sewers but you can't interact at all with him...

Joakim - May 02, 2017 at 04:44
Interesting question regarding to reach a broader audience.
I have done all I can to spread the game through FB, Twiter etc.. Bugging all I know about the game
how fantastic it is but in the end I think it's an adventure game and I think it's hard to get die hard
FPS gamers etc.. to get the game and play it. So as you say, time will tell.

Jammet - May 02, 2017 at 06:52
Thank you for this game, everyone! You've made me very happy! :)

And even though my phonebook entry still has the wrong audio for the text for whatever reason (text=attempt2 audio=attempt1), I'm so happy that I am "immortalised" in it!  :]

I'm going to re-play it again soon, and likely will try to get to know every pixel of it as intimately as those of The Secret Monkey Island! The games ending, I will admit, wasn't so much for me, but that does not mean that I did not enjoy that as well.

Thank you, thank you so much! I hope you do come back. And make another game like this. I'll be there again, if that is an option! So long! <3

Nor Treblig - May 02, 2017 at 09:08
Did you send an email to their support email address? If they have used the wrong audio it's a bug they should fix.

Ron Gilbert - May 02, 2017 at 12:38
I pull all the audio down with the text, so if it's in the game wrong, it was on the servers wrong (for whatever reason). You should email support. I can't guarantee we can fix it, we can't do a new import of audio at this point, text changes are easier. We have a lot of people who want their VM changed for various reasons, it's flood gate I don't want to open. But, support is the only place to request a change.

Jammet - May 02, 2017 at 23:54
If it's not getting removed because the text/audio doesn't match, then I'm fine just leaving it that way. Let's say, this one is "special" :). But if you yourself think it is better that they match, I will make sure to submit the matching text for the audio. It's a bummer I can't have it the other way around, but I'm happy just being in there at all.

Paul - May 02, 2017 at 10:27
Thanks for answering my question... there is a saying, "reviews reveal more about the reviewer than the thing they are reviewing" which I think applies to a lot of the reviews I've read. Often you are simply learning if the reviewer is an adventure game fan, if they like pixels, if they are any good at puzzles, if they like meta-endings, if they like 4th wall breaking, etc. rather than how successful the game is at those things.

With the kidnap scene, for me this worked great dramatically, especially at that point in the game. It made me go, "oh s***! Now Reyes has disappeared!" so it upped the tension and the sense of danger and mystery. I didn't really think about what it meant specifically other than weird stuff was happening and that there was something larger going on. I liked that and the telephone ringing thing, I think those things added atmosphere and built up the sense of mystery.

At the end Chuck says, "think about all the odd things in this world" and how there are so many people in the phonebook and how you can't go further on the highway because "you don't have the desire because it wasn't programmed into you, it's not part of "the game"!" So the "odd things" like the kidnapping and phone I put down to being things that are part of "the game" that happen at that time to create intrigue and make you want to keep playing the game.

I'm surprised people had trouble with the puddle puzzle. There were people going into the forest, so it seemed clear you had to find a way to follow them or track them somehow (similar to Monkey Island and Fate of Atlantis). There was just one hotpsot that was clearly on the path and they all walked through it. As soon as I found the radioactive waste my first thought was immediately the puddle.

Though I did get stuck in other places that may have probably been easy for others. With the wrench, I kept scaring the guy in the room, and the hotel manager called and I somehow made the assumption he was calling the Pigeon Sisters and they were busy, so I was wondering how to un-busy them. It was only later when I actually paid attention to what he was saying that I realized he didn't know about the Pigeon Sisters yet.

Also knowing where to get gloves took me a while, but there were a whole bunch of clues that had been given earlier, so eventually it clicked. I did the Riker tools puzzle easily, I think that's because I had spent quite a long time trying things out with Franklin beforehand, to see what things he could do, so I instinctively swapped to him to go open the door.

"Diggin!" ...Doug was excellent and I'm glad he was kept in. Hopefully he will get a cameo in the next game, preferably in a completely random location, still digging.

I loved all the references in the game, but I can see there were some instances where a reference to another game was distracting, particularly if it appeared like a bigger deal than the thing you were meant to be doing. Eg. the easter egg in the forest seemed more important and a bigger prize than getting the berries.

I liked the backer items and felt they added a lot of variety to the inventory, though ideally they would have all had some kind of use. They reminded me of chicken-on-a-pulley, but if that had had no use in the game, it would have been less worthwhile.

Characters not talking to each other didn't bother me at all, the only time was maybe when everyone was on the same screen and they were like silently watching each other, then it did seem odd. I felt like it was enough that they said stuff when you swapped items.
I was also fine with them working with each other and acting on info they didn't get themselves... it made for more interesting puzzles that way. If anything some kind of line like, "huh, not sure why I just did that" like they sometimes did in the older games would have been fine to acknowledge it.

I think another thing that doesn't get enough praise with this game is how professional and organized you guys have been through the whole  process and how well you stuck to the budget and the schedule. I think when it works out well like this people take it for granted, but there are plenty of other games that go completely off the rails for years and come out all different or not at all.

DZ-Jay - May 03, 2017 at 07:04
I agree, but you also have to be careful not to fall into the bias confirmation trap:

:: Positive review...
Wow! They loved it! I am awesome!!

:: Negative review...
Hmm... That can't be right, I'm awesome.  He just didn't get it, or adventure games are not his thing.  Why does he even bother?  I'm still awesome...

Stefano - May 03, 2017 at 12:41
I think you are completely off. That is not at all what I got from Ron comments. In my opinion he's at a point in his career where he could make the game he envisioned without the interference of a publisher, and that's what he did.

He already told multiple times that what people keep defining as "story gaps" have a precise meaning, which was left open to interpretation as an artistic choice. How many movies did you watch where the finale was open to interpretation?

I read quite a lot of reviews on Thimbleweed Park, and I noticed that the negative ones were mostly against the fact that the game is a point and click adventure with puzzles, so against the genre not the game itself.  

What he's saying is that he left things unanswered by choice and he won't reveal what they meant, letting players slowly going there. If people get frustrated by not knowing what 2 short scenes exactly mean out of a 20-hour something gaming experience, maybe this wasn't the game for them, and frankly I don't see anything wrong with that.

The Mount Chillad "conspiracy" took three years to be solved (sort of): https://nowloading.co/p/gta-v-mt-chiliad-secret-finally-decoded-after-years-of-mystery/4148615

As you can see, lots of people enjoy discovering things over time.....

Vincent - May 02, 2017 at 12:11
Just finished the game, and waiting for the iPad release so I can play in the go. I loved pretty much everything about it, and the in-jokes were great. It was interesting, though, to see how the experience of myself vs my girlfriend in playing the game. I grew up playing all the Lucasarts adventure games, and she was just too young to have played any adventures besides Grim Fandango. So, for example, she didnt get the Monkey Island reference with the navigator head and was absolutely certain the shovel was going to be used. Whereas I understood it was an easter egg and probably couldn't dig up the treasure. Its just very interesting how we had two very different experiences playing the game, just based on understanding references, but we both enjoyed it equally.

My only complaints on the game is the lack of murder mystery resolution. That probably stems from the fact I'm a huge fan of murder mysteries, so seeing a murder mystery adventure game made by my heroes was a dream come true. But then it felt a little lacking not getting that conflict clearly resolved. Reading your comments, and the podcast, I understand that resolving that plotline was never really important; the game's themes and story are meant to be more open, and more of the experience and thoughts of life in a simulation rather than the "whodunnit". But perhaps I just missed a few hints as to who the real killer was. I'll probably be hung up on it until I know the truth :) But thats my own fault, haha.

Still, though, I do think the game would have benefitted from having a bit more resolution on the various plot lines. You've said you don't like to spoon feed the audience (which is obvious, its an adventure game, puzzles are important), and I understand why. But with the genre of a murder mystery, the resolution of finding the killer is the most satisfying part. I feel like the game presented itself in the beginning of gameplay as a "murder mystery adventure game", but along the way just turned into less murder mystery. I believe thats why a lot of people are hung up on the lack of resolution, where they might not be otherwise. I certainly didn't care about any lingering plot resolutions in other adventure games. I really believe the murder mystery genre on there just predetermines to the audience that they'll get to find out who did it with more certainty.

But, if I just happened to miss some clues (along with all the people mad about the game), I'd love some hints to push me in the right direction on my next playthrough. Maybe I'm complaining for nothing. But I do believe thats the reason why the lack of resolution is frustrating so many people, and perhaps why it doesn't bother you too much. It seems to be a miscommunication of expectations in differing genres. Especially if these players hadnt played adventure games before, and came into it expecting a regular murder mystery.

Vincent - May 02, 2017 at 15:33
Another question I forgot to add. In the podcast, you say not to take a lot of the mysteries "literally", instead to take them "metaphorically". What do you mean by this? As I said in my previous comment, I love to find the mysteries behind stories like these, so understanding what you mean by this is my first step to solving the mysteries of Thimbleweed Park.

Maurizio - May 02, 2017 at 13:54
What a great moment when Willy was jailed and started confessing to all kinds of stuff. Really one of the most hilarious moments of videogames in general.

I don't understand why so much complaints about the puddle puzzle. It was a clear example of perfect puzzle. You see people walking into the woods. You wonder where they are going. You also notice a puddle that is clearly there for a reason. The second time you see people walking, you look better and notice they step on the puddle. And then you must get the idea to put something colored in the puddle, so they step on it. You had all the clues people. The problem with adventure games is that people seldom say it's my bad :)

Gabarts - May 02, 2017 at 18:49
@Maurizio
Actually it's not instant logic the puddle puzzle. Instant logic is something like... oh I see people walking in the forest, let me follow one of them and see what I find. This in TMP it's a deeper version of the same puzzle in Monkey Island where you need to find the sword master following the shopkeeper. There was a moment I was stuck in Delores flashback, I was really looking so hard for a match or a lighter, something to light a fire and the solution was in the inventory all the time and even forgot to examine the bottle... sometimes the easy solutions are the hardest to find, lol.

Ijon - May 02, 2017 at 18:59
The puddle riddle was really nice and rewarding (thinking of that, a buh @Ron Gilbert for not answering any of my questions). Btw. if you can deal with the beta-state, Flarum can be a nice option.

In short: I don't feel represented when people are blaming the game or praising it too much. I had quite some fun when playing the game but I also saw some flaws (lacking more creativity, maturity and courage). For a game from 1987 it works just fine but considering 30 years of experience, the game fails in combining solving a murder case, bringing the characters together and ending into a satisfying solution. Video games' writing still is on a mediocre level. The game has a few design issues, the interface isn't used to its potential and some puzzles are too easy.

Sometimes the game is confusing, it seems to be made for a core audience (makes sense, you've asked them for money)/the dev but at the same time it's full of indications trying to appeal to a broader audience (going for a *beeping* teenager rating, the interface redundance, a tutorial for hard[normal], holding hands when solving puzzles in order not to get stuck, all the marketing).

I liked the game the most when it was raw (Ransome), more adult (Ray), funny (Ransome, dragon dude), clever (the phone book), when i could explore beautiful sounds and graphics (many places), there were interesting puzzles to solve (I like these metaphor-puzzles [like breathing fire on the wood], logical puzzles, puzzle which involve knowledge [which always should be available in the game], puzzles which reward you (puddle) and crazy ones which are weird and fun[computers are at their best when they enable you to do something, which you can't in real]).

I disliked the moments when ... Push/Pull/Use wasn't differentiated (gate, poster, ...), I needed to click through cumbersome conversations (the voodoo chick[apart from her no ones was truly annoying]), it told me what to do (Franklin), it opened an interesting option but without following the branches (pizza dude, Pigeon brothers, signals), the puzzles were boring (hotel, Franklin) or way too easy, it tried to be funny to a ten year old (Chuck, AI), there was too much self referencing, the sound quality was lacking.

In my opinion some puzzles should have been harder, more exciting and fun, there should have been more inventory combinations. Better usage of the interface. I'm glad that you were able to enable the classic sentence. I don't understand why someone would prefer the inferior popping up texts near to the cursor. I certainly would have preferred a different ending (there exist better books about this subject). I would have wanted to explore more of the world (the Arcade, solve more puzzles with Ransome and Ray, getting close(r) to the characters [there could have been a lot of fun with the pizza dude], I was curious about leaving the town via the bus and going to the moon).

Anyway it was a very nice experience but it also could have been more/better/different.

Ijon - May 02, 2017 at 20:52
Oh and robots, doing stuff with robots would have been nice too. Ah, I really like those metaphorical and slightly crazy puzzles when they're used in this adventure logical context and embedded into a world with 'normal' puzzles, or puzzles you need to think around the corner, in the right doses. It's such a joy when they work and you watch them being executed. Many adventures lack taste for puzzles and aren't able to strike the right balance. They are somehow logical but there is no joy in solving them because they're based on a sequence of boring/tedious steps, aren't a natural part of the story, use the 'do something for three times'-formula too often, don't offer the right level of complexity, feel displaced whilst trying to be too weird/funny/artificial or don't reward you properly. TWP offers a nice amount of enjoyable puzzles. None which makes you gasp for air (if only a few would be more complex) but most of them are on a high level, so that the game is in a decent flow.

JB - May 02, 2017 at 19:50
Thank you for this awesome game! The graphics, the music; the story, the voice over and the puzzles were so great,it was a trip to memory lane but better. I played it in "hard mode" but found it just a little bit too easy maybe because i finished the monkey island serie or MM and ZMcK years ago, the only real difficulty which really required a quick look at the solutions was the puddle puzzle : never will it have occurred to me to dump toxic waste in it and pollute a forest, i have to admit that when i read the solution, i was a bit thinking : seriously? what is wrong with them? this was so completely against the mood of the game (unless Ransome had hinted at it which maybe i missed). I was also a bit disappointed with the abrupt ending but sometimes you have to finish a game ;) and it made sense, if sense has sense in such kind of game. Anyway, thank you all the team, i will know patiently wait for the boxed version and the sequel (or the prequel).

Stefano - May 02, 2017 at 20:20
All NPCs stepped on the puddle and were walking to the forest. That was the hint you needed a marker on the puddle to follow them.

Jesper Hansen - May 04, 2017 at 10:47
But why the toxic waste?

I too had to look up this puzzle and did not see the logic. I understand that everyone stepping in the puddle might have been a clue, but why would I know that the toxic waste would leave a glowing mark when stepped in? Was this hinted at some point, which I missed?

Zak Phoenix McKracken - May 04, 2017 at 11:38
I mean: when Delores look at the toxic waste, she says that it's glowing.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - May 04, 2017 at 11:39
...At least, if I remember correctly. I should replay it.

Jesper Hansen - May 04, 2017 at 14:12
Ah ok. I kind of see the connection but really didn't pick up on it. Still not sold on that puzzle but, who cares, the game was such a great experience and the best throwback to my teenage years experiencing MI for the first time :-)

RG and team - thank you!

Gabarts - May 03, 2017 at 03:13
Yes, I think too TWP is quite easy to complete, but it's ok if you consider that not all the players are focused and enjoy the story when they are stuck for a while with certain puzzles... personally I think it's a good thing making an adventure game not too difficult to complete and of course the "impossible to die" thing helps a lot in making the game more enjoyable.

Part of the fun now is ruined by hints available instantly everywhere. Back in the days I was stuck in Last Crusade (damn Nazi castle) and  no way I could figure out all the inventory items to give to the nazi guards, I remember once a week  replaying again again and again till Biff and the funny thing is that my savegames on Amiga floppy disks were corrupted and I had to replay the whole thing each time. Then growing up basically I switched to pc and other games and that Last Crusade became an unsolved classic. I think this is why some Lucas classics are so special to me. But TWP is a beautifully crafted game for sure.

Someone - May 03, 2017 at 04:39
"Yes, I think too TWP is quite easy to complete, ..."

I don't think TWP is quite easy: Most of us are grown up and have played many adventure games. So we have the experience and the knowledge how puzzles in adventures games are "working". So it seems to us that the puzzles are easier than back in the 90th.

Gabarts - May 03, 2017 at 03:19
I meant Atari ST, way more problems than Amiga :)

Zak Phoenix McKracken - May 03, 2017 at 05:29
Ehi...
...Thimbleweed Park has been updated...
..
..
.... a new option was added...
..
..
............. ... ... " annoying in-jokes " ????
And it's OFF by default??
.
.
.
OK, I'll turn it ON immediately! :-)

Maurizio - May 03, 2017 at 07:02
Really? Looks like a great idea.

I'm replaying the whole game without in-jokes, I'm curious what was removed. :)

I guess the pigeon "lecture" on adventure game design was removed... and what else?

Gffp - May 03, 2017 at 08:06
Nice! I never said before I thought they were a little too much... but now that I have the opportunity to praise this option, and it's off by default! And with a delicious italian translation by Kenobit (as usual). I'll probably play again the game when there will be the patch that includes the arcade, to see the difference. Very very very well done devs!

Brian Small - May 03, 2017 at 13:20
Really?  I saw your tweet on this, and I assumed this was a joke, fake mockup, on your part! :) I suppose as a backer and hug fan of the Lucasfilm/LucasArts games, this seems like blasphemy, but to a modern, younger, audience this might be appreciated.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - May 04, 2017 at 03:41
So, when Ron twitted the same thing, it was clear that he copied my own joke. Right? :-)

Brian Small - May 04, 2017 at 17:42
Of course! :)

Gffp - May 05, 2017 at 08:18
Please, don't you get me wrong. I like the devs very much, I spent hours and hours watching to videos of interviews, post-mortems, reunions, I listened to podcasts, and I always enjoyed them, always. You can trust me by reading my older comments. My two cents are about the presence of many self-referential in-jokes that, together with fourth-wall breaking and the meta development of the plot which start very soon in the game, create a mass that risks to dissuade the attention and the feeling of being in the story which I think is ever essential (above all in the opening) in a product that have a strong narrative component, as point and click adventures have. Or at least it is what happened to me. I consider myself lucky because even if I followed the development from the early steps, I had the ability to watch at the game as if it was completely new to me (also thanks to the smart policy of the blog posts about spoilers).
More, I consider the option a very smart one, because it turns something that could be perceived like self-celebration (which is a thing that couldn't be more distant from what we are used to know abou the devs, they are caring people and not ego-maniacs, and I consider it a great lesson of behaviour and always appreciated it) in a nice add-on touch with a self-ironic title of the option.

Big Red Button - May 03, 2017 at 17:17
I won't believe this news until I see that option in the game. There should rather be an ON <-> ON switch in the menu. :-)
I admit that some in-jokes are nonessential, but none of them would have been worth such a step, in my opinion. Well, at least we have the choice.

Nor Treblig - May 04, 2017 at 03:14
I'm surprised if this is true. I didn't really see players complaining about in-jokes. In contrary I've read about one player not understanding most of those in-jokes but was OK with it. She actually started looking up those things and getting interested in Monkey Island & Co.

The complaints I've mostly seen were about jokes breaking the fourth wall (e.g. talking about saving/restoring the game). Those may often be in-jokes but they are only a small part.

I wonder... will the gunshot be removed too with this flag?

Zak Phoenix McKracken - May 04, 2017 at 03:43
I have played yesterday via Steam: it automatically updates the game.
I have noticed that the build version number was changed, so... I discovered that option! With big surprise...

Peter - May 04, 2017 at 13:33
Honestly, as someone who started with Maniac Mansion on the C64 and loves this game, that was one of the things that kinda bugged me about it. I think part of it was how "front-heavy"it was (most of them seemed to come in the first couple hours of the game.) I liked the more subtle nods, like the characters in the audience at the Ransome scene, Dave & Sandy at the restaurant (do you know, it didn't dawn on me until last night that these were the characters from Maniac Mansion? I feel like such a moron), the mansion surprise in the wireframe world (OK, maybe that one is not so subtle, but that was fun), etc.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - May 05, 2017 at 04:33
It's only me that laughed so much at every so-called "annoying" in-jokes?!
I loved each of them! I really don't understand how they could be annoying...

Peter - May 05, 2017 at 10:06
Well, everybody has their tastes, obviously. I see where the folks who were a little annoyed by it are coming from. But, hey, everybody's a critic, right? I, for example, thought the ending was enjoyable, but that seems to be a point of controversy, as well.

Mister T - May 05, 2017 at 11:42
I laughed about a lot of them too, and pretty much each of them is wonderfully zany. It is simply the number and the placement which comes a bit in the way of Thimbleweed being its own game rather than a retro-look on the good old days. The gasoline for the chainsaw was not in Zaks apartement and the first object one found after waking up. Thimbleweed Park really has its own signature and is its own world (which become clear especially at the ending). And that gets a bit clouded by the references, which shifts the focus more towards "one more of that zany games by the makers of Maniac Masion", which it is as well, but for a game with an unique world and 10+ hours of perfectly constructed clever puzzles isn't a really fitting description.

Gabarts - May 03, 2017 at 05:42
Right, that's the point. In a recent interview Ron said he was fascinated seeing a kid playing monkey Island, just opening doors here and there, having lot of fun, and that was the moment he understood how great was making games for kids. Thimbleweed means also lot of fun for new generations kids, that's important.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - May 03, 2017 at 09:25
I have noticed, by looking a millenial playing Thimbleweed Park in casual mode, that he likes opening the doors by clicking on OPEN verb, then on the DOOR. Even if I tell him "you can right-click the mouse", he doesn't care :-)
It seems that it's part of the game fun & logic: everything must be done by clicking VERB + OBJECT [+ OBJECT], regadless shortcuts.

And he really likes the special (idle or not) animations. He sometimes stares at them, observing them.
They are fascinating, undoubtly :-)

Ijon - May 03, 2017 at 13:59
So being an adult means that video games will suck forever because they will be made for kids and teenagers over and over again.

[A secret: making games for kids is nice because they're easier to please.]

ne0n - May 03, 2017 at 09:36
Great podcast! Makes me wanna replay and discover EVERYTHING even more.

I got one question: What is that part at 21:48 about? As being non native, I don´t understand the English word Ron repeatedly uses at that point. Foreswalling .... is what I understand. :D This can´t be it, can someone please explain?

Thank you!

Maurizio - May 03, 2017 at 10:00
If i recall correctly he says "fourth-walling".

Someone - May 03, 2017 at 10:10
"... can someone please explain?"

Of course I can. ;-) Ron speaks about the fourth wall: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_wall

ne0n - May 03, 2017 at 12:46
Wow, great and quick answer, thanks so much guys/girls! Yeah that explains it and makes it easier for me to understand. Great people here, much appreciated...

Zak Phoenix McKracken - May 03, 2017 at 11:37
Do you believe that Thimbleweed Park is "only a game"?
Do you think that the last trial of Ace Attorney's Apollo Justice is "only a game"?

Please read this article:
https://www.wired.com/2017/04/courts-using-ai-sentence-criminals-must-stop-now/

Zak Phoenix McKracken - May 04, 2017 at 08:54
Hello,
do you think that on the second half of May 2017, the mobile version of Thimbleweed Park will be available on the mobile shops?
Thanks

Ijon - May 04, 2017 at 14:30
@updates
Btw. I couldn't be bothered to investigate the data which was gathered for google-analytics whilst playing the game but wouldn't it have been decent, if this would have been an option in the menu (default: being turned off)?

Ron Gilbert - May 04, 2017 at 14:50
If you give people an option they always choose NO and you get no data. It's just simple stuff, like what rooms you entered and what character you talked too, plus to mirror the achievements and easter eggs found. It's all aggregate information, I have no way of relating it back to a player. If your bothered by it, set "analytics: 0" in your Prefs.json, but you're depriving us of useful information about play patterns. I'm equally as paranoid about being tracked, so I am ver very respectful of what I collect.

Nor Treblig - May 04, 2017 at 16:53
"I'm equally as paranoid about being tracked"
Watch out for those radioactive puddles!

Nor Treblig - May 05, 2017 at 08:25
I should print that out, it's not always easy to remember in which direction to twist it.

Ijon - May 04, 2017 at 22:04
I think it's a matter of style. You shouldn't collect customers' data without their knowledge and approval. Inform them why you want their data, expose the benefits for them (you could be funny too) but let them decide if they want to share or not. We had an impulsive discussion about this on DF already. First the game was calling home, then people were upset and then it was an option in the menu. Youngsters don't care much about their data anymore but adventures are also played by older people, who value their privacy. Annoying DRM was one of the reasons for piracy. I suggest making it an option in the menu being turned off by default. I returned quite often to the menu because the music was so relaxing.

DZ-Jay - May 05, 2017 at 05:27
Yeah, I noticed "Little Snitch" caught that when I rant the game the first time and I blocked it unconditionally at the firewall.

When an application does this without it asking me, I don't care what good benefits it provides, how anonymous it is, or how respectful of privacy the developer *thinks* he is -- the application is "phoning home" and tracking usage without telling me, so it's a violation of my trust.  (And doubly so if it's with Google, since that is to me one of the least trustworthy enterprises around.  I don't think they are "evil," I just think they do not share the same core beliefs in privacy and personal space that I cherish out of principle.  That to me is scary in itself!)

I will admit that, when an application is kind enough to offer the option first, I do consider activating it, depending on the goals of the developer and my respect for them.

      -dZ.

DZ-Jay - May 05, 2017 at 05:32
I will add that now that I understand what it's for and how Mr. Gilbert will use that data, I will consider enabling it when I play in the future.  However, it's a bit creepy when you start the application the first time to see that out of the blue.

To me it's like inviting an old friend to your house, someone you haven't seen in a long time.  Then moment he walks in, as you turn around, you find him looking in your closet!  If you ask him, he may tell you, "sorry mate, I wasn't digging around.  I was just looking for a good place to hide a nice gift I bought for you"; and that's OK.

However, rightly or wrongly, I am more inclined to kick him out of my house before asking, for being so rude.  It's a matter of perception. :)

     -dZ.

Someone - May 05, 2017 at 05:38
"... but you're depriving us of useful information about play patterns."

What are you doing with these patterns? In which ways do they help? I.e. can you reduce the travel distance between the rooms in your next game?

(If you explain what are you doing with the collected data, there would be more acceptance. And I can't imagine in which way these data can help in creative products/art like a game ... )

Miguel - May 04, 2017 at 16:14
I finished the game a good three weeks ago and I still find myself thinking about the whole ending and re-reading "Unc LeChuck s" diaries makes everything more interesting... Congratulations on achieving that; it's very fulfilling to keep filling in the gaps "off-screen" on my daily routines, if that makes sense.

I also read a couple of very intriguing books in section 2.7 of the Mansion mansion's library. And then realised that the cover note says that "some" of the books are written by fans... The more I think about it, the killer and kidnapper is a character within the game, but not one that anybody expects.

Again, congrats!

Stefano - May 04, 2017 at 17:27
Yes, I did that too (re-reading Uncle Chuck diaries). One thing I can't really figure out is if that there's something interesting in the pc at the pillow factory:

1) Something interesting browsing through the folders
2) Some combination of X in tic-tac-toe
3) The text adventure. The hints book "hints" at something that it might be hidden there

Brian Small - May 04, 2017 at 17:50
I've become convinced Ron and his cohorts have hidden some secrets in this game for us all to figure out, and provided sufficient clues that we should eventually be able to do so.  I am equally intrigued by the items you mentioned.  In addition: the mysterious video of Reyes on the coroners slab (and him being 'unavailable' for a short time afterward),, and the photo on the desk in the security room with two different pictures depending on who/when you look at.  Ron made a comment in the blog that "only one person" has figured out the secret in all the blogs and internet sites he has looked at, and he liked that.  Clearly the game is afoot.

Someone - May 05, 2017 at 04:37
"I've become convinced Ron and his cohorts have hidden some secrets in this game for us all to figure out, ..."

And if they didn't?

Maybe they haven't hide any secrets and they are now just laughing about all of us trying to interpret something in each menu item? ;-)

Paul - May 05, 2017 at 10:23
Though he also said, in this podcast, "I don't know that some of these scenes actually have concrete meanings. I think people really want hard answers, they want to know well exactly what happened with this scene. A lot of times they don't really have hard answers, they just have interesting metaphorical answers to things."

So I don't know where that leaves us.
Is the slab secret an exception which has a concrete meaning that "only one person" has figured out yet?
Or did that one person figure out some kind of non-concrete metaphorical answer?

I think a lot of people got burned spending so much time and thought trying to figure out Lost's non-existent secret answers and so are now skeptical about anything that seems like a JJ Abrams mystery box.

Maurizio - May 05, 2017 at 04:39
"I also read a couple of very intriguing books in section 2.7 "

You mean you read some books that could be connected to who the kidnapper or killer is?

Someone - May 05, 2017 at 07:38
"... re-reading "Unc LeChuck s" diaries" ..."

It's not LeChuck. It's Chuck. Chuck was the plant in Maniac Mansion:

http://maniacmansion.wikia.com/wiki/Chuck_the_Plant

Cite: "Chuck is a horticultural horror. Otherwise it's just an useless red herring." That implies that Uncle Chuck in TWP is a red herring.

"... that "some" of the books are written by fans..."

You need some of the books to solve the puzzles. These are wirtten by the developers. All others were written by fans.

Miguel - May 05, 2017 at 09:17
I'd be surprised if a couple of the books in section 2.7 were written by fans... They pretty much discuss the whole meta-end of the game.

I definitely don't think that Uncle Chuck is a red herring. on the contrary, I think he's the piece that most people who criticise the end of the game is missing.

Someone - May 05, 2017 at 11:01
"I'd be surprised if a couple of the books in section 2.7 were written by fans... "

Do they have a translation? All books related to the story have a translation, the books written by the fans doesn't have one.

"I definitely don't think that Uncle Chuck is a red herring."

Chuck was the (unimportant) plant. In *all* LucasArts games. Why should this be suddenly different in TWP?

Gabarts - May 04, 2017 at 19:22
Who is this person-a-reno, a-bu? a-bu a-bu

Miguel - May 05, 2017 at 07:09
To be honest, at this point I have a single question only, how much the run of the game that we play differs from the previous one, assuming that it's a world that runs again and again?

- Did the machine get turned off?
- Did they even get to the factory?
- Did Chuck even died?

One of my ideas is that the run of the game is quite special... The game that usually takes place in Thimbleweed Park is quite different, but Chuck actually forced his death to control the game from the AI and killed Boris to trigger all that we see in the game, except the flashbacks, which pertain to the original timeline.

In the timeline that we play some events are triggered by Chuck himself, from the AI, trying to get Delores aware of all being a simulation, like he being dead, killing Boris, ...

And others by the game devs (which actually bleed into ThimbleCon, where they wouldn't normally be), in a struggle to keep the player not noticing what's going on, like the flashback with one of the agents in the table.

Guga - May 05, 2017 at 06:48
Everyone is talking about the scene where "Reyes" is on the coroner's slab.

I had Ray there. Is it normal?

Nor Treblig - May 05, 2017 at 07:52
No, it's not normal. You had the choice between a red headed chick and another person and you were playing with the other person. What's wrong with you?

N. Harold Cham - May 05, 2017 at 07:52
It can be either of them. Hmmm, I wonder whether it's just a coincidence that both agents have AR as their initials, Antonio Reyes and Angela Ray... also the last names are quite similar, no?

Jesper Hansen - May 05, 2017 at 13:20
I remember from the very start of the project when the two names were announced that I seriously didn't understand why the two agents had to have almost the same name... at least when pronounced.

I still don't get it but perhaps there's a deeper meaning... I too am curious!