Released!
by Ron Gilbert
Mar 30, 2017
Mar 30, 2017
Thimbleweed Park is officially out!
If you are a backer, log in to your PledgeManager account to get your key.
If you aren't a backer, you can buy it here...
The forgotten help screen... literally, we forgot to add it.
- Ron
If you need tech or backer support, please email support@thimbleweedpark.com.
We won't be answering support questions here.
The wait is over !!!
Does the linux version need necessarly ubuntu ?
Can I install it on other distributions like fedora ?
Tof
I filled out your survey about the GOG keys, but I found only the Steam keys in the PledgeManager. Is this a mistake, or will the GOG keys come only by email?
Can’t wait any longer, guys. Situation is critical!!!
I got a confirmation email when I filled the google form two days ago, but no GOG code.
It's on my hard drive !! Can't wait to come back home from work !!!!!
Downloaded the game, and just wanted to drop a message of appreciation before I dig into it!
I have a boring administrative question though: I have received an email with a GOG key as expected because I signed up for it, but when I claimed my key in the Pledge Manager, I received an additional Steam key as well! I just wanted to ask if this is intended, since I thought you can have either the one or the other. I only redeemed the GOG key for now, because that's the platform I wanted it for, but if I can use the Steam key too, that would be a pleasant surprise :3
ANYWAY I will get started right now, so see you guys later! *locks room door to not be disturbed*
Thank you ! ( see you l8er)
should be visible in your pledgemanager receipt after reloading
Ron, I know the blog updates will be less frequent, but it would be cool to know how TWP did in its opening week statewide and abroad, kind of liked they do with movie openings! :-)
All the best!
Unfortunately I can't find it there (in Germany) and in this post you don't mention the app store anymore.
Are there any bad news for me?
Hard work finally pays off. Cant wait to get startet.
Is there a reward for the first finisher? :-)
Anyway many people I guess have the same issue.
http://www.gamersglobal.de/test/thimbleweed-park?page=0,2
Sorry for the very silly question, how can save the game in Mac? Should I press F5-F8 or similar?
Congrats Ron and Gary on a successful game and campaign! Thank you so much for doing this, for your dedication and passion! As a longtime MM & DOTT fan I am just giddy like a kid again and can't wait to play it after waiting for so long! XD
Can't wait to get home.
Congratulations to the team and thanks to the backers!
What an amazing achievement and I'm so thrilled that this is receiving such positive reviews. Very much looking forward to playing my kickstarter reward copy and buying multiple ones as gifts for friends who missed out on the KS campaign.
Would it be too soon to suggest renaming your company to Wonderful Toybox?
Wishing this will be a financial success as well as the critically acclaimed classic it clearly is. All the best and hope to see more games like this from you folks.
One anoying thing: The font is very hard to read because the width of the space character is too small!
Tipps for a good font design: https://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fontology/level-2/text-typography/word-spacing
Is there anything i can do?
Having said that: TWP works great with a touchscreen and super awesome with a pen! I haven't touched the mouse anymore after my initial tests (which also helps keeping the mouse pad in pristine condition).
Will continue playing tomorrow with controllers to see how this goes :-)
But I wonder if the direct-control of actors is still a thing, maybe via the advanced options?
One thing I've really needed to add was a way to cycle through often used verbs (e.g. Use and Pick up) without needing to go to the verb area and back. I've bound this to the Y-button (and used X and A to reset the cycle), I like it.
Lots of humor from the very first seconds :DDDDDDDDDDD
I downloaded and i am currently playing it via steam! It works perfectly fine!
Is it possible to get the gog version also? Or i would lose the steam key if i do this?
Thank you once again for this MASTERPIECE :D
Thank you so much for making this new game and fusing my fond childhood adventure game memories a with a new experience. I'll have a blast! Missed to be a backer but spamming my friends with gifted keys already =)
And a big extra cheer at David for desigining Zak McKracken, my all-time favorite adventure (I loved drawing maps for the mazes as a kid).
You guys kick butt!
Only reason i got time to post is because it takes # MINUTES TO DOWNLOAD THE GAME!!!!!!
....Ok, its down now, bye.
But it went by in a flash and now -- joy? No, it won't run because of a api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll error .........
I'll start all over.
Now please excuse me, I've got a mystery to solve!
Windows update helped:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2999226/update-for-universal-c-runtime-in-windows
I think I will grab my notebook now and see what secrets Thimbleweed Park has in store for me.
Can't wait for the next games (there will be next games, right ?)
THANK YOU VERY MUCH for this Amazing Game you have developed. Unfortunately I couldn't help you on Kickstarter because when I realized that this project was underway, the campaign had already ended. I'm sorry about that.
The Secret Of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2 were and still are my favourite games of all time! They have made me dream! I've played them in the 90's and I play them even now, at age 33, when I want to relax :-)
I've always followed the Blog since I've heard about the game development even if I never left comments.
I'll buy immediately two copies of Thimbleweed Park and I let else speak about it to my friends and family. In my opinion, $19,99 is a great price considering the huge work behind the development and launch of a game. The Adventure Games are my Favourite Kind Of Game, especially the "old style" adventures like Thimbleweed Park, always!
I never expected with so much trepidation a game as it happened to me with Thimbleweed Park :-)
I hope that you can develop other similar Adventure Games like TP, and the next time I'll make you a donation on Kickstarter!
A Very Big and Sincere THANK YOU to Ron Gilbert and ALL The Development TEAM for the great job done :-)
Thanks From The Bottom Of My Heart :-)
Livio
I would like to have it on both Steam and GOG. if not, Can i fill the GOG form to keep both Steam and GOG versions?
[1] https://www.gog.com/connect
window.onMouseWheelUp = function() {gameEngine.inventoryUp;}
window.onMouseWheelDown = function() {gameEngine.inventoryDown;}
Lets hope its as simple as that...
window.onMouseWheelUp = function() {gameEngine.inventoryUp; gameEngine.shuffleInventoryItems;}
BWAHAHAHAHA!
window.onMouseWheelUp = function() {gameEngine.inventoryDown;}
window.onMouseWheelDown = function() {gameEngine.inventoryUp;}
That's "natural" scrolling for you. Or isn't it? I'm confused. *g*
It's called trial and error and is how programming works. For me anyway :-)
No mac store download ?
I have locked agent Ray in the prison cell (the door is closed) and agent Rayes was kidnapped. Agent Ray is now in the cell and i can not open the door.
Another small thing I noticed: Is it intended that you will talk to the postal worker if he is behind the wall and you want to click the sign or the post boxes? Could be a bug with wrong layering, could be a feature so you can always talk to the postal worker. But for me it doesnt make sense (if I point the mouse at the sign or the post boxes, it's likely my target to click those and not an "invisible man", who will return to his desk in a few seconds.)
So thanks so much for doing such a great job and gratulations to the whole team, Ron. ;) I could really kick my ass for missing the phone book entry when I first opened it in the Delores flashback. But that little shadow is probably a good thing as I would've been blind by now otherwise.
Cheers from germany!
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1-_-QxerYno/0.jpg
But it seems like the character turns the back towards the door when opening it.
[03/30/17 19:12:45] Booted.
[03/30/17 19:12:46] Format error in ThimbleweedText_en.tsv(80)
[03/30/17 19:12:46] Format error in ThimbleweedText_en.tsv(80)
[03/30/17 19:12:46] Animation stand_front not found.
[03/30/17 19:12:46] Animation stand_front not found.
[03/30/17 19:12:46] Animation stand_front not found.
Maybe you should try to uninstall the game and the Steam Launcher in Ubuntu, restart your device and reinstall both.
In Linux Mint (and probably in Ubuntu, too), there are two different ways to install the Steam Launcher: Either you use the Software Manager or you download it directly from the website via the "install Steam" button. I used the Software Manager. It may be an older version, but, after the installation, the Steam Launcher updated itself automatically.
Why on earth would anyone pay money for an operating system, when the game they want to play exists on the free OS they already have?
That said, only Ubuntu or SteamOS is officially supported by Steam (although they provide wiki help about other distros). If I had problems under Suse that I couldn't fix easily, I'd consider either dual-booting into Ubuntu or running it in VirtualBox.
Quick question - is there a way to switch characters or get into the settings gear icon (in the upper right hand corner of the screen) from a touchscreen device? You can hover over the current character icon with a mouse and it drops down the gear icon and other character icon to switch characters - but when i tried using just my touchscreen tablet - i can't seem to get the menu to show up - because i can't technically 'hover'. All other controls seem to work fine with touch or with the mouse.
Thoughts anyone?
O brings up the options menu
1 and 2 switches between characters
(I am assuming 3 and up will switch between more characters later)
3 (or any other number for now) shows the hover menu
Cheers
By the way, I intuitively pressed the Esc button in order to get to the menu and I was surprised as it didn't work. Then I tried the F keys. Is there a reason why only the sprite in the upper right corner opens the menu?
I also found Ctrl+S to do the job as well.
Well done champ, you and your team are the best!
(on holiday in Berlin - will start playing on Sunday afternoon)
Loved the pigeons on the highway. I can't stop laughing when drinking from the water fountain. The Coroner and The Sheriff.
This is a 10/10 game! Buy it!
Well done guys!!!
I got my backer code, the game is downloaded.
!!THANK YOU!!
Toilet paper OVER should have been the default setting! I'm afraid some good people might TP Ron's house! :P Pitchforks are so expensive these days. :-(
HUGE THANK YOU FOR THIS GAME!
One minor criticism though: I really do miss that you can not "look at <person>". Or you can not always "talk to <person>" either. Sometimes Ray is not selectable for interaction, as an example. But sometimes she is (like "give <item> to Ray"), that is a bit inconsistent. And I always loved in the old adventures that you can look at everyone and your character would tell you what is special about a person or what your character thinks about a person. Implement that maybe? However great SCUMM verb feeling in general! The FEELING is definitely there!
Minor nitpicking: In the German version there is a small error, when you want to exit the game. "Do you really want to exit?" is translated "Wirklich beendchen"? Either this is a joke I hadn't just got, or there is a "ch" too much. "Wirklich beenden?" would be correct. And while talking with the Pigeon Brothers agents and Pigeons have "you" (= Sie) in small case, but while it is a formal conversation it has to be "Sie" instead of "sie". English you = "Sie" (formal use, capital first letter) or "Du" (informal). Or "ihr" (= "you both"). Boris will figure this out for sure! Will write bug report email.
- I love the fluidity of the interface, really confortable
- I love the way the dialogs don't overlap
- Got me to smile a good few times
- Thinking in terms of "verb" actions again, it's been so long!
Little bemols:
- the jokes about being in an adventure game are too early in the game, they don't fit in the 1987 atmosphere
- I'm not 100% convinced by the music, perhaps I'll just turn it off
Finally, relieved of my guilt!
I love it.. the game is amazing , so funny its perfect . I cant tell you how happy i am to play a game like These After so much years.
And omg i saw guybrush i think😍
Greets frommen Austria
Well, how could I fall asleep then, knowing the game was out....
I played all morning, then also on the train to work.
I get off the train, see something shiny on the ground, and my brain tells me "another spec of dust to pick up!"
I am tired, but so happy.
Thank you all for the effort you have put in over these past two years.
If you plan to run another Kickstarter, I'll happily be in that one too!
just one suggestion (I know I am stupid, but maybe many other people are.. :D)
I've always used the "autosaved" file...after a couple of hours playing, I started a new game just to see again the first part...and...it automatically deleted my longplay =( maybe could be useful a message saying "save on another file!" =D
I'm just a little disappointed because
- SPOILER -
at the beginning Ray speaks with the sheriff about a fire in the pillow factory but....how does he know about that? No-one have ever said anything about that.....or did I miss something?!
at least you make up your mind. mystic, isn't it?
After three hours of play I'm overjoyed with the game. Humor, Suspense, Animation, Sound, Voice acting, scripting and overall polish - all top notch. It really is a showcase of what a classic 2D pixelated PnC Adventure can be!
I hope you guys get a fair reward for all your work in form of good sales and good reviews.
Why is the book 1.2-"the true secret of monkey island" by "Ron Gilbert" just the the lyrics of Never gonna give you up by Rick Astley? I vote to remove it as it breaches the rules that were set or better yet, replace it by something written by the real Ron on that topic, in a patch.
:-)
I think I found a very very minor bug: can't pick this speck of dust, as it's out of reach:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/cvmp55l642fqw1s/Screenshot%202017-03-31%2000.58.16.png
-dZ.
The slider for verb background opacity, and the option for retro pixel mode seem to be missing. I didn't find them anywhere.
My suggestions for the first patch:
Having the "use" verb when left clicking an item in the inventory. They did it in "Day of the Tentacle", and I always found it rather convenient.
Adding the missing options.
Telephone low pass effect so that telephone calls don't sound as if the person is standing right next to you.
Please make another classic point & click adventure, I'll back it too.
Amazing. That would have made for some box right there..
They're both lying, and they both can't trust the other, so why trust the other to not blow their cover? It feels like a piece of the story is missing.
Plus there's lots of other strange comments that don't seem to make sense: Why are the Pigeon Bros called "perps"? Why can't I investigate the contents of their van? Surely their unusual behaviour warrants further investigation? Why can't I show them a photo of the dead body to see if they recognise the victim? Why does the coroner know Agent Ray's name when she's only just arrived in town and they've only just met?
These are the questions that this player has. I really want there to be great explanations for them. I want the two agents to be pushed together for a reason. Fingers crossed it comes!
Other than this, I'm still really enjoying playing it. It's beautiful. Great fun. And I'm keen to know what happens next, which is great!
Also, before looking at the body at the very beginning, if I read the notebook, it had all the comments from like three different "look" actions. That was also strange hearing the agent "speak" those sentences after I had already read them in the notebook.
The other one was that when a letter was delivered during the Delores segment, I knew I wanted to open the letter, and as soon we tried and Delores said that she couldn't because her uncle would be able to tell from the ripped envelope; we immediately knew we had to use steam -- but then Delores continued talking and said something like "you'll have to find another way to get stamps." (???)
Nothing requiring stamps had been mentioned yet (I hadn't filled out the application nor read the magazine yet), so it was very strange to be told a hint prior to encountering the puzzle.
There are very few of these little narrative quirks, and the story is otherwise very well constructed so far.
-dZ.
The "fire conversation" irritated me too.
"Perhaps you meant to indicate that the agent had prior knowledge, but it felt strange from a narrative perspective."
That situation would be more clear if Ray makes an objection immediately,. like: "Why do you talking about the fire? The case is closed." or "Could you please stop talking about the fire. It has nothing to do with our case." or something similar.
There is a dead end bug: In the Hotel in the Lobby... after you came out of the elevator and then when you are the first to drink water (not the boy) ... then you are drinking forever... there is no end :) You have to load the savegame.
Also it would be better if a left mouse double-click would open the doors or next screens. Would be often easier. Key-Shortcuts are ok, but not anytime.
And a last hint: it would be better if the player not to have to walk over 12 screens to pick up a needed thing. Max two screens (or one long street) would be better (not easier to solve).
TWP is an old-school-adventure: The long walking ways were common in the old games. And it's "natural": You have to walk to the other side of the city if you need to walk there. :) Remeber walking in Maniac Mansion from green's room to the living room. (Even if you not count the long loading times. :))
But yes, in these days most players don't like long walks. :)
Once you have the map, getting around is a lot quicker.
Don't forget your character speeds up if you hold down the left button.
What a f*** VERY NICE SUPER JOB GUYS! YOU ARE THE BEST!
I just came back 30 years back in my life when i played it!!!
Have u already started to produce the next game??
Count on me as a backer for the next one!
Congratulations!!
Greetings from Brazil
Cheers.
We walked that mansion, room by room for a couple of hours, and even outside, and kept missing the darn wood pile! At last I randomly moved the mouse across the entire screen and noticed the wood pile outside and poof! solved it.
The problem is that the graphic for the wood pile is not very sharp and easy to discern. It looks like some random bush or scenery element of the grounds, and not very distinct from the rest of the lawn. It would have been nice to have gotten a hint somewhere about wood or something so that at least we could know what we were looking for.
By the way, I love the game so far. Kudos on the many extra touches of interaction you added (I even tried putting a glass of gasoline in the microwave -- that was pretty cool!)
Congratulations! You have a hit on your hands! It's time for you to party like it's 1987!!!
-dZ.
My wife and I are loving the game BTW!
Yes, the game is really great! It's everything (and more) I and probably most Kickstarter backers could have imagined when backing this project about 2.5 years ago.
But he said they won't make a Kickstarter next time.
I did find an instance of the wrong audio being played for a line, though. When looking at the soda bottle at the start, Agent Ray says "Michigan" for "MA". Looks like it's just Agent Ray, though. Agent Reyes says "Massachusetts" for it.
BTW, being able to run is a Godsend- thank you for putting it in the game!
Characters keep saying what they need to do, which is quite OK so you don't forget your goal, but...
...sometimes they say it even if they were saying something else. I had agent Ray saying she was worrying about Reyes missing less than half a second AFTER I started talking with someone, and completely missed what Ray would have been saying.
I suppose it should happen only when in idle, but it seems to happen quite often that my intended speech is overridden by the prompt (in the Delores flashback it happened a lot of times).
Other than that... wonderful first impression. I wanted to call in sick at work today, it was too tempting.
(not THAT f-word!)
/Long time backer
I don´t know if in a near future it will be available in the App Store.
A review here in Sweden: https://www.fz.se/recension/272605-thimbleweed-park
It's in swedish obviously, but it got the higest grade "Masterpiece" !!
This is the type of game I expected when I backed "Broken Age" on Kickstarter. "Broken Age" was such a disappointment. It's funny how you could make a much better game than Broken Age with much less money raised on KS.
I hope you will have a lot of additional sales revenue to consider doing more games like this in the future.
And I love the SCUMM-like interface, and the game "feels" and play like my favourite Monkey Island, exactly as promised on KS.
This game is 10/10 - no exaggeration!
I had an idea this morning when I loaded my save game from yesterday:
What do you think about show the current title card when loading a save game? Like the loading screens in action or rpg games where you get information about the level or area you are currently in. I think that would help to take up the thread.
AAAAARGH!!!
So, I write here just to say you that I am alive, I have played the game for 4 hours, and I love the game, it pours love and passions from every hole.
I (probably) will not write here anymore, until I'll finish the game.
Ciao!
Everything works as it should (?).
Thanks!
I'm always pressing F5 in hope the Savescreen pops up
I read a lot of the reviews, which are all positiv. But what bothers me is, that even in german reviews they say that hotspots are missing. I think hotspots aren't modern game design. Pixelhunting is really annoying, but except for the "chainsaw of dissapointment" all objects are clearly visible, and to explore the surroundings are one thing why I love adventure games.
Regarding hotspots, if you go one step further, you can automatically absorb all items as soon as you enter a new room, how much fun would that be?
I forgot one other thing I wanted to say. The artwork is gorgeous! It truly is breathtakingly beautiful. I know I complained in the past about keeping the retro and "purist" 8-bit art, and I take it all back right now. Mr. Ferrari's artwork is fantastic and I wouldn't change it for the world. It fits right in, it feels natural and classic, it's beautiful and interesting, and never gets in the way. It just *feels* like 1987 (youth, high-school parties, playing computer games after school, long summers with friends, etc.) without having to *be* 1987 (acne, getting bullied in high-school, detention after school, awkward conversations with girls, being grounded by your parents, etc.).
Also, I noticed Mr. Octavi's artwork prominently displayed in the old Gypsy's library. They too are impressive and very a propos.
Great job to everyone involved, and especially to you, Messrs. Gilbert & Winnick, for having the eye to pick such great talent.
-dZ.
I don't think that is something that can be fixed in the game. Any program you open will be full-screened on the main display (screen 1) by your OS. On linux, it might also open on the same display your terminal from which you launched the command is on. Either way, you already found some workarounds. Otherwise rename your screens ;)
One thing though that I miss so far: A slider for mouse sensitivity in the options screen. I know I can probably change it in the windows system settings. But the sensitivity in the game seems to be different from the system. So I'd keep setting it back and forth when I start or quit playing.
And then one thing that feels like a continuity error. When I first talk to the sheriff/coroner, I can ask them about the fire in the pillow factory ... even though my agents don't know anything about a fire nor the factory yet. Nobody told them so far. How can they ask about it already?
Cheers,
Mac
We discussed that above in the comments. It's not a continuity error, just play along. :)
When it breaks the suspension of disbelief enough to take you out of the game to notice, it ceases to be a clever plot device and becomes a distraction.
I just hope that Mr. Gilbert and his crew take notice. Just a friendly suggestion. I love the game regardless. :)
-dZ.
-dZ.
It's cool for you that we are talking about it and causing a minor stir; it's not much fun for me if I get distracted from the game while playing. ;)
No worries, it still a minor thing.
dZ.
I had a bigger (though still rather unimportant) problem with Ransome just starting to give stuff away to the other characters. There is a great scene in the hotel, where Ray and Reyes become a team. Such a scene is missing for the others. If the post office was also a lost & found, Ransome could have given the wallet there hoping to make a buck from some reward, while not being friendly to the others, as at that point their goals are not necessarily aligned. Or, to hint at the ending, maybe he could just wonder what *beep* made him give his *beep* stuff away.
-dZ.
Yes, but it's irritating in that particular case/scene. The player asks in his head: "Huh? What fire? Arg, I've missed something!". The latter one is irritating and a little bit frustrating. I know what Ron wants to achieve in this scene but I had chosen a different wording, that makes clearer (but not totaly clear) that Reyes knows something and that he is interested in the fire.
Only real negatives so far for me is that:
-there's a bit too much fourth wall breaking and inside P&C jokes though.
-you can't "look" at people to see what the character thinks of them. That was quite surprising.
The 4th wall things were quite surprising :-)
But partly it's your fault too, e.g. when talking about save games it's your choice!
Congratulation the game is incredible and the Guit Certificate is pure genius...
Now go on vacation, enjoy the spring time. Don't even think to check the internet the next couple of weeks :)
But I have a small question: Why does ThimbleweedPark.exe contain curl and the text "https://www.google-analytics.com/collect";? Does it send usage data to the internet?
Also did anybody have any luck with ThimbleweedPark.ggpack1 files? Seem to be better than XOR encrypted ;-)
Not because I don't like people collecting stats (which I don't), but because I do not trust or like Google.
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/thimbleweed-park/user-reviews
@Ron Gilbert, you might want to fix that. ;-)
don’t forget that the keyboard layout and the game language are independent. I play in English with a German keyboard.
If international keyboard layout support is too hard, maybe just read the keys from a text/ini file. This way, the user may even use custom layouts (o=open, p=pick up etc.).
IOP
KLÖ
,.-
You could play with the wireless one and just move it more to the right (can't do that with the one which is connected to the display of course).
I have been playing as Agent Ray, and first up I forgot to "Look" at the body.
I went and did a few other things on my checklist, and then came back and looked at the body.
Now the description of the deceased is the top page in my notebook each time I open it.
It would be nice if the todo list was always the first thing I see when I open the notebook.
Thanks.
Two other minor things I noticed, probably not worth changing:
- On Ray's mobile phone, you cannot dial another number after listening to a message. You have to put down the phone first.
- The amendment jokes at Nickel Press should not repeat directly after one another. So, after 5th there should not follow the 5th again. :-)
And somehow, the actor icons in the upper left are blinking rather often without an apparent reason...? It's a little bit distracting. I keep on switching actors just to make the blinking stop. :-)
I do like talking to the FaceTron 3000 (tm) :-D You put so much detail into the dialogs. This is just awesome!!
Maybe other sound issues are related. Could there be accidentally mixed up coordinates for sound panning calculation somewhere in the code?
Also got some lines panned to the right in the diner and some panned to the left in hotel rooms, but those don't seem to be reliably reproducible.
Dean, UK.
What.a.game.
I say this game is *beep* *beep* *beep* *BEEEEP**beep* amazing.
Javier Lacroix - Reyes
Elise Kates - Delores
Alex Zahara - Franklin
Ian Corlett - Ransome
Or fix the broken cheat short cut (Ctrl + w).
I'm actually wondering who voiced the first playable (but short-lived) character.
I can imagine you laughed ur ass off during recording. This man is my hero.
-dZ.
However, the line was triggered right after I went through the door of the Post Office, which made me and my wife think for a while that it was the Postal worker behind the desk who was missing his dime. This made me start searching the small Post Office room trying to find it.
Eventually, when I went back outside and finally encountered the bum, it became clear that the line about missing a dime was from him.
-dZ.
Thank you all for letting me and everybody else be a part of this awesome journey and for having THE BEST WEEKEND EVAHH!!!!! Woohee!!!
Really... you guys are truly a team of great,funny, fun-loving and genuinely creative people and I wish you all the best and really look forward to see what you come up with in the future... hopefully together (pretty please)... because it would be awfully uncomfortable for me to keep up with each of your blogs individually... this way I continue enjoying my routine and you don't have to feel like you are making me uncomfortable... which you obviously would... since your all so nice and great and all... and have ESP too...
But also a lot of those older games had similar limitations.
xcopy is your friend.
There will never be a space sim as great as Tie Fighter because the controllers of consoles do not allow that functionality.
(Limited causal connection, I just wanted to put this out there....)
I like the game so far, but I am missing two game features:
1. I can't activate the True-Pixel-Mode (which would be a resolution of 320 x 180 on 16:9 displays). I think, that this was a promised feature. As I already switched to the old font, I really want to try it, even if Ron said in one of the blog posts, that no one wants to use it.
2. Can you please overthink the decision, to only provide 8 usable save slots? Even if it is not possible to die in the game, I like to save at regular intervalls, to be able to take a look back after I finished the game. Disk space shouldn't be a problem nowadays.
Greetings
Firebird
After having played the game for 3.5 hours or so, I am getting more and more sucked into it (despite my initial impression which was more WTF?). . I really like the flashbacks. Each time I finish one, I realize I was so caught up in them that I kinda forgot I was also in the present (1987) with the agents.
I also like the gentle nudging hint system, where the player character is saying "I should ...". Frustratingly enough, I was very hard trying just that, walking around everywhere (also realizing why you had to limit the places you can initially visit) until the agent just broke the fourth wall and told me <spoiler>. I felt sooo stupid! But on the other hand, it was also proof that I completely am in the zone of supsension of disbelief Hard to describe it better without spoilers.
Who would have ever guessed LeChuck is Guybrush's brother?
SPOILER and suggestion for the next patch: (do not read anymore of this comment to avoid the spoiler).
In the Dolores library, I need to find the MMucus Book. I almost immediately knew to remove the sign, so I tried "pull" and "push." Once that didn't work, I spent about an hour afterwards trying other solutions. I watched a gameplay demo to solve that puzzle ("pick up"). I believe "pull" should work as "pick up" sometimes. Thank you.
how do you feel, now that Thimbleweed Park launched?
Did the launch meet your expectations?
By the way, I only played until the murder up to now. For no more than five minutes or so. I'm too busy this week and I want to be relaxed when I play TWP.
But, my first impression is awesome!
Congratulations it is an excellent adventure game.
Criticism will follow to the team in an email to not spoil anything for people who didn't play it.
GREAT WORK!!
Although RON gets a lot of credit I think GARRY should also be praised equally as it really shows to be a product of people who love adventure games and reminds of "small teams" doing their thing without co-orporate numbers in the way.
GREAT WORK TO ALL THE TEAM ONCE AGAIN
Great great, great job guys, this is point-and-click adventure to its finest.
I'm almost thinking there could be a business opportunity in outsourcing the "hollywood elements" from game productions to companies dedicated to doing them because so very few games in history of gaming get those to match even a straight to dvd b-movie level. That would involve dialogue rewriting/polish, voice actor casting and audio mix etc. To make this affordable for indie/mid-budget games the production company would need to be well structured and staffed by people who are sort of "quincy jones"'es of each field - ie. someone with very high bar and knows people that can deliver what they need. ie. kind of like agency/consulting business for indie devs to find the people related more to arts and production of arts suitable for specific project. Traditionally you probably had game publisher doing this but if this was consulting/agency based then indie game devs could still keep their control while getting a good idea of the production related cost ahead, based on how much dialogue and music they need etc.
About outsourcing this is clearly up to the developers.
If the label/producer type people set up to act as agency instead, I argue you could avoid that problem as it would a b2b contract negotiation as opposed to b2a (business to artist/invidual). The lawyers involved would need to set up a contract template that aligns the interests in equitable manner. Being that teams on both side are probably similar size ~6 person teams (not counting voice actors) on one project (I've looked hit records and they always have about 6 people in production/engineering credited, no less), both sides would have enough experience combined to say that "as a team we are getting a fair deal here".
To me this seems like a better model than contracting out every piece directly or the label model.
I heard on some interview that one of the best produced recent games (Witness) took about 7 years and atleast $100k was "blown" just in one hire before it was determined something else was needed talent-wise. That tells me you really need a lot of "AA" titles behind you just to know what you need when and then is the matter of finding that - could be quite time consuming process I imagine vs eg. "I know I want those guys that did X before" or taking a look at show reels in some directory of similar companies.
What sort of grates me the most are the main characters. The voice actors do a good job in delivering what I felt about them when I first saw them when the blog was launched. A bit like some of the rookie doctors just out of school trained to be confident and pretending to know it all even when you know that based on what tests and questions they've done/asked so far, they couldn't possible reach any sort of conclusions outside of "Hypochondriasis" which to me is complete non-sense and I have plenty of studies to back this up, I just don't want the privilege of having to pay a doctor for time to walk them through why they are wrong.
But it still grates me because the characters they are acting feel "void of life and emotion". So the problem is these characters are too realistic (/hate life is the feeling I'm getting from the characters) and the acting reflects that.
Listen to voice mix in other games like Tie Fighter, Star Trek 25th Anniversary for reference of a better voice mix. If you want to get real fancy, listen to Mass Effect 1 voice mix..
They sound very much as if you were watching a TV series.
The difference is somewhat subtler if you lower the voice volume from the menu, but the point then would be: why do I need to lower the voice volume? When I watch TV series, the voice volume is already mixed to appropriate levels relative to other audio.
Free solutions include not using headphones (although your PC speakers might be of doubtable quality, unless you really are the audiophile you are claiming to be) or just turning the voice OFF in the options.
The voice mix loudness issue was much more clear on his system than on headphones but on headphones it felt more annoying.
Generally the feeling is that the voices all around sound like they were recorded in acoustically treated small studio closet. That IS how most professionals do record vocal mixes... but that is only the first step! In Hollywood I don't know actually how they record scenes such that some green/blue-screen sounds legit, do they use effects or actually record (or playback and re-capture the voice mix) in physical space similar to what is on the green/blue-screen? Would be very interesting to know.
I'll have to object. When I launched the game, my soundblaster card rendered the game audio with a huge amount of distortion.
I had to switch to onboard audio, which ran fine :D
That said there are a very few moments where it feels as if the actor didn't know the context of what they were saying, and so couldn't deliver it with the right emphasis. Like the difference between saying "That's my *pen*" (emphasising what it is) vs "That's *my* pen" (emphasising whose it is) (not an example from the game).
But with the sheer volume of dialogue in a game like this, and the budget, and the branching dialogue, I think it's too much to expect that every conversation has every nuance of emphasis just right.
And I went to a play at the Royal Shakespeare Company last month in which some lines were delivered with a similar (IMO) misplaced emphasis, so it's something even the best actors sometimes do.
I am a bit surprised how little dialogue I skipped. It was mainly openings or answers I already knew and way less than I usually skip in games. So something about the voices and the writing must have worked very well for me.
LOL!
In Monkey Island there were no voice-actings at all, originally. So, everyone had had his own impression of Guybrush's voice, until Armato was engaged for Curse of MI. Therefore, Armato's voice did inevitably disappoint a few people, even though he did a brilliant job.
I personally had to get accustomed to Armato's voice as well, because I had imagined Guybrush to sound even more planless and less self-confident. To make matters worse, Guybrush even looked different in Curse of MI. But, it didn't take long until I appreciated Armato's interpretation of that character.
Voice acting is very well done in my opinion. Perhaps it doesn't help that there is some superb performances from secondary characters that might take some spotlight out of the main characters (I love Leonard and the sheriff/coroner).
I am about 1/3 of the way and I already experienced some moments which I think will transcend the game. I really hope the game exceeds the expectations of the developers. I 'm hoping for more "indie" titles like this one. I backed this game and I'm buying an xbox copy for my little nephews. See if I can get them away from Minecraft for a while.
As it is, the game is the blue print for production dicipline: The result is better that what was announced, it takes an unconventional road for telling the story, compared to the average kickstarter it got delivered on time and offers several translations on day one. All of this on an engine, which did not exist before. Without a full time producer for much of the time. I doubt there is much room for streamlining left.
What you refer to as "QJ's of the world"-doing sounds more like what "handholders, meddling micromanagers of the world" would do than the process the people involved in Q's projects described. If you think there's some school that teaches people to work like Q well, I've yet to hear about one, so safe to assume most people aren't doing what he is doing. When someone asked about some details about his signature sound, he actually got a bit protective "So you wan't to get competitive...".. Trade secrets you know - though I would say half of the trade secret when it comes to audio is having a) experience in listening good records b) driven to get the best results, and you know what the best is through experience of listening to people who have been involved in productions that did very well even without "hard sales" tactics marketing - ie. the product sold itself projects. In audio this is particularly obvious : would you listen to nails on a chalkboard, a randomly picked bed room indie production or Q's production. I would wager statistically significant amount of people wouldn't be able to describe exactly why but they'd prefer the Q's production.
Comparable analog is if movie had is special effects done by some random team or ILM.
In games, comparable to "random team" is if indie game hires a random team to help with the game.. vs a publisher that knows they don't go broke by spending on ILM-equivalent of games to do their polishing stuff.
And if there's one company that would REALLY benefit from "ILM of games" but instead of special effects specialization, dialogue specialization : Almost every RPG and adventure game ever (Lucas,Sierra games are EXCEPTIONS, clearly they had talented writers). But why stop there? Do the other things I did like that too. The creative vision is still with the company or invidual hiring the services of such "ILM".
I have few game ideas I've wanted to do but I'm waiting for a point where I can outsource everything and since generally only 1 in 100 meet my quality bar, there needs to be 100 companies to choose from. My own input will be about looking, like QJ, at multiple ideas I've seen out there and pick the best for the outsourced companies to implement. So I'm not pitching "my idea", I'm pitching someone elses idea that has been shown to work, then I'll slap my name on it and if I'm right (which I always am) then people recognize that even if I removed my name from it, because some colors and sounds are simply more enjoyable than "nails on a chalkboard" and that goes for everything, game design elements, style of writing (one may not be eloquent but one only needs to recognize people who are and structure a business around convincing them to work with your clients - ones creative input would be in choosing people who you want to work with).
Indeed, expensive movies hand over all to the big players and reduce the amount of managing they have to do, which also mean handing over a great deal of quality control to individual supervisors for each company. Something one can afford when the budget is high enough that stuff can be remade when the director has a different vision.
But take smaller movies and look at the credits: they do exactly the opposite of what you described. They employ a lot of smaller companies, most known for one thing they are doing well. Instead of iterations, they establish direct contact between the productions supervisor and the artists and a much closer contact to the director, who also tries to communicate his vision as clear as possible and does not just wait for people offering him ideas, because that process would cost money.
By increasing the distance between the director and the artists, you weaken the construct. Especially when the development is as tedious and slow as game design (opposing to music, which allows knocking out a reasonable demo in minutes, even before getting the actual artists on board, and therefore allows a much more intuitive approach).
"My own input will be about looking, like QJ, at multiple ideas I've seen out there and pick the best for the outsourced companies to implement."
So basically you talk about having no idea of your own and a lack of vision and you want to produce other people, all that without any experience because you think it is easy and someone from the outside will save it for you while a stylistic coherence developes during the project on the fly? Have you ever worked in a team? Do you know about the value of an idea at all when you obviously are incapable of generating them yourself?
Just a simple band-pass filter with a narrow band would have suffice to keep the illusion. As it stands, there seems to be a distinct difference in tonal quality that you get from the dialing tones (which are squarely within the mid-range of frequencies, as per real telephone tones), and the voices that follow (which are recorded in very high fidelity audio).
There is also a bug where if one character has a recurring dialog triggered by timers, the volume of his voice will go really low if a second character say something at a time when a timer is triggering. It's as if they are both trying to use the same audio channel, and one causes the other to drop off, but instead of cutting away, it lowers in volume which is a bit weird.
Other than that, the acting, the artwork, the music, the stability of the code, the lighting, the environment simulations, and just about everything is about as high a quality as any triple-A title -- and this is before considering the limited budget and the independent nature of the entire production and crew.
-dZ.
Questions, right off the start (stuff mentioned at some point previously)---
1. Is there a key command to hide the UI?
2. You'd mentioned at some point an option to turn off /filter some of the modern graphic stuff, like pixels that move unlike the old-school. I just immediately saw the weeds in the first scene swaying... and wondered if there's a button to turn that to old school. (seems unlikely, I guess, since the old method would drawing new frames for that movement).
Playing with my son and we have a really great time solving all the puzzles. The game really got much better than I thought it could be. Well done!!
But I also have a question to ask:
I'd like to turn on the option "Retro Verbs" without the "Classic Sentence" option, but it seems that you can not ... How come? It 'a bag?
-when launching the game it says "Dr e A" instead of "Drücke A"
- in the Edmont Hotel it says e.g. "Walk to Zimmer 1001" instead of "room 1001" This just happens with rooms.
Just one thing annoys me a little bit. There are too many red herings in the inventory at least at the beginning. This makes the entry of the game unneccessary hard.
Only 8 slots? Are you sure?!?
Still, this means that you can finish the entire game with at most one single save spot per playthrough.
-dZ.
There's a little bug in the phone book. After listening to a voicemail message, immediately open the phone book again. Sometimes, the check mark doesn't appear for the entry you just listened to. Close and open the phone book again or switch between pages back and forth, and then it is checked. Weird-a-reno! Also, when you're on the first page of the phone book or on the last page, using left or right cursor key should not produce a page flipping sound effect.
Greetings from a former software tester ;-)
About pixelPerfect: Ron always said there will be this option, which also will look horrible.
The fact it wasn't included in the first release apparently means it's currently broken. You just have to wait for the next version I guess. Or maybe it's a plot to force everyone to play the game first in default mode so when this option will be available even pixel purists will hate it because they are already accustomed to the new way? Evil! :-)
I guess I wait for my playthrough in casual mode for those options and then go low-fi. Maybe I will even reduce the framerate to seizure inducing 25 fps to get the full experience. And headaches.
Please, continue to make awesome games.
Cheers
My wife and me have been playing the game together for the last few days (she only having been bitten by the adventure game bug a few months ago) and are LOVING it.
I wouldn't change a thing about it and have zero complaints. It's been a long time since I was this happy with a game. And the soundtrack is freaking phenomenal. Big hugs and high fives to the entire team.
This. Game. RULES.
Ps: You've set off a rather spiked toilet paper debate in the house and our toilet paper holder doesn't know what hit it.
Pps: She's making me pick up every dust speck.
I presume that I'll watch some of them after I have finished TWP. But I won't hurry up with this, because the journey is the reward. ;-)
For example Gronkh from Germany, who was paid a visit by Ron a few weeks ago, has started a Let's Play series for TWP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q20Lnizfogs
I read a French testing of the game by Gautoz on Gamekult (note : 7/10) and I feel spoiler because the journalist say too many things about the game.
I know about the scenario, the protagonists and I hesitate to buy now :(
OK maybe the information are for valid the 7 but...
Maybe reading a more positive review from another magazine would increase your interest again.
Personally, I would have bought (or backed) this game even if the reviews were negative, because there hasn't been an adventure game by Ron Gilbert, Gary Winnick and David Fox for so many years that I would give this game a chance anyway. I'm still grateful that they created the classic SCUMM games (and even SCUMM itself), so that I feel obliged to support them.
20 bucks is really nothing.
When looking for something to trade for the guidebook, I could give the aluminumfoil-hat to the comicbook guy.... and now I'm in the factory, doors closed... no hat.....
I think, the "Trailer Variations" are exceptionally elaborated. It contains more than six minutes of the main theme without getting boring!
In the cut scene after arrest part with Agent Reyes standing in front of the bus: saying: "Now we got the ... *beep* :)". There is no voice of her - only text.
Then Agent Rey replies and voice is back.
maybe anyone else having this?
Right after that - playing on. Something strange about accessing the circus place:
When Dolores enters the Circus place from the map.. she gets right in, but Agent Rey does not.... why is this?
GOG has it for $20AUD.
The only thing I was a little worried about was the music, purely based on the intro to the podcast. Worry that turned out to be completely unfounded. Wonderful score too. Quite different from Michael Lands stuff and not as hummable but very good in its own right and it really grows on you the more you hear it.
Best gaming experience in probably a decade or more.
Minor bugs I noticed:
Once I got my 4 tickets I immediately distributed them to 4 characters. Upon entering, the dragon still told me that he would just keep the 4 tickets and distribute them along my friends.
Also when I pause, is the overlay supposed to be rectangular? It's a round white thick border with a cyan background, but the background goes beyond the round corners. Maybe some alpha channel bug? But I see no graphics problem anywhere else, just the save and pause overlays have this. Maybe it's intentional?
I never felt lost and all puzzles have very logical solutions (contrary to older games - I'm looking at you, untranslatable monkey wrench). The pace is good, the 20 hours passed in a breeze. The voice acting and dialogs are fantastic (I especially enjoyed Ransome). Graphics are gorgeous. Seeing the lights in action reminded me of the blog post about it. Fast travel between locations was very appreciated.
I love how the ending brings us back to where it all began.
A few critics, though: not being able to skip the elevator animation is annoying (not terribly annoying, but...). I have mixed feelings about the fifth character: he was not the most enjoyable to play. And what about his ending? All in all, I feel like many questions are left unanswered.
Regardless, Thimbleweed Park has been one of the most enjoyable games I have played in a while, and definitely the best Adventure Game! Can't wait for the next one from Terrible Toybox :D :D
I think I'm gonna wait for it. I'm going for the true '87 experience here!
Any chance it will be a big box like in the old 80s games?
-dZ.
Because Ron did say "several months", but he was referring to the iOS version...
The script for the game feels rushed. Even mediocre jokes are crammed in ("crammed" being the keyword here). It's as if the writers had too much to write and just let everything in. Less jokes but better ones would've helped.
Then there's the character switching... with the two agents repeating... EXACTLY the same thing. How does that make sense? Having two different characters record identical lines? What's the point in having them at all? When I realized they were identical, I dumped all of my inventory in one character and forgot about the other one. Again, quantity over quality.
DoT had different characters which were unique and necessary to solve puzzles. Not so here.
Some action verbs were barely useful and were left in for nostalgia's sake, to appease fans. Nostalgia can be a driving force but it sticking to the way everything in was, including previous shortcomings. The interface could've been simplified and streamlined, a single button to cycle through a limited set of actions (like more recent adventure games). But no, you have to keep clicking back to the action verbs. It's clunky and awkward. I played with the controller. With no simply use the bumper buttons to switch from action verb to action verb instead of using the d-pad which drags you back to the bottom every time only so you can then scroll back in the game window to try your verb? Tedious.
It's interesting how much care was invested in sticking to previous adventure games formulas and yet get rid of the dying. Dying in adventure games was fun! It increased tension. Having those pigeon characters trying to convince you otherwise at the beginning felt weak and well, unconvincing. "It's not fun to die because it isn't." Says so? Outdated design elements were safeguarded while fun, nostalgic elements were removed.
To sum things up, the problem with this game is fundamentally quantity over quality. Less action verbs but more useful one with more pragmatic design, less characters but with unique approaches to puzzles, less jokes but better ones.
A valid point Zizka makes is the issue with controllers: You cannot just select a verb and jump back with the cursor where it was. I've played a lot of hours with a controller but I wouldn't have done it without a little modification.
But all this "quantity over quality" is IMHO nonsense. Also I have nothing to complain about the script (nor voices).
The narrative has gaps. The monitor cut scenes are never really explained, and since the characters cannot talk to each other, it is difficult to find an explanation why they are helping each other in the first chapters (until they all decide they have to get into the factory for various reasons). Delores does not learn about Franklin, there is no reason she tries to get into the penthouse and find the book. That is all information Franklin gathers who in the reality of the game is explicitly unable to talk to her. When I say that those are details, which are more forgivable in a huge nonlinear game with lots of liberties, I pretty much say that the quantity is relativating the quality. Also those are all details I most likely can only see while wearing my Captain Hindsight cape (TM).
The controller should really get fixed. This can still be addressed and would greatly improve the gameplay of the game.
As for the rest, I stand by what I said, quantity over quality. It doesn't mean it's a bad game; it just means that some design decisions are difficult to comprehend coming from veterans. Maybe it was an advertising stunt "You can play as five characters" for the KS. DoT had a bigger budget but still stuck to 3 characters. Having more would just make the design very complicated to plan and ultimately pull off. The more variables you put in, the more complexity you end up with.
I guarantee that if only the two agents had been playable it would have ended up a better game. Unique lines, personalities and puzzle solutions. Probably would have characters which are more different as the playable ones however. It's too late now for that. I'm honestly surprised veterans wouldn't stick to a more conservative formula especially considering dealing with the budget constraints of a indie development. They certainly have the experience to know what having 5 characters would entail. It'd be interesting to read why this decision was made during production from experienced adventure game developers because I can't wrap my mind around it.
On the bright side, the voice acting is excellent, the graphics are good and the puzzles were logical. Mundane but logical. The only puzzle I found was fun before I quit was getting the map. I felt it was inspired, creative and original. The other puzzles were plain: put a coin in a payphone. I don't recall that happening in adventure games of old. While they're easier to solve and usually don't end up having to use every item on everything, they were also less fun. Maybe it gets more complicated later on, I'll never know.
I hope you guys develop another game in the future (no, really). I develop games myself so maybe I'm seeing the game as a developer standpoint and can't help but notice where things went wrong which is why my point of view stands out from the rest of the praises. This game isn't perfect and to define it as such only underestimates what the developers involved could do (which is much better). This is why criticism is important. The more you like a game, the more you should be willing to examine it in great detail to see how it could be made even better.
Oh, and the Dott comparison... have another look at that game it becomes obvious that the character can do different things because they are at different times most of the game. Thimbleweed goes a level further having them all in the same time, allowing a lot more factors to change. In the original MM it is much more like here: there are special abilities for which you need specific characters, although most actions can be done by anybody. I guess it is personal preference how much "I don't want to do that" one wants to have in the game.
"The only puzzle I found was fun before I quit was getting the map." The causality chains get longer. You get more of that needing-something-to-get-something-to-get-something later in the game.
"The other puzzles were plain: put a coin in a payphone. I don't recall that happening in adventure games of old." More than a puzzle, it is a moment which brings the characters together and allow to show an exchange. Also it explains technically how the agent at the phone can know the number - it is established that the characters can talk.
I would have liked something like that to allow the other characters to get introduced to each other the same way, as it would have given an option to perfectly explain why Ransome gives up his wallet or climbs on the tower, or why Franklin phones the banker.
Distributing the tickets for Thimblecon could have been such a moment to have them all together and allow a short exchange why they decide to work together (to get into the factory and solve each of their mysteries).
"The more you like a game, the more you should be willing to examine it in great detail to see how it could be made even better."
No problems with finding little flaws, I am a nerdy nitpicker myself, obviously. But your initial critcism seems to be painted with a rather broad brush and without considering what the game was planned to be.
The past 3 years have been quite important for me in terms of life-achievements. But, to be honest, following this project through the blog and the podcast and finally enjoying the game, makes it to the top 10 things to remember from this period.
Ron, you've mentioned that you won't do a Kickstarter for a future project (actually, I read someone's comment here saying you said so, but I don't remember that from any of the interviews I've seen in the last month). From this side of the game, one of the best parts has been following the progress, and I appreciate how much work it takes (even more now reading those posts after having played the game, making those posts spoiler-free).
*Question: Do you think that if it hadn't been a Kickstarter the team would've devoted that much time?*
And this comment of yours really got me thinking:
"There really is a Secret of Monkey Island, if I told you, you look back and see all the clues, and go "of course"
*What's the bus factor of the Secret of Monkey Island?*
Regarding Kickstarter check out this thread from last year: https://blog.thimbleweedpark.com/last_week#579d0bae7dce7c9f3c4cde9a
The secret of monkey island never seemed to be more than a McGuffin, there might be hints and additional fun to riddle about it, but the game's plot (including all of the cutscenes) is solved in the end sequence.
While I think a lot of the gaps can be filled with plausible theories and some of the logical bumps can be smoothed by saying the player is part of the universe, so far nobody came up with any acceptable explanation e.g. for the agent on the coroner's table. So it is probably not just me who fails to connect the dots.
However, I draw the line on those movies where the writers or directors refrain from telling you *anything* at all. I know it's considered some sort of modern high-brow art to let the audience "interpret the story" in their own way. To me that's just lazy writing. I pay for them to tell me a story, not to throw a bunch of stuff at me and expect me to do the friggin' work of putting it all together. That's their job as storytellers.
To insist on it is to throw away thousands of years of human ideas on how to share and communicate with one another.
I'm not saying that Thimbleweed Park does this. I have not finished the game yet, so I am still hoping the story ties up at least some of the threads by the end and provides some sort of satisfaction.
I agree that being told something like the "Secret of Monkey Island" is not as interesting as discovering it yourself, I would cherish more deeply my intuition at discovery than being given the secret off hand. However, this only works as long as there is a real secret to discover, and it's not just the writers failing to come up with an interesting answer and leaving it to the audience to figure out. In my opinion, modern high art or not, that's just a cop-out.
As someone (I forgot who) much more clever than I once said about this sort of thing: "I don't mind digging deep for subtext, just as long as there is a solid surface there on which to dig." :)
-dZ.
If the characters would say different things to describe the same object (It happens more than a few times actually) it could be construed as a hint by some.
Dying is just bad design. There is no tension if you save regularly (which is just a mindless chore) and if you don't you just get punished for exploring. The very thing adventure games is about.
The action verbs can be selected on the keyboard by the QWEASDZXC keys.
The funny thing is that you can actually die in this game, but they do explicitly tell you to save the game so nothing unfair :-)
By the way, should I dig out the old game treasure?.
http://store.steampowered.com/news/externalpost/rps/75840229380710819
I am pretty sure that act 1 is a tutorial embedded in the story. While this is quite a good idea, the "automatic verb selection" confused me, too. If I look at someone, I do not automatically start talking ... unless the distance is big enough *hrhr* I suppose there is a line missing like "Uh, who is that? I better ask him whether he has seen anything down here." ... or something like that. :-)
Hmmm........
http://store.steampowered.com/app/569860/#app_reviews_hash
Fun bug/glitch when trading the bottle from the highway for a nickel: If you cancel the dialogue/cut scene at the right moment using ESC, between "...Quick-E-Pal humour" and "Here´s your..." usually works, you end up with two nickels in your inventory. Maybe this affects all cut-scenes that end in transferring an object to the player?
And Ron and the entire Thimbleweed Park crew: Thank you for a wonderful, wonderful game! Best investment I made in ages. It's my game of the year for years to come!
In the hotel - after Agent Rey enters the room to the right (contest room) a cutscene is played (coroner...) and thereafter the thimblecon main room is shown again, while the Agent should be in the room to right now.... also i cannot see her.
I have to move her to the left and re-enter the room.
At first, I thought it was done for a "game" reason, so I tried to walk that way, which is not possible. Eventually I came to terms with it being some sort of bug or quirk of the game engine.
-dZ.
I'm LOVING the game so far. It's exactly what I'd hoped and more. So slick and yet still holds up to the nostalgia. The characters are all well thought out, intriguing and amusing in their own ways-a-reno, even the minor ones (I had a sudden vision of the mime as I was drifting off last night, and started giggling).
Right, I better get back to it!
PS Thanks to everyone who's prefacing their blog/social media posts with spoiler warnings. I'm intent on staying involved in the comraderie without ruining the game for myself!
So thanks to Ron and team, and all you lovely fans, too :)
But my conscience is clear now after I purchased this from GOG ( DRM free ). I have followed this games development after the initial kickstarter, missing out as a backer. And, hats off to all at terrible toy box - You have delivered the best P&C adventure game since the early 90's..
Good work, Ron, et al., and making my first and only Kickstarter investment worth every penny.
Good work, Ron, et al., and making my first and only Kickstarter investment worth every penny.
Worst ending ever.
One tiny niggle, which you might consider if you're doing any tweaks for future platforms -- early in the game, I had doubts whether I'd clicked the "easy" or "hard" option to start. I was eventually reassured that I'd chosen "hard" because I read a blog post about the tutorial in "easy" -- and I definitely didn't get a tutorial.
But it would have been nice if the save game screen had the game type along with the other info in each slot.
When Ransome leaves the contest, his ballon and hair is not clipped completely by the door, and also he does not fit in it anyway
It stays like this the whole time? If you bring up the options while playing, the save is disabled?
I've seen all these "bug reports" scattered around... there's even a thread in the Thimbleweedpark subreddit! Wouldn't it be good to have a centralised place to report bugs, Github or similar? Still... the game is super stable and the bugs that are surfacing are at the same level as the ones that are present in MI1 and 2.
I am now about 9 hours into the game and just started chapter 4.
So far I have found myself in the phone book, the swear jar and one of my library entries. I entered four or five ones and do not remember what I titled them all ...
After all the storm from the release is over and you are sitted by the pool in the Bahamas, would you kindly let us know which are your top 10 books from the library that you recommend everybody to read?
It will be amazing to know.
deep, deep down below, is it worth the effort to do something silly?
Thank you, live long and prosper.
bought on Friday and finished it on Monday. What a ride! Thank you for making this. And I won't keep you from making more.
BTW, a small (maybe) bug (maybe) report:
I have the linux version (I use Linux Mint 18.1, ubuntu-ish, Intel HD Graphics 520), and I had flickering issues on some occasions. The flickering is most frequent when at the cemetery or the library in the mansion mansion.
Thank you,
Dommas
How on earth was I to know that mixing the radioactive waste into the puddle by the forrest would leave footprints. There is literally no hints anywhere in the game that I can think of to this?
Was anyone else stuck at this?
It would have been nice with just a few mud footprints going out of the puddle to at least suggest the idea.
There is no suggestion that the waste is glowing either, apart from it being green.
Radioactive things don't glow naturally either unless phosphor is added.
This is the only unsolvable puzzle I can think of in the game so far.
When we are down to this kind of "logic" its the same as asking the player to try everything on everything.
Please tell me there is a hint somewhere that I overlooked.
SPOILER
There is a subtle splashing animation, which was enough for me to get the idea to put something in the puddle. But finding the right thing was very hard. I first tried the soot from the fireplace and was then looking for similar things.
To me it seemed very obvious: All those people running along, into a labyrinth-like forest, AND they all always run exactly through the puddle.
Like John I first thought of the soot and didn't find the solution for some time until (of course) I could finally got access to the factory grounds.
Regarding glowing radioactive waste: 1st that's actually normal in a MM-like universe and 2nd it's quite an often seen trope in games.
For more realism they could have made the puzzle using a Geiger counter and no glowing at all for example, but this would be less obvious for the average gamer I guess.
I only recall seeing one, maybe two guys going through that part of the game. One of them being the Pizza guy. And that was many hours before. I took it as just random traffic like on the circus grounds or some of the people walking around town in Monkey Island.
And I never noticed that they passed through the puddle.
They should increase the traffic to drive the point home. It's not a part of the game you are inclined to hang around or visit often once you found the berries. Maybe put in some footprint disturbance of the mud around the puddle, let people splash slightly when they walk through and finally say *clearly* that the waste is glowing when you pick it up, or look at it.
SPOILER
You can see the waste glowing, I don't think there need to be any changes.
I don't know why, but I was very sure the seckrit meeting is in the forest. The meeting itself is hinted on the flyer and the radio, not sure about its location? I also used the navigator head which lead to an easteregg dead end, reassuring there is another, proper puzzle here.
So maybe the stuff regarding the puddle can be more emphasised as you said, but having more people walk there is a problem because there just aren't any more attending the actual meeting.
But if you don't come there at all anymore I don't know how to hint it in other ways.
Let it be said: I think this is a sublime game!
It's just that looking up a hint makes me feel so dirty. It Detracts from my ego and if not explained impacts my conviction that the authors tested this throughly.
There was only one place where I really got stuck for a longer period of time. It's actually quite embarrassing and it took me some time, but I refused to look up online hints.
At some point you have to say "fuck it, life is to short for this". Plus it could sour the enjoyment of the rest of the game to tread water for too long. At some point I can just feel that I'll never be able to find the solution no matter how long I preserver. At that point, it's more my mind than anything else that is jammed,. No amount of breaks and sleeping on it will help.
It was when the factory locks down. Beside Franklin you are confined to two rooms and the inventory items you have, which makes it so embarrassing :-)
It didn't occur to me that the brick may not be a brick. It also couldn't be used with other items (they immediately say 'That doesn't seem to work.').
Funny is that after seeing the pirate hat the first thing which crossed my mind was to use the foil with it. But I couldn't use the wrapped brick with the head or vice versa.
I even thought about finding some item/tool to get the foil off :D
There were a couple puzzles I was stuck on for a bit, but, for whatever reason, this one wasn't one of them. It seemed well-hinted at to me, too. My logic was this: Hmmm...there's people running in and out of the forest, and I can't seem to follow them when they go off-screen. I have a Pizza flyer for a secret meeting somewhere. The forest seems like a good location, especially since I saw weird Pizza man there, but even so, there's an unusual amount of activity here. There's a puddle I can interact with. I wonder what that's for? Then I forgot about the puzzle until I got to the pillow factory and found the radioactive gunk that I could collect in my trophy. And then it all clicked together.
* SPOILER *
The first hint I had was that there was a puddle on the ground and it was interactive (i.e., you could "look at it), so it suggested it was useful for something.
The second hint was that, when people walked over it, their feet splashed in the muddy water, which is not an animation you see anywhere else, further suggestion that it "means something."
The third hint was that there were LOTS of people coming into the forest. At first, when my wife pointed it out, I just dismissed it saying, "maybe it's just telling us that this spot is popular." However, the more I thought about it, and the more I considered the twisty maze inside the forest, the more I realized that we probably had to follow someone.
At that point, my mind clicked: We must put something in the water to cause the people to leave footprints in the mud for us to follow them into the forest! ... But what?
We tried tons of stuff, and nothing worked. I was sure I had the right puzzle direction, I just didn't have the solution.
Then we forgot about it and moved on to open the Pillow Factory. As soon as my wife and I saw the radioactive ooze, we both assume that we had to use the math trophy, for why else would the game make it a point to stress it's made out of rare metals? (As a matter of fact, when I first picked up that trophy and heard its description, I immediately assumed I would have to scrape some of the rare metals in order to create some explosive or something like that.)
My wife's idea was first to use the radioactive waste to corrode the Factory's door or the Truck's battery latch, neither of which worked.
At this point is when it all clicked in my head, and I jumped to say, "OMG! I know what to do! I can put the radioactive waste on the water and have glowing footprints in the forest!!!" My wife nodded in agreement (and amazement). So we tried it, and it worked, and we were so snug in our cleverness. :)
* SPOILER *
I think it was a brilliant puzzle, and one that worked very well. All the hints were there if you cared to look. They are subtle, though.
I won't say the game is perfect; I've gotten stuck a few times (and that puzzle took me several hours and uncountable failed tries to figure out). In fact, I'm stuck right now and haven't had any progress in several days, which is quite frustrating.
However, whenever I get desperate, I recall this particular puzzle and others like it, when I was sure I would never be able to figure it out, and then it just happen. Hang in there. :)
-dZ.
Next thing, now the game is launched.
If the engine will be posted as opensource, so people can work/learn with that.
And if you are going to post some stats about, how many sells, and for what platforms.
SPOILER
WOW! That ending! Ron sure has a way with those!
Tubular! Sure to win best game of 1988!
SPOILER
Loved the game from beginning to end. Nice to know there is still a few people around that can make games that are not a waste of time.
Will support next game for sure.
Some people love it, some may be confused, and a small group of people may hate these kind of endings :-)
(spoiler alert for link)
Just great, thank you! Feels like I am a child again!My six year old daughter loves the game, too! She even tells my wife how to play it :)
It would not be even close to the same game without the voice acting - thank you so much for prioritizing that, and thank you to the voice actors themselves for the amazing contribution to this game. Per some feedback I've seen from you on this site, I'm making a concerted effort not to "dot" - rush my way through the voiced dialog and take the time really appreciate it, and it's been worth it! :)
Can't wait for a game Terrible Toybox game with a bigger budget. :D
A few bugs I've noticed along the way but the only one I remember is that *after* the FingerprintReaderTron reads the fingerprint, closing the safe and pulling the painting over won't trigger the green light to stop. (I'm pretty sure this did not happen before using the Tron.)
Like so many in here, I grew up with the LucasArts adventures and they mean an awful lot to me. My first one and for me probably still the best one was Monkey Island 2. I’ve played all of them (form Maniac Mansion to The Dig) together with my mates, which is perhaps one reason why I have such fond memories. Tomorrow, just like back in the days, I’m meeting up with some friends (not the ones from back then but who share the same nostalgia for classic point and clicks) and we’re going to play Thimbleweed Park till our eyes fall out. I’m thrilled to bits!
Thank you so much Ron, Gary and all the others for making this game!!! I’m feeling like 13 again.
It felt good having a well made adventure game to play again. Occasionally I was stuck for quite some time but in the end I managed without giving in to the tempation of looking online for clues. And in hindsight I feel silly for not thinking of the solution sooner.
*SPOILER*
I liked the endings after the "Wizard of Oz" moment. A nice way of easing the player out of the "big" puzzles. Though it felt strange going through the even more deserted town.
And to be honest: I also would have gladly played the game in wireframe mode only. ;-)
You deserve a (new) big success!
Then, having said that, I have to admit that I can't wait 2 more years for your next game, so please plan soon your next project :-) MI3 will be the dream of most of us, you know it
P.S From my angle, in the next game it could be nice to increase a little bit the complexity adding one or two "out-of-scale" crazy puzzles
Already waiting for your next game ;-)
I am committed to have Thimbleweed Park be the very first adventure game I will complete on my own, without looking up solutions or walkthroughs... but I'm stuck! :(
Lovely game, though (see my comments above). Very clever and logical puzzles, but damn, I'm stuck. :(
-dZ.
It turned out to be a puzzle I had "solved" many moons ago, but forgot to do one last thing with it because it was unmotivated at the moment.
* SPOILER *
I did the whole puzzle to get the Pigeon Bros. Sisters to come to the Hotel-a-boo to fix some guest's bathroom, and I thought I was done with that. Much, much later is when I found out I needed a wrench and I recalled that the Pigeon Bros. Sisters had one. Unfortunately, several days and dozens of other puzzles and story points had gone by at that point, so I was completely removed from the context of that puzzle.
I eventually, searched every room in the Hotel-a-boo for clues until I found the Piegon Bros. Sisters still in the guy's bathroom -- and still with the wrench in their toolbox! I took the wrench and finally managed to progress. Yay!
Yes, on reflection, it was a completely fair and logical puzzle (after all, I had figured out I needed the wrench, and I even knew who had one). The problem was that by the time the wrench was made available, there was no motivation or indication that it would be needed -- unless, I'm expected to follow Sierra-Online's logic of "pick up everything randomly, just in case." I thought MmucasFlem games were better than that.
* SPOILER *
Still, ignoring a lost week of boring walking simulation, the game is great in many other aspects. :)
-dZ.
In my defense, though, when the wrench was shown the very first time (when the water hydrant was blocking A Street), I was not allowed to pick it up. Therefore, without any motivation or an indication of any other puzzle requiring a wrench, I had no idea I should have tried to pick it up again when the Pigeon Bros. Sisters showed up at the Hotel.
Just a suggestion to the developers for improving an otherwise fantastic game. :)
* SPOILER *
I'm an old school player, been around adventure games since the text games.
Just wanted to say thank you for this game, it was a fun and funny ride. The ending was fun as well, remind me a bit of the movie Rarg.
I really hope it will be a blockbuster (I am sending the game links to everyone I know) so you will be able to come back later this year and start working on a new adventure for 2018
and i pray the gods (all of them) Disney will give you the right for the Monkey Island series
Once again, great job and thank you for this beautiful game that somehow manages to combine the charm of classic adventure games with modern game design (fair puzzles, good UX etc).