Thimbleweed Park Trailer
by Ron Gilbert
Mar 03, 2016
Mar 03, 2016
Behold the latest trailer for the game to be henceforth known as Thimbleweed Park in all the lands.
And to celebrate it's release, our backer page is back up and in an astonishing feat of engineering and backroom deals and negotiation, you can now increase your pledge level.
I'll wait for you to recover from your fainting spell and get up off the floor...
That's right, increase your pledge level and get that reward you feared had slipped from your grasp forever. Or get brand new rewards like appearing in Ransome the Clown's Swear Jar.
- Ron
Keep it up guys, it looks amazing, I can't wait to put my hands on it.
Any possibility of a Raspberry Pi (2 or 3) port ?
Would it be hard to compile for ARM v6 since he is definitely targeting Linux already and also creating various mobile ports of his code? I'm sure he will at least try it if it's not too hard, though he maybe won't have devices for testing.
While your question is valid, let me assume that there's no irony in it.
The windows version for Raspberry Pi is a IoT version compiled for Pi's processor architecture (arm) which is different from the "standard" architecture for PCs in general (x86, x64). So it's not possible to pick an app that runs on windows and run it in there. Also the market it (Windows on RPi) has it's inexistent and doesn't even justify the effort to do a port, also because at the current state of the art, one needs Visual Studio to install apps on Windows IoT, which is not something the regular user is very familiar with.
Regarding Linux, it has the same problem I described before, but with one major advantage, creating binaries for other architectures is almost as simple as just compiling them with the right compiler copy it to the platform and run it. Things get a bit tricky when one uses intrinsics which will basically require to rewrite pieces of code to use the right instruction set so it runs correctly in the target architecture.
There is always some memory alignment issues and other more technical caveats, but in principle the port should not be impossible, it just takes time.
Summarizing, getting the binaries for Linux (intel) and run them on the Raspberry Pi is just not possible, some work needs to be done, but the market is much more interesting for Raspberry Pi, specially because it's getting widely distributed and it's a small "box" that can be connected to the TV and played with a controller, since Ron is adding support for gamepads and console controllers, this would be a very suitable target to run on.
Sorry for this long explanation, I hope it was clear, but I thought it was needed :)
Regards,
Thank you for your explanation! I now understand that Windows embedded is quite a different beast (and also no target audience). But Linux could be worth a try.
I guess one problem could be library dependencies (especially proprietary ones, for example a special sound library etc.). But since he is already targeting so many different platforms he needs to have solutions in this respect anyway.
This is awesome!
But it does work for the young Delorez role or the Reporter from Nicle news.
Felt more like a dramatic reading of a dnd session, or a writer reading their own work.
That's exactly what I thought, it sounded like someone just reading a script in an overly dramatic way, like a character from a Telenovela reading a will.
-dZ.
I can't explain how much I'm looking forward to this game. It has be be the game of the year!
I had to watch it twice to understand it all :-)
It would be interesting to hear Ron's opinion, after all those characters were his creations, and at the time of inventing them I think he couldn't even imagine that they would have had their own voice, one day.
I guess that if you really like it, then we'll have to deal with it; the same with your choice of changing the art styles from the nostalgic and simpler Maniac Mansion style to the highly elaborate "2000's trying to be retro" style. It's kind of disappointing.
-dZ.
https://youtu.be/L5LwDCjVjfI?t=10m51s
Not sure if that could be worse, though.
P.S.0: Her pronunciation reminds me of Ron's :-P
P.S.1: I am aware that the first series of esses is probably a joke.
P.S.2: goto P.S.0;
Thank you for asking.
Second: everyone knows the characters are bound to F1, F2, F3 etc.!
You don't have Function-Keys on your keyboard or no keyboard at all?
Well, luckily we have this in-app purchase...
if I hit J, the J character appears!
And if it is O key, the O character appears.
K? The K character is here!
E? The E character, my dear!
Apparently I am too young, I wasn't raised with text parser adventure games :-)
LOL!
Coooooool!!!!! ;-p
The music and the atmosphere are awesome, though.
I don't normally care much about 'talkie' versions, and tend to play without voice - but this voice deepens the mood of the trailer so much that it adds a whole new colour to the game palette. No over-the-top acting, and no phoning-it-in either. Just right!
"Don't know if I was prepared for we found that night...
...and how much it would have changed us...
I arrived just as the sun began his slightest slumber over the dark night...
The time's taking desperate lonely in to be where I once was...
about [woodchuck would chuck wood]
blurred in pixelated cave, the death come too soon...
... and the rest, to the others! :-)
"Mic, mic".
:D
Even listening to this was a puzzle (to me), but I didn't want to give up!
I have this thought that have been with me from the very start: That body under the bridge... is it laying in water? Shouldn't there be just SOME kind of motion in that water? There are all those little details with blinking lights that light up the background art all around town, and under that bridge there are even the fireflies, but that water is dead still.. It hurt my eyes :)
Actually, it'be fun that after a few times of repeating it, the voice over just gives up and goes for a "hmmm" or something.
Of course that would not work very well for the immersion, but that'be fun. Or perhaps, just the character shaking her/his head, as if to say: "find me something more interesting to do".
Something completely unrelated: I can't remember if this was already asked, but the game doesn't seem to be suitable for ~5yrs kids?
My daughter really enjoyed Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion, but I'm not sure if this one is not too scary and gruesome?
If she wasn't scared by Maniac Mansion, I think she won't scared by Thimbleweed Park. It's all funny. It's not like "Alone in the dark"... that style was scary!
I'm waiting a bit so that she can enjoy the multi-dimensional story
MM and MI are relatively linear games (except perhaps when Guybrush falls from the cliff)
Regarding Thimbleweed Park: Due to stuff like music, sound effects, voice, lighting etc. it could be much more immersive than for instance Maniac Mansion. But I don't think it will be that scary. Also she will be older when the game comes out :-)
One question: Did you let her play the games on her own being more of an instructor or were you mainly to one in control?
No, I was the one in control, mainly because the mouse is too sensitive to use.
On the Talos Principle, she's so hooked, that she's trying nonetheless :-)
You could also try it with a touchscreen. Modern games (e.g. Special Editions, Broken Age) should work out of the box, ScummVM will work with a patched SDL DLL.
It's really nice to point on the screen and Guybrush walks there! Point'n Walk!
Guys, I laughed all time!! It's PERFECT! It's the game with all the particulars that made great all previuos adventure games, but with the effects of the machines of today.
Sorry, I'm so excited that I could have done many grammatical errors...
It's fantastic!!
Keep going - your are 23% there.
I find the voice to be suitable.
https://storage.googleapis.com/images.thimbleweedpark.com/sewer_valve1.png
https://storage.googleapis.com/images.thimbleweedpark.com/sewer_valve2.png
https://storage.googleapis.com/images.thimbleweedpark.com/sewer_phone.png
There's a lot of talk about VR these days. Will Thimbleweed Park support the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive?
Looks, and sounds, great!
Everything looks to be coming along great!
I liked most the view of the town from the hill. Will the slow-zoom effect be anywhere in the game?
This looks so darn retro... insanely great, brought the memories right back.
I thought my original pledge was fair enough. After seeing this I believe I was wrong. Shall I say it again? TAKE MY MONEY.
I am so looking forward to this game.
*Hug*
David Fox is definitely worthy of the end credits, but I wouldn't consider it "his" game. I hope someday after this project completes David Fox and Matthew Kane will make a game of their own in the spirit of Zak McKracken. I would back that thing easily.
3/10
If Agent Ray just isnt for you there are many more to choose from. I personally look forward to hearing the rest of the voice acting cast!
I love these educational games. I have not even played Thimbleweed Park, but already learnd a lot about swear jars. But isn't it the money that comes into the jar? Where comes the name in the game?
Furthermore, it's so long since I bought my last "cardboard box" game. I'd really like to actually find the TP box on a shelf in a store and buy it there!
....ah damn..can't wait till I got it in my hand....wonderful work!
Should I already have received my backer email, to increase my paypal pledge? I didn't get such an email yet.
I hope you haven't given away too many characters, backgrounds and story though. When I eventually get to play this future masterpiece I don't want to experience that unsuspenseful feeling all the time: "This one I saw in the trailer...and this room too...this story bit they mentioned twice in the podcast....oh hey this is the elevator from Octavi's video."
It's so hard being intensively attached to this project, but at the same time trying to maintain excitement and some shroud of mystery.
But: Please use a "De-esser" on the Voice.
I don't have much money being unemployed so I'm not very eager to buy the soundtrack now that it's more expensive and it's not even possible to upgrade my PayPal pledge. :-(
-dZ.
On a first and second view the voice acting doesn't click with the character yet.
Some graphics look kind of blocky whilst others look more detailed.
I still like the music (and the nose sound).
Greetings from Germany!
I can't wait to play TP. You made a dream come true. Please open source the engine some day so it can be ported to the c64 or amiga for the perfect atmosphere :-)
With the voice - I like the actual voice and I think it really fits the character and the vibe of the game, but I do think there are minor things that could be improved:
1. the reading does sound a bit hurried and unclear in places as others have mentioned... I think this is partly down to the voice actor not slowing down to enunciate properly in parts, but it's also because of...
2. the sound engineering of the voice and how it's mixed with the music. There are several things a sound engineer could do to improve it, like use a de-esser (as someone else mentioned already) to tame the sibilance, add compression to make the volume level of the vocal even throughout, and make EQ adjustments to both the voice and music, so that the voice isn't masked by instruments in the same frequency ranges. Those things would make the vocal clearer and stronger.
I don't know if you're going to be using a recording studio to record the final voice acting for the finished game, but if you are then there will most likely be a recording engineer and a mixing engineer who will sort all that out... you may also want to give that mixing engineer the music and atmospheric sound effects to mix too, so they can make sure it will work with the voice acting over it.
To be clear, I think the recording is very good, like an 8 or 9 out of 10, but that it could just be taken that bit further with a few tweaks from a mixing engineer to get it to a 10 out of 10.
It is great as it is though, and I know this is the finished trailer, so I was suggesting it more for the actual full game.
I didn't mean to suggest that you were adding sfx to the trailer... I meant that if in the final game there are areas where there is voice, music, and something like crickets or other atmospheric noise, that a mixing engineer would be able to make sure all the sound files work together well.
If you told an engineer that all these sounds may be triggered together at some point in the game they could mix the different sound files so that they work well together. The main thing would obviously be to make sure the vocal files work well over the music files so that they're not drowned out or masked.
It's not something that has to be done, it would sound ok without it, but if you are using a studio anyway, it would be relatively easy to do and it shouldn't be that much extra to have the mixing engineer sort out the sounds in that way. Maybe this is done anyway when you record a lot of vocals and music for a game, I don't know, it is just a suggestion.
I would not think any less of the recording if it were recorded in a bedroom - lots of people have very good home setups with a good condenser mic that will give a professional quality recording (especially for voice acting, as it is not as demanding as recording something like a full drum kit or a grand piano, etc.), but it's the mixing engineer or someone with a lot of knowledge of audio engineering that would take the recording from good to great and keep the clarity when different sounds play together.
All I am suggesting is that the audio for the final game be mixed by a mixing engineer if that's not the plan already - I did not know this would be so controversial, haha.
Maybe that is the plan already, I don't know. Or maybe that is just not possible or they're doing it another way or that mixing audio to that level of polish is not done or needed for this kind of game, that's cool too. It's just a minor thing I noticed and I wanted to provide some constructive suggestions that might help the game. I don't know if they know exactly what a mixing engineer could bring to the table - maybe they know all this already and so then yeah, I will have come across as patronizing, and I'm sorry about that.
From playing other games I have observed that the audio often seems to be recorded and then the raw recording put straight into the game unmixed, which is ok (hey, I made it through King's Quest 5's voice recordings, so it's not a make-or-break), but I am just putting it out there as a suggestion that it could be mixed by a mixing engineer to make it top notch.
Now please excuse me while I go back to my seat in the corner, lol.
Look at this comment; it isn't yet a wall-of-text, but still 7 people out there would like to stick a chewing gum to my doorbell when I'm sleeping..
The bottom line is Ron has already said above: "there were issues with the orignal recording and I didn't have the time/budget to rerecord it."
I just hope the final game doesn't have the same issues, that's all.
But I did post it onto a forum I visit and one comment was this:
"I love pixel graphics and retro games and I don't think much of the style either.
The other thing that got to me was that it all looked so lifeless. There was no life in the world the characters were in - no trees or grass blowing in the wind, ripples in water, clouds moving across the sky etc. The only bit there seemed any life (fireflies) still looked dead.""
I replied saying that the game is still in WIP... can I reply again saying that those criticisms will (might) be fixed in the finished game?
Buying matching clothes was so much easier back then...
But not for everyone.
(Uhm, nice slogan!)
-dZ.
You bet your sweet patootie that upon inspection it would comment "I see a bright future for this format, unlike VHS"
Amazing Trailer looking forward to play Thimbleweed Park
However, "buddy" seems to be the more sensible option regarding the context.
So it seems to be 'body' after all!
I just hope you won't get in trouble with a certain TV show. ;)
I want it now!!
The same day and month of the Monkey Island™ release in 1990 !!
I hope you'll give a detailed summary of the swear jar money pledges.
I want mine to be EXCLUSIVELY used for additional swearing.
F@## f%s%@!%%!Q @!%@%!%@%! A%@!!!%1%@
It may change at the time when the Special Edition is released: a hidden UI optimized for monitors with 25:10 aspect ratio (which will be THE rage in the future). Also there may be or not be flying cars.
But 16:9 is actually a perfect format for me, it allows me to have long enough lines of text with something like a file list on one side of the screen.
Btw. since Ron is targeting Android (and other platforms) the engine has to support ALL different kinds of aspect ratios. Including 4:3, just for you :-)
Of course I'm open-minded about a 16:9 mode, since you have to keep up with the times and it's the best way to use the full screen of a contemporary widescreen display. Though, I'm counted among the very few people who still use a 4:3 display, because it's still proper for me, and I would feel forced to plug in my modern 16:9 display instead, if there wasn't a 4:3 mode. Admittedly, it wouldn't be an actual problem, nevertheless it would be sad, given that TP is actually a retro game.
https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/17661-thimbleweed-park-blog-fixes
Should work at least with Chrome and Firefox.
Just could you please explain a noob how to install your script?
Tank you
Then you follow my link and click on "Install this script", confirm installation and visit the blog.
It should then mark new comments since last visit / page refresh. By clicking on "new comment" it will go to the next new one. At least that's what it's meant to do.
This script is really good!
Now it's more readable!!
One suggestion/improvement: is it possible to not lose the "new comment" label when I answer one comment?
I usually scroll through messages, then I reply to one of them, and when I return the "new message" labels disappear, because the page has refreshed.
Sincerely I didn't find a solution, but maybe you could have an idea...
Also that way you don't look like a fool if someone said the same thing one page further :-)
How did you fix it? Did you use something like .tz("Europe/Paris")? What browser, OS and OS language are you using? What's your output of
new Date().getTimezoneOffset()
and
moment().format("Z")
?
By the way, I wanted to display the names of days and months in italian instead of english. Is it enough to edit the "serverTimeZone" variable by writing "Europe/Rome" for instance? I thought it was necessary to match the date format of the blog.
Yes, displayDateFormat and displayDateTimeFormat are meant to be customized.
You may not change the server* ones, they have to match with what the web server sends us.
"America/New_York" is the time zone this web server uses to display times.
Using different locales is easily possible with Moment.js, I've changed my script accordingly and you can update it now (you will have to reapply your customisations). I've also right-aligned the text so I don't have to move the mouse/finger anymore.
Now de-ess this. And thiiiisssssssss
:)
Since there is no edit button you now have to live with it, knowing you will never be able change your post, having missed a great opportunity in your lifetime! :D
I am afraid this is not possible. At least not unless I find a SQL injection vulnerability or something similar...
OR... Is this part of the big mistery of freedom? Yes, now I probably have to live with that.
But I promise : I will never use the S again. I promise.
....
Rats.
I know it's all WIP until the release but the scene where Ray gets smacked in the face looks weird because
(a) the splat (dunno what to call it) appears before the mysterious villain's hand reaches her forehead (pause at around 1:12) and
(b) it's clear that there's nothing really dragging her (if there are indeed supernatural things involved, it still looks odd cause she got hit physically and also is being dragged a little bit at a time).
In my opinion it will be fixed during the polish phase.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2753/4210477045_b2b5a7fab7_b.jpg
... you are right. These are my favourite cookies, and are very famous in Italy.
And they are the longest because of its round box, even called "Schrödinger box": when you open it, you could find either cookies or sewing stuff!
I have one box with small screws and one with capacitors.
I have been thin, slim, for 40 years, except perhaps the first 2 years of my life.
My doctor told me to raise my weight, at *any* cost. The most simple way, in his opinion, was to eat. Eat. EAT everything!
But it can't be so simple, sometimes, believe me.
By the way, two years ago (now I am 42), I bought a Danish butter cookies box in the supermarket near my work location, and started to eat them with a cup of English tea, made by myself, durink break time.
One layer of cookies per day (you know, there are two layers). That's 30 cookies per day.
Two weeks and 5 boxes later, my weight raised by 4 kg! :-D
And since then, I started to eat, eat, eat almost everything... now I am fine!
Thanks to the Danish butter cookies that changed my metabolism!
Please don't ban me.
Or... not... maybe Mighty Ron cuts the scene completely due to its low puppy count (his PR agency told him there need to be more puppies in the game).
Ninguno de nosotros estaba preparado para lo que íbamos a encontrar esa noche. O cuánto nos iba a cambiar todo. Llegué justo cuando el sol comenzaba a deslizarse hacia el sueño de una noche oscura. La ciudad olía a un anhelo desesperado de ser lo que lo antes fue. Un cuerpo fue encontrado en el río. Hinchado y pixelado por la descomposición de una muerte que llegó demasiado pronto. Una víctima de la violencia en la búsqueda de sueños que se transformaron en pesadillas. El joven agente de aspecto aniñado y peligrosamente ingenuo Reyes llegó allí antes que yo. Me presenté como agente especial Ray e inmediatamente empecé a dudar si el compañero se adaptaría a mis necesidades. El plan consistía en deshacerse de Reyes y esperaba que fuera muy sencillo. No quiero pensar en lo que pasaría si llegara a complicarse. No necesito a alguien hurgando. No podía evitar la sensación de que algo iba mal en este pueblo. El pueblo habló en voz baja y susurró con una voz de una magia oscura que fue muy difícil que me tomara en serio. Entonces me dijeron un par de palomas algo sobre las señales y supe ... supe que esto era parte de algo más grande. Algo más grande de lo que había planeado...
Are there any plans to do the release with translations (like german) in June as well? Or do we have to wait ? ;-)
Thanks again! I'm so excited !!
Greetings from Germany
For all I know, the game will be released in late 2016 for different platforms with english voices only and multilingual subtitles, including German subtitles.
I wondered if you can make it so it is possible to make fandubs, i.e. voice acting other than English?
PS: Except the ending - my friends asked me immediately if you could die in this game. Many of them played only the LucasArts games where you couldn´t die and didn´t touch any other adventures (like Broken Sword or Sierra games) because of this.
You couldn't die starting from Monkey Island.
In Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken you can die in several ways...
...and since Thimbleweed Park is more "Maniac Mansion" than "Monkey Island"...
(of course I don't know the answer! :-) )
Frankling cannot die,... okay. But is it possible that Franklin accidentally gets alive?
"The new classic point & click adventure game - you cannot die, but you can become the living dead!"
I'm gonna contact Humble bundle and ask them if I can cancel my purchase so I can buy the $40 (sigh!) soundtrack version.
One thing that doesn't quite work for me though are the fireflies. The fireflies in Monkey Island were PERFECT. So simple, so effective.
Here, I guess it's the whole "rotating pixels in higher resolution with interpolation" thing that feels uncanny for me. Same may apply for character scaling or the movement of things that doesn't follow the 320 x 200 grid.
Anyway, I agree with you that they look really impressive for a game from 1990! Their trajectories are randomized, aren't they?
On the other hand, seeing that I had completely forgotten about the fireflies in MI, I think that for now there are more important details than fireflies in such a game, albeit they are atmospheric.
;-)
Maybe I should try again....
So I've updated my script instead, if you can find the ...segreto :-)
tellMeTheSecretOfMonkeyIsland = true;
... and the Seckrit Question is done!
I think your math skills are good enough!!!!
The Secret of Monkey Island - The Scumm Bar: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/133082
Like this BTTF Train: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/35422 (reason I think was because they already had one BTTF project, WTF?)
Also I liked this Discworld related one: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/36302
Maniac Mansion fans should check out this project: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/76854
Although expired it's a nice concept of the mansion with many of its rooms!
When it comes out???
...a new picture appears:
https://twitter.com/grumpygamer/status/707742560597336064
There is a spit on the safe, maybe it's a safe from a sailorman.
Is a sailor's safe safer in a sail, or it will fail?