Thimbleweed Park Is Coming to Xbox

by Ron Gilbert
Aug 04, 2015

Cat's out of the bag (USE KNIFE WITH BAG, PICK UP CAT). The reason I was at Gamescom to was help Microsoft announce that the award winning (Awards TBD) Thimbleweed Park (game TBD) will be coming to Xbox and Windows 10 the same day it release for Windows, Mac and Linux on Steam, GOG and other places (other places TBD).

Please enjoy this new video...

- Ron

I SAID ENJOY!



Michael Fessenden - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:08
Awesome!

Any chance of a PS4 version?

VGO-Matt - Aug 05, 2015 at 16:55
Hopefully.
There are roughly twice as many PS4 systems in homes than there are Xbox Ones, so it would seem to make wise business sense to release on that as well as the Xbox One.
Unless of course if Microsoft is throwing money at them NOT TO. :P

VGO-Matt - Aug 05, 2015 at 16:58
I forgot to include that this game looks incredible. I was a huge fan of Maniac Mansion, DOTT, etc... and still am!

I will definitely buy this game on one platform or another. Maybe all of them in fact. I am crazy like that. :)

Peter Campbell - Aug 05, 2015 at 18:00
Igarashi was also there during the XBox presentation to talk about Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night having cross-play between Windows 10 and the Xbox One, but that game is also already confirmed as coming out for the Vita, PS4, and Wii U as well.  The purpose of the Microsoft conference overall was to showcase that any game that's compatible with Windows 10 will be super easy to port to and make compatible for the Xbox One.  

My guess is that with Microsoft helping with the XBox One port of Thimbleweed Park, that in exchange Microsoft gets an increased dollar return from the sale of each digital copy of the game sold on the Xbox Live Marketplace, which is standard and really a win-win situation for both parties involved.  Basically, instead of getting $3 per copy, Microsoft gets $4 per copy instead, or something like that.  Anyway though, I'd be surprised if TP didn't eventually come out for the PS4 also.

Lennart - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:10
I'm looking forward to seeing how the interface works with a controller. Looking forward to the blog posts about the topic too. :-)

Ron Gilbert - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:14
Me too! No idea how it's going to work, but we'll share our trials and tribulations as we experience them.

Phaze - Aug 04, 2015 at 19:09
Yeah, choosing verbs with a gamepad is gonna be interesting. :)

Jammet - Aug 05, 2015 at 01:04
I hope there's going to be a PS4 or even a Vita/PS3 version of the game as well. Hell, I'd even vote strongly for a version on the Pi Store, so people can play it on a Raspberry Pi. It would be so nice to have it on that, as it's essentially a modern day home computer...

Ah :) with all the shortcuts on a modern gamepad, nobody should be afraid. A PS4 gamepad would be even better, as it has - essentially - a mouse trackpad built-in.

Remember. We used to play this with a joystick.

I love the new trailer! To bad we have no dialogs in there yet; but it's really a sweet thing to look at!
These parallax scrolling water reflections are stunningly beautiful! Clearly something we could not have done in the past. Again, much more modern, than the initial ideas have been. But this is Thimbleweed Park now, it's own, new thing. Old thing. New old thing. <3

Lukas - Aug 05, 2015 at 06:11
Maybe move with analog stick, pick verb with d-pad? Or, at least on the PS4, just use the trackpad on the controller, or the motion sensor, to emulate a mouse cursor.

Chris - Aug 05, 2015 at 10:10
I remember playing Maniac Mansion on the C64 with a joystick. A joystick! (Does anybody still use that word?) Let the people put up with choosing verbs and moving the cursor with a gamepad, it just adds to the retro feeling. ;-)

Lennart - Aug 05, 2015 at 12:54
I don't think people will be happy with that. Unhappy people equal unhappy reviews. But I agree, it should be one option, just for retro feelings sake.

Augusto - Aug 04, 2015 at 19:34
Using a trigger and the right thumbstick should work fine for verb selection. Press the trigger, central verb is highlighted if no direction is pressed in the right thumbstick. Move the stick in any direction and the verb in that direction should appear highlighted. Release the stick and again the central verb is highlighted. The verb highlighted when the trigger is released is the selected one.

Might work ok for inventory too, though it would be nice to see the inventory arrange a little different in that case, possibly also in a circular way, but similar to mac os x dock (showing the current item larger than the rest)...

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Aug 05, 2015 at 03:14
"Trial and Tribulations" ? :-)
http://cdn02.nintendo-europe.com/media/images/03_teaser_module_1_square/games_3/nintendo_ds_2/TM_NDS_AceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations.png

Sorry for the off topic... it's just one of my favourite novel games!

FL - Aug 07, 2015 at 10:31
Ron, I have something for you..

Why you not to use the "SmartGlass" function of Xbox One ? It could allow you to use the finger on a tablet / smartphone sceen to control the pointer on the TV !

Let me know if you like it!

jfrisby - Aug 05, 2015 at 20:04
Map one verb to every button on the gamepad....  make people remember where the verbs are!

Arto - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:10
I DID ENJOY, again and again. Now I'm afraid to stop enjoying.

Steffen - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:12
I hope, backers will get the free Win32-Version without Steam.

Heinz - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:15
Thanks, enjoyed ;)

Deanobob - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:16
Good news! Would be a shame if console players missed out on this.

Marco Lizza - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:19
Kudos for the really nice trailer! It's a feast for the eyes seeing the engine running and the backgrounds pulsating with pixel life!

I especially found the fireflies to be very pleasing!

Out of curiosity, the "pixellation" effect used in the credits/presentation texts is performed by the engine itself or by means of a video-making tool?

Ron Gilbert - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:20
That was done just for the video in the video editing program, not an in-game effect.

ciaps - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:21
Fantastic sneak peek, and good to know that more platform will be supported.

Did you use Spine in the end for the animations?

Keep up the great work!

Sebastien Frippiat - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:22
Really nice trailers !

Natalija - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:32
Are you still in Germany? Is Pep with you in there?

Fidech - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:32
I really like this trailer.

conradson - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:33
Great, I watched the trailer 2 times, and then I watched the first trailer, and then the new 2 more times :)

Everything is great, except the fact that the detective n°1 does not smoke anymore. Does she stops ?

Cheers from France, keep up the good work :)

Natalija - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:33
P.S. I enjoyed the video!

March - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:46
Congrats on the xbox thingy. Graphics look reaaaallly cool. The designs are amazing.

Intended to be as CC: I feel this trailer was a bit rushed when it came to editing. The previous trailer has a very subtle and enhancing rhythm. I am really hoping to see the interactive version of that rhythm I the game.

Can't wait for the game!
March

Ron Gilbert - Aug 04, 2015 at 18:05
The trailer had to be exactly 30 seconds long, so that forced some pacing issues.

Agent X - Aug 08, 2015 at 12:17
For everyone’s information: At the Adventuretreff party, Ron explained that the 30 seconds limit came from the Xbox presentation.

Bobe - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:48
I figuratively spit out my coffee when the bullet hole appeared as the standard round paintbrush in any raster editor.  I'm irrationally angry about that. ;-)

Joseph K. Garrahan - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:49
I was surprised to suddenly see you at the Gamescom MS conference. I'm glad my two favorite kickstarters were there (Bloodstained was the other).

Love all the backgrounds and style. It's like a mix of all the classics plus modern touches. Great job guys!

Damian - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:51
What? No Wii U version announced?
Meh...

XDDD

Brian Ruff - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:56
Ron, did you choose Xbox because of the ease of porting from Windows and their new 'universal app' philosophy? I'm assuming it's easier than porting to Playstation?

Ron Gilbert - Aug 04, 2015 at 18:08
We chose MS because they really liked the game and we feel they are going to support it well. That's not to say it won't come to other consoles, but MS showed a lot of love and respect for the game.

Dominik - Aug 04, 2015 at 18:53
I wonder if Boris Schneider-Johne had something to do with that?!

Jammet - Aug 05, 2015 at 01:07
Just might, but people all over the world have love and respect for this, you just need to have a few of the right individuals in one place and .. tears will be shed, hearts will hammer, and grins will be big! ;)

Agent X - Aug 08, 2015 at 12:14
At the Adventuretreff party Boris was asked this question. In fact, he had not known about the deal until it was finished.

Alex - Aug 04, 2015 at 17:58
OK. I buy this. Day one. Whatever the price. Ron Gilbert rules forever.

entropy - Aug 04, 2015 at 18:08
Wow, wow, I totally dig the backgrounds and overall art direction.
So beautiful. Really! This just got perfect.

Only thing that I find I bit inconsistent is the circus background,
which doesn't seem to fit the other ones. I guess it's the lack of
dithering and the many single-colored areas. Also the lines could
need some manual anti aliasing.

Mark Ferrari - Aug 04, 2015 at 22:18
Well, actually, that circus scene was still just a piece of earlier concept art we used because it looked good. Rest assured, it will be dithered, cleaned up, polished, and corrected significantly before it goes in the game. There was, in fact, a great deal of unfinished art in that video. Very little time to prepare for this presentation, and we figured the images would go by so quickly... I trust this confession to your forgiving natures, of course... We will address these things before we're finished. :] Even that sloppy perspective line on the counter inside the Quickie Pal. (Good call, guys. A few pixels too far to the right or left., and look what happens!)

Now, back to work! ...

Me, I mean.. Not you. :]

Alessander - Aug 04, 2015 at 22:38
This trailer and your answer made my day :-)
I've high hopes in this game!
Thanks for the brilliant work!

Paulup - Aug 04, 2015 at 23:28
I love and truly appreciate the dithering, it really gives it that authentic look and feel of a classic adventure game -- the dithering inside the radio station is particularly beautifully done.

Jammet - Aug 05, 2015 at 01:15
I really, really dig these more plain looking, more ega looking backgrounds. They look a lot more like Monkey Island. In fact, if I put the original Guybrush in those, it looks like a scene that was taken right out of the old game. :)

That's not to say I don't really like the new style... it's like, as of Mark had done Monkey Island 2, I suppose, not Steve Purcell. I'll think of it that way. Loving it very, very much. But before I see this circus background go away, I thought I'd say, I really already appreciate it for what it is. :) Thank you for both of these, Mark!

Dominik - Aug 05, 2015 at 01:41
You hoped nobody would notice?! LOL!

Probably hundreds of nerds analyzing the Video frame_by-frame - nothing stays hidden ;-)

Still, looks absolutly jaw-dropping beautiful. Can't wait how the final game will look like!

entropy - Aug 05, 2015 at 04:15
Didn't mean to sound like a nit-picking moaner.
Although I am. :D

Jammet - Aug 05, 2015 at 10:35
You nitpicking moaner you!
Wait, that's me too.

Tom Braun - Aug 04, 2015 at 18:09
But will you support GAMES FOR WINDOWS???

delMar - Aug 05, 2015 at 02:14
GAMES FOR WINDOWS has been discontinued  on August 25, 2013

Jammet - Aug 05, 2015 at 10:36
Basically, it has now in Windows 10 been replaced with the "Gaming Panel" (Alt+G) and the Xbox overlay app.

Soren - Aug 04, 2015 at 18:20
Hope it will be playble on other windows versions than 10 (or did MS just command or trick you into mention their new love child)

Flowo1974 - Aug 04, 2015 at 18:38
So, will run on Win 10 *only* or will be able to run the game on lower versions?

Thanks!

Mattias Cedervall - Aug 04, 2015 at 22:19
Windows 10? That must be really old! I use Windows 98!

KamiKasi - Aug 05, 2015 at 00:41
Windows 2000 - any questions?? :D

(No not really... Last Windows I've used (private) was Win XP some years ago...)

Mattias Cedervall - Aug 06, 2015 at 16:14
I should have thought of Windows 2000!

Dominik - Aug 05, 2015 at 02:22
I'm pretty sure this just means that the game will be available on the Windows app store.

Since there is a GOG Version it will probably by a) DRM Free and b) will run on Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10.

So i wouldn't worry!

Ron Gilbert - Aug 05, 2015 at 02:29
The game will still be available for earlier version of Windows (we're not sure how far back yet) and as promised in the Kickstarter, there will be a DRM-free version as well as Steam, GoG, etc. The Microsoft stuff is in addition to everything we had before, it doesn't remove anything.

Peter Campbell - Aug 05, 2015 at 18:48
There's A LOT of people out there still using Windows XP (hint hint).

Patrik Spacek - Aug 04, 2015 at 18:42
Now I know I have to use balloon man on dead body!  YAY!   and I am glad I can keep xbox360 for this game, it should handle well.

Flowo1974 - Aug 04, 2015 at 18:49
You would know that already if you've had watched the KS trailer last year ;)

Patrik Spacek - Aug 05, 2015 at 14:11
It's actually balloon animal  :o)

Dominik - Aug 04, 2015 at 18:51
LOOK AT jaw
"It lies there on the ground. Yuck!"
PICKUP jaw
"I have it"
USE jaw WITH mouth

The new trailer is AMAZING - they graphical Style is Spot on and makes my nerdy heart burst with pixelated joy. Good Job guys!

Although I hope Sony will also jump on it's good to see that the game will get some broader attention (it's Well deserved!)

Looking forward to Friday @ Adventure-Treff Party!

Alessander - Aug 04, 2015 at 22:23
Give jawbone to Jake.

Dominik - Aug 05, 2015 at 02:27
But isn't the jaw bone connected to the head bone?

Big Red Button - Aug 07, 2015 at 11:25
Originally I planned on attending the party, too, but unfortunately I'm too busy. It's a great pity. Maybe next year.

@Ron: Have a good time there! I hope that it won't be your last attendance to this periodical party!

Eric - Aug 04, 2015 at 19:05
Any chance it'll be available on xbox360? Or just Xbox one?

Dan - Aug 04, 2015 at 19:07
It really looks impressive! The play/pause button is my best friend!

Paulup - Aug 04, 2015 at 19:11
But will it run on my Bally Astrocade and/or my Magnavox Odyssey?

Mattias Cedervall - Aug 04, 2015 at 19:16
That's good news! I hope Thimbleweed Park will be available on every system there is! I don't have the new Xbox, but I have the first one. I will play this game using my PC with Windows 7 (64-bit). I ENJOYED THE VIDEO! :-)

Peter Campbell - Aug 04, 2015 at 19:30
Anyone else notice the name of the radio station? LOL

I wasn't expecting the inside of the radio station to be so run down judging from it's outside.  The glass panel of the DJ booth has huge cracks in it, the ceiling is dripping water into a bucket below that's totally full and needs to be empied lol.  The place is a dump!  At least there's a lava lamp though so it's not all bad =)

Btw, is one of the inventory items a marshmallow with a ribbon on top of it???????

Flowo1974 - Aug 05, 2015 at 11:44
No? What does it mean?

Peter Campbell - Aug 05, 2015 at 17:41
KSCUM 108.7FM, it's a reference joke to the SCUMM game engine that Ron co-created for when he was making Maniac Mansion, with the SCUMM game engine then becoming the basis for all of the old LucasArts point and click adventure games such as Maniac Mansion, The Secret of Monkey Island, Loom, etc. as well as dozens of other point and click adventure games made by other developers.  It completely revolutionized the point n click genre.  So that's what that is =)

jfrisby - Aug 04, 2015 at 19:45
ok..  but how many FPS?

Peter Campbell - Aug 04, 2015 at 20:32
60fps on PC, 30fps on consoles (j/k)  :D

Mattias Cedervall - Aug 04, 2015 at 21:38
FPS? This game is not a first-person shooter unless you know something I don't...

Tyler - Aug 04, 2015 at 22:07
I feel console development detracts from the PC version and is a big reason broken age fell on its face. Good luck. Glad I didn't back now. I'll purchase on release of it's good, but this announcement kind of dashed my hopes for a legitimate old school adventure game. Every minute you have to spend thinking about console dev is a minute you that won't be spent on Gameplay, dialog, etc...

Mattias Cedervall - Aug 04, 2015 at 22:18
Don't worry because Ron invented multitasking.

Dominik - Aug 05, 2015 at 07:21
I think with Broken Age the many Plattform were a way they tried to get more revenue to fill budget holes. In my opinion the Main problems was that the game had a too high production values. If every Animation is done by Hand it becomes a TON of work. Also the particular art Style and the way they animated the characters have probably taken a big bite out of the budget.

I don't habe the same feeling of glooming doom with this project.

Ron seems to have a good approach of getting things to work/done first and then see how much polish is possible within the budgetary and time constraints.

Also: He has proven that he isn't afraid (or too stubborn) to get help from other People when they can do the Job at Hand more efficient (lighting System, scripting).

As of now I remain absolutly positive about this project, but I can understand your concern.

Iron Curtain - Aug 05, 2015 at 21:55
I think the problem with Broken Age was that people were expecting a LucasArts adventure game and they got a Double Fine adventure game instead.

My problems with the game are that It was missing a Finale act and the one they had was not climactic enough and they left everything to be explained in the credits WALL-E style. I found that to be a big letdown.

Other than that, I enjoyed it and I felt like I got my money's worth.

As for the topic at hand, porting to consoles is easier than PCs because you have less variation; you have only one or two consoles but hundreds if not thousands of variations of different Windows PCs, Macs, and Linux PCs. I don't think this will be a big deal for Ron Gilbert and David Fox to handle.

Mattias Cedervall - Aug 04, 2015 at 22:16
Ron, will the deal with Mi(c)ro$oft add money to your budget or do you have to pay them to release Thimbleweed Park on Xbox?

Mattias Cedervall - Aug 04, 2015 at 22:22
Ron, can you imagine hiring John Cleese to write the dialog trees for you? I would cry of joy!

entropy - Aug 05, 2015 at 04:23

Mattias Cedervall - Aug 05, 2015 at 19:15
They do look a bit similar.

Alessander - Aug 04, 2015 at 22:28
Great video. Watched it 7 or 8 times. Better stop while I can.
Also, I find the fireflies quite nice, they put some magic in the night. I would appreciate seeing/hearing some nocturnal animals like crickets and owls at the nightly "rooms".

Now, a crazy idea: did you consider a 3DS version? It would be nice to see these beautiful layers in stereoscopic 3D (besides the nice parallax effect).

Jennacydex - Aug 05, 2015 at 00:50
I would looooove to play this on PS4.
I grew up playing Maniac Mansion on the original NES and cannot wait for Thimbleweed Park!!

Roman - Aug 05, 2015 at 03:11
XBox? PS4? Who cares.....Thimbleweed Park EGA! (at least emulating it when pressing F2 or something.....)

Arto - Aug 05, 2015 at 03:23
I'll buy the 32 color Amiga version.

Jammet - Aug 05, 2015 at 10:31
I'll buy it at a *high* price! :D

Sebastian - Aug 05, 2015 at 13:38
ZLORFIK!

I'd pay extra for an Amiga or C64 version :-)

Scandinavian in a tree - Aug 05, 2015 at 03:12
Yes... This looks great :-)
I really dont have any more to say than that, since I am man of few words.

Great.

Zak Phoenix McKracken - Aug 05, 2015 at 03:17
Super!
I have seen how good are you working at this game!
Parallax scroll, vertical scroll, fantastic colored graphics, hilarous situations... and I have just seen 30 seconds!

Amazing!!!!!!

Scandinavian in a tree - Aug 05, 2015 at 03:44
And you really need to keep the big heads of the characters. They really fit well with the beautiful pixely-retro-backgrounds. Because you once stated that you werent sure you would keep the big heads. Now im sure it is a great deisgn choice to keep them.

mr. T - Aug 05, 2015 at 04:24
Ooh new backgrounds. Tasty! Not sure what is the significance of the MS thing but I take it that is some kind of an advantage for the project. Niceee.

I'm not much of a console player but I'm glad more people are reached and new grounds broken. Also I'm not too concerned that it would affect the oldschool desktop experience. But then again, maybe it does take months off the project to think about how you can choose a verb and choose a spot with just a measly controller...and maybe...the interface will turn to just clickable X and Y buttons and you are allowed to move the characters with the arrow keys only, just to accommodate the consoles :)

Morphez - Aug 05, 2015 at 07:08
I love you!

peterszky - Aug 05, 2015 at 07:53
Great trailer!!!

Marcelo Ellmann - Aug 05, 2015 at 08:35
Does that mean that as a backer I may choose Xbox instead of PC? Sweeeet!

Played multiple times, both Monkey Island games on the 360. I know the interface will be different but it played nice and smooth.

Good luck with that! Make good use of those 8GBs for ultra hyper mega X2 HD sprites.

Frank - Aug 05, 2015 at 09:14
Would it be possible to produce Thimbleweed Park Action Figures ? I would looove to buy one (or is it tooo expensive)?

Flowo1974 - Aug 05, 2015 at 11:39
+1

Claire - Aug 05, 2015 at 10:38
Eeeep! So excited for this.

Tomimt - Aug 05, 2015 at 11:56
I don't care about Xbone, but those arts do look pretty damned sweet. Good job on those mr. Italian automobile.

Gabriel - Aug 05, 2015 at 12:21
Will definitely buy on PS4 if they release it on there. Loves me some adventure gaming on the couch.

Scott32 - Aug 05, 2015 at 12:46
I tried to read as much as possible and didn't find the answer: will there be different display options (like EGA, for example)? This seems to look too good for a game that could have been released 25 years ago. Too many colors for my poor retro brain!

Oh and by the way, is there anyway you could send us an e-mail when you ask for backers' ideas? I saw the book post a day later and it was already closed! No fair!

Keep up the good work

David Fox - Aug 05, 2015 at 14:38
@Scott32 - you can sign up for ThimbleMail™ and get immediate email updates when new blog posts are posted: http://blog.thimbleweedpark.com/thimblemail

longuist - Aug 05, 2015 at 21:23
Oh, and there is this brandnew technology called *RSS*
So happy this site is already supporting it.

scott32 - Aug 05, 2015 at 23:03
Woah, thank you for the advice about RSS! It's totally rad! I actually have a list of indie games I follow and until today I checked each page almost every day! I'm such a peasant!

...uh about the display option?

longuist - Aug 06, 2015 at 07:15
You're welcome ;)

Gaizka - Aug 05, 2015 at 13:49
Only 80 POPs left... :-D

Droygon - Aug 05, 2015 at 13:59
Wow... ENJOYED! MUCH... LOVING... CAPSING AND A' EXCLAMATING!!! (sorry retinas everywhere... BUT SO GREAT!!!!!!!)

Zombocast - Aug 05, 2015 at 14:09
I think porting Thimbleweed Park to Xbox One is a great way to bring the Adventure Game Genere to a platform that not specificly known for those type of games. With that said I think porting this title to Xbox will undoubtedly deture resources from the overall end product. The xbox api is not particularly easy to work with from what ive seen in previous generations but maybe Xbox One is different. Us backers got your back Ron!

smartypants - Aug 05, 2015 at 14:13
Wow, I have watched the trailers a hundred times, but I only now noticed that the population counter decreases from 81 to 80!  My mind is blown! The sign must be connected to the same backend as the wanted poster in MI2.

Brian S - Aug 05, 2015 at 14:48
There may be two versions of the sign in the game... (or more... "And then there were 79").

Flowo1974 - Aug 05, 2015 at 15:27
I didn't notice that!
Thanks for pointing it out!

Hjniels - Aug 05, 2015 at 14:18
This looks awesome! Can't wait to play this (on any platform)!!!

I hope it will only be the first of many new point & click classics from you guys. I will back any such projects you initiate. In fact, can't I just subscribe to all your future games ;)

Martin -enthusi- Wendt - Aug 05, 2015 at 17:04
That is great news! Almost parallel to your amazing efforts, we develop an gfx-Adventure that you most heavily inspired with your work.
It will come to C64 and err. c64 alone :-)
Consider this a shameless plug, though it will be for free anyway:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4P60l_Myo4

Mattias Cedervall - Aug 05, 2015 at 20:44
It looks promising.

mr. T - Aug 06, 2015 at 08:44
Looks and sounds pretty sweet. But I'd like to know what the game is all about too. Hopefully you'll release a launch trailer or something when you finish production.

RainerG - Aug 06, 2015 at 02:12
KSCUM - 108.7 FM ?

The FM Radio frequencies are from 88.0 MHz to 108.0 MHz. So 108.7 FM is a radio station nobody will be listening to. Or is this part of the joke?

Soong - Aug 06, 2015 at 04:57
I thought that 108.7 was a way of saying 1987 without making the frequency too odd for a radio station.

LogicDeLuxe - Aug 06, 2015 at 05:28
It seems rather common in fictitious works to use frequencies outside the band designated for radio stations. Could be to avoid real world stations. The most famous example would be Sega's Outrun, I guess.

Btw. FM broadcast frequencies are from 87.5 Mhz to 108.0 Mhz in most countries, thus most receivers can be tuned in that range.

Helge Frisenette - Aug 06, 2015 at 04:56
I really dislike Microsoft (for obvious reasons). Please try not to put yourselves in a position to get screwed over by them.
On the other hand, the One architecture is a shameless ripoff of PS4, so really they are partway funding the development for that platform also.
The PS4 controller has the touchpad so is should be a much better fit for the game.

Dan - Aug 06, 2015 at 06:51
Don't panic. There are good chances for a PS4 release.

Besides when Maniac Mansion was available on NES there was no touchpad, too. Xbox users who prefer a touchpad still have the option to buy a keyboard with an integrated touchpad.

ZeldaFX - Aug 06, 2015 at 05:20
Hi, what will be the resolution of the final game?

Dominik - Aug 06, 2015 at 16:04
I don't think the game will be in 320x200. This was the resolution of the good old games though (MCGA, graphics mode 10h).

But Ron stated in one of the blog posts that the game will have a 16:9 aspect ratio. This can also be observed by looking at the screenshots and/or videos.

So it will be probably more likely something like 356 x 200 and be scaled to match the closest video mode supported.

tomimt - Aug 11, 2015 at 12:45
I think it will use higher, modern resolutions, but the graphics will retain their low quality aesthetics with scaling. It makes the most sense, as the really low resolutions don't sometimes play well with modern OS's and hardware.

Marcel Taeumel - Aug 06, 2015 at 10:36
Hmmm.. would it be possible to offer some graphic filters in the engine that reduce the color range? Like a fake EGA-Mode? Just for the retro-fun of it. :) But I guess that it might look ugly without manual post-processing...

Back then, how difficult was it to release both CGA and EGA versions of Manian Mansion (v1) for the C64?

LogicDeLuxe - Aug 07, 2015 at 04:32
EGA SCUMM could downconvert to CGA on the fly, and VGA SCUMM could do that to EGA 640x200. Downconverted colors were tweaked by the scripts in some places. They abandoned EGA support in the talkie version of Indy 4 and later games.

Zarbulonian - Aug 09, 2015 at 14:28
MM v1 was written for the C64 and later ported to other platforms. The EGA version (v2) was never ported to the C64.

Zombocast - Aug 07, 2015 at 01:19
This just in! - A Thimbleweed Park announcement...

In Indy News,
Developer Ron Gilbert gathered quite a crowd today as he announced Thimbleweed Park will support Microsoft's current-gen Console. With beautifully done VGA graphics from Mark Ferrari and amazing 16 channel surround sound composed by Steve Kirk, few speculate there can be any contest for next years Game of the Year(GotY) award. The resulting news sent Microsoft Corp's stocks soaring a whole 10 points today on wall-street, a new record! Set to release in 2016, this 1980's era point and click adventure game Thimbleweed Park is said to to push Xbox One to its limits. "Out of all the innovations from this publisher, support for Xbox One is the most exciting!"- Ransom the clown.

Here is the never before seen footage from the crowded Xbox One event..
http://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/avLoK7X_460sv.mp4

Joy - Aug 07, 2015 at 17:51
i'm full of joy

Michael Hoffmann - Aug 08, 2015 at 11:34
Yesterday Ron attended the 'Adventure Treff' party during Gamescom where he met other industry legends like Charles Cecil, see http://t.co/jdGHPxdGpN

'Secret of Broken Island' anyone? ;-)

Brian S - Aug 10, 2015 at 13:26
Great candid photo!

Arto - Aug 08, 2015 at 16:31
There has been discussion about the resolution of the game. I think there is no point to discuss about that. I believe that individual "pixel" width will be 1/430 of viewport. So, with HD display, a pixel would be 4 or 5 pixels wide. Shouldn't look blurred.

Dan - Aug 08, 2015 at 20:02
Instead of a stretched view I would prefer an extended resolution featuring a width of 427 px with a wider sight of the room and an extended inventory field as well as wider gaps between the verbs in order to keep the pixel's aspect ratio. Otherwise the bobbleheads™ would seem a bit too expanded.
A pillarbox mode would also be a solution. That's a matter of opinion.
I myself intend to play it on a 19 inch LCD with an old-school 4:3 aspect ratio. So I might not get any issue with a width of 320 px.

Dominik - Aug 09, 2015 at 04:59
Sooo, after carefully measuring the given screens and comparing them to the videos I conclude the following my dear Mr. Watson:

The game's native resolution seems to be of 427 x 240 Pixel (=Viewport size)

That is a pretty weird resolution because it only scales well to 720p (times 3 in each direction). But it will look ugly on Full HD without filtering because every 4th pixel has a different size than the rest.

@Ron: Will the game run in different native resolutions so that there will be nice upcaling factor like times 3 or 4?

(480 x 270) x 4 = (1920 x 1080)
(427 x 240) x 3 = (1280 x 720)
(455 x 256) x 3 = (1366 x 768)
(409 x 230) x 5 = (2048 x 1152)

...and so forth. It seems that a game which tries to have pixels so sharp the poke our eyes out are somewhat problematic when it comes to up-scaling ;-) It will be interesting how you approach this problem!

Arto - Aug 09, 2015 at 09:06
I upscaled the Quickie Pal picture from 860x344 px to 1920x768 px with nearest neighbour resampling, and it looks good.

Dominik - Aug 09, 2015 at 11:29
1920 : 860 = 2,23...

That means it may look okay when it's static, but it will look pretty ugly when it's scrolling:

Here is an example:
Let's say the image consists of the following pixels (in a row...)

a b c d e f g h i j  (10 pixels)

scaled up by factor 2,23 this means it will be blown up to 22 pixels.

aa bb cc dd ee ff gg hh ii jj

Since this is only twenty pixels we have to increase two of those twenty even more:

AAA bb cc dd ee FFF gg hh ii jj

Now it's 22 pixels wide. Every fourth or so is increased times 3, the rest times 2. It may still look OK, but now lets scroll the image one pixel to the left:

b c d e f g h i j k

Scaled up by 2,2:

BBB cc dd ee ff GGG hh ii jj kk

Now let's compare them:

BB cc dd ee ff GGG hh ii jj kk
AAA bb cc dd ee FFF gg hh ii jj

And we see that be scrolling the source image by one pixel to the left "thank" to the nearest neighbor "algorithm" a different row is now multiplie by 3. That means: when the image scrolls there will be constantly increasing / decreasing of certain rows and columns that will lead to a very nasty jittery scrolling senstation.

What can you do about it?

1. Not using nearest neighbor, but that would result in a *SLIGHTLY* blurry image and certainly wouldn't qualify for "pixels so sharp they'll poke your eye out". This method is normally used by games, but most of them don't want to achieve a pixel-perfect look. The most "pixelated" games I know have an even lower native resolution and/or use post-processing effects to simulate an old CRT or something like that. But I don't think that would be a good approach for this project.

2. Use a natural number as a multiplier (2 instead of 2.2). This would mean black bars at 2 or even all 4 sides of the screen on certain resolutions

3. Upscaling all graphic resources on the fly and then sampling the scene at the target resolution. This would remove the jitter effect when the viewport scrolls but would still lead to uneven pixel sizes.

4. Have the game engine be flexible enough too choose a "good" native resolution that can be scaled up by a natural number multiplier to the needeed output resolution. This would require that they make sure there is a safety zone in their graphics which can be cut off without loosing important objects from the scene.

So it's not that trivial I guess...

Dan - Aug 09, 2015 at 15:38
The Quickie Pal preview picture is scaled by a factor of 2. The effective resolution is half as much. But don't forget that there will be a horizontal scrolling. So it's not really clear if the 860 / 2 = 430 px will be the efffective horizontal resolution on 16:9 displays, but it's most likely.

I think we should better take a look at the vertical resolution: Together with the GUI it seems to be at 240 pixels. 1080 / 240 = 4,5 px. So either the pixel size is on alternate 4/5 px or every second intersection needs to be interpolated. Maybe it actually would be sharp enough since the pixel size is at least 4 times larger than the interpolated line. If not you better use a natural number as a multiplier as Dominik has written.

Dominik - Aug 09, 2015 at 16:03
Yeah, of course you are right: The image of the quick-e-pal was already upscaled by ron (times 2).
I used that and the Xbox presentation to calculate the resolution auf 427 x 240, which can be scaled nicely be factor 3 to 1280 x 720 (okay, one pixel off, but that can be cropped).

I tried upscaling the original 427 pixel wide quick-e-pal to 1920 pixel width (factor 4,5 as you mentioned correctly) and it dind't look good at all if you don't apply a filter. Thats mostly because mark uses a lot of dithering and fine lines. The quick-e-pal logo looks especially weird.

So, factor 4 would be one possibility, but that would mean pretty wide black bars (over 100 pixels wide which is about 11% of the screen).

Dan - Aug 09, 2015 at 17:49
Marcel Taeumel was right as he wrote 320x200. I just recognized that the classic games with 320x240 also have black bars even if I use a classic 4:3 display (20 px at the top and 20 px at the bottom). So MI1&2, Maniac Mansion, DOTT et cetera have always had a letterbox effect, since they use only 320x200 pixels.

Therefore I have to correct myself: If you use a scaling factor of 5 you lose merely 7,4 % of the screen size. That's much less than the classic games did on a 4:3 screen (almost 17 %)!!

I checked it out via ScummVM and I have to admit that I like the interpolated image, even though it used a non-natural number for scaling! Okay, there is a smoothness but I can live with it as it has square pixels.

Dan - Aug 09, 2015 at 17:52
The factor of 5 with a loss of 7,4 % is relating to Full HD.

Dan - Aug 09, 2015 at 18:23
The vertical resolution of the Quickie Pal preview still tangles me: 172 px without the verb–object interface. It indicates a vertical resolution of 240 px.

Let's just wait and see.

longuist - Aug 11, 2015 at 07:17
Quote (Dan): "I just recognized that the classic games with 320x240 also have black bars even if I use a classic 4:3 display (20 px at the top and 20 px at the bottom). So MI1&2, Maniac Mansion, DOTT et cetera have always had a letterbox effect, since they use only 320x200 pixels."

Here you are probably wrong, Sir. You can't compare this historic video modes directly as they produced non-square pixels (eg Mode 13h). No problem with a CRT to get 4:3. So there were no black bars when you adjusted the monitor correctly.

longuist - Aug 11, 2015 at 07:33
I have to add here: It is a design choice to have square pixels and letterbox or no letterbox with non square pixels to fully use the 4:3 space.

Dan - Aug 11, 2015 at 08:25
You're right. I actually don't remember the letterbox. It just debuted with ScummVM on my screen.
And now that you wrote of non-square pixels I have to agree one more time. In the majority of cases they were in fact not square.
This makes me realize a bit more how long it's ago now...

Arto - Aug 10, 2015 at 13:10
Ah, yes. I didn't think of scrolling.

This game will most definitely require at least 4K display. Maybe 5K. And a graphics card to handle that. Oh boy, we must buy some $2,500 system to play this game.

Dominik - Aug 10, 2015 at 16:09
What are you blabbering? Only because you had obviously no idea what i was talking about doesn't mean my argument is in any form invalid. Mocking me just shows that you don't have the technical expertise to judge what i wrote (or that you are just a jerk).

Either way -for the people interested in nice, smooth scrolling- here are two GIFs to show the difference between scrolling using a natural number as a scaling factor and jittery scrolling because of choosing the "wrong" scaling factor:

Please note: The gif-files are meant to be viewed at full screen. So make sure your screen has at least Full-HD resolution and that your browser isn't scaling it in any from.

Quick-e-pal scrolling & scaled by factor 4,27 to match Full HD resolution:
The jitter effect is especially well visible in the quick-e-pal logo itself and the "FOOD-BEET" sign.
http://80.244.219.130/transfer/test-1920-b.gif

Quick-e-pal scrolling & scaled by factor 4 to remove jitter effect:
http://80.244.219.130/transfer/test-1720-b.gif

Sure, not everybody will take much notice, but I for one would love to see Mark's and Garry's graphics as crisp as possible.

Arto - Aug 10, 2015 at 16:57
Hmm, I have always stated that written form of communication has always been most difficult and has a quality of aggressivity.

I'm sorry if it seemed as if I was mocking you. I was not. I did see your point, found it valid and I agree with you. I was being sarcastic about the "problem" about the scale factor we might have.

Now, I should be offended about the fact that I was misunderstood, as it seems to be the trait in internet conversations, but am not :) Again, I'm being sarcastic here.

Dan - Aug 10, 2015 at 17:38
You're right. The jitter effect makes it a little fidgety. The only way to completely eliminate this would be scaling it by a natural number.
Though in my opinion it might be sufficient to interpolate the intersecting lines in order to decrease this effect as well as to make sure that all the pixels are square.
In any case the game will have to support several differing screen resolutions. So the engine will have to be able to support a lot of different scaling factors. Therefore it would be reasonable to build one single universal interpolation algorithm that works for any resolution you may ever need.
When you're playing such a game you fortunately are not scrolling all the time.

Dan - Aug 10, 2015 at 17:50
Given that Full HD is the most common resolution it should receive a great deal of attention by the developers of course.

Dominik - Aug 11, 2015 at 02:55
@Arto: Let's just call it even ;-)

Regarding the "problem": I think it could also be solved by making the game have a flexible viewport width. The different in the height can be simply "filled" by enlarging or shrinking the verb-menu and inventory.

It the viewport is flexible between 427 and 480 you can almost upscale to any common resolution using a natural number as a scaling factor. You might need to crop a pixel or two on each side (427 x 3 = 1281), but that should not be noticeable.

Dan - Aug 11, 2015 at 07:47
By the way, for all I now: Up to now the scrolling in TP hasn't been implemented pixel-wise but smooth with OpenGL. It may not look very authentic but it's quick to implement. May someone correct me if I'm wrong in this case.

Though Ron mentioned a potential pixel-retro™ mode. I hope for it. (http://blog.thimbleweedpark.com/parallaxing)

Mathias - Aug 08, 2015 at 17:09
and now for something completely different ...

Can we have the trailer "sound track" in 8-bit music please?!!?

Zombocast - Aug 09, 2015 at 22:41
I don't think Steve Kirk does Midi, but maybe Ron can do an article discussing the soundtrack!

Meanwhile a fan linked this in Ron's Twitter feed : https://youtu.be/uYRZV8dV10w
And their blog: http://jasontammemagi.com/making-a-pixel-art-music-video/

Nathan - Aug 08, 2015 at 20:03
Hi Ron,

I've been plaing some Zak McK lately and keep looking for a "Look At" option. I read up on it and found out that it was not included because it was thought that you could just see things on the screen. That got me thinking that the verb look at something should actually be "Inspect".  Fits the detective theme.

Peace,
-Nathan

Michael Hoffmann - Aug 11, 2015 at 11:13
Video-Interview with Ron Gilbert during Gamescom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9hv_nUXszc

Domink - Aug 11, 2015 at 11:58
Nice & interesting interview! Thanks!

To the console controls (i.e. controls with a game controller)

I think there should be a cursor AND direct movement of the chracter.
You can still move the cursor and click somewhere (LeftStick + A) to make the character go there, but you also can use direct control (right stick) to walk. If you start walking the cursor will be automatically moved where your character is.

Direct control should be fairly easy to implement:
- When the right stick is pushed in any direction just use the X/Y-offset of the thumb stick, add them to the feet position of the character and make the character walk to that point.
- When you release the right stick the character should stop where it is and the cursor is positioned on eye level of the character

Dan - Aug 11, 2015 at 15:12
Maybe a direct control would speed up the game. But I agree with Ron, because TP is meant to be a classic point & click adventure game. This forbids a direct control.

Prime examples are Grim Fandango and Monkey Island 4, which shared the same engine. The control was one of the weak points in these two games. In my opinion it was extremely annoying. I was used to the point & click style back then and I really missed it in these two games!

Even if a direct control would purely be an optional function many players would make themselves familiar with it until they wouldn't be willing to play the game in the classic way of point & click any more. In that case TP wouldn't be a point & click adventure game any more, which would be really sad!

Dan - Aug 11, 2015 at 15:15
The cursor is all you need to play a good adventure game.

Dominik - Aug 11, 2015 at 16:05
I agree that the controls in Grim Fandago and Monkey 4 were horrible.

But: The problem wasn't the direct control itself but how it was implemented: You rotated your character with the left/rigth keys and moved the character in the direction the character was facing by pressing "up". Tim Schafer called them "tank controls" because in the Broken Age Documentary I think... Yeah, it sure felt like it! Moving a big, fat, slow tank.

I think it was implemented because they had just for discreet directions (cursor keys). Since we now have analog sticks on the game pads this is much easier to solve and better to implement: Just move the stick in the direction the character should walk.

I'm not sure it would take anything away from pointing & clicking since other games have pulled this off in combination with a point & click cursor. I think all the Tell Tale games do this, and they had pretty good controls.

Of course, on a PC the mouse would be my way of control number 1, but if I sit in the living room I probably don't want to hassle with a cordless mouse.

I don't know... I think some playtesting is required to answer what is the best choice for TWP.

Dan - Aug 12, 2015 at 09:37
In Grim Fandango and the last two Monkey Island games the character needed to approach an object or a subject just to be able to interact with it. But in a point & click game, as you know, you need to simply move the cursor onto it instead. And after that the character approaches it himself. This makes a direct control almost useless. It only would be useful if you were walking a longer distance as you did both in the forest and the town on Mêlée Island for example.

If you want to be able to cut a path short I would prefer the idea from The Curse of Monkey Island to skip the leaving/entering of a room/building by double-clicking the door.

Christian - Aug 11, 2015 at 14:05
Thanks for posting this!

Is there any more information/links/blogs like e.g. something from the adventuretreff party?

Eric - Aug 12, 2015 at 07:00
I'm very excited to play this game!