Quite a week, I will be around if you want to talk about it
dancon
Former Telltale Staff
Hi Everyone, I am just putting up some shelves but I will be checking this thread. We had quite a week this week If you want to ask me about it I will answer what I can.
Thanks
Dan
Thanks
Dan
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Well first of its very busy, as an independent publisher we have more to think about then just making the games. So that means alot of negotiating with folks, doing spread sheets, reviewing marketing plans, that kind of stuff. Of course development is a huge part of it to and I would say the very best part is diving into the franchises and working on the stories and representing the franchise in the game world. SInce we started we have worked with Jeff Smith (awesome dude and brilliant artist) Steve Purcell (hilarious), The brothers Chaps (awesome) and the team at Videlectrix (total tools) Bob Gale (a legend), can you imagine working on the fourth story in the Back to the Future series with an original creator. Ron Gilbert and obviously Dave is already here. So the creative stuff is wonderful.
While you're here though, have TTG got anything in store for us old-school adventure fans, those that relish classic gameplay?
Enjoy the shelving, nowt wrong with a bit of weekend DIY!
For the old school adventure fans we are looking at some very cool licenses right now that aren't traditional adventure franchises, but will be great new adventure franchises.
To answer your question I can't talk specifically about conversations we have had, but I know the Scott Pilgrim creator came out and said he wasn't into an andventure game for the franchise. Other stuff we have always wanted includes Futarama and Family Guy but no luck yet.
Most of the time it ends up that the creators are to busy with other things to focus on doing a game. That was the case with the guys from the Gorrillaz a few years back
Bless you, sir. Bless you. You're an angel. A prince. A gift from the gods. Just for trying.
Also; Is the pilot program over, or just on hiatus? We only got two titles from it.
For those who do not know Dan is one of the 3 (i think its 3) men who gave us ttg...
Also now that I've got your ear can you guys go back to having the option of having the option of having just the original game's audio in the audio commentary videos? Sometimes my kids and I just watched the games being played I really missed that option with monkey island and s&m s3
Well Puzzle Agent worked out really well as did Poker Night so either of those could keep rolling but we don't have any one on it now. One thing we are working on is in the R&D group and it involves new technology that takes advantage of the tools ability to create acting performances and uses AI to create a more emergent narrative. Its a little out there now so we are trying to bring it into something that makes sense as a gaming experience.
And the questions I just can't hold back but doubt will be answered: Is The Walking Dead game still coming this December? Will there be a S&M 4 or TOMI 2?
Who's your favorite Telltale-created character? By that I mean a character that originated in a Telltale game, rather than, say, Stan or Doc Brown. Jurgen, for example.
Really I can only see the games as things that I work on because I don't really consume them as finished products. But the things that stand are
The Two Bone Games- In the early days we were able to really focus on what we were building (when we weren't raising $). There was alot of love in the game and I think the Love Poem for Thorn and The Dinner Table scene were two things that stood out for me because of there uniqueness.
Sam and Max- Believe me when I tell you Sam and Max is the funnest content you could work on in games, and of course having Brendan Q Ferguson on board. It was hard work to nail it but we laughed our asses off the whole time. Stand outs for me where Abe Lincoln Must Die, Night of the Raving Dead, and The interrogation in They Saved Max's Brain. I always see majus when I see that Tourist
Monkey- This one the relationships were great Human Lechuck doing the adventure puzzle with Guybrush made me laugh so hard
SBCG4AP- The Chapmans are great people and so talented. Whenever we got voice back from them it was a great time and they did all the crazy publicity with us. I have a fondness for Dangeresque because I was once part of a public access comedy troupe.
BTTF- Working on the story for the game was great I remember Ryan Jones created those concepts that nailed it and AJ was unbelieveable. And spending a couple of hours talking concepts with Mr Bob Gale is an experience I will never forget
JP- I love the Third Episode and I Love Dodgson. I cannot wait until I can use " I have to make a phone call to an idiot" in a real conversation
Right now we aren't working on either but it would be much easier for us to do something with Sam and Max then Monkey at this point. We are working on the plan for next year now so we will be talking about. As far as WD after a week like last week I am reticent to say anything that can be made into a story but I will push the folks here to get an update out soon
This is kind of a longshot but I would be remiss if I didn't ask, have you guys been in communication with LucasArts much since Darrell Rodriguez stepped down? There was once a time when Tales of Monkey Island was your most successful game but there really hasn't been any talk of the franchise continuing of late, either from you guys of LA themselves. Even if it's just the opinion of you as a fan and not as the co-founder of Telltale do you think they have any intention of continuing the franchise or is it uncertain?
You know we really pushed hard with JP to get a world wide multiplatform release including Xbox retail and Ipad 2. We felt this as a critical thing for the company to succeed and I think we are stronger because of it, but I can't honestly say its gone down in the way we had intended. So I think we are a little humbled by the fact that Telltale can be part of a internet sh*tst%rm the same week that Skyrim and Saints Row and Modern Warfare come out. We are already sitting back and looking at the situation and thinking its time to be more deliberate about things and more focused. And I am really energized at taking everything we have learned and improving Telltale as a company.
PS Ribs if we were working on something you liked this year would you have bought it?
Bosco
Winslow
Jurgen
Feathersly
Thanks for the kind words we appreciate your support.
I wish we had the rights to do more Monkey but we don't. Right now what I gather is LA is focused on building AAA titles internally but honestly we don't talk much these days.
I got to sign of for a bit as my wife invited friends over so we will be having a couple of drinks to celebrate her birthday. I will check back in tomorrow.
Also, I wanted to say that, given the rough week Telltale's had, it's really great of you to come on and answer some questions from people. This is the sort of thing that I can't help but like about Telltale as a whole, despite any qualms I might have about recent releases.
Responding to your question; if there was something I liked, I may have bought it. I was just saying that delaying the games made me believe you guys wouldn't be making any games in anything I have interest in for quite some while, as opposed to my hopes the 'big five' that you announced this year would end in Q2 2012, leaving room for maybe something more in Q3 or Q4, but it looks more likely the Five will move further into the year. Oh well. I still am contemplating purchasing Fables, although I do think 'it's a modern fairy tale!' stories are a dime-a-dozen nowadays.
Um, not literally. Then that statement is inverse to fact. :P I wish cheeseburgers were.
Or dimes.
Wait, what? I'd never thought of a Gorillaz adventure game before, and the idea has blown my mind.
Anyway, there's just been something I've wondered about for the past year-or-so: what sort of strains, pressures and limitations come from producing episodic games on a monthly basis? Do you find that Telltale's modus operandi sometimes puts the company into a bit of an unwanted pressure-cooker situation? And, if so, do you feel that it can negatively affect the final products that are produced and released? Because, with no intention of sounding disrespectful, I do find that there are elements within the final games which feel as though they've fallen victim to a rushed process. Likewise, I get the feeling that there are things within each of the episodes which could be added, improved and properly cultivated if a little more time was devoted to them.
This is just how I feel as a customer and consumer of your games, but I obviously don't have a full idea of what goes on in the development process, so that's why I'm curious as to whether or not there is an element of strain or unwanted pressure brought on by the development schedule you've adopted. And, as your games become more elaborate, large and extravagant, could we eventually see Telltale move away from the monthly distribution method which they've always boasted (in exchange for a system which allows a little more breathing room)?
Thanks for the question the timing is good with JP releasing as a full product.
I will answer the creative part first and then cover the dev part. First I think JP would have benefited from being an episodic release because it had great cliffhangars that were built up to. In an episodic format this would have triggered all kinds of conversations around the ending and what might happen next and it would have built anticipation toward the next episode. This part of experience were the community is engaged between episodes is a big part of the experience for players as well as for us. When we are building an episodic series it almost like a live performance where there is a link with the audience that is feeding the creative process. It may be subtle but it is constantly there in the decisions everyone is making. So the story builds and gets shared over time. When someone sends a note and says Monkey Island was a huge part of their summer this is the experience we intended to create. This is what differentiates from the competition which as you know is intense.
From a dev perspective the pressures are different. The hardest part in development is bringing all of the different components together and making them work as a shippable product. In many cases the more time building assets leads to more time trying to get them to work well together. The longer you wait to pull the product together the more difficult its. In my time in traditional development whether the schedule was three years or 11 months rarely did we spend more than three weeks polishing the project. Instead most of the time was getting it to work (no crashes, acceptable performance, story fidelity) once it worked there was immense paranoia about changing anything.
At Telltale we bring the assets together more quickly and more often so problems don’t linger and blow up. Also our tools are created to allow for rapid and safe iteration. A Telltale product will have thousands of fixes to the product in the last couple of weeks and they have a huge impact.
Generally the 1st episode is the most difficult because we are building new processes, creating all the assets and making it a shippable product. In 2 we start improving on things and by 3 and 4 we have hit our stride. By 5 it gets really stressful because we have eaten any cushion we might have had but still it is a super priority for us to stay as close to monthly schedule as possible because the experience we are going for demands it.
As we evolve a full product is possible and certainly we are regularly talking about stand alone episodes.
For that I am sorry because I respect you guys, because you have not let some huge company buy you up, and you make the games that YOU want to make not what some big time studio tells you to do.
Thanks for the apology giving your opinion is cool and I think Telltale's forums have always been a friendly and open place. I definitely worry when things start getting personal and people lose perspective. Everyone is here because they are interested in games and that shared interest is a good thing. Frankly if you don't like something we do at least you care enough that it matters to you.
As far as what we build our mission has not changed we want to make games with great stories and characters. Answering the question of how you keep a plot and story engaging while giving the player control is a huge one for the industry. Certainly the industry has solved the confront character and kill him her or it problem. We are more interested in interacting with the character in a tangible way that is part of the development of the character and the story. We might do some things you don't like in the process, but we are just going keep learning and pushing and iterating until we get it right.
The funny thing is that Gorillaz made one for Plastic Beach.
http://gorillaz.com/plasticbeach
Dan, any plans for a wholly original IP game (not counting the first Hold'em)? Telltale have been mentioning it for years.
Great to hear from you. I quess Nelson Tethers doesn't count cause Graham doesn't work here anymore and it is based on the Grickle style. Which reminds Nelson should have been in my favorite characters post.
There are a few ideas that we could do. The RD project we are working on could go that way. The thing I like about original concepts is you can marry the story and the gameplay together from the beginning so they support each other. As we try to bring in new devices and platforms it may require an original concept to make it all work.
Oh, right, that. That hardly registered on my radar as a full game, and since it was stopped in the middle the last time I tried playing it, I'd forgotten about it. I'll have to give it another shot sometime.
Also, me & the lad are loving Jurassic Park on the iPad - gonna be odd to have to switch to PC to play the remaining 3 eps if we can't wait for the iPad releases. Is there a schedule for eps 2-4? Approx monthly?
Also, will there be any more official releases of any of the soundtracks?
Some tricky questions for you:
1) How you will improve the beta testing (expecially on PCs)? As the products become more complex it seems that you're having hard times to get a product without glitches (as it was until Wallace&Gromit). It will stay the same or can we expect some big change in how you handle it?
2) When there will be a new version of the TT engine? Now there are a lot of new tecnologies available (DX11, tessellation, HDR, etc.), and it seems that the old TT engine struggles a bit when the scenes are too complex and requires to elaborate a lot of polygons. Have you ever considered to rent an external render engine (Unreal Engine, Frostbite 2)?
3) Given that most of the user find the episodes too easy (at least it's what I feel) and a general lack of challenge, will the general difficulty improve in the next series? Can be possible to have an "easy mode" and a "difficult mode" for each game?
4) There's too much talking on the forum about other languages still not covered by the official releases - expecially Spanish and Italian. There's hope to have such languages on the future products? Ever thought about selling the additional subtitles (I would pay 5$ more to a localized game) and make the subtitles files on your store?
5) Why press copy doesn't arrive earlier? Was the missing press copy of JP a marketing choice?
6)There will be another collaboration with Straandlooper?
Thanks, Dan.
Still loving your Company, and trusting you all!
Not trying to hijack Dan's thread here because he is the man when it comes to answers, but I just wanted to chime in and get a bit of clarification regarding one of your questions. Do you mean that basically at the beginning of the series, the player would get an option (in the title screen, say) that would basically say "normal - I'm just here for some fun" or "hard - I'm an experienced adventure gamer" and then depending on the player's choice they would get the same game, just with some of the hand holding bits missing (hints would still be available on both settings if needed though of course). We tried a more limited version of that with BTTF where the title screen allowed players to show the "goals" popup UI or not, but it probably didn't have quite the effect you were looking for if I'm reading into your question correctly.
I've heard it suggested before that if the puzzle was say, to find an object hidden in a room that the "normal" setting would basically have a camera cut when the character enters the room that would show the basic area where the item is hidden, pointing the player in the right direction. If the player was using the "hard" setting, that same scene would instead just show the character enter the room and look around with no suggestion as to where to start looking. Is that kind of what you're thinking? I think it's an interesting idea so I wanted to probe a bit more