Details that people might forget, don't notice or just don't know about The Walking Dead

DabigRG · June 2018

Only three minutes?

DabigRG · June 2018

So, "Jagger" has a wikia page now.

dnm104 · June 2018

Yeah. Keep in mind that I recorded the parts that are easily missable on your first or even second playthrough.

Zombiekiller3121 · June 2018

So, you're saying that shooting Duck, and then having Clem shoot you was a missable outcome?
I thought it was the most common

dnm104 · June 2018

I am. Not everyone who shot duck got that scene for example.

DabigRG · June 2018

A House Divided was originally supposed to end with a version In Harm's Way's opening, with Howe's Hardware not being the original destination.

GasmaskCowBoy · June 2018

ooooo then where was the location supposed to be:O

DabigRG · June 2018

I'm not sure. I don't remember them giving much detail on it, though an escape through the woods was still in order.

I honestly forgot I had already posted that in this thread.

DabigRG · June 2018

For the sake of doing a follow up and for convenience, here's the answers from the AMA that happened after From teh Gallows:

@VengefulKenny posted: »
Why was Kate left unknown in my ending where I trusted Clem with her? What was the point of making her deliberately unknown when it would have been simple to show her as a walker like the other ending? Should i maintain any hopes that Kate might be alive and found later by Clementine?

We wanted the endings to be something people would talk about, and to feel both customized and distinct. Kate missing opens up a different set of potential futures than Kate turned, which can make for an interesting and different story in the future for players with that ending.

@Lee Everett posted: »
Hi. So er, does Clem actually like Gabe in a romantic way?

This is something that Clem will need to decide for herself. There’s some factors in her history that could make it more or less likely for her to open up to someone like Gabe, but at the end of the day, they really haven’t known each other all that long. She could feel strongly enough based on some existing choices that she’ll make a declaration on his deathbed of what they might have been -- but the difference between might have been, and what will be, remains to be seen.

@IronWoodLover posted: »
How do you feel this season was received by the fandom? Do you feel the fans overall liked it? Do you think you met their expectations?

I think all y’alls are better suited to answer this than we are.

@IronWoodLover posted: »
Do you feel like the final product ended up being just what you guys idealized or do you think there was room for improvement? If so to what extent?

I’ve never finished a creative endeavor that I thought was perfect. Over the course of the creative process, we have to make choices on a daily basis about what chances to take and where to play it safe; where to invest and where to cut and run. There’s so many versions of every story, and one of our key jobs is to find the version that will resonate best and get it onscreen. Every day we make choices, and we see the results of those choices pay off via the hard work of a large team -- in order to bring a scene online, so many people (artists, programmers, audio/music, QA) play a part, far beyond just the writing team. Some scenes turn out exactly as envisioned, others, not so much.

So, was there room for improvement? Yes, of course there was. Is the season something that we’re proud of? Yes it is.

@IronWoodLover posted: »
Before the season released, a clip at E3 showed a branded Javier with Clem by his side "getting close" to something. What was this about? And please, if the answer is "the clip was not representative" does that mean the game only started actually being written after E3 2016?
Pre-release advertising also talked about some "quest for vengeance" and Clem and Javier needing each other, having common goals and already having some sort of pre-set bond. I don't think I saw any of this through the Season. What happened?

There was an earlier version of the story where Javi was forced to join the New Frontier group and branded (against his will) in order to prove his trustworthiness/earn his place. He escaped, but still needed to retrieve his family (David, Gabe, and Mari) from their NF captors, which aligned his goals with Clementine’s search for AJ.

Development started with that version of the story, but once the first version of it got onscreen, it didn’t feel like an authentic Walking Dead story. From there, a rewrite process started that ended up with the version of the game that we shipped.

@IronWoodLover posted: »
This was found in the game files. Why would closure to characters such as Eleanor and the antagonists and such interesting choices be removed?
So apparently, these choices were cut:
Executing Joan.
Exile Joan.
Keep Joan in Richmond.
Return Joan's supplies against Clint's advice/as Eleanor suggested.
Keep Joan's supplies as Clint suggested/against Eleanor's wishes.

There was indeed more story and gameplay about the other inhabitants of Richmond in an early version of the finale episode that ultimately ended up on the cutting room floor. The process of making games is an inexact science, and we don’t always know what content will resonate with which fans. What we do know is that these stories aren’t over, and the future of the Richmond folks will develop based on the starting point that the player created in this season.

@OfficialMonkey posted: »
What happened to Max if you kept him alive in Ep3? He's nowhere to be seen in Ep4 and Ep5.

After Max confesses that he and Lonnie were conspiring with Joan looting other settlements, given what we know about how the Richmond council approaches justice, they were put in a holding cell awaiting the herd to clear, so they could be exiled from Richmond (but given a fair shot to survive). Given what we learned about Clint in Episode 5, he definitely wouldn’t have agreed to any outcome for Max and Lonnie that was harsher than exile -- and likely wanted to dig in and get more details before going that far.

@OfficialMonkey posted: »
I hope you actually read all the feedback you've gotten this season because this season wasn't up-to-par with S1 and S2. Lots of big youtubers agree with this, a lot of reviews and the majority in these forums agree with this as well - so please don't disregard us as a minority again.

We’re listening. And we do pay attention to the feedback, even the feedback that’s harder to hear.

@RavenSnowstorm posted: »
If Javier was raised by cuban parents, why doesn't he have cuban accent, yet randomly speaks spanish sometimes?

As someone who was also raised by a Cuban parent, I don’t have an accent. And amongst family we will occasionally throw Spanish in here and there. Just writin’ what I knew...

@RavenSnowstorm posted: »
How do you develop your characters? Not trying to be mean, I'm just really curious. How does the character chart looks like? What is the minimum of pages you dedicate to each character?

From Alyssa: We track plans/development for characters within each episode, and characters across the whole season. (It’s a spreadsheet, not a document, but it does have lots of pages and columns! And sometimes we use white boards, too!). What we try to do is understand where the characters should be at the beginning, middle, and end of their story for each episode (and what scenes we’ll be developing them in), and then look at the progression of those stories across the season.

With Gabe, for example, he started out in a pretty sheltered world, and was kind of chafing from that in Episode 1. Across the middle episodes, he was testing his boundaries as well as dealing with the revelation that his hero-figure, David, was alive and well. And in Episode 5, he leveled up a bit in maturity, realizing that David might not be as perfect as he remembered, but even so, might need his help. When he agreed to go with David, despite having been accidentally knocked around by David twice that episode, he was doing so out of selflessness rather than selfishness, which represents considerable growth from that moody teenager in Ties that Bind.

@RavenSnowstorm posted: »
What are your inspirations? What music do the writers listen to?

Believe it or not, I’ll actually often listen to...video game music. I’ve found it’s a good way to keep my mind focused on the task at hand and since it’s almost entirely lyricless, there aren’t words to distract me. Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, the Donkey Kong Country series, there’s a whole lotta great tunes out there to write to.

As for inspirations? Golly, so many. I adore Bioshock. The plays “Red” by John Logan and “Angels in America” by Tony Kushner changed the way I write. The novel “Lonesome Dove” by Larry McMurtry was a masterclass in crafting heartbreak (just ask Conrad about it, I hear he's a fan! ;-) ). I could go on and on and on. There’s a bunch.

@RavenSnowstorm posted: »
What is the message of the game? I mean, besides family and stuff.

Call it a cop-out, but I'd really love to know what YOU think it is. Art means different things to different people. So what did this mean to you? :-)

@Nightmare9990 posted: »
Last question is why is there barely any hubs/controll over javi? I think there was an okay amount in ep1 but after that we barely got any. Why do certain games, like Guardians for example, get all these good hubs but yet ANF barely gets any?

One of the challenges with every freewalk design is how to make sure the player has a clear set of goals that balance urgency and exploration -- it should feel like you have something important to do, rather than wandering aimlessly -- but the act of exploration can be at odds with the feeling of it being urgent to accomplish a goal.
In some of the episodes this season, we erred on the side of urgency, to the detriment of exploration -- and we’ve heard a lot of feedback about that choice. I know that I personally have learned a whole lot about what to do -- and not to do -- to set up freewalks in order to succeed, and I hope to apply those lessons in future episodes.

@Cocoa2736 posted: »
Was Javis non canon death scene where he tells Gabe to go to Richmond suppose to be canon at one point or was it always just a cool easter egg?

It was an easter egg that our director, Jason Pyke, created. There were several alternative versions of extended death scenes in the original plans, as a special treat for our fans who sometimes miss a QTE prompt. Not all of them made the final episode.

@Cocoa2736 posted: »
In episode 4 when Gabe calls out Javi for killing Conrad, did Gabe know Conrad was apart of Tripp's group? Did he purposely rat out Javi to Tripp and Eleanor or was it on accident?

Gabe knew that Conrad and Tripp both came from Prescott, because they were all traveling together in Episode 2. As for whether his exposing Javi’s secret was purposeful -- I don’t think he planned it by any means. But one of the things that teenagers do, quite often, is react to something hurtful by trying to hurt back -- and Gabe was very hurt that his plans for saving his father weren’t resonating with Kate and Tripp (even if they were conditionally resonating with Javi.) So he took Javi’s words about life being precious, and threw them back in his face -- publicly calling Javi out as a hypocrite without thought for the consequences.

@Cocoa2736 posted: »
If you're allowed to, could you tell us anything interesting about previous iterations of season 3? Was there any scrapped content you thought was cool that didn't make it into the final cut?

Max at one point in development died in the Slaughterhouse in episode 1, after Javi found and took care of a turned Mariana.
There was a flashback of Clem and her babysitter in Episode 1, where she had a phone call with her mom from Atlanta.
Lingard’s model was originally created to be a guy named Mason, who was the mastermind of the New Frontier group in an early iteration of the story.
**The guy who stabbed Javi in episode 4 (and was eaten by walkers in Ep 5) was originally supposed to be a spanish-speaking engineer that Javi could use his (originally planned) bilingual skills to communicate with. He was being guarded by Ava, who was envisioned as a former MMA fighter who had found a role as a prison guard for the New Frontier.

@CarlGotKennyd posted: »
What was the point of keeping/not keeping those items: Chocolate bar, Medicine, Marianna's casette player, Kenny's hat?

Unfortunately, the in-game payoff for keeping some of these items ended up on the cutting room floor. It would have been a really nice moment in Ep 1 if Javi had handed over that candy bar; we had intended for Javi to be able to give the cassette player to David and to potentially use the medicine in the post-wall breach fray. But for various production reasons, we didn’t end up shipping that content. We are keeping track of Kenny’s hat, and have a plan for where it will be found for those players who kept it.

@xXOldKingXx posted: »
Why give Javi the beard? Can we see Javi without the beard at some point?

He’s clean-shaven in the flashbacks, as well as the opening scene!

I'm just sad I haven't seen more fan-art with Javi trying out different facial hairs. You know the dude could rock the Magnum PI no problem.

@BetterToSleep posted: »
Hey, Adam and Alyssa!

Thanks for taking the time to participate in this Ask Me Anything. These have—mostly—been a pleasant activity that I feel bring Telltale, and the people who consume the games, together; necessary in times when discomfort has become widespread. Communication is multiple steps in the right direction.

I know how this works, though. I know that your hands are tied when you type in the keyboard to reply to our posts. Nonetheless, my question is as follows.

Did you honestly think it was a good idea for Ava—who had progressively gained more and more relevance as the season advanced; who was an essential piece in "Thicker Than Water" in both Javi's storyline and Clem's flashback; and who had recently become determinant result of a choice that tore players, shown by the 50:50 result—to die thrown off a cliff by a jumpscare walker and be forgotten within no more than thirty seconds?

I knew I would like Ava when I first met her in Clem's flashback in the second episode, and I became surprisingly attached to the character as the season progressed. Multiple people can confirm so. In spite of every single criticism toward A New Frontier I encountered, I continued to give the game a chance because I liked what was being done with her.

The finale came. And to see her being ditched like that—it made me feel robbed. It made me feel like she was taken out of the story because the people in charge of the episode didn't know what to do with her. And I don't want to be right. But I also don't want to be reassured that somebody in a creative position could believe that that was a remotely decent send-off.

How do you explain this decision?

The original goal of that set of events was to create a walker situation that one, but not the other, of Tripp/Ava could have made it through. Via player feedback, we knew we needed some kind of action on the overpass to keep the urgency up. Previous versions of the scene had felt too safe, too detached from the action going on in Richmond -- and of the characters we had in the scene, there were only two that didn’t already have critical story beats later in the episode relying on them. A staple of the franchise is that no one is safe, and we didn’t want Tripp and Ava’s recent brush with death to give them plot armor. All that said, it’s one of those things that worked better in theory than in practice; the original intent was to provide the same kind of closure for Ava as we did for Tripp; next time around, we’ll make sure that people do spend the time that they ought mourning such an impactful character.

@Delinx posted: »
Question:
Do team members who work on TWD have strong opinion regarding how this series should end?

I’d say everyone has a strong opinion as to how the series should end, but, like anything worthwhile, finding the right answer takes time. Sometimes more time than we like, and more often more time than you guys like ;-) At the end of the day, though, our main concern is quality, and we’d rather give you guys the right finale than the one we can finish fastest.

And thank you for sticking with us. :-)

@Dont_Look_Back posted: »
Who thought it was a good idea to make Clem fall head over heels for Gabe after knowing him for, like, 3 days?

Have you ever had a crush on someone before really getting to know them?

@Telltale_Luke posted: »
Given the extremely positive feedback you guys got from the handling of Conrad, I would've assumed that keeping the quality of determinant characters at a consistently high level would be pretty high up on your list of priorities, but it seemed like every determinant was just thrown in the background, or forgotten about entirely, in Episode 5.

Every one of them had such great potential, only for it to be thrown away in a disturbingly similar fashion to characters like Nick, Sarah, Kenny, and Jane.

All I'm asking is that you please don't go back to your old ways, after taking such a large step in the right direction regarding determinants. It'd be a real shame.

We hear you loud and clear.

@Wiso2kinfinity posted: »
3-what are your response to the big youtubers criticisms?

From Alyssa: I think they make good points. There’s lessons to be learned from this season.

And I agree, too!

@Wiso2kinfinity posted: »
7-do you regret doing something about this season?

As with any artistic endeavors, there are always things you wish you’d done differently. So long as you have more things you’re proud of than things you regret, that’s the best you can ask for. And that’s how I feel about this season for sure.

@Wiso2kinfinity posted: »
And that's it....hopefully my questions weren't offensive and if so I apologize I'm just an angry fan wanting the best for its company and thank u guys for making this AMA

No need to apologize. Believe me, I've read worse. ;-)

I was a Telltale fan for a lot longer than I've been a writer for them. Believe me when I say I understand where you guys are coming from. I love these games just as much as all of you: that's why I worked so hard to get to write them! Just know that they are all labors of love. Everyone in this office (including this writer for sure!) adores Clementine and Fiona and Selina and Asher and Rocket and Ivor and Bigby and everyone else in our remarkable library of characters just as much as you guys do, and we endeavor every day to do them all justice. We welcome your feedback and we do listen. We just ask you to understand that we're working hard for you and for them. Thanks for following us on this journey :-)

@Alyssa_TTG posted: »
Have you ever had a crush on someone before really getting to know them?

@mostlypoptarts responded: »
Every day on the subway when I lived in New York.

8Every. Day.

@Gurkolations posted: »
There were quite a lot of variations for the endings in Ep5, ranging from Clems trust in Javier to who ends up living in your ending. How was the thought process for these variations? Were they planned mid-season to be a big thing for the finale? Or possibly thought even before or later? This player uniqueness (especially with the whole 'Your Clem Became' thing) has me hoping to see if this will have a greater impact for Clems attitudes in the future season to come.

We wanted to make player choice matter, including the choices from previous seasons and in the Clem flashbacks. Part of the inspiration was explaining what we meant when we said there were 42 versions of Clem coming out of season 2 -- that promise was a hard one to pay off, but we felt it important to honor it as best we could.

We also heard the feedback from the opening episodes of this season about how we handled the S2 endings, and wanted to set up a situation where we could see a path to honoring the player’s choices more effectively in this season.

@Gurkolations posted: »
I was a really big fan of David's character, so when I saw both David's and Kate's plans following the chaos at Richmond had me confused, was this to show that David was somewhat a hypocrite and mirrored what Javi had tried to improve about himself in the flashbacks? I'm also sad that my relationship with David, no matter how heartfelt and loyal I was to him, he saw me as a rival to him in the end. Was David always intended to be a inflexible/unchangeable character? I wanted to see a moment of catharsis with him and Javier, but it seems like David's doomed himself for no return. It ponders whether David can only have redemption when he becomes a martyr, interesting.

David has trouble seeing things that are right in front of him, whether it was Joan’s betrayal of Richmond or Kate’s changing feelings about him. Even when Javi (determinantly) tries to tell him that Kate’s done with him, or that Kate likes Javi more, David isn’t ready to hear that message… until Kate slaps him across the face with it in the water tower scene. I don’t think David is unchangeable, but I think he changes more slowly than he should, and that tendency causes him to lose family, friends, and power at the time he most needs those things.

@Gameserer posted: »
Thanks for taking the time to do this AMA. Seeing as though many people have already asked what I wanted to, my question is: Can you tell us about a scene/idea from episode 4 and/or 5 that didn't make it into the final cut?

There was a big hub in Episode 5 where Javi had to solve the problem of how to get off the roof, while also having the opportunity to talk to each character about your relationship and what was on their mind, including Clem trying to cheer up a very sad Gabe after having been knocked back by David in the scene in the apartments.

@TheDerpGod posted: »
1: After pistol whipping Lonnie, why did Javier just throw gun?

From Alyssa: Javi knew that the rest of the group was likely to return, and didn’t want to get into a shootout trapped in a tiny trailer. His thinking was that he had a better chance of talking his way out of the situation if he WASN’T holding a gun.

@TheDerpGod posted: »
2: Do you hate David? He's only alive in one ending, and even he can be kicked out. Even if he isn't, he doesn't show up at the END.

From Alyssa: No, not at all. David embarked on dangerous action in From the Gallows, and it took both luck and choice to save him. But just because he’s saved, doesn’t mean he’s reconciled his feelings about the family -- and I think him not showing up at the end is an indication of him working his way through that process.

And I don't hate David, either. In fact, he was one of my favorite characters to write.

@TheDerpGod posted: »
3: How come episode 1, 4, and 5, (maybe more) were rewritten?

Every episode gets a certain degree of rewrites, some more than others! And most often people confuse edits for “rewrites.” Each episode is its own unique adventure in that way.

@TheDerpGod posted: »
5: is it a plausible theory that Tripp could survive by falling into the river on highway, and after shot, he looks like he's getting up.

From Alyssa: If Tripp is shot in episode 4, he’s dead, no way around it.

@AmidtheClementine posted: »
I know you guys can't outright say it, but is there a chance that unknown characters from Season 1 and 2 can make a return in future installments?

There’s a chance.

@AmidtheClementine posted: »
Was there ever something that was cut from the game that you wish was left in?

So. Many. Things. But part of the creative process is being able to balance the competing needs of schedule, scope, and cost -- and not every idea that we loved fit within the team's means to bring to life effectively.

@AmidtheClementine posted: »
Favorite moment from ANF?

There were a lot, over the course of the season. Personally, I fell in love with scenes in every episode as we made them, but the most recent one for me was the Water Tower scene in episode 5, where the conflict between David and Kate comes to a head, pulling Javi right into the middle of it.

@Let_Clementine_Live posted: »
In your honest opinion, what's the biggest regret/missed opportunity you guys had for this season? Is there anything that you wish had been done better/differently?

Also, feel free to not respond to this next part, but it's something I would personally like to get out there and hope you guys at least see this:

Many people fell in love with this series because of all the great characters and wonderful development during Season One. I feel like some involved with the newer installments don't understand that the thing that makes people care about this franchise is its heart, something that seems to keep slowly drifting away. I know that I am far from an expert when it comes to game development, but I truly think that Telltale has to rediscover some heart for future seasons/episodes of TWD. When you watch a playthrough of Season One on YouTube, the players are clearly attached to the characters and when presented with certain scenarios or character deaths, there are strong emotions there. With A New Frontier, those same people who cared so much in S1 now react more with "What?"s and "Really?"s and "Oh, whatever"s. People had strong feelings over the deaths of Kenny and Jane in A New Frontier, but those emotions were of anger at the developers for what they had done - not at all like the utter sadness we felt for Lee. With Lee, we were engrossed in the game and understood that it was his time to pass in the story. Season One was a magical experience that was more than just a game. Anyone involved with the future of this series should look back at Season One and try their best to understand why that game was so special. Maybe nothing can ever really top it, but please... try to.

I'm sorry for leaving such a long statement there, but I feel like my comments echo what a lot of people are feeling and thinking at the moment. Thank you for taking the time to do this AMA. I'm hoping for nothing but the best when it comes to the future of Telltale's Walking Dead.

Thanks for taking the time to write this. I agree that Season 1 was something really special, and that anyone working on the Walking Dead should constantly strive to capture that same magic.

@Hillbilly_Dave posted: »
I've heard that the story was rewritten after the first two episodes released. Is this true and if so, why?

Once we saw the critical and fan reactions to episodes 1 and 2, we did adjust the story to lean into the things that seemed to be resonating with fans.

@Hillbilly_Dave posted: »
You may not be able to answer this one, but regarding Season 4, will Javi and his surviving family suffer the same fate as Kenny and Jane? That is to say, killed off (in less than satisfying ways) for the sake of course correcting the story into a single season starting narrative? (Please don't do that again. Regardless of why, it came across as lazy)

No.

@Hillbilly_Dave posted: »
Who was Hector to David and Javi? The wiki says he was their uncle, their father's brother, but there's nothing in game to indicate what his actual relation was and he didn't really look old enough to be their uncle.

Hector was David and Javi’s uncle -- baby brother to Salvador.

@Legendary12 posted: »
Do you think AJ has changed in any way from his time away from Clementine?, approximately long have they been separated exactly?

Kids at that age grow and change quickly, so I’d have to say yes, he certainly has.

@fetchketchum posted: »

What was the whole reason behind the forced love triangle? * Are we ever gonna see Javi again? I'd love to see more of him, even as an NPC. * Are you guys gonna treat Gabe and Kate like you guys did with Kenny and Jane? * I love Javier, but I'm wondering: What was the process with creating his character? Was there anything that was changed about him before release? EDIT: I forgot the big question! Can you tell us who Clementine's father is or will we see him in a future season? (Based on the fact you guys kinda alluded to Ed not being her dad in the last AMA)

When we answered that question, we were trying to be consistent with the information about Clem’s family that had been shared in a previous interview (from an earlier season) -- specifically, that one of Clem’s parents as seen in the picture from Season 1 might not actually be her biological parent -- while answering a question that was more about how we believe it’s important and authentic to have protagonists of color. But what we didn’t intend to imply was that Clem’s parentage or last name was going to play a major role in the season moving forward -- it wasn’t, and it didn’t, and I know that disappointed people who thought we brought it up as foreshadowing.

@eRock92 posted: »
Can you guys go a bit more in depth with regards to Clementine's new look: the inspiration, reasoning, and maybe describe some styles/concepts that were on the table before you reached your conclusion? Thanks in advance and thanks for the new season!

From our art director, Tara Rueping:

From day 1 of development, the team wanted to give Clem an evolving look over the course of the flashbacks and the season to accompany her growth as a survivor in the The Walking Dead Universe. We wanted this look to show she is growing up into adulthood and that she is becoming a stronger individual. Internally we labeled this final look as "Hero Clem." We felt a red leather jacket was both striking and a practical clothing item for the times as well. Leather is pretty hard to bite through, but most importantly it gave the powerful look we wanted for her continued journey. For hair styles we played with many and ended up feeling the short asymmetric cut was perfect for our target goal. We also had to pick a shorter style since she is getting a hair cut. Ultimately hair is an item that can grow, so who knows how Clem's hair will appear in her continued story.

@prink34320 posted: »
Also, on a less critical note, who was your favorite character this season and why?

Too many to list. Javi, Conrad, Clem, Kate, David, Salvador, Mariana, and, of course, Tripp. Son of a goddamn do I love my Tripp! And Gabe! Yeah, that’s right, you heard me! Him, too!

As to why? Each character offered such great challenges as a writer that it was a really thrilling and enlightening journey finding their voice.

Who was YOUR favorite character this season and why?

@prink34320 posted: »
What part of A New Frontier are you most proud of? Personally I applaud you guys on how you handled Conrad!

The dominoes scene with Javier, David, and their father. The confrontation between Javi and David at the water tower. The haircutting scene with Clem. Tripp and Javi talking about love and what a mess it can be. Standing on the ledge with David. The many gifs/shoutouts I’ve seen for one of my favorite series of lines I’ve ever written that I NEVER thought would make it into the game: “I hope you choke on your fucking cake! It looked like shit, by the way.” And plenty of others.

And thanks! I'm really happy with how we handled Conrad, too!

@MetallicaRules posted: »
Do you think having somewhere between 7-8 writers on an episode can be detrimental or beneficial to the episode's development and quality?

When set up with good communication, clear goals, and sensible timeframes, sometimes the work of a team can be greater than the sum of its parts.

One of the things that we did in ANF was to credit writers who made a substantial contribution to a version of the script for the episode, even if that version didn’t make it on screen. Over the course of the early episodes, we did have some complete rewrites; generally, the number of people who contributed to the shipping version of an episode was much smaller than the total number of people listed, but I can understand the confusion that came from that policy.

@MetallicaRules posted: »
Why was there no playable Clem segment in Episode 5, especially considering how you had a S1 flashback planned for the episode?

We did have a cut flashback that originally appeared in episode 1 that happened before Clem met Lee in Season 1. That flashback was never intended for ep 5, though. In general, we tried to use the Clem flashbacks to both explain how her story and Javi’s story became intertwined and to get player input on some key decisions that would help determine Clem’s character in Episode 5.

@MetallicaRules posted: »
Why is there not a way for Conrad to determinantly die in Episode 5?

We talked about it, but we didn’t have the bandwidth to build it out properly given the scope of the other things we were trying to do in the episode.

DabigRG posted: »
What was Tripp's exact job description in Prescott and what did he do before the outbreak?

Tripp is a former dock worker, not well educated, but street smart. Post-apocalypse, he’s killed his share of people, and it eats him up inside at night. He’s the most effective defender of the Prescott community, and had taken responsibility for the town’s “perimeter” at the time when Javi met him.

@Fitte posted: »
Why was David handled so poorly in episode 5? I supported David throughout the game and i always rejected Kate but he fights you no matter what. It really makes it feel like there's ZERO reward for being his bro so you might as well just romance Kate since it doesn't change the outcome at all. Overall i thought the season was okay but I'm disappointed with the last episode. I think you can do better.

Ever been caught in the middle of someone else’s fight? I feel like that’s what happened in Episode 5 -- Kate had certain feelings, which Javi could choose whether or not he reciprocated; David finally realized that things with Kate weren’t the same as they were when they were separated all those years ago; and when he did, he blew up. The heart is a complicated, and not always rational, thing.

@Fangirl101 posted: »
Was Mariana always supposed to die? Or did you have plans for her character?

Mariana died in different ways over the course of rewrites, but she always had a finite lifespan in the story. There was an earlier version of the story where Javi came upon a turned Mariana behind the trailer upon returning to the junkyard in Episode 1, and had to decide whether to put her down or let someone else do it. We had fully built that scene out, and seeing Zombie Mariana was tragic and horrible -- but it didn’t feel right for the story to lose her and never have a chance to talk to her again. Part of the rework of Episode 1 was to give the player more time with Mariana, and the family, before she died.

@Fangirl101 posted: »
What did Conrad do before the outbreak? How did he meet Tripp and Eleanor?

Pre-apocalypse, he owned a small town restaurant and was an avid baseball fan. His family was all brutally killed in the first months after the fall, but Conrad still managed to keep a group of people safe by leading them to the Prescott airfield, and helping to build it up from nothing.

@CandySquared posted: »
I know you probably can't say anything regarding this, but I and many others really hope Joan/Clint weren't completely forgotten by you guys since they weren't in ep. 5 at all (not counting the pictures). It would be such a waste to not see them again.

They are not forgotten. The decision that Javi made in Episode 4 will have long term consequences.

@CandySquared posted: »
So what was the order of the Richmond council finding each other? AKA who found who first?

We know that Joan and Clint met and were traveling together before they ran into David and Lingard at the Shenandoah orchard. It wasn’t until their time at the orchard that they became a council, but that council was strong and held up even when the New Frontier group migrated to Richmond proper, joining with the existing community there to become New Richmond.

@ralo229 posted: »
Why did you decide to leave AJ's fate on a cliffhanger instead of resolving it in the finale?

We felt strongly that the story of Clem finding AJ needed to be told from Clem’s perspective -- and there wasn’t enough room in the finale episode, with everything else going on, to do that story justice.

@mutafow posted: »
The choices screen is buggy. Me and I believe other people have problem in seeing their Clementine. I can't find it anywhere on the choices screen. I've scrolled all episodes and possible screens. Why don't you address issues like this?

What I’ve heard from our support is that in cases where choices are missing from previous episodes/savegames for some reason, the final choice screen won’t appear. So if you look at the My Choices screen, and any of the episodes (or choices within any of the episodes) are missing, that might explain why.

@Caduceus89 posted: »
Why did who Clem goes with in the finale (and by extension how much she trusted Javier) depend on flashbacks that Javier took no part in?

The decisions the player made playing as Clementine, in the past, shape some aspects of Clementine’s character in present day when she’s with Javier. Her decision at the Water Tower demonstrates how that determinant philosophy affects her actions - she tells Javi her plan so he can make his own choice with the most possible information. (Sometimes it’s about trust, but sometimes her decision is informed by pure pragmatism -- the Steadfast Survivor Clementine, for example, decided to assist Kate in sealing the breached wall, strategizing that she or AJ might need shelter or resources from Richmond in the future.)

One of the things that was tricky about writing the Clem flashbacks in this season is that in order for the choices to not have a “right” answer, the outcome felt predetermined. Whether Clem took Ava’s offer or not, she eventually joined the New Frontier. Lingard’s advice about injecting AJ being pointless was correct -- as David reported, AJ lived whether she did or not. And in the face of the extreme adversity of being thrown out of the New Frontier camp, without AJ, Clementine’s reaction (spit or say goodbye) says a whole lot about what kind of person she is. We wanted to reflect the importance of those choices, among others, in shaping what kind of a person Clementine turned out to be.

@Caduceus89 posted: »
What was the point of throwing Rufus into the finale? Or having us decide whether or not to cut off his arm? Who was he that players should have been emotionally invested in his or his wife's plight (beyond general sympathy)? Do you see how that might have been seen as pandering?

We wanted (determinate) Rufus and Fern to be in the finale to remind Javi (and the player) of the consequences of their actions on the people of Richmond. Neither of them had any beef with Javi when they met him, but their lives were significantly disrupted by the results of his actions.

@Caduceus89 posted: »
What made you guys think that the majority of people wouldn't shoot Conrad? We barely knew anything about him then and now vs. knowing Clementine for 2 seasons. Both options saved Gabe (saying that he might have missed is absurd since most of the gameplay is qte that you either win or lose) but only one option carried any emotional weight. Most players couldn't stand the thought of betraying Clem while shooting Conrad was easy to justify and meant next to nothing. Who was he that players should have cared whether he lived or died? At least Gabe had the "nephew" title so people felt a perfunctory obligation to protect him.

As a player, I have a very hard time killing people without extreme provocation. When we approached designing that Conrad scene in episode 2, it seemed like a reasonable premise that it’d be harder to convince a player to murder someone than to spare them, so we spent a LOT of time brainstorming scenarios of what could have happened that offered the player two interesting choices -- hoping to reach something much closer to a 50/50 split than what we achieved.

One thing we definitely underestimated was the power of actions vs. words -- we were careful to write Conrad as making a genuine attempt to offer what he saw as a reasonable plan based on what he understood of the situation, but I think the action he took ended up speaking much louder than those words. I’ve seen a lot of people cite the fact that Conrad shoots Gabe if you don’t make a call as a reason that killing Conrad was justified -- which in retrospect, makes a ton of sense -- and if I had anything to do over again, it might be adjusting how that timeout scene plays out to make it much more ambiguous.

Unknown posted: »
To expand upon my last AMA question, you guys said David was Lingard's sponsor for his drug problem, but in order to be a sponsor that person had to be an ex-addict themselves, according to the definition. So, is it true then that David is an ex-addict? What was it?

When we answered that question "sponsor" probably wasn't the best word to use. Basically David helped Lingard get sober and, perhaps more importantly, stay sober. There was no intention to make it so that David was in recovery, as well. David was Lingard's rock, his voice of reason, his ally in his war against his inner demons.

@The Letter G posted: »
Only one thing matters to me: Will Season 4 be better?

We’ll do our best.

@Nightmare9990 posted: »
Do you think you guys will ever consider going back to season1/2 graphics style? If updated, I really think it would look amazing. The style to me was always it's signature look you know?

From our art director, Tara Rueping:

For Seasons 1 and 2 we internally labeled the styles as the interior of a comic book. For Season 3 we wanted to stay true to the roots, but also wanted to push for a higher fidelity. The most important thing to us was not losing line work since that is the history of the franchise. So we aimed for a hybrid that kept the linework and married it with higher fidelity. Internally we referred to the style as a playable exterior of a comic book cover.

@Gurkolations posted: »
There was a flashback of Clem and her babysitter in Episode 1, where she had a phone call with her mom from Atlanta A recreation of this one?

Yes, though indoors and playable, not raccoon-based. The call would have been a little later in the timeline (but before the phone messages).

@Dont_Look_Back posted: »
Throughout the whole season Clementine has put herself in danger to help Javier and his family despite owing them nothing. Now it is the end of the season, Javier is safe, Clem helped him and his family. Javier still didn't get her a car. Now Clem goes to find AJ and instead of helping her, Javier just kinda "ok good luck bye bring him back." No offer to help her find AJ despite her helping him this whole time. I am ALL FOR a 100% Clem season 4, but how does it make any sense that Javier wouldn't help Clementine?

We did think about this quite a bit. There was a (cut) choice where Javi could offer to go along and help out, but Clem refused that offer -- it was something she wanted to do on her own.

@AronDracula posted: »
Why did you guys delete a lot of content for A New Frontier which could have made the game much longer and better than what it is for now?

We cut content for a lot of reasons. Sometimes because an idea works on paper but falls flat interactively -- the first playable version of our episode tells us a LOT about what we need to hone and polish, but generally the time we have to do that is limited once production has started. Sometimes we'll have a great idea too late to be able to realize it -- if it requires a custom art asset or a custom animation, it may not fit in the schedule for those teams. Or, sometimes we cut things because of player feedback -- it's just not working for people, it feels off tone or off license, or it causes more confusion than enjoyment.

@RandomGamerGuy posted: »
If Max and Lonnie live through episode 3, where do they go in episodes 4-5, and are they still alive or in Richmond if so?

I answered this elsewhere, so apologies for the copypasta.

After Max confesses that he and Lonnie were conspiring with Joan looting other settlements, given what we know about how the Richmond council approaches justice, they were put in a holding cell awaiting the herd to clear, so they could be exiled from Richmond (but given a fair shot to survive). Given what we learned about Clint in Episode 5, he definitely wouldn’t have agreed to any outcome for Max and Lonnie that was harsher than exile -- and likely wanted to dig in and get more details before going that far.

@Deltino posted: »
Even though it appears to be over, I wanna leave this here on the off chance one of you guys get a chance to answer it: What did Max and Joan do before the apocalypse? Joan's friendly front makes me think she might have worked in customer service or something-- a cashier at a store, a secretary, or something like that.

Joan was a divorced single mother, a driven child of immigrants, who worked her way up to COO of her furniture manufacturing company, running the factory as both den mother and disciplinarian. She knew every employee’s name, but also everyone’s weak spots.

@Hillbilly_Dave posted: »
10.Are you hiring writers? I don't know the first thing about making models or coding but I can write the hell out of a story lol.

And yes, as a matter of fact we are hiring writers

https://telltale.com/jobs/

@Lord_Bullcat posted: »
What is/are the episode(s) you guys had fun making?

All of them, really. It's fun, and it's also hard, but ultimately, the best day is the day an episode hits the street and we can see how people react to it, and learn from that.

@JaneFromTWDG posted: »
Who destroyed Wellington? New Frontier or not?

There may have been model reuse in the Wellington flashback that may have implied that New Frontier was involved in destroying Wellington, but storywise, we never intended the New Frontier to have been a part of that destruction.

@XyzLewis posted: »
Episode 5: Is the city under the highway suppose to be flooded?

It was raining a lot there around the time of Episode 5.

@VengefulKenny posted: »
Alyssa_TTG could you post all of the character backstories, like the ones you gave for Joan, Conrad, and Tripp? Many fans would be grateful, myself included.

I can post a couple more:

Clinton Barnes was a stockbroker who worked from his home and spent every spare moment on his lavish garden. He always planned to meet a girl and share that garden with her one day, but the changing world robbed him of that dream. Luckily, his extensive botanical knowledge has come in handy for the residents of Richmond.

Paul Lingard was a world-class oncologist and a respected faculty member at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. While most of his colleagues fled for safety as society collapsed, Lingard sought out the injured and tried to help however he could.

@Batteries posted: »
Ah, so you are responsible for that cake line? Thank you.

Yes, I am! Because when all else fails: ALWAYS BE PETTY.

And you're welcome! If it's the only set of lines I'm remembered for in my tenure at Telltale I am perfectly okay with that.

@VengefulKenny posted: »
You're awesome, thank you. Can you give Eleanor's backstory too? Thanks for this ama and please don't forget about our unknown status Kate

Elle is tricky. Her character changed enough in development that her original backstory no longer makes sense. I can tell you that she is Thai American, and (some of you guessed this) was originally designed as Joan's daughter in an early version of the story. In the shipping version, though, they are not related.

@InGen_Nate_Kenny posted: »
Hey how ya doing? I enjoyed Episode 5 greatly. I hope this hasn't been asked yet, but my question(s) relates to some what ifs and possibilities for the finale. Were their any planned endings where David, Gabe, AND Kate survived? Tripp (my man) or Ava surviving? Would there have been any plans for clear closure to say, Max, Clint, and/or Joan? Max kind of disappeared, maybe he showed up I don't know, but I let him live and he was gone after Episode 3. Okay I'll cheat and ask another, little question: How did the idea for the bulldozer come about? Hope this isn't too much, thanks for your work! May not have been perfect, but that's the way the world is.

Every version of episode 5 had some kind of heavy equipment playing a part.... Probably because the main problem to solve was a hole in the wall. We set up the bulldozer in episode 4, and some people (JackSepticEye, for one) totally predicted what were going to do with it.

@BHBrowne posted: »
Hello from the United Kingdom! Thank you very much for doing one of these, I love reading people's questions and your answers! I don't know if that has been mentioned, but I got a question about a certain lovely southerner from the second season.

Luuuuuuke
enter image description here

In the 'create a story' menu, you can list Luke as being the biggest influence on Clementine out of the three 'guardians' listed. Kenny, Jane and Luke were all huge characters in season two - hell, people still argue about Jane and Kenny to this day - but lovely Luke doesn't seem to get remembered by Clementine. At least, he doesn't get mentioned in my game, I could just be missing a certain combination of things I have to do! But, at least in the three or four playthroughs of the season I've done so far, I haven't heard Clementine talk about Luke once in the 'present timeline'/

To me, this is a bit of an issue, because in my playthrough of season two, I sidled up to Luke as I firmly believed that Clementine having a big brother figure - and, later, a big sister figure in Jane - was really good for her. That being said, besides a handful of dialogue and two flashbacks - one of which upsets my greatly, still - her 'big sister' is more or less forgotten, and Luke suffers an even worse fate - he can only be mentioned once, in an optional flashback, and even then that's just this exchange:

Jane - Y'know, he does need a middle name. His parents ... they never got the chance.
Clementine - You think?
Jane - Go on. Pick one. No time like the present.
Clementine - How 'bout ... Luke!
Jane - Uh-uhm ... yea, sure. Luke. Whatever.

That's not really... the same thing. It's a very uncomfortable piece of dialogue that doesn't do the character justice, to me. He was so important in Season Two! He's one of the first new survivors we met, along with Pete, and yet now - besides Alvin Junior - they're all dead and forgotten. Which really upsets me, despite the fact Clementine wouldn't have known them for very long, as I honestly love season two to bits - I might go as far as saying I prefer it to season one, in many regards. But I'm rambling!

My question, in a nutshell, can be broken into three very similar - but pretty small! - questions:

Has Telltale forgotten about Luke?

Why wasn't he mentioned in A New Frontier, despite being able to list him as Clementine's "influence" because of his compassion, cooperation or trust?

Does Clementine miss him as much as I do? ._.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to ask you a question - or, um, in my case, three. While 'A New Frontier' was definitely not my favourite season, I'm still pretty curious about stuff and things, and I'm interested in what's next for The Walking Dead. I really hope you can answer my questions, and I wish you all the best ^ _ ^

We haven't forgotten, and we're very aware of the strong Luke fan base and the power of his character.

Clem didn't spend much time outside of flashbacks reflecting upon her past -- in fact, I believe she only mentioned Lee directly one time. I can tell you that we did use Clem's history with Luke as one of the variant factors in determining certain dialog lines playing in the season, though those instances can be hard to spot in a casual play though.

She hasn't forgotten him.

@AgentZ46 posted: »
When you say Orchard, are you sure you don't mean River? I recall Clint saying he found David slowly murdering an orchard on the Shenandoah river.

Exactly.

@Acheive250 posted: »
was originally designed as Joan's daughter in an early version of the story. Ooohhh my god. May I ask where in development that that idea was scrapped? Was it in between episode 3 and 4, or before then? You said early version so I'm gonna guess before then...

That change was made before we shipped Episode 1/2.

@Dont_Look_Back posted: »
Oh, so that scene in the trailer wasn't the last time Clem spoke to her parents? I would do anything to know what Clem's last words to her parents were...

Well, one of the goals of that flashback was to give control over that exact thing to the player

@DabigRG posted: »
Too bad I don't measure in cm, so I'll have to convert it into ft. But regardless, the Walking Dead Games have a habit having teenagers that look like they're twelve at the most. And while ANF somewhat modifies the models to reflect the ages better, they're still pretty short all things considered. So for Ava be roughly a head taller than Clementine(the 2nd shortest character in ANF) implies that either she's an older teenager herself or she's intentionally meant to be short.

I think 162 cm = 5' 3".

Here's Ava's backstory, as a bonus.

The product of a military family, Ava was a bullish student always at the top of her class, and her brief stint in the United States Armed Forces alongside her sister was no different. Though she presents a tough exterior, Ava is also severely compassionate, a trait her father always referred to as her “greatest fault”.

Following the outbreak, Ava and her sister were stationed at a military checkpoint that quickly fell apart - despite their valiant attempts to help hold it together. It was there that she met David. In the chaos, Ava watched her sister turn - and was forced to put her down.

@edgyclementine posted: »
what was badger's backstory?

We don't have a canon version of this one -- Badger was a character who changed quite a lot in development, originally playing a smaller role. I suspect he was a privileged bully, but that's the best I can offer.

@darthsansa posted: »
How did Kate operate the bulldozer so well right away and even know the correct terminology, e.g. busket?

Busket is a word our director made up when designing those action sequences, which we found funny enough that it ended up sticking. And for the record (in the department of things we didn't properly name in-game), I'm told that's not actually a bulldozer, it's a front loader.

@Graysonn posted: »
What are the responsibilities of a creative director/season lead writer?

A creative director's job is to make sure that the content in the season is consistent, coherent, and cohesive, fitting within the license and meeting the goals set by the company. That ideally starts from developing the key creative goals for the season, the main characters, and the high level plotline, and then extends to working with the episode leads to develop the specific storyline for each episode, as well as the art team and the director and the discipline leads to make sure the vision is being communicated properly, and then reviewing and providing feedback on all of it as it gets built. And then, as we get feedback from others, the Creative Director (and the Executive Producer) are ultimately responsible for figuring out the gameplan of what to do about that feedback, and how to make sure the game we want to make fits with the time and team we have to make it.

@Graysonn posted: »
How do you decide what content does and doesn't make it into the game?

When it's on paper, we read it. Sometimes to ourselves, sometimes out loud. When it's in game, we play it. Sometimes we get other people to play it and listen to their feedback. It takes some amount of imagination to be able to see what will work and what won't from a partially completed state, but we do our best to pick the things that are going to resonate with players and lean into those.

There were a number of responses and conversations I skipped since they either weren't important and were too sparse to count

DabigRG · June 2018

If the wiki is to be trust, both Brie and Tavia were apparently in their thirties.
Wtf?

Fangirl101 · June 2018

Don't trust it. Not everything there is true.

DabigRG · June 2018

I realize that. It's just the only readily available source for that kind of thing, unfortunately.

Fangirl101 · June 2018

Yeah...

henrytuck · June 2018

How can i get clem to shot david in his fight with javier? Does it have anything to do with the season two ending? Sorry if this is not the place to ask this.

Fangirl101 · June 2018

You have to shoot Kenny in the end of Season 2.

DabigRG · June 2018

How can i get kate to shoot david in his attack on javier?

Better.

Fangirl101 · June 2018

It can't happen.

DabigRG · June 2018

...I knooow....

ScottishFleming · June 2018

False. I recently replayed with Kenny ending and she shot him
It confused the shit out of me cause I thought that couldn't happen in that ending. now idk what causes it

DabigRG · June 2018

It's almost like ANF(particular Clementeen herself) can be glitched up the ass at times.

henrytuck · June 2018

I have read other people saying the same thing, that they went with kenny and she still shoot david in ANF. And now i'm confused.

ScottishFleming · June 2018

I also had Clem be against David/TNF in every choice so that might have an effect. Like maybe going with Jane guarantees she always shoots but with the other ending it depends how she feels towards them? Idk or its glitched

Fangirl101 · June 2018

It might be a glitch.

Dex-Starr · June 2018

So, as I was researching stuff about Sarah since I usually overlook her character, I read something that I thought was really interesting and cool about her glasses, and how they're somewhat symbolic for her character.

Her and her red glasses lol

With the description of the term "rose tinted glasses", this picture gives you an idea how how she probably saw things at times, since she always seemed to not be bothered by most things not an actual depiction of how she saw the world, just an artistic representation of how she always looked on the brighter side of things, even when everything around her was shit

DabigRG · June 2018

Not intending to detract from the metaphor too much, since I do like it.
But it was definitely less Sarah not being bothered by most things and more that she was being shielded from the worst and/or frequency of it all under Carlos' protectiveness.

Sarah herself clearly experienced her share of loss and horror, something made occasionally clear in her interactions with Clementine, but she does indeed try to focus on when things aren't so bad and jumps somewhat fecklessly at opportunities to act like things are some degree of safe and normal.

In fact, it's her nervousness and occasional freakouts when things go wrong that Carlos was specifically trying to limit, which is why he makes a point of NOT letting Sarah know about those things if he can get away with it.(Not that she's fooled in the slightest half of the time.)

Dex-Starr · June 2018

So you’re saying.....Carlos..WAS her rose tinted glasses?

Zombiekiller3121 · June 2018

Hmmmm. That doesn't seem likely at all

Dex-Starr · June 2018

How??

she was being shielded from the worst and/or frequency of it all under Carlos' protectiveness.

It’s because of his protectiveness she was able to be the way she was, so in a sense he was kinda like her rose tinted glasses.

Deltino · June 2018

Now I have a mental image of Carlos just wrapped around her face

Dex-Starr · June 2018

?????

DabigRG · June 2018

Yeah, more or less.
Notably, the events following his death include the final achievement being her broken glasses and eventually her dropping(and cracking) her glasses for real.

DabigRG · June 2018

...I'm honestly trying to make sense of what that would look like....

farquad94 · June 2018

Curlos

Deltino · July 2018

Something just crossed my mind. Back in episode 2 of season 2, when you meet Matthew on the bridge, he says this just before he sees Nick running over:

"Nice running into friendly faces out here. Like I said, I got food and supplies back in the house. And if you want..."

He was most likely about to invite them up to the lodge. Kinda makes Nick shooting him even more depressing, when you think about it.

DabigRG · July 2018

Makes sense.
He was already offering them some of his personal stash, so it stands to reason he'd go as far as to escort them up to have dinner with the old friend.

Davarishch · July 2018

Woah mate, I thought I remember/know them all.

DabigRG · July 2018

Both the tussle with Lonnie and the dummied out option to attack Max would've had their gun go off.

Deltino · July 2018

It might have been mentioned before, but here's a relatively uncommon Kenny line from episode 4 (don't help him kill Larry, tell him about your past in episode 3, choose "this boat is fucked"):

But that's not all.

Those walkers on the Crawford barricade? They actually response to Lee's presence. They get all agitated if Lee gets close to them, and calm back down once he walks away from them:

And finally, the collection version of the game added these two new animations to episode 2:

DabigRG · July 2018

I wanna say I heard that line once before. But I'm not sure about the fucked line.

What was the difference?

Fangirl101 · July 2018

Wait, are you sure that Max's gun was also supposed to go off? I know about Lonnie's, but Max's? He was supposed to get hurt, yeah, but maybe Javier was going to punch him, resulting in a bruise?

Details that people might forget, don't notice or just don't know about The Walking Dead

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