Telltale Games

Guinea · 08/20/2009, 04:23 am

In SMI, Guybrush uses his left hand to operate the sword.
In CMI, he uses his right hand.
In TMI, he uses his left hand again for fighting, however uses his right hand for almost everything else he does with his inventory.

So either Guybrush is ambidextrous, or we have lazy developers, or we have developers who just let Guybrush do whatever looks better in the current scene.

Or ... or there is a really awesome plottwist going to happen!

Purple Tentacle · 08/20/2009, 04:26 am

Heh, that's nothing. In CMI Guybrush and everyone else only had four fingers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvSjG3uXk2o

Check out the waving as Guybrush and Elaine are sailing off at the end of CMI!

Click on 4:05 onwards, on the vid.

Arwald · 08/20/2009, 04:29 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purple Tentacle

Heh, that's nothing. In CMI Guybrush and everyone else only had four fingers!

I thought in "Tales" he also had four fingers, no?

Purple Tentacle · 08/20/2009, 04:31 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arwald

I thought in "Tales" he also had four fingers, no?

No he's grown that extra digit

I'm suddenly feeling a little too geeky for comfort

Loz · 08/20/2009, 04:38 am

In some cultures internationally (one of which being Japan, I believe), it is an offence to artificially represent humans with 5 fingers, something about them being too close to being real. A relative of mine was involved in a pilot for a kid's TV show that was supposed to be sold to Japan, amongst other places. For the above reason, it was explained that all the puppets used could have a maximum of four fingers. Maybe the CMI thing is a similar reason.
This feels like a strange thing to know o_o

Arwald · 08/20/2009, 04:40 am

Well, i think it's not connected with countries- it's just that all cartoon characters used to have 4 fingers in those days....and CMI was a first time Guybrush appeared in high resolution - maybe they inteded him to be sort-of cartoonish

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loz

(one of which being Japan, I believe)

not Japan anyway - never saw an Anime movie with 4-fingered characters...

Guinea · 08/20/2009, 04:45 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loz

In some cultures internationally (one of which being Japan, I believe), it is an offence to artificially represent humans with 5 fingers, something about them being too close to being real. A relative of mine was involved in a pilot for a kid's TV show that was supposed to be sold to Japan, amongst other places. For the above reason, it was explained that all the puppets used could have a maximum of four fingers. Maybe the CMI thing is a similar reason.
This feels like a strange thing to know o_o

It is actually the other way round.
In Japan, the Yakuza used to chop off the little fingers of people who don't pay their depts, so drawing humans with only four fingers makes them look like victims of the Yakuza, which is not appreciated in Japan.

Maybe it's different for puppets.

Loz · 08/20/2009, 04:54 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guinea

It is actually the other way round.
In Japan, the Yakuza used to chop off the little fingers of people who don't pay their depts, so drawing humans with only four fingers makes them look like victims of the Yakuza, which is not appreciated in Japan.

Maybe it's different for puppets.

Whoa, I didn't know that. That's really interesting, I guess you learn something new every day

Maybe it is just puppets then, for some reason, 'cos there as definitely an issue concerning the number of fingers the puppets had. I'll check with my relative later.

Purple Tentacle · 08/20/2009, 05:09 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loz

Whoa, I didn't know that. That's really interesting, I guess you learn something new every day

Maybe it is just puppets then, for some reason, 'cos there as definitely an issue concerning the number of fingers the puppets had. I'll check with my relative later.

Your relative didn't happen to work on a British kids show called Postman Pat did they?

If I recall correctly they had to put an extra finger on Pat and Co for Japan...I have no idea how I came to possess this knowledge

Arwald · 08/20/2009, 05:17 am

Hell...just browsed Internet to find the answer to the question - why so many characters are 4 fingered...the answer simply AMAZED me

!!!It's easier to draw and animate four fingers than five!!!

The average cartoon short requires 50,000 drawings. If you're working with a five-fingered character, drawing each digit really adds up in terms of time and money. But if your character has four fingers on each hand instead of five, that's 100,000 fewer digits to sketch. Or as one site puts it, it's "accountant-based thinking that forces so many cartoon characters to go through life with only four fingers."

PS: actually....most people live their lives with 4 fingers, not even knowing it, for that sticking-out digit is a "thumb" )))

Purple Tentacle · 08/20/2009, 05:25 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arwald

Hell...just browsed Internet to find the answer to the question - why so many characters are 4 fingered...the answer simply AMAZED me

*SNIP*

PS: actually....most people live their lives with 4 fingers, not even knowing it, for that sticking-out digit is a "thumb" )))

Well if you're gonna be smart about it, lots of characters are actually only drawn with three fingers and a thumb.

Hmm - I just had a sudden urge to look through my list of insults to see which one I don't have a reply to yet...curious

Avistew · 08/20/2009, 05:36 am

A thumb is a finger. All of them have names, such as thumb, index, etc.

They've noticed that as long as there is an opposable thumb, the number of the other fingers didn't make a significant difference. There are many 4-fingered characters, but there are also some 3-fingered ones for instance. You also get some stylised character who have one tumb and one big blob for the rest of their hand, like they're wearing mittens. Technically, these have only 2 fingers (per hand, of course).

Itchrelief · 08/20/2009, 07:40 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by avistew

You also get some stylised character who have one tumb and one big blob for the rest of their hand, like they're wearing mittens. Technically, these have only 2 fingers (per hand, of course).

Secret Fawful · 08/20/2009, 07:42 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Itchrelief

A nightmare in adventure gaming interface right there, ladies and gentlemen.

Skuld · 08/21/2009, 12:50 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by purple tentacle

heh, that's nothing. In cmi guybrush and everyone else only had four fingers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvsjg3uxk2o

check out the waving as guybrush and elaine are sailing off at the end of cmi!

Click on 4:05 onwards, on the vid.

mind = blown

Jazzy · 08/21/2009, 01:00 am

Well, I think we can safely say that Guybrush is indeed ambidextrous after the last episode. In chapter 1 he stabbed LeChuck with the sword in his left hand (hence why it got poxified), but then at the beginning of Chapter 2 when he lost his left hand he still fought perfectly well with the right hand and seemed to suffer no loss of ability. He probably 'favours' his left hand for fighting as he seems to resort more to that hand than the other in battle unless there's a reason not to (like not having a left hand), but that seems to be habit more than anything, and will happily use either for everything else.

TashSunrider · 08/21/2009, 06:54 pm

I prolly makes sense for him to not use a cursed hand to wield a sword.. who knows what it would stab at.

08/20/2009, 04:23 am	#1
Guinea Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 436	Guybrush ambidextrous? In SMI, Guybrush uses his left hand to operate the sword. In CMI, he uses his right hand. In TMI, he uses his left hand again for fighting, however uses his right hand for almost everything else he does with his inventory. So either Guybrush is ambidextrous, or we have lazy developers, or we have developers who just let Guybrush do whatever looks better in the current scene. Or ... or there is a really awesome plottwist going to happen!

08/20/2009, 04:26 am	#2
Purple Tentacle Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 116	Heh, that's nothing. In CMI Guybrush and everyone else only had four fingers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvSjG3uXk2o Check out the waving as Guybrush and Elaine are sailing off at the end of CMI! Click on 4:05 onwards, on the vid. Last edited by Purple Tentacle; 08/20/2009 at 04:29 am.

08/20/2009, 05:17 am	#10
Arwald Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Far Far Away Posts: 47	Hell...just browsed Internet to find the answer to the question - why so many characters are 4 fingered...the answer simply AMAZED me !!!It's easier to draw and animate four fingers than five!!! The average cartoon short requires 50,000 drawings. If you're working with a five-fingered character, drawing each digit really adds up in terms of time and money. But if your character has four fingers on each hand instead of five, that's 100,000 fewer digits to sketch. Or as one site puts it, it's "accountant-based thinking that forces so many cartoon characters to go through life with only four fingers." PS: actually....most people live their lives with 4 fingers, not even knowing it, for that sticking-out digit is a "thumb" ))) Last edited by Arwald; 08/20/2009 at 05:20 am.

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08/20/2009, 04:38 am	#5
Loz Not even unpleasant Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 30	In some cultures internationally (one of which being Japan, I believe), it is an offence to artificially represent humans with 5 fingers, something about them being too close to being real. A relative of mine was involved in a pilot for a kid's TV show that was supposed to be sold to Japan, amongst other places. For the above reason, it was explained that all the puppets used could have a maximum of four fingers. Maybe the CMI thing is a similar reason. This feels like a strange thing to know o_o

08/20/2009, 05:36 am	#12
Avistew I<3>1 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: France Posts: 5,051	A thumb is a finger. All of them have names, such as thumb, index, etc. They've noticed that as long as there is an opposable thumb, the number of the other fingers didn't make a significant difference. There are many 4-fingered characters, but there are also some 3-fingered ones for instance. You also get some stylised character who have one tumb and one big blob for the rest of their hand, like they're wearing mittens. Technically, these have only 2 fingers (per hand, of course).

08/21/2009, 01:00 am	#16
Jazzy Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 305	Well, I think we can safely say that Guybrush is indeed ambidextrous after the last episode. In chapter 1 he stabbed LeChuck with the sword in his left hand (hence why it got poxified), but then at the beginning of Chapter 2 when he lost his left hand he still fought perfectly well with the right hand and seemed to suffer no loss of ability. He probably 'favours' his left hand for fighting as he seems to resort more to that hand than the other in battle unless there's a reason not to (like not having a left hand), but that seems to be habit more than anything, and will happily use either for everything else.

08/21/2009, 06:54 pm	#17
TashSunrider Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 8	I prolly makes sense for him to not use a cursed hand to wield a sword.. who knows what it would stab at.