Q&A With the Team

[Wicked Mouse]

Originally Posted by Onno

I was wondering if you have experimented with getting the 3D to look more 'cartoony' using techniques like cel-shading

Ah so that's how it's called And yes that would be a great 'alternative' between TMI's 3D and CMI's drawn graphics IMHO

[Fausk]

Originally Posted by Onno

I was wondering if you have experimented with getting the 3D to look more 'cartoony' using techniques like cel-shading?

I've seen this question asked before, but I haven't seen an answer to it yet.

They did. See: Strong Bad's Cool Game 4 Attractive People. I personally prefer the full 3D like Sam & Max than how Strong Bad's game came out, not to say it was bad, but the little excess polygons around everyone's body parts did get a little distracting to me, personally.

[Jake]

Originally Posted by Chevluh

Ahoy there, newcomer here.

It's more of a technical question, but will there be separate volume controls for the voices and music? Trying the W&G demo I felt the music got in the way of dialogue comprehension on occasions.

Yeah, there are 3 volume controls in TMI. I would eventually like to get us back to one volume control, but the mix in Wallace & Gromit was, all said and done, still too unpredictable, and I didn't want to take that risk with Monkey, so we're back to three!

[fdisk]

Thank you so much for this! I never thought I'd see another Monkey Island! I almost teared up when I saw the announcement, I definitely got excited like I had just found a long lost friend!

I have a couple of questions for Ryan:

1) Do you have an online gallery where we can look at your work? Both Either MI related or not.

2) Was 2D ever considered? I've been playing the first 3 MIs on ScummVM on my G1 phone and LOVE the graphics!

3) Can we get some Wallpapers? I want Guybrush on my desktop!

[LuigiHann]

Originally Posted by Jake

Yeah, there are 3 volume controls in TMI. I would eventually like to get us back to one volume control, but the mix in Wallace & Gromit was, all said and done, still too unpredictable, and I didn't want to take that risk with Monkey, so we're back to three!

See, I like it with 3. Having one volume slider, you might as well have no volume slider at all, since I could just change my speaker volume. The multiple-slider method allows for user customization, so I don't see why you'd want to shy away from it, ever.

[Mike Haley]

Given the, shall we say, less than positive response to the 3D visuals by some of the more hardcore fans, have you considered tossing in a bogus "2D Acceleration" option in the menu? After all, Curse of Monkey Island had a bogus "3D Acceleration" option.

Come to think of it, Escape from Monkey Island even had a non-working multiplayer option, and of course, Sam & Max Season One had "Warp Speed." Although, some people still claim that it had some effect on the game, but after poking deeply into the Sam & Max forum, I see that "Warp Speed" was programmed merely as a means to quickly add in another real option down the line.

I can see how including such a meaningless option (as funny as it may be) could cause a technical support situation, though.

EDIT: I suppose that I may have answered my own question.

[DarthRevan00m9]

Hey guys!

I'm a newcomer but a longtime fan. The first Monkey Island game I ever played was Escape From Monkey Island and since that game I was hooked (I know that many people were not fans of the 3D animation or the controls but there were moments in the game that had me laughing so hard that it brought tears to my eyes so I still throughout enjoy that game). I've played all the games and pretty much jumped out of my seat and started screaming when I saw "New Monkey Island Game Coming" on Gamespot. I hugged myself, wet myself, and even tried to (unsuccessfully) give my self a big we floppy kiss... But enough about my celebratory gestures, I have a couple of questions pertaining to the upcoming game.

One of the things that I've always loved about the Monkey Island games has been their spot on voice acting hilarious writing. Out of the original voice actors and writing crew who exactly is returning? Are you bringing anyone new into the Monkey Island writing team? If so, how has that been? Have the ideas flowed well and have the new people brought any new spins on the fantastic universe of Monkey Island.

Cannot WAIT for July and the coming months to see yet another Monkey Island adventure!

[Ry Guy]

Originally Posted by fdisk

Thank you so much for this! I never thought I'd see another Monkey Island! I almost teared up when I saw the announcement, I definitely got excited like I had just found a long lost friend!

I have a couple of questions for Ryan:

1) Do you have an online gallery where we can look at your work? Both Either MI related or not.

YEA! Well, a blog with images, some neat and mostly dookie works. http://ryandavidjones.blogspot.com

2) Was 2D ever considered? I've been playing the first 3 MIs on ScummVM on my G1 phone and LOVE the graphics!

Possibly in the early stages of brainstorming (one of those "wouldn't it be awesome if we could..."), but our engine handles 3d acting really well and alas, we don't have the resources to do a fully 2d game. Although, our art director Derek Sakai drew a lot of the animations in CoMI, both Guybrush, LeChuck, and some other dudes probably. So, we have the experience to do a 2d game! I do agree.. the artwork and animation is soo GD amazing! The environments from 3 were definately a big influence on us when designing ToMI.

3) Can we get some Wallpapers? I want Guybrush on my desktop!

Ah yes, i should make some of that. Talk to my producer and get me some time to make one for you guys! Haha, I kid. My love of MI will motivate me to put some together in my spare time. Jake has made some neat ones with the in game characters. I probably should make some hand drawn stuff too.

[Bogie]

Originally Posted by DanH

Looks like Dan forgot to mention how we all got tracking chips that would shock us every time we said the words "Guybrush", "Threepwood" or "Le Chuck". The chip would often misfire with the last one, so Chuck Jordan got the silent treatment from the Monkey team until we had all been properly trained. We also avoided French restaurants.

Yes I got a little tired myself of being slapped across the face by co-workers at lunch time in local noon time hangouts every time I said the word "Monkey" by accident.

[Zomantic]

Originally Posted by Ry Guy

YEA! Well, a blog with images, some neat and mostly dookie works. http://ryandavidjones.blogspot.com

Whoa! Awesome stuff there... Some of those drawings are genuinely scary , others inspire sympathy, a few are even cute. Really impressive! Oh, and lotta zombies too... (You mean... ZOMBIES?!)

[Toothless Gibbon]

Are you guys (TTG) allowed to discuss the relationship with LucasArts?

Who approached who?

Was SoMI:SE already in production (LA have said is been in development for 9 months, Tales 6?)

How much say do LA have in terms of the design of the game?

[Onno]

Originally Posted by Fausk

I personally prefer the full 3D like Sam & Max than how Strong Bad's game came out.

The advantage of techniques like cel-shading is that it is relatively easy to turn on and off application-wide, so the user could pick the preferred method of rendering. That way you could at least meet the 2D fans halfway.

[Silverwolfpet]

Silly ideea: While waiting for ToMI, we could team up and make a MI fan game :-p

I apologise for the lack of mental health...I just find it difficult to wait. Then again, I've waited years for this...I think I can wait for one more month... NOT!

[Onno]

Originally Posted by Ry Guy

YEA! Well, a blog with images, some neat and mostly dookie works. http://ryandavidjones.blogspot.com

Wow Ryan. That looks absolutely amazing!

How do you typically make those drawings? Do you sketch on paper first or directly on the computer? using a pen tablet? Wat software do you prefer?

Were those TMI sketches done in Illustrator? They look so clean and crisp, they could very well be vector-graphics for box-art. Actually, the background-graphics do as well.

Are you employed by TellTale or are you a freelance artist that's available for other projects once TMI is finished?

[Pantagruel's Friend]

Originally Posted by Bogie

Yes I got a little tired myself of being slapped across the face by co-workers at lunch time in local noon time hangouts every time I said the word "Monkey" by accident.

Must have been a very Discworld-ish experience

[Onno]

Originally Posted by Fausk

They did. See: Strong Bad's Cool Game 4 Attractive People. I personally prefer the full 3D like Sam & Max than how Strong Bad's game came out, not to say it was bad, but the little excess polygons around everyone's body parts did get a little distracting to me, personally.

Thanks for pointing that out. I just looked at the movies from that game on the website and it does indeed do cel-shading. It also looks pretty good, although you cannot really compare the simple characters-models in Strong Bad to the more complex characters of Sam & Max or TMI. Those models could look quite a bit better. Maybe comparable to other cel-shaded games like Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves.

I'm glad to see the Telltale engine supports cel-shading already and I'd love to see a Sam & Max or TMI scene rendered using cel-shading.

[Silverwolfpet]

Is Sly3 available on other consoles? If I buy a PS3, will I be able to play it?

[Fausk]

Originally Posted by Silverwolfpet

Is Sly3 available on other consoles? If I buy a PS3, will I be able to play it?

Although off-topic; Sly Cooper is a series that's exclusive to Sony (they own the company, Sucker Punch Studios) If you bought a PS3 today, you probably wouldn't be able to play it because most of them have removed the backwards compatibility. However, the PS2 is only 99 dollars now.

Amazing how we can go from cel-shading to entirely other game series.

[Silverwolfpet]

Thanks for the answer And sorry for going off-topic. Curiosity made me do it! And, of course, the little people that live under my bed.

[taumel]

Sadly i didn't get any answers to my questions in this or the other thread but nevertheless here is another one: It has been said that the distribution size of TOMI will be more close to Sam&Max than to Wallace&Gromit. Personally i wouldn't mind it it would be closer to Wallace&Gromit if it makes the game look better but could just please make the texture resolution, at least of the main characters like Guybrush, high enough so that you don't have see all the filtering? Thanks!