Q&A With the Team

[WDeranged]

I decided to try the first episode of Wallace and Grommit as my free game and despite my initial feelings of ambivalence I came around to thinking you guys are clawing your way back to the artistic heights of the 2D days at a fair pace, and the mixed keyboard/mouse controls felt much more natural than I expected.

No doubt the graphical improvements are partly due to the 360's extra power compared to the Wii so my question would be, is the PC version of ToMI going to have any extra graphical effects that the Wii might not have, such as depth of field blurring?

I thought it added quite impressively subtle realism to W&G

[WDeranged]

Oh, and the fixed widescreen aspect, I've seen it commented that this is necessary for your scene riggers to know exactly where everything is going to be.

Are all future Telltale PC releases going to have a fixed 16:9 perspective?

[Jake]

Originally Posted by WDeranged

Oh, and the fixed widescreen aspect, I've seen it commented that this is necessary for your scene riggers to know exactly where everything is going to be.

Are all future Telltale PC releases going to have a fixed 16:9 perspective?

We're using some depth of field and some post-processed glow effects in Monkey PC, though maybe not as heavily as in Wallace & Gromit, as the style of the world and the cinematography in general isn't quite the same between those two worlds. As for fixed aspect ratio, I think that's still up in the air on PC, though I know that on the Wii the game will run full screen on a 4:3 display (not letterboxed like W&G), just because clarity is important on a system like that. Both PC and Wii of course support widescreen if your display is widescreen, though

[HoppyDragon]

Originally Posted by Jake

post-processed glow effects in Monkey PC

YES! Very very very yes.

[Rather Dashing]

Wow! I just pre-ordered today, I just went through all 35 pages.

My head hurts. In a good way, I think.

...

No, no, it just hurts.

A lot of my questions have been answered. Part of me thinks this sort of thread should be in the general forum for everybody to see, but since I'm here I might as well get some questions out of the way.

I guess everything on my mind right now is about LucasArts. Do they have any strict guidelines about handling Monkey Island? How much input have they had on the game?

[Silverwolfpet]

Originally Posted by Silverwolfpet

Here's a question I think we all have, somewhere in our subcounscious. Will you implement the whole concept of "Easy version/Mega Monkey"?
It was used in MI2 and MI3 which made the games really entertaining and replayable!
Here's another question, to satisfy my curiosity: How many people have pre-ordered ToMI uptil now?

I noticed that you guys started answering more often. Yay! Free grog for everyone!
Sorry to re-post this, but I figured that you might have missed it.

[freewheel]

Originally Posted by HoppyDragon

Well, I for one have faith in you guys. Just really excited and anxious.. I need a sleeping pill that'll put me out for four weeks.

use "head-b-clear" with "grog"
use "spiked drink"

[HoppyDragon]

Originally Posted by freewheel

use "head-b-clear" with "grog"
use "spiked drink"

I can't believe I didn't think of this.

[Pak-Man]

Well I was going to ask about item combination and challenge level, but that was answered, so the only question I have left:

Where exactly did Telltale plant the bug in my house to keep making games based on things I'm obsessed with. I don't want you to STOP bugging me, I just want to know where to have my wistful conversations about Adventure games I'd like to see/see come back. :^)

[Duate]

Originally Posted by Pak-Man

Well I was going to ask about item combination and challenge level, but that was answered, so the only question I have left:

Where exactly did Telltale plant the bug in my house to keep making games based on things I'm obsessed with. I don't want you to STOP bugging me, I just want to know where to have my wistful conversations about Adventure games I'd like to see/see come back. :^)

hahaha seriously


it's like their fingers are squarely on the pulse of the dreams of us classic adventure game fans

AND THEY KNOW HOW TO USE IT

the day it was announced, i had just woken up and saw an AIM message from one of my friends about MI coming back, and I seriously thought I was still asleep and dreaming for about an hour afterwards as I investigated it. Here we are like a week later and that feeling is still lingering a little bit, but I'm coming to accept it as reality a little bit now.

HOLY CRAP! MONKEY ISLAND!

[Toothless Gibbon]

Originally Posted by HoboStew

The thing that I am spending most of my free brain cycles on is striking the nice balance between challenging and frustrating. It is very hard, because challenging for one person can be frustrating for another, and there has been a lot of internal debate on how we should approach certain aspects of the game to make it a satisfying experience.

If in doubt, err on the side of frustrating! (you have a hint sytem after all.. )

[freewheel]

Originally Posted by HoppyDragon

I can't believe I didn't think of this.

just finished replaying CoMI today which is why i remember. On to EfMI now and hoping i can grit my teeth through the interface to complete it again.

(i really hated that part of it)

[QUOTE=Duate;134787]and I seriously thought I was still asleep and dreaming for about an hour afterwards as I investigated it. Here we are like a week later and that feeling is still lingering a little bit, but I'm coming to accept it as reality a little bit now.

QUOTE]

Gosh. the nostalgia. I must admit that for me its kind of like an intermittent delayed euphoria that sparks up every few hours.

woo hoo!

[Marzhin]

Sorry if that has already been said, but have you considered doing a cinematic trailer for ToMI just like the one you did for Sam & Max Season 2 ? I know a lot of people who were... how to put it... less than convinced by the current trailer (but when they see the actual gameplay footage on gamespot they say "hey, actually it looks nice"). I think a good cinematic trailer would be a good way to convince the last skeptics

[jari_lah]

Are the Stan shopkeeper going to be in the game? Always loved the guy... also want to know will there be insult fights again... insult fights was like a salt on to soup. And also hoping that the soundtrack is coming, always loved the "Pirate music."

-Pleased and faithful Gamer-

[jamessnee1]

Hey guys Im the newest addition to the ship-o-preorders, looking at the trailer I think it will be very faithful to the Lucasarts Monkey Island games, having some of the main designers of the original at Telltale definitely helps. Im hoping that the music will be very MI3 inspired, as well as that kind of humour, eg Murray the demonic skull, and just the general vibe of it. Monkey Island is my favourite adventure game and always will be, cant wait for the release!

[Candyghost]

Originally Posted by jari_lah

Are the Stan shopkeeper going to be in the game? Always loved the guy... also want to know will there be insult fights again... insult fights was like a salt on to soup. And also hoping that the soundtrack is coming, always loved the "Pirate music."

-Pleased and faithful Gamer-

One of the dev (don't remember which one) just gave that nice answear: "Has there already been an MI episode without Stan?"...

[GrogSwigger]

I really hate to be one of those people... who am I kidding. M:I changed my life! First PC game I ever bought. King's Quest V was sold out and M:I had really cool box art (I was 8, okay). Early LucasArts games totally informed my sense of humor growing up, and now...people still don't "get" me.

Question: who on the design team has the nerdiest desk setup and, follow-up, what ridiculous nerd artifacts are displayed on it?

[Dave Grossman]

Originally Posted by GrogSwigger

I really hate to be one of those people... who am I kidding. M:I changed my life! First PC game I ever bought. King's Quest V was sold out and M:I had really cool box art (I was 8, okay). Early LucasArts games totally informed my sense of humor growing up, and now...people still don't "get" me.

Twisting the youth of today has always been a priority for us.

Originally Posted by GrogSwigger

Question: who on the design team has the nerdiest desk setup and, follow-up, what ridiculous nerd artifacts are displayed on it?

Nerdiest? I pick Stemmle, for the comic book superhero items. He's got a number of Green Lantern figures and a set of 1970s Marvel Superhero 7-11 cups. By volume it's quite restrained, but that just distills the essence of nerdiness all the better.

For sheer quantity/clutter/disaster, my own desk is undoubtedly the worst. I use it as a place to keep toys that I don't want to have to find room for in my house. So there's an endless array of pencil toppers, Homies, Pez dispensers, rubber brains, wind-up toys, Lego people, and so on. There's also a Fisher-Price robot, three Pillsbury Dough-Boys, a bunch of tikis, and many, many pieces of paper.

[Gryffalio]

Originally Posted by seanvanaman

From Wallace to Monkey, Telltale has allowed me to work on two of the my most beloved properties ever.

Anybody who not only appreciates Monkey Island, but also the best thing to come out of Yorkshire since Patrick Stewart, has my absolute trust in making a great new Monkey Island

Originally Posted by Zomantic

So true! Low system requirements make players happy.

There was a time when 4GB was enough to play just about anything. Now it barely loads Windows.

Darn you Bill Gates! *shakes fist


A question for the team, if they're not already hiding in a corner, rocking back and forth from the impending release date, and the mini-novel that our combined questions make...
Am I right in thinking you haven't decided upon the final control system, and if so will you let us all know when you do?
I must admit, never played Wallace and Gromit (never got 'round to it, despite loving the progs), so I don't get the allusions to WG style controls.

Also, can we have some more teasers of any kind any time soon? I have this feeling of a kid before Christmas if multiplied by about 10

[EricP]

Originally Posted by Dave Grossman

Twisting the youth of today has always been a priority for us.

How true. I played SoMI during lunch at school when I was in elementary school and my fragile psyche never quite recovered. It's fortunate that I'm now employed by the people who helped corrupt shape me into the person I am today.