Thimbleweed Park, a new old point and click by Ron Gilbert

[Trapezoid]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thimbleweedpark/thimbleweed-park-a-new-classic-point-and-click-adv

Check it out, Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick are re-teaming to make a new game! Looks pretty awesome.

[LostTrainDude]

I was too impaired by the hype to create a thread, so thanks Trapezoid!

Fingers crossed until.. Dunno... Until my bones break

[selmiak]

ZOMG! Chainsaw and gas in one inventory in one game!!!

...and also a wooden bridge in the background

[Frodo]

YES!  YES!  YES!  YES!  YES!  YES!   

Backed this instantly! 

So excited for this game, I'm gonna EXPLODE! 

Thanks for the link. 

[Mandle]

MUST...PLAY...GAME...

[Armageddon]

$375,000 for that level of quality? They couldn't even bother to get the pixel resolution right.

Still that is quite a bit for a simple 2D game, doesn't even look like they're planning voice acting. I hope they reach it though, I'd love to play it.

[Stupot]

Looks right up my street. I might back this come payday. Been a while since I could afford to.

[MiteWiseacreLives!]

I think I will back this if only to resolve the age old question: Who was the real talent Ron Gilbert or Tim Schafer.....
(I know Ron was like Obi Wan and Tim like Darth Vader.... but still, who's game will be better?)

[arj0n]

My cup of tea

[fred]

Just awesome that something like this is happening - backed it immediately.

[Snarky]

Have they talked about what engine they're using? Because targeting Windows, Mac and Linux, this could quite possibly be an AGS title, right?

[m0ds]

Exciting stuff! Looks great. Good to see Ron do that. He must've been asked to make a retro p&c a million times by now. SO YAY. FINALLY!

That budget though... is it really necessary with their years of experience and contacts between them? Chicky, it seems to happen when they need to employ people over time, ie covering a 30,000 a year salary for two or three people adds up. I don't know if they're in the writers guild, if they were, there's a possibility they simply don't even write unless they get 50,000 off the bat. A fee is a fee I can understand that, but also feel it's just not 1999 anymore. You don't need 250,000 to release a point & click adventure game.

So - game, very exciting! Budget - takes the piss a bit

[Chicky]

Saw this and was a little insulted by the amount of money he is requesting. Is this to cover publishers and promotion or something?

It would have been nice if they used an original style with a talented pixel artist, there's plenty of people who would jump at the opportunity.

Meh, I've never been a fan of those MM oversized heads!

[[delete}]

A bit much asked for a classic 2D pixel adventure. Yet the San Francisco Bay area is not cheap though.

[Snarky]

Saw this and was a little insulted by the amount of money he is requesting. Is this to cover publishers and promotion or something?

There's a budget breakdown on the Kickstarter page. 63% of the money, ca. $236,000, is to cover development costs (i.e. salaries). They're estimating two people (Ron & Gary) for 18 months and a third person for 12 months, so that's 4 person-years of work, and an average salary of about $60,000 per year (before taxes). And all their expenses come out of that: they'll probably have to work from home, buy individual medical insurance, there are hardware and software costs, electricity, etc.

Chicky, it seems to happen when they need to employ people over time, ie covering a 30,000 a year salary for two or three people adds up. I don't know if they're in the writers guild, if they were, there's a possibility they simply don't even write unless they get 50,000 off the bat. A fee is a fee I can understand that, but also feel it's just not 1999 anymore. You don't need 250,000 to release a point & click adventure game. You need some willing enthusiastic friends and maybe 10,000 at most

Sure, you can, if you're willing to work for free or very cheap, and you're asking others to do the same. But these are professionals, veterans, and Ron Gilbert is a moderately big name. They probably have families to support. I would guess that asking for a $60K salary is already a significant pay cut (it's about the average starting salary of someone with a computer science degree in the US, and about 10% below the average for California; it's also apparently somewhat below an entry-level game designer salary). Of course, they'll get more money from game sales at the back end, but who knows how much?

Whether it should take two veterans working full time (supported by another artist/programmer) a year and a half to make an adventure game in the style previewed here is another question.

[MiteWiseacreLives!]

Whether it should take two veterans working full time (supported by another artist/programmer) a year and a half to make an adventure game in the style previewed here is another question.

Yah, I'm thinking they're building their own engine... but that means an investment in future adventure games

[Dualnames]

I can count more than 100 people I've met in here that could make this game faster and with much less money, and better. They don't even have a working prototype of nothing, they're in it for the money.

[Armageddon]

I can count more than 100 people I've met in here that could make this game faster and with much less money, and better. They don't even have a working prototype of nothing, they're in it for the money.

I think it's a bit of a hyperbole to say they're in it just for the money. It does make me sad that 1000% better looking adventure games like To Azmuth aren't getting funded as quickly though.

[Dualnames]

I'm afraid it seems like it. Other people ask much less for MUCH BETTER LOOKING GAMES AND HIGHER PRODUCTION VALUES. For the love of god, it won't probably feature voice acting. And Ron Gilbert helped make my favorite game in existence. Still, I won't blindly obey and follow him.

[Retro Wolf]

I was surprised to see the 9 verb GUI, I remembered what he said about that in an article post of his.

I would lose the verbs.  I love the verbs, I really do, and they would be hard to lose, but they are cruft.

http://grumpygamer.com/if_i_made_another_monkeyisland

EDIT: And I also immediately thought "He could make it in AGS!"