For those of you who didn't back Broken Age on Kickstarter (like me) DoubleFine released a 40-minute video where Schafer plays Day of the Tentacle. Very interesting watch so I thought I'd share.
Beware of serious dose of nostalgia! :)
http://youtu.be/qumYnE2wYhA
Looking forward to seeing this when I get home!
Holy crap, he is SERIOUSLY rusty haha. Nice find!
Yup. This was nice, from a mutual nostalgia point of view.
Tim strikes me as someone who would be fun to work with; I like his personality.
Quote from: Oldschool_Wolf on Tue 13/05/2014 13:45:46
Tim strikes me as someone who would be fun to work with; I like his personality.
Honestly, and I'm pretty sure this is controversial to some, I don't think I agree. He's sorta funny (although not particularly in my opinion, he seems to force it a bit) and, most importantly, he seems to be really hard to interact with (ironically). He doesn't even pay attention to what the interviewer/other person says half the time. I know this is not exactly a normal situation and I'm not going to judge him based on that bit of gameplay alone but I can't say that this video made me think: "What a cool boss to have", quite the opposite!
Quote from: DoorKnobHandle on Tue 13/05/2014 17:24:10
Honestly, and I'm pretty sure this is controversial to some, I don't think I agree. He's sorta funny (although not particularly in my opinion, he seems to force it a bit) and, most importantly, he seems to be really hard to interact with (ironically). He doesn't even pay attention to what the interviewer/other person says half the time. I know this is not exactly a normal situation and I'm not going to judge him based on that bit of gameplay alone but I can't say that this video made me think: "What a cool boss to have", quite the opposite!
His employees/team members love him. I've met him, though, and he's a smartass. A very, very nice, open smartass, but a smartass. Kind of reminds me of Bill Murray in a way.
I've worked with a lot of interesting and weird personalities over the years, some people wonder how I get on with them; maybe they appeal to my inner psychologist. (laugh)
Haha fair enough! As I said, it's dumb to try and actually judge someone from a video like this - I just felt the complete opposite as Oldschool_Wolf about him from that video, that's why I posted! If his team members love him, then that's the best testament in the world.
This is true, although I don't think I would want to work for him. My jealously over that triangle box would consume my life
but he makes little to no jokes in the video, rather tells interesting things (mustache trees!) doesn't force any jokes and there is no real interview with questions asked going on. Did you watch a different video or do you want to stir up controversy?
I did like the video and some of the things he explained (the first tentacle shot behind the tree, his sister voicing Edna etc.), all I said was that I personally didn't get a great-guy vibe from his personality/character in that video. And I only posted that because Oldschool_Wolf said that he thought he looked like a great person to work with in that video and I heavily disagreed. Secret Fawful put it best when he said that he kinda is a smartass. It's obvious that he's talented and smart, I just don't like his... style. It's hard to explain, very subjective.
I've been aware of Tim for a while, I didn't just base my opinion on this one video.
He doesn't look at the guy interviewing him half the time, because he's playing a game at the same time! (laugh)
At the very early stage of Broken Age production they released a video of Schafer and Ron Gilbert discussing the game and the impression I got from it was that Gilbert seemed like a conceited person. I was like, this is a guy who made my favourite game of all time? I may be wrong of course, after all, it was just a 15-minute video but he didn't seem like a likeable person, more like a baffoon really.
So I'm not the only person, that's good to know... :)
How dare you besmirch his good name, DKH? HOW DARE YOU?! You have a lot to answer for!
(Saw the video a while back)
I definitely don't think Ron is conceited, but at any rate, I wouldn't really care if he was. I think buffoon is quite a bit harsh. I'm not sure where anyone would get that.
Quote from: Secret FawfulI definitely don't think Ron is conceited, but at any rate, I wouldn't really care if he was. I think buffoon is quite a bit harsh. I'm not sure where anyone would get that.
I'm not saying he IS all that, I'm just saying that was my impression when I saw some video of him on the internet. It was only my subjective opinion.
I for one enjoyed the video immensely. He has tons of fun facts about one of my favorite games of all time, so I'll be sure to tune in for subsequent installments of the Let's Play. I'm also pleased at how much I still remember from the game, I knew what you're supposed to do in a given location way sooner than he did -- and I only played it twice (1995 and then 2002).
Quote from: Fitzand I only played it twice (1995 and then 2002).
Twice as in two dozens, right? RIGHT? :)
Quote from: DoorKnobHandle on Tue 13/05/2014 17:24:10Honestly, and I'm pretty sure this is controversial to some, I don't think I agree. He's sorta funny (although not particularly in my opinion, he seems to force it a bit) and, most importantly, he seems to be really hard to interact with (ironically). He doesn't even pay attention to what the interviewer/other person says half the time. I know this is not exactly a normal situation and I'm not going to judge him based on that bit of gameplay alone but I can't say that this video made me think: "What a cool boss to have", quite the opposite!
Keep in mind there's not really an "interviewer", it's the same camera crew who have been filming him and everyone in his office for months.
Good point. Plus, him and some of us are of a somewhat "older generation". (= not the facebook-look-at-me one. :P) I know I wouldn't like someone sticking a camera in my face at all.
And don't forget it's the medium film. It'd take a very, very subtle setup as for the protagonists not to feel contrived and forced into a conversation.
He could be the nicest person in the world, but once the camera is rolling, be like "Dear God! This s*** again!" ;-D
This discussion is very interesting, not only because of the Tim Schafer topic, but also because it's a perfect illustration of the gap between the artist and his/her creation.
You can be a very good comedian but not funny at all in real life, insecure, and forcing it. You can be a great painter and have silly annyoing obsessions in real life. You can be a great illustrator but maybe if people knew you, then they'd know that your drawings look good because you just avoid drawing what you can't draw. Etc. The examples are countless.
In the past, it was close to impossible for people to meet the artists that made the creations they love. You'd never meet Beethoven. Maybe if you did, his personality would spoil his music for you.
You could even extend that to politicians: In modern days, people tend to distrust a man/woman just because they saw a 10 seconds video of him where he/she displays an overinflated ego, or where they tell a tiny lie about something insignificant. In the past, the public would only see those politicians during pulic meetings, giving a speech. But nowadays, because they've become so intimate to them, people would think: "what a dick, I'd never trust this guy"...And they tend to forget that those politicians can still have strong moral convictions, they're just humans. Like Benjamin Franklin, or Ghandi, or Mandela: they were probably dicks at home (especially to their wives), but still, it's not what defines their creations.
I think that's true, but I'm not sure Tim Schafer is a good example of it, because with his profile he's almost as much a public speaker and "media personality" as he is a game designer these days.
And also because to me, there seems to be a pretty big element of performance in his public persona: he's hamming it up quite a bit. I happen to like the way he comes across pretty well (while understanding how it might rub others the wrong way), but I'd not want to draw the conclusion from that that I would enjoy working with him in real life. Maybe this is just the way he is and he acts exactly the same when the cameras are off and fans aren't around â€" I don't know, because it's so hard to judge how much of it is the "real" Tim Schafer and how much is him playing up to his image as "Tim Schafer, self-deprecatingly witty indie superstar game designer".
I don't have an opinion on his personality from this one video, but I respect him if only because he doesn't have any of the ScummVM hires filters enabled.
I wouldn't bet that he set up ScummVM himself (he seems a bit technically challenged these days; even though he was once a programmer he couldn't even work the Broken Age dialog editor).
I just watched the video. It was fun, so thanks for the post Gribbler!
Quote from: Gribbler on Tue 13/05/2014 19:36:51
At the very early stage of Broken Age production they released a video of Schafer and Ron Gilbert discussing the game and the impression I got from it was that Gilbert seemed like a conceited person. I was like, this is a guy who made my favourite game of all time? I may be wrong of course, after all, it was just a 15-minute video but he didn't seem like a likeable person, more like a baffoon really.
I think Ron Gilbert has sort of become the John K. of adventure games. He has a specific way of thinking about them to the exclusion of other points of view, is a little bitter at how little influence he has on the modern state of things, but is still widely revered as a creator and teacher in the genre.
Tim is just a normal guy who likes to rib people. When he says "I'm trying to listen to the dialogue." to an INTERVIEWER, that's an obvious joke at the interviewer's expense, but I think it's funny. It's that sense of humor, even if it's not all of who he is, that made its way into plenty of good games.
It's sad that we've gotten to the point where we have to nitpick designer's personalities like this. Designers aren't subject to ridicule because they don't act how we want them to. Hell, some of us have to be a little crazy to do this work. A fan was giving Ron shit on Twitter a while back because he wasn't making Monkey 3a, and told him to get off his butt and do it. Ron replied "Screw you! I'm happy doing what I'm doing!", and I think Ron was right, and I think that applies to all of these guys.
Quote from: Secret Fawful on Sun 18/05/2014 18:41:18
A fan was giving Ron shit on Twitter a while back because he wasn't making Monkey 3a, and told him to get off his butt and do it. Ron replied "Screw you! I'm happy doing what I'm doing!", and I think Ron was right, and I think that applies to all of these guys.
I kinda understand that fan :wink: Yeah, Ron has the right to do whatever he does (like DeathSpank or Cave), but then why all that teasing (http://grumpygamer.com/5777333) about MI3a (I would also be interested to have a look at Bob and Fletcher Go Deep in the Congo)?
Firstly: thanks for the link Gribbler. Very interesting video!
Hope he ends up making the next part to it! I was hungry for more so I went on to watch the Full Throttle one which was also great!
LINK HERE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE0Cf1JWsAg)
Spoiler
I especially had a good laugh when he tried calling 1-800-STARWARS to see if the hint-line was still open for business
I have a real-life friend who looks, acts, and jokes incredibly similar to this guy. So
much so that it made me start wondering about the links between physical appearance and personality at the DNA level. It really is quite uncanny.
Quote from: Fitz on Wed 14/05/2014 16:51:23
I'm also pleased at how much I still remember from the game, I knew what you're supposed to do in a given location way sooner than he did -- and I only played it twice (1995 and then 2002).
I found the same thing. I have played the game only a few times, all more than ten years ago and I was yelling at him:
Spoiler
DUDE! Why are you messing with the mouse-hole??? You don't need that until Purple shrinks you at the end of the game!!!
This made me think that maybe the player of adventure games ends up remembering the plot better than the creator(s), as the player usually bangs their head against the puzzles over and over before solving them, whereas the creator thinks them up and moves on to the next usually without the tons of frustration inherit in solving them blind.
I guess this applies even moreso when you are part of a larger team working on the game and are mostly just responsible for your own sections. There is also probably a lot of brainstorming going on and puzzles and plot evolve through several different versions before the final ones are decided, so it must be hard to keep straight which versions made the final cut and which were just cut.
I'd also say that the creators rarely had the time to actually sit down and play the entire game through from start to finish, facing a deadline and a set budget. That would have been more the jobs of the playtesters, continuity checkers etc. And even after the project was released they most likely never played it entirely, having to get busy plugging their next project to the bosses and getting on with that once it was approved. (There is some interesting stuff about the "plugging" process at the start of the "Full Throttle" video I linked above)
So yeah: Maybe it's just human nature to remember better something which was agonizingly frustrating at the time than something that was fun to create before you had to move on quickly to the next part.
Thanks again Gribbler! Keep sharing interesting stuff you find like this with us please!