Adventure Game Studio

Well, after a lot of thinking, ideas from friends, writing, and many other things, I have started working on what will be the adventure game of one of Hergé's "Tintin" adventures. For those who don't know who this guy is, Tintin was a series of adventure comics (not as in Xmen or similar, but completely different) made by Hergé (a Belgium writer).

The central character is Tintín, who is a journalist for a newspaper, and he travels pretty much all around the world, getting into some complicated adventures which are always characterized by its dense but well written plot. I don't know if these carttons were well known in the US (Im from South America, where they were kind of known in the early 80s), and I recently got a copy of "Tintín and the Blue Lotto".

In this adventure, Tintín accidentally gets into a mission which will take him to Shanghai, where he will basically deal with many different things that circle around the Blue Loto (a place where people go to smoke opium), and a whole band of internatilanl opium dealers. Also, there is a secret drug that makes people crazy, and in several ocations Tintín will need to esape certain "insanity".

This series of adventures have a whole set of interesting and well developed characters such as:

Tintín: our heroe, a 20 something year old journalist. He knows how to fight, although he is not precisely Hulk or anything like that. He usually solves things by wits and not fists

Herández and Fernández: a pair of twin policemen who are dumb but good hearted. In this case they will be against Tintín until the very end as they follow the law, and police corruption in shaghai will try to stop Tintín.

Wang Jen Ghié: a chinnese guy who runs an underground society that tries to stop drug dealing.

And many others.

I will try to get an electronic copy of this, but WHY AM I POSTING?

Well, according to rules, this is the forum to place this post:

I am a good scripter, and story / puzzle designer. I want to start a serious project (as in serious, not something that just vanishes in the thin air after a month or so) to make this adventure, and a whole series of Tintíns adventures.

I want to get in contact with people interested in joinging this project who can make music, art, characters, etc., so that we can make a PROFESSIONAL QUALITY game. I will provide web hosting to show the advances to any "public" interested in this game, and the idea is to make it as serious as the "Rattlesnakes adventures" or the two upcoming Indy games.

I would need these people interested in joining to tell me any previous experience in their field, if they know Tintín at all or not, and to basically get in contact with me to start this. I will be posting a link to what would be the project's site soon.

For now, you can look at http://tintin.francetv.fr/en/index.html (official Hergé site)

Juan Camilo Rozo

Look also at:
http://tintin.francetv.fr/en/aventures/albums/lotus.html

Oh man. Tintin seriously rocks. Make it good, please.

I doubt you're going to find many people interested in devoting enough effort into making an adventure game of  PROFESSIONAL QUALITY  based on a licence you don't have. Most people who have the skill to make PROFESSIONAL QUALITY artwork, music and such, would rather work on original material, given the choice. In fact, this is the forum of a Adventure Game Studio, which is mainly used by people who are decidedly amateurs, so you're probably looking in the wrong place.

The best idea yet. I've thought of the same thing myself. I cherish the memories of playing Tintin in Tibet on the PC years back. It had that great music in the hotel level in the beginning. Infogrames rocked then. I'm gonna look for that game right now, as a matter of fact. I eagerly want to replay it.

Actually, I didn't know that there were any Tintin games available, I never saw them! Anyway, again, anyone interested in joining this project either post or msg me to my email!!!

Quote from: Helm on Sun 24/04/2005 19:49:20
I doubt you're going to find many people interested in devoting enough effort into making an adventure game of  PROFESSIONAL QUALITY  based on a licence you don't have. Most people who have the skill to make PROFESSIONAL QUALITY artwork, music and such, would rather work on original material, given the choice. In fact, this is the forum of a Adventure Game Studio, which is mainly used by people who are decidedly amateurs, so you're probably looking in the wrong place.

There are a lot of independent developers that have made professional quality games like both KQ remakes, the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth, Chapter 11 studios Rattlesnake project, so I don't think I'm in the wrong place. Great quality fan games have been made for a lont time now (KQ, SQ, Indiana Jones, Maniac Mansion), so I don't know why you say skilled people will always prefer to work on original material. Being amateur at game making does not mean not being able to do professional quality games, and this website is full of examples...

The amount of people i have talked to about how amazing a tintin adventure game would be goes on forever! But if you feel you can create the art style and the charm of the comics then feel free. I'll certainly play it :)

For your information, Hernández y Fernández were originally named (I believe) "Dupont & Dupont". Unless you are doing the game in spanish, I would check those details out, if I were you.

Dupond et Dupont, methinks. Yes, please keep the original french names. Professor Tournesol, Capitain Haddock, Castafiore, and the rest. And make it good! :)

Quote from: En garde! on Sun 24/04/2005 21:08:11
For your information, Hernández y Fernández were originally named (I believe) "Dupont & Dupont". Unless you are doing the game in spanish, I would check those details out, if I were you.

You're right. I wrote the spanish translation cause I was too excited writing the post  :)
Nope, the game would be done in English and (hopefully) with language packs.

Now, I see there seems to be an interested group of people. Now, anyone interested in helping out? I suck at art, but I can pretty much master any scripting langage!

It allways shocked me that two twin brothers had two different surnames in the Spanish version... (Hernández and Fernández are surenames, the "dez" means an ancient way of saying "son". So, son of Hernán and Son of Fernán).

In the English version, I think they were 'Tompson & Thompson'. I always thought they were just meant to be very similar in characetr and appearance but not actually related, hence their names being different whatever the language.

And yes, a Tintin game would be kind of cool.

There were about 4 or 5 Tintin books (one of which was 'The Blue Lotus', oddly enough) that served as my transition from only reading comics, to reading actual stories.

Quote from: Farlander on Mon 25/04/2005 00:00:20
It allways shocked me that two twin brothers had two different surnames in the Spanish version... (Hernández and Fernández are surenames, the "dez" means an ancient way of saying "son". So, son of Hernán and Son of Fernán).

Actually in Spanish, Hernadez and Fernandez are among the most common last names. Hernán is a common name, but it wouldn't be Fernán, but Fernando  :)

Thomson and Thompson to be exact [and to unintentionally use one of their catchphrases]. The English having the advantage of having the two names pronounced identically.

On a similar note, a boxset of the Canadian animated series was released here recently. I hope to buy it, since I enjoyed it.

As much as I'd love a new Tintin game, you should be aware that Fondation Hergé/Moulinsart are just as protective of their intellectual property as Disney. It would be a shame to get a lot of people involved in a huge project only to see it shut down when it's nearly finished.

You're right about that. I am trying to get in contact with them to see if they would allow a fan game under the argument that it would (obviously) be free of charge, and it would not be commercial...
If that is they case (we'll see), I still haven't received any msgs from people not only interested in the game but in helping out with it... Anyone out there?

Just one point- kinda major:

Be VERY selective in the actual dialouge of the book. Seriously. The Tintin books were made in a communist-phobic 1960's, and such refer to many different views on the world, being that Tintin actually says quite a few racist things.

Just be careful, ok? Ã, ;)

Ah, true. Very conservative, Hergé was. I recall the very first Tintin adventure, in Russian country, was quite... well, by today's standards, just that - conservative.

The original, unedited version of Tintin in the land of the Soviet was much more than conservative. In fact, it had several explicitly racist bits, but oh well

Quote from: Huw_Dawson-PublicComp on Mon 25/04/2005 15:46:32
Just one point- kinda major:

Be VERY selective in the actual dialouge of the book. Seriously. The Tintin books were made in a communist-phobic 1960's, and such refer to many different views on the world, being that Tintin actually says quite a few racist things.

Just be careful, ok? Ã, ;)

Actually, the first Tintin story came out in 1929, and only 3 out of the 23 Tintin books were made in the 60s.

While Herge started out as a conservative with typically colonialist views on race and politics, in time he developed a far more enlightened attitude (by the last album, 'Tintin and the Picaros', Tintin is practically a hippie). He then went back and edited out most of the directly offensive material from the early stories, although many of the racial stereotypes remain, and 'Tintin in the Congo' remains racist beyond repair.

In the stories as most of us know them, there shouldn't be anything too upsetting, although implicitly the early stories in particular (say the pre-war adventures) reflect a worldview that is nowadays outdated.

Oh, and there's only one version of 'Tintin in the Land of the Soviets'. It's the only early album Herge never went back and updated.

apologies. I was wrongly thinking of Soviet when I should have been thinking of Tintin in America. This page in particular has made a lasting impression on me since I was a small boy. Tintin has lost his dog ( it's been kidnapped) and is looking for him. He hears loud canine wailing and hurredly investigates.

(http://www.sylpher.com/helm/tintin.png)

This panel was later edited to depict a generic white woman with her baby.

The common belief is that Tintin was very conservative at the beginning, but it slightly turns to the "left" in his adventures, including some final politicals doubts in the latest "Tintin and the Pícaros".

I am quoting an author, can't recall those "doubts, though...

Ah, I do like the idea of a Tintin-based adventure game, seeing as it's one of those comics that I read fanatically when I was a kid, and still do find brilliant today... :)
And I just got the urge to re-read my old albums again the other day, so this thread kinda jumped out at me now. :D
But I do think it could be hard to capture that essence of the comics if it's not done very, very good...

I'm not sure which book would be the best to to an adventure game out of, though... I need to think that one over... Ã,  Ã, 

Oh my god! Yes! I'm a big Tintin fan.
I was planning of starting Tintin project myself.
Good luck with the project.
In the dutch comics the twins were called Jansen and Janssen.

I never read any Tintin comic, but I was watching the cartoons when I was younger. A Tintin adventure game would indeed rock. Are you going to use an existing adventure of Tintin, or are you going to come up with something original (but still very close to the comics)?

Whilst Tintin in the Congo was reflective of the prejudices Herge [and most of european society] had at the time, the most explicit pro colonialism aspects seemed to be more at the behest of his publisher. Herge seemed to want to pursue his prejeudices of America and gangsters instead...
The turning point Herge cited was when working on The Blue Lotus, his editor compelled him to actually meet a Chinese and thus base his protrayal of China on....well...something, though the Japanese in that album are delightfully 1930's. But this is evident in the conversation about prejudice Tintin has with Chang in that same book.

Quote from: Snarky on Tue 26/04/2005 01:53:36

Actually, the first Tintin story came out in 1929, and only 3 out of the 23 Tintin books were made in the 60s.

Ectually there are 24 Tintin comics.
Hergé died while he was making number 24.
They've recently released it and I have it.  8)  The whole comic is mostly scetches and stuff but it's readable to the end.
I haven't read it yet though. I'm some how to scared to know how it ends with Tintin.

Quote from: Huw_Dawson-PublicComp on Mon 25/04/2005 15:46:32
Just one point- kinda major:

Be VERY selective in the actual dialouge of the book. Seriously. The Tintin books were made in a communist-phobic 1960's, and such refer to many different views on the world, being that Tintin actually says quite a few racist things.

Just be careful, ok?  ;)

In comparison to the racism in Tintin In The Land Of The Soviets, Tintin and The Blue Lotus was actually a lot better than it would've been, since Herge had a good Chinese friend who was able to dispell a lot of the incorrect beliefs people back then had of China. :)

I decided to post in this Tintin thread because Tintin in the land of the Soviets was mentioned.

I think its a good example of the way Tintin can be xenophobic, but at the same time the way the books encourage us to be thoughtful.

The Soviet Tintin was written at a time when Soviet propaganda was suggesting that things in the USSR were considerably better than they were. Tintin's tenacity and generosity helps us to see through that.

If you adopt a Tintin-esque attitude towards the material you'll surely avoid the xeneophobia.

Also, to my knowledge there are two animated versions of Tintin in English. One that I watched as a child and one that my Dad watched. Thompson and Thomson are brothers in the earlier version and "no relation" in the second. Oh the bafflement!

I think the only really stereotyped and racist one is Tintin in Africa. IIRC that was one of the first albums, so I guess Herge was still felling his way around on that one.

Tintin basically says in "Soviets" that people in the Soviet Union was dying of famine because of greedy bastards, members and commisaires of the "party", and that all the good aura that the naive western intellectuals had of them was because of propaganda.

I don't see racism in that. In fact I think that with a good adaptation (hiding the name of the regime, and making the "bad guys" members of a corrupt mafia in spite of members of the government, it could have been a "normal" Tintin comic. Lots of gags should be changed as well, to fit with the later humour, but the same happens with "Congo")

Anyway, let's remember that in "Soviets" he strikes the Nazis as well...

Congo is a bit despective with black people, not really xenophobic IMO, but in the old (non-overhauled pages) I see "lack of knowleadge" by Hergé. He makes the black people a little bit silly, but not in the "racist sense", but more, I think, being ultra protective, trating them like if they were little children. Dunno, maybe I am wrong, I'll read them again.

Farlander's response shows exactly how effective these messages are, to the point that we don't even see them as racist but as "fact," even though no legitimate historian or anthropologist would accept them as such.

For example, that all famine in Russia was caused by greed is of course in contrast to the view that all famine elsewhere in the world (such as the US during the same period) was caused by... nature?  And the many times more deaths occuring in Capitalist or colonized countries (this is not rhetoric, but statistics) were natural.  Also, "Soviets" has other issues in it besides just the anti-Soviet stuff.

It should also be noted that "paternalism" is one of the most effective hallmarks of racism--racism isn't just the "crazed hate" typified in hollywood movies, but a structural element allowing colonialism and neo-colonialism to continue.  It isn't necessarily a personal failure as in "You're a racist--a total writeoff" -- but rather something we all face from time to time.  I have studied racism for years, know both the idea that races are a myth and that saying so dilutes much of the very valuable activism, and still I have moments of my own zenophobia and racism.  I just try not to get too defensive when someone points it out.

That said, I also love Tintin.  A lot of people love Tintin, but that doesn't guarantee that you'll be able to create an effective team capable of creating the original spirit (edited not just for PC reasons, but to fit with Herge's more informed later vision).

Both of those said, I still encourage you to try, and at worse, fail.  The world doesn't really NEED a lot more games, so even if you do fail, you should discover new skills you can apply to other things, even other games.  I would certainly play a Tintin game and enjoy it, even if it wasn't "perfectly" rendered.   You might have to a) construct a new story (or use his last story) or b) amalgamate elements from several to allow puzzles to exist that aren't already all spelled out in the more popular books.

So I wish you luck, but since I'm already not working on two other group projects (for now anyway), I can't commit to this one.  It sounds fun, however.

Hey that was quick!   :D

I was quite sure that anybody saying that the Stalinist regime is bad was going to be replied with a "USA ares worse!"

But that's not what we are discussing here. Tintin DOES not see the whole Russian population as imperfect, or infra-humans, he is not being xenophobic. He critics the regime. He says that the population is a VICTIM of the regime. The critic to socialism is fierce, I agree, but that's not racism...

That would be like saying that anyone criticising Bush has some kind "Yankee-phobia". (Which implies that 50% of americans are anti-americans?!?) XD

Anyway... the comic is looooong, like 120 pages (?), and I don't really want to read it again. Maybe there are certain references to soviets as infra-humans that I don't remember. If that's true and I am wrong, I am certainly open to change my mind if you show to me that certain vignettes.

About "Congo" I've made the effort to read it again. And I agree that the peternalism idea I had in my mind (I remembered something of Tintin becoming friend of the little black kid, like a prelude to Tchang-Tintin relation) was not totally correct, and yeah, that "acceptable paternalism" falls too often into considering black people less smart, ergo, racism. Fortunatelly he reconsidered it all in the next comics, IMHO. It was my less favourite, even before the re-read, though.

This game is gonna rock! I was going to do a Tintin game myself, if my art improved. Best of luck on this game and I hope it's released in English as well  ;D. I was also thinking of doing an Asterix game (another foreign comic).