Adventure Game Studio

Community => Adventure Related Talk & Chat => Topic started by: Gribbler on Fri 26/07/2013 09:19:45

Title: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Gribbler on Fri 26/07/2013 09:19:45
http://whohauntsneil.com/welcome/

He seems to care a lot about storytelling so I assume it's not some platformer. But still, no gameplay or screenshots have been shown so... What you guys think?
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Retro Wolf on Fri 26/07/2013 21:19:56
I love Neil Gaiman's stuff, the Sandman series sits proudly in my collection.
If he's involved with making a game, sign me up!
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: dactylopus on Fri 26/07/2013 22:31:51
He's a very talented writer, and I'm sure the story will be good.

Unfortunately, I'm not keen on the art style used.
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Gribbler on Fri 26/07/2013 22:40:33
Quote from: dactylopusUnfortunately, I'm not keen on the art style used.

It reminds me of The Cave a little which was a very crappy game in my opinion.
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: miguel on Sat 27/07/2013 00:39:21
I guess you can't be really serious with that art style. But there's room for dark comedy and suspense in my opinion.
And a good story is always a good story, so...
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Radiant on Sat 27/07/2013 14:06:31
Speaking of Neil Gaiman, I'm a big fan of his work, but I found that the later issues of The Sandman were really ruined by the art style (whereas the first issues are great). I would not like seeing something like that happen again.
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Anian on Sat 27/07/2013 17:40:08
There was a period (since 2006.) where he was mostly writing children stuff (not that I mind stuff like Stardust, it's some things that are really for kids), but this year there are signs of him writing for adults again with "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" (on my "to read list") and such.

I think this almost might be a thing Double fine would find great (with a famous name to support it as well). Too bad.
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Snarky on Sat 27/07/2013 18:10:04
Quote from: Radiant on Sat 27/07/2013 14:06:31
Speaking of Neil Gaiman, I'm a big fan of his work, but I found that the later issues of The Sandman were really ruined by the art style (whereas the first issues are great). I would not like seeing something like that happen again.

Madness! Marc Hempel's illustrations forThe Kindly Ones and Zulli et al.'s work on The Wake are some of the best art the series had. (A Game of You is probably the weakest in the series, art-wise, but the very early Kieth-drawn issues aren't great either.)
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Radiant on Sat 27/07/2013 18:20:08
Quote from: Snarky on Sat 27/07/2013 18:10:04
Madness! Marc Hempel's illustrations forThe Kindly Ones and Zulli et al.'s work on The Wake are some of the best art the series had.
Really? I found them so abhorrent that these are the only two books in the series I could not bear buying.
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Gribbler on Sat 27/07/2013 19:35:30
By the way, I know the author but I never read any of Gaiman's novels and I always wanted to. Could you recommend one of his books? Which one is the best? Which one defines his work? Preferably no kid's stuff.
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Anian on Sat 27/07/2013 19:39:41
Quote from: Gribbler on Sat 27/07/2013 19:35:30
By the way, I know the author but I never read any of Gaiman's novels and I always wanted to. Could you recommend one of his books? Which one is the best? Which one defines his work? Preferably no kid's stuff.
"American Gods" if you like novels (urban fantasy stuff, brilliant stuff), "Sandman" series (10ish books) if you like comics, "Smoke and mirrors" if you like short stories. Oh, and "Good Omens" (with Terry Pratchett) if you want comedy.
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Ilyich on Sat 27/07/2013 19:40:53
Neil Gaiman + games = me interested. Doesn't look like we should expect anything medium-changing, but there's a good chance we'll get a nice story-driven game made from a fresh perspective, which is more than good enough for me. :)

Quote from: Snarky on Sat 27/07/2013 18:10:04
Quote from: Radiant on Sat 27/07/2013 14:06:31
Speaking of Neil Gaiman, I'm a big fan of his work, but I found that the later issues of The Sandman were really ruined by the art style (whereas the first issues are great). I would not like seeing something like that happen again.

Madness! Marc Hempel's illustrations forThe Kindly Ones and Zulli et al.'s work on The Wake are some of the best art the series had. (A Game of You is probably the weakest in the series, art-wise, but the very early Kieth-drawn issues aren't great either.)
Art in "The Kindly Ones" is possibly my favourite from the whole series - I found it more individual and evocative than in most of the other arcs, despite not being as technically impressive and, arguably, not as suitable to the writing. And "The Wake" is quite exceptionaly drawn. Although Sam Kieth's layouts are some of the most interesting I've seen in a mainstream(well, more or less) comic book - there's something about almost every Sandman artists, and that's part of the beauty of the series, I think.

Quote from: Gribbler on Sat 27/07/2013 19:35:30
By the way, I know the author but I never read any of Gaiman's novels and I always wanted to. Could you recommend one of his books? Which one is the best? Which one defines his work? Preferably no kid's stuff.
American Gods. Or Sandman, if you would prefer a comic book.
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Eric on Sat 27/07/2013 19:52:56
Quote from: Radiant on Sat 27/07/2013 18:20:08
Quote from: Snarky on Sat 27/07/2013 18:10:04
Madness! Marc Hempel's illustrations forThe Kindly Ones and Zulli et al.'s work on The Wake are some of the best art the series had.
Really? I found them so abhorrent that these are the only two books in the series I could not bear buying.

Hempel's art is notoriously divisive. I side with Snarky. I dislike the early Sam Kieth stuff and found it a chore to get through, but I LOVE The Kindly Ones, especially because of Hempel's art. That's my favorite of the books, actually.
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Radiant on Sat 27/07/2013 20:04:50
Quote from: Gribbler on Sat 27/07/2013 19:35:30By the way, I know the author but I never read any of Gaiman's novels and I always wanted to. Could you recommend one of his books? Which one is the best? Which one defines his work? Preferably no kid's stuff.
Neverwhere, hands down. Also, Stardust is very good, and Good Omens of course.

Quote from: Eric on Sat 27/07/2013 19:52:56Hempel's art is notoriously divisive. I side with Snarky. I dislike the early Sam Kieth stuff and found it a chore to get through, but I LOVE The Kindly Ones, especially because of Hempel's art. That's my favorite of the books, actually.
I guess the main lesson is "don't change artists in the middle of a work".
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: dactylopus on Sat 27/07/2013 20:43:41
Any Sandman art is far superior to what he's going for here.
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Gribbler on Sat 27/07/2013 23:41:16
Quote from: Radiantand Good Omens of course.

Good Omens sounded familiar. I just found out that I have a brand new unread copy of this book among various Pratchett books that I have in my collection. I remember someone gave it to my as a gift few years back and I put it away "to read later" cause it wasn't Discworld. Great! :smiley:
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Eric on Sun 28/07/2013 00:36:44
Quote from: Radiant on Sat 27/07/2013 20:04:50I guess the main lesson is "don't change artists in the middle of a work".

Wait...I don't think that's the lesson at all...?
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Fitz on Sun 28/07/2013 08:48:43
Quote from: Gribbler on Sat 27/07/2013 23:41:16I remember someone gave it to my as a gift few years back and I put it away "to read later" cause it wasn't Discworld. Great! :smiley:

Big mistake! :) I have a collection of ~40 novels by Pratchett -- and Good Omens is in my Top 3. Though most of his non-Discworld works are young adult novels -- including the Nome Trilogy (a.k.a. Bromeliad Trilogy), the Johnny Maxwell trilogy, etc. -- they are all quite intelligent and funny.

"American Gods" was a great read, too.
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Anian on Sun 28/07/2013 13:41:23
Good Omens is not Discworld, but it's the same humor with added interesting deep characters that Gaiman often concocts.
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Gribbler on Sun 28/07/2013 14:51:34
I read a non-Discworld Pratchett book recently and I didn't like it that much, it was "The Long Earth". He co-authored it with Baxter.
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Retro Wolf on Sun 28/07/2013 16:23:58
It's been years since I've read Good Omens, but I remember enjoying it. "Anansi Boys" is good, I believe it's set in the same world as American Gods.
In response to the artist changing thing, it's quite common in the comic book world, how many times could you draw Spiderman before getting bored?
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Snarky on Sun 28/07/2013 17:19:08
I can see not liking either Hempel or Zulli, but their art is so different, how can you dislike both?

I don't think Hempel's work on The Kindly Ones is technically deficient or ill-suited to the story in the leasr. He uses strong lines and geometric shapes to create more stylized, abstract representations, which are beautiful, modern (you can see similarities to the work of Bruce Timm, Darwyn Cooke and Genndy Tartakovsky, for example), and very appropriate for the arc where Dream's mythic, cosmic nature is most central. But yeah, I know it's notoriously divisive. Zulli, though...
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Cyrus on Wed 31/07/2013 14:54:13
I like how this looks.

I really hope his next game project will be an adaptation of "Study in Emerald", it feels really adventure game-ish to me ;)
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: waheela on Wed 31/07/2013 19:15:20
The game concept sounds pretty awesome, and I love Neil Gaiman. Damn though, if that guy's chin doesn't look like a pair of hairy balls...
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: Anian on Thu 01/08/2013 22:57:16
Quote from: waheela on Wed 31/07/2013 19:15:20
Damn though, if that guy's chin doesn't look like a pair of hairy balls...
At first I thought you meant Gaiman.  :grin:
Title: Re: Wayward Manor: Neil Gaiman making an adventure game?
Post by: waheela on Fri 02/08/2013 02:20:42
Quote from: Anian on Thu 01/08/2013 22:57:16
Quote from: waheela on Wed 31/07/2013 19:15:20
Damn though, if that guy's chin doesn't look like a pair of hairy balls...
At first I thought you meant Gaiman.  :grin:

Hahahaha! No, the painted guy on the website. (laugh)