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KickStarter Thimbleweed Park: A New Ron Gilbert Classic Point & Click Adventure

Infinitron

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Part of 3 is making something that your peers and the industry take notice of, something that "moves the meter". Doing point-and-click adventures at breakeven doesn't do that, and I think that's always been a motivator of mine.

2) Influencers (press and widely known devs) in the industry are craving deep, meaningful and grown-up narrative games, and they will latch onto games that even hint at that, even if they do a crappy job at it.

Fucking people.
 

IHaveHugeNick

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I mean I had my issues with TP, of course. But in terms of delivering precisely what was promised during the campaign, I wold argue Ron did a better job than any of the Kickstarters I can think of. It really plays, feels and looks exactly like you would expect from a 90s LA adventure game moved into XXI century. While there were definitely parts where they compromised and modernized the game to give it slightly more casual appeal, they were very clever about hiding it from the player and it was not that really noticeable unless you were out looking for flaws.

I guess you could say they did exactly what they promised, except that what they promised simply wasn't interesting to the market at large. Sigh.
 

Jugashvili

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4) Or... maybe we didn't make a very compelling and interesting game. You always have to consider that.

Perish the thought. The self-referential in-jokes will continue until sales improve.
 

Wapcaplet

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This should be free.

https://grumpygamer.com/ransome_unbeeped

It's a little depressing that a few people are actually upset that we're charging $1.99 for this. Making this wasn't free. It took a lot of work. Programming, testing, audio editing, etc. It feels like people think it was just copying a bunch of audio files over. I've always objected to DLC that was made at the same time as the game and all they do is flip a bit. This is not that kind of DLC. The code to make this work was not written until just a few months ago. We had the idea of MAYBE doing this DLC during the development, but none of the work was done.

We've released two MAJOR updates for FREE since launch, so I think we deserve to try and recover some of our costs. It sometimes feels like people expect game devs to make games for free. This is my livelihood. I use it to pay my rent and buy food. Game pricing is completely screwed up, it's why you see predatory free-to-play games and loot boxes.

The other reason it's not FREE is so people don't suddenly (and without warning) get a full-on *unbeeped* clown swearing at their kids. Having to pay something provides some parental friction.

Buy it!

It's only $1.99 and you'll support game devs trying to make a living so they can keep making games.
 

taxalot

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Still should be free.

Jesus Christ, who gives a shit about the amount of time and work it took ? Ultimately, what matters here is added value for the customer.
 

IHaveHugeNick

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If it took a lot of programming, audio editing and testing, then how is all that work going to be paid for by a $2 DLC that probably less then 2000 people will even bother buying? Seems like it was a losing proposition to even make the thing in a first place.
 

taxalot

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Also, summoning Loot Boxes for this kind of shit is fucking mental. It's manipulation 101. "You don't want to get scammed ? How about Loot Box, you'd like that, huh ?".

Fuck you, Gilbert. I will still probably buy your next game, but this is bullshit.
 

Unkillable Cat

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And, as expected, GOG owners of Thimbleweed Park get *beeped* over as usual as the DLC is not available to them.
 

J_C

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This should be free.

https://grumpygamer.com/ransome_unbeeped

It's a little depressing that a few people are actually upset that we're charging $1.99 for this. Making this wasn't free. It took a lot of work. Programming, testing, audio editing, etc. It feels like people think it was just copying a bunch of audio files over. I've always objected to DLC that was made at the same time as the game and all they do is flip a bit. This is not that kind of DLC. The code to make this work was not written until just a few months ago. We had the idea of MAYBE doing this DLC during the development, but none of the work was done.

We've released two MAJOR updates for FREE since launch, so I think we deserve to try and recover some of our costs. It sometimes feels like people expect game devs to make games for free. This is my livelihood. I use it to pay my rent and buy food. Game pricing is completely screwed up, it's why you see predatory free-to-play games and loot boxes.

The other reason it's not FREE is so people don't suddenly (and without warning) get a full-on *unbeeped* clown swearing at their kids. Having to pay something provides some parental friction.

Buy it!

It's only $1.99 and you'll support game devs trying to make a living so they can keep making games.
I think people are mad because this is the shitty kind of DLC which should be free. I don't know what kind of updates they had previously, but if they were more substantial, now those should have cost a few dollars. But this....?

Also reminding everyone that the beeping/cursing switch was optional in Brütal Legend from the very beginning. Thus, Tim is still superior. :smug:
 

Astral Rag

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SLIPPERY SLOPE ALERT


I have to side with the naysayers here. 2€ is nothing but it's still too much for something that should have been an option in the base game from day 1. I'll just continue to let my huge brians fill in those beeps.

Sell the OST or make a good expansion and I will gladly d1p the latter but I don't want this microtransaction BS to pollute yet another genre.

tenor.gif
 
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Unkillable Cat

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Codex 2014 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy
Then that was added just today, because I checked it thoroughly this morning after your last post and it was nowhere to be seen.

...

I need to stop getting up so early in the morning.
 

LESS T_T

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Codex 2014
What's going on with Ron Gilbert's little RPG-ish prototype: https://grumpygamer.com/a_little_something

A little something I've been messing around with.

Side note: Tiled is a great tile editor and come a long way since I first used it many years ago.

a_little_something2.png


This is a map section (*SPOILERS*) for the main map. It started out as a cute little story about what religion means and does to us, but the narrative is taking me in odd directions and I don't know if it will end up there.

It's interesting to build an RPG (using the term very loosely) where you have the option to play the entire game with no combat and it's still fun. Undertale did this but in a subversive way. I want to do it more in a normal choose-your-own-playstyle way. Fight if you want, don't if you don't and it's equally as fun but it affects the narrative. A passive player won't see the same game as a combative one, but won't feel like they are missing anything.

I posted some previous screenshots of this prototype, but since then I've ripped out all the tile graphics and started over with a much simpler (almost icon) art style. I found that during prototyping, as soon as the art started to look too finished and refined, it would distract me and I'd spend all my time trying to make it better, rather than working on the game or story.

But it can't be crappy, or I get distracted with that. Kenney's tilesets were perfect. Simple, but also really good.

Currently, it's just something I'm messing around with for fun and relaxation, I don't know if it will become a real project or not.
 

LESS T_T

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Codex 2014
What's going on with everyone: https://blog.thimbleweedpark.com/where_are_they_now

It's our one year anniversary of launching Thimbleweed Park to the public!

To celebrate, we're 50% off on ALL digital platforms for less than 24 hours:

Buy it on Steam
Buy it on GOG
Buy it on Humble
Buy it on the Mac App Store
Buy it for Xbox One and Windows 10
Buy it on PS4
Buy it on Switch
Buy it on the iOS App Store
Buy it on Android

We have discounts on some of our great T-shirts and other merch over at Fangamer.

AND we're releasing the physical versions on Switch and PS4 with Limited Run Games along with an exclusive new vinyl color and an exclusive new T-shirt!

There will also be a one-year anniversary podcast on Monday.

As part of these celebrations, we've put together a bumper "where are they now" for many of our team members. So if you'd been wanting to get to know the team better and hear about their other projects, now's your chance.

We've listed everyone in alphabetical order based on first name.

Basically most people working on other things at other places.

As for Ron himself:

Ron Gilbert

What are you working on now?
Desperately trying to come up with a new project!

Oh, and his RPG experiment is actiony thing: https://grumpygamer.com/combat_examples

Combat

combat.png


Does anyone out there have any good examples of top-down action/RPG games that have nice feeling combat? Preferably using pixel art and keyboard only. The combat in Nuclear Throne feels really nice, but like so many games out there, they use a combination of mouse and keyboard (keyboard to move, mouse to attack).

I'm trying to do the whole game with just keyboard (don't ask, it's just a requirement of mine).

Currently, I use WASD to move and SPACE/Enter to attack, but it just feels wrong and I can't place why. Maybe it's the best that it gets with keyboard only. Or maybe there is something little I'm doing wrong that actually matters a lot. It's why I'd like to play some example of games that do it well.

Also, something that runs on the Mac.

And I want a pony.

UPDATE: Still no pony. But, for the commenters that are telling me I should use arrow keys instead of WASD... arrow keys work as well as the num pad. Originally, only the arrow keys worked, but then every single person I sat down to play started using WASD, so I finally implemented it.
 
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LESS T_T

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A very long interview with Ron at don't die: https://nodontdie.com/ron-gilbert/

I've yet to read it but just skimmed some questions, looks very interesting and meaty.

One thing that caught my eyes:

Is there a game you want to make that you haven't before? I guess making games for as long as you have, I assume it's like in any other medium. Are there things you want to do that you haven't been able to do yet?

I think the game that I have always really wanted to make is a really good RPG. You know, a Western-style RPG. Not a Japanese-style RPG, but a good Diablo-style RPG. I really enjoy playing those games and I think that's something that I would enjoy making. But I don't think I know that much about it. It's not an area that I can claim any expertise on. My expertise is I played a lot of them, but that doesn't necessarily translate into design expertise. But I think I would really enjoy working on a small team of people that were building a really interesting RPG like that.
 

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