The "Did You Try?" lists here just give some of the pointers to things that are funny in the games that aren't required to complete the puzzles, but they're worth doing for the humour value. They're not really 'achievements' as such, and don't change the outcome of the story, they're just cool little things the designers, writers etc put in the game to make it a richer world, funnier and worthwhile playing the games for a second or third time.
Yeah... I agree. But have you take a look at "achievements" for most games nowadays. Would easily fit in, not to mention I used the intentionally vague "pseudo-achievements".
Reasoning behind it is if it's ingame, it would be a lot more 'open' to gamers, not all of them finding those lists and stuff on the site here. Get the broadest audience for the effort spend and such. Atleast, that's what I would think it's a good for. Get them to know they missed out on stuff and replay it once again. And then, maybe, purchase more games and stuff too if they notice the amount of detail that went into the game!
And most games spoil parts by just telling clearly what to do for some achievements, even if they are spoilery in nature, so obviously they would be hidden for your first game, unlocked as you gain them, and unhidden after first completion, so you can nicely see how you did in thoroughness the first game and what you should look out for 2nd/3rd game.
And yeah... I thought all that up just yesterday playing the first 2 episodes of Sam and Max and reading the lists of "did you try"...
Thank you guys for keeping up the responses long after my questions have stopped being interesting, truly. Speaking of which, I was a big fan of the old point and click mechanic of seasons one and two, any specific reason the old mouse driven control has been switched to a more keyboard driven approach for moving the character? Every now and then in TOMI, I'll find myself still clickin the edge of the screen.
I try not to spoil the board here (even though this is an exclusive Freelance Police Dispatch and I not know how to cover up spoilers but pretty much this board is like a spoiler in a way), but ask the strongest question that may relate to season 2 foreshadow events.
1. Sal was not real?! Why did Girl Stinky stated in the final episode saying who Sal when she kept calling his name. Is it some twisted plot twist that we not foresee that would disturb our mind (because when Sam talk to Girl Stinky about Sal and there that dramatic scene movement where something is stroke of mystery and creepy horror stuff do in a shadowy event) or just some joke there. One thing must be clear first, are both Stinky (or Stinkies) are major enemies that our Freelance duos must face?
2. Is it really Sam and Max future in Chariots of the Dogs where they finally put their career to rest? I don't believe much of it unless their something your not telling us and could relate to this season 3? After all, the animated series show one episode where Sam and Max got turned to old geezers after a failed attempt to work out the two Greek entities to work out which surprising work out in the end after giving Zeus the medusa ring and manage to escape from his rage after Max made an bad comment and turn to a Scottish golf statue. Matter of fact how did Sam got Max back to normal?
3. Is Satan involved with season 3 oh wait he spoiled it in the end of season 2.
4. Is it painful where Max put his stuff? ...............Wait why am I'm answering that question?
5. *Magical* (Hugh Bliss style and saying)
6. Will there be trophy for the PS3 version? And so, will our preorder can be pick from either side?
7.*staring around* ............................huh wait what?! I lost track there.
8. So how the graphic is revamp
9. Is the Desoto still possess? I am still trying to get rid of my phobia with it since my previous encounter with it. I still have the roach stain, snake goo, and burn rubber smell from the last time.
10. Is there the "Do you have any....." joke in season 3
11. Did the mechanical monkey from Sam and Max season 1 Machinima Short #3 - A Painstaking Search, have any involvement to season 3. I swear that monkey is puuuuureee eeeeeeevvillllllllll. I know as Bosco paranoid mind.
12 (and last). Can you ask Max to help promote Krispy Cream doughnut shop since there glaze doughnut is like tasting heaven in a good way. He is still president right?
13 PS. What will happen to Bluster Blaster? will he survive his death clock since with the experiment with SOL? I hope he pop out somewhere in the season since he's a funny arcade who make us laugh of danger................ That made no sense at all, but acceptable. And any cross over characters?
PS again: oh wait the DeSoto still possess huh? Well I guess I could get some fancy sports car from Germany so it will be distracted by it sexy look (it's a female right?).
We put some work into making sure you in particular wouldn't like those covers, so job well done on us I guess.
I have a suggestion for a cover that Rather Dashing would dislike. The retail releases of TMI should feature character art similar to Curse of Monkey Island with a little button you can push on the front that will feature a sales pitch from Stan, as voiced by Patrick Pinney. Also, a big cartoony version of LeChuck smiling and hugging a teddy bear.
I believe this to be the perfect formula to cause Rather Dashing to dislike the TMI cover the most of all.
Some more of the technical stuff that fascinates me:
So you're saying that the lip sync is auto generated depending on the voices, thus playing a game in a localized version would cause the animation to change?
How are the changes in emotions of characters controlled in the middle of a line?
1.) I loved the music in previous seasons. Come "Tales of Monkey Island", I was disappointed that MZL's music bits were so incredibly short, while JEJ could create such wonderful, lengthy cues even exceeding five minutes. Will we get such long pieces again? Hopefully, it's all-new and none of the older pieces, although awesome, will be reused!
2.) The new inventory looks very fancy - it also looks as if not much stuff fits in. That's OK, I gather the puzzles center more on psychic powers, nonetheless: What's the maximum inventory items on one page?
3.) Is Majus somehow involved in the design of this game? If yes, what should I look for in the final episodes? How can the "I wonder what happens"-series continue if Majus has so much insight into the games?
...oh, and I for one would really WANT Sybil to return. Liked her!!
Aiyee. Why bring back someone if they're not necessary to what you're doing?
I'm personally a little more excited about meeting new characters. Crazy Sam and Max could be as big and diverse and cool as The Simpsons, if they wanted to be - except without the second half of The Simpsons, which sucked like a hungry calf at his momma cow's belly.
Yeah. I actually like Sybil quite a bit, but if her presence wouldn't serve a real purpose in whatever the season's story happens to be, why bring her back? Just look at Murray in EMI.
Besides, the way Beyond Time and Space ended left Sybil's story at a good stopping point. I'll miss her if she doesn't show up this season, but I can more than live with where Telltale left her off.
( ... Weeeeell, except for the whole Sybil/Abe coupling, but, eh, de gustibus non est disputandum and all that.)
EDIT to add a question for Telltale while we're on the subject: When it comes to deciding which characters you are or aren't going to bring back for a new season, have you ever felt constrained -- or at least pressured -- by fan response to any of them, despite your own plans? For example, do you feel you have more freedom to use (or not use, as it were) characters whose fan feedback was more tepid than not? And, conversely, less freedom if the characters were widely popular or disliked?
So you're saying that the lip sync is auto generated depending on the voices, thus playing a game in a localized version would cause the animation to change?
Yep, we re-run the lip sync system when we get a batch of localized voices. Note that part way through Wallace & Gromit we re-did our lip sync system, and it's way better now. The results are hopefully apparent in Tales of MI, where the characters look a lot less wobbly-mouthed than old Sam & Max stuff. The Devil's Playhouse is the first Sam & Max game to use the new tech, and I think it shows. With the new lip sync, higher res faces, and some light blend shapes going on, Max's mouth and face finally hits a lot more shapes and poses from the comics. It looks nice.
How are the changes in emotions of characters controlled in the middle of a line?
When we localize the game, those either end up working out nicely, or they don't. Depends. The system tries to adjust for time if a localized dialog line is longer or shorter, but doesn't always hit perfectly. I think we tend to do better at it than most, but I'm biased.
3.) Is Majus somehow involved in the design of this game? If yes, what should I look for in the final episodes? How can the "I wonder what happens"-series continue if Majus has so much insight into the games?
Majus and Suro aren't involved in the design work, but they're doing cutscene stuff in the games. Their first task was to fill the streets of 301 with boozing pigeons and scampering rats and things, but they have since moved on to more technical art and cutscene work. You'll be able to see a Majus cutscene at a climactic point in 302, for instance.
Hi guys!
I really appreciate your work... I think Telltale is the greatest adventure company at the moment! I really like your philosophy on making games, on telling stories and on the relations with players!
Just one thing: it was already answered that the game will be english only, but what for other languages? Will they ever be available? I know people here in Italy who would have bought Tales of Monkey if only it was in Italian! I know that multi-language in a episode production could be difficult, but you can reach more and more people with it! You can release patch, or make different versions of the game, but please don't do distribution like Atari did: Season 2 (TWO!!!) will be available in Italian in may, after 2.5 years of waiting and only with subtitles. I prefer much more to download patches from your site and buy directly from you. So, any plans about translations?
That is INCREDIBLE. Best idea I've heard in a long time.
That said, are you guys interested in any new properties to work with?
Like TF2...
Use minigun with scout
Use minigun with soldier
Use minigun with pyro
Talk to 'self': "Bwahahahaha! What coward sends babies to fight me!"
Use minigun with demoman
Use minigun with heavy
Use minigun with engineer
Talk to 'self': "Cry some more!"
Use minigun with medic
Use minigun with sniper
Talk to 'friendly-looking medic': "Medic!"
*switch characters*
Use knife with heavy's back.
Talk to 'dead heavy': You died as you lived: morbidly obese!"
You know, I don't think TF2 lends itself to adventure gaming.
The new season (or first episode, at least) seems to be rated E10+, rather than T. Were you guys surprised to get a lower rating, unsurprised (due to it being less edgy, perhaps?), or was it a conscious decision to aim for the rating?
Basically, should we expect the same levels of subversive naughty humor laced with mild profanity in the past, or has language been toned down a bit (maybe it was the severe amount of bleeped-out four-letter words throughout the first two seasons that netted it a T)?
Either way, I trust you guys in the fullest to continue delivering on amazing, hilarious games, no matter what rating it has, just curious.
Season 2 (TWO!!!) will be available in Italian in may, after 2.5 years of waiting and only with subtitles.
Ah... the blessings of living in the Netherlands, where any developer who TRIES dubbing gets horribly crucified .
Talking about Ratings and bleeped out words: I once heard somewhere, in a dev commentary on some TV-show how they would actually swear to properly make the bleeps the correct time, but the Rating Board would get the episodes before this process was done (and thus, with full profanity). How is that at TTG?
The new season (or first episode, at least) seems to be rated E10+, rather than T. Were you guys surprised to get a lower rating, unsurprised (due to it being less edgy, perhaps?), or was it a conscious decision to aim for the rating?
Basically, should we expect the same levels of subversive naughty humor laced with mild profanity in the past, or has language been toned down a bit (maybe it was the severe amount of bleeped-out four-letter words throughout the first two seasons that netted it a T)?
Either way, I trust you guys in the fullest to continue delivering on amazing, hilarious games, no matter what rating it has, just curious.
As Will said, the ratings system is a constant source of bemusement
Me, I'm a big fan of subversivity (particularly with regards to the manglement of languagisms), and less of a fan of profanity (unless it's really frellin' funny). Make of that what thou willst.
In other words, there may be some veiled naughtiness in 303 and 304,
Mike "I get PAID to destroy the Queen's English, SCORE!" Stemmle
Hmmm...I keep wanting to ask things about the writing, as I feel that Telltale's packed with great writers, and they're never asked about it.
Okay, uh,...howww do you make sure something is funny or not?
Do youuu ever write backstories for your characters?
Yeah, I suck at asking questions. It's worth noting that those question marks at the end are related to whether or not this is a decent question, and not for grammatical purposes.
Ah... the blessings of living in the Netherlands, where any developer who TRIES dubbing gets horribly crucified .
Not entirely true.
I bought Beyond Good and Evil on Gamecube, there was no English version.
At first I wanted to trade it in, but after realising how good the dub was, I didn't even bother. It was well dubbed ánd really funny.
Ah... the blessings of living in the Netherlands, where any developer who TRIES dubbing gets horribly crucified .
The Dutch version of Heavy Rain is one of the most hilariously bad things I ever experienced. Why in the world they chose to hire A-list actors like Carice van Houten is beyond me. They'll never get their money's worth for that. The Dutch market isn't that big, and most people will still choose to play the English version. Here's an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_09eH_EERg
Believe me, it gets even worse. Carice sounds like she's terribly ashamed to be in a videogame. The voice of the guy behind the counter in that video sets the quality-level for most of the voices in the game. I've been crying my eyes out from laughter with my friends with this game - not really what the game sets out to do.
So yeah, Telltale, never even start thinking about a Dutch voice over for any of your games. Just don't. It'll all just end in tears.
Another question for the design team: How do you decide who gets to do which episode (of which series)? Is it just random, or based on personality? Was it just coincidence that Jordan got to do the Trogdor-episode and that Stemmle got to do the episodes that were set on Flotsam?
Talking about Ratings and bleeped out words: I once heard somewhere, in a dev commentary on some TV-show how they would actually swear to properly make the bleeps the correct time, but the Rating Board would get the episodes before this process was done (and thus, with full profanity). How is that at TTG?
We certainly aren't about to send any unbleeped swears off to the ESRB. They don't take too kindly to that sort of shenanigans.
As for actual swears, it depends on the voice actor. Usually they are just written into the dialog as "*censored*" and the actors have to infer the meaning. William Casten used to have fun with that, particularly when the word "soda" was bleeped out at the end of 205. I've never heard David Nowlin swear on the other hand. There was a particularly memorable sequence where his pre-bleeped swears were "button" and "donut button."
Joey Camen however created streams of profanity so foul that the unbleeped version never even left the recording studio for fear that someone would get their hands on them.
Comments
It will likely be just as bad as the other 2 seasons, so hopefully nothing worse than "Would you like to rub my unicorn?"
Reasoning behind it is if it's ingame, it would be a lot more 'open' to gamers, not all of them finding those lists and stuff on the site here. Get the broadest audience for the effort spend and such. Atleast, that's what I would think it's a good for. Get them to know they missed out on stuff and replay it once again. And then, maybe, purchase more games and stuff too if they notice the amount of detail that went into the game!
And most games spoil parts by just telling clearly what to do for some achievements, even if they are spoilery in nature, so obviously they would be hidden for your first game, unlocked as you gain them, and unhidden after first completion, so you can nicely see how you did in thoroughness the first game and what you should look out for 2nd/3rd game.
And yeah... I thought all that up just yesterday playing the first 2 episodes of Sam and Max and reading the lists of "did you try"... ...
I had basically the same reaction. It's like what were they thinking!?
Is Jurgen the cutest villian, if not, who is?
Also, how many doors will Agent Superball be guarding this time?
1. Sal was not real?! Why did Girl Stinky stated in the final episode saying who Sal when she kept calling his name. Is it some twisted plot twist that we not foresee that would disturb our mind (because when Sam talk to Girl Stinky about Sal and there that dramatic scene movement where something is stroke of mystery and creepy horror stuff do in a shadowy event) or just some joke there. One thing must be clear first, are both Stinky (or Stinkies) are major enemies that our Freelance duos must face?
2. Is it really Sam and Max future in Chariots of the Dogs where they finally put their career to rest? I don't believe much of it unless their something your not telling us and could relate to this season 3? After all, the animated series show one episode where Sam and Max got turned to old geezers after a failed attempt to work out the two Greek entities to work out which surprising work out in the end after giving Zeus the medusa ring and manage to escape from his rage after Max made an bad comment and turn to a Scottish golf statue. Matter of fact how did Sam got Max back to normal?
3. Is Satan involved with season 3 oh wait he spoiled it in the end of season 2.
4. Is it painful where Max put his stuff? ...............Wait why am I'm answering that question?
5. *Magical* (Hugh Bliss style and saying)
6. Will there be trophy for the PS3 version? And so, will our preorder can be pick from either side?
7.*staring around* ............................huh wait what?! I lost track there.
8. So how the graphic is revamp
9. Is the Desoto still possess? I am still trying to get rid of my phobia with it since my previous encounter with it. I still have the roach stain, snake goo, and burn rubber smell from the last time.
10. Is there the "Do you have any....." joke in season 3
11. Did the mechanical monkey from Sam and Max season 1 Machinima Short #3 - A Painstaking Search, have any involvement to season 3. I swear that monkey is puuuuureee eeeeeeevvillllllllll. I know as Bosco paranoid mind.
12 (and last). Can you ask Max to help promote Krispy Cream doughnut shop since there glaze doughnut is like tasting heaven in a good way. He is still president right?
PS again: oh wait the DeSoto still possess huh? Well I guess I could get some fancy sports car from Germany so it will be distracted by it sexy look (it's a female right?).
OMGOD! Now there's a chance Sybil will be 3rd season's main BAD GUY!?
WHAT HAVE I DONE!!!
I'm so sorry everyone... T,T!
Will season4 show us how Max ended in Jedi Knight?
I have a suggestion for a cover that Rather Dashing would dislike. The retail releases of TMI should feature character art similar to Curse of Monkey Island with a little button you can push on the front that will feature a sales pitch from Stan, as voiced by Patrick Pinney. Also, a big cartoony version of LeChuck smiling and hugging a teddy bear.
I believe this to be the perfect formula to cause Rather Dashing to dislike the TMI cover the most of all.
Here, I improved it.
Use heavy with sammich
Use spy with scouts mother.
So you're saying that the lip sync is auto generated depending on the voices, thus playing a game in a localized version would cause the animation to change?
How are the changes in emotions of characters controlled in the middle of a line?
2.) The new inventory looks very fancy - it also looks as if not much stuff fits in. That's OK, I gather the puzzles center more on psychic powers, nonetheless: What's the maximum inventory items on one page?
3.) Is Majus somehow involved in the design of this game? If yes, what should I look for in the final episodes? How can the "I wonder what happens"-series continue if Majus has so much insight into the games?
...oh, and I for one would really WANT Sybil to return. Liked her!!
I'm personally a little more excited about meeting new characters. Crazy Sam and Max could be as big and diverse and cool as The Simpsons, if they wanted to be - except without the second half of The Simpsons, which sucked like a hungry calf at his momma cow's belly.
Besides, the way Beyond Time and Space ended left Sybil's story at a good stopping point. I'll miss her if she doesn't show up this season, but I can more than live with where Telltale left her off.
EDIT to add a question for Telltale while we're on the subject: When it comes to deciding which characters you are or aren't going to bring back for a new season, have you ever felt constrained -- or at least pressured -- by fan response to any of them, despite your own plans? For example, do you feel you have more freedom to use (or not use, as it were) characters whose fan feedback was more tepid than not? And, conversely, less freedom if the characters were widely popular or disliked?
That is INCREDIBLE. Best idea I've heard in a long time.
That said, are you guys interested in any new properties to work with?
Like TF2...
I had the wonderful privilege of animating a possible answer to this question for season 3.
Now THIS is scary :eek:
Yep, we re-run the lip sync system when we get a batch of localized voices. Note that part way through Wallace & Gromit we re-did our lip sync system, and it's way better now. The results are hopefully apparent in Tales of MI, where the characters look a lot less wobbly-mouthed than old Sam & Max stuff. The Devil's Playhouse is the first Sam & Max game to use the new tech, and I think it shows. With the new lip sync, higher res faces, and some light blend shapes going on, Max's mouth and face finally hits a lot more shapes and poses from the comics. It looks nice.
When we localize the game, those either end up working out nicely, or they don't. Depends. The system tries to adjust for time if a localized dialog line is longer or shorter, but doesn't always hit perfectly. I think we tend to do better at it than most, but I'm biased.
Majus and Suro aren't involved in the design work, but they're doing cutscene stuff in the games. Their first task was to fill the streets of 301 with boozing pigeons and scampering rats and things, but they have since moved on to more technical art and cutscene work. You'll be able to see a Majus cutscene at a climactic point in 302, for instance.
... I'm torn between a simple "wat" or "DEAR GOD WHY?!"
Both of which would be my round-about way of saying: "Bring it." :cool:
I really appreciate your work... I think Telltale is the greatest adventure company at the moment! I really like your philosophy on making games, on telling stories and on the relations with players!
Just one thing: it was already answered that the game will be english only, but what for other languages? Will they ever be available? I know people here in Italy who would have bought Tales of Monkey if only it was in Italian! I know that multi-language in a episode production could be difficult, but you can reach more and more people with it! You can release patch, or make different versions of the game, but please don't do distribution like Atari did: Season 2 (TWO!!!) will be available in Italian in may, after 2.5 years of waiting and only with subtitles. I prefer much more to download patches from your site and buy directly from you. So, any plans about translations?
Use minigun with scout
Use minigun with soldier
Use minigun with pyro
Talk to 'self': "Bwahahahaha! What coward sends babies to fight me!"
Use minigun with demoman
Use minigun with heavy
Use minigun with engineer
Talk to 'self': "Cry some more!"
Use minigun with medic
Use minigun with sniper
Talk to 'friendly-looking medic': "Medic!"
*switch characters*
Use knife with heavy's back.
Talk to 'dead heavy': You died as you lived: morbidly obese!"
You know, I don't think TF2 lends itself to adventure gaming.
Woo!
Basically, should we expect the same levels of subversive naughty humor laced with mild profanity in the past, or has language been toned down a bit (maybe it was the severe amount of bleeped-out four-letter words throughout the first two seasons that netted it a T)?
Either way, I trust you guys in the fullest to continue delivering on amazing, hilarious games, no matter what rating it has, just curious.
No sir.
*drops everything and backs away slowly*
Talking about Ratings and bleeped out words: I once heard somewhere, in a dev commentary on some TV-show how they would actually swear to properly make the bleeps the correct time, but the Rating Board would get the episodes before this process was done (and thus, with full profanity). How is that at TTG?
As Will said, the ratings system is a constant source of bemusement
Me, I'm a big fan of subversivity (particularly with regards to the manglement of languagisms), and less of a fan of profanity (unless it's really frellin' funny). Make of that what thou willst.
In other words, there may be some veiled naughtiness in 303 and 304,
Mike "I get PAID to destroy the Queen's English, SCORE!" Stemmle
Okay, uh,...howww do you make sure something is funny or not?
Do youuu ever write backstories for your characters?
Yeah, I suck at asking questions. It's worth noting that those question marks at the end are related to whether or not this is a decent question, and not for grammatical purposes.
Not entirely true.
I bought Beyond Good and Evil on Gamecube, there was no English version.
At first I wanted to trade it in, but after realising how good the dub was, I didn't even bother. It was well dubbed ánd really funny.
The Dutch version of Heavy Rain is one of the most hilariously bad things I ever experienced. Why in the world they chose to hire A-list actors like Carice van Houten is beyond me. They'll never get their money's worth for that. The Dutch market isn't that big, and most people will still choose to play the English version. Here's an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_09eH_EERg
Believe me, it gets even worse. Carice sounds like she's terribly ashamed to be in a videogame. The voice of the guy behind the counter in that video sets the quality-level for most of the voices in the game. I've been crying my eyes out from laughter with my friends with this game - not really what the game sets out to do.
So yeah, Telltale, never even start thinking about a Dutch voice over for any of your games. Just don't. It'll all just end in tears.
Another question for the design team: How do you decide who gets to do which episode (of which series)? Is it just random, or based on personality? Was it just coincidence that Jordan got to do the Trogdor-episode and that Stemmle got to do the episodes that were set on Flotsam?
We certainly aren't about to send any unbleeped swears off to the ESRB. They don't take too kindly to that sort of shenanigans.
As for actual swears, it depends on the voice actor. Usually they are just written into the dialog as "*censored*" and the actors have to infer the meaning. William Casten used to have fun with that, particularly when the word "soda" was bleeped out at the end of 205. I've never heard David Nowlin swear on the other hand. There was a particularly memorable sequence where his pre-bleeped swears were "button" and "donut button."
Joey Camen however created streams of profanity so foul that the unbleeped version never even left the recording studio for fear that someone would get their hands on them.