New Wallace & Gromit news (just in time for Christmas...)

EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
edited January 2009 in Wallace & Gromit
Eurogamer has a nice article about Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, along with new screenshots and concept art, right here.

We plan to say a lot more about the series in 2009 but this should tide you guys over through Christmas. (Plus, of course, there's the holiday premiere of A Matter of Loaf and Death for you W&G fans in the UK to look forward to. :D)

Comments

  • edited December 2008
    Whoooa! Cooool! You guys nailed the animation test, and you rock, I love you Telltale!
  • edited December 2008
    My god, that looks awesome (just looked at the screens, reading the article now).

    First thing I noticed:

    ss_preview_wg_screen_squirrel.jpg.jpg?slideshow=true

    Wasn't this guy on one of those secret Strong Bad shirts? (episode 1, I think it was)

    Look at that tail by the way. Looks just like clay!
  • edited December 2008
    The game is looking amazing. I am worried if this game is released on WiiWare though, as the episodes would be limiting as the graphics aren't as simplistic as Strong Bad's... that's mere speculation, though. Viva la Telltale!
  • edited December 2008
    Okay, some more things I noticed (yes, I know, I'm analyzing these things far too closely)

    I checked, and I think the squirrel above is indeed the one on the Strong Bad-shirt in episode 1:

    picture.php?albumid=52&pictureid=800

    On the paper, in the first trailer, some people speculated that the line about the bee season was a hint of things to come. I think that might be correct.

    2w54qx0.png
    ss_preview_wg__screen_basement.jpg.jpg?slideshow=true

    This head is a nice momento to one of the Cracking Contraption-shorts (you can watch it legally on Aardman's own youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSVD3nzsIyA&feature=channel_page
    ss_preview_wg_screen_gromit_mixer.jpg.jpg?slideshow=true

    The last one (the one I'm most likely wrong about); on the art that's already posted on Telltale's W&G-site, you can see in the filename that the lady on one of those pictures is called 'Edwina'. She seems to be of the...larger...persuasion. On the right of this screen (where W&G seem to be running some weird bee-catching kind of job) you can see a shop with buns behind the window, and the letters 'Ed'. Edwina's house of buns?
    ss_preview_wg_screen_tanker.jpg.jpg?slideshow=true

    Yeah...I'm grasping at straws. Okay, that's all I got. I'll stop being an extreme nerd now, shall I?

    Looking great Telltale, can't wait to see some more of it in motion. Indeed, like Guybrush said, my only worry would be the limitations a possible Wiiware-release would bring.
  • edited December 2008
    Considering this game looks more detailed* (textures, high-poly models) than Sam & Max, and Sam & Max was too big for wiiware, I doubt you need be concerned.

    Looking lovely Telltale!


    * Possibly renders, rather than in-engine shots, but the thought still stands.
  • EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
    edited December 2008
    Possibly renders, rather than in-engine shots, but the thought still stands.

    These are in-game screenshots! :D

    Also this is the lady from the concept art that you're thinking of, and she doesn't own the bun shop. But good deductions nonetheless. :)
  • langleylangley Telltale Alumni
    edited December 2008
    jp-30 wrote: »
    Considering this game looks more detailed* (textures, high-poly models) than Sam & Max...

    Larger textures, maybe. Higher poly count, no. I believe we're about the same as Sam and Max, but we're using new rendering tricks to make things look nicer. Normal maps, more lights, specular highlights, depth of field, etc. Carlo, who is working on our new renderer, has done an amazing job.
  • edited December 2008
    Well, yay for Carlo! In game - beautiful!

    If the reason we didn't get Sam & Max released on Wiiware was due to size restrictions. And Wallace & Gromit is about the same size as Sam & Max, (I'd hate to cause someone to post the Jump-To-Conclusions Mat), it's a reasonable bet that the distribution channels will be similar for W&G to S&M.

    If there even is a Wii version in the works, of course.
  • edited December 2008
    Emily wrote: »
    These are in-game screenshots! :D

    Also this is the lady from the concept art that you're thinking of, and she doesn't own the bun shop. But good deductions nonetheless. :)

    Heh, really? She did change her hair in the meantime. I can appreciate a lady who isn't afraid to show her age.:p

    ConceptArt_Edwina.jpg
    ss_preview_wg_screen_street.jpg.jpg?slideshow=true

    And yes, kudos to Carlo!
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited December 2008
    Yeah she was redesigned after that concept art was drawn. Don't know why it in particular got released, to be honest! Who knows.
  • edited December 2008
    When is a platform being announced?
  • edited December 2008
    I want this one so badly. Is it scheduled for late '09 or early? Or is there no plan at all yet?
  • edited December 2008
    jp-30 wrote: »
    Well, yay for Carlo! In game - beautiful!

    If the reason we didn't get Sam & Max released on Wiiware was due to size restrictions. And Wallace & Gromit is about the same size as Sam & Max, (I'd hate to cause someone to post the Jump-To-Conclusions Mat), it's a reasonable bet that the distribution channels will be similar for W&G to S&M.

    If there even is a Wii version in the works, of course.

    Maybe this time they decided to try with the X-Box Live Arcade?
  • edited December 2008
    The ONM website (Official Nintendo Magazine) UK's equivalent to Nintendo Power is reporting this as First Wii screens.
  • EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
    edited December 2008
    The ONM website (Official Nintendo Magazine) UK's equivalent to Nintendo Power is reporting this as First Wii screens.

    See here.

    These screenshots are from the PC version, anyway. :p
  • edited December 2008
    I love the looks of it, it's very similar to the cartoons, which is what I wanted to see. Now, onto a media blackout until release :D
  • edited December 2008
    jp-30 wrote: »
    If the reason we didn't get Sam & Max released on Wiiware was due to size restrictions. And Wallace & Gromit is about the same size as Sam & Max.

    Maybe I'm too optimistic, but I really hope Strong Bad on Wii had enough success to give Telltale the privilege to make an exception for the W&G episodes release size limit. And also maybe to ask Nintendo to make the Nintendo shop support a season subscription model similar to the PC one :)

    Playing on the Wii is just so much more fun than playing on the PC...
  • edited December 2008
    It'd be nice if this series comes to GameTap. Mostly because I'm already subscribed to GameTap for the next year, and Telltale's stuff is always a big plus :)
  • edited December 2008
    LuigiHann wrote: »
    It'd be nice if this series comes to GameTap.Mostly because I'm already subscribed to GameTap for the next year, and Telltale's stuff is always a big plus :)

    I can't hear you! Lalalalalala!!!!!
  • edited December 2008
    You guys, I have one last little thing I discovered. Or, maybe not, but I'm still posting about it. I would love to go down in history as the guy who discovered the mystery console W&G is going to appear on. I was watching Behind the Bad: Chapter 3, and at one point, when Strong Bad is talking to Videlectrix on the phone, there's this Xbox 360-controller on his desk. Now Telltale, why would you do something like that, hmm? I attached a screenshot for all to see.

    So, Telltale, what do I win?:)
  • edited December 2008
    Good catch. CSI: Hard Evidence has an Xbox 360 version though, so it may not mean much. Besides which, I imagine they spend some time keeping track of what the competition is doing anyway.
  • edited December 2008
    Yup, it probably doesn't mean anything even if they really are developing it for the Xbox 360, it might be some employee's console or whatever random and unrelated reason. I'd like to see the game ported to XBLA though...
  • edited December 2008
    XBLA's more likely than WiiWare. SBCG4AP was able to fit within WiiWare's ~40 MB limit because of the simplicity of the models and general graphical style. All they had to do to make the episodes fit was decrease the resolutions of the textures. Wallace & Gromit, on the other hand, has models closer to Sam & Max in complexity and lots of textures. I doubt it could ever be fit into ~40 meg.
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited December 2008
    Games made with the Telltale Tool have appeared on PC (everything), Mac (out from Boneville), PS2 (CSI3), Xbox 360 (CSI4), and Wii (CSI4, SBCG4AP)... and also we're a video game developer full of people who play video games of all sorts on all systems... so it's not too surprising to see all sorts of PC and console parts everywhere.

    It would be really clever of us to drop all sorts of clues about W&G into videos like this, but sadly we haven't been doing that sort of thing much lately!
  • edited December 2008
    The screens look good, the clay is really good, but how come the characters don't have shadows beneath them? A couple of the renders had shadows, and that looked great.

    I'm looking forward to this series, if the stories are good I think this series will be Telltale's best yet!
  • edited December 2008
    langley wrote: »
    Larger textures, maybe. Higher poly count, no. I believe we're about the same as Sam and Max, but we're using new rendering tricks to make things look nicer. Normal maps, more lights, specular highlights, depth of field, etc. Carlo, who is working on our new renderer, has done an amazing job.

    Awesome.. this is definitely the best looking game I've seen from Telltale(and the telltale tool) :)
  • edited December 2008
    The 'This is the Big One' comment on the newspaper seems to be short for 'This is it, this is the last job I'll ever do, I'll never need to do another one again', which strikes me as being very Sybil-esque. In the shorts and movie, Wallace has run three businesses so far: window washer, environmentally friendly pest controller and baker. I wonder if each episode will involve Wallace running a different business, with each episode exploring the opportunities for problems to arise and hilarity to ensue concerning each occupation.
  • edited December 2008
    BiggerJ wrote: »
    XBLA's more likely than WiiWare. SBCG4AP was able to fit within WiiWare's ~40 MB limit because of the simplicity of the models and general graphical style. All they had to do to make the episodes fit was decrease the resolutions of the textures. Wallace & Gromit, on the other hand, has models closer to Sam & Max in complexity and lots of textures. I doubt it could ever be fit into ~40 meg.

    Some of the audio on SBCG4AP was *extremely* low quality. So far, it has been most notable in the Baddest of the Bands episode. Not sure what encoding they're using, but surely a deep inspection VBR encoder can make things small enough and sound better than they did. If they end up doing episodic games on PSN (which doesn't seem to have any size limits), I hope they use a lossless codec for some of the audio assets.
  • edited January 2009
    This looks good. I don't really know much about Wallace and Gromit, but i am interested in this one. I'm sold for Sam and 'Max forever, but i have room for more episodic gaming goodness in my life. This might be what i need:)
  • edited January 2009
    PatsDark wrote: »
    This looks good. I don't really know much about Wallace and Gromit, but i am interested in this one. I'm sold for Sam and 'Max forever, but i have room for more episodic gaming goodness in my life. This might be what i need:)

    My thoughts exactly (even if a bit late). I have a very good feeling about the W&G game, the characters are looking incredibly alive even on the still shots, and the wacky humour W&G has (or so I'm told) is supposed to be good match with Telltale's writers. I can hardly wait!

    @ langley: you mentioned a lot of effects in your post about the engine - I assume it will still run well on lower end hardware?
  • langleylangley Telltale Alumni
    edited January 2009
    @ langley: you mentioned a lot of effects in your post about the engine - I assume it will still run well on lower end hardware?

    It's scalable. You can adjust the game accordingly so that it will hopefully meet your computer's needs. We don't have any minimum requirements as of yet, however.
  • edited January 2009
    langley wrote: »
    It's scalable. You can adjust the game accordingly so that it will hopefully meet your computer's needs.

    Thanks, that's good news - if it's scalable, then it will most probably run on the 8500GT-ish vga of my office notebook.
    langley wrote: »
    We don't have any minimum requirements as of yet, however.

    Yes, thought so - it was hard for me not to ask :D
  • edited January 2009
    Oh it'll run fine on an 8500GT, assuming the rest of the system is also decent. Lots of computers here in the office have 7800GS, 7900GS and 8600GTS cards, and we also have a pretty good number of ATI 2400HD Pros around :)
  • edited January 2009
    tabacco wrote: »
    Oh it'll run fine on an 8500GT, assuming the rest of the system is also decent. Lots of computers here in the office have 7800GS, 7900GS and 8600GTS cards, and we also have a pretty good number of ATI 2400HD Pros around :)

    Ummmm, the 2400Pros came as a bit of a surprise :eek: The other cards are quite OK - I guess people are not playing Crysis much in the office, though :D

    It's good to know that my well-equipped-other-than-this-stupid-VGA notebook will run W&G fine - one of the big highlights of these short game episodes that they're much better playable during shorter journeys.

    Cheers!
  • edited January 2009
    PatsDark wrote: »
    This looks good. I don't really know much about Wallace and Gromit, but i am interested in this one. I'm sold for Sam and 'Max forever, but i have room for more episodic gaming goodness in my life. This might be what i need:)

    you wanted more eposodic goodness!?
    you shouldeve gotten strong bad!
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