›

Graphics changes over the past month (large pix inside)

ATMachineATMachine
edited July 2009 in Tales of Monkey Island
So I thought I'd just post these images to show how hard Telltale have been working over the past month to improve the look of TMI.

These are two images from the introduction scene as it looked at E3 on June 1.
talesofmi_lechuck.jpg

talesofmi_guybrush.jpg
At this point the intro took place against the backdrop of a beautiful sunrise (or maybe sunset) scene.

Here's how it looks one month later, on July 1:
tmi_intro_lechuck.png

tmi_intro_guybrush.png
Now the scene is a rainstorm in the middle of the night. MUCH more atmospheric and Monkey-Island-ish.

Also note the textures on LeChuck seem to be much sharper.
«1

Comments

  • onemanandhisdroidonemanandhisdroid
    edited July 2009
    I must say I actually quite liked the "originals" or prototypes too. Still, it's hard to beat a thunderstorm at night when it comes to dramatics. Unless it's a thunderstorm at night on a pirate ship in the middle of the sea, that is. :D

    Big plus for LeChuck's beard glowing. That looks..... menacing. Really curious what and if Telltale did with some of the scenes shown from that towny stuff - i.e. that shot with Guybrush standing in front of the ship. Good stuff. :)
  • IrishmileIrishmile
    edited July 2009
    Yeah I am so pleased they switched the opening to a night scene, and it just isn't root beer with out the foam.
  • Edward VanHelgenEdward VanHelgen
    edited July 2009
    i would still prefer that orange sky from the original

    looks more atmospheric, with a sense of an open sea
  • seanvanamanseanvanaman Telltale Alumni
    edited July 2009
    Monkey Island games should start at night.
  • RMJ1984RMJ1984
    edited July 2009
    the night scene rocks, it makes Le'Chuck look more scary, its nice to see the detail has gone up :)
  • KB57KB57
    edited July 2009
    seanvanaman wrote: »
    Monkey Island games should start at night.

    Amen, brother!
  • UdvarnokyUdvarnoky
    edited July 2009
    ATMachine wrote: »
    So I thought I'd just post these images to show how hard Telltale have been working over the past month to improve the look of TMI.

    No doubt they've been working their fingers off, but being able to tune things up to the last possible minute also just seems to be a trademark of Telltale's engine that separates it from just about any other. I'm reminded of an interview from way back in 2004, when the company was comprised of (something like) four people:
    In order to facilitate the most dynamic storytelling possible, Bruner has developed an engine that is designed to make the story development process as smooth as possible. The guys told me stories of their experiences developing adventures—how a change in one simple line could take weeks to go through the process of voice acting, then art redesign, then re-coding. Changes in small things like shadows were equally painful to execute—and in most adventures, this leads to minor mistakes being considered "not worth the trouble to fix." The Telltale engine is structured to make those and other changes as easy and smooth as possible for the writers and designers, so that changes can be made on the fly without causing a week of re-work. As an example, Bruner promises that little things like tweaking the timing of a grin on a character's face will be extremly easy to execute, and perfect. Technically speaking, the engine is not designed to dazzle the player (though the games will certainly be good-looking 3D); rather, Bruner made the fascinating comment that the engine is built "to dazzle the designer" with its ease of use and how well it lends itself to dynamic storytelling. This is certainly an approach to engine building that you don't normally hear in commercial gaming these days.

    I wouldn't be surprised if the development process for a Telltale game is fundamentally different from the way a lot of other games are made.
  • plrichardplrichard
    edited July 2009
    seanvanaman wrote: »
    Monkey Island games should start at night.

    I've never noticed that before...but I completely agree.
  • MerkelMerkel
    edited July 2009
    All of them have thus far
  • IrishmileIrishmile
    edited July 2009
    Escape didn't...
  • MerkelMerkel
    edited July 2009
    Yeah, you're right. Forgot about the ship sequence
  • IrishmileIrishmile
    edited July 2009
    It should have though...

    Speaking of the ships... the Escape ships seemed more....... epic.

    So far the tales ships seem small and boring.... maybe historically accurate (pirates used small ships in real life to coast over coral and rocks to escape capture) But dang it I like big ships.
  • TeaTea
    edited July 2009
    Isn't this the first time there's ever been rain in Monkey Island?


    EVER
  • MarkDarinMarkDarin Former Telltale Staff
    edited July 2009
    Irishmile wrote: »
    ...But dang it I like big ships.

    ...and I can not lie! You other pirates can't deny...






    ...Sorry. :o
  • IrishmileIrishmile
    edited July 2009
    im not sure I could respect you if you didnt.

    As for rain... I think it is the first time... there has been thunder and lightning before though.
  • TjibbbeTjibbbe
    edited July 2009
    Irishmile wrote: »
    im not sure I could respect you if you didnt.

    As for rain... I think it is the first time... there has been thunder and lightning before though.

    Don't forget:

    full20050121123755.jpg
  • IrishmileIrishmile
    edited July 2009
    Lol
  • [TTG] Yare[TTG] Yare Telltale Alumni
    edited July 2009
    The game industry is hilarious.

    We're the only industry I can think of that has to show off our products sometimes years before they're finished.
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited July 2009
    Tjibbbe wrote: »
    full20050121123755.jpg

    Even though its a simple effect, that's the cutscene I was watching when making the rain for our game.
  • Hero1Hero1
    edited July 2009
    [TTG] Yare wrote: »
    The game industry is hilarious.

    We're the only industry I can think of that has to show off our products sometimes years before they're finished.

    The advantage is you are not working on a game for 3-4 even 5 years, and then you're not even sure it will be successful after all the hard work, and everything riding on that one game! :cool:
  • [TTG] Yare[TTG] Yare Telltale Alumni
    edited July 2009
    Hero1 wrote: »
    The advantage is you are not working on a game for 3-4 even 5 years, and then you're not even sure it will be successful after all the hard work, and everything riding on that one game! :cool:

    It's sort of worse, in our case. We still have to go from zero to gold just like any other game, only we have less time to do it. So when you see media from our game a month or so before release, the game is less complete than when you see a game that took 4 years to make a month before release.

    Even the press builds that go out a few weeks before we ship are less polished than the final product.

    That doesn't stop people from jumping the gun and criticizing things, though. :)
  • Hero1Hero1
    edited July 2009
    [TTG] Yare wrote: »
    It's sort of worse, in our case. We still have to go from zero to gold just like any other game, only we have less time to do it. So when you see media from our game a month or so before release, the game is less complete than when you see a game that took 4 years to make a month before release.

    Even the press builds that go out a few weeks before we ship are less polished than the final product.

    That doesn't stop people from jumping the gun and criticizing things, though. :)

    Yeah I understand what you're saying. Hopefully people will start to realize this as they become aware of the model you are following. This is the internet though so I doubt they'll stop criticizing things :p
  • JayelJayel
    edited July 2009
    Damn those new screenies look mighty nice. The depth of field effect is neat and I dig the glows in LeChuck's beard (whatever those shard-looking things are).
  • Threepwood4LifeThreepwood4Life
    edited July 2009
    Much better, night time always works in a Monkey Island game
  • SurplusGamerSurplusGamer
    edited July 2009
    It's not just the night time shots that work great, though. There are some new screens out there, for example this one:

    35m35ee.jpg

    and this:
    2r5xqtv.jpg

    which I think really show how far this game has come along in the past few weeks.
  • harlequ1nharlequ1n
    edited July 2009
    The game's looking fantastic. However, I can't help but think how gorgeous would it had been if it was in HD 2D sprites.
  • TookiGuyTookiGuy
    edited July 2009
    ^ You forgot to add "Flame on!"
  • Toothless GibbonToothless Gibbon
    edited July 2009
    The first new screenshot above is my favourite yet.
  • IrishmileIrishmile
    edited July 2009
    Yeah mine too I think
  • YohmiYohmi
    edited July 2009
    Agreed, this huge jazz idol is a stunning design, and is exactly the kind of things I LOVE. And the overall scene looks great :)
  • The Crimson ClownThe Crimson Clown
    edited July 2009
    Wow, big improvement in those shots since E3. Hats off to Telltale.
  • WillWill Telltale Alumni
    edited July 2009
    [TTG] Yare wrote: »
    It's sort of worse, in our case. We still have to go from zero to gold just like any other game, only we have less time to do it. So when you see media from our game a month or so before release, the game is less complete than when you see a game that took 4 years to make a month before release.

    Even the press builds that go out a few weeks before we ship are less polished than the final product.

    Yeah, the press build always makes me sad. We've probably fixed 30 or 40 bugs since the press build was made. And we made that build last night! Things change pretty darn fast around here.
  • LuigiHannLuigiHann
    edited July 2009
    Jake wrote: »
    Even though its a simple effect, that's the cutscene I was watching when making the rain for our game.

    I wonder what it's like to be the rain maker...
  • LaserschwertLaserschwert
    edited July 2009
    LuigiHann wrote: »
    I wonder what it's like to be the rain maker...
    ... I wonder what it's like to know that I make the rain.
  • Toothbrush CreepwoodToothbrush Creepwood
    edited July 2009
    OMG, the next guy who says something like "but i rahter would like it in 2-D" is fully responsible for me running amok!!! Can't hear it anymore. Please time travel back to 1999 and play old games and listen to Ace of Base and stuff...Geez...old people are so disturbing.

    Game looks great.
  • thin029thin029
    edited July 2009
    Toothbrush Creepwood wrote: »
    OMG, the next guy who says something like "but i rahter would like it in 2-D" is fully responsible for me running amok!!! Can't hear it anymore. Please time travel back to 1999 and play old games and listen to Ace of Base and stuff...Geez...old people are so disturbing.

    Game looks great.

    Epic
  • BaggeBagge
    edited July 2009
    Toothbrush Creepwood wrote: »
    OMG, the next guy who says something like "but i rahter would like it in 2-D" is fully responsible for me running amok!!! Can't hear it anymore. Please time travel back to 1999 and play old games and listen to Ace of Base and stuff...Geez...old people are so disturbing.

    Game looks great.

    Huh? It's not like there has been a rush of people who has demanded a 2D MI game in here.
  • LaserschwertLaserschwert
    edited July 2009
    I wish it was 1-D :(
  • Toothbrush CreepwoodToothbrush Creepwood
    edited July 2009
    Bagge wrote: »
    Huh? It's not like there has been a rush of people who has demanded a 2D MI game in here.

    yeah, and they all should replay the same old games over and over again and blabbering about tat everything was better in the past. Like old people do.

    As we say in germany: Life is no wish-concert, neither it isc pony-farm!

    @Laserschwert: ARRRRR, this ain't a store NO MORE!!!
  • BaggeBagge
    edited July 2009
    Laserschwert wrote: »
    I wish it was 1-D :(

    Here's five AWESOME 1-D TMI screenshots!

    _______ _______ ______ _______ _______
Sign in to comment in this discussion.