Showering is happening, as we speak! $1.5 million -- million -- has been passed, proving a true marketplace reality. And so, we keep our word: Four LucasArts's Secret History's have been posted and more shall come soon. Meanwhile, Jason is getting ready to read you some poetry.
Older news: We already know we're getting a Double Fine adventure game as the $400,000 goal was met within hours.
But... There is no reason to stop there, as more money means better and more stuff and therefore we at this International House of Mojo want to keep the donation frenzy going by throwing in some wondrous rewards. Like:
If a total of $750,000 is met...
... we will post all LucasArts' Secret History articles pertaining to games headed by Ron Gilbert or Tim Schafer within a week. Maniac Mansion, The Last Crusade, The Secret of Monkey Island, LeChuck's Revenge, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, and Grim Fandango! All posted for your nostalgia pleasure! Update! You gave, so you shall receive!
If a total of $1,000,000 is met...
... the rest of the Secret History articles will be posted within two weeks. Update! Well, OK then! Now, how badly do you want a poetry reading from Jason?
If a total of $1,500,000 is met...
... we'll post a Secret History article about the 95%-finished version of Ron's Monkey Island 3 we have a copy of. Jason will perform a dramatic reading of "Dem Bones".
So really, if you thought you were done donating, think again! Run and do some more kickstarting, then get ready to feel the warm embrace of Mojo and to read content you've already read.
SurplusGamer
Jason
I thought Land's score for Tales was terrific. The production values were decidedly low, but the compositions measured up. This is moot though because I imagine Tim would pursue McConnell on this if the money is there to contract the music out.
The thing is, I think production values are -important- when it comes to music. It hurt the rendition of the main theme that it had a really weak sounding lead flute instrument, and there are other pieces where I think the soundtrack suffered just because it sounded far too much like a straight recording of a MIDI.
And I do think the soundtrack had some great moments, particularly in the final episode. It was a good piece of work, but it also confirmed for me that I'm more of a fan of Peter McConnell's work than I was Michael Land's. And it has, historically, been a better fit for Tim Schafer projects.
Blame the production value on telltale, not Land.
As you stated, final episode had amazing pieces, not thanks to his writing.
What he did on The Dig was amazing. Mc Connel is great for ingame themes, but I have to admit I never end up humming one of his pieces.... Land's ? All the time. They are far more memorable in my opinion.
Though to be fair, if they could get both, it would be the best of both worlds, right ?
Jason
I thought Land's score for Tales was terrific. The production values were decidedly low, but the compositions measured up. This is moot though because I imagine Tim would pursue McConnell on this if the money is there to contract the music out.
The thing is, I think production values are -important- when it comes to music. It hurt the rendition of the main theme that it had a really weak sounding lead flute instrument, and there are other pieces where I think the soundtrack suffered just because it sounded far too much like a straight recording of a MIDI.
And I do think the soundtrack had some great moments, particularly in the final episode. It was a good piece of work, but it also confirmed for me that I'm more of a fan of Peter McConnell's work than I was Michael Land's. And it has, historically, been a better fit for Tim Schafer projects.
SurplusGamer
Strayth
Now, please let them get Michael Land for the score !
I'd rather they didn't. I found the Tales of Monkey Island soundtrack to be a little inconsistent, and fairly poor in terms of the orchestral samples Land used. Plus Tim Schafer seems to have had more of a working relationship with Peter McConnell, so if they get an external composer I'm guessing they'll go that-a-way. But I suspect they'll keep it in-house for a project like this
You can trace the poor samples back to the ridiculous decision to make the game foremost for WiiWare.
SurplusGamer
Strayth
Now, please let them get Michael Land for the score !
I'd rather they didn't. I found the Tales of Monkey Island soundtrack to be a little inconsistent, and fairly poor in terms of the orchestral samples Land used. Plus Tim Schafer seems to have had more of a working relationship with Peter McConnell, so if they get an external composer I'm guessing they'll go that-a-way. But I suspect they'll keep it in-house for a project like this
While I agree on the "inconsistent" part, there were still great pieces out of it.
Also, if we had to judge Tim only on his last fewproductions... Well, wouldn't be glorious, would it ?
I think the man has made enough to give him another chance. Also, don't forget the community will be there to give inputs on the music, arts etc... so if anything sounds terrible, it should be changed.
Strayth
Now, please let them get Michael Land for the score !
I'd rather they didn't. I found the Tales of Monkey Island soundtrack to be a little inconsistent, and fairly poor in terms of the orchestral samples Land used. Plus Tim Schafer seems to have had more of a working relationship with Peter McConnell, so if they get an external composer I'm guessing they'll go that-a-way. But I suspect they'll keep it in-house for a project like this
I can't wait !!!
I'm glad Adventure gamers aren't just about "talking" and that they trusted Tim and Ron right away !
I also some for a serious localization (for Europe), since the Lucas Classics had amazing dubs and translations. I guess German Spanish and French is a given.
Important to remember that the hardcore fans hit early, of course, but either way, this is impressive.
Jones Jr
You know I was thinking the same thing, but they are almost at $1.6M (sitting at $1,590,639 as I type this) and there is still 31 days - a whole month - to go on it!
Well in the time between your post and my post it's only gone to $1,593,581, so that's $3,000 an hour. I guess they could still make it? :) Either way, it's still amazing, though!
ThunderPeel2001
It seems to be slowing down now... I'm not sure we're going to hit $2 million.
You know I was thinking the same thing, but they are almost at $1.6M (sitting at $1,590,639 as I type this) and there is still 31 days - a whole month - to go on it!
It would be awesome to see it hit $2M.
Gabez
Also I wonder if LucasArts wish they'd thought of this -- though with LucasArts you'd be wondering if they were going to cancel the game anyway.
I think this idea is too "out there" for LEC, who, we must remember, embraced stuff like Steam and the Virtual Console very, very reluctantly (and I guess no longer) when other studios were giving their back catalog digital renewal many year prior. They aren't exactly a company with vision these days.
A Vampyre Story: Year One could certainly benefit from kickstarter though.
roger.kint
Is there any reasonable objection why autumn moon can't do the same for AVS 2?
If not, somebody should tell them...
Bill Tiller hasn't got the same pedigree as Schafer/Gilbert, but with his sights set a little lower, it may well be possible to get enough to roll AVS2.
If not, somebody should tell them...
DFAG.jpg
Technical mumbo jumbo:
I removed the 2nd order polynomal trendline, as it didn't work well.
You now just have to predict the future yourself :)
I just think 2 million will be hard stretch.
Jones Jr
So, we are ~$60K off the $1.5M mark...
Can we expect to hear Jason's "Dem Bones" on an upcoming ep of the Cook Chase? :)
Jason already went out and bought a beret and a black turtle neck, so no worries!
Can we expect to hear Jason's "Dem Bones" on an upcoming ep of the Cook Chase? :)
MKZY
However..
I can understand that they'll port to other consoles and stuff and improving music and the documentary and whatever, but it seems to me that there is a limit to how much you can improve. It looks like they will be getting many times the amount their asking for when this fund raising ends (in 32 days!).
It's still too early to say how much it will make. The pledges might taper off. But I doubt that it would be really too much of a problem regardless of how much is made. All of the money will go to the game and the documentary.
There's the music and sound effects budget, the voice over budget, the budget for porting all the games to other systems (Mac OS, Linux, iOS, and Android were already mentioned, and then there's the possibility for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, and Wii U. The budget for some of these ports would be even higher than others since Double Fine's Brutal Legend engine hasn't ever been adapted to them. The other platforms the engine has already appeared on would still require a substantial budget, since they still need to pay people to adapt the code to that system, plus playtesters to make sure each platform is bug free. In the case of some of these, the game might have to be substantially changed in order to fit in the requirements of the system). Plus there's the budget for just making this game as good as it can be.
All of that together I'm sure costs many, many more millions of dollars than is already pledged. Not to mention the budget for the documentary (which started out small, I'm sure, and can be expanded towards better cameras, multiple cameras, better audio equipment, better editing equipment and software, as well as money for ADR, lighting, etc).
However..
I can understand that they'll port to other consoles and stuff and improving music and the documentary and whatever, but it seems to me that there is a limit to how much you can improve. It looks like they will be getting many times the amount their asking for when this fund raising ends (in 32 days!).
So what, will the game not be limited to solely all popular gaming consoles as well as PC, Mac and Linux but also obscure ports like Darwin, Solaris and Haiku , and all voice actors will be made of Hollywood AAA++ actors and and the documentary be made with specially hand crafted cameras in gold? At some point "improvement" will become well, redundant to the point of silly.
What will happen with all the money?
Hm, I hate to criticise the most fantastic news I've read on this site since 2009, but other one hit wonder success stories like Notch and Minecraft springs to mind (by the way, what will happen now with that Psychonauts 2? Suppose nothing since this will take all of Tims focus I guess). Once a brilliant developer, but couldn't really handle his own success and is now doing whatever since he practically almost abandoned Minecraft and did business stuff instead.
I really hope that Tim and Ronzo can handle this overwhelming success better. Hopefully, they'll pause a moment and rethink and expand the entire game making it a lot bigger and better, though they've already practically sold it for 15 bucks and set a preliminary release date. Ah, whatever
Still. Fantastic news :D Adventure gamers all over the world, unite!
WOW!!!!
Shmargin
I wonder if LA sees this and still thinks theres no market for a classic adventure game.
LA is not a person, therefore it doesn't think.
And I mean that "doesn't think" part in a deeper sense - as in "get your act together finally, business guys who run it!".
I wonder if LA sees this and still thinks theres no market for a classic adventure game.