Articles

To make games, first you must take a bowl of cheerios and...uh... 16 Jan, 2010, 10:32 / 10 comments


Sean Vanaman, writer of Tales of Monkey Island chapter three "Lair of the Leviathan", and writer/director of the third Wallace and Gromit episode "Muzzled!", has put up an interesting and informative blogpost about the meaning behind games. Included are tidbits on how the puzzles in "Leviathan" were designed and how they are approached, as well as featuring one cut puzzle.
I can't really do anything much of quality until I've figured out what something is about. Wallace and Gromit's Muzzled! was a steaming pile before I realized that it was about Gromit's relationship with and faith in Wallace and not about flash gadgets that turn arctic water-fowl into jewel thieves. Same goes for Monkey Island -- I routinely pee'd in Joe Pinney's cheerios, metaphorically speaking, giving him narrative garbage to work with until I put my finger on the pulse of Guybrush's grand story and what it's about. (Uh, monkeys, right?)
It's worth a read.

Chuck Jordan, who you may know as one of the writers on Curse of Monkey Island, and one of the writers/designers/directors on Strong Bad and Sam and Max ("Abe Lincoln Must Die!" onwards), wrote a sort-of response that is also very interesting and worth a read. Moreover, it, too, uses urination as an example to explain things - just sayin'.

Both of them frequently post interesting things to talk about - as do most of the blog-owning people Mixnmojo covers - so I'd recommend subscribing to their blogs in general for good measure.
10

10 Comments

  • The Tingler on 17 Jan, 2010, 04:03…
    He wrote Lair of the Leviathan and Muzzled, the best episodes in their respective series? Wow, I'm keeping an eye out for this guy.
  • Kroms on 17 Jan, 2010, 10:28…
    I'm just starting Wallace and Gromit, so I can't comment on that, but regarding Leviathan: While, objectively, it's the best of the episodes - it presents story-based puzzles that weave in with their characters, while making sure everyone gets more or less the same experience (solving the Murray puzzle before being presented with it aside, I mean); that was pretty much the major flaw in Trial and Rise of the Pirate God, that they didn't weave in their puzzles with their stories enough that you got the same narrative experience no matter what (I'm 100% sure I played 4 differently than Surplus did, for example) - I don't find the dialogue itself that funny. The situations? Hilarious. But until they emerged from the manatee, I found DeCava's crew to be more annoying than funny, though in all fairness it's might be because I was put off by Surfer Dude Pirate Moose - my tainted opinion might've stopped me from seeing the jokes.

    They eventually grew on me (Noogie's flirtation with Morgan, his fear of Sister Agnes; Bugeye's total hypocrisy and, in chapter five, subsequent escape from the manatee; and Moose's banter with Santino on the ship: "Torture me!" "Yeah! Torture him!" "Yeah!" "YEAH!"), but that's one thing I'd like to see less of. It's fine to do weird pirates besides Angry Pirate (hell, repetitive use of Angry Pirate would probably be pretty bland), but there has to be a line. The crew from CMI come to mind, as do Hemlock (who isn't angry, just frustrated and wanting to be left alone) and Goodsoup. You could make a case for Bosun Krebbs, who takes the idea and twists it around a little (she's angry, but at the wrong person), and D'Oro, Uber Comic Book Guy Geek (who also skims the surface of what's acceptable and not).

    I guess what got me was that some people were calling the writing "bitingly witty". Maybe they like the subtlety of it? Lines like "My hook sure is handy", said without a wink (unlike Spinner Cay's "I wonder why that's stuck in my head?"), are fine, but there were no real JOKES. Then again Monkey Island's always walked both ways - making jokes ala Life of Brian and just having funny dialogue and situations ala Withnail & I - so maybe I should just play the game as a whole and see how that works. Then again: this thing is completely subjective. That's not to say that the game didn't make me laugh at all (so if you read this, Sean Vanaman, please don't feel bummed out - I really admire what you did, trust me), but maybe it just wasn't for me this time around.

    What I WILL acknowledge is mixing in your story with your puzzles. There's obvious things like Morgan reacting to Guybrush's failure with Bugeye, and then there's things like the relationship between the manatees reflecting Morgan's with Guybrush, though in reverse. Morgan understanding the manatee was a brilliant touch, and probably what elevated her from "pretty good" to "unforgettable".

    I also wanted to add: let us not forget Joe Pinney. Pinney directed the chapter, and did a marvelous job with the puzzles. Jake, too. Maybe the lesson here is to have two guys behind each episode? Besides Grim Fandango, all the classics had two people working on the thing. Even Psychonauts had Erik Wolpaw.

    Cute trivia: Vanaman got hired by Telltale based on some sitcom pilots he wrote. I think it's awesome they're willing to take a risk on someone from outside the industry, and it's nice to see it paid off.
  • neon_git on 17 Jan, 2010, 22:52…
    Leviathan was deffo my fave episode but the nerdy pirate and surfer dude pirate were horribly misjudged.

    Pinning all the praise for an episode on particular individuals is probably a little unfair. Vanaman deserves a round of applause for sure, but he wasn't exactly working in a vacuum. Credit should go to everyone who, well, who's in the credits I guess.
  • The Tingler on 18 Jan, 2010, 03:47…
    That's fair enough, although the "saved by a whisker" gag is the best and most Aardman-like joke in that whole series. :)
  • Kroms on 17 Jan, 2010, 23:06…
    Precisely, though Joe Pinney and Jake Rodkin deserve special applause for co-directing this.
  • Zaarin on 17 Jan, 2010, 14:43…
    It's all subjective!
  • elTee on 17 Jan, 2010, 11:57…
    That's interesting - the VG writers I know were told on interview: we are not looking for anyone who aspires to write for TV or film.

    But the irony is that, as you both allude to, Vannaman is about the best Telltale writer - certainly in my opinion, anyway.
  • AlfredJ on 17 Jan, 2010, 13:36…
    It's been a while since anything he wrote was released, but I still think Chuck Jordan is Telltale's best writer by far (lead designer on Sam & Max Season 2, Strong Badia the Free, 8-Bit is enough) , which makes me all the more excited for Sam & Max season 3 (where he's also the lead designer). But that doesn't make Vannaman's work any less impressive. I'm looking forward to whatever he'll work on in the future. I'm rather curious about those sitcom pilots he wrote (if they ever got into production).
  • Kroms on 17 Jan, 2010, 14:11…
    I think they're all pretty good, with their strengths and weaknesses. Some have a better handle on designing episodically than others, but you can learn. It took everyone else a while to get Sam and Max running properly.
  • Kroms on 17 Jan, 2010, 14:13…
    *designing PUZZLES episodically, I should say.

    Together, they all make a scarily good team, one probably as good as the old LucasArts. It's why so many people want them to deliver instant classics.