Broken Age - Double Fine's Kickstarter Adventure Game

[Darth Slaughter]

Most Lucas Arts games were targeted at kids, but were still plenty enjoyable for adults. Though the art style did have a certain... grittiness to it. Much like Star Wars itself actually.

Broken age art style is looking too minimalistic for my taste. Looks like they didn't put much work on the design. Even if LucasArts games were target at children, which I wouldn't agree, the sprites, backgrounds, art style really looked like they were designed by professionals. In the case of broken age, the art feels like it is a child's crayon drawing. BA style reminds me of those multimedia kits edutainment CDs that teached children how to spell, lytrics of songs, etc.

This is my impresion by what is shown, but of course all tim schafer adventure games had funny and clever puzzles, and probably this won'be a botanicula's clone, anyway.

 

[RPGMaster]

Top tip, when your company has to talk to room full of people get some one who can talk to a room full of people to do it, not someone who sound like a nervous teenage nerd.

 

[Outlander]

Most Lucas Arts games were targeted at kids, but were still plenty enjoyable for adults.

Indeed, but what Schafer apparently didn't get is that those kids are today 30-40 years old, and he should have made the game to target that audience, HIS audience. Today's kids are too busy popping moles, not quite interested in the graphic adventures of yore.

 

[felipepepe]

Most Lucas Arts games were targeted at kids, but were still plenty enjoyable for adults. Though the art style did have a certain... grittiness to it. Much like Star Wars itself actually.

Lucasarts games:

This game:

Not that Babar is a shitty cartoon, is just something that you only watch as a really young kid or as a grown-up WITH your kid. Tim Schafer already showed on the documentary videos, he's not making this game as something his younger self would like to play, he's making something that his daugther would like. AND IT SHOWS.

 

[bertram_tung]

Yeah. It's pretty disappointing. Here we all thought we'd be getting the next Day of the Tentacle or Full Throttle and we get this:

Even if the gameplay is great it will never reach the heights of the above classics because part of what made them so great was the incredible animation and art style. It felt like a living tex avery cartoon, and that kind of art style contributed to the hilarity.

I'm glad I backed Spaceventure and not this.

 

[Stabwound]

Agreed on all accounts. It simply looks like a quirky kid's animation, like The Nightmare Before Christmas. The animals are all spastic, too, which is probably the easiest way to do it. It doesn't have to look realistic, because every character walks like they have parkinson's disease.

 

[Haba]

Fuck that, Babar is a mature, quality production. This is pure and utter shit. Drivel. Manure. Crap. Dung. No redeeming qualities what-so-ever.

O.k. sorry, I exaggerated. Watching this multi-million dollar train wreck in progress is great fun! Here's your new Full Throttle bitches, 'cept it is written and designed for five-year-olds this time. 'cuz five-year-olds are totally the new adventure game audience.

But still, Tim Schafer belongs in a jail. Or a shallow ditch.

 

[Metro]

 

[Dexter]

Stop bitching and wait for the full game you tards, I'm going to laugh so hard when this is going to turn out better than some of the Codex sweethearts.

 

[Cosmic Misogynerd]

Heh. Good luck with that.

 

[J_C]

It seems that some people are on their period again, and drawing conclusions based on a few images.

 

[evdk]

It seems that some people are on their period again, and drawing conclusions based on a few images.

You among them though.

 

[J_C]

It seems that some people are on their period again, and drawing conclusions based on a few images.

You among them though.

I'm not saying that it surely will be good. But I'm giving it a chance and hope it will. Opposite to others, who are sure that it will be a trainwreck, just because the artstyle.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/...uble-fine-39-s-adventure-game-broken-age.aspx

I must say, that mouse cursor is very nostalgic.

 

[suejak]

Tim Schafer has never made a bad adventure game.

 

[felipepepe]

Neither had Ron Gilbert, but then THE CAVE happened...

 

[abnaxus]

Most Lucas Arts games were targeted at kids, but were still plenty enjoyable for adults. Though the art style did have a certain... grittiness to it. Much like Star Wars itself actually.

Lucasarts games:

This game:

fixed

 

[Aeschylus]

Neither had Ron Gilbert, but then THE CAVE happened...

The Cave was not an adventure game. And Ron Gilbert made a bajillion mediocre-to-good kids adventure games at Humongous Entertainment after leaving Lucasarts.

 

[Blackthorne]

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/...uble-fine-39-s-adventure-game-broken-age.aspx

I must say, that mouse cursor is very nostalgic.

A childhood friend of mine is a children's book author. Here is one of his works.

This game reminds me very much of the books he writes, which are printed on indestructible soft plastic so kids cannot eat or chew their books. I think this game may need to be made of the same material.

One more pic.

Bt

 

[Metro]

I don't have a problem with the art style, per se, it's just that it certainly doesn't look like it required a $10 million or so budget to produce (when you add up the KS, embezzled funds from Massive Chalice KS, Humble Bundle sales, private investment capital from Jonathan Blow et al, and the subsequent panhandling they've done through Paypal).

 

[Dexter]

This game reminds me very much of the books he writes, which are printed on indestructible soft plastic so kids cannot eat or chew their books. I think this game may need to be made of the same material.

Edgy, I wonder what edgy-Codex would have said if the Internet was around at the time, seeing a few pictures of respective LucasArts games taken out of any narrative or story context and not yet having played any of them back in the day:

It's not like story, dialogue and gameplay make a game, of which very few people have seen much of in regards to this (and would rather talk out of their ass).

 

[Blackthorne]

Of course they do; I'm only talking about the visual components to the game here. But we know very little about the story. We know more about the graphics at the moment.


Bt

 

[Stabwound]

Out of all of those games, Day of the Tentacle and maybe Sam & Max look childish, but the art style works and still stands up today, plus they had decent animations, even if wacky. Broken Age looks like one of those wacky children's cartoons with very low-budget animation.

 

[Gakkone]

The game looks nice. The art I mean. Luckily I stopped caring about whether things appear childish or not when I grew up.

 

[suejak]

Somebody made this obvious point already, but:

Neither had Ron Gilbert, but then THE CAVE happened...

Ron Gilbert:

• Maniac Mansion (1987), writer, director, art and programmer, LucasArts (LucasFilm Games)
• Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (1988), writer, LucasArts (LucasFilm Games)
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure (1989), writer, LucasArts (LucasFilm Games)
• The Secret of Monkey Island (1990), writer and director, LucasArts (LucasFilm Games)
• Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (1991), writer and programmer, LucasArts (LucasFilm Games)
• Day of the Tentacle (1993), characters and co-designer
• Total Annihilation (1997), producer
• Penny Arcade Adventures, story and design consultant, Hothead Games (2008)
• Tales of Monkey Island (2009–2010), "Visiting Professor of Monkeyology", Telltale Games
• DeathSpank (2010), design, Hothead Games
• DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue (2010), design, Hothead Games
• Many children's games at Humongous Entertainment (including Freddi Fish and Putt-Putt)
• The Big Big Castle! (2012), design, Beep Games, Inc.
• The Cave (2013), director, Double Fine Productions
• Scurvy Scallywags (2013), Beep Games, Inc.

Tim Schafer:

• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game 1989 tester LucasArts
• Maniac Mansion (NES port) 1990 tools programmer, SCUMM LucasArts
• The Secret of Monkey Island 1990 co-writer, programmer, additional designer LucasArts
• Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge 1991 co-writer, programmer, additional designer LucasArts
• Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle 1993 co-designer, co-producer, co-director, co-writer LucasArts
• Full Throttle 1995 project leader, writer, designer LucasArts
• The Curse of Monkey Island 1997 additional design LucasArts
• Grim Fandango 1998 project leader, writer, designer LucasArts
• Psychonauts 2005 creative director, co-writer, designer Double Fine, Majesco
• Brütal Legend 2009 creative director, writer, designer Double Fine, Electronic Arts
• Costume Ques t2010 creative director, writer Double Fine, THQ
• Stacking 2011 creative director Double Fine, THQ
• Iron Brigade 2011 creative director Double Fine, Microsoft Studios
• Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster 2011 creative director Double Fine, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Haunt 2012 voice actor NanaOn-Sha, Zoë Mode, Microsoft Studios
• Double Fine Happy Action Theater 2012 directorDouble Fine, Microsoft Studios
• Middle Manager of Justice 2012 creative directorDouble Fine, Dracogen
• Kinect Party 2012 creative director Double Fine, Microsoft Studios
• The Cave 2013 studio creative director Double Fine, Sega
• Dropchord 2013 creative director Double Fine, Dracogen
• Broken Age 2014 director, writer Double Fine

By all appearances, Ron Gilbert last made something cool in 1993. Everything else has been so-so, obscure, or merely supervisory (Total Annihilation, Tales of Monkey Island).

Meanwhile, everything that has Tim Schafer's name next to it as "designer/writer" has been funny, pretty well-written, and atmospheric.