Perhaps one of the biggest perks of the Kickstarter/crowdfunding method of making games is actually being able to see the game you are so eager to play being developed. And when the developers of that game are living legends who practically created an entire genre of gameplay, the result is a great rabbit hole that shows the intimate ins and outs of making a video game from scratch.
Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick are some of the godfathers of the point and click adventure genre, responsible for iconic games ‘Maniac Mansion’ and ‘The Secret of Monkey Island,’ among others. Last year, they launched a Kickstarter for their latest production, a true-to-form callback of the point-and-click genre called ‘Thimbleweed Park’ that netted more than $626,000.
Since the ball began rolling, Gilbert and Winnick have catalogued the development for ‘Thimbleweed Park’ faithfully on the game’s blog. But what sets this blog apart from others is how both developers dive deeply into the design, development and issues in creating the finished piece. That, and the team is working with a game engine built from scratch.
If you love classic games, development or design, then the blog has plenty of worthwhile gems for you to sink your time into. Gilbert and Winnick wax on playtests, how hard it is to create reliable saving, and the design decisions for a clown cursed with permanent makeup.
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Peppered in are great videos of how Gilbert, Winnick and their team developed the scenes that will eventually be in the game when it is released next year. It’s a font of game development knowledge and if you’re anything like me, you just want to play the game right now dang it.
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