For helping make point-and-click adventure games popular again and for single-handedly proving that episodic gaming could be a successful and creatively fresh way of releasing videogames, I will always love Telltale Games. The company could call me up and ask me to somehow impregnate them, and I would happily agree. Sure, the process would be confusing and messy, but little Chadtale Sammax Threepwood would be one cute, Loom-loving kid, I’ll tell you that right now.
But sometimes these things I love the most in the videogame industry display oddities that get me nervous about their future.
Enter “Dear [insert videogame-related item]: I love you, but ...”, a new randomly-appearing series that focuses on one very specific, very troubling concern surrounding something I absolutely adore from the world of videogames. This week’s premiere target? Telltale Games.
But what could I not love about the designers at Telltale? They make incredible adventure games, they are revitalizing some of my favorite series, and I am going to be the father of their freaky, man/developer child!
Hit the jump for one growing concern I have for a company I thought I would never say anything negative about.
Dear Telltale: I love you, but ...
... the graphics in your adventure games need more variety.
Now, I am not saying I don’t necessarily like the graphical style you utilized in games like Sam & Max Save the World, Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures, and Tales of Monkey Island. In fact, the character design is top-notch and -- in the case of Wallace & Gromit -- fits the original source material perfectly.
But take a look at these three screenshots from Sam & Max, Wallace & Gromit, and Tales of Monkey Island, respectively:
On a basic graphical level, each of these games essentially looks almost the same.
For one, every character -- while possessing different overall looks -- is composed of a set of structured 3D polygons that give them strikingly similar design aesthetics. I am not naïvely insinuating that all 3D polygonal character designs look identical, but that’s my point: for some reason, in your games, they do.
I think this has a lot to do with the -- and I mean this with the utmost respect -- generic art direction.
With Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures, things seemed to be heading in a positive direction. While the episodic games are still composed of the same 3D, polygonal graphics, the slightly imperfect textures on all the characters gave a hand-molded look, perfectly aligning it with the original animated clay films.
But even with that “sculpted” look, the basic design sensibilities found in Sam & Max and Tales of Monkey Island are still evident: mainly plain, almost uninspired art direction.
Let’s look at Sam & Max Save the World for the perfect example of what I am talking about.
Here is a screenshot from an interesting set piece featured in Sam & Max - Season 1:
By itself, there is nothing at all wrong with this. As I mentioned before, all of your games look perfectly fine.
But take a look at a set piece from Sam & Max’s original adventure game, the PC-exclusive Sam & Max Hit the Road:
Now, comparing these two shots could boil down to personal taste, but I think it is more than that.
Check out the dynamic lighting in the older game’s screenshot -- the shadow cast on the folded towel is the perfect item to focus on. Pretty beautiful, huh? Also, the colors in Hit the Road pop off the screen, while the palette in Save the World seems to blend together and mute the overall visuals.
Similar comparisons can be made in regard to the artistic details: in Hit the Road, the details are marvelous accomplishments (take a look at the straw in the margarita!). In Save the World -- and this also relates to all of your adventure games -- these surprising details are replaced by large, very stylistic, angled 3D models. Again, not bad ... just not as breathtaking as the original graphics.
Even the presentation of all your games lacks the variety of others in the adventure genre.
Almost all of your games keep the main character the same size throughout all the different backgrounds the main character walks through. Even when characters are bigger, the camera angles always seem to stay the same: very close to eye line, not moving up and down on any vertical angles. Other adventure games, on the other hand, use simple things such as different camera angles and extremely pulled back views to help spice up their graphical presentations.
Here are some screenshots from a couple of your most popular adventure games -- note the size of the characters on-screen and their relation to the surroundings:
Now, here are a bunch of more dynamic scenes from other adventure games:
You see how small details such as changing how the player views the action can make things feel so much fresher (even when using the same graphics in the same game)?
To drive the point home one more time: I am not saying that you are creating ugly games (that is not the case at all!). It’s just that all of your adventure games are starting to look exactly the same. How much do you want to bet that your next episodic adventure game announcement sports generic 3D graphics that look very similar to those found in Sam & Max Save the World or Tales of Monkey Island?
Look, you are making me so ridiculously happy by releasing these marvelous adventure games. But wouldn’t it be amazing to see each one come out with a completely new graphical style? As much as I would kill to see a new episodic Full Throttle or Day of the Tentacle, I am starting to grow tired of the same old basic 3D look. Variety is the spice of life!
I love you, Telltale, but it’s time to change up your graphics. (Although I will still put a baby in you either way.)
Your biggest fan,
Chad Concelmo
P.S. Here is some (adventure game) food for thought:
Original!
Gorgeous!
Unique!
Beautiful!
What do you think? Do you get the same feeling that Telltale is stuck in a graphical rut? Or are you just fine with the way their games look, similarities be damned?
Contest:
4:00 PM on 07.22.2009
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My goal in life is to make old lady sayings cool again. Heavens to Betsy! :)
I loved Launch of the screming Narwhal... but i've got to wait several more weeks to play the rest of the game!!
I loved Half-life 2, ep1 and ep2 ..but I think I will be 72 by the time I get my arthritus ridden hands on the 3rd.
It's all just a way to squeeze more money and time out of the consumer. Release a FULL game on a disk or via the internet.... make it have everything it should have to begin with, all the modes, story etc.... and I will be happy.
I agree with what you're saying, but I wonder if Telltale has a reason for it. Having a standout visual style that stays consistent is probably a good move in terms of getting your games noticed. In Telltale's case, we know them for making really good adventure games, and many of us could say "Oh, hey, look at that screenshot. That's a Telltale game." I'm sure the Telltale people love this, as it immediately puts the idea of quality in our minds even without having played the game. Hell, look what happened with Diablo 3. People are stubborn about visual style changes, and when they happen in a way that people don't like, the questions start flying about whether the game's even going to be the same. I know the hardcore Fallout people had similar reactions when Fallout 3 was coming to light (though that's a very extreme case, as a LOT more than the visual style changed).
I guess what I mean to say is that there are advantages and disadvantages to varying a visual style, and keeping things the same is probably a safe, yet boring decision. I'm with you in hoping that we get more variety, but I understand the reasons behind the decision if we don't.
You give me the vapors!
Is Monkey Island much of an improvement? I haven't had a chance to play the new episodes yet, but it seems like they're steadily getting better visually, which is promising
Also, The Dig? Woot, woot!
@Chad
I think the simple reason why they're using the same exact engine for every single game is budgetary issues. Adventure games are still fairly niche, and they're sort of fresh off being kicked out of Lucas Arts.
I think that after Monkey Island sees success like Grand Adventures and Save the World never did, we'll see a graphical/stylistic update :D
That's either a grand compliment or a grave insult. Thus, I am either flattered or offended, depending on the nature of your comment.
What this boils down too, in my opinion, is the inherent pluses of 2D. With 3D, the player has way more places to go with their character AND their attention. With 2D, it's all there, and imagination has a bigger role. When you gotta solve puzzles by using items from the scenery, you kinda HAVE to dim down the complexity in 3D cause otherwise the player will get utterly lost.
As for the actual article, if its a company making non-realistic/cartoony games, it is a darn shame if they use the same art style/graphics. It is just a bit...wasted?
It's a grand (slightly gross) compliment. <3
Enjoy the mental picture that gives you, good sir.
What the hell game is that with the robots? It's so gorgeous and I don't think I've seen it before!
My heart sank a little when I heard Telltale got their slimy hands on Monkey Island and I don't want them to touch anything else.
And its a good thing because this is so true. I love love love the old Sam n Max graphics. My eyes unfocus and cross when I stare at the bland graphics of Save the World.
Good article Chadmond.
I'd like to see Telltale try to grow and publish some indie games like the robot one you show above, since they are pretty much the forefront of adventure games right now.
Not getting into a 2d vs 3d thing here, you still have to recognize the limitations of both formats and how they influence design. When working in a 2d environment you can put a lot of detail into the backgrounds because they don't move, the characters however have to be designed simply so that they are easy to animate. The contrast of having less detail and brighter colors on the characters, against the highly detailed backgrounds make them pop more (contrast).
In 3d there is no cost to designing complicated characters in animation. So the quality of the characters matches the BG, good or bad, making them all just kinda mush together.
All that said, the new telltale Sam and Max is the cats pajamas :)
I get it, and I think that TT could definitely be doing more to give games a more individualistic look, but on the other hand I do think the style has been different from game to game. The characters in Sam and Max are very much in a Steve Purcell style, the Wallace and Gromit ones are obviously in that Aardman claymation style and the Monkey Island ones are again different. There are certain similarities, sure, but I think it's a little hard to say that they're all in the same style.
Also you mention use of camera angles and this is again something they have been working on - the switch to direct control over characters instead of point and click movement has enabled them to free up the camera a lot more, e.g. the close up following Guybrush across the bridge to the doctor in Chapter 1. It's true that there aren't many wide shots, but I'm not sure that a 3D game would really benefit from them.
But on the other hand, yes, I think they could be doing more graphically than they are already doing - it'd be interesting to see if they will use the cel-shaded style visuals the engine is capable of since the Strong Bad games in future projects, because I think they could come up with a really create style of their own using that.
But yeah... graphical improvements... that'll come with continued success - when you compare early Sam and Max to Tales of Monkey Island it's clear they've already made a lot of progress, here.
I love you.
Your biggest fan,
.tiff
(p.s. I kind of flipped out when you included a screenshot from Sanitarium! OMG!)
Either that or they're just trying to keep their budgets down.
I love you.
The thing about Telltale is, despite the fact that they have had such amazing success over the past year or so, they are still a very small gaming studio with limited resources and a limited time frame to release such awesome games. They do quite well considering the limited time and budget they have for each game series.
As for the graphics and animation styles that are similar throughout each game, it is mostly due to the fact that each game uses the same game engine and was designed to work with as many computers as possible to ensure they could get their games out as fast as possible and to a larger audience. If you seriously have an issue with the art direction, take a look at most of the early SCUMM engine games Chad. Each one of the early SCUMM games looks very similar and have many of the same issues you address in Telltale's games.
The Telltale engine Telltale uses is still fairly new and instead of adapting it to work as you have suggested, they have adapted it for easier porting of their PC titles to other platforms. It was smart move on their part at this time but I agree that if they don't change soon, they will eventually fall flat on their faces.
I'm more concerned about them spreading themselves out too thin with all the IP's they are currently juggling.
The game is Machinarium, by the same guys who did Samorost.
Don't get a bee in your bonnet. Beauty is only skin deep, and you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. Also, you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket. Yep, that's the long and short of it.
By the way, its not just palette or character size thats an issue. The amount of detail is an issue too. You never see a scene where theres more than 3 characters on screen or more than 3 or 4 objects you can interact with on screen in the Telltale games. I think it might be wise for them just to go back and redo some of the older classic adventure games of Lucasarts in their new engine so they can stretch it in ways they haven't before.