Now playing Season 1, Episode 8 — Episode 08: Adventure Games Are Not Dead
April 6, 2012
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Season 1 • 20 episodes
Double Fine Productions launches a Kickstarter campaign to fund the development of LucasArts veteran Tim Schafer's first adventure game in over a decade. The world's reaction catches the studio by surprise.
After the campaign’s record-breaking success, Tim is faced with the reality of having to start work on the game. Friends and mentors stop by the studio to discuss what made adventure games special and how the genre needs to evolve.
With the premise of the game in place, Tim begins assembling his team from Double Fine's talented pool of developers. A Chinatown bar crawl revisits the establishments that inspired code names for the studio's previous projects.
Concept artists from Double Fine’s most iconic games gather for an art jam to design the characters and worlds through which Tim’s story will come to life.
As the story and structure of the game continue to develop, the production team works to build an accurate schedule to accommodate the needs of development.
Lead Artist Nathan "Bagel" Stapley struggles to find a balance between representing his unique art style in the game and coping with the tremendous amount of content that has to be created.
The team has to face some harsh realities as it becomes more apparent the Kickstarter funds won't be enough to sustain the projected course of development.
Nearly a year after the launch of the Kickstarter, the team is ready to present a small slice of the game internally to the rest of the company for feedback. Tim goes on a juice diet.
Tim is invited to host the annual Game Developers Choice awards during an industry conference in San Francisco. The team crunches to prepare the first trailer that will introduce the game and its official title to the world.
The team is revitalized by the response to the trailer’s premiere at GDC, but a new challenge rears its head that splits the opinions of management.
As a plan for release is settled, the team is under pressure to hit a deadline while a mountain of work still remains. A visit to composer Peter McConnell's home outside the city reveals his inspirations and approach to the game's score.
Voices are put to the many eccentric characters of Broken Age by a cast of new and old friends. The animation team seeks help from outside the studio to complete the game's hours of cutscenes.
Peter McConnell's music is brought to life by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Extensive internal testing reveals mixed feedback on the game’s puzzles and cutscenes, and stress builds as the clock ticks towards release.
The audio and visual effects teams feel the crunch on the eve of the release of Broken Age: Part One, while last minute decisions continue to be made with regards to the business plan moving forward.
The public response to Broken Age is met by the studio with mixed feelings. Tim and Justin await the report of initial sales figures.
Tim discusses the aftermath of Act One's release while the team preps the iPad version. Production of Act Two begins with a hard deadline in sight.
The team is working hard on the new content for Act 2 of Broken Age, but everything rests on Tim being able to finish all his writing tasks under a tight deadline. Double Fine says goodbye to a longtime friend whose contributions to the project will be sorely missed.
December is fast approaching, and while Tim may finally have his writing out of the way, a new problem has arisen that could seriously impact the team and the game’s schedule.
As Double Fine nears the end of development on Broken Age, the company is faced with the greatest tragedy in its history.
After three years of development, the team is finished with Broken Age and moving on to new projects. We look back at the experience as a whole and question what the project means to the studio and the games industry on a larger scale. A special package arrives that symbolizes the end of the adventure.
2 Player Productions
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This documentary series follows videogame developer Double Fine as they set-out to create a classic point-and-click adventure game. The series follows industry veteran, Tim Schafer, and his team as they launch a Kickstarter campaign to fund the game and finally, three years later, ship the finished product to fans.
Nearly a year after the launch of the Kickstarter, the team is ready to present a small slice of the game internally to the rest of the company for feedback. Tim goes on a juice diet.
Tim Schafer
Himself
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