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The all-things-Tex Murphy: Tesla Effect thread
Not to mention that Tex Murphy games also have a bunch of cool Hollywood talents in them. Richard Norton alone beats Jack Black and Elijah (at least in a fight).
PC means personal computer
I am very excited about finally digging back into the Text Murphy mindset. I would like to believe that because I have grown up since the originals, I would be able to focus much better than I did in the earlier games. I still remember the original games so well – great use of video.
Anyone heard of http://FlappyGamer.com ?
I’m pretty sure Double Fine didn’t pay top dollar for its Hollywood actors. Elijah Wood is a fan of Tim’s and a Kickstarter backer himself. I’m fairly sure that Jack Black was a backer as well. So, I think it’s pretty likely Double Fine got a good deal on them and I would say it was money well spent.
Yes. It was a similar situation that got James Earl Jones involved with Under a Killing Moon. Back in 1994 when they were casting of UAKM they toyed with the idea of using JEJ. Initially he declined, but then his son got wind of the offer his dad was given and basically said “OMG dad, you HAVE TO do the voice for this game, I’m a huge fan of Mean Streets and Martian Memorandum, and it would be so cool if you could do this”. So then James Earl Jones decided to do it! 
Not to mention that Tex Murphy games also have a bunch of cool Hollywood talents in them. Richard Norton alone beats Jack Black and Elijah (at least in a fight).
Wasted money I say! Us fans need to share the butthurt and try to get our money back since the developers chose so unwisely by spending so much money on “Actors”. /sarcasm
Stuart Bradley Newsom - Naughty Shinobi || Our Game: Shadow Over Isolation
Tesla Effect was able to get good talent without breaking the bank, though.
Broken Age didn’t break the bank for good talent, either. Its voice acting budget was smaller than that of Day of the Tentacle, according to voice director Khris Brown.
Tesla Effect was able to get good talent without breaking the bank, though.
As opposed to…who exactly?? As has been commented, it’s pretty unlikely any recent game has “broken the bank” by overpaying for voice actors.
What i am saying that the game could have achieved the same goal without Hollywood
big names. TTG VAs already proved that.
No what you said is “Visuals felt robbed thanks to big hollywood names” which is a pretty inexplicable statement.
In my, and a number of others opinion, Broken Age has some of the best voice acting in any adventure game I can think of - I don’t believe it’s easily achievable and is sometimes they deserve praise for. No idea what “TTG VAs” means, so no idea what it proves - if you want to be understandable, don’t use abbreviations with no context.
Elijah and ohers were good but more from
marketing POV.
I agree that the publicity aspect was another plus point of using them.
The visual design is clever but not what i call high production.
Tesla is altogether different beast…
Admittedly I haven’t played the demo (deliberately avoiding it so not as to spoil anything before it’s actually released), but I’d say one of the benefits Tesla Effect has is the lack of character animation. Presuming it follows a similar method to the old Tex FMV games, i.e. 3D exploration but without characters and then the FMV elements (And from the trailers I presume that’s the case) there’s very little/no need for character animation which makes their job a lot easier. I’d say this is one of the most difficult and expensive elements of modern games. It’s no coincidence that it’s where Moebius gets most of its criticism, and where it looks like quite a chunk of the budget for Broken Age went.
Admittedly I haven’t played the demo (deliberately avoiding it so not as to spoil anything before it’s actually released), but I’d say one of the benefits Tesla Effect has is the lack of character animation. Presuming it follows a similar method to the old Tex FMV games, i.e. 3D exploration but without characters and then the FMV elements (And from the trailers I presume that’s the case) there’s very little/no need for character animation which makes their job a lot easier. I’d say this is one of the most difficult and expensive elements of modern games. It’s no coincidence that it’s where Moebius gets most of its criticism, and where it looks like quite a chunk of the budget for Broken Age went.
I want to give you a presentation spoiler. Not a story spoiler. But I don’t know if you want to hear it.
Adventure Gamer Since 1992
...I’d say one of the benefits Tesla Effect has is the lack of character animation. Presuming it follows a similar method to the old Tex FMV games, i.e. 3D exploration but without characters and then the FMV elements (And from the trailers I presume that’s the case) there’s very little/no need for character animation which makes their job a lot easier. I’d say this is one of the most difficult and expensive elements of modern games. It’s no coincidence that it’s where Moebius gets most of its criticism, and where it looks like quite a chunk of the budget for Broken Age went.
You have provided a very solid argument thus far and I respect your standpoint. But I do have to call you out on the FMV being “easier” compared to character animation. Perhaps some statistics will help exemplify what I mean…
- A green screen studio built from scratch for the game.
- A dedicated DOP who’s role is to ensure the actor’s sets are matched perfectly, angle for angle, shot for shot, light source for light source, with the game engine environments in which they will be integrated with.
- A dedicated sound guy to be on set recording dialogue.
- Over 140 hours of footage shot.
- 2,400 shots in total which made it into the game (of which ALL were considered visual effects shots due to the fact that ALL required compositing, and many required additional effects, motion tracking, mocap, rotoscoping). Most Hollywood movies probably have between 80 - 120 visual effects shots total (with exceptions like Avatar, which had 1,800). Not that anybody is comparing TE with Avatar, but it’s simply to exemplify the figures here.
- Not all actors were available at the same time so many of the scenes were “stitched together”. e.g. Some scenes contained 4 actors all interacting with each-other, and 3 of them were shot on different days!
- Around 5 hours of FMV footage in the final game (that makes it a “film” that is longer than 2 of the 3 LOTR movies).
- 1 (yes… ONE) visual effects guy doing ALL of those shots. and 1 (yes… ONE) 3D guy providing additional 3D elements in the FMV.
...did we also mention that there are also 3D characters and creatures in the TE game environments, which are character animated?
I can continue if you wish?
I can’t wait for this. Loved the demo and it looks like this will be a real fan service.
The only thing that turned me a bit off was that Tex often spoils the solution of the puzzles. Also speaking about clues he hasn’t even found yet.
- 2,400 shots in total which made it into the game (of which ALL were considered visual effects shots due to the fact that ALL required compositing, and many required additional effects, motion tracking, mocap, rotoscoping). Most Hollywood movies probably have between 80 - 120 visual effects shots total (with exceptions like Avatar, which had 1,800). Not that anybody is comparing TE with Avatar, but it’s simply to exemplify the figures here.
A better comparison would probably be Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, which was a movie entirely done with green screened actors and CGI backgrounds.
Adventure Gamer Since 1992
You have provided a very solid argument thus far and I respect your standpoint.
Thank you 
But I do have to call you out on the FMV being “easier” compared to character animation.
And I accept the points you’re making…and the stats are certainly interesting. By no means did I mean to denigrate the new Tex games which (from the trailers and comments I’ve seen) I’m certainly (as a backer) very much looking forward to. But I remain unconvinced that the FMV elements are more difficult than the computer animation which Broken Age and Moebius have had to detail with. Any idea how the stats compare with the old Tex games, and also Gabriel Knight 2? They were nearly 20 years ago and I’d imagine, with technology changes, things have got easier for FMV since then…
...did we also mention that there are also 3D characters and creatures in the TE game environments, which are character animated?
Now that would/does somewhat alter things . But I guess it’s not quite of a level as what Broken Age or Moebius have had to deal with?
Now that would/does somewhat alter things
Since its out in the open now… no the character model of the character you see in the demo environment is pretty simple. And you never get close to them.
Honestly I wonder why it wouldn’t be possible to drape an FMV recording over a 3D model. If you recorded the actor’s movements in a 360 fashion, then changed the viewing angle based on the player’s perspective and the position of the hidden 3D model… it probably would look okay. You’d still not be able to get close, but at least it would be consistent.
Maybe recording 8 (minimum) angles at the same time would have been too tricky for a small team.
Adventure Gamer Since 1992
@DaveyB
Tesla Demo shits on brokenage in all departments. Period…i think this will make you understand.
TTG VAs = telltale games voiceactors and they are way better than Brokenage ones.
There is not even range in Brokenage to show spectrum of emotions through voice,
which TELLTALE GAMES VOICE ACTORS have been doing since TWD.
(btw TTG VA wasnt much of puzzle unless you are only accustomed to the difficulty of brokenage puzzles);)
Tesla Demo shits on brokenage in all departments. Period…i think this will make you understand.
Not sure what that’s meant to “make me understand”?!?
TTG VAs = telltale games voiceactors and they are way better than Brokenage ones.
here is not even range in Brokenage to show spectrum of emotions through voice,
which TELLTALE GAMES VOICE ACTORS have been doing since TWD.
Guess I, and pretty much all reviewers I’ve seen, have a different opinion, though I agree The Walking Dead (Presuming that’s what you’re talking about lol. Why some people have a constant need to use abbreviations I’ll never know) voice acting was good too. The fact they’ve been doing it “since TWD” hardly shows much though…how many games exactly have Telltale Games made since The Walking Dead??
(btw TTG VA wasnt much of puzzle unless you are only accustomed to the difficulty of brokenage puzzles);)
Guess there are a number of people who wouldn’t have known…and I’ve got better things to do with my time than solve your crap puzzles. In contrast at least Broken Age’s (it’s 2 words, by the way) are enjoyable 
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