Hi people!
It's not often that I get to write about a game that I am both a fan of and a developer behind, but after two months' worth of solid porting work, here I am!
Day of the Tentacle Remastered is now available for the first time on Linux, and can be found on Steam and Humble Store with a Linux launch discount. It should also be up on GOG as soon as they set it live.
Day of the Tentacle is a standalone sequel to the 1987 adventure game Maniac Mansion, created during the "golden age of adventure games" by LucasArts. Unlike Maniac Mansion, Day of the Tentacle adheres to the sensibilities laid out in Ron Gilbert's Why Adventure Games Suck essay, which outlines the reasoning behind Monkey Island's design deviations from previous point and click adventures - no dead ends, no deaths, keeping goals clear and readable, better feedback to players, more meaningful player agency and tighter integration between puzzles and story.
These, along with some great humour became the hallmarks of LucasArts' adventure titles and few embody them as well as Day of The Tentacle, which takes a super complicated time travel oriented premise and manages to keep things clear and well paced throughout. If Monkey Island was the dawn of the "golden age of adventure games", then Day of the Tentacle was the latter part of the late morning when things start to really warm up, and paved the way for titles like The Dig, Curse of Monkey Island, Full Throttle (hopefully coming to Linux as part of its upcoming remastered release) and Grim Fandango (already on Linux) to capture the hearts and imaginations of adventure game fans with an enduring passion that would last for decades.
My personal connection to this game has expanded from being that of a player and an appreciator of its accomplishments to include that of a developer and in some respects a historian. I've had the opportunity not only to peek behind the curtain and experience a game I love from a new angle, but I've also been able to look back in time at a fascinating cross-section of LucasArts history.
I'm hoping to publish a more in-depth article about my porting experiences at a later date (edit: it's published now). If that sort of thing is exciting for you, definitely keep an eye out.
If you pick it up, I hope that you enjoy Day of the Tentacle as much as I have! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
It's not often that I get to write about a game that I am both a fan of and a developer behind, but after two months' worth of solid porting work, here I am!
Day of the Tentacle Remastered is now available for the first time on Linux, and can be found on Steam and Humble Store with a Linux launch discount. It should also be up on GOG as soon as they set it live.
Day of the Tentacle is a standalone sequel to the 1987 adventure game Maniac Mansion, created during the "golden age of adventure games" by LucasArts. Unlike Maniac Mansion, Day of the Tentacle adheres to the sensibilities laid out in Ron Gilbert's Why Adventure Games Suck essay, which outlines the reasoning behind Monkey Island's design deviations from previous point and click adventures - no dead ends, no deaths, keeping goals clear and readable, better feedback to players, more meaningful player agency and tighter integration between puzzles and story.
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These, along with some great humour became the hallmarks of LucasArts' adventure titles and few embody them as well as Day of The Tentacle, which takes a super complicated time travel oriented premise and manages to keep things clear and well paced throughout. If Monkey Island was the dawn of the "golden age of adventure games", then Day of the Tentacle was the latter part of the late morning when things start to really warm up, and paved the way for titles like The Dig, Curse of Monkey Island, Full Throttle (hopefully coming to Linux as part of its upcoming remastered release) and Grim Fandango (already on Linux) to capture the hearts and imaginations of adventure game fans with an enduring passion that would last for decades.
My personal connection to this game has expanded from being that of a player and an appreciator of its accomplishments to include that of a developer and in some respects a historian. I've had the opportunity not only to peek behind the curtain and experience a game I love from a new angle, but I've also been able to look back in time at a fascinating cross-section of LucasArts history.
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Direct Link
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I'm hoping to publish a more in-depth article about my porting experiences at a later date (edit: it's published now). If that sort of thing is exciting for you, definitely keep an eye out.
If you pick it up, I hope that you enjoy Day of the Tentacle as much as I have! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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It was just a matter of interest not for sherlock holming a legal issue. ;)
It was just a matter of interest not for sherlock holming a legal issue. ;)
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Crazy Penguin Jul 12, 2016
@Cheeseness, Good job on the mighty penguin showing purple tentacle who's boss. Love that picture!
Yes, me too! It is awesome! Perfect Desktop-Wallpaper :D
A bit higher resolution would be nice, so e.g. 1920x1080 :)
One step ahead of you. You can find that here.
Fantastic! Thanks a lot! :)
Last edited by Crazy Penguin on 12 July 2016 at 6:38 pm UTC
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It's out on GOG: https://www.gog.com/game/day_of_the_tentacle_remastered
1 Likes, Who?
That game was the reason I bought a 1x cd reader at the time. For the "talky" version.
A creative labs, with a caddy and a big lever to eject it.
God that thing was awful...
And I kept that strange triangular box as long as I could.
I'm so glad to be able to play it again AND support linux ports today!
Thanks to you Cheese and double fine!
A creative labs, with a caddy and a big lever to eject it.
God that thing was awful...
And I kept that strange triangular box as long as I could.
I'm so glad to be able to play it again AND support linux ports today!
Thanks to you Cheese and double fine!
1 Likes, Who?
Segata Sanshiro Jul 12, 2016
after two months' worth of solid porting work, here I am!
So they were contracting you way after they were telling people the Linux port will be available soon?
That sounds like there was no or next to no Linux work done prior to that date?
They weren't just saying that it would be available "soon", they were saying "buy the Windows version now, because it will be available on Linux soon", which I thought was a bit of a shitty thing to do. Now I think it's more shitty considering it seems the port hadn't even been started.
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Cheeseness Jul 13, 2016
after two months' worth of solid porting work, here I am!
So they were contracting you way after they were telling people the Linux port will be available soon?
That sounds like there was no or next to no Linux work done prior to that date?
They weren't just saying that it would be available "soon", they were saying "buy the Windows version now, because it will be available on Linux soon", which I thought was a bit of a shitty thing to do. Now I think it's more shitty considering it seems the port hadn't even been started.
Aaaand let's see how close to accurate your quotation is there...
.... Buy the pc version now, and when Mac and Linux versions are done you'll get access to them too!Close, but not quite.
As I mentioned in a previous comment, a Linux port was planned long before I was approached. Prior to being offered the port, I had been negotiating to assist with Linux QA. You can say that "Cheese's port hadn't even been started," but to say anything beyond that requires a bunch of assumptions that you just don't have the details to support.
I actually spoke to the person who sent that out on the day it was tweeted and let them know that it was something that would upset some Linux users. They were confused and thought that Linux users would be happy to know that if they grabbed the Windows version during the launch sale they'd get the Linux version (that might seem obvious to us now, but it hasn't always been that way for Linux and Mac ports of Windows games). Who'd have thought that even though a message like that could make so many people grumpy, it could still be made by someone with their heart in the right place?
And I kept that strange triangular box as long as I could.:O You had one of the triangular boxes?? What happened to it?
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This port seems to be top notch, btw.
So far it worked absolutely flawless.
So far it worked absolutely flawless.
1 Likes, Who?
Cheeseness Jul 13, 2016
This port seems to be top notch, btw.
So far it worked absolutely flawless.
Glad to hear it's running well for you!
There's definitely room for improvement with the port, and if there's scope for a patch, I'll address what I can, but I've been surprised at how few problems we've had.
The biggest issue so far (how much can you tell from two days?) appears to be a Mesa bug, and there's also been some FMOD funkiness for particular ALSA configurations. Beyond that the only other bug-like thing I've heard of is that some WMs aren't going fullscreen nicely.
I'd give credit to the engine's design (both of SCUMM and the descendent of the Monkey Island special edition engine that sits around it) for the game's robustness rather than take it myself. There was a lot of existing abstraction that helped keep the impact of my own changes down. If I had to dig in and pull iMUSE apart for example, I don't think I'd have been able to put it back together as nicely :D
1 Likes, Who?
And I kept that strange triangular box as long as I could.:O You had one of the triangular boxes?? What happened to it?
If my memory serves right, it goes squished when I moved to my 1st flat.
I threw it away after that, it had lost its "superb".
And for the curious that don't know what we are talking about:
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Segata Sanshiro Jul 13, 2016
Getting a bit defensive there. I'm sure Day of the Tentacle is a great game (a little before my time, but it's a classic I've always wanted to play). I'm sure you personally did a great job with this game.
I was just pointing out something which is very much not OK and I don't understand why you insist on defending it. A port may have been planned, but it clearly wasn't very far along at that point (this was 4 months ago). I'm not sure I follow the logic of this "well intentioned offer"... You can buy the game on an OS you don't have, so you won't be able to play the game, however please give us your money now and you'll get it when we finish the port. All that post says to me is that they wanted money for a product which (as we now know) didn't even exist then. I'm not sure I care that a company has its "heart in the right place"... It's a business, not a charity (I think).
Defend the game and your own skills all you like, but please don't defend shoddy business practices because it doesn't help anyone. If you really like the company, then give criticism where criticism is due so they can improve. Also, they said PC.
I was just pointing out something which is very much not OK and I don't understand why you insist on defending it. A port may have been planned, but it clearly wasn't very far along at that point (this was 4 months ago). I'm not sure I follow the logic of this "well intentioned offer"... You can buy the game on an OS you don't have, so you won't be able to play the game, however please give us your money now and you'll get it when we finish the port. All that post says to me is that they wanted money for a product which (as we now know) didn't even exist then. I'm not sure I care that a company has its "heart in the right place"... It's a business, not a charity (I think).
Defend the game and your own skills all you like, but please don't defend shoddy business practices because it doesn't help anyone. If you really like the company, then give criticism where criticism is due so they can improve. Also, they said PC.
1 Likes, Who?
I picked it up on Humble Bundle (DRM free download and Steam key) today after waiting a while for the port. I also registered the game on Steam in GNU/Linux to hopefully send some money towards Cheese''s way for the port. Thanks for helping in getting it out! :D
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Cheeseness Jul 14, 2016
If my memory serves right, it goes squished when I moved to my 1st flat.Ah, rest in peace, awesome box o7
I threw it away after that, it had lost its "superb".
Getting a bit defensive there. I'm sure Day of the Tentacle is a great game (a little before my time, but it's a classic I've always wanted to play). I'm sure you personally did a great job with this game.I think there's a difference between being defensive and trying to explain a situation to reduce misinformation.
Glossing over that I can't find any communication from Double Fine where they'd said that the Linux port was "coming soon" before I started work (I did find "fashionably late" - is that it?) or anything that suggests they didn't have reason to believe a port would be ready within a reasonable timeframe, painting confirmation that buying the Windows version will get players the Mac and Linux versions when they're released (something some people actually want to know as clandestine behaviour comes across as super bizarre to me.
If they'd said "We plan to do a Linux version," when they had plans to not do a Linux version or if they'd said "The Linux version will be ready in a month," when they had reason to believe that it wouldn't be, then I'd get it, but I can't see any evidence of that ever having been the case.
Heck, even being grumpy about a post letting people know the game ran in Wine/offering to help people who wanted to do that would make more sense to me :D
If you really like the company, then give criticism where criticism is due so they can improve. Also, they said PC.If you read my previous post, I mentioned that I did offer some constructive criticism at the time - I contacted the person who made the tweet within hours of them doing it to help them understand that Linux users wouldn't appreciate the sentiment and to remind them that "PC" includes Linux.
I picked it up on Humble Bundle (DRM free download and Steam key) today after waiting a while for the port. I also registered the game on Steam in GNU/Linux to hopefully send some money towards Cheese''s way for the port. Thanks for helping in getting it out! :DI want to highlight that I don't get royalties on this game so whether or not you buy it doesn't directly affect me (this isn't unusual for contracted ports and I feel well looked after). People should only buy the game if they want to play it or if they want to support DF for their efforts to support GNU/Linux :)
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Cheeseness Jul 23, 2016
For anybody who's subscribed to the comments and has been hanging out for my article on porting, it's up now and can be found here (a GOL summary article is on its way!) :D
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Currently working on Winter's Wake, a first person text adventure thing and its engine Icicle. Also making a little bee themed base builder called Hive Time :)
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