TALKING TO TELLTALE ABOUT THE BONE PC GAME

[MattBrady]

With an announcement in February, Jeff Smith’s Bone became the latest comic book property to make the move from printed page to video game. Newcomer to the videogame field, Telltale Games will adapt the story of three cousins who were run out of Boneville and their subsequent epic adventure in the valley.

We sat down with three of the individuals overseeing and working on the game for more: Dan Conners, CEO of Telltale; Graham Anable, Creative Director; and Heather Logas, Designer.

Newsarama: First off, Telltale is a relatively new name, but you guys, collectively, aren’t newcomers are you? Tell us a little bit about who Telltale is, and where you all come form, industry-wise…

Dan Conners: Telltale is made up of industry veterans who met at Lucas Arts. Our staff has worked on Grim Fandango, Escape from Monkey Island, Full Throttle and a host of Star Wars titles. We decided to set up Telltale as a way to focus on creative story telling in games, and to be in a place were we could be innovative. Our technology is very focused on strong character presentation, and our goal is to create characters that players would rather play or explore with then kill.

NRAMA: How did you get hooked up with Jeff?

Graham Anable: With Telltale freshly formed the search was on for stories and content that would fit the style of gameplay we had refined in our many days at LucasArts . Our Director of Production Tech, Jon Sgro, was a huge fan of Bone and suggested it as the perfect license to pursue. Upon hearing this I offered up that I knew Jeff Smith from various meetings at comic conventions over the years and subsequently had his email address handy. We quickly arranged to give both Jeff and Vijaya Smith a demo and outline of what we wanted to do for Bone>. They were extremely enthusiastic over what we presented and things just started to roll from there!

NRAMA: But what made you think that Bone would make a good jump from comics to PC game? What characteristics did it have that really clicked with your guys as you were looking at it?

GA: The types of games we wanted to create needed to have a strong story element, distinctive art style, and content that could be interpreted on many levels and enjoyed by a wide cross section of age and gender. Bone hit on all these points and more. The pacing of the story also lent itself beautifully to the online episodic structure we’re planning to implement. The humor in the book was a big draw as well. We definitely want to be known as a company that produces a lot of fun stuff and the style of humor in Bone really struck a chord with us.

Heather Logas: Bone is a fantastic story with deep, memorable characters. One of our goals is to make interaction between the player and non-player characters a rich, compelling experience. When your raw material is a cast of characters like that in Bone, characters who really come to life on the page, it is really exciting to take them and try to make them come to life on the screen as well.

NRAMA: Did Jeff need much convincing when you met with him? After all, he had seen Bone head down other media streets before to no avail.

DC: The fact that we had Graham on board as our creative director helped. Jeff really wanted to be sure that the feeling of the comic book was translated into the game world, so Graham’s comic book experience was huge. We also showed him some of the work we had done on Sam and Max Freelance Police and he liked the art quality and the style of gameplay. After we had done a pass on the game design it was pretty obvious that Jeff and Telltale share a vision of what the game should be.

HL: The big thing is that we seem to be very in sync with Jeff Smith as far as what the story is about and who the characters are. He has mentioned that in pursuing other “media streets”, this kind of relationship hasn’t exactly been there.

NRAMA: Can you give us a feel for the game – in terms of gameplay, what are you envisioning?

DC: The gameplay will be most similar to an adventure game. It will be a point and click interface that allows the player to interact with the various characters and environments in the Bone world. The gameplay will be varied based on the circumstances of the story. We are really investing our time in creating fun ways to interact with the various characters.

HL: I like to think of it as a next-gen adventure game. Take a classic, like Sam and Max, and use a modern – game - art style and streamlined interface and gameplay. We are really focusing on what made those games fun to play and refining it to make something that feels both classic and new.

NRAMA: Is this going to be one game, or a series?

DC: The first game is based on Out From Boneville the first arc, and collected edition in the series. The design stays very true to the storyline of the comic. We plan on continuing this strategy for the rest of the series so the great cow race is in the next one.

NRAMA: How closely will you be adhering to the storyline as laid out by Jeff?

DC: The game is an interactive version of the story so players will be able to explore the world and meet characters at there own pace, but the game sticks to the storyline.

HL: With hopefully a couple surprises outside the main story…

NRAMA: What characters will be the users play? Will you have a single point of view character throughout, or will it rotate?

DC: The player will start as Fone but that will switch as the gameplay or the story requires it. We are really excited about exploring this because the characters in the world respond so differently to each Bone cousin it can feel like a different world depending on which character you are.

NRAMA: How involved is Jeff in the progression, now that this is up and running?

GA: Jeff ‘s been very involved and it has been really fantastic to have had as much input from him as we’ve had. Both he and his colorist, Steve Hamaker, have looked over nearly every piece of art we’ve created for the game so far. Their feedback has been totally invaluable in allowing us to create an authentic Bone world for the game. It’s been such a great experience to pick Mr. Smith’s brain over the many details of the book.

NRAMA: Finally, where are you, development wise? How much longer will things take, and when are you expecting to see it on shelves?

DC: The design is done and we are in production. The 3d characters and environments are looking really great, as Graham says Jeff and Steve have been providing direction for us. We also have some of the game play prototyped and are feeling really good about it. The game should be available around fall.

Newsarama Note: To view the demo trailer Telltale created for Bone (in Windows Media), right-click here, and select “save as.” The file is roughly 1.5 meg.

[AlexLothos]

Very cool!

[Winteriscoming]

Yeah, I'm pretty excited about this.

[Tinnitus Tim]

That is a good way of getting the attention of the kids toward the property.

[Texcap]

Good luck in the endeavor folks -- glad that y'all (and publishers like SCHOLASTIC) have recognized the ever-growing potential that BONE has to reach and entertain a wide audience.

Doesn't hurt that Jeff Smith is heavily involved in the project!

Look forward to even more news down the road -- regardless, I'm certainy planning on adding this to my collection.

[Vyper]

I was on board the second I read that some of the people involved worked on Full Throttle, my absolute favorite game of all time.

The preview looked pretty cool, too.

[cap97]

That looks very cool. I can't wait!

[Kon-EL]

so are there any plans to make this game for a platform like PS2 or XBox?

[Vyper]

Originally posted by Kon-EL
so are there any plans to make this game for a platform like PS2 or XBox?

I was thinking the same thing, actually. It would probably sell better as a console game

[Erikonil]

Well if it's the same cast that was working on Monkey Island , Sam adn Max , and Grim Fandango then I bet it'll end up being a great game.

[muikane]

Bone's a good story.
But it turned Quasimodo in the end. You know how Quasimodo loved Esmerelda? But then in the end, the two humans got together and Quasi stood there like a goram sidekick.

That's what happpend to the Bone story. There were several disturbing ways Bone could have ended. But Jeff Smith prolly wanted a movie deal. So he mainstreamed it, reined himself a bit.

That's why the ending was so lackluster. Taht's why a lot of the core ideas were scrapped. I think i know why taht guy from Cerebus was so pissed off at Jeff. You can infer a lot , if you choose to. Infer a whole lot.

At the core of Bone is a dark and violent movie. The Hero is Bone. A person who always tries to do the right thing. Funny how Jeff Smith isnt quite like his protagonist. But then again, we're only human.

[RDFozz]

Originally posted by Erikonil
Well if it's the same cast that was working on Monkey Island , Sam and Max , and Grim Fandango then I bet it'll end up being a great game.

Yeah, I was just thinking how cool it would be if these guys could pick up the second Sam and Max game (if the rumors I heard about such a thing being at least proposed are true).

Sigh. I miss those two.

"Here we are in the Philippines!"
"Drawn completely without reference, I see."

(or something like that).

[thepoet]

I LOVED Lucasfilm's classic adventure games. Escape from Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, Sam & Max and Full Throttle were all stellar. I'm also a Bone fan, so I'll be first in line for this one. Computer games have been lacking in the adventure game department for some time now. (Though I heard Syberia was good.)

Can't wait!

[alexjsf5]

Yeah i will get it

[Crimson]

I can't wait! Old school Adventure games own all!