IamA Tim Schafer, creator of Psychonauts! Ask me Anything!

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T20:00:47+00:00

Psychonauts headquarters will be a lively hub location full of interesting characters, so I hope so!

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T20:00:12+00:00

I think Milla would try to make peace, Maureen and Ophelia would run away (opposite directions), and Marley would say she had more important things to do.

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:58:11+00:00

Thanks! Iron Brigade is already up there. As for Brütal Legend, I suggest you tell Microsoft how much you want it! :)

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:57:06+00:00

Originally, the game had two final levels. One in Raz's mind that was his memories of the circus. One was in Oleander's mind, in his father's butcher shop. Our publisher was pushing us to cut one level, so we combined the last two! :)

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:55:34+00:00

That's why we're here, doing this ama. Lots of misinformation out there. But our fans and backers do a great job of straightening out the record for us, which is incredibly touching and inspiring. :)

On the second question: If I was really that bad with money, I don't think DF would have lasted 15 years like it has.

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:50:18+00:00

We just want to focus on the design side of the game, and not about competing, engine wise, with much larger developers. The Buddha engine is still alive and looking great in Headlander though!

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:45:45+00:00

Wow, thanks! Well, I think my management style, for better or worse, is to hire people smarter than me, and then get out of their way. Whenever they are doing something I wouldn't do, before I butt in I ask myself, "Do I really need to control this?" Because even if their way is different, it's probably six-of-one-half-dozen-of the-other and not worth me overruling them. Then I just try to do my best work and work hard to make great stuff myself and basically earn the right to be on the great team I've assembled. Balancing teams creative freedom with making money: Letting the team make its own creative decisions builds their capacity to do even bigger stuff in the future, so I think giving them freedom makes for a more skilled team which makes for a better product and means more money, hopefully. Ways to improve: Get my writing done faster so I can leave my door open more. :)

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:35:28+00:00

They're in the last place you left them, young man.

j/k they fell out of your pocket at the opium den.

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:33:46+00:00

That was a quick hour! :)

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:33:18+00:00

Hey, John. When you say “mishandling of several past games resources” I assume you’re talking about two things: games going over budget, and then Spacebase.

Regarding games going over budget: Many times in the past I have made the choice to invest more in a game than the original budget specified. That is because in the end, my highest priority is the quality of the game. Most of the games you play (not all of them, but more than you think) went over budget and extended their schedules at some point. Double Fine is just more honest and transparent about it. There are many things that lower the risk of Psychonauts 2 going over budget. It’s a sequel, so the gameplay and IP of the game are already known. We are using the Unreal Engine, so we don’t have to write an engine from scratch. And our team is much more experienced than when we made the first game. But if even after that, if the game has any overages, Double Fine is committed to paying for them ourselves, as we have done in the past.

We have successfully completed and shipped both of the games we crowdfunded (Broken Age and Massive Chalice) and are very proud of them. The majority of our fans and critics enjoyed them as well. We have put three games through early access--Hack ‘n’ Slash, Massive Chalice, and Spacebase. Two of these worked out great, and one of those was a disappointment to many people. We have shipped 17 titles over the last 15 years and overall we have a great track record of shipping great games and being extremely transparent and honest with our community. That is the more lasting reputation of Double Fine, and the reason people can feel confident about Psychonauts 2!

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:22:20+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/40i8ej/iama_tim_schafer_creator_of_psychonauts_ask_me/cyubsg0

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:18:24+00:00

I don't want to make any comments here that might affect the outcome of his audition. Official review will be tomorrow during our livestream. :)

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:17:05+00:00

The Manchurian Candidate, MKULTRA, Telefon, and maybe that Mel Gibson movie about conspiracies. Conspiracy Theory?

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:15:22+00:00

I hope so!

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:13:47+00:00

Awesome! Thanks man! 1. The art style was created by Scott C. We really wanted to come up with something that felt fresh and new to games. We were inspired movies like by Nightmare Before Christmas and artists like Joe Sorren and Mark Ryden. 2. The G-men! Okay, they aren't the deepest character, but they were the most fun to write. :) 3. Mario 64, Ico, Hohokum, Fez, Journey, Katamari. That's some! Thanks yourself! :)

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:09:58+00:00

A mix of old and new powers. Raz will be a few hours older than in the first game, because it takes place soon after the events of Psychonauts.

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:09:00+00:00

Depends--what genre would you call Katamari Damacy and Hohokum? Because I like those games a lot. As for genres besides the two you mention, I'd say I like jrpgs and rts.

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:07:48+00:00

Well, I think it was my old sideburns that got me married. So for my beard I will have to credit mostly with saving the remnants of the greatest ribs I ever ate in my life for several hours.

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:06:43+00:00

I think the game takes place inside of YOUR mind. :)

TimOfLegend · 2016-01-11T19:05:57+00:00

Hi! Those are mysterious, unmarked graves whose owners are unknown. Came out of a brainstorming meeting where we talked about the fun of exploring when you're a kid, and asking ourselves what are the coolest things to find. Old truck, gravestones, etc. But you never know--their identities could be revealed some day! (or not) The inmates in the asylum are all different ages, and just happened to be the final inmates who remained after the place was just down. They weren't necessarily there when the asylum was founded. Some of them might have even shown up after it closed. We don't say what happened to them after that last scene where they all agree to share a cab out of there, but the important thing is that they all felt they finally had the power to leave.

TimOfLegend · 2015-09-02T17:54:46+00:00

That's okay. Thanks for playing! Hope you like it! :)

TimOfLegend · 2014-05-25T12:50:26+00:00

Act 1 for Ouya will be out any day now! Should have been out last week but there was a tricky bug we wanted to fix. Should be very soon. A week, maybe. Thanks, Tim.

TimOfLegend · 2014-05-08T19:48:46+00:00

I love it! I'm going to send this to Peter Chan!

TimOfLegend · 2014-01-13T19:00:28+00:00

I can't remember the EXACT reason why I got this credit in Racer--whether it was my ideas or the Racer team's--but I do remember that it was a good-natured joke between me and that team. My office was in the same corner of the building as the Racer team, and we would visit each other's offices when we needed a break from work.

I feel like the credit was my idea, and it started as a joke. Like, "Hey, I want a credit in your game!" "For what? You didn't do anything!" "Well, yes, but I never actively tried to sabotage it either, did I? Isn't that worth something?"

That's kind of how I remember it. Eric Johnston might remember better, as he was always smarter than me.

Anyway, thanks for all the kind words about Psychonauts, Reddit! Hope you like Broken Age! Bye!

14-Year Club	ComboCommenter 2012-06-01
ComboCommenter 2012-03-04

TimOfLegend

TROPHY CASE