I wonder what that “private lounge area” is… 
I bought a first class railway ticket last month and it sent me an email telling me all about the private lounges available to me at various stations.
Out of idle curiosity I checked… and they were all only open from something like 7-17 on weekdays (and who knows right now anyway). My trip was on a Sunday…
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Let’s go back to the argument of speculations. Grumpy Gamer hasn’t been updated since January 1st, which makes me think Terrible Toybox is in “crunch time”. Do you think it is possible? If this is possible, do you think this means that the project is moving from alpha to beta phase or could it be at a more backward stage of development? What phase do you place it in?
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Yes, because:
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In 1989 Ron Gilbert wrote the famous article “Why Adventure Games Suck”.
I have decided to transcribe this article with the modes and tones of the gothic illuminated manuscript. (Whenever I express this concept it sounds like an exaggerated NERD thing, and it is!).
To this dodecalogue I attribute a HUGE historical value and I want it to be the protagonist of the “heirloom” dedicated to Secret of Monkey island.
My initial intention was to present this project here only after his completion as one of the most valuable manuscripts in Chuck Edmund’s library. But I changed my mind. Since the realization of this project is quite long, it could be groped to start a social experiment.
Maybe it could be done with the help of the users of this forum.
In this regard, I propose this quiz:
Are you able to assign an image (of a particular Secret of Monkey Island event, situation, character or landscape) that represents each of Ron’s 12rules?
Your answers will help me with the illustrations, decorations and miniatures drawn inside the drop caps. WARNING! For some of these rules it is easy to attribute images or situations but on the other it is rather complicated. Also for this reason I ask for your help.
I’ll summarize them for you below, you can retrieve the article here:
- End objective needs to be clear
- Sub-goals need to be obvious
- Live and learn
- Backwards Puzzles
- I forgot to pick it up
- Puzzles should advance the story
- Real time is bad drama
- Incremental reward
- Arbitrary puzzles
- Reward Intent
- Unconnected events
- Give the player options
I’m working on transcription of the Italian translation made by DIDUZ Lucasdelirium :
The blanks will be filled with drop caps, decorations and illustrations
Waiting for ink drying
Drop Caps experiments
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Wonderful. Needless to say, you are a talented drawer, Puccio!
There are still two things that hit me.
The first one is the translation of “adventure games” as “adventure”, so evident starting with the title.
Perché gli adventure fanno schifo.
Generally speaking, avoiding a translation of a foreign word is always a loss for a language, affecting its capability to use its own formal system to express a significance. In the long run, this hurts the ability to express meaning, and there are parts of many modern languages that are not able anymore to convey significance like in the sectors of information technology and computer science. How silly is that we’ve not created an italian word for the english “computer”, which comes directly from the latin verb computo-as, are, (meaning to count), helping the language stay healthy and creative and productive.
Anyway in your effort to recreate an old manuscript, this is even more notable, since you used “adventure” instead of avventure grafiche, which is an established form.*
The second thing is how you start a new line, using those little rods instead of making an hyphenation.
*Inglese italianato è un diavolo incarnato, (an Italianate Englishman is a devil incarnate), Roger Ascham famously said in the Schoolmaster , reproaching the wide diffusion of Italian language and culture in Elizabethan England.
This wise saying is certainly true the other way round too. 
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In fair Verona…
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I am too lazy to take screenshots, so I hope you know the game backwards. Some are intentionally tongue-in-cheek.
-
End objective needs to be clear
The “dance” instructions -
Sub-goals need to be obvious
Talk to important looking pirates: “the three trials!” -
Live and learn
“I can hold my breath for twenty minutes!” Float/bop/decay/…
Or “rubber tree!” -
Backwards Puzzles
The upside down dialog in the circus -
I forgot to pick it up
The banana picker? -
Puzzles should advance the story
Well, there are a few “mazes” - but most are not real mazes that can be forced. -
Real time is bad drama
Either the grog melted pewter or the “ok, we have a reservation for looting the mansion at 3:30” -
Incremental reward
-
Arbitrary puzzles
Getting the key from LeChuck’s room -
Reward Intent
Walk to the sun…. -
Unconnected events
Meanwhile… in a secret hideout… -
Give the player options
The “look at poster” reply on the wharf.
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Re-reading that blog post makes me ponder whether I’m making a good job with my adventure game.
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And yours reminds me I am still stuck on a cruise ship with a mutiny.
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Hi gffp! Just yesterday @ZakPhoenixMcKracken reported your name as “Great Italian Users”, it’s a pleasure to read your answer! Damn!! Thanks for “talented drawer” but I prefer to define myself as “UN GRAN BEL COPIONE” (how do you translate in English?). LOL! The REAL drawer are other people, not me.
Your speech on the importance of flexibility of the language embarrasses me because my bad english will surely have made you fall off your chair. Forgive me, I do my best even if unfortunately it is not enough.
About the translation choices I would like to emphasize that I limited myself to transcribing a translation pre-existing made by DIDUZ of Lucasdelirium. I am unable to translate by myself, unfortunately. I’m glad you noticed “the rods”, it’s something I didn’t think anyone would notice. Breaking words into syllables is a modern method, in the Middle Ages it was arbitrarily chopped in order to respect the spaces and obtain a better visual impact. In the late Middle Ages, however, particular decorations began to appear that fill the empty spaces. In this specific case I have adopted a very simple one that I make with calligraphic pens but I have experimented with other more elaborate ones that I have discarded because they need to be drawn and they take time. I leave you a photo.
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Thanks Sushi for the reply!
I do not expect screenshots you have already done so much answering the question!
I have some things to tell you I will write you a loooOOOooong post as soon as possible.
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GUGA! The legendary programmer from Cagliari? Did I guess? Welcome!
Just yesterday I started watching the Mangia Avventure’s stream in which you are the guest! Unfortunately I didn’t have time to watch all the video. If I did maybe I would have found what adventure game you’re talking about! Any clues?
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For us, he is just the Guga we like to hang out with
Aha… must add this to my watch list then
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That interview is from June 2021, so you wouldn’t have 
I’m expanding a game I started
You can find them on gugames.itch.io and there’s a topic called “Guga’s adventure game”* where I used to put some info but lately I’ve been working on boring stuff
*how did I miss Sushi linking it right above my reply?
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And how could I miss that some of your games are for Linux… 
Oh well since I moved from AGS I’m making them for Linux too 
but with ScummVM you can play my other games - not perfectly though.
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How could Zak report my name as “Great Italian User”? It’s Gffp, not Giu! 
Anyway I don’t deserve such a honorable mention, I’m just a guy that enjoys the conversation with the people here.
As for the translation, I appreciate a lot the one you used, done by Diduz from Lucasdelirium site. I’d change only a couple of things, to improve it in general and even more in the particular context of your wonderful drawings. (By the way a lot of great drawers begin to learn by copying works by others. I don’t even know if it is possible not to pass through this stage. Anyway you copy very well, and that’s a very good start in my opinion).
As I said before, I’d translate:
adventure games as avventure grafiche;
Hollywood Envy as Invidia di Hollywood;
I consider those to be strictly necessary to have a good translation.
But since I love languages, their health and the antiqued context of your creation I encourage you to use also other translations:
design as progetto;
game-designer as progettista, or progettista di giochi, or progettista videoludico;
plot as intreccio or trama
week-end as fine settimana.
As for the rods, they are nice, and so are the other decorations you made. For the majority of books I’ve seen, still I noticed the practice you punctually mentioned, that is to split the words when starting a new line. A wise solution could be to split the words, but using division into syllables to make it easier to read for a contemporary reader.
Anyway keep up the good work and have always a good time drawing!
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A precious booklet was stolen from Chuck Edmund’s HUGE bookcase and sent (via the Thimbleweed Park post office) directly to Professor @Diduz , what is it? Bets are accepted on what the contents of this mysterious package may be. In any case, the answer will come in the JULY update of Lucasdelirium.
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