There's no mention of it being a new game though so it could be any of those from the page.

Looking at the lyrics for "owner of a lonely heart" I can't really think of anything: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/yes/ownerofalonelyheart.html [External Link]

If it's one of the ones on the list (ie, one which hasn't been released for mac already) then it's neither Tomb Raider, Bioshock nor Deus Ex, which is a shame.

It could be the "pathetic earthlings" or the "starship enterprise" clue. I know nothing about Star Trek so can't really come up with anything there either.

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The Patagones or Patagonian giants are a mythical race of people, who first began to appear in early European accounts of the then little-known region and coastline of Patagonia. They were supposed to have exceeded at least double normal human height, some accounts giving heights of 12 to 15 feet (3.7 to 4.6 m) or more

I'm putting my money on Bioshock then (big dadddy references).

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If I had to take a more serious guess, I would say the penguin's name is "diver" which may be a reference to Bioshock's big daddies...

No idea what Patagonicus could refer to though.

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Aptenodytes - from the Ancient Greek a/α 'without' pteno-/πτηνο- "feather" or "wing" and dytes/δυτης "diver"

Patagonicus - From Patagonia, where it lives...

So.... Feral are coming to Argentina on something without wings and which dives... They're getting a nuclear sub to Buenos Aires where they'll be worKING from now on and thus offering me a job. Thanks Feral!

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Looking forward to a big GOL mulltiplayer livestream when this goes live.

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Edit > Maybe all these thoughts by Cheese & Segata could be written down into two opposing editorials, would both make a mighty fun read.

I would be up for that! A bit of healthy discussion on GOL would be a good thing and we both clearly hold different views, though it has to be said that Cheese is probably far more knowledgeable on this than me.

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Quoting: dubigrasuSo suppose I want to start the Deponia story, which one should I choose? (Deponia vs Complete)

I have all 4 of them and so far I can't tell any differences, except some minor extra options in the settings menu (and devs commentary) for the Complete version. Oh yeah, there is also some bonus content.
But are there any extra chapters, fixes etc, to choose the Complete version over the standalone ones?

Well if you have all 4 then I guess it's your call, I was just suggesting "complete" to people buying them for the first time. I haven't played through the complete one yet, but I think there's just a few little things (like a world map) which make the experience feel more cohesive. As a single game though maybe the complete one is more daunting given that the others are around 12 hours each so this should be 36 hours... If you don't want to play that all in one go and maybe just do one every couple of months, then playing them separately may be better. I guess there's no write or wrong answer, just depends on your preferences.

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Crowdfunding campaigns aren't for everybody. If there are people who want to support this, then let those people do so and be happy. They're willing to take on whatever risk is associated with the project at hand, and should be free to accept that risk. There's no reason to be an internet angrymans every time somebody mentions a developer that you don't like who uses an open platform.

Cheeseness, you seem to have me confused with the interpassive internet masses. I don't personally dislike these developers or the games they've produced (in fact, I like [older] the games a lot), what I dislike is their business practices. What I have attempted to do is raise some questions about Kickstarter as a platform and whether its been abused by certain people.

There is no denying that the number of successful video game Kickstarter projects has fallen by 20% compared to last year and the total amount of funding has dropped by 50%. The two best explanations for this would be lack of confidence and the second is lack of exposure - both of which the "bad apples" in the Kickstarter barrel hold a great deal of responsibility for.

The lack of confidence I have covered, but then there's media coverage. The media coverage is possibly the most ironic of the two because originally crowdfunding had eroded the traditional establishment of gaming, allowing smaller studios a fair shot, with games like FTL receiving as much coverage as a AAA title. Now these titles get no coverage whatsoever, most big sites have dropped their Kickstarter sections and only mention the occasional project with a big name behind it.

What has now happened is that the establishment have found a great PR opportunity in terms of "look, we're just like you, we're indie developers and we need your money or we can't make this game. We want to be independent and free from those big mean publishing companies" - being said or insinuated by people like Peter Molyneux, Tim Schafer and now Ron Gilbert apparently.

What they have achieved in doing is making media coverage be about personality rather than content. If Ron's name wasn't on this, it would never get funded (and would never ask for that much money) simply because none of the "kingmakers" (big youtubers, big media sites) have no interest anymore - which is exactly what happens to smaller devs. Similarly, I've seen projects desperately try and get an endorsement from people like Molyneux or Schafer because, again, their names are what gets games funded and not the content of said games.

We now have a situation where the very platform which brought greater egalitarianism has been hijacked and turned into something where established players can get much lower-risk investments at no cost in ownership and where those same established players are essentially the "gatekeepers" to the small ones which could really benefit. It's moved from being a great way to bring small developers on the scene, to just pre-ordering games so that people with decades of experience don't have to talk to men in suits about investment because they don't want to "sell out", or more likely because they don't want to give up a share of their company.

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Are you under the impression that LucasArts gave Ron Gilbert millions of dollars in royalties for the Monkey Island games, so that he's got enough money to make a decent game lying around in his bank account?

Nope, I'm saying that for someone like him it's much easier to go and find a private investment given his past experience and reputation in the industry and not further saturate Kickstarter and make it even harder for lesser known people to get funding which they - unlike Ron Gilbert - would find it almost impossible to get any other way.

The more I look at this, it kind of pisses me off.

Just like they were on Maniac Mansion, Ron and Gary will be the core of the team building this new point & click adventure, co-designing and writing with Ron doing the bulk of the programming and Gary doing the art. Good times.

An additional programmer and artist will be added 6 months into production, along with a part-time musician. Dedicated testers will join as the game nears completion.

OK, so kind of looking at the pie chart and making deductions, the costs being mainly their wages - around $75,000 would be what Ron and Garry get as a wage EACH. Surely that's A LOT more than you need to get by comfortably and their "payoff" would come mostly upon the release of the game if they're the primary shareholders (shareholders of something created with minimal risk on their behalf seemingly).

People can have a look at the numbers, and if they want to use their money to pay some well-known developers a comfortable wage to make a game that's their choice. However, most people would assume that the money is being used differently.

What pisses me off is that if I ever want to make a Kickstarter and try and get $75,000 (which you could make a damn good game with) it's almost impossible however good the project is because some guys in California asked for far more than they needed and didn't deliver on their promises, leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of otherwise generous gamers whose trust is being gradually eroded.

At the risk of coming across like one of those people on the internet who I despise. I'll leave it there. I'll just quietly seethe.

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Anyone know why he left DF? Quite curious and wasn't aware that he had.

The game looks super cool, but I'm kind of dubious as to why they need $375,000 when I'm seeing other adventure games with modern graphics and nice animation being made for less than half that...

I hope he hasn't carried through DF's culture of greed and riding the croudfunding gravy train. The guy is responsible for some great games, but with today's technology an old-school adventure like this shouldn't cost anywhere near that. Wish "big names" like Ron Gilbert would start risking a bit of their own money instead of other people's...

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