Tim Shafer spoke about “digital archeology" and remastering of old games

The creator of Full Throttle and Grim Fandango, Tim Schafer, shared his experience working on the reissue of gaming classics.

According to the game designer, while working on the adaptation of classic Lucas Arts quests, he and the Double Fine studio team faced challenges that simply do not exist when you create something new from scratch.

“In those years we were terrible perfectionists. It always seemed to us that our projects were unfinished. Then you couldn’t just release a patch, and if you made a mistake in the game, then you had to put up with it. By creating remasters, I got a chance to fix those flaws,” Shafer said.

But he also added that you should not get carried away with remaking old games. Shafer said that he respects the work of the people who created the original. Tim noted that they make one innovation in each project. For example, they expand the areas of action in pixel-hunting puzzles for the Full Throttle remaster.

Tim Shafer also noted that Double Fine is trying to make new versions as close as possible to the originals by attracting the same people and resources that made those very games. He called this process “digital archaeology”.

In the work on the remaster of Full Throttle, original art by Lucas Arts artists Larry Ehern and Peter Chen. Roy Conrad (Roy Conrad), who voiced the main character of Full Throttle, died in 2002, but the developers received films with his voice and used them to work on the project.

Source: Games Industry