History Creator / TimSchafer

In late 2015, Schafer and Double Fine [[DevelopmentHell after years and years]], finally managed to fund ''VideoGame/Psychonauts2'' using Fig, with a VR simulator interquel called ''VideoGame/PsychonautsInTheRhombusOfRuin'' also released in 2017. However, that still wasn’t enough to save the company, and in 2019, Schafer revealed that Microsoft has acquired Double Fine.

Hmm. To get the ball rolling, let's dub him the Patron Deity of weird-yet-awesome VideoGames, then follow up with an informal description cribbed from Wiki/ThatOtherWiki. Sic Parvis Magna: Greatness From Small Beginnings.

* CultClassic: A small BerserkButton of his. Many of his games ended up this way, having devoted fans but not making the greatest sales.

* WidgetSeries: All of his games are weird. That's part of the appeal.

Hmm. To get the ball rolling, let's dub him the Patron Deity of weird-yet-awesome VideoGames, then follow up with an informal description cribbed from Wiki/ThatOtherWiki. Sic Parvis Magna; Greatness From Small Beginnings.

His application for Creator/LucasArts was somewhat disastrous; he mentioned he was a fan of ''Ballblaster'', at which point the interviewer, [[VideoGame/ZakMcKrackenAndTheAlienMindbenders David Fox]], informed him that this was the pirated version of ''Ballblazer''. He was still permitted to send in his resume and a cover letter, so to make up for the phone interview, he sent in a comic of himself applying for and getting the job at Lucasfilm Games, drawn as a text adventure. It worked, and the rest is history.

In late 2015, Schafer and Double Fine [[DevelopmentHell after years and years]], finally managed to fund ''VideoGame/Psychonauts2'' using Fig, with a VR simulator interquel called ''VideoGame/PsychonautsInTheRhombusOfRuin'' also released in 2017.

The game went through five long years of DevelopmentHell. The game was cheerfully supported by Sierra, who was then bought out by Creator/{{Activision}}. Finding out it had it combined Action with RealTimeStrategy elements (RTS being a "naughty word" in the industry), they tried to force Tim Schafer to abandon the entire game mechanics and change it to a VideoGame/GuitarHero game. During this time, Schafer was, according to Bobby Kotick, missing every milestone and was consistently late in presenting the product. After a failed attempt, ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'' was canceled. Tim Schafer then took the game to Creator/ElectronicArts, who although supported the game and used Focus Tests to find out the game really was fun for players of any skill level, they were so scared to admit it was part-RTS, they chose to heavily advertise it as just a Single Player action game. Producing a massive InternetBackdraft from players whose expectations were driven in the wrong direction. Despite high reviews (from those who actually touched the multiplayer), the game did not sell well.

In his first lead role on a game project (along with [[Creator/TelltaleGames Dave Grossman]]), Schafer returned to MadScience themes with a sequel to ''Maniac Mansion'' titled ''VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle'', a time-travel comedy adventure. [[CaptainObvious It was awesome]]. After that, Schafer was given relatively free rein, resulting in the biker adventure ''VideoGame/FullThrottle'' and afterlife adventure ''VideoGame/GrimFandango''.

Hmm. To get the ball rolling, let's dub him the Patron Deity of CrazyAwesome VideoGames, then follow up with an informal description cribbed from Wiki/ThatOtherWiki. Sic Parvis Magna; Greatness From Small Beginnings.

''Broken Age,'' however, would mark the downturn of Schafer's popularity. The DevelopmentHell the game went through (As detailed in full on the relevant ''Broken Age'' pages), despite achieving a significant sum more than it asked for in the Kickstarter, resulted in some fans wondering if the project had died. The game being eventually released in parts (With a year long gap between the episodes), apparently to help fund Part 2, had multiple fans wondering where the hell the funding went for the Kickstarter. History would repeat with ''Spacebase DF-9'', a game that received its budget from Kickstarter before being released in 2015... in an unfinished state, as the game had run out of money. Worse still, the developers released the modding tools, which many took to effectively mean "Finish our game for us." Schafer's popularity took a heavy downturn as a consequence of these two games, and the ''Psychonauts'' revival was met not with excitement by a few players, but trepidation that history would repeat ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFX0f_YUn1I Fig's shady reputation]] has not quelled these murmurs). Time will ultimately tell if Schafer can reclaim his glory days.

''Broken Age,'' however, would mark the downturn of Schafer's popularity. The DevelopmentHell the game went through (As detailed in full on the relevant ''Broken Age'' pages), despite achieving a significant sum more than it asked for in the Kickstarter, resulted in some fans wondering if the project had died. The game being eventually released in parts (With a year long gap between the episodes), apparently to help fund Part 2, had multiple fans wondering where the hell the funding went for the Kickstarter. History would repeat with ''Spacebase DF-9'', a game that received its budget from Kickstarter before being released in 2015... in an unfinished state, as the game had run out of money. Worse still, the developers released the modding tools, which many took to effectively mean "Finish our game for us." Schafer's popularity took a heavy downturn as a consequence of these two games, and the ''Psychonauts'' revival was met not with excitement by many players, but trepidation that history would repeat ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFX0f_YUn1I Fig's shady reputation]] has not quelled these murmurs). Time will ultimately tell if Schafer can reclaim his glory days.