Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb - Manual Inserts

[Oxley]

Hello All! I have been a member for a while now, but I never really posted anything, so I'm glad I can contribute in some way with this.
More than a decade ago, I started a thread in the old Club Obi Wan (nowadays called Indy Gear.com I think?) about recreating some of the fake documents and inserts that appear as theming in the manual for the 2003 game Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb.

Link to an online pdf of the manual

Also a link to the original 2010 thread, back at the Club Obi Wan forum (sorry for my english back then, it was a while ago XD)

I recently found some files, some of them not avaliable anymore, of the different props some members were able to recreate. I find the concept that interesting, and some of the recreations were that well made, that I though about bringing it up again, and trying to pinpoint and remake these inserts, as if they were actual documents.

I am not going to share the files I have that were made by other members, but if any of them are still online, and want to participate again, they are more than welcomed.

I will post for now the unedited, historical documents that were found back then, and some of my own recreations. Hope you guys are interested on this little project, its very rare to see theming and historical research as deep and complex on a videogame manual like this one.

David

 

[Oxley]

Alright, first of all, the banknotes that appear on pages 7 and 30, the matchbooks from pages 22 and 26, the Brussels postcard from page 23 and the train ticket from page 18

 

[Oxley]

And here you have some of the assets I made myself:

- All the post stamps that appear on the manual are slight modifications of stamps from the 30s. Members from the old thread made really good recreations of those stamps, but I didnt manage to recover the red 1 Luffpost one from page 18, so I remade it again with the resources I found.
- The luftpost round stamp from page 18, and the Frankfurt Police seal from the page 16 envelope.
- The pages of the training manual that appears on pages 20 and 21
- The german steamship ticket from page 6, based in part on an actual ticket from the era.

 

[Oxley]

Some of the assets I am having more trouble with are

-The photo from page 13. For some reason, the designer labeled it as Hong Kong, when it is actually The Bund, on Shanghai. The photo was taken from roughly the same place as this one, but it has what I assume is a truck near the kiosk looking structure. I haven't found that particular photo so far.



- The map on pages 18 and 19. With the little amount of detail that it has I assume it is a world map.
- There is part of a banknote hidden on page 23. I dont think anyone identified it yet.
- The playing card on page 29
- The assets of the classified page of pages 34 and 35, and the bullwhipping diploma on pages 36 and 37

If anyone has any info about any of those I would be very thankful

 

[Fabilousfab]

I guess (Pages 18 and 19) it's an old map of Asia. Here is one from 1801-1914 with the colonies. Looks pretty similar. Sorry I only have an old German Atlas.

-Update-
And in English

 

[Oxley]

I made a printable version of the train ticket. Also I found a better quality version of the 50 reichsmark bill. It also made me realice that the mystery banknote of page 23 is actually another 50 reichsmark bill, but the back side, and upside down.

 

[Oxley]

If anyone wants to try to recreate the different drawings that appear across the manual, I found some of the inspirations behind the ones that are partially hidden, so there is a reference point to complete them. All are different locations and artifacts found in the countries where the game takes place, most of them unrelated to the main plot, as far as I know.

- The one on page 17 represents Prague's Astronomical Clock, including the spire at the top of it



- Both from page 11 come from Ceylon, nowadays Sri Lanka. The one at the bottom of the page is a coin bar, from their dutch occupation period, and very hard to find, as it seems. The one I am posting is actually a forgery stored in the British Museum, but very similar on design to the illustration.



I suspect that the illustration at the upper side of this same page is a traditional sri lankan dance. I found photos with very similar poses. But I havent found any match with the headpiece that the figure wears. It is maybe from a very specific source image, or from a piece of art, but I am not sure.



- Finally, the one in page 25 is one of the terracotta warriors from the mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin. In this case, a kneeling archer.

 

[Oxley]

Another small document, the telegram of pages 30-31, heavily based on Western Union telegrams from the era.
It is not final, most typefaces are not the correct ones.

 

[division 6]

Nice research work.

 

[Jamesfett]

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for sharing.

 

[Oxley]

Thank you guys!

Well, today I have been in a little adventure trying to identify the logo of Club Swank, from page 33. It took me most of the day XD.



Obviously such club doesn't exist, but it mentions Chicago, and that has to be an actual skyscraper, so that's a starting point. Looking through different photos of Chicago's skyline during the 30s, I found this.



That's it! It has to be that building!
Looking for the name of such building has been the most difficult part. The websites about Chicago's history that I found mentioned all the other skyscrapers that appear on the photo, except that particular one. And I found very few maps of chicago during the 30s, and with very little info.

I was about to give up, when I decided to enter google maps, and search for the building myself. Using the other skyscrapers on the photo as references I finally found it.



Nowadays part of the Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile Hotel, this used to be the Medinah Athletic Club, built on 1929, according to wikipedia.



I though I found the source when I found that painting (by Frank Raymond btw), but it didn't match yet.
The designer used stamps, postcards and matchbooks for other pages already, so I decided to look for memorabilia related to the Medinah Club.
With matchbooks I started to find very promising results.



Until I finally found it





I'm pretty sure this was the original, with some added modifications later.

The matchbook was on sale on Ebay, so I bough it. If nothing goes wrong I will be able to scan it in the future.

But hey, it is great to finally find the original picture. I am exhausted XD

 

[Ceebrupt]

Thank you guys!

Well, today I have been in a little adventure trying to identify the logo of Club Swank, from page 33. It took me most of the day XD.

View attachment 1531540

Obviously such club doesn't exist, but it mentions Chicago, and that has to be an actual skyscraper, so that's a starting point. Looking through different photos of Chicago's skyline during the 30s, I found this.

View attachment 1531546

That's it! It has to be that building!
Looking for the name of such building has been the most difficult part. The websites about Chicago's history that I found mentioned all the other skyscrapers that appear on the photo, except that particular one. And I very little maps of chicago during the 30s, and with very little info.

I was about to give up, when I decided to enter google maps, and search for the building myself. Using the other skyscrapers on the photo as references I finally found it.

View attachment 1531548

Nowadays part of the Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile Hotel, this used to be the Medinah Athletic Club, built on 1929, according to wikipedia.

View attachment 1531549 View attachment 1531550

I though I found the source when I found that painting (by Frank Raymond btw), but it didn't match yet.
The designer used stamps, postcards and matchbooks for other pages already, so I decided to look for memorabilia related to the Medinah Club.
With matchbooks I started to find very promising results.

View attachment 1531551

Until I finally found it

View attachment 1531552

View attachment 1531553

I'm pretty sure this was the original, with some added modifications later.

The matchbook was on sale on Ebay, so I bough it. If nothing goes wrong I will be able to scan it in the future.

But hey, it is great to finally find the original picture. I am exhausted XD

Very nice detective work!

 

[Oxley]

I dont have an HD version yet, but I tried to make a version of the Club Swank note anyway. With both a white and textured version.

 

[Oxley]

Alright, it's time to get healthy! I gave a try to the doctor's prescription note and exercise routine from page 14-15.
I found a workout routine supposedly from the 30s, so I replaced the Basic Moves tutorial with it.

 

[repy]

Though I'm not a fan of "game manuals", I'm still a fan of Indy and I admire your work on it. All my respects, thanks for sharing and keep it going!

 

[Oxley]

Thank you! I find this manual a very particular case because the designer was very passionate about the source material, and tried to convey the era and lore of the franchise, like a micro story separate from the videogame's plot. There's a very interesting interview to Gregory Harsh, the designer of this manual, about his though process and research trying to stay true to the year the videogame takes place, and the character's storyline.
You can find it here.

 

[Oxley]

Looking back at the routine, I think it is too intense for what it seems more like the doctor telling indy to take it easier, and take better care of his body. Doing a little more of research, I found about the Daily Dozen, a workout plan very popular in the 20s. Maybe Doctor Frodente is a bit old school, who knows XD.



It is way more text, that's for sure.

(EDIT: A few typos fixed, and now the main text is slighly weathered, so it looks less harsh to the eye)

 

[Oxley]

Another discovery! Guess what the base for the whip warranty in pages 30-37 is?

A John B. Stetson Company Stock Certificate! (what? why?)


This is the best quality image I could find of this particular certificate. Some are on sale online, but are quite pricey.
So if anyone has a hi res scan of this certificate, or owns one, please contact me. I would be very thankful.

 

[Oxley]

Hello Again! I didnt find any HD version of the Stetson certificate, so I finally used AI to artifically upscale the best photo I have. Then after a lot of heavy editing I made my own version of the whip warranty. Part of the original stock certificate can be seen partially hidden, but it doesnt have much sense in a warranty certificate instead of a stock one, so I decided to not include it.



I added info related to the actual whip that they used in the movies, aswell as info that can be found in the website of the original makers of the prop. As a little easter egg the bottom signatures are the names of both the graphic designer of the manual, and the director of the videogame.

 

[repy]

Impressive work, congrats and thanks for showing.