Secret of Monkey Island Thoughts

[Boleskine]

Spoiler

Re-uploaded:

 

[Astral Rag]

 

[Makabb]

iMuse is a sort of technological marvel, lucasarts used it for every midi game it was so good, to this day there is nothing like iMuse

 

[HoboForEternity]

iMuse was awesome. now that i remember, quite alot of tech is dead with lucasarts. i remember even it's a mediocre game, star wars the force unleashed have great material destruction engine. like it will simulate the material type, such as wood, concrete, metal, etc and will show it being destroyed in realistic fashion like wood bend, and slowly tear its fiber and break, etc.

 

[Makabb]

Yea today no one will create something like iMuse, because it's easier to pay for random popular song and slap it on a cd.







amazing, also Dark Forces used iMuse

 

[MRY]

We're working our way through Curse of Monkey Island. Definitely inferior to the predecessors in design, though the graphics, voice acting, etc. are all very fine. A few things that jump out: a very small percentage of puzzles have self-evident justifications (e.g., of the variety where you see a guard dog, and then know you need to distract the guard dog, and work backwards from there). Instead, most puzzles rely on either (1) the player simply assuming that because there's an item, it should be taken, because there's a breakable wall, it should be broken, etc., or (2) expository dialogue from some NPC giving you a zany explanation of what needs to be done. The organic flow of MI2 is simply gone. Most of the puzzles are "backwards puzzles" (at least for me), especially when playing with a kid who doesn't want to wade through Roxor-accursed dialogue trees.

Anyway, when poking around to see if any reviewers noted this issue, I came across the following bit of trivia. Adventure Gamers wrote a retrospective review for the game in 2002, noting: "However good the game is, it must be said that it is far too short .... Two days of gameplay is simply not enough for a modern adventure game. The length also affects the depth of gameplay." Eurogamer wrote a retrospective review for the game in 2010, noting: "It's an enormous game, with huge numbers of scenes, each packed with gags." Kind of funny how those intervening eight years totally changed the perspective on adventure game size!

(Candidly, I'm not sure what giant adventure games Adventure Gamer had in mind.)

 

[Naraya]

Finished The Secret of Monkey Island (talkie edition) today. 28 years ago, when I completed it for the first (and only) time, I played adventure games only with walkthroughs - mostly because of the language barrier. Anyway, I'm proud that this time I figured it all by myself and was stuck only in one spot and had to look up the solution:

Spoiler

When you need to give a pamphlet to the cannibals so they give you the voodoo head

Overall, the game was as charming as I remember. Onwards to The Secret of Monkey Island 2 and the rest!

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Anyway, when poking around to see if any reviewers noted this issue, I came across the following bit of trivia. Adventure Gamers wrote a retrospective review for the game in 2002, noting: "However good the game is, it must be said that it is far too short .... Two days of gameplay is simply not enough for a modern adventure game. The length also affects the depth of gameplay." Eurogamer wrote a retrospective review for the game in 2010, noting: "It's an enormous game, with huge numbers of scenes, each packed with gags." Kind of funny how those intervening eight years totally changed the perspective on adventure game size!

(Candidly, I'm not sure what giant adventure games Adventure Gamer had in mind.)

Curse of Monkey Island is so big data-wise that they had to skip a cutscene at the very end and leave it off the disc. You'll notice it when you get there.

That's another way of stating the huge-ness of the game.

 

[MRY]

This one?

https://tcrf.net/Prerelease:The_Curse_of_Monkey_Island#Unused_Cutscene

Sounds like it never was made. (And it would’ve helped the ending a fair bit if it had been.)

 

[duke]

Is the swordmaster supposed to spin on spot? What is that about? Even as a kid I thought that was bizarre. She doesn't spin with the new special edition graphics which only makes it more confusing.

 

[Falksi]

We're working our way through Curse of Monkey Island. Definitely inferior to the predecessors in design, though the graphics, voice acting, etc. are all very fine. A few things that jump out: a very small percentage of puzzles have self-evident justifications (e.g., of the variety where you see a guard dog, and then know you need to distract the guard dog, and work backwards from there). Instead, most puzzles rely on either (1) the player simply assuming that because there's an item, it should be taken, because there's a breakable wall, it should be broken, etc., or (2) expository dialogue from some NPC giving you a zany explanation of what needs to be done. The organic flow of MI2 is simply gone. Most of the puzzles are "backwards puzzles" (at least for me), especially when playing with a kid who doesn't want to wade through Roxor-accursed dialogue trees.

Anyway, when poking around to see if any reviewers noted this issue, I came across the following bit of trivia. Adventure Gamers wrote a retrospective review for the game in 2002, noting: "However good the game is, it must be said that it is far too short .... Two days of gameplay is simply not enough for a modern adventure game. The length also affects the depth of gameplay." Eurogamer wrote a retrospective review for the game in 2010, noting: "It's an enormous game, with huge numbers of scenes, each packed with gags." Kind of funny how those intervening eight years totally changed the perspective on adventure game size!

(Candidly, I'm not sure what giant adventure games Adventure Gamer had in mind.)

I thrived on Curse & it's puzzles. It felt like a fresh approach allround, which at the time was exactly what was needed.

The original 2 are brilliant, but Curse is just as good in a different way IMO.

All 3 classic games.

 

[Boleskine]

Scarfulhu recently did a deep dive video on SoMI.

 

[The Jester]

Which version is the best way to play "Secret of Monkey Island"? DOS? Amiga? Special Edition? or else?

 

[Naraya]

Which version is the best way to play "Secret of Monkey Island"? DOS? Amiga? Special Edition? or else?

I'd say original DOS version. Use plain old DOSBOX or ScummVM. Also use Munt or something equivalent for that sweet sweet Roland music.

 

[MRY]

I would strongly recommend against the graphical enhancements of the special edition. The increased resolution without an increase in sprite frames makes it absurd. The sprites and background are excellent in any event. There are some musical differences between Amiga, DOS, and DOS CD, but I'm not informed enough to tell you which is best.

 

[Falksi]

Which version is the best way to play "Secret of Monkey Island"? DOS? Amiga? Special Edition? or else?

Original DOS.

The only thing that the Special Edition adds it's a good remaster of the tunes.

 

[V_K]

Special editions all have classic modes though, with original graphics and interface, but saving you the trouble of emulation.

 

[The Jester]

Which version is the best way to play "Secret of Monkey Island"? DOS? Amiga? Special Edition? or else?

I'd say original DOS version. Use plain old DOSBOX or ScummVM. Also use Munt or something equivalent for that sweet sweet Roland music.

 

[Tramboi]

Yes but it's a treat to play MI1 and 2 with voiceovers.
So what I recommend heartily is this : http://www.gratissaugen.de/ultimatetalkies/
Integrating the SE speech to the originals !

 

[The Jester]

Yes but it's a treat to play MI1 and 2 with voiceovers.
So what I recommend heartily is this : http://www.gratissaugen.de/ultimatetalkies/
Integrating the SE speech to the originals !

Spoiler

Perfect.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

The music and VA of the SE are nice, but they’re also the sort of thing you’ll appreciate more if you’ve played the game as intended in its original form. The graphical “enhancements” on the other hand are

 

[RK47]

The music and VA of the SE are nice, but they’re also the sort of thing you’ll appreciate more if you’ve played the game as intended in its original form. The graphical “enhancements” on the other hand are

Yeah the enhancements were made in Singapore

 

[MRY]

In still images, they are stylistically debatable (though not to my taste). Once in motion, there can be no debate, because there simply aren't enough frames of animation for the resolution. I don't understand how anyone thought it worked.

 

[Neuromancer]

Curse of Monkey Island is so big data-wise that they had to skip a cutscene at the very end and leave it off the disc. You'll notice it when you get there.

In the German version (may be true for other translated languages as well) they cut a whole scene out, namely the song on the ship "A Pirate I was meant to be":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-9my0tsutw

The stated reasion was, that it would be too much work to translate.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Curse of Monkey Island is so big data-wise that they had to skip a cutscene at the very end and leave it off the disc. You'll notice it when you get there.

In the German version (may be true for other translated languages as well) they cut a whole scene out, namely the song on the ship "A Pirate I was meant to be":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-9my0tsutw

The stated reasion was, that it would be too much work to translate.

weaklings