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  1. DREAMM 2.1 is officially released for Windows, MacOS, and Linux targets (x64 and ARM64). DREAMM is a bespoke emulator for LucasArts titles running on DOS, Windows, and FMTowns platforms. Download it here: aarongiles.com/dreamm/ Link to what's new (also copied below): aarongiles.com/dreamm/docs/v21 What’s New in 2.1? DREAMM 2.1 sports a number of significant upgrades over the original 2.0 release. In short, the major changes are: Greatly enhanced Windows emulation to support new games: Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures Mortimer and the Riddles of the Medallion Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Star Wars: Yoda Stories Outlaws Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith Star Wars: Behind the Magic Star Wars: Episode I Insider’s Guide Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine Extended support for Windows releases of Star Wars: X-Wing, Star Wars: TIE Fighter, and Afterlife. Added support for Star Wars: Making Magic multimedia CD Added support for running on Linux systems, both Intel and ARM. Added detection of dozens of new game variants. Improved the UI, adding mechanism to verify installed games. Added support for MDS/MDF and CCD/IMG CD image formats. Added a mechanism to turn on portable mode, where all data is kept next to the DREAMM executable. (Re-)added standalone mode if you place DREAMM next to the game files. Added an OPL-based MIDI emulator as a fallback for all platforms. Games can now be installed via the command line. Added limited telemetry to notify me remotely if DREAMM runs into problems.
    12 points
  2. Here's a compilation of most of the logos and typography I've recreated in high-res over the years. It's always fun re-building these things or researching which fonts were used for taglines or subtitles.
    12 points
  3. So, here are my restorations I've originally made for the inclusion in the LOOM LRG release: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lW-KGbfLVHoctL9LS_Tvr6PGvryTEqKv?usp=sharing Granted, it was never guaranteed that these could be included, and I worked on these purely out of passion for it, thinking that IF these could be included, they should at least have the highest possible quality (that I could achieve). I've worked on these over the course of a few weeks, finishing up a few remaining ones in the last couple of days, and I'm pretty sure these represent the best preservations of these documents available. These are sourced mostly from brand-new 600dpi scans provided by several collectors (which I will credit once I've figured out who wants to get a mention and who prefers to stay anonymous), with meticulous manual clean-up done to remove dirt and damage, straightening the scans, while re-coloring some of the documents (like the color-coded hint books) and re-building some of the others (especially the Book of Patterns). The Books of Patterns (in German, French, Spanish, Hebrew and Japanese) are, for the most part, provided as 600dpi black & white version, suitable for printing, and 300dpi versions that included the original paper color/texture. The hint books (in English, Spanish and Japanese, at 600dpi) are available as both decoded versions (with the red overlay removed) as well as the original red-coded versions (except for the French hint book, which came as a simple B&W print out without any color-coding). The manuals (in English, German, French, Spanish, Hebrew and Japanese) are provided as 600dpi black & white PDFs, with some of them including the game's reference cards (sometimes for multiple systems). And yeah, that's it. Aside from the different game versions and the audio drama in all four languages, these were the files I was hoping could be included on the LRG release's USB drive. Sadly, it didn't turn out that way.
    11 points
  4. Frankly, I think Return added a lot of confusion to this topic. The perspective seen is nothing more than misdirection.
    11 points
  5. I recently commissioned this Grim Fandango statue and I wanted to share it with you guys The idea was to capture the scene as close to it’s original polygon glory as possible Artist: Rising
    10 points
  6. Hi folks. A few weeks ago I started working on a spare time project: a complete collection of all the background art from every LucasArts adventure game (Maniac thru EMI), in palettized PNG format and in its original resolution and aspect ratio. My ultimate goal is to upload this to archive.org, but since they don't seem to support editing the actual data contents of collections once you've uploaded them, I want to make sure I get things right before I do so. So I thought I'd present my work so far to some adventure game experts. Here's a dump of the data on my personal website - as the page says, please do not link this page anywhere; I do not intend to host these files indefinitely and intend to take them down once the collection is completed and uploaded: [link redacted for now] The presentation on that page is also temp, it's just the quickest easiest way I found to provide access to all the data. I'll let the draft readme on that page speak for itself - see the sections on "presentation of the work". To be very clear, these aren't raw dumps from a ripping program, though ripped data was the starting point for most of the images, I've edited these images (some quite extensively, eg the runtime-generated maze rooms in some games) to get them as close to how they look in-game as possible, minus most of the characters, obviously - the idea is to foreground and celebrate the art, and the artists who created it. Stuff I'm looking for feedback on: Any artist credits I missed or got wrong in the draft readme. Any glitches in the images, ie places where I didn't patch in an object correctly, something is missing, etc. Anything I missed? ie entire rooms I forgot, etc. In the interests of not flooding the collection hundreds of very similar images, I didn't include every maze room as those are cobbled together from pieces, but I tried to represent most or all of said pieces in a smaller number of "iconic" room images. Filenames - my naming convention was arbitrary and probably inconsistent in several places. Also I may have simply gotten the name or purpose of a room wrong. I didn't replay all these games while working on this, but I did jump in and out of ScummVM a ton to check my work. I will probably rename all the files to move from snake_case to regular human filenames with capitalization and spaces. Any quality improvement suggestions, eg better versions of the existing images. Stuff I can't figure out: How to get accurate palette shifts for the rooms in Zak FM Towns that use them, eg the jungle mazes, the Blue Crystal / Yellow Crystal / Mars Ankh / Mars Teleporter room, and the Egypt / Mars sarcophagus rooms. These rooms were all authored in one palette each, with SCUMM code (RoomColor?) setting the palette shift appropriately for each variation. But I can't figure out how to get those shifted palettes and map the images to them. It was easy to do this with Zak C64 and EGA because it's only 16 colors and it was trivial to just eyeball em... not so much with several different arbitrary 256 color palettes.
    10 points
  7. It is self-adhesive photo paper A3 print at home on inkjet The box I make also it’s 2mm cardboard the box get very hard and sturdy. It can’t be folded so I cut and glue it. then print and cut the paper, glue it on, fold it and finish 😃 It just needs to be exact size so the box and wrap match
    10 points
  8. For those who prefer the more classic look I whipped up a more traditional SeMI logo. Do with it what you will
    9 points
  9. Quicker than expected, I've added the new Last Crusade poster to the main post (in 6 different flavors).
    9 points
  10. It was great to see Curse’s pirate literature make a return.
    9 points
  11. 90 minute documentary this coming Monday (5th February) https://fxtwitter.com/noclipvideo/status/1753461991723995332?s=20
    8 points
  12. Moving over from off-topicking my own Sam & Max soundtrack thread, here's the dedicated thread to my remastering project of the Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis soundtrack. To be fair, with several unfinished projects in the works, I can't guarantee anything, though. As stated in that other thread, in my opinion, all remasters or re-arrangements of this soundtrack (even the most recent ones, sorry!) fell flat in a big way. Using fancy virtual instruments isn't all there is to it, if you can't even get the performance of the most essential part of any Indy soundtrack right: the brass. Especially the trumpets playing the A and B themes of the Raiders's March (which, as you die-hard fans might know, is the actual name of the Indiana Jones theme). Originally composed by John Williams as two options for the main theme, the B theme turned into the bridge of the track, since Spielberg liked both enough to be used. So, to make sure that I could actually do better, I tried my hands on the playable introduction of the game, which opens to the Indiana Jones logo with the A theme, followed by some sneaky underscore while you rummage the Barnett College's attic in search of some unknown artifact. As Indy gets knocked down and comes crashing through the ceiling of another floor, our unconscious hero gets a rest while the B theme accompanies a few more on-screen credits. This back and forth between suspenseful underscore and jump-scare transitions to different versions of the B theme culminates in Indy finding the horned Atlantean statue to a rousing crescendo that fades out while Indy leaves the college's main building to deliver the artifact to his mysterious accent-wielding client in his on-campus office. Was I actually successful in turning the MT-32 beeps and boops into something properly orchestral? You decide: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (fan soundtrack) by Clint Bajakian, Peter McConnell, Michael Z. Land A bit of tech-talk: For this I didn't use any of the pre-arranged MIDIs that were released over the years, instead I started with clean rips of all the iMUSE snippets of this game (courtesy of @Serge), which I've combined and arranged from scratch. The introduction already consisted of 11 different cues I needed to combine, and VGMRip's AdLib rip of the music (and some Let's Plays on YouTube) provided a great template. As far as software and virtual instruments go, I'm using Reaper as my DAW and mainly East West's Hollywood Orchestra series, Project Sam's LA Scoring Strings and VSL's Fanfare Trumpets, with a few additional instruments here and there. Anyway, with the main theme out of the way, my plan is to tackle the end credits suite next, as it lets me get my hands on several different themes from the game in one go (plus another go at the Raider's March, yay!).
    8 points
  13. Or this? EDIT: No, wait, sorry, that's a grate circle.
    8 points
  14. Three amazing contributions, courtesy of Ken Macklin himself: These are scanned from 35mm slides he made prior to sending them off to Lucasfilm, and while the resolution is very high, the quality isn't the best. Still, the Eidolon scan will work as a great source for a complete version of the art. The Maniac Mansion artworks are so weird, though, especially since Ken stated these were commissioned by Lucasfilm AFTER he had already done the MM key artwork. Why further art uses these strange characters is unclear. Also in the works: Based on the original oil painting Steve showed in his recent interview with Daniel, I've decided to create a more muted version of his MI2 artwork, trying to emulate the softer look of the original. This still needs some work, especially in the now brighter dark areas, where some of my touch-ups became more apparent.
    8 points
  15. (removed 2.1.1 beta announcement -- see below for official release)
    8 points
  16. It's been about a year, and after replaying the game a billion times – yes, I'm that obsessed, ha ha – I wanted to share a thorough review. I hope that's okay – I know I'm just some random member. I apologize in advance for the long post and clumsy English. First of all, I'm an old fan. I've been playing the games since I was a kid in the '90s. I've been waiting for this game forever, and I really wanted Ron Gilbert to make the game he wanted to conclude his trilogy. So, let's start! I'm reviewing it chapter by chapter. PROLOGUE Now, like a lot of people, I was really curious and excited about how they would handle MI2's ending... and I think they did an awesome job. It's simple but, at the same time, eerie, deep, and so strange. The more you think about it, the more you understand how it can be interpreted in different ways. It succeeds in giving an answer while keeping the mystery of it. I've been waiting for so long just to see what was on the right of this amusement park... It's just crazy to think that we can see it now. We're never sure what's real or not, who is who, when it happens. It could be just Guybrush being old and crazy and talking to himself... or a dad sharing his very real adventures to his son. I love that. PART 1 I really like this part. Yes, we already know Mêlée Island from previous games, but it feels fresh, somehow. I love the commentary about Guybrush being old and obsessed with something nobody cares about. There is a deep sense of nostalgia and even melancholy walking in Mêlée town. Sure, the puzzles are on the easy side, but I think it's a good start. It's too bad we can't visit Meathook's cabin. I'm not a big fan of two puzzles, though... First of all, I feel like the cracker mix could have been used to create crackers by adding water to them. This seems like a missed opportunity. Also, the plant for the voodoo spell... It felt a bit random to me. Now, about the mop tree joke... The first time I played the game, it felt out of place. Now, the more I replay the game, the funnier it gets. It's reminiscent of the absurdity of some past jokes, like the chicken with the pulley in the middle. Not related to this part directly, but you can feel how invested Dominic Armato is. Loved that! PART 2 One of my favorite parts. I think the look of LeChuck's ship is beautiful; this is the part where the art style shines for me. The music is incredible, and I love how it evolves depending on where we are on the ship. Sure, again, the puzzles are on the easy side, but I think it's great how we're interacting with this crazy crew. I love all of these characters. Also, an unpopular opinion... I love Jess Harnell's voice, even more than Earl Boen's. I think it's easier for me since I'm French, so I don't know Earl Boen that well. When I played Curse for the first time, I was playing in French, so it wasn't him but Mario Santini. Also, not related to this part in particular, but there are so many funny hidden interactions here and there; it's awesome – I missed most of them during my first playthrough. PART 3 This is my least favorite part... My main issue is that Monkey Island feels small and empty. Now, I heard from interviews that they had to cut a bunch of stuff so that the plot could get going. I have mixed feelings about this. Sure, I really wanted the plot to move forward at this point, but at the same time... this is Monkey Island. And it's too bad that we didn't get more of it. The writing part is very good, IMO. I particularly like when Guybrush falls... and then suddenly gets better. It's weird, and you can interpret that in many ways, like, did he really fall from that high? Is it Boybrush imagining this in a more dramatic way than it really happened? Elaine acts like it was nothing. Again, it shows that Guybrush is an unreliable narrator in a story where we're not sure what's real or not. PART 4 Phew... This is going to be long. First of all, I was amazed at how big this part was. When I saw the map with all of these islands, I literally said: "Wow!" out loud. This made me think of Monkey Island 2, obviously, and I absolutely loved that. Big islands to visit in any order... This is exactly what I was expecting from a Monkey Island game! Now... To go into details... Melee and LeChuck's ship – I think they were nicely used. There are some puzzles that were foreshadowed in the previous parts, so it feels nice and satisfying. Terror Island – I really like this island. I know a lot of people think it's empty, but I felt like it was part of the joke, like it's threatening everywhere you go, so Guybrush doesn't want to go too far. It's just creepy to be creepy. The maze part is smart, even though I got lost for like an hour because I didn't realize I should use the plaque. I felt like Guybrush could have said something like: "Oh, boy. I'm lost. Maybe I can try something else?" The part with Herman Toothrot was hilarious to me. There were so many hidden interactions... Like you reading the inscriptions on the wall, it's really funny. Scurvy Island and the pirates – Ok, so, I didn't care much for the island. I understand why it's here, it just didn't really seem interesting to me. I thought the seagull puzzle was a bit redundant since we're doing the same thing for the fish contest. I like the scurvy joke, though, and the pirates can be very funny. I like the Stan puzzle, even though I feel like something is missing, but I'm still not sure what. Looking twice at the case to get the license was unnecessarily difficult, in my opinion. Brrr-Muda – I have some real issues with this island. It doesn't feel as complete and fun as the other ones, and I think it's because I don't get why it had to be an ice island. There is one action we can do with an ice sculpture, but it's only for a joke. Besides that, all of these puzzles could have happened on a completely different island. I know I might be nitpicking, but that was frustrating to me. I feel like the environment should be used as a puzzle. That's too bad. Besides that, I think the characters are great, mostly Judge Plank. The queen trials... The fish and joke contests were easy but fun. I'm still not sure how we could know that the fire could be used as a distraction. I actually did it by mistake. So now, talking about two puzzles... Locke Smith's key – I know one island was cut, Cogg Island, and I wonder if it was for this key, because this felt too easy to me. That's a shame. Cogg Island looked awesome. The Chums – Just wanted to say I love this puzzle. I'm actually a (French) fiction writer, and this really felt like a good way to teach storytelling. Ok. So now... I loved the build-up to finding the Secret. Putting the keys in the chest felt rewarding. The part where Guybrush finally opens it was epic. And I love the confrontation with LeChuck. Again, really funny hidden interactions with Guybrush counting to 100. PART 5 So, I guess you figured it out... I'm one of the people who love the ending. I think the discussion with Elaine in the jungle was great, and it really made us think about Guybrush and the player's actions. The puzzles get really hard at this point, mostly the last ones, but I feel like it was totally justified. Now, my theory over the years has always been that Guybrush was lost in an amusement park, and I've been dreaming of him coming out of this door... So, when he did, I was actually really happy. And just being able to visit this last street, now revealed as a park with animatronics... I felt something I still can't really explain, but it was emotional. I think they were smart to do an ending like that, one that resolves everything and nothing at the same time, that gives you time to make you think, and it's really something that's still staying with me as of now. Also, I think the last shot with Guybrush alone on the bench is very meaningful. To summarize, I love this game. I think that, besides some small clumsy design choices, it really does everything that I wanted to see in a third Ron Gilbert (and Dave Grossman) Monkey Island game. It felt nostalgic, melancholic, and personal. I like that the game goes deeper into the themes of what's a story, what's real, what's not, and, finally, who cares as you make the story you want it to be. And, most of all, I think it's smart how the game embraced this feeling of disappointment we would have all felt anyway. So, there you have it, my messy review. Hope it was a bit enjoyable to read, at least.
    8 points
  17. I know, AI is a controversial topic, and for many things, I'm really hesitant towards it as well. But when it comes to image restoration, it feels like it's a blessing. Will it bite me in the ass in the long run? Let's hope not! With the help of AI, I was able to reconstruct the Last Crusade box background image (a blurry desert shot, for which I never found the original source) a lot faster and cleaner than before. Furthermore, I've utilized the original promo photo of Ford and Connery, extending it ever so slightly on the right side via AI (the original photo ends pretty much where it does on the original box). Of course, there's still a lot of manual clean-up, masking and color-correction involved, so thankfully this hobby is still giving me something to do. Edit: I've included the sources I've used for the logo, a floppy scan from the LC Action Game (utilizing the same INDY logo as the Adventure Game), and the FM Towns version, for the full logo. Both found on Mobygames (scans by Servo and hoeksmas). The original box scan was provided by TomVDJ years back in this thread. The next step will be adding the marbled paper frame and building several different versions of the poster. Edit: What the hell, here goes. With the tagline rebuilt from scratch (That's "Matrix II Bold" at 45% width, by the way):
    8 points
  18. Just trying to enjoy some pizza during my lunch break and... wait, what is that? Oh, that's right. We forgot to fix the USA flag at the end of Day of the Tentacle. This is the timeline we live in.
    8 points
  19. I've started testing beta releases of DREAMM 2.1. Grab the latest version here: https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta/ New games supported: Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures Mortimer and the Riddles of the Medallion Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Star Wars: Yoda Stories Outlaws Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine Windows versions of: Afterlife, X-Wing, TIE Fighter Major new features (documented in more detail at the link above): Linux support -- hooray, you can stop begging! 😉 Portable mode -- put DREAMM and all your games/settings on a USB stick and take it with you! Standalone mode -- two ways to launch DREAMM directly into a game! Built-in OPL MIDI synthesizer -- because Linux needs a default synth, and who doesn't love the soothing FM sounds? Command-line installation -- drag & drop is cool, but command lines are for true old skoolers! Telemetry (yes, you can opt out) -- help me know when DREAMM crashes or encounters a previously-unknown version of a game! Have at it, and let me know if you run into any issues upgrading or running the new games, either in this thread or at dreamm@aarongiles.com
    8 points
  20. Now onto Lechuck, as seen in Lechuck's Revenge. This what I used as reference: And here is the LEGO model: And the 3D revolving GIF:
    8 points
  21. Now onto Guybrush as seen in Lechuck's Revenge. This what I used as reference: And here is the LEGO model: And the 3D revolving GIF:
    8 points
  22. I built some lego from fan made designs I found on Rebrickable, I'm going to be working on GB, Elaine and Stan when the parts arrive. The parts lists and instructions are here if anyone is interested in building them: LeChuck: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-56907/van_crypto/monkey-island-lechuck/ Purple Tentacle: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-156659/Double_U_Bricks/day-of-the-tentacle-purple-tentacle/?spot=search_all Other MI Characters: https://rebrickable.com/search/?show_printed=on&include_accessory=1&include_gear=1&q=monkey+island&search_type=all
    7 points
  23. 3 hours and 45 minutes is not even my longest interview. Aric Wilmunder and Larry Ahern are 4.5 hours each! (Aric Wilmunder was so great and so into the conversation that we kept on talking for 1.5 hours off the record after we finished recording, which means that we both sat for a total of 6 hours and talked!) All of my interviews are recorded in one session. It's problematic to recorded a video interview in several sessions as you can clearly see on both people that it's not the same day (clothes / lighting / etc.). I tell my guests that they can ask for a break whenever they need one and I just edit that out. I usually finish recording these sessions at 3-4am in my timezone so I would have preferred to do it over several sessions, but again, it has to be in one session for authenticity.
    7 points
  24. As you may know, the header art for our “Secret History” feature on The Curse of Monkey Island was done by the great @Paco (V), known intergalactically for his unfinished comic adaptation of the first game: Paco’s work was so on-point that it sometimes gets confused for official promotional imagery for Curse, and it has therefore turned up, without attribution, in all sorts of low-effort articles, such as: Monkey Island Creator Debunks Myth About Guybrush's Name (TheGamer, 04/28/22) *Curse of Monkey Island designer reveals reasons for series' art style switch (Eurogamer, 05/05/22) **Steven Spielberg Almost Made This Video Game Movie Adaptation (Collider, 08/19/23) Where will Paco’s work turn up uncredited next? Let us know so we can grow the wall of shame. Sure, this is the definition of throwing stones from a glass house, but you gotta pass the time somehow. *credit added after some shaming from @Kroms **“Image via Lucasfilm Limited,” apparently
    7 points
  25. I think people are massively overestimating how much ReMI was even ... noticed financially by Disney honestly. I do not believe in a world where they looked at what happened with ReMI, and gleefully set about seeing how else they can exploit this. I mean, for a start Sea of Thieves already had its mini-MI tribute long before ReMI. I do believe in a world where they saw that ReMI did fine and decided 'sure, we can afford to throw this name around a little more, it seems low risk' i.e. at best the existence of ReMI vaguely greased some wheels. But let's be honest, Monkey Island is not in the same league as a Star Wars and Indy, and never will be. It's not even in the league below. It's a minor game series which was fairly popular in the early 90s and gained a bit of a cult following, and has had a couple of revivals. Heck, even if Disney sticks a Monkey Island series on Disney+ and casts Chris Pratt as Guybrush Threepwood, I promise you it's because some exec went rogue on some passion project and it somehow passed through all the usual filters. No disney exec with dollar signs in their eyes is looking hungrily at Monkey Island.
    7 points
  26. It is difficult to predict when or if you will get into an internet argument with a bot, as it largely depends on your online behavior and the prevalence of bots in the platforms you use. However, I can assure you that there are already many bots and automated systems that are designed to interact with people online and can sometimes engage in arguments. It's important to stay vigilant and skeptical of online interactions, and to be aware that not all online users may be human.
    7 points
  27. Just released DREAMM 3.0b3: https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta New in 3.0b3: * Fixed bug where changes to file dates would not stick sometimes - This can affect updaters, so if you're having trouble upgrading, say, TIE Fighter, you should reinstall the original game then apply the updates and it should work better now * Upsampled digital audio now uses linear interpolation * Expanded joystick support to multiple joysticks, also report fixed values if no joysticks connected * Added support for German Defender of the Empire addon * Added support for Making Magic (Japanese) * Added support for Rebel Assault II Windows version * Added support for Pipe Dream Windows version * Fixed save games in FMTowns versions * Fixed default video mode for Loom CD * Fixed bug where installing Dark Forces would not include INSTALL.EXE, preventing controller config * Fixed wonky CMS music in Secret of Monkey Island * Fixed installation of Star Wars Chess on MacOS/Linux * Fixed crash when changing configuration in-game in some circumstances * Fixed (or at least greatly reduced) incorrect palettes on scene transitions in Full Throttle
    6 points
  28. Aaaand, done. I've added alternate color versions of all the Monkey Island 2 posters to the project:
    6 points
  29. Thought someone might find this interesting. The broader public finally got a proper view of actual SCUMM in the Video Game History Foundation's brilliant interview with Ron a couple of years ago. But for a bit of a wider glance, here's an example of what the script for a full room would look like. This is output from a project I started on a couple of years ago, which is currently in hiatus. Based on a lot of research and archaeology. First and foremost - this is not an original script (as should be somewhat evident, if you read it). I've never seen an original script from Maniac Mansion. This is reconstructed from the game files. It is, however, 100% actual SCUMM syntax. Possibly with some minor unknown differences compared to an actual 1987 SCUMM script - the syntax is accurate to SCUMM circa 1990-1991 - that is, the SCUMM compiler for MI1 or MI2 would accept it as proper SCUMM. The actual syntax never changed much between Maniac Mansion on C64 to CMI. And the commands, other than additions, rarely changed either, at least from Maniac Mansion for PC and on. Other than that, the script is from Maniac Mansion (obviously) - the PC version. Although my "decompiler" actually handles all games from MM C64 to CMI, there were some early hacks in C64 that it doesn't quite like yet, and which makes the MM C64 output slightly less readable - most notably that objects and actors shared references, meaning it has a harder time naming objects and actors where they overlap. Stuff worth noting: A few variables, objects, scripts, and defines haven't been named by me. Yes, those names are all mine, but based on how variables etc. would typically be named in actual game scripts. I've only done these "annotations" for Maniac Mansion so far. Even the way indentation was done is reconstructed by the tool - 3 spaces were used, but lines of dialog were mostly always indented to align perfectly. Obviously one of the most interesting things - comments - cannot be reconstructed from game files. 😉 The decompiler doesn't yet handle cases where names have aliases. For example, "OFF", "CLOSED", "HERE" (yes) and "R-GONE" are all aliases for the same thing - SCUMMlets used whatever was appropriate in the context (or they'd be chastised by Ron or Tim 😂). Here, I've manually renamed most of those. And a few additional line breaks. There's no AI involved 😉, so the decompiler doesn't actually know where code could appropriately be split into sections. Some of the commands may actually be "expanded" code that was originally macros. Yes, the cases of "jump" commands jumping into different blocks were also actual common SCUMM practice. Other interesting things about this particular script: Around halfways down, the definition of the room starts. This is the standard (and required) layout in SCUMM - room scripts followed by the room definition - sounds, enter/exit scripts, and object definitions including their verb scripts. Since this is the PC version, while the play-cricket-sound script is still there, it doesn't actually do anything. The "userface" command is one of the few that I have no idea how actually looked. "wait-for-message" is one of the additions compared to the C64 version - where the equivalent SCUMM code would be "break-until (message-going is false)" - although it might already have been turned into a "wait-for-message" macro in the original game. Starting with the MM PC version, it turned into a native command. Enough talk... script play-cricket-sound { do { sleep-for 100 minutes } } script kill-a-kid { break-here cut-scene { if (cause-of-death is radioactive-steam) { say-line "Oh no! Radioactive steam! Ahheeeeeeee^" do { do-animation selected-actor turn-left break-here do-animation selected-actor turn-front break-here do-animation selected-actor turn-right break-here do-animation selected-actor turn-back break-here x = random 70 y = random 12 y += 56 walk selected-actor to x,y } until (message-going is false) who-dies is selected-actor } if (cause-of-death is drowning-in-pool) { current-room pool camera-at 41 sleep-for 2 seconds print-line "Glug! Glug! Glug! Glug!" wait-for-message sleep-for 3 seconds } if (cause-of-death is ed-seeing-hamster) { stop-script weird-ed-chases-kid wait-for-message say-line weird-ed "Wait! What IS that?" wait-for-message say-line weird-ed "It has bits of fur like my hamster's!" wait-for-message say-line weird-ed "Oh no!!! What did you do!!! Argh!!!" wait-for-message who-dies is selected-actor put-actor weird-ed at 10,52 in-room weird-eds-room } if (cause-of-death is flesh-eating-plant) { who-dies is selected-actor current-room plant-room camera-at 28 sleep-for 2 seconds print-line "YUM!!" sleep-for 3 seconds } if (cause-of-death is death-by-tentacle) { wait-for-message who-dies is selected-actor } actor who-dies costume costume-0 kid-is-busy[who-dies] = 1 foo = 253 do { if (owner-of foo is who-dies) { owner-of foo is nuked } foo -= 1 } until (foo == 0) ++number-of-dead-kids if (who-dies is dave) { dave-is-dead is true } if (number-of-dead-kids == 1) { state-of tombstone-1 is HERE class-of tombstone-1 is TOUCHABLE put-actor who-dies at 106,64 in-room mansion-exterior } if (number-of-dead-kids == 2) { state-of tombstone-2 is HERE class-of tombstone-2 is TOUCHABLE put-actor who-dies at 114,64 in-room mansion-exterior } if (number-of-dead-kids == 3) { state-of tombstone-3 is HERE class-of tombstone-3 is TOUCHABLE put-actor who-dies at 122,64 in-room mansion-exterior } foo = actor-x who-dies current-room mansion-exterior camera-at foo sleep-for 6 seconds } if (number-of-dead-kids == 3) { start-script game-over } userface 1 unfreeze-scripts cursor-on sentence inventory verbs } script open-film { if (develop-film-step is film-opened) { say-line "It's already opened." } if (develop-film-step is film-closed) { say-line "Ok, it's opened." wait-for-message do { foo is owner-of film if (foo == 0) { stop-script } bar is actor-room foo if (room-is-dark[bar] == 0) { if (state-of circuit-breakers is OFF) { if (selected-room is bar) { say-line "I think I just exposed the film." } develop-film-step is film-opened } } sleep-for 15 seconds } until (develop-film-step is-not film-closed) } } script deliver-envelope { sleep-for 1 minute do { sleep-for 30 seconds } until (selected-room is-not mansion-exterior) if (state-of envelope is OFF) { stop-script } state-of envelope is OFF class-of envelope is UNTOUCHABLE state-of mailbox-flag is OFF owner-of sealed-envelope-in-safe is nuked sleep-for 3 minutes cut-scene { current-room room-0 start-script marketeer-reacts-to-envelope-contents break-until (script-running marketeer-reacts-to-envelope-contents is false) } sleep-for 5 minutes if (contract-status > unsigned) { do { sleep-for 30 seconds } until (selected-room is-not mansion-exterior) state-of contract is R-HERE class-of contract is TOUCHABLE start-sound doorbell-sound } } script schedule-package-delivery { sleep-for 5 minutes do { sleep-for 5 seconds if (selected-room is-not mansion-exterior) { if (selected-room is-not weird-eds-room) { if (actor-room weird-ed is weird-eds-room) { jump deliver } } } } deliver: start-sound doorbell-sound state-of package is HERE class-of package is TOUCHABLE do { sleep-for 8 seconds } until (actor-room weird-ed is weird-eds-room) if (selected-room is-not mansion-exterior) { start-sound doorbell-sound } stop-script touch-stuff-in-weird-eds-room weird-ed-downstairs-reason is doorbell start-script send-weird-ed-downstairs } script read-contract { case contract-status { of signed-kid { case who-recorded-demo { of selected-actor { say-line "Wow! It's a recording contract for ME!" } of syd { say-line "It's a recording contract for Syd." } default { say-line "It's a recording contract for Razor." } } } of signed-green { say-line "It's a recording contract", "for Green Tentacle." } default { say-line "It's a book publishing contract,", "and it's worth MILLIONS!" } } } script meanwhile-in-lab-1 { sleep-for 1 minute cut-scene { override skip-meanwhile-1 state-of lab-door-right is OPEN put-actor dr-fred at 15,58 in-room lab put-actor sandy at 25,58 in-room lab do-animation dr-fred turn-right do-animation sandy turn-left current-room lab camera-at 20 sleep-for 1 second say-line dr-fred "Well, my dear. Hope you're having fun!": "Within minutes it'll all be over.": "You'll be hooked up to my machine", "getting your pretty brains sucked out." walk dr-fred to sandy within 5 break-until (chars-printed > 66) do-animation sandy turn-front do-animation sandy chore-12 wait-for-message say-line sandy "You'll never get away with this!": "Dave and his friends will rescue me!": "You and your meteor can eat slime!" break-until (chars-printed > 45) do-animation sandy turn-left wait-for-message foo = actor-x dr-fred walk dr-fred to foo,68 sleep-for 1 second say-line dr-fred "That's what she thinks!" wait-for-message walk dr-fred to lab-door-right say-line dr-fred "Heh, heh, heh." wait-for-actor dr-fred put-actor dr-fred in-the-void state-of lab-door-right is CLOSED start-sound close-door-sound walk sandy to lab-door-left wait-for-actor sandy do-animation sandy turn-back say-line sandy "Help, help, HELP!" wait-for-message sleep-for 1 second skip-meanwhile-1: print-line " " state-of lab-door-right is OFF } put-actor sandy in-the-void start-script schedule-meanwhile-in-lab-2 } script meanwhile-in-lab-2 { cut-scene { override skip-meanwhile-2 put-actor dr-fred at 50,62 in-room lab put-actor sandy at 30,62 in-room lab put-actor purple-tentacle at 40,62 in-room lab do-animation sandy turn-front current-room lab camera-at 20 sleep-for 1 second walk purple-tentacle to sandy within 3 wait-for-actor purple-tentacle do-animation sandy turn-left say-line sandy "Get away from me you purple slime geek." walk sandy to 5,50 break-here 2 walk purple-tentacle to 5,50 wait-for-actor sandy walk sandy to 25,45 say-line sandy "Don't touch me!" wait-for-actor purple-tentacle walk purple-tentacle to 21,50 wait-for-actor sandy walk dr-fred to 30,50 wait-for-actor dr-fred do-animation dr-fred turn-left say-line dr-fred "PURPLE TENTACLE!!": "Stop playing with the lab experiments.": "Bring her, the machine is ready.": "Heh, heh, heh." break-until (chars-printed > 90) walk dr-fred to 60,50 wait-for-message do-animation sandy turn-front say-line sandy "EEEEEEEEEK!!!!" do-animation sandy chore-12 wait-for-message sleep-for 1 second skip-meanwhile-2: print-line " " } put-actor sandy in-the-void } script schedule-meanwhile-in-lab-2 { sleep-for 45 minutes start-script meanwhile-in-lab-2 } room mansion-exterior { sounds { "sfx\unused-sound-5" unused-sound-5 "sfx\doorbell-sound" doorbell-sound } enter { lights is 2 stop-sound radiation-sound if (script-running win-game is false) { start-script play-cricket-sound } } exit { stop-script play-cricket-sound stop-sound cricket-sound if (state-of envelope is R-HERE) { if (envelope-stamped is true) { if (envelope-is-addressed is true) { if (state-of mailbox is CLOSED) { if (state-of mailbox-flag is R-HERE) { if (script-running deliver-envelope is false) { start-script deliver-envelope } } } } } } if (script-running script-12 is true) { start-sound radiation-sound } } object front-door-ext { name is "front door" class is LOCKED verb open { if (class-of current-noun1 is UNLOCKED) { start-script open-door state-of front-door-int-left is OPEN } else { start-script door-locked-response } } verb close { start-script close-door state-of front-door-int-left is CLOSED } verb unlock use { if (current-noun2 is key) { class-of current-noun1 is UNLOCKED do-sentence open front-door-ext } else { start-script cant-unlock-response } } verb lock { class-of current-noun1 is LOCKED do-sentence close front-door-ext } verb walk-to { if (state-of current-noun1 is OPEN) { if (entered-house is false) { entered-house is true start-script meanwhile-in-lab-1 put-actor nurse-edna at 62,56 in-room kitchen do-animation nurse-edna turn-back state-of refrigerator is OPEN start-script script-152 } come-out-door front-door-int-left in-room hall } } } object door-mat { name is "door mat" verb pull pick-up { if (state-of current-noun1 is GONE) { say-line "I'll leave it here." } else { state-of current-noun1 is GONE } } verb push { state-of current-noun1 is HERE } } object key { name is "key" class is PICKUPABLE dependent-on door-mat being GONE verb pick-up { pick-up-object current-noun1 } verb use { if (current-noun2 is front-door-ext) { class-of front-door-ext is UNLOCKED do-sentence open front-door-ext } else { say-line "It doesn't work." } } } object mailbox { name is "mailbox" verb open { state-of current-noun1 is OPEN } verb close { state-of current-noun1 is CLOSED } verb use { do-sentence use current-noun2 mailbox-open } } object mailbox-open { name is "mailbox" verb open { state-of mailbox is OPEN } verb close { state-of mailbox is CLOSED } verb use { if (current-noun2 is sealed-envelope-in-safe) { if (state-of mailbox is OPEN) { if (envelope-is-addressed is false) { say-line "There is no address on it." } else { if (envelope-stamped is false) { say-line "There's no stamp on it." } else { if (content-in-envelope == envelope-empty) { say-line "The envelope is empty." } else { owner-of sealed-envelope-in-safe is nobody class-of envelope is TOUCHABLE state-of envelope is R-HERE } } } } } } verb read { say-line "Solicitors will be eaten." } } object package { name is "package" state is GONE class is PICKUPABLE UNTOUCHABLE verb pick-up { pick-up-object current-noun1 if (got-stamps is false) { pick-up-object stamps owner-of stamps is nobody } } verb give { if (current-noun2 < end-kids) { owner-of current-noun1 is current-noun2 } if (current-noun2 is weird-ed) { start-script give-package-to-weird-ed } } verb read { say-line "To: Weird Ed" } verb open pull { if (got-stamps is false) { if (state-of current-noun1 is GONE) { owner-of stamps is selected-actor } else { pick-up-object stamps } say-line "Some uncanceled stamps came off!" got-stamps is true } else { say-line "That would be illegal." } } } object stamps { name is "stamps" class is PICKUPABLE dependent-on package being OFF verb pull pick-up { pick-up-object current-noun1 say-line "Hmm, they're uncanceled." got-stamps is true } verb use { if (current-noun2 is envelope-in-microwave or current-noun2 is sealed-envelope-in-safe) { if (envelope-unsealed == 1) { envelope-stamped is true say-line "They stick!" start-script update-envelope-name owner-of current-noun1 is nuked } else { jump wont-stick } } else { wont-stick: say-line "They won't stick." } } } object mailbox-flag { name is "flag" verb open { do-sentence open current-noun1 current-noun2 } verb close { do-sentence close current-noun1 current-noun2 } verb pull { state-of current-noun1 is GONE } verb push { state-of current-noun1 is HERE } verb use { if (state-of current-noun1 is GONE) { state-of current-noun1 is HERE } else { state-of current-noun1 is GONE } } } object bushes-left { name is "bushes" verb open pull pick-up { state-of current-noun1 is GONE } } object grating { name is "grating" class is LOCKED dependent-on bushes-left being GONE verb open { if (class-of current-noun1 is LOCKED) { if (used-hunk-o-matic[selected-actor] == 1) { say-line "Easy!" jump open-grating } else { say-line "I can't budge it. It's rusted shut." } } else { open-grating: state-of current-noun1 is OPEN state-of crawl-space-grate is OPEN start-sound open-door-sound } } verb close { state-of current-noun1 is CLOSED state-of crawl-space-grate is CLOSED } verb push pull { if (state-of current-noun1 is CLOSED) { do-sentence open grating } else { do-sentence close grating } } verb fix unlock use { if (current-noun2 is tools) { class-of current-noun1 is UNLOCKED do-sentence open grating } } verb walk-to { if (state-of current-noun1 is OPEN) { come-out-door crawl-space-grate in-room crawl-space } } } object film { name is "undeveloped film" state is R-HERE class is PICKUPABLE UNTOUCHABLE verb pick-up { pick-up-object current-noun1 } verb open { if (script-running open-film is false) { start-script open-film } } verb use { do-sentence use current-noun2 current-noun1 } verb read { if (develop-film-step < film-developed) { say-line "Kodak." } else { say-line "Looks like photographs of Ed's plans." } } verb give { if (current-noun2 < end-kids) { owner-of current-noun1 is current-noun2 } if (current-noun2 is weird-ed) { if (develop-film-step < film-developed) { say-line weird-ed "No! No! You have to develop it for me!" } else { start-script give-film-to-weird-ed } } } } object envelope { name is "envelope" class is UNTOUCHABLE dependent-on mailbox being OPEN verb read { if (envelope-is-addressed is false) { say-line "It's a blank envelope." } else { say-line "It's addressed to: 222 Skyscraper Way." } } verb pick-up { class-of envelope is UNTOUCHABLE state-of envelope is R-GONE owner-of sealed-envelope-in-safe is selected-actor } } object contract { name is "contract" class is PICKUPABLE UNTOUCHABLE dependent-on mailbox being OPEN verb pick-up { pick-up-object current-noun1 state-of current-noun1 is R-GONE } verb read { start-script read-contract } verb give { start-script give-contract } } object tombstone-1 { name is "tombstone" state is GONE class is UNTOUCHABLE verb read { say-line "And good riddance!" } } object tombstone-2 { name is "tombstone" state is GONE class is UNTOUCHABLE verb read { say-line "Another one bites the dust!" } } object tombstone-3 { name is "tombstone" state is GONE class is UNTOUCHABLE } object exit-mansion-ext-right { name is "" verb walk-to { come-out-door exit-mansion-gate-left in-room mansion-gate } } object bushes-right { name is "bushes" } object doorbell { name is "doorbell" verb push use { start-sound doorbell-sound if (var-92 == 0) { if (script-running send-weird-ed-downstairs is false) { if (actor-room weird-ed is weird-eds-room) { weird-ed-downstairs-reason is doorbell start-script send-weird-ed-downstairs } } else { start-script impatient-doorbell-ringing } } } verb read { say-line "This is the home of Dr. Fred,": "Nurse Edna, Weird Ed, Dead Cousin Ted,": "Green Tentacle and Purple Tentacle." } } }
    6 points
  30. Oh no no, that's perfectly normal! 🙂 Whenever you do one of the following things: * Looking at the Pollo Diablo painting; * Looking at the recipe book; * (Probably one or two more things I can't remember)... The engine makes what's called heap savegame (a temporary savestate), and then proceeds to change room to our destination (the painting or the recipe book). Whenever we have to go back to where we were before, the engine re-loads the heap savegame. That's a neat trick which avoids moving around SCUMM variables to only show a room which has very few interactions. The caveat here is that the iMUSE state is being saved into the savegame (as it normally should) and then reloaded: this means that the music will restart from the point it was saved before. So TL;DR: that's normal and happens on the original hardware as well.
    6 points
  31. After finding the CMI ad, I decided to hunt down some more Taiwanese LucasArts adverts and I wasn't disappointed: Bonus:
    6 points
  32. 6 points
  33. I spent a lot more of the review on Skull than I set out to because, having made the decision not to use spoilers, it became the most useful way to articulate my general response to Dial by contrast. Skull and Dial are kindred sequels, because they’re both up against the same challenge: How do you tell a story about an aged Indy that necessarily puts the character outside of the era he was designed to operate in? How the two movies deal with this problem is highly revealing. The decisive difference is that Dial comes off as a movie that knows what it wants to be about. We can attack the screenplay, but it at least feels like it has one. Skull feels like they shot a story outline that happens to have dialog in it. I find it highly objectionable because it is in essence incomplete material. The truth is I can talk all day about individual things in Skull I admire, and individual things in Dial I consider defective, but that’s all just exercise. There’s an aggregate effect with a movie, where it either works for you or it does not. I walked out of Dial satisfied, while I walked out of Skull deflated, and that’s going to color my whole perspective, as it ought to. I also decided that I needed to divulge where I was coming from walking into Dial to explain why I might have been prepared to forgive a lot, because where I was coming from is inescapably informed by the last installment. Though I’m negative on Skull, there’s a narrative around that movie based primarily on internet talking points (aliens, Shia LaBeouf, whatever) that I don’t want anything to do with. In short, the reasons you’re “supposed” to dislike Skull are largely unrecognizable to me. I personally dislike Skull because I find it to be an inert, unshaped bore filmed by somebody who didn’t want to leave the country and desperately wanted you to know how addicted they are to Classic Softs and mist machines. Already we’re hearing how it’s “illogical” to tolerate Dial’s zanier choices as some sort of hypocrisy due to common complaints against Skull. (Oh, if only outlandishness was Skull’s problem!) The CGI “fakery” I see in a similar light – I’ll commiserate with anybody who thinks Dial is too VFX heavy. But the fact is that Skull looked fake even when it was real – that’s how gratuitous the issue was. I just can’t overstate how lethal the aesthetic of that movie was for me, and how much of a rebound Dial managed to be on this score, even shot digitally and despite the fact that it features a goddamned machine-learned Indy (and obviously so at that) for twenty-five minutes. So in the end I gave a lot of ink to my actual problems with Skull (as opposed to what the received wisdom says) to try to orient the reader to the areas where I was going to be particularly susceptible to some redemption. Already it’s looking like my perspective is one of the more generous ones, and hopefully all the knocking on Skull served the purpose of contextualizing that rather just reading as gratuitous.
    6 points
  34. Plus, they've got too much on what with Full Throttle 2 and Grim Fandango 2 in the works.
    6 points
  35. Yes, the whole stuff surrounding Ron Gilbert is annoying. I mean my take away from Return is that it was an acknowledgement from Ron that Monkey Island never was and never will be fully his, and that in that spirit all ways of telling the story are valid. So were they really that afraid of letting him know they were doing a side thing? On the other hand, this is exactly in the spirit of the sort of thing that it should be possible to do with Monkey Island post-return. Could not care less if or how it fits in the timeline since Also fine with how Guybrush looks here, it's completely in keeping with the character style of Sea of Thieves and it looks in some shots of the trailer it's an attempt to be closer to the hair colour depicted in the first two games, which I'm into. Part of me wants to say, look, it's not very deep and we don't need to overanalyse it. People in Rare were clearly into the Monkey Island games having already inserted a homage, someone at LucasFilm said 'hey do you want to make a thing' knowing that Return would make Monkey Island a bit more relevant again and the Rare folks were into it. Sea of Thieves is good, Monkey Island is good, this crossover event will probably be a nice time for people who like both those things. As much disdain as I have for brands and corporate culture... I do think it's possible to just enjoy that a thing exists and someone cared enough to make it happen. Because I find it hard to believe that this was done cynically, and it wasn't just some people's passion project. No matter how well Return did, nobody was looking it and thinking 'right, now time to find new ways to exploit that Monkey Island cash cow.' I think as fans we probably overestimate how much currency Monkey Island really has in this day and age. This exists, and it'll probably be made with love. There are worse fates for a series.
    6 points
  36. Blondebeard's 25 year, long game has finally reached its end. I look forward to the announcements of Psychonauts 3: Razputin's Domain and iMuse Island the album.
    6 points
  37. This is a bit of a bonus round, but it seemed like a fun enough prospect. Here is Purple Tentacle from DOTT. This is what was used for reference: The LEGO model: I wanted to use a slightly darker green in place of more lime-like green you see in the model, but regrettably, there simply isn't enough part variety in that color to make the building of the model feasible, so that's a compromise. I might redo it in the future Stan is definitely in the pipeline, just need to decide whether to do the model in his SOMI guise of MI2. The sprites seem to be pretty identical, apart from the color patterns
    6 points
  38. I've been compelled to register here to corroborate everything said above; I received my copy of Loom today, and am astonished at the lack of coherence or care in terms of its digital content, particularly after the promises that it would (at the very least) include the EGA release of the game. Shipping with nothing but the VGA version, not to mention the weird half-arsed soundtrack situation, is utterly shameful for the cost, and given the lack of availability of the non-VGA release and accoutrements generally is what made this release so theoretically worthwhile. It really does show up Limited Run Games as a company that cares about packaging up nostalgia for profit, rather than actually caring about what they release. Like the anti-Digital Eclipse. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement.
    5 points
  39. A couple of last-minute fixes and now DREAMM 2.1.1 is officially released! https://aarongiles.com/dreamm This is just a bugfix release for 2.1, with a number of reported crashes fixed and support for a few new international game variants. Full details of the changes: Fixed error/lack of sound with some versions of Yoda Stories Fixed unpredictable audio synchronization in Mortimer Fixed joystick in Outlaws (and other Winodws games) Fixed ARM-specific hangs in Infernal Machine menus Improve handling of very long pathnames during installation Improve behavior of Windows emulation process cleanup to reduce crashes Fix crashes when exiting Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures Fix race condition when starting up the 3D rendering threads Fix occasional crash when rendering overlays with custom images Support version 3 MDS image files Add support for a number of new international releases
    5 points
  40. I'm interviewing Steve Purcell this Thursday. If you (or anyone else here) has any questions for him, please DM me on Discord! https://discordapp.com/users/danielalbu
    5 points
  41. My thoughts on RtMI... I love the game! I've played it around six times since its premiere and I still can't get enough! On the surface level, it's a goofy game about pirates, but underneath, it is also a reflection on the art of storytelling. I adore the whole game, but I especially appreciate the Prelude and the Ending! I'm astounded by how smoothly they explained the ending of MI2 and transitioned to the new story! The framing device is a brilliant solution! I'm very impressed that Ron and Dave actually managed to explain the MI2 cliffhanger with a twist that nobody else had thought of earlier! And I thoroughly enjoy the deliberate ambiguity of the Ending. Guybrush is an unreliable narrator and the Ending makes us question what was real and what was not. I enjoy that Ron and Dave constructed the ending in such a way that leaves room for questions and interpretations! The makers promised to resolve the mysterious ending of MI2 and to reveal the Secret of Monkey Island, and they kept their promise, but they did it in a way that is ambiguous enough to make various interpretations equally plausible! Is Guybrush a flooring inspector with an overactive imagination, lost in his pirate fantasy in a theme park? Or is he really a pirate who told his son a story with a weird ending in order to troll him? It’s all open to debate... For me, the most resounding final statement of Guybrush is that The Secret is like a story that changes with time and the storyteller. The statement perfectly encapsulates the main theme of the game. The Secret might be a t-shirt in a carnival or a giant monkey robot or something else... RtMI strongly reminds me of Tim Burton’s “Big Fish” movie. It's a story of a man who tells fantastical tales about his life. His son tries to find out what about his father was real and what was not. it's difficult to separate fantasy from reality... Another movie with a similar theme to RtMI is “Princess Bride”. The film uses a framing story in which an elderly man reads a fantasy story to his young grandson (the grandson sometimes interrupts the story, just like Boybrush does in RtMI). RtMi is also a game about letting go and moving on with one's life. If Guybrush’s tales are indeed fictional (or mostly fictional), it implies that LeChuck was invented by Guybrush as an evil “alter ego”, a different side of Guybrush’s personality. Throughout the course of the game, we learn how alike Guybrush and LeChuck really are. LeChuck even has Elaine’s wedding veil in his cabin, which further reinforces the idea that LeChuck is really a different side of Guybrush. Both Guybrush and LeChuck are obsessed with the Secret, they are both trapped in the past, while the world moves forward. However, only Guybrush is able to leave the pirate amusement park with his beloved wife in the end. The animatronic LeChuck is forever trapped there. People complain that there was no final confrontation with LeChuck this time around. However, I think that the fact that Guybrush makes a conscious decision to leave the amusement park fantasy behind and move on with his life is his greatest triumph over LeChuck. Whether Guynrush’s stories are real or not, he is happy with his loved ones in the end – that’s what’s most important. So, yeah, I really love pondering about RtMI, as much as Dee loves to talk about anchors!
    5 points
  42. New DREAMM beta release: https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta New in 2.1b13 ============= * Updated documentation: https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/docs/v21 * Fixed potential crash when rendering unsupported glyphs in the UI * Added support for ZIP's "implode" (mode 6) algorithm * Fixed handling of ZIP files with missing size/CRC data in local header * Added telemetry opt-in/opt-out links in about box
    5 points
  43. I'm using nothing fancy, an Epson Perfection V39. The important part for me was a removable lid, so that it doesn't get in the way when scanning larger stuff. I'd love to have a bigger scanner, but those are much pricier. And since I don't scan THAT much myself (I'm relying on collectors scanning their stuff for me), it wasn't worth the investment yet. But yeah, an A3 scanner, with a removable lid, AND an as-thin-as-possible bezel around the glass (this one's the most difficult one) would be fantastic. As a little update as to what I'm working now, I'm creating more color variations for the Fate of Atlantis map: (Beauty / Box / Manual / Poster / Print Ad) Putting hands on the map again, I've used that last color variant to rebuild one of the FOA print ads that ran in magazines back then:
    5 points
  44. I became fixated on Stan haggling last year. I think the current speedrun record went with: Walk away, reject 6 extras, offer 2000, offer 5000. BUT he could have gone with: Walk away, reject 6 extras, offer 5000. Of course, skipping that one click for the 2000 offer probably doesn't save much time. You could also: Reject 5 extras, offer 2000, offer 5000, offer 5000 again. That lets you avoid the "walking away" animation. I'm not sure if that would save time or not. Disclaimer: rejecting or accepting the first extra (porthole defoggers) is irrelevant because of a bug, but I imagine it's easier/faster to just reject everything. EDIT: The insult swordfighting stuff is fascinating. If you're playing Special Edition, Carla will never use "I've got a long, sharp lesson for you to learn today". So you'll never successfully use the "And I've got a little TIP for you, get the POINT" response against her. But these guys aren't on the Special Edition.
    5 points
  45. I'm sure they got top men working on it.
    5 points
  46. Just to make most of you feel ancient, I was born 3 years before Mojo, the year Full Throttle and The Dig came out 😂 I think I discovered Mojo in the years between Escape and Tales, then officially joined the community along with the Telltale forums when that was announced, so a decent length but not as long as others. It really is THE site for Lucasarts fandom, whether it's the articles or the forums, and the amount of pure passion, humour and dedication over the years is truly something to behold. It's also managed to be free of toxicity over the years which in itself is a triumph; you don't see the kind of division in discourse that seems to occur daily in the Star Wars fandom. Here's to many more years here, even when we're all in a retirement home playing Monkey Island 10 and The Dig 3
    5 points
  47. Time flies when you're having fun! I've been a lurker / beneficiary of the effort put into this place since the beginning but I've never actually posted before. 25 years is a landmark so I thought it'd be worth expressing my appreciation and gratitude!
    5 points
  48. I've finally added my new restoration of Mark Ferrari's LOOM artwork to the thread, plus the FM Towns cover artwork as a brand-new addition (both in several different versions). Does anybody here know who painted the FM Towns art?
    5 points
  49. Has it been a year already?! I gave the initial April 1st post next to no thought at all. The last MI game was 12 years ago (13 if you don’t count the special editions) and Ron didn’t have the license, so I put no stock into the idea that it might be real. Then April 4th came, and I had one of those “the world has stopped turning” moments as the trailer launched, the reactions poured in, the community reassembled, and key players that we hadn’t heard from in a decade or so all “revealing the secret” that they’d kept from us all this time. The announcement was a wonderful moment, and seeing the trailer on Devolver’s YouTube account reaching the #5 trending video on the entire site that day (not just in gaming, in general) really felt like something special was happening. I’ve played the game twice since launch, and while I can’t quite say I can call it my favourite for a few reasons (lack of Earl Boen and a few other recast actors, etc.) the good moments in the game really stand out, and really elevated the series to a new level in terms of storytelling. Even though I think the ending could’ve been executed better on a technical level (I.e. I think it could’ve really benefited from some Telltale-style dynamic camera work to better sell the emotions and set the scene of the reveal) after sitting with it for six months or so, I accept what it did for the series in terms of recontextualising it and giving us plenty to theorise about, even if I don’t fully follow it. (That being said, I like it MUCH better than the YouTube crowd at the time. OOF you should’ve seen their reactions!!) EDIT: Not to mention that Noah Falstein, Dom, etc. really weren’t joking about the opening scenes of the game and how it deals with the end of MI2. The reveal made my jaw hit the floor in a way that very few pieces of media have in a long time. Absolutely brilliant storytelling.
    5 points
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