ThunderPeel2001

It's been so long since I saw that screen. Were they separate cards? I thought it might have been grail diary quotes. Ah yes, as I write this, wasn't Greek letters or something?

I wonder. It was probably financial, whatever the reason. I do believe the later releases didn't include the full grail diary, so it might be to reduce production costs at the risk of sales lost to no copy protection. Or the fact that couldn't really win without at least the grail diary excerpts... Hmm.

I agree with you there (but I still hate the lighting in the new Melee scene -- although I have grown to like the other two examples we've seen).

What you're suggesting implies a toggle to switch off ALL the changes that the Remasters made (which were a LOT more than just recasting Bosco and rewriting a few minor lines), because why should they just cater to YOU and nobody else who wants another specific change reversed? Which brings us back to the original reply that elTee made to you: And round and round we go...

Intriguing. I wonder why they did that? I guess some versions came without a full Grail Diary. I know the Amiga version kept the copy protection.

Yes, it was one of the things I didn't like about Bill Tiller's art direction at the time. The world was never cartoony, it was always very grounded. Can you point me to where you found that image that you said was from the VGHF? I watched the whole thing live and have scanned their webpage... unless I'm going blind (which is definitely a possibility) I cannot see the image you claim came from there? https://gamehistory.org/monkeyisland/ And can we all just stop for a second and appreciate the utter beauty of this image... Look at those shadows, the gentle use of colour. It's GORGEOUS. I love Peter Chan's work. And it still looks beautiful with a limited palette.. Sigh

I don't understand how these two sentences can co-exist. Perhaps you just went off half-cocked in your first post, but if so, you can see how someone can misinterpret your intentions.

The magic of writing means anything can fit between those two events. Hell an entire season of 24 supposedly happens in... 24 hours. There's plenty of time if that what Ron wants to do (and personally it's what I want to see).

elTee makes better points than me, but quite frankly the logic of the complaints towards the Remasters seems reflective of so many other hyper-emotional fanboi rants that seem to bleed out from Reddit. To me they are the product of groupthink -- ideas supported and bolstered by a group existing in a vacuum. And when they're challenged outside of that vacuum there's an inability to defend them without resulting to circular logic or side-stepping. Or just a plain old hyper-emotional response. In the case of people complaining about missing lines and recasting in the Remasters. Hmm. Lines were changed between versions of MI. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes by mistake. (Some of them have only just been restored in ScummVM.) And the special editions made even more changes, cutting lines. I don't recall anyone getting seriously upset any them. Same goes for recasting. TellTale games would sometimes recast roles between episodes! Sometimes people missed the originals, sometimes they preferred the new takes. Sam & Max themselves have been recast countless times throughout their many iterations! Again, I don't recall anyone getting seriously upset about that. I know elTee suggests this is purely a generation thing, but honestly I can't say I'm convinced, because when someone is recast for reasons which could be described as "woke" (reasons for which I wholeheartedly applaud and support), strangely then it's a huge issue. Changing a line like "take our complimentary goggles designed for special needs children!" is treated as a crime against culture! Sorry, I just don't buy it. I do prefer the performance of the original Bosco actor, but I also understand and agree with why it was changed. Same goes with the line alterations. And believe me, I'm someone who has gotten bent out of shape when other remasters have gotten things wrong. It drives me crazy when something I really care about is changed for bad reasons (like the "Golo Flake" label oversight in Grim Fandango which makes the puzzle harder to solve -- after DoubleFine promised a "Criterion Edition" level remaster). But the changes made to the S&M Remasters weren't done for bad reasons... So if that still bugs you then I think it's less about the changes themselves, and more about the reasons for the changes. Recent example to illustrate my point: Earl Boen isn't going to reprise LeChuck in Return to Monkey Island and so the role is going to be recast. Fans accept this unfortunate turn because of the reason (Boen has decided to retire). So I think it's actually all about the reason for the changes. Either you think the reasons were justified, and so you are disappointed but understand. Or you think they were unjustified, and so you refuse to buy the product and blame the developer for making them. I know this makes me sound old, too, but this sort of reaction (and the blind belief that everyone, everywhere agrees with it) makes me worry about the future. *shakes old man cane*

I guess we're going to have to agree to disagree. I don't think anyone was hankering to play Willy Beamish Has a Mental Breakdown and Thinks He's a Pirate. Monkey Island was always about actual voodoo pirate tales. Moving away from that would have been brave, certainly, but it's not what I think anyone wanted (to play or to make). I also don't think you can compare it to the Deckard thing. Whether Deckard is a replicant or not doesn't change the elements of the story... whether it's all in his head or not (as you're suggesting for Guybrush), certainly does. It would become the focus. I mentioned previously that the whole "is it fiction or is it reality?" thing has been done before in Buffy and K-Pax, too. For me the idea that it's all a child's fantasy is very unfulfilling. And I'm not sure you can have your cake and eat it: Either I'm going to be invested in the story and the characters, or I'm going to be detached because it's all a fantasy. I can't see how it can be both. In the end, I just want a good pirate story, but let's see what Ron and Dave have cooked up!

Given they cut back to Elaine and even capitalised the word "SPELL", I think that's especially important for understanding what happened.

I don't recall that? Could you refresh my memory?

I do understand the power of mystery and not having everything explained. However just throwing unexplained things into the end of an otherwise straightforward tale -- without explaining it when you're given the opportunity to -- feels very lazy. I also think it's very unfair to Larry Ahern and Jonathan Ackley to say their attempts at explaining it was the "worst writing" of the entire series. Most fans wanted an explanation, and they felt the pressure to provide one. That was definitely the more difficult path for them to take. (Not addressing it at all would have been easy, so I applaud them for trying.) There's a fine art to mystery. Not explaining things can be provocative and interesting... but it can also just be lazy. Throwing random elements into a story without explanation doesn't automatically make you David Lynch. I think one of the primary reasons people are so excited by the announcement of a new Ron Gilbert Monkey Island is because they're expecting to see his explanation.

Hmm. I'd say Deadpool was "meta", I wouldn't describe Monkey Island as being that. There were three other games after the end of MI2 that tied up that ending just fine, too. I think it's timeless for other reasons (although obviously fans have long wondered how Ron was going to resolve MI2's ending).

I'm a little concerned about things becoming meta, too. Time will tell. I hope we get some more news tomorrow... screenshots... more interviews... something! Anyone know how long it was from Thimbleweed Park's voice sessions to release?

Wow. Both would be amazing if Ron could get them.

Am I being blind? I can't see him quoting @rexbox anywhere in his feed?

Sorry, that's not what I meant. Actors can be funny about being hired to do impressions of another actor's performance. Nothing about having a blessing or not, just about them not being allowed to interpret the character in their own way. They're artists, you know!

Schafer also hasn't Tweeted about it to my knowledge, either. It's possible that Emily was asked not to bring it up, even if not to skew the focus of the interview.

There's definitely got to be voice actors who can do a good LeChuck... the question is a) can the game afford them? and b) would the actor feel comfortable being hired to essentially just do an impression of someone else? Also, am I the only one who felt Escape "fixed" Elaine. I was never a fan of the British accent.

I find it interesting that no interview has asked about Schafer yet

So just to go back to my earlier point: This isn't the game Ron has been planning to make since 1992. I hope some of the things we see in it come from whatever earlier plans Ron had floating around in his brain, but it sounds like the overall ideas won't. And this bit makes me happy: Although I feel for the stress Ron put himself under for this project! Re: The artwork. I don't mind the people, I do mind the backgrounds. I could harp on why I don't understand why Melee has been changed, for example. (I know it's close, but the buildings have been moved around so they're not lined up like they used to be). That's a small thing really. By far the worst thing for me (especially the Melee Island one) is that the artist doesn't seem to understand how light works... Purcell and Chan would take a crazy bit of architecture and then ground it in reality by making sure light behaved naturally. All of their drawings do this (even Purcell's most zany Sam & Max sketches). Looking at that Melee scene I just don't know what's going on. Where are all those shadows coming from? Why is the light from the window behaving like that? You may say I'm being unnecessarily anal, but for me if affects the whole mood of the scene. Look how lovely and warm this scene looks, even in 256 colours. Compare with this cold and uninviting version of the same scene. The colour palette and lighting is all over the place... Anyway, I hope time proves me to be an oversensitive fanboy and that I grow to love Rex Crowle's work. Seeing it in action might be a completely different ball game.

This is taken from scans of the Monkey Island Chronicles from the LRG boxset (which I don't own, someone just posted a couple of screenshots and I turned it into this PDF). Very interesting to note how close it was to the final game in many ways (ie. the description of Scab(b) being made up of shipwrecked boats instead of buildings), but also the differences, too. And also the date on the document: Only weeks after Monkey 1 was released! https://www.dropbox.com/s/qyslilkh569dgae/Monkey-II-Story-Doc-Nov-1990.pdf?dl=0

Interesting! What was the name of your teacher and what did they do?

Well bear in mind that Ron wasn't involved in the Special Editions, so the first two games don't have any voices.