ThunderPeel2001

I think Ron got the pixel thing out if his system with TWP. It was a love letter to pixels. (Which was nice, but now it’s been done.) Hopefully the same is true of in jokes. I like in jokes, but I felt bludgeoned by them in TWP. It’s: 1. Love your characters 2. Story above all else 3. Don’t be afraid of emotional moments Not: 1. Don’t bother with characters 2. Story doesn’t really matter 3. Cram with in-jokes in lieu of not having the above two things Oh boy. It’s going to be a long slog thinking about this stuff until release day 🤣

I watched all the moments with Guybrush and Murray from CMI and I think you could just about wing it that they’ve met before. (In a Star Wars — “he killed your father, no wait, I meant he IS your father” / “I built C3P0 but now I don’t remember him” kind of way.) But as others have said, we might get to play as Elaine this time around (makes a kind of sense given Ron’s affinity for the character and the way MI2 ended — she might have to drag Guybrush out of the Big Whoop curse as part of the story). So she could bump into Murray (who presumably has a body at some point? Hell, we could maybe even meet him as a human before he becomes an undead pirate.) If Ron has gone the “post MI2, pre MI3” route, there’s just SO much fun they could have. Of course it’s a shame there’s no input from Schafer. And my dream would still be Peter Chan and Steve Purcell on art duties. But this is still so very exciting. One thing everyone forgets: The last time Grossman and Gilbert worked on a Monkey Island game together was Tales! And actually I’m surprised Gilbert hasn’t given him co-credit this time around. Maybe he’s got a really strong vision for what he wants to do. And I hope to fuck Gilbert has gotten the “a non ending is a great ending” thing out of his system. It ruined Thimbleweed Park.

I wanted to like this post, but the like function is broken. Nice find!

Yes, I think it might be!

Some interesting things to ponder: If it starts from the end of MI2, will we get to see Dinky again? Given the title, will we get to see Monkey Island again? And if the website is to be believed, will we get to see Melee and LeChuck's Ghost Ship again? Personally I'm not over the moon about the new art style (albeit from the limited glimpses we've seen of it). I know I'm biased because I LOVE Purcell's and Chan's work (I have a Purcell print hanging in my hallway). The two shots we've seen remind me of the first Special Edition, so that's triggering some trauma by itself. However looking at Rex Crowle's portfolio makes me worry less: His work is great! Definitely got his own style. And I'm already warming to the look in the trailer, so maybe it's all going to be OK!

Yes, I agree. If we're going to go back to original locations, then make them recognisable (ie. the same as when they were introduced)! MI4 be damned!

Time will tell, but I don't see how they can be careful to keep CMI canon AND set it after MI2 (unless he goes down the multiverse route, I guess?). Or he does something insane and meta and the game ends in the real world with someone playing CMI. Either way, this is a great find from Utwarrior: Yes, he's talking about the man he hired to do the visuals for Return to MI, Rex Crowle, back in 2009. Here's his take on Guybrush... a preview of what's to come? https://hairyteeth.blogspot.com/2009/07/guybrush-threepwood.html

Ha. Sorry. It's a bit of blur at the moment! I just found it.

So... apparently Devolver says it takes place right after MI2. And Ron says it doesn't negate CMI. Conclusion: It shows us exactly what led to Guybrush floating on the dodgem car at the beginning of CMI, allowing Gilbert to actually make MI3 after all (And also not negating what came after for any fans who enjoyed those games.)

I like the announcement on Ron's blog: https://grumpygamer.com/return_to_monkey_island Also, another person working on it:

One addition to the "please let it be true" pile: We know that Ron is working on a new adventure game in secret. He's specifically said it's NOT MI related in interviews, but who knows if something changed and Disney approached him with an offer he decided not to refuse. (Probably not, I mean I think we're all suspecting Ron to write a blogpost about how easy it was to manipulate us, or just never mention it again and refuse to answer questions about it, but you can't help but wish...) He also said he'd "jump" at the opportunity to make MI3a if it ever came long:

😎 👕 I beat #Mojole and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. 1/6 💚💚💚💚💚 https://funzone.mixnmojo.com/Mojole/

Note: The Grim Fandango bug where Domino skips over his lines isn't mentioned in that list.

I've never heard of these tools... makes me wonder what other Scumm related tools I don't know? I used to love exploring in ScummRevisited...

I love CMI's art style, but I still think it's wrongheaded to think it couldn't look absolutely beautiful using 3D... albeit in a total remake kind of capacity. Pixar has shown time and again that you can retain all of the beauty of 2D animation in 3D, provided it's done well. And there's lots of different ways of implementing 3D, too. If you want an example of a beautiful game with 3D characters over 2D background, look no further than my avatar. It's easy to forget that Broken Age featured 3D wired animated models. So again I stress my point: it's all about how it's done. So personally I'm less concerned with the tech and more with how they use it. Of course, if they decided to stick with a pure traditional 2D art style of CMI, and do more of a remaster, I'd be equally as happy... provided it was done well. Basically, whatever route they go: Don't eff it up!

Sorry, but I find this anti-3D sentiment makes no sense to me. Yes Studio Ghibli films are beautiful... but so are most Pixar films. It's all about doing things well. Unfortunately the switch to pre-rendered 3D characters is usually a cost-cutting measure (see SOMI:SE), which is why the results tend to look horrible. If Disney were prepared to invest in the project properly it wouldn't matter what process they used. Even 2D backgrounds and 3D characters can work perfectly together if they're done well. A proper budget would ensure the beautiful movement and animation style of CMI could be preserved, no matter what. It's really all about the budget. I'd rather have a properly funded remaster, no matter what techniques they used, than a poorly funded remaster that used hand-drawn 2D animation (there's plenty of cheap and horrible 2D animation out there).

I recently learned about this website. I can't remember where: https://www.missingfloppies.com/

I remember checking those backgrounds and actually making the point that they look better than the originals even when scaled back down to 1x. It's only the colour limitations of COMI I think. Maybe one day I'll have the time to learn more. @LaserschwertDo you have PNGs of those 4x backgrounds anywhere? The jpegs are great, but a lossless format like PNG would be even better.

Yes! Laserschwert's upscales would be good enough for me, even without the sprites being fixed. Surely it cannot be that hard in ScummVM? We managed to do a similar thing on the Grim Fandango Deluxe project, and it worked fine, so I don't see why upscaling COMI's backgrounds would be so difficult. (He says naively.)

I say bring on a COMI remaster. Yes, they will undoubtedly get some things I consider "wrong", but on the whole they're usually massive improvements in some area: Day of the Tentacle came out really well, aside from one or two tiny niggles. Full Throttle was amazing with its improved soundtrack -- even though there was some weird lapses in quality control. Grim Fandango added amazing new music and unbelievably better controls AND a point and click mode... despite the occasional lapses in quality control (again). SOMI:SE was (for me) a total abomination. I hated every second (apart from Earl Boen and whoever voiced the Shopkeeper -- even Dom seemed off). So many things were ruined... so I just don't play it (in fact I never even got off Melee). MI2: SE was a vast improvement and started getting more things right (especially on Phatt Island, which really looked absolutely perfect in one or two scenes). So with those being my recent experiences, I say bring on the new ways for me to experience COMI. The original isn't going anywhere. Give it to me!

Lovely. I love Purcell's artwork. The final statue just doesn't live up to the beautiful concept art.

*INSERT FUNNY DRAW DROPPING GIF* Wow, it's incredible that you managed to create that from that photograph. So impressed! 👍

Yeah, dammit. Any of you lucky pups read this thing yet and gleaned any brain-shattering revelations?

In stock! https://www.uncute.com/products/sam-and-max-stuffed-toy?_pos=1&_sid=9ad32a5e4&_ss=r

I don't want to sound like a cold-hearted jerk, or just a blind fan boy who thinks Tim can do no wrong, but his words weren't personal (not even the "jerk" one -- although I can appreciate that must have stung for you) because simply: He doesn't know you. He was just upset by something that was triggering for him. It seems he felt like you were saying he didn't deserve to have his name with the title... Which undoubtedly reminded him of the executives he fought back in the day -- ones who probably literally told him he didn't deserve it. And being able to take creative ownership of his work obviously means a huge deal to him as he risked everything he had to set up his own company to do just that. Plus it's easy to think of people like Tim having thicker skin than the rest of us. He's got all the power, right? Hundreds of thousands of fans, etc. Famous. Successful. Celebrity friends. Interviewed all the time. But you tend to find that these people are just as insecure and touchy as the rest of us -- if not more so. For example, you often hear comedians, even from the hugely successful ones, talk about how one audience member can upset them. They'll have thousands of people laughing... and they will laser in on the one person who isn't. In their heads they'll be wondering, "What's wrong with that guy??" It seems it's human nature to let that one voice upset us, even when everyone else is saying we're great. So yes, technically, he called you a jerk. However: 1. You're not a jerk. And 2. Tim was just being insecure and touchy... like all humans can be. I'd try not to take his reaction personally and try to cut him a little slack: From his point of view, you were a person trying to take his achievements away from him.