ThunderPeel2001

I wouldn't overthink it, Ron revealed during his Video Game History Foundation deep dive (see here: https://gamehistory.org/monkeyisland/) that he didn't have many plans beyond Guybrush going to hell. And he's also said that if he made MI3 now it wouldn't be the same game he would have made back then (it simply couldn't be, he's a different guy). We're just getting what Ron wants to do right now. I'm looking forward to it!

I agree with assessment that 1 is a more enjoyable game. It's the one I fell in love with (like no other game before it). And I was absolutely over the moon when 2 was released... but something was always "off" for me. Guybrush quite simply wasn't Guybrush. He really is a completely different character, and I missed the sweetness and charm of the original game. Of course I still played MI2 to death, and eventually learned to love MI2 for what it was. I now adore the world and the atmosphere. (Although I think back and I can't believe how much I suffered with those 11 disks on my Amiga!! Every change of scene required loading and swapping. And the second disk drive did nothing to help. I learned Zen patience from playing MI2...) However there was another thread running throughout the game that I picked up on: The pressure to make a sequel. Guybrush is constantly complaining that blowing up LeChuck wasn't enough, and he feels under pressure to do something bigger and better. Was that the writers echoing the pressure they felt making the game? It also seemed they basically stopped writing dialogue by the time Guybrush got to LeChuck's Fortress (everything is "Nice sign", "Nice door", "Nice skull"). Did they care less? And the ending itself is completely without joy. Merely a shock for the audience. (Although we all love it now... a lot of us were scarred by that ending!) There's even digs at MI2 within the game itself: Phatt Library famously includes a book with quotes from Hal Barwood (of Fate of Atlantis fame) on Monkey Island 2: "You can't polish a turd." and "Less is more." So this undercurrent made me feel the developers themselves weren't particularly happy, which had led to a less joyful game. I got to ask Ron Gilbert about this when he came to London. I'd waited 15 years for the opportunity! He thought for a moment and said, "Yeah, I can see why you'd say that, but we weren't under pressure. I actually start making MI2 before anyone at LucasArts had given us the greenlight. I thought it would be better to ask forgiveness than permission." So there you go. Of course, I'd love to know what Grossman, Schafer and Borowick have to say! (I also got to ask Barwood about that book in an email interview that I tragically lost. He said he felt it was the programmer's way of making fun of the pithy snippets of wisdom he'd share.)

I smell a CMI remaster if RTMI is successful...

There's definitely things I really enjoyed about EMI, I do think it's unfairly maligned sometimes. But it was also really lacking in the usual MI atmosphere. The world felt cold and empty compared to previous games. And the ending went off the rails... but it would be a lie to say that I didn't spend most of my time enjoying it.

I don’t know. I feel you can probably choose to ignore specifics in the Carnival of the Damned given the voodoo stuff surrounding it. I need to watch that CMI info dump again though.

EMI created a plot hole regarding Herman Toothrot. I remember that.

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.)