Excited! Nostalgic MI fan discovers Tales of MI!

[bergqvistjl]

The graphics and Monkey Kombat.

 

Whats wrong with the graphics? (OK monkey combat was a bit iffy) as far as i can see their just the same as TMI, so why isnt everyone complaining about them?, infact the textures were better. Even on the highest settings on the TMI demo the textures are still blurred.

[Remi]

Whats wrong with the graphics? (OK monkey combat was a bit iffy) as far as i can see their just the same as TMI, so why isnt everyone complaining about them?, infact the textures were better. Even on the highest settings on the TMI demo the textures are still blurred.

 

I quite enjoyed EMI, but whatever you may or may not have thought about the quality of the artwork... The swooping cinematic cameras of TMI are, obviously, a whole lot better than the static angles in EMI.

 

Personally I'd also say TMI was a whole lot better looking, artistically speaking.

[Snugglecakes]

What has everyone got against EMI? I'd say it was around equal as CMI.

 

My brain just bluescreened

[bergqvistjl]

My brain just bluescreened

Well I didn't have any issues. Plus the static cameras didn't bother me at all (OK so I did play the PS2 version first, which among other things has a higher polygon count than the PC version, and also maybe the controls suit it better than the PC), The plot was fine to me, the only gripe i had was the Monkey Kombat thing. The voice artists we're on top form too.

[wannabe_pirate]

What has everyone got against EMI? I'd say it was around equal as CMI.

 

[bergqvistjl]

 

I could counter that with the last part of MI2, lechuck was always too quick for me. Still I like the game, Although I will give the whole game of TMI a playthrough and reserve judgement until then. Perhaps the demo I played is just a blip, quality-wise.

[Laserschwert]

Hey bergqvistjl, what's with the huge signature? It's larger than your actual posts...

[Monkey Mania]

I'd say it was around equal as CMI.

 

[bergqvistjl]

 

Well I feel it was! The graphics on the PS2 version (OK a it has a higher polygon count than the PC version, so theoretically should look better) are way better than on the TMI demo with its blurry environments.

[LordTrilobite]

TMI looks tons better than the stuff from EMI. The lighting on the environments in EMI also is rather bland.

[SyntheticGerbil]

Well I feel it was! The graphics on the PS2 version (OK a it has a higher polygon count than the PC version, so theoretically should look better) are way better than on the TMI demo with its blurry environments.

 

The difference in the polys is very minimal. Someone was comparing the polycounts between the PC and PS2 version in another thread a few months back. To me it just appears that a few edges were chamfered to smooth out the PS2 version.

 

I don't see how anything in EMI is much on par with ToMI.

[bergqvistjl]

The difference in the polys is very minimal. Someone was comparing the polycounts between the PC and PS2 version in another thread a few months back. To me it just appears that a few edges were chamfered to smooth out the PS2 version.

 

I don't see how anything in EMI is much on par with ToMI.

What about the music?

[KestrelPi]

What about the music?

 

Sure, I'll give you that EMI had some killer music, but the idea that the bland, empty, pre-rendered graphics are even slightly comparable to TMI's(which also seem to improve slightly as the series goes on) seems laughable.

[bergqvistjl]

http://timo-koellner.de/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/escape-monkey-island-2.jpg

and

http://www.consolegames.ro/forum/attachments/f7-news/34332d1253291992-data-de-lansare-pentru-tales-monkey-island-lair-leviathan-secretmonkeyisland_profilelarge.jpg

look the same to me. Their both good.

 

Sure, I'll give you that EMI had some killer music, but the idea that the bland, empty, pre-rendered graphics are even slightly comparable to TMI's(which also seem to improve slightly as the series goes on) seems laughable.

 

Why don't you give me a comparison, so i can see where you're coming from, that might help.

Also this is a screengrab i just took of the demo, Max graphics settings (9) at a resolution of 1280x800, the graphics are awful, practically every single line is jagged.

 

Same screengrab again, but with the graphics turned all the way down to (1), I actually think this looks better.

[SyntheticGerbil]

What about the music?

 

Actually the music is great. I love the tracks when you are on Monkey Island itself. I bought the Best of LucasArts Soundtrack CD for the EMI tracks despite already having both the Grim and Dig soundtracks.

[Rosefull]

 

Are you kidding me?

 

Look, I have nothing against EMI except Monkey Kombat, and even that wasn't that bad. It was still a wonderful game, just weaker than the others in the series is all. Bad graphics don't make or break a game, and I don't care that EMI wasn't pretty, but don't lie and say it was.

 

To say it's equal in appearance to TMI is blindness.

[Remi]

Yeah, pretty much what Rose said. I liked EMI quite a bit -- at the time of release I was one of only a handful fans here -- but TMI really is a huge step above it. And the two screenshots posted above proves the point, even without dynamic cameras.

 

Angles actually does have a lot to do with it, general artistic quality and use of colors aside. From a cinematography level EMI just used... odd... camera angles. They didn't immerse the player well into the game.

 

Again, that's with all respect to EMI. Excellent music and dialog. Just not quite up there with TMI.

[Rosefull]

This conversation has inspired me, and I'm playing EMI now. Forgot how great the dialogue it was, haha. It's probably funnier than TMI, actually (some of those TMI jokes fell a little flat, to be honest, and I'm only five minutes into EMI and already the barkeep has used the phrase, "a bitchin' cool roller coaster"), but looking at it is getting hard and the controls are killing me. I totally forgot you had to use arrow keys. Ugh.

[Snugglecakes]

the graphics are awful, practically every single line is jagged.

 

That's not the game, you gotta turn on anti-aliasing

[bergqvistjl]

That's not the game, you gotta turn on anti-aliasing

Is anti-aliasing missing from the demo, because its not like my 512MB Nvidia Geforce 9600GSO Can't do antialiasing, but i don't find it in the options.

 

Yeah, pretty much what Rose said. I liked EMI quite a bit -- at the time of release I was one of only a handful fans here -- but TMI really is a huge step above it. And the two screenshots posted above proves the point, even without dynamic cameras.

 

Angles actually does have a lot to do with it, general artistic quality and use of colors aside. From a cinematography level EMI just used... odd... camera angles. They didn't immerse the player well into the game.

 

Again, that's with all respect to EMI. Excellent music and dialog. Just not quite up there with TMI.

Thank you. I've also just found out that apparently the game was done at a native resolution of 640x480, according to the EMI replacement launcher, which does seem odd for a game made in 2000, oh well, I do think that the characters could have had some better anti-aliasing, although from playing it now, i did find it funny.

 

EDIT: Just played TMI and the keyboard controls are worse than EMI in my opinion.

[The Tingler]

I love EMI, I'm probably its biggest fan round these parts, and even I can safely say that TMI has better controls. Well, the mouse+keyboard controls. DO NOT use the mouse-only controls which, baffingly, the game tutorial defaults to.

 

bergqvistjl: Make sure you get DOTT next, if you can. Loom and The Dig are easy to get as they've been re-released on Steam and D2D, but DOTT is arguably the greatest adventure ever made. Monkey Island 2 and Grim Fandango edge it out for me, but I will entertain DOTT arguments - it's probably the most fun, barring perhaps Sam & Max.

[LordTrilobite]

DOTT has a kind of demented funniness to it. And the characters are awesome. But it's not as good as LeChuck's Revenge, Grim Fandango and Fate of Atlantis.

[bergqvistjl]

I love EMI, I'm probably its biggest fan round these parts, and even I can safely say that TMI has better controls. Well, the mouse+keyboard controls. DO NOT use the mouse-only controls which, baffingly, the game tutorial defaults to.

 

bergqvistjl: Make sure you get DOTT next, if you can. Loom and The Dig are easy to get as they've been re-released on Steam and D2D, but DOTT is arguably the greatest adventure ever made. Monkey Island 2 and Grim Fandango edge it out for me, but I will entertain DOTT arguments - it's probably the most fun, barring perhaps Sam & Max.

 

Oh don't worry I have them all boxed, But i was playing the TMI demo and the keyboard controls were wierd, i mean i'm sure ill get used to them, but after ages of playing grim and EMI, the TMI controls seem awkward to use.

[Rosefull]

I'm about an hour into EMI so far, and I gotta say, I think the years of hearing how much it sucked have affected my memory. This is a really great game, at least in terms of non-impossible puzzles and hilarious dialogue. I'm even getting used to the controls.

 

I didn't really mind the controls in TMI. I mean, I hated them for about half of the first chapter, but then I got used to it and was pretty much okay. Still not as good as point n' click, though.

[bergqvistjl]

I'm about an hour into EMI so far, and I gotta say, I think the years of hearing how much it sucked have affected my memory. This is a really great game, at least in terms of non-impossible puzzles and hilarious dialogue. I'm even getting used to the controls.

 

I didn't really mind the controls in TMI. I mean, I hated them for about half of the first chapter, but then I got used to it and was pretty much okay. Still not as good as point n' click, though.

 

Yeah i'll get used to the TMI ones hopefully. The demo seemed to pick up in terms of quality once we'd left the ship and got into the daylight.