Original Monkey 2 story pitch

[ThunderPeel2001]

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

Edited April 14, 2022 by ThunderPeel2001

[Thrik]

Adds some interesting context to the set-up of the game which is otherwise very quickly glossed over. I’m not sure if it’s better or worse!

[Rum Rogers]

This is fantastic, and tempts me to unwrap my own copy of the book. It shows the creative process so well. The whole Part 1 is basically 2 sentences long, because there's no need to say how the voodoo doll was obtained. Great, great stuff.

[TimeGentleman]

This is great, thanks! 

 

It's weird, but in all the times I've played MI2, I've never really paid attention to the shipwreck motif of Woodtick. It's such a cool idea, and the execution is so inventive, varied yet cohesive. It's really impressive.

[Asterothe]

The story changing from brother El Carlo to LeChuck resurrected makes it even better. 

[OzzieMonkey]

I think this also goes to show how much creative projects can change once you start to sit down and actually make the thing. That's why I always knew Ron was never going to 100% adhere to his 2013 blog post. You have all these thoughts and ideas that feel so rigid when you first come up with them but if you're not open enough to let those things change, sometimes beyond recognition, you end up with something unchallenging and kinda soulless. I know it sounds really cliche and pretentious, but so much of the creative journey is born out of letting the ride take you away into places unknown. Not only that, but when you're working on something as collaborative as a videogame, you have to listen to the input of others. This is I think where conversations with Dave Grossman probably had a lot to do with how Return in its current form took shape. It doesn't mean that he "compromised his vision" or "broke his promises to the fans", it just means that he surrendered to the process. We all love Monkey Island 2 for what it became at its final stage, not for the original design document, and who knows, maybe that one would''ve been good too, but just like a film script, it's just a blueprint, it's not a religious text.

Edited April 21, 2022 by OzzieMonkey