Return to Monkey Island

[Vainamoinen]

32 minutes ago, Marius said:

I predict a surprise game drop today and a release date trailer on Talk Like A Pirate day.

 

That means we're getting TWO MONKEY ISLANDS IN THE SAME YEAR!! 😂

[OzzieMonkey]

21 minutes ago, Vainamoinen said:

 

That means we're getting TWO MONKEY ISLANDS IN THE SAME YEAR!! 😂

I'm really hoping for a Curse remaster soon, or a nice remastered set of all 5 games for Switch (and PC of course). The latter might be too much to ask...but I can hope.

Edited August 23, 2022 by OzzieMonkey

[Marius]

Maybe they wanted to reveal the new interface on Gamescom but didn‘t anticipate Ron leaking it the day before.

[BillyCheers]

36 minutes ago, Marius said:

Maybe they wanted to reveal the new interface on Gamescom but didn‘t anticipate Ron leaking it the day before.

Yeah, maybe. 
So there’s only one thing to do now, Devolver: You must release the game today! Sorry. There just is no other way. 🤷‍♂️

[KestrelPi]

8 hours ago, Staple Remover said:

I’m feeling foolish today, I’m predicting a surprise game drop tomorrow. 
 

Or at the very least, a release date. 
 

Or at the very, very least, more gameplay video. 

 

Bear in mind that if they do drop the game today, it'll be the smallest time between two game releases they've done all year. Not impossible, but not in keeping with their average month-long wait between releases.

 

We know there's going to be a trailer (I can't remember how but someone confirmed that right?) and their tweet promises 'news', and to me that either means more platforms, release date or both. I'm guessing at least a release date, no point in another trailer otherwise.

 

And I'm still predicting September. I'm still fairly confident it's their next release since I've been checking they're still not talking about any of the other games they're releasing this year on twitter. And leaving it until October would make it an unusually long gap between releases (and put it against some of the year's bigger releases). If it is october, then it'll be early I reckon.

 

Looking forward to being wrong about all this, but not long to wait and see now.

 

 

[Al.DeHyde]

Well I'm hoping for a release date and a Linux version 😁

[Vainamoinen]

Don't be so careful with the predictions. If you're wrong, you're wrong.

• After some technical difficulties, the gamescom stream starts 23 min. later than scheduled (8:23 PM for us Germans)
• Return to Monkey Island is coming up in the late fourth of the presentation, let's say 9:52 PM
• The new trailer contains mostly old scenes intercut with the Monkey Island Monday stuff
• New reveals concern Herman Toothrot, a bit of Monkey Island, more of the new UI is shown
• Ron Gilbert, but not Dave Grossman will be on the stage for a few seconds to shake hands with Geoff K.
• The trailer is a release date trailer
• Physical release for Switch will be confirmed
• No new platforms will be announced (but GOG is getting the catalog entry tomorrow or I'll kill someone over at Disney)
• No additional voiceover languages will be announced
• The release date is September 22nd

 

And, yes, my predictions are ALWAYS RIGHT.

Edited August 23, 2022 by Vainamoinen

[KestrelPi]

I think September 22nd is a believable release date. It's on a standard switch release day and the timing is about right... I still think they might have swung talk like a pirate day but if I had to guess another day that'd be it.

 

Based on the Devolver tweet from yesterday, my guess is that the trailer today is going to be in the style of a cheesy local TV commercial with Stan trying to sell you on the game.

Edited August 23, 2022 by KestrelPi

[Toymafia88]

Anybody else going to watch it live? I plan to watch live although I'm a little worried of anything being spoilt in the new trailer.

 

Man i hope its a September release...

 

 

Heres my wild theory...

 

The game will release on the 22nd September BUT the demo will release on Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Edited August 23, 2022 by Toymafia88

[madmardi]

Man... now that I got home I've been watching that clip non-stop. The music and transitions are just.... 💖

 

Soon as I get my hands on this game I think I'm going to curl up in bed and just walk back and forth in the SCUMM Bar (and other environments) just listening to the music and watching the animations. I might spend so much time just looking and watching that I'll forget to actually play it! 😅 

 

So if I disappear for a few months you'll know why - I spent so many hours and hours just admiring the game that I haven't managed to finish it yet!

[Marius]

My god! Look at this cute booth at Gamescom!

I didn't plan to go, but now I'm looking at train tickets. I am THAT desperate.

 

 

[Thrik]

God damn!!!!!

[ThunderPeel2001]

Well damn, if that isn't a very clever interface. Like the way they jettisoned the WALK TO verb when they realised it should just be default action when clicking on something, making LOOK AT the default action when you hover your mouse over something saves a click.

 

It also makes you wonder how ReMI can have so many lines of spoken dialogue if none of the LOOK AT lines are verbalised. Just how big is this game??! 😮 😳 🤤

 

Question: How does it work on mobile devices? I guess all will be revealed.

 

I just hope it doesn't cut a strain of classic comedy, a la: "LOOK AT Storekeeper".

 

And yes, love that music transition inside the Scumm Bar!

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by ThunderPeel2001

[BaronGrackle]

Random thought: I hope the New Pirate Leaders (or at least one) turn out to be sympathetic characters instead of straight villains. That rock n roll take on the SCUMM Bar theme is catchy!

 

Plus, I don't really have strong feelings about the old Pirate Leaders; I was surprised to see them show their faces still! I'm surprised that Guybrush expects to see them at all now... though, we don't know the full story here.

Edited August 23, 2022 by BaronGrackle

[Marius]

I'm going insane.

 

[ThunderPeel2001]

Ron explains the thinking:

 

 

[KestrelPi]

36 minutes ago, ThunderPeel2001 said:

Well damn, if that isn't a very clever interface. Like the way they jettisoned the WALK TO verb when they realised it should just be default action when clicking on something, making LOOK AT the default action when you hover your mouse over something saves a click.

 

It also makes you wonder how ReMI can have so many lines of spoken dialogue if none of the LOOK AT lines are verbalised. Just how big is this game??! 😮 😳 🤤

 

Question: How does it work on mobile devices? I guess all will be revealed.

 

I just hope it doesn't cut a strain of classic comedy, a la: "LOOK AT Storekeeper".

 

And yes, love that music transition inside the Scumm Bar!

 

 

You might have missed the conversation earlier, but to me this doesn't really appear to replace the look at lines, at least not completely - the scumm bar sign can still be interacted with when you hover over it with 'Ah, the Scumm Bar' and presumably it's fairly likely that Guybrush will just make a comment about the bar if you interact with the sign. Similar with the fireplace.

 

I think of it more as a 'think about' box, where hitting the interact button acts on whatever that thought is (probably the most likely action, similar to how the RMB used to work). (edit: ah, based on Ron's tweet above, this is in fact exactly what they had in mind for it)

 

Plus, you never know, additional actions including 'look at' might be hidden behind RMB now or whatever.

 

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by KestrelPi

[BaronGrackle]

5 minutes ago, ThunderPeel2001 said:

Ron explains the thinking:

 

 

 

Just going to point out as I have elsewhere: the verb coin of MI3 was not a crapshoot. It told you what the verb would become.

 

Grim Fandango was the crapshoot!

[ThunderPeel2001]

9 minutes ago, BaronGrackle said:

Just going to point out as I have elsewhere: the verb coin of MI3 was not a crapshoot. It told you what the verb would become.

 

Grim Fandango was the crapshoot!

 

Just another reason why the CMI verb coin was the pinnacle of Scumm interfaces (although who wants to tell Ron?)

Edited August 23, 2022 by ThunderPeel2001

[BillyCheers]

The ’thought info’ also is great, as it kind of brings a vibe back from the old games: funny written text, that’s not (supposed to be) read out loud. And this is really cool in my opinion! 

[KestrelPi]

It's a bit frustrating to see the mixed reaction to this on social media.

 

In a way I kinda get it, because we've only seen a little bit of what it's like, and we haven't seen it in the context of the rest of the interface, and how it's getting used in actual puzzles.

 

I just wish folks gave a bit of trust where it's due. Ron Gilbert almost literally wrote the bible on post-1980s adventure game design, even me who has been (very mildly) critical of some of the stuff he's done/said in recent years can probably acknowledge if there's one person who understands what makes adventure games tick it's him.

 

I think this is not only cool but exciting. The ways in which it can be used to tell new kinds of jokes are obvious and tantalising, the ways in which it can be used to write new kinds of puzzles are less obvious but just as tantalising, and I really don't think that the plan here is to completely throw out everything he not only learned but invented about puzzle design over the years in order to deliver an oversimplified, hand-holdy experience where the interface basically tells you what to do. Come on.

 

Someone called it a 'hint-like' system. How? What's the hint? That the pirate leaders are in the scumm bar? Do they not think that would have already been established in in-game dialogue? Maybe this is a hint if you are extraordinarily forgetful.

 

 

 

 

[BaronGrackle]

Delores people: did the interface on Delores have a "right click" that revealed a list of other verbs? I'm trying to guess if the MI6 interface might have that right click and verb list, or not. I never played Delores but have heard things.

Edited August 23, 2022 by BaronGrackle

[Vainamoinen]

4 minutes ago, BaronGrackle said:

Delores people: did the interface on Delores have a "right click" that revealed a list of other verbs?

 

That's exactly it, though that "list" was usually short.

Edited August 23, 2022 by Vainamoinen

[Jake]

10 minutes ago, BaronGrackle said:

Delores people: did the interface on Delores have a "right click" that revealed a list of other verbs? I'm trying to guess if the MI6 interface might have that right click and verb list, or not. I never played Delores but have heard things.

It would optionally reveal a second verb. (Open/close/pick up, that sort of thing, depending on relevance) I bumped on it at first because it was different, but ultimately found it very intuitive. 
 

I found Delores really refreshing just because it was clearly the result of someone thinking hard about how to further iterate on adventure design and game feel, without just cutting all complexity  out or making the interface animation prettier (the two usual routes taken)

[KestrelPi]

3 minutes ago, BaronGrackle said:

Delores people: did the interface on Delores have a @right click" that revealed a list of other verbs? I'm tryingcto guess if the MI6 interface might have that right click and verb list, or not. I never played Delores but have heard things.

 

It is super basic but from what I remember playing it that's basically the idea, yes. The list of verbs would change depending on the thing, and this 'think' concept didn't exist in that version, but I feel like there's going to be a bit more to the interface than what we've seen so far. (Also - there's always inventory. Like I've said before, inventory items are just fancier verbs, and they're not going away)