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Telltale games and Curse of Monkey Island

Griswald GoodsoupGriswald Goodsoup
edited December 2009 in Tales of Monkey Island
Firstly sorry to those for the alluring Title, I wanted to generate feedback on such a contentious and popular piece of MI lore.

And secondly, to those who may have already covered this I'm sorry, but at least it's at the fore again.

Telltale Games, I would like to thank you so so much for reintroducing the series we now continue to love. Many people here (for almost a decade) have been waiting tirelessly for the next big MI instalment (if you had a physical store then that'd be one hell of a queue), and we are glad that finally Monkey Island may perpetuate to contemporary generations and not just as a distant memory.

<end grovelling> Now I'm sure you're sick to death of hearing many dedicated fans echo their enthusiasm again and again for that dated yet loveable game, Curse of Monkey Island. That, I am sure, all Monkey Island sequels can appreciate as the watershed for continued interest in the world of Monkey Island.

On this note I'd like to ask, <edit> plead, that you make a patch for CMI. There is an injoke menu option, which I'm sure you're aware, that says 'Enable 3D acceleration'. I know there have been numerous fan projects surrounding this game, and some exceptional fan-made 3D rendering. But to actually make optional a 3D revisit to the beloved game would most certainly be the icing on top of the Monkey Island/Telltale/LucasArts franchise cake

NB: I know for certain this will be disregarded flippantly, quite possibly it will give the IT guys running the forum a bit of a chuckle. Knowing full well for Telltale to really make themselves the pirate-God's of MI this concept will never see the light of day, though at least I asked.
Sorry to all those who anticipated a CMI revisit. :)
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Comments

  • Jerec84Jerec84
    edited December 2009
    Yeah, that topic title is an absolute tease.
  • Toothless GibbonToothless Gibbon
    edited December 2009
    Trying not to disgregard this flipantly, but to recreate Curse in 3D would be an abosulute mammoth task that I doubt would be finacially viable for anyone. It's well beond the scope of a special edition.

    If any other games need remaking in the Telltale tool, surely its Escape?
  • SpaceFalcon2001SpaceFalcon2001
    edited December 2009
    Toothless Gibbon wrote: »
    Trying not to disgregard this flipanlty, but to recreate Curse in 3D would be an abosulute mammoth task that I doubt would be finacially viable for anyone. It's well beond the scope of a special edition.

    If any other games need remaking in the Telltale tool, surely its Escape?
    Escape? I'm pretty sure that the Monkey Island series progresses right from 3 to Tales. Repeat after me: There is no Escape from Monkey Island!
  • GuruGuru214GuruGuru214
    edited December 2009
    Escape happened, it can't un-happen. And yeah, maybe it's a pretty mediocre game, but it's nowhere near as bad as its reputation suggests.
  • Toothless GibbonToothless Gibbon
    edited December 2009
    SpaceFalcon2001 wrote: »
    Escape? I'm pretty sure that the Monkey Island series progresses right from 3 to Tales. Repeat after me: There is no Escape from Monkey Island!

    I find it very disrespectful to Mike Stemmle to suggest his game doesn't exist - there is some great parts of the game.
  • SpaceFalcon2001SpaceFalcon2001
    edited December 2009
    GuruGuru214 wrote: »
    Escape happened, it can't un-happen. And yeah, maybe it's a pretty mediocre game, but it's nowhere near as bad as its reputation suggests.

    What has seen cannot be unseen yeah. Look I'm half joking, there are some good things about EMI, but in my mind, it's almost like a fan game, it's just not on the level of the rest of the series with it's iffy characters and plot revelations that insist on unwinding the established cannon.
  • Charles KellyCharles Kelly
    edited December 2009
    I always find it a shame that some fans are so harsh with EMI. Sure it might not be as great as the other games in the series but it's still a decent game. My only real quibble with it is how it messed up Herman Toothrot's character.
  • HaggisHaggis
    edited December 2009
    Remaking Escape would be nice, after all, its graphics are now rather dated, and it could look so much more beautiful if it were remade today. Remaking Curse in 3D, I'm not so sure about that. That game's charm came in part from the hand-drawn graphics, and I don't think 3D would add much to it.

    Regardless, I'd rather see Telltale put their efforts into making a second Monkey Island series instead of recreating older games - that's perhaps something for LucasArts to pursue.
  • sharpersharper
    edited December 2009
    Am I the only one that feels CMI is far from dated? The game is still fun to play, and the jokes aren't as grounded in pop-culture as some media does these days. I think it has aged remarkably well. The only thing dated is that to play it these days you need the scumm emulator. While 3d, if done right, could be cool... I feel the charm is with the 2d look. Perhaps a 3d cell shading style could work?

    Personally though, I'd rather see a CMI remake that makes the images truely vector so when you see guybrush walking to and from the front of the stage you don't see him getting pixelated.
  • FriarFriar
    edited December 2009
    All Curse needs to make it better is to have it available at a higher (widescreen) resolution. Ask yourself the question, would having the game in 3D actually improve the game in any way?
  • ThespisThespis
    edited December 2009
    Friar wrote: »
    All Curse needs to make it better is to have it available at a higher (widescreen) resolution.

    Agreed.
  • JoopJoop
    edited December 2009
    Did anyone play Broken Sword for the Wii?
    I think this should be the way to go for a new release.
    Just release it with higher resolution full colour backgrounds and without the cutscenes being so compressed and it can allure a whole new audience!
  • GryffalioGryffalio
    edited December 2009
    sharper wrote: »
    Am I the only one that feels CMI is far from dated? The game is still fun to play, and the jokes aren't as grounded in pop-culture as some media does these days. I think it has aged remarkably well. The only thing dated is that to play it these days you need the scumm emulator. While 3d, if done right, could be cool... I feel the charm is with the 2d look. Perhaps a 3d cell shading style could work?

    No sir, you are not. I replayed MI3 a few months ago, and apart from having to download some fan-thing to launch the game, it was a great game. If I bought it today, i'd say it was a little rough around the edges (har har) but that with another month of development it would have been a phenomenal release.

    One thing that really helped is that it had a 4 (or maybe even 5) star artist working on it. The storyline was very tight until we got to Monkey Island, and so it all came together rather nicely.

    EfMI suffered, in my opinion, from having a story that was perhaps relying a little bit too much on one joke 'oh and they're all being bought out by a property developer!' It may have worked if it hadn't been so prominent in the story. It also suffered from poor graphics. Whether you're a rabid MI4 defender or not, there's no denying that gormlessly-happy Guybrush, and concrete-bunker Monkey Head were far from appetising.
  • FriarFriar
    edited December 2009
    Joop wrote: »
    Did anyone play Broken Sword for the Wii?
    I think this should be the way to go for a new release.
    Just release it with higher resolution full colour backgrounds and without the cutscenes being so compressed and it can allure a whole new audience!
    I played the DS version, does that count? I loved the added focus on the characters faces during conversations (via top screen), whilst maintaining the normal screen (on the bottom). Does the wii version use a similair system?
  • FealiksFealiks
    edited December 2009
    I don't think adding 3D to CMI would make it much better, solely because Bill Tiller probably wouldn't be working on it. His new game shows how 3D can work with his style, though.

    I think that one of the things that makes monkey island so good is that each game had an amazing artist working on it. The first 2 had Purcell, the 3rd had Bill Tiller, we'll skip the 4th, and now we've got Ryan Jones, who is a great addition.
  • MI_FANMI_FAN
    edited December 2009
    why remake it? it has been done, we have bought the t-shirt, move on.

    same thing goes for monkey island1/2 i dont want to play the remakes because i know whats going to happen already.
  • BeeKay84BeeKay84
    edited December 2009
    I'd never think about having CMI remade, it's awesome and beautiful as it is. Maybe if there was a Director's Cut of it, with the missing scenes that were left out (like the part before the finale or the "Plank of Love" song), that would be great - but I'm afraid this is not going to happen.

    As for EMI, one of the biggest problems with that game is: It doesn't run well on any of the newer systems. The first 3 games run fine in ScummVM, but there's no such thing for EMI... yet. I heard the same guys who programmed ScummVM are working on this thing called "Residual", which can run Grim Fandango alright so far, but not EMI yet. Anyways, back in the year 2000, I never even knew there was another Monkey Island, never played it, and so now, I'm totally spoiled about it, and on top of that, it wouldn't even run on my PC. If there was a remake, with better 3D graphics, better control (heck, even ToMI's controls were good, once you got used to them!), I'd probably play it, but the way things look now...

    So yeah, if any of the previous games were to be remade in 3D, take EMI and give it some ToMI-3D!
  • FriarFriar
    edited December 2009
    MI_FAN wrote: »
    why remake it? it has been done, we have bought the t-shirt, move on.

    same thing goes for monkey island1/2 i dont want to play the remakes because i know whats going to happen already.
    What about for those who haven't? I hadn't played the original before SE, and i haven't played MI2. A remake would be perfect for me, but a simple steam rerelease would suffice.

    There are many people in the same position with curse. If LA were to rerelease that, i believe it could be a big hit (not as big as MI:SE, but pretty big)
  • Ash735Ash735
    edited December 2009
    CMI doesn't need a remake, if it does, then it only needs a few things, up the resolution and colour depth (640x480 at 256 colours is tame for the artwork), this would mean getting all the art done again from masters and looking great, and, a side part, up the audio quality from 22.5Khz to something like 32Khz for Music and 48Khz for Voices and SFX. That is all that's required, I suppose if they actually get time then they could add in that final cutscene from the game that explains the whole damn rollercoaster! Dom even said they already recorded the vocal parts for it!
  • FriarFriar
    edited December 2009
    Ash735 wrote: »
    CMI doesn't need a remake, if it does, then it only needs a few things, up the resolution and colour depth (640x480 at 256 colours is tame for the artwork), this would mean getting all the art done again from masters and looking great, and, a side part, up the audio quality from 22.5Khz to something like 32Khz for Music and 48Khz for Voices and SFX. That is all that's required, I suppose if they actually get time then they could add in that final cutscene from the game that explains the whole damn rollercoaster! Dom even said they already recorded the vocal parts for it!

    And maybe the cut song aswell!
  • Ash735Ash735
    edited December 2009
    I don't remember if Dom said the song had been recorded, I'm sure he only mentioned doing the cutscene that was cut and plans to do the song but time ran out to even record that.
  • SubSidalSubSidal
    edited December 2009
    Why would you want to make CMI 3D?!? It looks awesome in 2D!
  • RyanJWRyanJW
    edited December 2009
    Yeah I agree. CMI is probably the epitome of 2D adventuring in my eyes, beautiful in every way. I can't imagine what I'd possibly get out of a 3D remake, considering how even now it delights my senses.

    As echoed above, what it does need is a bit of a technical overhaul. The art and audio definitely needs upgrading in fidelity (widescreen may be too much of a stretch without Tiller as the art is presumably not widescreen), but I wouldn't want any of it redone.

    If they did that and then re-released CMI on various platforms I think it'd be received pretty well, after MI2's special edition of course (so new fans know the story). ;)
  • BeeKay84BeeKay84
    edited December 2009
    Oh, I almost forgot another very important reason as for why a remake of EMI should be done: To have Elaine's real voice in it (Alexandra Boyd)!
  • JoopJoop
    edited December 2009
    Friar wrote: »
    I played the DS version, does that count? I loved the added focus on the characters faces during conversations (via top screen), whilst maintaining the normal screen (on the bottom). Does the wii version use a similair system?

    They do show the character faces as they talk. But they just appear over the backgrounds.
    The thing that I didn't like that much though was how the new cutscenes just stuck out like a sore thumb. They looked all flashy. The rest of it was really well done though.
  • KenifKenif
    edited December 2009
    What COMI needs is more darkness.
    It was a great game but probably too cuddly and bright. One thing that TOMI got spot on was the tone and it's darkness.

    Grim fandango and Discworld Noir are two of my favourite games ever made and both have this intention Noir style. Now Noir doesn't fit into the MI style but the dark tone used in TOMI totally does.
  • HaggisHaggis
    edited December 2009
    Kenif wrote: »
    What COMI needs is more darkness.
    It was a great game but probably too cuddly and bright.
    :confused:

    Have you only played the first part or something? Plunder Island was (fittingly) bright and rather cheerful, but Blood Island ranks among the darkest locations in the entire series, in my opinion.
  • Griswald GoodsoupGriswald Goodsoup
    edited December 2009
    Can anyone find, or if they have 3D images of Curse, can you please post them here.
    I remember a while a go (2 years) there were some stunningly rendered 3D compositions of Blood Island especially; particularly the windmill, the lighthouse, the flying welshman (I think), and the graveyard.

    I cannot remember whether they were affiliated with the actual "3D plunder Island" project that features on one of the monkey island fansites, and since either the site closed down or the server hasn't been updated it merely redirects you to a picture of Stan surrounded by question marks.
    >_< annoying as!

    But yeah those pics were superb.
    And if anyone has their own, do not hesitate to post.
  • Ghost82Ghost82
    edited December 2009
    No way. COMI is perfect as it is. Remember when it came out back in 1996 or so. Pure brilliance. I still can remember the first time I saw the intro for it, I was... amazed. So great, so nice ambience on the whole game. Perfect. For me, artistically, still is the peak of talent on the whole saga.
  • FriarFriar
    edited December 2009
    Griswald Goodsoup wrote: »
    Can anyone find, or if they have 3D images of Curse, can you please post them here.
    I remember a while a go (2 years) there were some stunningly rendered 3D compositions of Blood Island especially; particularly the windmill, the lighthouse, the flying welshman (I think), and the graveyard.

    I cannot remember whether they were affiliated with the actual "3D plunder Island" project that features on one of the monkey island fansites, and since either the site closed down or the server hasn't been updated it merely redirects you to a picture of Stan surrounded by question marks.
    >_< annoying as!

    But yeah those pics were superb.
    And if anyone has their own, do not hesitate to post.
    1078.jpg
    Unreal tournament mod
    screenshot70.jpg
    Indianna jones hidden room
    skullisland1.jpg
  • puzzleboxpuzzlebox Telltale Alumni
    edited December 2009
    Thanks for the pics, Friar!

    I greatly prefer all of those scenes in the original 2D. The 3D versions have had all the soul ripped out, stamped on, cut into little pieces and fed to wild goats.
  • FriarFriar
    edited December 2009
    puzzlebox wrote: »
    Thanks for the pics, Friar!

    I greatly prefer all of those scenes in the original 2D. The 3D versions have had all the soul ripped out, stamped on, cut into little pieces and fed to wild goats.

    I agree with the first two, but the last one captures the scene pretty well i think. In fact, in some ways it captures the dark theme better than the original.

    I couldn't find a photo, so if you want to compare, try this video

    Click here
  • puzzleboxpuzzlebox Telltale Alumni
    edited December 2009
    miskullisland_2.jpg

    It's definitely the best of the three, but I still think the original is much more beautiful. :)
  • Ghost82Ghost82
    edited December 2009
    COMI was a fine piece of art on the backgrounds.
  • Griswald GoodsoupGriswald Goodsoup
    edited December 2009
    That winch picture is exactly the same style those pictures I mentioned about. I'll continue to search unperturbed for the pics.

    <edit>

    found them!

    They are from the 3D Blood Island project on the International House of Mojo, by username "Goblin".
    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/
    And that also includes the Winch pic from Skull Island.

    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_cemetery01_800x648.jpg

    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_cemetery02_700x585.jpg

    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_stans-office_789x600.jpg

    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_the-storageroom_680x565.jpg

    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_the-storageroom2_571x600.jpg

    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_windmill_700x624.jpg

    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_smugglebunny_764x625.jpg

    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_the-lighthouse01_650x575.jpg
  • GryffalioGryffalio
    edited December 2009
    Friar wrote: »
    1078.jpg
    Unreal tournament mod
    screenshot70.jpg
    Indianna jones hidden room
    skullisland1.jpg

    My favourite childhood game has been covered with slurry and kerosene and set on fire :-|
  • ScrawfflerScrawffler
    edited December 2009
    I played Curse for my first time last year. The only thing I thought was dated was the small resolution, like some have already said.

    I don't think making it 3D would actually add anything to it. The 2D artwork was beautiful, and I'm yet to see a 3D version of any of the scenes that I like as much. They'd just be giving it another dimension just for the sake of it.

    As for the noir in MI games; I like it (especially in TOMI) but not everyone does. In these forums I've seen some fans say they didn't like the violence, whereas other fans demanded blood and gore to go with the stabbing. COMI was very cartoony and probably only as dark as your average Disney animated movie from the same time. It had dark moments and villainous characters, but not like the first 2 games. It didn't bother me personally; I thought it worked in it's own way.

    Because some MI fans demand noir, while others aren't so keen, I don't think it'll be easy for the creators to please everyone. Even if they meet in the middle (some darkness, some bounciness) I still think some fans who want it much more one way or the other will be unsatisfied.
  • RyanJWRyanJW
    edited December 2009
    Haha. Well those are from really old games so it's hardly surprising they don't look so hot.

    With that said, I've always thought Goblin's project was quite nice. He never intended it to be playable or anything, instead it's simply 3D fan art. I still prefer the originals but he's done a good job of capturing the MI feeling with polygons (albeit not as good as that Crytek guy who did 3D scenes of MI2). :)

    It looks like he has hotlink protection on so the links above don't work. Try these:

    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_the-lighthouse01.html
    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_skullisland1.html
    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_cemetery01.html
    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_cemetery02.html
    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_stans-office.html
    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_the-storageroom.html
    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_the-storageroom2.html
    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_windmill.html
  • Griswald GoodsoupGriswald Goodsoup
    edited December 2009
    RyanJW wrote: »
    It looks like he has hotlink protection on so the links above don't work.

    Thanks for the repost, sorry to those that may not have seen them.
  • FriarFriar
    edited December 2009
    RyanJW wrote: »
    Haha. Well those are from really old games so it's hardly surprising they don't look so hot.

    With that said, I've always thought Goblin's project was quite nice. He never intended it to be playable or anything, instead it's simply 3D fan art. I still prefer the originals but he's done a good job of capturing the MI feeling with polygons (albeit not as good as that Crytek guy who did 3D scenes of MI2). :)

    It looks like he has hotlink protection on so the links above don't work. Try these:

    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_the-lighthouse01.html
    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_skullisland1.html
    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_cemetery01.html
    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_cemetery02.html
    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_stans-office.html
    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_the-storageroom.html
    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_the-storageroom2.html
    http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/fan-art/_art_goblin_windmill.html

    Much better! I don't think they quite live up to Curses art style, but they do a darn good job of translating it into 3D
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