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Unused Monkey Island 2 cutscenes shown during 30th anniversary interview

sir_crocodile

sir_crocodile

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,494
One of the absolute coolest things. Frank Cifaldi interviewed Ron Gilbert for the MI 30th anniversary. He was going through cut content, and there were cutscenes for MI2 between Largo and Lechuck that were removed from the final game, probably due to size constraints. What I really loved about them was that in each one, you see more of Lechuck's newly zombified body. In the final game you just see it all at once in the first cutscene, but obviously the initial intention was to tease it out a bit (though it was on the box in the end lol). They're way better then what we ended up getting (which was just the two characters talking to each other in the normal game engine, which used no unique assets).

For example here's an image of one from the final shipped game:

CpCPVSd.png


And the cut version of the same:

Ox152Vt.png


Interview:



For anyone who doesn't have the time to watch the whole interview (I really recommend it if you're an MI fan though), here are links to the video timestamped for each of the cutscenes so you can just watch them:

youtu.be

The Secrets of Monkey Island - An Evening With Ron Gilbert

Join Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert and Video Game History Foundation founder Frank Cifaldi for a unique look into the making of an adventure game classic...
youtu.be youtu.be
youtu.be

The Secrets of Monkey Island - An Evening With Ron Gilbert

Join Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert and Video Game History Foundation founder Frank Cifaldi for a unique look into the making of an adventure game classic...
youtu.be youtu.be
youtu.be

The Secrets of Monkey Island - An Evening With Ron Gilbert

Join Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert and Video Game History Foundation founder Frank Cifaldi for a unique look into the making of an adventure game classic...
youtu.be youtu.be
youtu.be

The Secrets of Monkey Island - An Evening With Ron Gilbert

Join Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert and Video Game History Foundation founder Frank Cifaldi for a unique look into the making of an adventure game classic...
youtu.be youtu.be
 
Last edited:

infinityBCRT

Member
Nov 1, 2017
1,132
grmlin said:
I thought the MI1/MI2 remasters were fine? I'm just mad that I can't play them on my iPad/iPhone anymore 😠

I would love to play a HD version of MI3 though
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They were fine. But not made with TLC like the double fine remasters. Double fine didn't change the art style (just redrew in higher res or upscaled) and kept iMuse intact.
 
grmlin

grmlin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,291
Germany
infinityBCRT said:
They were fine. But not made with TLC like the double fine remasters. Double fine didn't change the art style (just redrew in higher res or upscaled) and kept iMuse intact.
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that's true. The Monkey Island games have a very special place in my heart. So many memories playing them back then. I would love to have access to them on consoles and my TV.
 
spineduke

spineduke

Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
8,748
infinityBCRT said:
They were fine. But not made with TLC like the double fine remasters. Double fine didn't change the art style (just redrew in higher res or upscaled) and kept iMuse intact.
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I don't know, I had mixed feelings with the redrawn art in Full Throttle. It wasn't the worst, but the original pixel work was a lot more grisly looking, while the new stuff was far too clean in many areas. I'm glad it got some attention though.
 
Dandy

Dandy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,457
Thank you for posting this! I meant to watch it, and forgot all about it.
 
OP
OP
sir_crocodile

sir_crocodile

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,494
spineduke said:
I don't know, I had mixed feelings with the redrawn art in Full Throttle. It wasn't the worst, but the original pixel work was a lot more grisly looking, while the new stuff was far too clean in many areas. I'm glad it got some attention though.
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Full Throttle and Day of the Tentacle look like they were vectorised and then had details added afterwards.

That worked ok for DOTT as it was so cartoony anyway, but there were still character/background issues.
Worked less well for Full Thottle, and I don't think it'd work at all for MI1/2. Might be ok for Curse, though Bill Tiller is interestingly pitching for a remake there: https://mixnmojo.com/news/Bill-updating-Curse-of-Monkey-Island-backgrounds-on-spec

MI1 & MI2 would need a significant amount of money for a proper pixelart remaster, sadly I don't see it happening with Disney.
 
spineduke

spineduke

Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
8,748
sir_crocodile said:
Full Throttle and Day of the Tentacle look like they were vectorised and then had details added afterwards.

That worked ok for DOTT as it was so cartoony anyway, but there were still character/background issues.
Worked less well for Full Thottle, and I don't think it'd work at all for MI1/2. Might be ok for Curse, though Bill Tiller is interestingly pitching for a remake there: https://mixnmojo.com/news/Bill-updating-Curse-of-Monkey-Island-backgrounds-on-spec

MI1 & MI2 would need a significant amount of money for a proper pixelart remaster, sadly I don't see it happening with Disney.
Click to expand...
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Yea, I think you nailed exactly the issue. I understand why they did it, but I see it as a reality of the budget, not as some love letter to the original artwork.
 
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OP
sir_crocodile

sir_crocodile

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,494
Unfortunately Frank Cifaldi said they don't have permission to share files from Disney. LRG also don't have permission to make any modifications to the MI games they'll be selling later this year, so we won't see these in the game any time soon. :/
 
spineduke

spineduke

Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
8,748
sir_crocodile said:
Unfortunately Frank Cifaldi said they don't have permission to share files from Disney. LRG also don't have permission to make any modifications to the MI games they'll be selling later this year, so we won't see these in the game any time soon. :/
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It's almost criminal to see all these legacy properties go to Disney and never see the day of light again.
 
killer7

killer7

Banned
Nov 22, 2018
609
sir_crocodile said:
One of the absolute coolest things. Frank Cifaldi interviewed Ron Gilbert for the MI 30th anniversary. He was going through cut content, and there were cutscenes for MI2 between Largo and Lechuck that were removed from the final game, probably due to size constraints. What I really loved about them was that in each one, you see more of Lechuck's newly zombified body. In the final game you just see it all at once in the first cutscene, but obviously the initial intention was to tease it out a bit (though it was on the box in the end lol). They're way better then what we ended up getting (which was just the two characters talking to each other in the normal game engine, which used no unique assets).

For example here's an image of one from the final shipped game:

CpCPVSd.png


And the cut version of the same:

Ox152Vt.png


Interview:



For anyone who doesn't have the time to watch the whole interview (I really recommend it if you're an MI fan though), here are links to the video timestamped for each of the cutscenes so you can just watch them:

youtu.be

The Secrets of Monkey Island - An Evening With Ron Gilbert

Join Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert and Video Game History Foundation founder Frank Cifaldi for a unique look into the making of an adventure game classic...
youtu.be youtu.be
youtu.be

The Secrets of Monkey Island - An Evening With Ron Gilbert

Join Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert and Video Game History Foundation founder Frank Cifaldi for a unique look into the making of an adventure game classic...
youtu.be youtu.be
youtu.be

The Secrets of Monkey Island - An Evening With Ron Gilbert

Join Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert and Video Game History Foundation founder Frank Cifaldi for a unique look into the making of an adventure game classic...
youtu.be youtu.be
youtu.be

The Secrets of Monkey Island - An Evening With Ron Gilbert

Join Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert and Video Game History Foundation founder Frank Cifaldi for a unique look into the making of an adventure game classic...
youtu.be youtu.be
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


This push me back in 90s and... makes me feel so old.

tenor.gif
 
Radogol

Radogol

Member
Nov 9, 2017
370
Haven't yet watched the video, but according to Mixnmojo it also reveals at least some of Ron's original ideas for MI3.
 

Sloane

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,244
Makes sense.

Never seeing Ron finish the series / trilogy will always be my greatest disappointment when it comes to video games. :(
 
Ogni-XR21

Ogni-XR21

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,390
Germany
Haven't watched this stream yet, but will later.

I recently watched the Monkey Island documentary (brought to my attention by this thread) where they mention that they had no idea the games were so beloved and considered classics until years later. Which kind of shocked me as I was drooling over every bit of news that was released for any Lucasfilm/Arts game in magazines back then (Germany here). These games had such a massive impact on me, from learning English to forming my sense of humor.
 
DiipuSurotu

DiipuSurotu

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
53,148
Yossarian said:
That's fair, but how did you reconcile the whole scary eye thing?
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I thought it was just Guybrush's imagination just like the rest of the story (or Chuckie's imagination if he was playing along in Guybrush's fantasy).

Yossarian said:
Personally, I liked the ambiguity. If it was just real life, it's the equivalent of an "it's all a dream" ending.
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Which is why I'm really curious what Ron Gilbert was planning for part 3 🤔
 
DiipuSurotu

DiipuSurotu

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
53,148
sir_crocodile said:
I disagree, Guybrush was walking away, it was no longer his pov, I feel it was clearly Ron telling the players that it wasn't just his imagination.
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You can still imagine stuff when it's not in your pov (in fact isn't that true of all imagining...).

Also Chuckie was sharing the same fantasy/dream as Guybrush during the game so that last trick can be Chuckie's imagination too.

Anyway I'm just confused because Ron previously said the explanation of the MI2 ending in Curse of MI wasn't anything like his plan, yet now he says something about Hell and isn't that kinda what Big Whoop is in Curse? (a portal to Hell)
 
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OP
sir_crocodile

sir_crocodile

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,494
DiipuSurotu said:
You can still imagine stuff when it's not in your pov (in fact isn't that true of all imagining...).

Also Chuckie was sharing the same fantasy/dream as Guybrush during the game so that last trick can be Chuckie's imagination too.

Anyway I'm just confused because Ron previously said the explanation of the MI2 ending in Curse of MI wasn't anything like his plan, yet now he says something about Hell and isn't that kinda what Big Whoop is in Curse? (a portal to Hell)
Click to expand...
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I thought hell was the underground of monkey island in SOMI.

Haven't replayed COMI in a while, but it seemed to me it was just used there as exposition during the awful bit where lechuck explains everything at the end of the game
 

Deleted member 11370

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,494
I honestly lost count of how many times I beat SoMI and CoMI when I was a child. I had the dialogue memorized. I could speedrun the game. And yet, every time I played either game, the charm was there just like the first time.
 
Jay_AD

Jay_AD

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,910
Curse of Monkey Island is a great adventure game in a vacuum, but man, did it completely butcher Monkey Island.

What they did to Elaine was kind of inexcusable actually. Like, the relationship between Guybrush and Elaine was one of the best things about the first two games. Elaine, who is the most competent person in the entire Caribbean, falls for Guybrush because he is, in his naivité, completely different from all the useless blowhard pirates that are around. And then he becomes a useless, pathetic blowhard pirate himself in MI2, not to mention a gigantic prick, and she rightly wants nothing to do with him. There is just a realism to their relationship that is far beyond any romance cliche.

And then Curse starts with her pining for "the only man I've ever loved, Guybrush Threepwood!" Blergh.

There is a darkness to the first two Monkey Islands that got completely lost in everything since. Like Monkey Island 2 can actually be kind of unpleasant in its nihilism at times, and I love that Ron & gang were willing to go there. The older I get the more I admire that aspect of the games. The ambiguity of everything, especially the ending of MI2 and its unwillingness to be pressed into a coherent canon narrative is just another part of that.
 
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sir_crocodile

sir_crocodile

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,494
thaquoth said:
Curse of Monkey Island is a great adventure game in a vacuum, but man, did it completely butcher Monkey Island.

What they did to Elaine was kind of inexcusable actually. Like, the relationship between Guybrush and Elaine was one of the best things about the first two games. Elaine, who is the most competent person in the entire Carribean, falls for Guybrush because he is, in his naivité, completely different from all the useless blowhard pirates that are around. And then he becomes a useless, pathetic blowhard pirate himself in MI2, not to mention a gigantic prick, and she rightly wants nothing to do with him. There is just a realism to their relationship that is far beyond any romance cliche.

And then Curse starts with her pining for "the only man I've ever loved, Guybrush Threepwood!" Blergh.

There is a darkness to the first two Monkey Islands that got completely lost in everything since. Like Monkey Island 2 can actually be kind of unpleasant in its nihilism at times, and I love that Ron & gang were willing to go there. The older I get the more I admire that aspect of the games.
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Yup. You can feel a bit of Ron's dark humour & cynicism in Thimbleweed Park. When I played it I was "ah yes, this is that feeling I missed". MI2 was the pinnacle though, I think he's mellowed a bit since lol
 
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