How long was The Secret of Monkey Island in production?
80981#15
"The Secret of Monkey Island" ultimately cost $200,000 to produce, and was developed over nine months.
The Secret of Monkey Island
80981#8
Ron Gilbert conceived the idea of a pirate adventure game in 1988, after completing "Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders". He first wrote story ideas about pirates while spending the weekend at a friend's house. Gilbert experimented with introductory paragraphs to find a satisfactory idea. His initial story featured unnamed villains that would eventually become LeChuck and Elaine; Guybrush was absent at this point. He pitched it to Lucasfilm Games's staff as a series of short stories. Gilbert's idea was warmly received, but production was postponed because Lucasfilm Games assigned its designers, including Gilbert, to "". Development of "The Last Crusade" was finished in 1989, which allowed Gilbert to begin production of "The Secret of Monkey Island", then known internally under the working title "Mutiny on Monkey Island".
The Secret of Monkey Island
23049623#1
Players assume the role of pirate Guybrush Threepwood, who—while attempting to destroy his nemesis, the undead pirate LeChuck—accidentally releases a voodoo pox across the Gulf of Melange. With the assistance of his wife, Elaine, Guybrush seeks out a cure. The game was conceived in late 2008, due to renewed interest in adventure game development within LucasArts. It was developed concurrently with LucasArts' special edition of the 1990 title "The Secret of Monkey Island"; LucasArts oversaw production of "Tales of Monkey Island", and ensured that it matched the remake in certain areas, such as art direction. Production began in early 2009; franchise creator Ron Gilbert was involved in project planning, while development was led by Dave Grossman, who co-designed the first two "Monkey Island" games. The game's music was composed by Michael Land, and the core cast of "The Curse of Monkey Island" reprised their voice roles.
Tales of Monkey Island
80981#17
LucasArts's game producer Craig Derrick and his team conceived the idea of the remake in 2008. After researching the "Monkey Island" series' history, they decided to make "something fresh and new while staying true to the original", which resulted in the idea of "The Secret of Monkey Island" remake. The developers tried to leave much of the original design unchanged. Any changes were intended to achieve the level of immersion desired for the original. To that end, they added details like a pirate ship or pirates talking in the background of scenes. While the team considered the SCUMM interface revolutionary at the time, LucasArts community manager Brooks Brown noted that it is incompatible with an analog stick, which most consoles use. The designers made the cursor contextual to the game objects as the primary interface. Brown had considered updating the reference to advertise "" because "Loom" was not on the market at the time, but concluded that the game would not be the same if such changes were implemented. Prior to the "Special Edition" release, however, LucasArts announced that "Loom", along with other games from its back catalog, would be made available on Steam. Brown stated that the decision to distribute the game online was because "digital downloads have finally gotten going".
"The Secret of Monkey Island" received positive reviews from critics. According to Gilbert, it "sold well" but was "never a big hit". Grossman later summarized that the game's sales were "north of 100,000, far south of 1 million". According to "Next Generation", "The Secret of Monkey Island" was a "relatively minor hit" in the United States, but the game and its sequel became "blockbusters on the PC and the Amiga throughout Europe."
The Secret of Monkey Island
80981#23
"The Secret of Monkey Island" spawned four sequels. The first, "", was released in 1991 and focuses on LeChuck's return. Six years later, LucasArts released "The Curse of Monkey Island", which features a new visual design. In 2000, the company released "Escape from Monkey Island", which uses the GrimE engine of "Grim Fandango" to produce 3D graphics. The next title, "Tales of Monkey Island" released in 2009, is a series of five episodic chapters.
The Secret of Monkey Island
80981#16
LucasArts released a remake with updated audiovisuals titled "The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition" in July 2009 for iPhone, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox 360 exclusively via digital distribution. PlayStation 3, macOS and iPad versions followed early in 2010 for download on their respective services. LucasArts confirmed the game's development on June 1, 2009; rumors appeared several days earlier when the Xbox 360 version of the game received an USK rating. The game was first displayed to the public at the 2009 E3 in June. The remake features hand-drawn visuals with more detail, a remastered musical score, voice work for characters, and a hint system. The developers included the function to switch between 2009 and original audiovisuals at will. The voice actors included Dominic Armato as Guybrush Threepwood and Earl Boen as LeChuck; most had provided voice work in sequels to "The Secret of Monkey Island".
The Secret of Monkey Island
357020#7
"The Secret of Monkey Island" is the first game in the "Monkey Island" series and was released in 1990. The game, noted for its greater use of witty humor over previous titles, was designed by Ron Gilbert, Dave Grossman and Tim Schafer. The concept itself was pioneered by Gilbert. Following the deviation in gameplay in "Loom", "The Secret of Monkey Island" returned to similar point-and click gameplay featured in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". The SCUMM engine was again upgraded for the title. Set in the Caribbean in the Golden Age of Piracy, the game introduced Guybrush Threepwood, a hapless amateur pirate. The game's MIDI music soundtrack was the first to feature work by Michael Land. The added a new CD-audio music soundtrack, and updated the game's graphical user interface.
LucasArts adventure games
18078680#21
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition was the first game to be released on InstantAction's embed-tech platform. The game is an enhanced remake of The Secret of Monkey Island developed by LucasArts. It was originally released on July 15, 2009 for the PC, Xbox Live Arcade and iPhone/iPod touch. On April 29, 2010 InstantAction released a 20-minute demo of the game to show off the companies new embed technology, along with the option to buy the full game for $9.99.
InstantAction
80981#1
The game was conceived in 1988 by Lucasfilm employee Ron Gilbert, who designed it with Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman. Gilbert's frustrations with contemporary adventure titles led him to make the player character's death almost impossible, which meant that gameplay focused the game on exploration. The atmosphere was based on that of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme park ride. "The Secret of Monkey Island" was the fifth game built with the SCUMM engine, which was heavily modified to include a more user-friendly interface.
The Secret of Monkey Island
23049623#13
Following hints by Telltale Games that they would soon announce a major new series, "Tales of Monkey Island" was unveiled at the June 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Its roughly 50 person development team was headed by Dave Grossman, who co-designed the first two "Monkey Island" games. "Escape from Monkey Island" and "Sam & Max Hit the Road" co-designer Michael Stemmle contributed design and story writing, in collaboration with Mark Darin and Sean Vanaman. Series creator Ron Gilbert was involved in brainstorm sessions for the game, but did not have a large role in its development; however, the development team asserted that Gilbert's "thumbprints are all over [the game]". "Tales of Monkey Island" counterparts a LucasArts-developed enhanced remake of "The Secret of Monkey Island". On his blog, Gilbert wrote that he was "very excited" for both Telltale's adaptation and LucasArts' reimagining of the original game, and stated that "it's strange and humbling to see something you created 20 years ago take on a life of its own".
Tales of Monkey Island