In the late ‘70s, games with stories to tell were more like novels than films.
That’s not to say story was completely absent from early games, but the line between a text adventure like Zork and the pill-popping frenzy of Pac-Man is pretty huge. MONKEY SAY, MONKEY DOA love of storytelling and creating games used to be mutually exclusive for many developers, thanks to the technical limitations of early game systems and the popularity of action-centric arcade games.
Including what many see as the genre’s finest hour, 1990's The Secret of Monkey Island.Ī wretched hive of scumm and piracy. It was his passion, his desire to tell stories and his ability to learn about the tools that allowed him to do so, that led to some of the most influential computer games of all time. It set the stage for Ron Gilbert’s career and decades-long impact on the adventure genre. But underlying its breakthrough interface was a complex story involving multiple characters, outlandish scenarios, and a keen sense of humour. Yes indeed.As the first game created using Ron Gilbert’s SCUMM engine, Maniac Mansion was both a critical and commercial success for Lucasfilm Games. Mainly because computer mice were still an unknown entity in the mid-80s and the term itself mostly brought up images of tiny bespectacled rodents sneaking into study rooms late at night to read up on anti-feline tactics. In the case of Maniac Mansion, which launched on the Commodore 64 in 1987, it began with one of those Atari 2600-style one button joysticks and not a mouse. "Run from agent."When Maniac Mansion introduced a list of verbs and actions that players could use to interact with an environment, the point-and-click era of adventure games began. Much like those computer screens in The Matrix. A time where the only interface available was a keyboard, and the only display a monitor that lived purely in the world of green text. He felt that learning which words and phrases worked within the context of a specific scenario was almost a separate game in and of itself and more in line with the genre’s late-‘70s text-only roots. Ron Gilbert in particular was not a fan of the text parser system being used by other adventure games at the time. READ HISTORY BOOK When Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick began developing Maniac Mansion in 1985, they felt that if they were going to make an adventure game then they would need to re-think how a typical adventure game was played. Who are both overshadowed by Keira Knightley's lips. Even though it does feature both Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp.
Monkey island game full#
It was as close to fantasy as they could get without entering into a world full or orcs, elves, trolls, and men with long flowing hair and make-up. And with the recent popularity of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, a pirate film made sense. As for the creators of the 2003 film? Well, Disney did own the ride. Although the game does feature some version of the latter two. YES NOFor Ron Gilbert the pirate theme was as close to fantasy as he could get without entering into a world full of orcs, elves, trolls, and men with long flowing hair and make-up. In terms of setting and story though, the novel On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers served as the primary influence alongside other classic pirate-themed films and stories.
Monkey island game series#
A sad, sad story.In the case of The Secret of Monkey Island, series creator Ron Gilbert looked to Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean for inspiration because it was an experience he loved growing up and felt that being able to explore that world and getting to know the characters that lived there was something he always wanted to do. Few theme park rides have story arcs involving heroes, villains, love interests, and character development. But when that source material is a theme park ride, the similarities air more on the side of coincidence. To the point where common sense would link them as adaptations of the same source material. Outside of tone, with one being fairly serious and the other a straight-up comedy, these two properties sound strikingly similar. A pirate that also happens to be a ghost. Inspired by the same Disneyland ride, 1990’s The Secret of Monkey Island is an adventure game from Lucasfilm Games where a young adventurer aspiring to become a pirate embarks on a mission to save the governor from a fierce and not-so-nice pirate. Based on the Disney theme park ride of the same name, 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean is a film in which the story centres on a young adventurer teaming up with some friendly pirates to track down and rescue the governor’s daughter from a fierce and not-so-nice pirate.