The International House of Mojo

We often talk about the LucasArts adventure catalog as numbering fourteen, starting the count with Maniac Mansion (1987) -- a first both for the SCUMM engine and for Lucasfilm Games’ status as a publisher.

But the fact is, the oft-snubbed Labyrinth: The Computer Game (1986) was the first adventure product the studio developed, and with its “word wheel” concept – a prototypical stab at a graphic adventure interface that in fact appears only after a text-based prologue – it’s of substantial academic interest unto itself, not to mention one of the earliest examples of a commercially successful movie tie-in of its genre.

And as it turns out, its development was pretty interesting, too. Speaking to Retro Gamer last month, David Fox reminisces about the project’s production, which included a trip to the UK for a brainstorming session with two of his heroes, Douglas Adams and Jim Henson:

Like most (all?) of Lucasfilm Games’ pre-Maniac catalog, Labyrinth isn’t commercially available, but there are probably ways to play it for the enterprising spirit while waiting for the inevitable German-made fan remake.

Source: Retro Gamer

How many times have you asked yourself, “Self, I wonder what the CMI audition material looks like?” Odds are never, because who would even think about anything like that. Turns out spielbergfan1 did, as he has gotten his grubby hands on 70+ pages of the stuff. To quote:

As the man of fine taste he is, he decided to send it all to us. To wit:

• View it all as images, or...
• Download the PDF!

Thanks spielbergfan1! #2 is just an ass in our book.

A big collection of prototype and review copies of PS2 games has been released by preservation site Hidden Palace. This includes a number of Lucasarts games such as Secret Weapons Over Normandy, RTX Red Rock, Wrath Unleashed and Gladius.

Sadly EMI wasn't among the dumps but I'm sure our readers are already scrabbling to uncover the differences in Wrath Unleashed. A game that Mojo memorably predicted "may end up being a complete turd".

Source: Hidden Palace

We all know and love Laserschwert for his important contributions to the art of LucasArts postercraft, and have for some time now. But while Mojo recognizes greatness on sight, the mainstream media, typically dazzled by the distracting rather than the first rate, has been slow to kiss the ring.

Are they starting to wise up? That's the signal being put out by the latest issue of Retro Gamer. Operating under the preposterous alias of Jan Hofmeister, Laserschwert sat for an interview that appears in their March issue. You can buy your very own copy below.

Source: Retro Gamer

News for a slow week: If, like me, you're working, bored of music, and not doing great because it's spring and you're stuck in a place you were supposed to be visiting for a few weeks but wound up a whole year in due to a pandemic mishandled by the two countries you live in inside, you might enjoy YouTuber BuzzMoo's lovely Monkey Island ambience videos. It's like being outside, but with Michael Land music.

Hey, I'm grateful. Stuff like this helps.

Source: YouTube

The newly re-christened LucasFilm Games – round and around we go – is hitting the ground running. Working with Bethesda and Machine Games, a new Indiana Jones game is on its way:

No word what platforms the game will be available for, but if memory serves me right, Bethesda is now a Microsoft joint, so take from that what you want.

So, teasing by Craig Derrick regarding a Monkey Island TV series not punishing enough? Step right up, son of David Bowie and movie director, Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code, and um, Warcraft), who spent his lockdown adapting the Full Throttle script for screen.

Kotaku has broken the story, nicked from Duncan's twitter feed.

If you know any movie studio bosses looking for something to fund, point them towards the pdf in Duncan's dropbox there.

Source: Kotaku

Yesterday Gamasutra reported the passing of Kelly Flock, who was the General Manager of LucasArts in the early-to-mid 90s.

It is noteworthy when a management figure is as fondly remembered by developers as Flock seems to be. He wielded greenlight power during a time when the studio could boast being at a creative height, and various accounts portray him as instrumental in that status due to his championing of original titles.

It was Flock who approached Steve Purcell about licensing his comic strip characters to the company to initiate Sam & Max Hit the Road; Dave Grossman cites Flock as the influential force in the assignment of himself and Tim Schafer to a Maniac Mansion sequel as project leads; Mike Ebert remembers Flock as a counterbalance to "politics," and credits him for approving games like Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Metal Warriors. Ebert even suggests that he left LucasArts largely because Flock did.

Source: Gamasutra

May it weigh heavy on his conscience!

You should read the whole thread, which includes this reply to an inquiry about a CMI remaster:

I know Craig doesn't mean to be cruel, but tell it to the lacerations on my beleaguered heart.

Source: Twitter

Get a load of this!

Source: Twitter

Sixteen years after Maniac Mansion Deluxe, another LucasArts oldie has received a fan remake of astonishing care – the oldie, it could be argued. The decade-long labor of love Fractalus is now available for Windows, MacOS and Linux, and it’s probably as fine example of this sort of thing that comes along. May I present my first witness: the project lead of the 1984 original?

If that’s not enough to make you download the game, I’m not sure what else can be done for ya. Highest marks to the Australian enthusiast who apparently masterminded this. One wonders: is the Land Down Under to Rescue on Fractalus! what Germany is to the SCUMM games?

Source: Luke's software and design.

What’s interesting about the looming Monkey Island anthology set is that for all the hullabaloo about its extras and packaging, there’s still a bit of mystery about what actual game files we are going to find on that USB stick.

Right now, the only legally obtainable versions of the first two games are the special editions, while Curse comes bundled with ScummVM when you buy it on GOG or Steam, so that it’ll run on modern versions of Windows. But will Limited Run Games version include the original versions as well? This question rates a little higher than trivia, since the original game files for Monkey 1 and Monkey 2 have technically not been in legal circulation since whatever the last compilation was LucasArts put out prior to the SEs. And the original executables – which ScummVM replaces – would be necessary if you wanted to go Full Authenticity and run the game in DOSBox or a vintage PC. (We know you kooks are out there.)

So, what do we know? Here’s what Limited Run Games is saying on the subject at the moment, taken from their product description:

Fingers crossed, but that’s promising verbiage! I’m also excited by the suggestion (if I’m reading it right, anyway) that The Curse of Monkey Island will run on a native interpreter rather than ScummVM -- which runs the game fine, but doesn’t seem to support its use of iMUSE correctly. At least for me.

The outrageous boxed set from Limited Run Games will continue to be available for pre-order until January 31st. Keep saving up those wooden nickels.

A lot has been written about Sam & Max: Freelance Police (2004) over the years. It would hardly seem to have gotten more relevant during that time, and many would reasonably argue that there isn’t much left to say on the subject.

We disagreed, and what’s more decided that we were the only ones qualified to prove our conviction that the history of Sam & Max 2 had not yet fully and satisfactorily been entered into public record. We accomplished this show of respect to a heady subject by - literally, according to some definitions - writing the book on it. Weep for our priorities and cozy up next to the fireplace with our indefensible digital tome, The Unabridged History of Sam & Max 2: A Mixnmojo Memoir.

The most unwieldy article Mixnmojo has ever published has been a long time coming. Hindsight tells us that the cancellation of Sam & Max 2 is the major event in The Mojo Histories™, and the theory was that the definitive account of the project’s life, death and legacy could only be written this far out and by the site that, for better or for worse, it had the most impact on.

This was a job too important to be left to the professionals, who would have left out the strikethrough humor and Dan Pettit references. Nevertheless, we did bamboozle William Eaken into crafting us professional-grade header art, and you’ll want to be downloading that (link inside) in its full-resolution glory because: my word. And in case you die of natural causes before reaching the appendix, I should point out here that all the new interviews we conducted for the article have been organized as a separate feature for convenience.

Yes, the fact that there is an appendix should raise some red flags. It took a minute to put this monstrosity together (At one point, this was meant to be a tenth anniversary article, then we punted to the fifteenth anniversary before giving up on a pretty number altogether), and at the outset no one could have predicted it would ultimately clock in at this biblical word count, but the important thing is that Mojo’s equivalent of The Aeneid is now here and available for your consumption. And unlike that hack Virgil, we finished what we started.

Now leave us alone, would you?

Put me squarely in the camp that contends social media has been a net negative for the species, but some flowers bloom even in darkness. The following thread proves that Twitter can claim to have produced at least one (1) neat thing, as it chronicles the Monkey 1 team’s real-time epiphany of what Mark Ferrari’s inspiration for Melee town might have been:

Another plagiarism exposed mystery solved!

Source: Twitter

If you've wanted to buy the Monkey Island 30th Anniversary Anthology from Limited Run Games, pre-orders started about two minutes ago and will end January 31st, 2021, at 11:59 PM Eastern Time (US). It's got the games! It's got a behind-the-scenes book! It's got a statue! It's got a $174.99 price tag. If that sounds appealing to you, get pre-ordering, as this is a limited run (hey, that's the company's name!).

Source: Limited Run Games

The golden age of video chats with LucasArts alum has yet to peak. In the latest news from November 12th, a virtual interview with Noah Falstein was carried out by the fine folks at Arcade Attack. But you didn’t watch it then, because you were naturally waiting for Mojo to embed it in a news post:

Highlights include Noah describing his role in the conception of insult swordfighting, elaborating on his rejection of the “terrible” Monkey King script as the basis for an Indy game, showing off his rare Fate of Atlantis movie poster, his perspective on why the adventure games traveled particularly well in Europe, and general behind-the-scenes goodness.

Meanwhile, GOG is offering some patently ridiculous discounts at the moment. Remasters excluded, Lucasarts legacy titles appear to be 65% off across the board, meaning they’re all about $2 a pop right now. Angling for the record, Tales of Monkey Island is a whopping 90% off and can be had for $1.49. That’s just crackers.

Source: Arcade Attack

After fans politely noticed that the first pass had subjective room for improvement, Limited Run Games went back to the drawing board to incorporate a number of tasteful changes to their commemorative Monkey Island anthology set with the guidance of Force ghost Laserschwert. Behold what can happen when an audience is listened to:

That's a major upgrade, with only a small growth in price point. Have your credit card at the ready on Friday, December 4th, when pre-orders will open -- for real this time.

What's that? We're several days behind on this rather significant news story? Only because we credit you with being people of taste who have therefore already been discussing it on the forums. For those who have fallen short of our expectations, why not pretend there's still something to complain about and join in on the discussion now?

Source: Limited Run Games twitter

It's here! The thing you didn't know you've been waiting 30 years for. Previously unseen artwork, deleted scenes, and insights from The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2! Not to mention a two-hour interview with Ron Gilbert where he reveals, amongst other things, some of his original plans for Monkey Island 3.

Gorge yourself on this bounty: The Secrets of Monkey Island's Source Code

All of this is thanks to the hard work of Frank Cifaldi and the other brilliant people at Video Game History Foundation. Look around their website and offer to donate your time or money to support their noble cause of documenting video game history. Thanks, VGHF!

Source: Video Game History Foundation

Artist/animator extraordinaire Mark Ferrari recently sat down for his own extended video chat, and it would feel like paying insult to pretend that any more of a sales pitch is necessary:

I don't know what's in the air these days that is impelling so many lengthy interviews with LucasArts veterans to be recorded, but please do keep them coming.

Source: Retro Tea Break

That livestream with Mike Stemmle took place a few hours ago, and you can re-watch it right here at your own convenience. Drag over to 43:09 if you want to skip right to when Mike appears.

Throughout the 80-minute conversation Stemmle gives a lot of great anecdotes and some borderline apologies about Escape from Monkey Island, which is rightly the main topic (it’s celebrating an anniversary too, you know!), but there’s plenty of memories shared about the productions of Sam & Max Hit the Road, Sam & Max: Freelance Police, and the Telltale games Mike worked on. He even talks about some ideas that were pitched at Telltale but never happened, like his Lovecraftian take on Maniac Mansion.

And of course, there’s some pimping of the upcoming Sam & Max VR game, including some new story details. It’s all here, and a must watch.

Source: Twitch