MOUNT MONKEY - in production (25% done)

[Sebel]

TSOMM-Team is proud to announce that our adventure game

is currently in production.

The story takes place about 40 years after the events on Monkey Island.
Lorraine Threepwood, the daughter of Guybrush Threepwood & Elaine Marley,
gets a message from Simon the Sorcerer who needs her help.
Simon, who is now a very old wizard, has seen that something evil will happen to the earth...
He wants Lorraine to collect some things he needs to protect the earth.
So she has to travel to Monkey Island, visiting her father who is now the owner of the SCUMM-Bar, she meets her old lover Indiana Jones who is in retirement and she gets to the
Maniac Mansion...

The game is an adventure-mix of the classic-LucasArts and adventure-soft games, combining
all characters and some locations in ONE story.
We combine and redesign original graphics for our story.

The game is actually produced in german language, but we will add english- and other
languages as soon as possible.

There are two demo-versions on our website available:
- An "old" demo-version (non playable, released in 1998, programmed with our own engine ASD-SCUMM, old intro-sequence)
- an AGS-demoÃ,  (playable, released 2004, some bugs in there, but shows in what direction we want to go)

added: nov,22nd 2004:
Some new screenshots here!
Currently we need a character animator and a dialogue-writer to optimize production time.

added: dec,24th 2004:
We have a limited version of our first chapter as a demo released! no sound, no save/load possible, german only. Have a look, it's worth a try!!! Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to everyone!

added: feb,18th 2005:
Intro-Sequence complete, chapter 1 of 4 complete (finished 25% of the game)

We are searching talented people who want to join our team:
- background-animators
- character-animators
- a second background-designer/illustrator

added: jun,20th 2011:
just twittered:
http://www.sebelinteractive.com/MountMonkey/MountMonkey_Demo.zip
windows version, 1+ chapters playable (demo version), german only
production status: freezed.

[qptain Nemo]

And how long are you going to make it?

[Sebel]

It is planned that MOUNT MONKEY will have four chapters. In each chapter Lorraine will visit another "classic"-adventure location, so it will be a full feature game.

Currently we have 61 Screens (backround gfx all finished for chapter 1 and intro-sequence), we are now designing and redrawing characters for chapter 1.
The other chapters will have 30-40 rooms plus cut-scenes.

The game idea exists since 1997 and now we are finally working hard on the realization. A new demo will be released in december this year showing many elements of the first chapter.
Don't start counting your chickens yet, but if everything will work fine we will release the game at the end of 2005.

[Gregjazz]

Ehhh... something about that title bothers me. Other than that it looks like it'll be a good game.

[munkie]

game looks like it's going to be fun

[Sebel]

so folks,
I've added some new screenshots at the top of this thread.
And we are searching a character-animator and dialogue-writer...

[Iv4n]

That's really cool! I hope you will find some character animatiors, 'cause your project looks awesome! And what happend to LeChuck? Is he retired? Is Lorraine the only child? What are those tentackles going to do?

[Problem]

To be honest, I don't really like the idea of mixing all those different adventures together. I love Monkey Island, Simon the Sorcerer and Indy - but each of those games has its very own athmosphere, and mixing them up might destroy it.  You'll have to be careful writing the story, don't throw in characters only because they appear in some adventure game. You need very good reasons for characters to appear in your game.
well, although I don't really like this idea, I wish you good luck with your game. I'd like to be proven wrong by your game 

[Gonchi]

I agree with Problem, I thought it was a fairly solid idea up until Indiana Jones and Maniac Mansion entered the equation.

In any case, I'll give it a go once it's done.

[Sebel]

Yeah, I know where you see the problems.
That's why we are very careful with story-writing and choosing the right locations.
But I promise, you'll love it! We do not throw all different styles together (for example the graphics from DOTT does not work with gfx from Monkey 1...)
And we do not combine gfx from Indy with Monkey Island. We have our own system, so that every player who knows about the old classic adventures will have the old feeling again. That's what we want.
We keep the right things together! And now we have a very talented background artist, who does a very excellent job.
It is right that you are a bit sceptic, but if you see the game and know what's all about, it will be very cool.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I like the concept, but I notice that you're using the secret of monkey island elaine marley sprite.Ã,  I drew this real quick to give you some inspiration for what elaine and guybrush's daughter might look like:




Her hair is a cross between elaine's and guybrush, and her stance is somewhere between the two.Ã,  She's also detailed more like monkey island 2.Ã,  Enjoy!

[Sebel]

Nah, nice try,
but your sprite looks a bit "fat" and uglyÃ,  8)

You are right, we took the elaine-sprite, but we recoloured her hair.
So she looks most like her mother (and can be defined as a woman..)

Anyway, it seems you have talent for pixeling characters. Can you animate them, too?Ã,  8)

[Gonchi]

I thought you said you were redrawing characters, are you're going to use the original sprites for your characters? Even on Simon?

I'd definitely suggest making new sprites, at least for the main characters...

[Sebel]

We take the original sprites but we change them.
The story takes place 40 years after Monkey Island, so we have an older Simon The Sorcerer with a long beard.
Other Classic-Characters have grey hair.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Nah, nice try, but your sprite looks a bit "fat" and ugly

Anyway, it seems you have talent for pixeling characters. Can you animate them, too?

Nice contradiction, there!  Also, you might go farther in these forums if you use a 'little' candor and decency in your replies when people offer some friendly assistance.  Oh, and you're right, those boobs certainly illustrate masculinity.  :

[Sebel]

 8)

[teh Unplugged Zor]

Erm.. here people don't reply with just a smiley.

I agree with problem, but good luck anyway.

[Sebel]

Ok, sorry guys.

We've added english-language sites now on our homepage, so you may understand now, what's going on with the game.

[Snarky]

Nice contradiction, there!Ã,  Also, you might go farther in these forums if you use a 'little' candor and decency in your replies when people offer some friendly assistance.Ã,  Oh, and you're right, those boobs certainly illustrate masculinity.Ã,  :

Hey, I have to agree with Sebel that your version of Lorraine is hideous. It's not a bad sprite, it's just that it's a good sprite of a butt-ugly woman.

[viktor]

Well. umm...
Howcome simon has a grey beard but brown hair. That just looks like he's wearing the cut off beard from simon the sorcerer 1.  It dosn't look natural.

BTW. I downloaded the demo.  Man that demo is a drag. The characters talk to slow and you can't skip the lines.

[Sebel]

yeah I know about the hair-problem with Simon for a while and the old demo.

The old demo (from 1998) was written with an own engine called ASD-SCUMM, but we never finished the engine, because it crashed.That's why the project was frozen over the years, but now work is going on.

A new tech-demo (done with AGS of course) will be released soon, keep your eyes on our website..

We will overwork Simon soon, too. Thanks for suggestion.

[Sebel]

Hello friends,

we are proud to announce that we have released a new playable demo version of the first chapter from MOUNT MONKEY. (Have a look on our website, see top-post).

It's in german language only, but it's worth a look to everyone!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

[Iv4n]

Wooow! What a present! Too bad that I don't understand german well..

[Sparki]

There is a subtle difference between a hommage and a rip-off.
And using ONLY animations, characters and backgrounds from other games belongs to the last.

I'd look for at least one graphic-artist so that this game looks not so uninspired anymore.

2/10 points

[qptain Nemo]

Guys, is it THAT hard to make English version of the Demo? 

[monkey0506]

There is a subtle difference between a hommage and a rip-off.
And using ONLY animations, characters and backgrounds from other games belongs to the last.

I'd look for at least one graphic-artist so that this game looks not so uninspired anymore.

2/10 points

Uh... If you went back and looked, they do their own work too... Plus, you can use all the graphics from another game without it being a rip off. A homage should keep the same feel as the original game, and using the same graphics is a nice way of doing that. I'm not saying to JUST use the graphics from the game you're trying to pay homage to, but if you can emulate the graphical aspect, and then create the same atmosphere for the rest of the game, that's what a homage is all about.

EDIT: BTW, are you using Proskrito's SCUMM template, or did you make the GUI yourselves? It looks just like SOMI (only I've never seen it in German...)

[Sebel]

Hello guys,

we have a background artist, and we do not want a new look. We want a little bit a differerent look in comparison to the original games, because our game takes place 40 years after the events on Monkey Island.

Our backgrounds have changed and are mostly overworked and partially new. Have an intense look at our demo and see what's new, it's not just a rip. The story is completely new, many things have changed when having the Monkey Island games in mind.

And yes, it is very hard to make an english version of the demo, because we played the original LucasArts/Simon The Sorcerer games in its german language version and do not know how the jokes in the dialogues work in english. We know only the german jokes of the game. We want to make a quality game, so we want to a guy who can translate the dialogues into english with the correct "Monkey Island" jokes we have in this game.

The full version will have several language-PlugIns for english, german, frensh, spanish, etc...

It's all for quality matters with dialogues and text, and we do not want to release cheap stuff.
Backgrounds and animation belong to the original games, and we have a lot of new stuff.
Have a look on our website to inform in what direction we want with our game.

We first used a SCUMM-Template, but changed it for our issues. Soon we will completely have a 1:1 adapted SCUMM-Interface...

Anyway thanks for critics and suggestions, we are working hard on it and we have a lot of fun to create it with all our team members. Thanks for your support.

It's only a demo for you guys at the moment...

Stay tuned for updates on our game....

[Sebel]

Maybe it's interesting for some of you guys:
We finished about 25% of the game today (61 rooms atm), chapter 1 is done

All new info on our website.

We are searching talented people who will join our team:
- background-animators
- character-animators
- a second background-designer/illustrator

Stay tuned...

[Grunt2]

This game looks so cool. I've only had a few lessons of German, but I can't wait for the English version to come out.

[Iv4n]

61 rooms? Wow! That's a big stand alone game!

[Sebel]

Yeah, but it's only the first chapter.
The final game with all four chapters (incl. cutscenes) will have about 260 rooms...

[KrisMacDee]

Yeah, but it's only the first chapter.
The final game with all four chapters (incl. cutscenes) will have about 260 rooms...

If the game is going to have 260 rooms wouldn't it be easier to make themÃ,  separate games for those who don't have broadband. e.g The Secret of Mount Monkey part 1, The Secret of Mount Monkey part 2 etc.

[Sebel]

Yes, that's a good suggestion and we thought about that some months ago.
But we will release the game with all four chapters included in one game.

Anyway, we will split the final game into seperate archives (I don't know how big the game will be in size). The lowband-users may download a few 10-MB sized (or smaller)archives while the DSL or broadband users may download one file.
We think that is a good solution for everybody.

[Tom S. Fox]

I played both demos and I think I found a flaw in the story:

Simon says, that he needs some of Guybrush's Grog, because he is the only one, who still produces original SCUMM-Grog, but Guybrush mentioned, that he changed the recipe, so it can't be original SCUMM-Grog anymore.

Do you have a logical explanation for that?

[Sebel]

Hi,

good question, but there's a simple answer... It's not in the now outdated demo but we added a few lines where he explaines that he changed the recipe in that way, that the mugs won't get broken by the acid in the grog. That's it. All other ingredients from the Grog are still the same.. So Simon may handle it.

Anyway thanks for the question and keep your eyes open for any other mistakes, logical errors or something else.

We also added some new screenshots on our website a few days ago. Work is still in progress. Stay tuned...

[Sebel]

Our website has moved to: http://www.mountmonkey.com
and we started programming on chapter 2...

[Sam.]

you need to change that link to

http://www.mountmonkey.com/

[Sebel]

thanks, I forgot a "/"Ã, 

[Sebel]

Hello everybody,

we're still alive and nearly completing the story!! What an odyssey, it's getting complex and amazing! Be prepared for a few surprises..

We have a new background artist who is nearly complete with all the backgrounds for chapter 2..

But we're still searching talented people who will help us with character-animations..

Stay tuned...

[Ubel]

Wow, I had already forgotten about this project!

But I'm glad you are still making it. The game seems very fun.

[DanClarke]

Looks like an interesting project, keep it up!

[Stefano]

But we're still searching talented people who will help us with character-animations..

If I wasn't already comited to other AGS projects and/or my life wasn't a hell, I would give it a shot. Well... Nice game, Sebel. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to play it.

[Afflict]

I agree guys do a little new graphic work and that elaine and mr threepwood's daughter should be a whole new redraw, I would rather play with the "but ugly women" which I thought was quite original and he did do it in a couple of minutes.

PIxelating chracters is fun, I am quite good at it too. But only just started and also just started learning how to animate... So I dont think I could help out.

Have fun with your fan game, goodluck and all the best. Looks to be entertaining!

[Sebel]

just twittered:

http://www.sebelinteractive.com/MountMonkey/MountMonkey_Demo.zip

windows version, 1+ chapters playable (demo version), german only

production status: freezed.

[Darth Mandarb]

Since 1) the production is stopped and 2) the first post has no screenshots; I'm going to lock this.

When you've restarted production (and can add the screenshots to the first post) send me a PM and I will unlock this.