Can someone tell me what a 'RED HERRING' is exactly?Ã, I see that often in the posts and in games.
Is it a puzzle in itself or just a trap ???
Sorry for my ignorance and please don't laugh at me :-[
It's a useless item you can get an infinite amount of in Monkey Island 1. It's been a while since I played it but I think you can go to catch it, then feed it to something, then catch it again and the cycle repeats indefinately. Used to refer to other useless/futile items, posts, etc.
Quote from: shbazjinkens on Sun 11/07/2004 18:41:12
It's a useless item you can get an infinite amount of in Monkey Island 1. It's been a while since I played it but I think you can go to catch it, then feed it to something, then catch it again and the cycle repeats indefinately. Used to refer to other useless/futile items, posts, etc.
Thanks for answering my post. :)
So if I understand correctly, you get these items, perhaps by luck, and you don't really need them in the game but you don't really know that they are useless :o
A "red herring" is something that looks like a clue, but leads nowhere. In an adventure game, that would be items or background objects that seem interesting but have no actual purpose - I think the fridge in Simon the Sorcerer 1 was one.
The red herring in Monkey Island was a joke about this - it actually was useful. You needed it to pass a troll blocking a bridge on Mêlée Island.
Quote from: Fuzzpilz on Sun 11/07/2004 18:50:02
A "red herring" is something that looks like a clue, but leads nowhere. In an adventure game, that would be items or background objects that seem interesting but have no actual purpose - I think the fridge in Simon the Sorcerer 1 was one.
The red herring in Monkey Island was a joke about this - it actually was useful. You needed it to pass a troll blocking a bridge on Mêlée Island.
Thanks. Appreciate your answer :)
If I remember correctly, the troll was actually George Lucas in disguise, no?
The red herring in Monkey Island was actually a meta-red herring. The fact that it was a red herring seemed like a clue that it had no purpose, when in fact it did, making the red herring-ness of the red herring a red herring. ??? :P
The troll's explanations of what he wants ("I want something that distracts attention from what's really important") are real clues, on the other hand.
A red herring is a legal term in (atleast) the united states
As for the origin, I asked jeeves:
A "red herring" is a diversionary tactic - something that draws attention away from the central issue. The term originated from the use of smoked herring (which is reddish brown and extremely strong-smelling) to distract hunting dogs from the trail. In the seventeenth century, smoked herring was actually used as a lure to train dogs to follow a scent. But it was ALSO used by criminals to divert bloodhounds from the trail.
Quote from: Snarky on Sun 11/07/2004 19:17:42
The red herring in Monkey Island was actually a meta-red herring. The fact that it was a red herring seemed like a clue that it had no purpose, when in fact it did, making the red herring-ness of the red herring a red herring.Ã, ??? :P
The troll's explanations of what he wants ("I want something that distracts attention from what's really important") are real clues, on the other hand.
WOW! now you really confused me :-\
By the way, I never played Monkey Island. and I seem to be the only one that did not play it. Where can I download it ??? Is it an AGS game ???
:o
monkey island's commercial mate, one of the best games LucasArts made. Back in the day when that atachually made good games. To get your hands on a copy your going to have to part money for it, try www.ebay.co.uk or www.ebay.com Failing that, your local game store.
If you are from America, you can order all 4 from Lucasarts it self
but why you would want all 4 god only knowsÃ, ;D
Nah, 4 is ok, but the control and gameplay is a bit poo.
I think the humor and artwork of all four games are worth their respective prices.
For a more general meaning, a red herring is anything that is "off topic".
For example, if someone asks me "What's your favorite color?", and I attempt to distract them by shouting, "Oh no, look behind you!", that'd be a red herring.
Ofcourse, you'd really say "Look behind you, a 3 headed monkey"
Sometimes pays not knowing a language entirely ;)... By the time I played the game I didn't knew the meaning behind 'red herring'. I just though it was another item to collect, and so I did :P.
I remember the troll now.. It's been so long. I think I was 7 or 8 years old when I first played that game. The last time was when I first discovered Kazaa, years ago. Thanks for correcting me.
MI is definately a must-play. Great art, great music, great story.