How much am I missing?

[Wusodoolo]

When I started playing this series, I had neither played nor known anything about the whole Monkey Island series beyond the fact that the main character is named Guybrush Threepwood. As I've been playing, I've been able to understand any jokes that are not referencing other Monkey Island games. I also made sure to look up characters i knew nothing about when they were introduced (Murray and Stan.) I also looked up and now understand the "insult sword fighting" and the whole "you fight like a cow" gag. But I gotta wonder: is there still a ton of hilarious jokes that i am missing because I have never played the other games? Or can I keep playing without worrying that I am missing out on most of the game because of it? Thanks in advance.

[Rather Dashing]

You do miss a lot of subtle references and disguised references.

Also, you're missing out on some really good, quality adventure games.

[LowMoralFiber]

You've got the major ones down, I think. There may be a few minor things like the "A Pirate I Was Meant to Be" song from Curse of Monkey Island being played in DeCava's hut, but I can't really think of too many beyond that.

I agree with RD though, you are missing out on some quality games

[Wusodoolo]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

You do miss a lot of subtle references and disguised references.

Also, you're missing out on some really good, quality adventure games.

Trust me, if I ever get the chance, I will get any Monkey Island game I can get my hands on.

[Irishmile]

Yeah play the old ones for sure they are worth it... I kind of envy you in a way.... Imagine if you could play all the old games for the first time while waiting for the next episode.

[Wusodoolo]

Now, how would I get around to getting those old games? I don't THINK I have any of the stuff wikipedia says the first game was released on, but I'm terrible with computer words, so I may be just missing something.

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by LowMoralFiber

You've got the major ones down, I think. There may be a few minor things like the "A Pirate I Was Meant to Be" song from Curse of Monkey Island being played in DeCava's hut, but I can't really think of too many beyond that.

Then you're missing a lot. Off the top of my head, there's the chandelier in Club 41, pretty much the entire diving scene in Episode 3, the reference to porcelain, the reference to the past games in Elaine's testimony, the entire opening scene of episode 1 is a parody of the tropes of the Monkey Island series, etc. There are a lot of one-liners that I'm probably missing.

Originally Posted by Wusodoolo

Now, how would I get around to getting those old games? I don't THINK I have any of the stuff wikipedia says the first game was released on, but I'm terrible with computer words, so I may be just missing something.

Get the ScummVM emulator. It is just about the most stable and user-friendly emulator out there. You can get the Special Edition of the first game, which is built on top of and allows seamless switching to the original. I'm not sure if you can get Curse to run natively on XP/Vista/7.

[Irishmile]

Well the first game was just released as an easy to use special edition... so that is easy enough to get on the cheap.

MI2-4 you can get from amazon or ebay. Sometimes pretty cheap too.

[Wusodoolo]

Alright, thanks guys. Wow, people are so friendly here. Such a nice change from some other forums I'm used to.

[bobdevis]

Why don't you just play the old games first? You are kind of spoiling the old MI games for yourself by reading the back-story.
Playing ToMI without knowledge of the old games is fine, but why would you want to skip the classics?

MI1 - Special Edition(with voice and high rez grfx) on sale on Steam. It's a must!
MI2 - ScummVM (googe it) will run it for you. Only skip it if you dislike the lack of voices.
MI3 - ScummVM will run it. A must!
MI4 - People don't like this one that much and it may be hard to get it running on a modern computer. Very skippable.

[LowMoralFiber]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

Then you're missing a lot. Off the top of my head, there's the chandelier in Club 41, pretty much the entire diving scene in Episode 3, the reference to porcelain, the reference to the past games in Elaine's testimony, the entire opening scene of episode 1 is a parody of the tropes of the Monkey Island series, etc. There are a lot of one-liners that I'm probably missing.

I definitely didn't even think of those when I wrote my first post, though I did get them when I saw them in the game.

Some other references include the entire recipe for the Cutlass of Kaflu, The Monkey in my Pocket song and really a lot of stuff that Stan said...

TTG had the potential to go all out with the in-jokes in Trial, but it's probably as good thing they didn't.

Also: I got Curse and Escape to run on XP without having to use ScummVM, and they worked just fine!

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by bobdevis

MI4 - People don't like this one that much and it may be hard to get it running on a modern computer. Very skippable.

I actually got it running natively on Vista. If I remember correctly, it only required a new launcher that a fan site has hosted somewhere. I could find it, probably.

I don't think it's as skippable as a lot of people say(that is, I consider it as skippable as Curse, which I don't like nearly as much as a lot of people, while not hating Escape nearly as much as a lot of people).

[Wusodoolo]

Originally Posted by bobdevis

Why don't you just play the old games first? You are kind of spoiling the old MI games for yourself by reading the back-story.
Playing ToMI without knowledge of the old games is fine, but why would you want to skip the classics?

MI1 - Special Edition(with voice and high rez grfx) on sale on Steam. It's a must!
MI2 - ScummVM (googe it) will run it for you. Only skip it if you dislike the lack of voices.
MI3 - ScummVM will run it. A must!
MI4 - People don't like this one that much and it may be hard to get it running on a modern computer. Very skippable.

Well, Since I was able to play the Sam and Max games without any knowledge of the comics or the old Sam and Max game, I just assumed the same would go for ToMI. Now I realize that was kind of a dumb thing to assume, though. And as I said before, I'm gonna try to play the older ones now. Ooh, if the first one is on steam that won't be hard to get. Thanks for the help.

[Irishmile]

I do not suggest skipping any of them considering there are a lot of fantastic puzzles and jokes in all of the games.... MI2 is my personal favorite BTW

[Eduardo]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

I actually got it running natively on Vista. If I remember correctly, it only required a new launcher that a fan site has hosted somewhere. I could find it, probably.

If anyone needs it:

http://quick.mixnmojo.com/escape-fro...y-island-setup

A replacement installer (setup program) for Escape From Monkey Island. The installer that comes with the game can be problematic with newer versions of Windows and refuses to work at all on 64 bit Windows.

This installer works on both 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Windows and has been tested on Windows XP and Vista. It should work fine with all Windows versions though.

It performs a full install of the game and comes with my Escape From Monkey Island Launcher – which adds extra features beyond those in the game’s original launcher.

And you should play all 4. And if you want, play the original in original format, and later in the special edition version.

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by Wusodoolo

Well, Since I was able to play the Sam and Max games without any knowledge of the comics or the old Sam and Max game, I just assumed the same would go for ToMI. Now I realize that was kind of a dumb thing to assume, though. And as I said before, I'm gonna try to play the older ones now. Ooh, if the first one is on steam that won't be hard to get. Thanks for the help.

Nah, it wasn't a dumb thing to assume at all, especially since you had no knowledge of the series.

Two things about the special edition:

1. You can switch between the old and new versions at any time after the credits roll by pressing F10

2. One of the first things you should do is switch to the original game and press the + key a few times. It increases the speed at which new text comes up. The voices are linked to the original game's text speed, and if you don't speed it up the voices feel a bit "stilted".

Originally Posted by Eduardo

If anyone needs it:

http://quick.mixnmojo.com/escape-fro...y-island-setup

Oh, great! Thanks for finding that, so I wouldn't have to!

[jp-30]

Originally Posted by Irishmile

Well the first game was just released as an easy to use special edition... so that is easy enough to get on the cheap.

It's here on Steam;

http://store.steampowered.com/app/32360/

And is available through a few other download channels if you're in North America.

[Fury]

And you can download the other games by just searching in google, I think emuparadise has 2 and 3 on there for download, you just run em in ScummVM.

You are missing out on a great series.

[Eduardo]

Suggesting using warez may not sit well with the owners of the license...

Not that I don't think they should release all four of them in a pack over Steam, using ScummVM if needed.

[Rather Dashing]

Ironically enough, suggesting software piracy is not the best idea.