MONKEY ISLAND
Since my childhood and pre-teen years, I have practiced virtually every form of art I could get my hands on, from drawing, to writing/acting/directing everything from home movies with the neighborhood friends to theatre (for which I was heavily involved all through junior high and high school), and music (my primary passion). In many of those works, I've surely thrown in inspiration from the Monkey Island games, particularly in an adaptation of the "card playing" sequence on Blood Island that a couple friends and I performed one year). All of this makes for a point.
A little while back, I popped in "Curse..." for old time's sake, which got me back into the whole Monkey Island craze. After that, I scoured the web (as many of you surely have) for any word on a Monkey Island 5. Thanks to a number of fan sites (World of Monkey Island pulling the ranks), I discovered the terrible news that most of us all now know: MI5 probably ain't gonna happen any time soon, maybe even not before 2015. I'm sure you know how I feel when I say I really don't want to wait that damn long. So I began to do a little thinking, and I came to a conclusion...
I am going to make an unofficial Monkey Island 5 computer game.
I have a good amount of computer programming knowledge (let's say "enough") and have acquired the necessary capabilities to pull it off. And one thing that is for sure is my commitment and patience (I'm a weirdo who's got the patience for some of the things most people see as so meticulous, at least when it comes to fun projects like this) as well as a very firm grasp on the comedic and thematic feel of the games.
And while I first began commiting to this project for mostly myself and a friend or two that are involved, I quickly got to thinking that all the other fans out there could really get enjoyment out of it as well. So I'm really striving to make a universally good game for all of us Monkey Islanders to gets hours and hours of enjoyment from. I mean, don't be expecting a "next gen" official offering that Lucas Arts would be capable of, but I believe I am very able and more than willing to make a good, strong, more-than-quality-enough game, especially if there is a strong want for it :)
As Monkey Island and all of its elements are the sole property of Lucas Arts, I can't legally charge anyone else that I distribute the game to--which is GREAT, because I didn't WANT to do so anyways. This game is intended to rejuvinate hype and interest in the entire franchise during this official-game downtime. I think the Monkey Island franchise rocks and should be enjoyed by as many people as possible, and would love to share my hard (but fun) work with others. Once finished, the game will be free for anyone to download and enjoy. And enjoy it I hope they do... sorry, got a little Yoda-ish for a second there... (continued on next page)
cont...