SCUMM! SCUMM! SCUMM! SCUMM! (I'm getting enthused here, not calling anyone scum)

Harder pounding may shorten your labor, but watch out for a witch's curse. LOOM isn't remembered for its comedy, but it's blissfully bursting with innuendo.

Huge props also go to Tami for sending me around THREE DOZEN suggestions for people we could interview for Passport to Adventure who have been hidden largely in the shadows all these years, each with a paragraph about why they're notable and how they contributed to the games.

Jason went all in on this SCUMM U article. mixnmojo.com/features/sit...

I had the biggest grin when I opened my email and saw the latest newsletter from @gamingretro.bsky.social with subject line "SCUMM is getting a movie!"

I've been playing the Humongous junior adventures with my four year old. They're so good. Funny, charming, beautifully animated, and with great lead characters that are excellent role models for kids. Tami and co did an incredible job on them, and I hope to shine a light on that in the documentary.

LucasArts' SCUMM Engine is getting a documentary! | Interview with filmmaker Richard Moss www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJYQ... @cressup.bsky.social 🔗

Another of our initial batch of confirmed cast members is Tami Borowick, a co-writer on Monkey Island 2 and a key figure from Humongous Entertainment's "Junior Adventures" series. Her favourite HE character is Freddi Fish. "I lived in her fins for her first three games," Tami told me over email.

Some of you will have already heard, but I'm delighted to share that @davidbfox.com will be in our cast of interviewees for the SCUMM documentary. He was there right at the beginning of SCUMM and helped out on all the early LucasArts adventures, as well as leading the design of Zak McKracken.

Thank you to @aghotspot.bsky.social for the excellent write-up on the documentary and our plans and progress so far. adventuregamehotspot.com/announcement...

Help make this dream a reality! Sign up for the waitlist today:

A short message from me about the documentary, why I want to make it, and how you can help it get made.

The newest stable version of ScummVM has been released. Among numerous improvements, the program now natively supports game data from Special Editions of Monkey Island 1/2, meaning that you can now play classic version of these games with speech without having to build "Ultimate Talkie" versions.

This cover of FM Towns #ZakMcKracken still bugs me. We got Fujitsu to put more clothes on Annie Larris, but they wouldn't change the damsel in distress/fawning pose. I made sure to make all the women in Zak to be self-sufficient, strong, smart, problem-solving, and this totally went against that.

Zak McKracken designer David Fox popping in with a bit of trivia about the FM Towns box cover.

Get your Mancomb Seepgoods!

Indy's office in #IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade is filled with Easter eggs from our earlier #SCUMM games... how many can you spot?

"Passport to Adventure: The Scumm Story" is an upcoming documentary charting the history of LucasArt's SCUMM engine in classic adventure games like Monkey Island. I spoke to filmmaker @mossrc.bsky.social to find out who's involved & what it'll look like! youtu.be/eJYQpimkVxY @scummdoc.bsky.social

This is cool!

Just got my hands on a (small) boxed SCUMM adventure from Humongous Entertainment: Putt-Putt Joins the Circus.

I still get the giggles every time I see or play the Mad Marty dialogue from Secret of Monkey Island.

He's Maaaad Marty, and he's mad about getting your clothes the cleanest they can be. He doesn’t hear or see so well, though.

There's a secret animation hidden in the data files for Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds where Freddi lets Eddie eat Luther. Artist Tom Verre drew this one day to let off steam. You can enable it by modifying the game's HEINI file.

Had a great chat with @mossrc.bsky.social about his documentary which will chart the history of LucasArts' game engine SCUMM, behind games like Monkey Island. The interview will be out next week but in the meantime he needs people to show they want it! Sign up www.scummdoc.com @scummdoc.bsky.social

We're loving the detail and craft of this hand-made Guybrush figurine from Etsy creator Nikonsart. You can buy it at www.etsy.com/au/listing/4...

Years before they Hit the Road, Sam & Max made their on-screen debut as wooden totems in Dr Jones's office in the first Indy adventure game. Their creator Steve Purcell worked as a background artist and animator (and also the cover artist) on the game.

Rock your DOTT fandom with a custom WinAmp skin, like all the cool kids are doing.

From the Archives (23 Jul, 2001): PC Format Collectors Series — “PC Format - The Collectors Series: LucasArts is a 30-page magazine from 1994 that highlights some of LucasArts Entertainment Company's most treasured classics. And Dark Forces. We have exclusive sc...”

We'll be doing a press/media push starting mid-next week to raise awareness and bolster interest in the project, and announcing a few names (including a big one) who've agreed to be in the documentary as part of that. Ping me if you want to be on our press list.

Playin with polymer

Just played through another beautifully-animated and charming SCUMM-powered junior adventure with my four year old: Pajama Sam in No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside. She stayed laser-focused on the main objective (capturing Darkness) throughout and pushed to finish it in one sitting.

Here's EVERY frame of animation from Day of the Tentacle Remastered shrunken down onto one image. Courtesy of Double Fine programmer @p1xelcoder.bsky.social, who led the project.

A behind-the-scenes photo of The Curse of Monkey Island co-leads hard at work, courtesy of a 1998 Animation World Magazine feature article.

Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World was heavily influenced by the LucasArts adventures. Its creator Cateia Games is now also in charge of a SCUMM legacy project: Duke Grabowski, a Monkey Island-like point-and-click title from 2011 co-designed by LucasArts veteran Bill Tiller.

I did most of the interviewing for this piece over IRC, if memory serves.

Interesting to see how this one turns out - a documentary film "about the SCUMM engine, all the SCUMM games (including the Humongous titles, but obviously focusing more on LucasArts), and SCUMM's cultural influence/legacy". Sign up here to get more info! www.scummdoc.com @scummdoc.bsky.social

Some early weekend reading plucked from the archives: my 2012 Ars Technica feature on the first 10 years of ScummVM. arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/...

Game companies should release their old proprietary engine tools. What's the harm in releasing your stuff you used to make games with on like, the Dreamcast? Or like, Bioware's old engines? Video game companies are way too greedy about dead, useless shit (like IP they're never going to use ever).

Where to buy it, for other folks similarly interested: www.shirtpunch.com/products/guy...

It's Guybrush-ception. Very clever, loving triple self-portrait from t-shirt designer and graphic artist jasesa.

It's also really cool seeing the styles that went on to become staples in the genre - I just looked it up and the background artists for The Dig don't have any crossover with Humongous Entertainment, but that image still uses the same foreground trick to add depth & make room for the inventory

There's an account I kove on Mastodon called LucasArts Places that just posts background art from LucasArts adventure games. Seeing the scenes without characters or UI really underscores the immense talent of the artists who worked on the games. A few examples:

Tales of #MonkeyIsland final cover art and three initial sketches, by Steve Purcell. “These were done quickly on a Cintiq tablet to get an impression of the composition and potential color palette.” Original cover art restored by Laserschwert (posters.mixnmojo.com).

How was the #LucasfilmGames group started? Great interview with our original director, Peter Langston. #Gamedev #LucasArts @lucasartsmemory.bsky.social @gamasutra.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=4slm...

Word of the purple tentacle's misdeeds in Maniac Mansion reached as far as Nepal, where the police station in Zak McKracken contains a copy of his wanted poster.

A concept sketch for the five spires in The Dig. This was later rendered in 3D graphics software, rather than painted like many (most?) of the game backgrounds.

The Italian version of Zzap64 magazine ran a review of a non-existent Zak McKracken sequel as an April Fools joke in 1989.

More pages. The tone and humour throughout the design doc is a perfect match for the game.

The secret is described in the image alt text.

The final page of the original design document for Sam & Max Hit the Road shows the planned flow for the game's ending sequence (notice a pattern?), including a note that they'll be foregoing a "Freddy Krueger ending" -- to the puzzlement of the crimefighting duo.