Free Open Source Point-and-Click Adventure Fan Game Review: Indiana Jones and the Call of Thunder

I compiled Indiana Jones and the Call of Thunder, gave the game an ending rather than a call for volunteers as the project had long closed by that point, and added some inventory art. Other than that, I had no input in the actual game design. Because of this, like Open Quest before it, I have decided to give this one a full review instead of a retrospective.

The game uses the sixth version of the Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion, one version above the one used in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. Because of this, the game art is inspired by, and mostly uses art lifted from and used by or slightly modified from that game. It has no music, but it has one sound effect in the form of a lightning strike. This is a quick and dirty little example that puts the ScummGen fan compiler to its full use, and excludes features that were not supported by it.

The game is a simple two room game that works like a point-and-click escape room adventure game. Indiana Jones has been driven to a cave entrance. The game begins with the classic Indiana Jones title card as the adventurer walks into said cave. He has come for an artifact, and has difficulty exploring do to a lack of light.

The objectives are simple, yet the puzzles themselves aren't as simple as they seem on paper. Indy needs to find a light source, find the artifact, find a way to extract it from the cave, and finally, find his way out of the cave. The game uses the classic text verb buttons with an icon-based inventory system that were used in classic LucasArts adventures of the early 1990s. Inventory items can be used on objects in the cave or combined with objects in the inventory to create a new inventory item.

The game is straightforward, but there are a few places that could use some improvements to make it easier to know what to do next. The biggest one is that there is no lever graphic for a lever puzzle. The puzzle can still be solved, but it can be difficult to determine which way to use the lever without the graphic assistance. The second main issue is Indy's partner, who is waiting at the truck used to bring Indy into the cave. It is not obvious that he can be interacted with, as he is completely off-screen and is only accessible by pointing the mouse pointer at the top of the screen at the cave entrance.

Indiana Jones and the Call of Thunder is a fun little game, although it is rough and unfinished due to its status as a work-in-progress project at the time of its release. Its flaws make it more of a demonstration of the ScummGen compiler than a game in its own right. However, even though it has since been left stagnant, but what is there can still be played through from start to finish. Your mileage may vary based on how much you able to enjoy what is essentially a tech demo.

Final Verdict:

2½ out of 5

Point-and-Click Adventure Game Review: Full Throttle

Note that in the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I was a beta tester for the Linux version of Full Throttle Remastered.

Full Throttle was a point and click adventure game.  It was tonally very different from other LucasArts adventures, as it was inspired by project leader Tim Schafer's love of heavy metal music.

It takes place in an unspecified time period where motorcycles are considered nearly obsolete as they are being replaced by hover vehicles. Ben Throttle is a leader of the Polecats, one of the biker gangs holding onto tradition. Malcolm Corley is the founder of Corley Motors, the last producer of motorbikes. When Corley is murdered, Ben is the prime suspect, so he has to investigate the case himself while avoiding authorities.

The game design brings forth the verb coin opposed to the usual verb bar. This takes the form of a heavy metal-inspired interface which is displayed when the right mouse button is held down. There are eyes, a mouth, a hand, and a boot, which act as the verbs look, talk, use or take, and kick.

The story influences the art, as the obsoleteness is represented in the background art, which is full of rust, dirt, and grime. The characters also have a rough look to them as well, with thick linework and thick, black, undefined eyes. The voice actors also give a suitable amount of roughness to their performances, from the deep rich tones of Roy Conrad as Ben Throttle, to the smarmy deep register Mark Hamill channels for Adrian Ripburger, the old coot vibes of Hamilton Camp as Malcolm Corley, and the rough and tough voice performance of Kath Soucie as Maureen. The only other LucasArts adventure game to rival this cast in terms of the perfect performances of the voice actors is Tim Schafer's last game at the studio, Grim Fandango.

The puzzles are fairly challenging, but mostly not unfair, with the sole exception being a pixel hunt for a specific brick near the end of the game. My favorite puzzle involves a box of rabbits in the desert. That last sentence sounds like a non-sequitur, but you'll understand once you get there. The reviews at the time criticized the game's short length, however it's length of eight hours is not considered out of place among adventure games in the modern era. The people who were children when this game came out in the mid-1990s, myself included, are now world-weary adults with jobs and obligations, so time is more of a factor for us than it used to be. The newer generations are also more tolerant of short games, assuming the price is right, so it falls into a nice little groove for all fans of point-and-click adventures.

One of the best aspects of the game is, without a doubt, its soundtrack. Peter McConnell brings his usual high caliber compositions, infusing each location with a suitable vibe that matches the well worn quality of the game world. He also collaborated with Gone Jackals, a rock band from San Francisco, a city near the LucasArts offices in San Rafael. They gave the game an air of rock authenticity. The theme song, in particular, is iconic. The rock band's song, Legacy, plays over a fantastically directed animation at the start of the game, setting the tone for what's to come. It will almost certainly be stuck in your head long after the game is over.

Full Throttle is one of the absolute bonafide classics of the golden age of LucasArts. It has a fantastic voice cast, a great story, and fantastic grimy backgrounds which fill out the game world admirably. Other than one unfair puzzle near the end that ends up being a pixel hunt, the puzzles are fun. The elements that are the icing on the cake of this adventure classic are fantastic tunes by LucasArts stalwart composer Peter McConnell, and the rocking songs by the San Francisco band Gone Jackals. 

Final Verdict:
4½ out of 5

Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island - The Journey to Mêlée Island Is Available

Rare's open-world online multiplayer pirate action-adventure swashbuckler, Sea of Thieves, now has more pirate goodness with the addition of a Monkey Island campaign. All of the voice actors from the Monkey Island series have returned as well.

There will be three episodes. The first episode is The Journey to Mêlée Island, which is available right now!

Meteor Mess 3D Is Out Now

Meteor Mess 3D, the three-dimensional fan remake of Maniac Mansion, has been released after fourteen years of development.

You can get the game, as well as a manual, cover, and DVD overlay if you'd like from their downloads page.

Return to Monkey Island Announced

I apologize that I haven't been around. I've been ill for a while. I still am, unfortunately. But news has happened that caused me to want to post here again regardless.

Ron Gilbert's take on a Monkey Island game that tells the story about what happened after the cliffhanger ending of Monkey Island 2 is no longer hypothetical. It will be released later this year.

Return to Monkey Island

Run-and-Gun Game Review: Zombies Ate My Neighbors

The Zombies Ate My Neighbors review was previously published at Jupiter Beagle on October 16, 2008, as part of a 20 Days of Halloween segment.

Allow me to switch gears for today’s 20 Days of Halloween review with a video game. I present for you the horror spoof developed by LucasArts and published by Konami, Zombies Ate My Neighbors.

The game stars either Zeke or Julie (or both if the game is played with two players), as they scramble to save their neighbors from certain doom. The animations of the characters and enemies are well done, and still, even today look good, as they were presented in a pleasing cartoon style. The music suits the game quite well, although it wasn’t overly memorable. The gameplay, however, is a lot of fun. The game is a top-down run and gun game, where the player has to navigate around the neighborhood and fight various B-movie monsters such as vampires, werewolves, and of course, zombies. Zeke and Julie can pick up potions that will turn them into monsters for a short period of time, giving them more strength.

There are 48 standard levels and several bonus levels. As was standard for LucasArts for the time, quite a few in-jokes that only fans of LucasArts would get were included in the game. One of the bonus levels was themed after a point and click adventure game that was released at the same time as this game. Another bonus level was themed after the LucasArts office building and featured LucasArts employees of the time.

The game is a great spoof of horror B-movies, and it does things well to feel like a B-movie itself. It’s a fun arcade-style run and gun with great humor and pleasing graphics. It would be great if this game did get re-released for a modern audience because it is definitely well worth playing.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

GOG.com Is 10, Sells Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine

GOG.com turned 10 years old this year, and to celebrate they held a sale and had added some more new games, alongside some more good old games, to their store.

One of those good old games is Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, the 1999 LucasArts title that brought Indiana Jones into the third dimension. This game borrowed heavily from the Tomb Raider series, which was fitting since Tomb Raider borrowed from heavily from the Indiana Jones film series.

Although it's in a different genre, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine is a sequel-of-sorts to Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, as the game sees Indiana Jones reuniting with Sophia Hapgood, the secondary player character from the earlier title.

Double Fine's Broken Age Is Out Now On the Switch

Broken Age, the successfully crowdfunded adventure game by genre veteran Tim Schafer and his Double Fine Productions game studio is out now on the switch through the Nintendo eShop.
It was originally released in 2015 for Windows, Mac, Linux, Ouya, Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita.

Broken Age is a point-and-click adventure game that follows two young people, a girl named Vella and a boy named Shay. Shay lives in a spaceship and is kept overly protected from harm, while Vella is chosen by her village to be sacrificed to an alien monster. The difficulty in puzzles begins easy enough, but it ramps up as the game goes on.

In related Double Fine news, another Double Fine adventure game is slated to be released on the Nintendo Switch. Grim Fandango Remastered is an updated version of a game Tim Schafer made in 1998 while he was employed at LucasArts, following a grim reaper named Manuel Calavera as he discovers a conspiracy of crime and corruption in the land of the dead. No release date has yet been announced for this title, although it was announced with the Switch port of Broken Age, so the wait shouldn't be too long.

Curse of Monkey Island & Maniac Mansion On Steam And GOG!

The Curse of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion are available to buy again thanks to the licensing staff at the games division of Lucasfilm, Disney, Steam, and GOG.com!

You can pick up Maniac Mansion at Steam and GOG.com, and The Curse of Monkey Island at Steam and GOG.com as well.

If you're still in the mood for classic LucasArts goodness, there's a Monkey Island Promo on GOG.com where the Monkey Island Special Edition and the Monkey Island 2 Special Edition are each 70% off their regular price!

Day of the Tentacle Remastered Is Available Now

Day of the Tentacle Remastered is now available to purchase for Windows and Mac from Steam, GOG.com, and The Humble Store. Your purchase at those stores will also get you a Linux version, but this version will be coming a bit after launch.  It's also available on the PlayStation Store for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita.

Day of the Tentacle Remastered Trailer

The PlayStation Experience had a lot of good things from Double Fine this year. On top of the new game announcements of Full Throttle Remastered and Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, the official trailer for next year's Day of the Tentacle Remastered has made it's official debut. It also has received a release window, March 2016.

You can view it embedded above, or directly here.

Full Throttle Remastered Announced

Hot on the heels of this year's excellent Grim Fandango Remastered, and next year's fantastic looking Day of the Tentacle Remastered, Tim Schafer took the stage at the PlayStation Experience to announce that Full Throttle is also getting the remastered treatment.

It will feature updated graphics and sound, director's commentary, and new control options that will make the game more accessible to today's gaming audiences.

Full Throttle Remastered will be coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2017 (and presumably Windows, Mac, and Linux as well, since both previous Double Fine remasters were announced as PlayStation console exclusives and were also revealed to be coming to computer systems as well).

Indiana Jones and the Call of Thunder Fangame Released

I finally got myself familiarized with ScummGen, the compiler that takes C-style code and compiles it into resources used by the actual SCUMM engine (used by LucasArts for all of their adventure games from Maniac Mansion to The Curse of Monkey Island, and by Humongous Entertainment in most of their games until 2003). I polished up the ScummGen test game, Indiana Jones and the Call of Thunder.

The original team (Dominik Haslinger, Jens Doblies and Sebastien Ronsse) did the majority of the work.  It was originally intended to be a much longer game, but it was cancelled.  I finished up the ice cavern sequence so that it could be released as a completely playable game as I thought it would be a shame if no one got to play it.  Their sourcecode was playable up to the point where you complete the mechanism in the cavern.

Here are the changes and fixes that I made to that source code:

-Replaced LucasArts logo with a ScummGen logo.
-Made a few grammar corrections to the original script.
-Created icons for inventory items that lacked them (all instances of the stones and the gas can).
-Programmed an if/then statement regarding the gas can that was referenced but not implemented in the source.
-Fixed the mechanism puzzle to require both objects, as before it was possible to complete it with only one object.
-Added dialog to facilitate the change in the mechanism puzzle.
-Fixed the lighting so that the cavern stays lit when you move to the cavern entrance and back.
-Enabled the usage of the item used to exit the cavern, as referenced but not implemented in the source.
-Changed the description of the macguffin as it was originally used as a joke related to the game being unfinished (but kept it humourous to suit the tone of the original).
-Added dialog necessary for the ending sequence.
-Added an ending screen.

You can download it at my itch.io page if you want to try it out.  It includes the sourcecode.  It doesn't include an executable though, as it needs ScummVM in order to run (and I figured I'd cut out the middle man and just let people run ScummVM on whatever system they wish to run it on).  It's detected in ScummVM as Day of the Tentacle.

Day of the Tentacle Remastered Screenshots

The remastered version of Day of the Tentacle, now known as Day of the Tentacle Remastered, has finally been shown in action to the public, and the first screenshots of the high definition art are now available.

This remastered version will also include high quality audio taken from the original recording sessions, the ability to use a new verb coin or a high definition verb bar in the remastered version, the ability to switch back and forth from the original and high definition versions, and commentary from the creators, including both Dave Grossman and Tim Schafer.

Tales from the Borderlands is Now On GOG.com

Tales from the Borderlands is now available at GOG.com, and is currently 50% off as part of their summer sale, which ends tomorrow. All of the Telltale games available at GOG.com are currently on sale, ranging from 50% off to 90% off, as part of the summer sale as well.

Point and Click Adventure/Direct-Controlled Adventure Mega Review: Grim Fandango

Grim Fandango was the first adventure game created by LucasArts that was presented with three dimensional graphics. Over fifteen years later, it became the first LucasArts adventure game to be remastered by Tim Schafer's studio, Double Fine.  The game is considered a classic of the genre, and rightfully so.  Like the other mega reviews on this site, this review will look at both versions of the game and then recommend a version to play.  However, no matter which version you choose to play, Grim Fandango is a must play for adventure game fans.

The story is based on the Mexican Day of the Dead and Aztec mythology.  Souls come to the afterlife, and must travel through eight underworlds to get to the ninth and final underworld, the land of eternal rest.  Most souls traverse the land of the dead on a perilous four year journey, however those who were particularly virtuous while they were alive can board the number nine train to go straight to the ninth underworld, skipping the perilous journey altogether.  Furthermore, some souls have to pay for their misdeeds while they were alive, and are sentenced to an afterlife of public service, until the time that they have paid off their debt and can begin their own journey toward eternal rest.  This form of public service takes the form of reapers, travel agents for the recently deceased, and Grim Fandango follows one of them, Manny Calavera.

When he finds a client who should have a ticket on the number nine train, but he is unable to secure one for her, he soon finds himself on his own four year journey, and in the middle of a conspiracy that runs right through the very foundation of the land of the dead itself.  The game takes place over four chapters, each representing one year of Manny's four year journey, with each chapter taking place on the Day of the Dead.  The art style is modeled after the papier mache skeletons that are made to commemorate the day, and went a long way to make the game look good with the technical limitations of the 3D technology of 1998.  Because of the unique art style, the graphics have managed to withstand the test of time quite well, and the remastered version needed only to smooth out the pixellated edges of the textures to make the game look fantastic.  The 3D models are displayed against pre-rendered backgrounds, which worked quite well in the original release, but have showed their age a bit in the remastered version, as the backgrounds haven't been touched.  It's not too bad, though, as the prerendered material was always higher quality than the models that ran in the engine. The cutscenes were also prerendered, which are among the most noticable update in the remastered version, as they are much less compressed than the original.  There are a few instances of pixellated models in the cutscenes, but they certainly don't detract from the experience too much.

The original game mostly had puzzles that had logic that fit the game world well, however there were a few puzzles that were a bit obtuse.  The remastered version keeps all of the puzzles in tact, and doesn't include any modern features such as a hint system.  Grim Fandango was very much designed in the 1990's style of adventure game design, and it has remained that way.  The old style of design also shows in the engine itself, as there is no autosave feature in the remastered version.  It's still mandatory to manually save your progress.

The music and the voice acting has always been a high point of the game, as all of the characters of Grim Fandango are multifaceted, with multiple levels of grey to their character, befitting a land where everyone is struggling to fight their way through perils to try to find eternal rest.  Each of the actors brought life to these characters wonderfully, and the remastered version has kept these performances in tact.  In fact, each of the original localized languages have their original voice recordings in the remastered version, which are each selectable via an option in the menu.  The music in the original version had music that really brought the atmosphere of the game to life through a mix of music played by live instruments mixed with midi instruments. The remastered version has replaced the midi instuments with live recordings, and they have managed to stick quite close to the original soundtrack.

Grim Fandango is a fantastic adventure that every adventure game fan should play at least once.  It has a fantastic story, mostly well designed puzzles, well written characters with dialog delivered fantastically by the voice actors, and fantastic music.  The remastered version adds the ability to play the game completely with a mouse (and retains the keyboard and joystick control options), adds improved lighting, removes most of the pixelation from character and inventory item models, and has much of the midi music of the original played with live instruments.  It also has the original voice acting from multiple localizations included, and has optional commentary and a concept art viewer. The remastered version is highly recommended, but either version is well worth playing. The few obtuse puzzles in the game don't detract from its status as one of the best adventure games of all time.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5

The Mystery of Oak Island On Kickstarter

The Mystery of Oak Island has headed back to Kickstarter, hot on the heels of the English special edition release of the team's Zak McKracken fan sequel.

The Mystery of Oak Island is an adventure game that is based on the real treasure hunt on Oak Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.  In the game, the main character and his girlfriend, a student of literature at Oxford University, seek to uncover the secrets of Oak Island, and in the process, place themselves in grave danger.

There is 18 days left in the campaign, with only around $1,000 left to go to meet the goal. So, if this sounds interesting to you, head over to The Mystery of Oak Island Kickstarter and pick a pledge tier.

Zak McKracken Fan Game Sequel Director's Cut Coming May 12

Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space, the fan game sequel to the adventure game by Lucasfilm Games, was originally released in German on April 30, 2008.  On May 12, 2005, a director's cut version will be released, which will be in high definition with an improved interface and other addtions, as well as an including an English, fully voiced, and a French translation, with subtitles only, for the first time.

Grim Fandango Remastered Is Now On iOS and Android

Grim Fandango Remastered is now available for iOS and Android.  It is usually priced at $14.99, but it is temporarily available for the launch price of $9.99. Steam and PlayStation Store also currently have limited time 33% off discounts on the game.

In addition, the Grim Fandango soundtrack is available at digital retailers now (including Sumthing, which has an exclusive version with additional tracks).

The Evolution of Adventure Games Part V: Early Mouse Control

As adventures in the west continued to evolve beyond their text adventure roots, developers were looking towards new ways to let the player interact with their games.

In the mid 1980's, developers began making adventure games controlled entirely with a mouse. These early mouse controlled adventures still had the verb and noun structure of text adventures, but actions were done by using the mouse to choose the words or icons on the screen. The earliest mouse controlled adventure game was the 1984 black and white Macintosh adventure, Enchanted Scepters, by Silicon Beach Software. It was very much like the text adventures with static graphics. However, objects would be picked up by directly clicking on them on the screen. Like many keypad controlled graphic adventures of the time, actions were selected by a drop down list. However, the actions were selected from drop down lists from the Macintosh menu bar via mouse cursor rather than through drop down lists displayed on the game screen.

The first adventure game that displayed verbs on the game screen was the 1985 adventure, Déjà Vu, by ICOM Simulations.  It still had the black and white graphics of the early Macintosh systems, and it still used the verb and noun system, but commands were no longer selected through the Macintosh system menu. The game was controlled completely in the game itself. The mouse cursor was used to select a verb from a list, which would then be used with an object which would also be selected with the mouse.  The objects could be selected in the game display or inside of the inventory.  This system of control would be later refined, but Déjà Vu paved the way for mouse control in adventure games, which is still the control method of most adventures today.

Independently of ICOM, Lucasfilm Games was also developing a mouse controlled adventure. Released in 1987, Maniac Mansion introduced SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion), which has been popularized by the fan created virtual machine, ScummVM. Most importantly, Maniac Mansion displayed its verb and inventory bars within the game screen itself. Maniac Mansion also stuck to its text adventure roots, by displaying the verb and noun selection in text above the verb bar. This would set the standard which was used by most adventure games until the late 1990's, and is still used in some adventure games to this day. All of the 2D adventures by LucasArts from this point would use a variant of this engine.

As the mouse was gaining popularity, Sierra began to include optional mouse support in their adventure games. Sierra began porting adventure games created with their AGI (Adventure Game Interpreter) engine to the Amiga in 1986. The Amiga version of this engine allowed for optional mouse control of the player character. This functionality has been extended by some fan created AGI interpreters, such as NAGI and ScummVM. The fan interpreters allow mouse control of characters in most AGI games, as in Sierra's Amiga AGI interpreter, even those that did not originally include that function. When Sierra switched to the more capable SCI (Sierra's Creative Interpreter) engine in 1988, the optional ability to control the playable character with a mouse was present on all platforms. The text parser was originally hidden from view until the player began typing, but as time went on, the SCI engine was improved, the text parser was removed, and games were controlled completely by the mouse. All of the 2D adventures by Sierra from the time SCI was introduced used a variant of that engine.

Mouse-controlled adventure games would become the standard after the release of these games, and continue to be the standard to this day. The adventure games that followed these evolved the presentation, but the method of input has largely stayed the same. Even today's direct-controlled adventure games often have optional mouse controls as well, or a combination of mouse and keyboard controls.

Back to Part IV

Part VI Coming Soon