Fan-made Maniac Mansion 256 Color Remake 232
xDCDx writes "LucasFan Games have just released an impressive 256 color remake of Maniac Mansion. There is a sequel to Zak McKracken available too. Their website is scarce in details, but the games speak for themselves. It seems the perfect timing for this release, now that LucasArts is obsessed with killing the graphical adventure genre. (If only Ron Gilbert would buy Monkey Island rights and made Monkey Island 3a: The Real Story...)"
get it off p2p (Score:5, Informative)
Re:get it off p2p (Score:4, Informative)
Fine fine, let me just add a "special" present to the versions of mmdsetup.exe and fanadv_zak2.exe I'm just sharing off my kazaa...
Obviously the point is, besides md5 checksums, do people really verify the integrity of (not pirated) binary files they download from p2p?
Re:get it off p2p (Score:4, Insightful)
Do people really verify the integrity of *any binary file* they've downloaded, no matter how? Even with MD5? Most people do not, including slashdotters. p2p or otherwise.
Re:get it off p2p (Score:3, Funny)
Re:get it off p2p (Score:2, Funny)
Re:get it off p2p (Score:3, Informative)
It will see that the filehas h is different.
However, if they happen to think yours is the original file from a search (rather than a confirmed ed2k link from the main website) then there is nothing stopping them from becoming infected.
Re:get it off p2p (Score:2)
Oh, and don't use Kazaa. Not only is it the main network getting checked by the **AA, but the fact of the matter is that Kazaa doesn't ver
Re:get it off p2p (Score:2)
It's a SHA-1 checksum (which is even more secure than MD5), but you get the checksum for the file, even if it's a trojaned one. The only way to verify is to compare checksums with the file from the original site.
A Hint (Score:5, Informative)
Also, watch out if you empty the pool
This game seriously freaked me out as a kid.
Re:A Hint (Score:5, Funny)
Man, I wish I was kidding about never getting in the house.
Re:A Hint (Score:5, Funny)
Re:A Hint (Score:2, Funny)
Dude, I get a chill *now* thinking about it...
It's been so long I don't remember why, but you *had* to go in there for something, and it was always freaky! I can remember clicking the move button in the opposite direction over and over like it would make the kid move faster...
Re:A Hint (Score:2)
Patience, young Jedi.
Leave the kitchen well alone to begin with, and explore the rest of the house. Nurse Edna will leave the kitchen after a while and stay in her room for the rest of the game. By the time you've got to the point where you need to feed Green, she'll probably
Re:A Hint (Score:5, Funny)
Ha, it's great; I read your comment, downloaded the game, and the very first thing I did was I accidentally right-click on one of the characters when I meant to left click. It caused the other character to start talking to him. She asked him, "So how do we get into the mansion?" And he said, "We can look for a key
Bet you wish you'd done that when you were seven.
Re:A Hint (Score:4, Funny)
Re:A Hint (Score:5, Funny)
Re:A Hint (Score:2)
You had a two button joystick for your C64? I certainly didn't. I used the old-school Atari 2600 joysticks, then the ahead-of-it's-time Epyx 500XJ [cedmagic.com]. Oh yeah. I still remember the model number.
Woo and yay (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Woo and yay (Score:5, Insightful)
Not just Lucasarts. It seems *nobody* cares about adventures anymore. Because it's just more profitable to make yet-another-3d-first-person-shooter-this-time-wit
KOTOR == adventure (Score:5, Insightful)
>
> Not just Lucasarts. It seems *nobody* cares about adventures anymore. Because it's just more profitable to make yet-another-3d-first-person-shooter-this-time-wit
Huh? LucasArts?
Killing off Sam and Max was teh suck, but have you played KOTOR?
Look beyond the 3D (it's purty!) and the fact that it has character stats/abilities a'la D20-based RPG. When I finished KOTOR, I didn't remember a damn thing about any of my characters' stats or class. For an RPG, that's unusual.
But I do remember spending a lot of time navigating dialog trees where my choices had a greater effect on my character's development than anything I chopped up for XP. I also remember a game salted liberally with math and logic puzzles, none of which would have been out of place in an Infocom title, and I remember a story featuring character development of the player, evolving relationships between the player and the NPCs, and considerable exposition of the history of the early SW universe.
It's ironic - George Lucas can't make a good movie to save his life. And yet, if you took a LucasArts/BioWare game, recorded it all the way through, edited out about 2/3 of the combat and "walking around town" between quests, you'd have about 2 hours of video that would better Star Wars movie than either of Episodes I or II. Go figure.
KOTOR, at least for me, was a work of interactive fiction, not an RPG. (A feature, not a bug!)
Re:KOTOR == adventure (Score:2)
And next you're going to be telling me Quest for Glory isn't an adventure game.
Re:Woo and yay (Score:3, Interesting)
Funcom [funcom.com] is currently making the adventure game Dreamfall [dreamfall.com], which is the sequel to The Longest Journey [longestjourney.com].
Re:Woo and yay (Score:2, Interesting)
Here's a link to some of the old text-based adventure games:
http://ww1.freearcade.com/textadventures.html [freearcade.com]
Re:Woo and yay (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Woo and yay (Score:2)
I care about adventures.
Re:Woo and yay (Score:4, Insightful)
The problem with these people who run around screaming "the adventure genre is dead!" is that I would wager none of them own a copy of The Longest Journey, or Syberia, or Syberia II, or Crystal Key or any of the adventure games that have come out in the last 5 years.
You know why companies don't make as many adventure games as they used to? Because people like the ones complaining about it here don't go to the store and buy them when they come out! Why would anyone make a game nobody buys?
Anyway, the sooner these complainers figure out that adventure games are still *there* and go buy them instead of making up crap about none of them existing anymore, we'll all be better off.
No, No, No!!! (Score:5, Informative)
There are usually a dozen or so adventures in development at any given time. Just because you don't buy them doesn't mean they don't exist. A few of them suck outright (usually the MYST clones), but there are a lot of great ones. Click through to Adventure Gamers [adventuregamers.com] and have a look at games like Dreamfall [adventuregamers.com], Fahrenheit [adventuregamers.com], and The Westerner [adventuregamers.com] among others. The adventure genre is not dead by quite a ways. It's just moved to Europe
Re:Woo and yay (Score:2)
LucasArts management is far too arrogant to admit that they made a mistake with the cancellation of Sam & Max: Freelance Police.
Re:Woo and yay (Score:5, Interesting)
The idea to run it on the Xbox came after it refused to work under Win2K until I used Dosbox, and I knew that Dosbox had been ported to the Xbox. It took some setting up to map the needed keys, but it was worth it. Much more fun to sit two in a sofa and play vs sitting in front of the computer.
Re:Woo and yay - Scumm VM! (Score:2)
Re:Woo and yay (Score:5, Informative)
Sorry about the double post, my posting finger slipped.
Re: (Score:2)
SCUMM VM on Mac (Score:2)
Re:Woo and yay (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Woo and yay (Score:2)
Sweet :) (Score:2, Interesting)
Hamster go BOOM! (Score:5, Funny)
I can't hear a microwave go ping without thinking about that part of Maniac Mansion
Re:Hamster go BOOM! (Score:2)
Oh, God... I hear it in my dreams to this day!
Re:Hamster go BOOM! (Score:2)
I'll say it every once in a while to someone, unforunately no one else makes the connection.
Egg go SPLORTCH! (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Egg go SPLORTCH! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Egg go SPLORTCH! (Score:4, Funny)
His answer was: Pfff stupid video games.
I hope that taught him a lesson...
Re:Hamster go BOOM! (Score:5, Funny)
Please don't do that. Weird Ed is a sensitive boy who loves his hamster very much. Doing something like that to him could scar him mentally for years and leave him a complete wreck.
If you dare show Ed the exploded remains of his microwaved hamster, I insist that you come back in five years or so and see what you've done to him. Shame on you.
N.B: Seriously, though, do not put hamsters in microwaves. This is only safe using 22nd century hardware; kids who put hamsters in microwaves in our century get taken away from their parents and put into care - so DON'T do it!
Indiana Jones: Fate of Atlantis canceled? (Score:5, Funny)
Now that it has been discovered [slashdot.org]...
Re:Indiana Jones: Fate of Atlantis canceled? (Score:2)
Re:Indiana Jones: Fate of Atlantis canceled? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Indiana Jones: Fate of Atlantis canceled? (Score:5, Informative)
Now that brings me way back... (Score:5, Interesting)
I loved that game when I was younger... played it on my trusty old (even if it was newer back then ;) ) Commodore 64 until I could walk thru it with my eyes shut. Played it again when Day of the Tentacle came out.. in cause you havn't found it, the entire MM was included as an easteregg.
Good memories... this will definitly be downloaded once I get home from work today!
Re:Now that brings me way back... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Now that brings me way back... (Score:2)
Re:Now that brings me way back... (Score:2)
Was it possible to complete it regardless of which initial characters you selected?
RM
No SCUMM engine? (Score:3, Informative)
Not only that, but it looks Windows only (not using the *actual* scumm engine, but a free thing that's similarish)
Re:No SCUMM engine? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:No SCUMM engine? (Score:2)
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk [adventureg...udio.co.uk]
Freecached mirror (Score:5, Informative)
ScummVM? (Score:2)
Re:ScummVM? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:ScummVM? (Score:2)
Put 2+2 together, dude: if you let other people help you, it won't be so much work.
Works with CrossOver Office (Score:3, Interesting)
I tried it out with CX Office and it works for the most part...the resolution is a bit off and I had to CTRL-ALT-+ a few times and ALT-TAB to get my mouse to escape. Looks like they've completely redone all the graphics, and it looks good for 256 colors!
/me calls in sick today
Remakes (Score:5, Informative)
"Anonymous Game Developers" (Score:2, Informative)
How many of you completed Maniac Mansion? (Score:3, Interesting)
I played Maniac Mansion on my old pc back in the good ol' 80's. I remember it as being the absolute most difficult adventure game to complete. Did anyone succeed?
I've been thinking about playing the original again with the help of the DosBox project. I just completed Sierra's Leisure Suit Larry: Enhanced. Pretty cool! Nothing beats nostalgia!
I miss the 80's.
zRe:How many of you completed Maniac Mansion? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yep. Finished the NES version, though, which was a bit censored for content. Then went back and did it every way - launch the Meteor in the Weird Edsel, summon the Meteor Police, get the Meteor a book publishing deal... Then I looked for all the ways to blow up the house, and all the different ways of getting the Edisons to murder the kids.
Remember, Maniac Mansion was back before adventure game designers saw the light and took out all the ways you could get into a no-win situation and not realise it for weeks... Accidentally wasted the paint remover, or the developer fluid? Too bad - you can't win. The nice thing about later games like Day of the Tentacle was that you could play as you saw fit, and know that no matter how badly you treated the NPCs you could _never_ get into an unwinnable position.
Re:How many of you completed Maniac Mansion? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:How many of you completed Maniac Mansion? (Score:5, Funny)
"Sometimes I do stupid stuff, and I don't even know why... it's as if my body was being controlled by some sadistic, immoral puppet-master."
-- Bernard Bernoulli to Weird Ed Edison, Day of the Tentacle
Re:How many of you completed Maniac Mansion? (Score:2)
More to the point, why would you want to? What are the 'enhancements?' I thought LSL was dreadful. Not for the subject matter, but the implementation. Mixing graphic adventure style character movement with Text adventure style controls? Blech...
Best. Game. Ever. (Score:5, Interesting)
The NES version of Maniac Mansion is to this day my favorite game ever. I discover new things about it still after all these years.
It was actually a very interesting ordeal for the development team to get the game approved by Nintendo, The Expurgation of Maniac Mansion for the NES [crockford.com] gives some insight into how bland they required their games to be in those days.
The sequel, Day of the Tentacle [adventuregamers.com], for PC was great as well. It's a shame that this game genre has died out.
Re:Best. Game. Ever. (Score:2)
Plenty of fan-games of all kinds including remakes.
AGS (Adventure Game Studio) as used be these folks seems to be used to generate the best of the genre these days.
Sam
Re:Best. Game. Ever. (Score:3, Insightful)
Totally agree here. This game, and X-COM UFO defense are my 2 most favorite games of all time. True, it is a shame that this genre died out (or at least appeared to). Probably the biggest reason is that games of this nature gain nothing by the use of "STATE OF THE ART, 3D TECHONOLOGY!", which game developers have been using as their major selling point. Sure the game sucks to play, but look how realistic the blood splatters out of the Zorg soldiers!
Plus,
The *NES* version? You've got to be kidding. (Score:2)
The Commodore64 version was the way to go!
Hint: The mad scientist, nurse Edna, etc. don't really have blue skin.
Re:The *NES* version? You've got to be kidding. (Score:2)
Or are you saying that there's an explanation for it?
Two things I never found out: (Score:2)
2) The developer fluid. If you put it in the jar, and then microwaved it, it turned brown. Presumably this did something, but I never found out what.
Re:Two things I never found out: (Score:5, Funny)
By the way, I'm selling these fine leather jackets..
Cheers!
Zawash.
Re:Two things I never found out: (Score:3, Funny)
"...you are behind me! If I value my life, I should be somewhere else?"
- after the Sierra/LucasArts merger: "Escape from Babylon 5!"
Re:Two things I never found out: (Score:5, Informative)
Gloriously wrong, I'm afraid. The tiny writing was in the attic above Edna's room, beside the safe; it was the combination for the safe, and could only be read using the Really Powerful Telescope. The combination for the inner lab door was, in fact, Fred's high score on the Meteor Mess arcade game. A bug in the programming on the NES version meant that until the cutscene where Dr Fred plays the game, the combination was 0000.
For those wo want to run it in linux (Score:5, Informative)
CrossOver Office runs it (Score:5, Informative)
I have not tried Wine proper, or dosemu.
Great Game (Score:2)
O well, cant wait to download it.
Re:Great Game (Score:5, Informative)
There were several ways to win.
1) Summon the Meteor Police. Involves fixing the big radio using the vacuum tube from the one in the lounge. They arrive, and if you've opened the lab doors they'll storm right past Purple and Dr Fred, and arrest the Meteor. Then you just have to go in yourself and switch off the Meteor's mind control machine to release Dr Fred.
2) Dispose of the Meteor yourself. Persuade either Green or Weird Ed to help you beat Purple, then go into the Meteor's lair, take it and launch it into space in the trunk of the Weird Edsel.
Both (1) and (2) get much the same ending sequence: don't be a tuna head.
3) Get the Meteor a publishing deal. Have Wendy improve the Meteor's manuscript using the typewriter, and send it off. Get past Purple (with either Weird Ed or Green's help) and go into the Meteor's lair. Give the Meteor the contract, and he realises he doesn't have to be evil any more. This gets a really cool ending where the Meteor's on the sofa in some TV interview show.
4) Nuke the house. Several ways to do this: draining the pool, for instance, and letting the reactor overheat, or pressing the Red Button (which is marked 'Do Not Press - Under Any Circumstances)
5) Get all the kids killed. Weird Ed will kill you if you mutilate his hamster, Green will kill you if you get a publishing contract for either yourself or the Meteor, radioactive steam will kill you if you microwave water from the pool, and if you refill the pool while someone's in it they drown.
Re:Great Game (Score:3, Interesting)
3a) Call the meteor police JUST before giving the contract to the Meteor.
"I don't care if you've reformed. You're still coming with me!
Ultimate sig quote... (Score:2)
This is my all time favorite ending of any video game ever. I love it so much it's my sig...
Ah, Maniac Mansion was such a great gam
A remake of Maniac Mansion is all fine and good... (Score:5, Interesting)
What really set Grim Fandango apart was the writing, and the audio. The music and the voice acting were second to none. Without them the game loses its character.
In any event, the remakes likely won't get much further without having to start lifting audio, too -- I'm fairly certain LucasArts started doing that not long after Maniac Mansion 2...
Nostalgia (Score:3, Interesting)
I hope this fan site will remake more classics like Sam & Max, Day of the Tentacle, etc. etc. but those mihgt be under more strict copyrights I guess.
Help Request (Score:3, Interesting)
Whee. Different mirrors, if you want them. (Score:5, Informative)
Maniac Mansion Deluxe [schkerke.com]
There's also a FreeCache mirror somewhere in the article, if you want to use that instead.
Pfft (Score:4, Insightful)
The fourth game, however, was... meh. The whole game just felt tired and strained, and the 3d look wasn't as vibrant and expressive (MI3 had only 256 colors and STILL manages to come out on top). They should pick up where part 3 left off, and in the same style.
Re:Pfft (Score:2)
However, I found myself getting rather bored with MI4. I just dont think it made the transition to 3D very well. The voice acting was just as good but it just looked....wrong. I dont think there were any sequences that gained anything from being in 3D. At least, none that I saw as I gave up quite early on.
I also foun
Re:Pfft (Score:2)
i love this game (Score:3, Insightful)
They were fully immersive in that you could roam around and complete the game the way you wanted to. In fact, Maniac Mansion had 5 different ways to complete the game if I recall.
The game world itself wasn't incredibly complex but it gave the illusion that it was complete. And when you found something new, it was interesting (draining the pool, the observatory, edna's bedroom). Unlike like these 3d adventure games on N64 or gamecube where you just roam around and find mini puzzles. The world was more cohesive. So you felt like you had many options at your disposal and that made for a great adventure.
No Americans allowed! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:No Americans allowed! (Score:2)
OK with LucasArts? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:This game was awesome on the NES... (Score:5, Funny)
Most of the kids would say 'How sick!' if you tried to microwave the hamster. But one of the girls would say 'No way - those things are, like, FULL of cholesterol!' Nice touch. A few other censored elements included 'Chewy Caramel Centre' becoming 'Pretty brains' on the medical chart, and the 'Muff Diver' game becoming 'Tuna Diver'...
Re:This game was awesome on the NES... (Score:3, Insightful)
Then you could give the hamster to Weird Ed...
Re:This game was awesome on the NES... (Score:5, Interesting)
I was a truly sick child; I systematically tried it with all the kids and none would do my bidding.
Apparently the first few thousand copies of NES Maniac Mansion would let Sid or Razor microwave the hamster. Then NoA caught on, and later ones gave the message about cholesterol... Boo, hiss, etc. Of course years later I got to play the real thing on a PC (hello, little computer. I respect you, even though you only have 64K of memory) and indulged my horrific heathen ways to the limit ;-)
Re:brings back memories of SCUMM games... (Score:2, Informative)
I'm fairly certain if you look through the source, you could find out enough to write your own game.
Re:256?! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:256?! (Score:3, Informative)
Well, why not? 256 colors is plenty if you use them right. A lot of people don't realise that 8-bit graphics can actually look better than 16-bit graphics under the right circumstances(e.g there are only 32 shades of red in 16-bit).
And using 32-bit graphics for simple 2D is just plain silly...
Re:investments lost ?? (Score:2)
The only thing that this might get Lucas to do is file a lawsuit against the creators.
ScummVM (Score:5, Informative)
If some of you don't already know, ScummVM [sf.net] (available at scummvm.sf.net [sourceforge.net]) is "a 'virtual machine' for several classic graphical point-and-click adventure games. It is designed to run: Adventure Soft [adventuresoft.com]'s Simon the Sorcerer 1 and 2; Revolution [revolution.co.uk]'s Beneath A Steel Sky, Broken Sword 1 and Broken Sword 2; Flight of the Amazon Queen; and games based on LucasArts [lucasarts.com]' SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) system. SCUMM is used for many games, including Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max and more. Compatibility with supported games is continually improving, so check back often." -- from www.scummvm.sourceforge.net [sf.net].
With ScummVM [sourceforge.net] you can play Maniac Mansion (original) [sf.net], Maniac Mansion (enhanced) [sf.net], Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (original) [sf.net], Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (enhanced) [sf.net], Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (256 - FmTowns) [sf.net], Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade [sf.net], Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (256) [sf.net], Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (256 - FmTowns) [sf.net], Loom [sf.net], Loom (256 - FmTowns) [sf.net], The Secret of Monkey Island (EGA) [sf.net], Passport to Adventure (Indy3, Monkey and Loom demos) [sf.net], Loom (256 color CD version) [sf.net], The Secret of Monkey Island (VGA Floppy) [sf.net], The Secret of Monkey Island (VGA CD) [sf.net], The Secret of Monkey Island (Alternative VGA CD) [sf.net], The Secret of Monkey Island (Sega CD) [sf.net], Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's revenge [sf.net], Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's revenge (DOS Demo) [sf.net], Indiana Jones 4 and the Fate of Atlantis [sf.net], Indiana Jones 4 and the Fate of Atlantis (Demo) [sf.net], Putt-Putt Joins The Parade (DOS Demo) [sf.net], Putt-Putt Joins The Parade (DOS) [sf.net], Putt-Putt Goes To The Moon (DOS Demo) [sf.net], Putt-Putt Goes To The Moon (DOS) [sf.net], Putt-Putts Fun Pack [sf.net],