Zeusthecat

Never played ZZT but yes I believe they are similar.

Most of my gaming when I was a kid was on consoles. However, my dad did at one point have a computer in the early to mid 90's and a few games on floppy disk that I played quite a bit. I have very fond memories of playing Paratroopers, Bouncing Babies, Dig Dug, and Kingdom of Kroz. That was pretty much it though. I don't think he was even aware of graphic adventures and never really got into games that much.

All I know is, I need a fucking eye patch and a parrot right now.

Well I feel terrible now for downloading MI:1 and 2 the way I did. At least I'll make up for it by purchasing the Adventure pack on Steam. That's a damn good deal for so many classic games.

Thanks for the tips. I'll definitely purchase whatever I can purchase. I was reading more on this and am just getting more confused on how abandonware is supposed to work. It seems that the ESA at least does not have a problem with a site putting up free downloads of games that are not supported any more (> 15 years old I think) but I guess it could still technically be considered copyright infringement if the owner chose to take action. Fucking weird.

Okay, so I guess it is a grey area and falls under the rules of abandonware. I'm such a fucking idiot. I feel like Macaulay Culkin when he accidentally stole the toothbrush in Home Alone.

I did some digging and I think I am mistaken. I don't think they made them open source, maybe it was just Scummvm being open source that had me confused. So does that mean I did a no-no when I downloaded the original versions? I don't see any way to purchase them unless you buy the special editions. Am I a pirate?

Is that not the case? I swear I read somewhere that they had made a bunch of their older games open source not too long ago. It was pretty easy to find the downloads and there was no indication that it wasn't legit. Edit: Now I'm not so sure. I can't find where I originally read that but sure enough it is easy as hell to download the game for free from many different sites.

I'm not really too fond of the "games as a service" concept. Maybe there are some cases where that is ideal but I like the idea of actually owning something much more than the idea of licensing it.

That is so true. It's weird having played so many video games in my life and just now experiencing this kind of thing. I have always had a tendency to talk to NPCs over and over in games and do many things repeatedly for whatever reason. To have a game actually recognize that and encourage you to do it is just fucking awesome. How am I 28 and just now seeing this for the first time? Indeed these games must have been very ahead of their time. I had planned to play all of the original versions using Scummvm. I was able to find free downloads for MI:1 and 2 since they made them open source and I assumed I would be able to do the same for some of the other earlier games. However, if you recommend a different version I'm all ears.

I had no problem getting past the dogs but I did have a lot of trouble figuring out how to get to the swordmaster. I ended up having to use a guide and I'm glad I did because it never would have occurred to me that you could follow the shopkeeper out of his store. I didn't think that was even a thing you could do and was my first lesson in learning how to think outside the box when considering the various mechanics in the game. For me, the most hilarious standout moment in the game was Guybrush's interaction with the shopkeeper. Maybe it's because it was my first extended experience with an NPC in this genre but I was just amazed at all of his different quips based on what I was doing. I probably sat there for a solid 15 minutes making him go to the sword master's house and then ringing the bell and laughing when he immediately opened the door and came right back to the counter. I just couldn't believe they had given him so many lines of dialog for one repeated action. The best part though was when I tried to steal something and he pops right back in out of nowhere and calls me out, then calls me a shoplifter for the rest of the game. That game will always hold a special place in my heart even though I just recently played it because it was the very first game that my daughter watched me play from start to finish (I did a second play through so she wouldn't get bored by me being stuck).

No worries here. I have taken your advice to heart and won't go too crazy on these. Having played Monkey Island 1 and most of 2 and seeing how amazing they are, I won't let the earlier games get to me if they have sub-par design. And I'll re-iterate, if I am approaching a point where it is possible for me to make one of these games un-winnable, I have no problem with anyone giving me a heads up.

Okay, it's settled. I will play all of them in order starting with Maniac Mansion. I recognize the earlier ones likely won't be as enjoyable mechanically but I really like the idea of playing through them in a way that lets me experience the evolution of that genre. I will at least make some attempt at solving the puzzles in the earlier games but I won't stick with any puzzles for nearly as long as I have with Monkey Island 2. Plus I expect playing the earlier games will heighten my enjoyment of the later games since I will probably notice and appreciate any improvements that have been made. I'll update my original post with the gameplan and will post here again when I am getting ready to start MM in case anyone else wants to join. Thanks again to everyone for your suggestions.

(I'm secretly a completionist and was hoping someone would recommend this) Mmmm... decisions decisions.

So I see a consensus forming that I should probably skip 1 (if I play that at all), 2, and 3 and maybe play them later. Any recommendations on whether I should start with 4 or 5 or just jump straight to 8?

Really? Damn. When I get to those I might need some assistance finding them.

I'm kind of iffy on skipping Maniac Mansion. I've heard so much good stuff about DOTT and I figure there are bound to be some references that I might not get if I skip it. Is that a valid concern or would it not make a difference?

Okay, I made a list of all of the LucasArts adventure games. Here they are in order of release date: Labyrinth Maniac Mansion Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Loom Secret of Monkey Island (already completed) Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (almost complete) Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Day of the Tentacle Sam and Max Hit the Road Full Throttle The Dig Curse of Monkey Island Grim Fandango Escape from Monkey Island I plan to skip Labyrinth since it is pre-Scumm (unless anyone recommends otherwise). What do you guys think, should I play all remaining 14 in order? Should I skip some? Should I save some of the earlier ones for later so I don't get burnt out on any subpar games? I will update my original post with the final list and order I plan to play them in based on what people here suggest. For now, my plans are to play them all in order but Idle Thumbs has yet to steer me wrong so I trust in the judgment of others.

Ah, so kind of like the morality system in KOTOR?

Yeah, I will plan to stick to LucasArts for now. I will have to play Maniac Mansion though because I would like to be able to appreciate any references to it in DOTT.

Awesome! I'll keep posting about my MI2 progress here just so it stays coherent but I'll create that thread then to track progress and hopefully entice others to join me on my adventures.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I'll keep you guys posted on what I move on to next just to make sure I don't fall into a hole filled with shit. From the recommendations I'm thinking I pretty have to play almost all of the LucasArts games so I might as well start with Maniac Mansion (even if it's dated I feel compelled to play it; I'll use a guide if it gets too frustrating) and go chronologically by release from there. Would it be too self-indulgent to start a thread to track progress on these games? I really enjoy being able to talk about my progress in some fashion and I don't really know anyone that has ever experienced these games besides people here. Or better yet, if anyone else has yet to play some of these games it would be pretty sweet to play through them alongside someone else (I'm sad that I don't have any friends willing to play through these with me).

These games are definitely scratching an itch I never knew I had. I don't know how the hell I have gone through life and completely missed the graphic adventure genre, but hey, I'm here now and enjoying the hell out of it. And jesus, if the writing is this good in all of the LucasArts (and Sierra?) games then I will absolutely play every single one. Udvarnoky, I will take your recommendation and do them in order of release. I am so excited to have discovered a new genre and I feel compelled to experience as much as possible. Is there a site somewhere that has a consolidated list of all of the downloads for the Scummvm supported games? So far I have just randomly googled MI1 and 2 and found them that way.

Yes. Never played a single graphic adventure game until I played Secret of Monkey Island about a month ago. Monkey Island 2 would be the second one I've played.

How is that measured exactly?