Monkey Business

LucasArts plans to release “Escape From Monkey Island” for the PlayStation 2 soon. Never before has this long-running PC comedy adventure series starring pea-brained pirate Guybrush Threepwood and zombie buccaneer LeChuck made an appearance on home consoles. Directors Mike Stemmle and Sean Clark and Producer Shara Miller discuss their plans to sail previously uncharted waters.

Q: Has working on such a wacky series become something of an obsession?

Clark: Sure, there’s no avoiding it. But there’s also some burnout associated after working on a project for 2 1/2 years.

Stemmle: At this point, although I think about it all the time while I’m in the office, sometimes I’ve learned just to let it go. I’ve dreamed about it only twice, you know.

Q: How would you describe “Monkey Island’s” sense of humor?

Clark: Random.

Stemmle: Absurdist.

Clark: We’re always looking for jokes. Things create other things. Many jokes are just a reaction to something that already existed.

Stemmle: Usually, characters are created for our puzzles. Then we establish some sort of tone and go from there.

Q: Any unique ways in which you test new jokes?

Stemmle: Sean and I bounce jokes off each other. We’re pretty brutal about what works or not. Of course, the testers are fairly outspoken and add a lot of material to the game too.

Clark: Most of the humor is anecdotal. We’ll write something and forget about it, then someone will start laughing and rediscover the joke. Usually we’re rushing to put the 12,000 lines of in-game dialogue together, so you kind of have to go with the flow.

Q: What’s so darned silly about pirates?

Stemmle: The goofy shirts? Nah, it’s the notion of taking unpleasant characters and making them do silly things. It works across other stories like the “Pirates of Penzance” and Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean, so why not here?

Clark: And people really like to squint and say, “Arrrrrrr.”

Stemmle: That too.

Q: Any special way in which puzzles are designed?

Clark: We start with a goal and work backward on the solution.

Stemmle: Although the story zigs and zags, the major goals are set out early and hammered in stone. Then we take steps back and assess what must be done.

Clark: Puzzles need to be tied into the story to work. Then we abstract concepts further. We keep mind benders no more than 75% complete until the background art is available, so that we can see how to best incorporate them.

Q: What qualifies you for this job?

Stemmle: One day, our former boss took us to a bar and told us we had the gig.

Clark: That, and we both had done some writing and had computer science degrees.

Stemmle: Not to mention that we’d both written computer games on our own.

Clark: Working with mentors was a big plus as well. Like many others, we learned by doing. You don’t go to school to pick up these qualifications. There’s just no class that pertains.

Q: How has the franchise survived over a decade relatively unchanged save for a couple of face-lifts?

Clark: I’d disagree with that face-lift assessment. Though it looks that way on the player’s end, each game was completely brand new. Tons of new characters were added, the artwork was converted to 3-D, etc. “Monkey Island” has gone through more evolutions than you’d think.

Q: Concerned with the possibility that adventure gaming may be in the doldrums?

Clark: We’ve never taken the death of adventure games seriously. That’s just hype. And now we’re laughing in everyone’s faces, so to speak.

Miller: Truthfully, adventure games do well everywhere besides the U.S., so it’s not been a huge concern.

Q: What does a PlayStation 2 port bring to the table for a PC franchise?

Clark: It brings “Monkey Island” to a special environment, where you sit in front of a TV with friends and family as opposed to behind a lonely computer screen.

Stemmle: I’ve noticed that people tend to play adventures with friends, loved ones and others by their side. The console environment lends itself to this style of game better than a PC.

Miller: Also, it’s a good introductory game for console users. They don’t have to know many buttons, skills, powers, etc. Whereas women and various other groups may normally be intimidated by certain titles, they won’t be with a game like “Monkey Island.”

Clark: So we’re doing it for the chicks!

Stemmle: Yeah, you just let me know how that’s going, Sean.

Scott Steinberg is a freelance writer specializing in video games.