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alt.games.lucas-arts.monkey-island intro, guidelines + FAQ for newbie
buccaneers

By Simon Reid (simon@lreid.demon.co.uk)

DISCLAIMER: Simon Reid cannot be held responsible for any personal injury
or sudden death caused by the reading of this document.
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This document is to be posted roughly at the beginning of every month on
alt.games.lucas-arts.monkey-island, for 'newbies' to the group to read.
This is the 7th revision of the document. It was first published on aglami
on 16/9/99 - as new regulars appear, or people suggest improvements, or I
see a need to add new guidelines or questions to the FAQ, it will be
updated.
Please, take note of the guidelines and have fun on aglami!

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1) Introduction to alt.games.lucas-arts.monkey-island
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Welcome! This is a newsgroup for fans of the popular Monkey Island series
from LucasArts, and anyone who enjoys these games can post here. A few
months ago, there were a few posts a day, but as the amount of posters is
constantly growing, and there are more and more 'newbies' arriving, I saw
the need for this guide to alt.games.lucas-arts.monkey-island.

alt.games.lucas-arts.monkey-island appeared a few years ago along with a
whole load of other alt.games.lucas-arts newsgroups. This meant there was
yet another way for MI fans to discuss the games (or discuss just about
everything else but the games as is often the case). A similar
message-posting thingy is available at The SCUMM Bar
(http://thescummbar.com/), which is very popular, and also there's a
real-time chat channel on IRC (details of the Monkey chat channel can be
found at http://thescummbar.com/).

Currently, there are in fact not one, not three, not four, not five, but
TWO aglami FAQ documents regularly posted - this one, by me, and the other
one, by Mike Smith. Generally, we post the FAQs when we feel like it - I
can never remember when I last posted mine, but I try to do so around the
start of every month.

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a) List of regulars
------------------------------------

These are the regulars to AGLAMI - please respect them and heed their wise
words. They're all very knowledgable about the series, and will all try to
help if you have a question about the games.
You can earn your own place on this list by observing our guidelines (see
below), posting often, and not annoying or flaming people on the group - if
you're already on the list and something needs correcting or adding, e-mail
me.

BishopX - This mysteriously-named poster has his own LucasArts-devoted
website at http://www.islandx.co.uk - he even has Murray the invincible
demonic skull helping maintain it, too! E-mail him at
bishopx@islandx.co.uk.

Reinder Hummel - The most feared pirate on the seven seas, or rather, the
most regular poster to alt.games.lucas-arts.monkey-island. He is constantly
subject to cruel jokes about Christmas and sleighs.
His e-mail address is reinderhummel@hotmail.com.

The Two-Headed Squirrel - another poster operating under a mysterious guise
- we assume from this that he is a spy assigned by an evil mastermind to
track down and destroy all Monkey Island fans worldwide. This is made more
obvious by the fact that he constantly changes his identity - past names
include 'Parasite' and 'Lurk'. E-mail The Two-Headed Squirrel at
joint@cyberdude.com.

Kasper - Thanks to Simon's total incompetence, Kasper has been repeatedly
missed off the list, but he's finally here. His e-mail address is
bse10592@vip.cybercity.dk.

Skyfox - Owner of the excellent SCUMM Bar (http://thescummbar.com) website
- the number one news source for MI fans! E-mail him at
skyfox@thescummbar.com.

Michael Smith - Mike has his own MI website, 'The Monkey Island Lava Pit'
at http://website.lineone.net/~mi_lavapit/, and he's now helping with
IslandX (http://www.islandx.co.uk). His e-mail address is
m_smith@lineone.net

Huz - a veteran Monkey Island fan, Huz has been a regular poster from day
one. His e-mail address is huz2@iname.com

'Beans' aka. TomH - unfortunately TomH was forgotten when the regulars list
was first constructed, but has finally been included, which apparently
makes him feel 'special' - beans@bedford.net

Pixel - Johannes.vanderWerf@phil.uu.nl

Mr. XL - Whilst an avid MI fan and complete lunatic (as with all aglami
regulars), Mr. XL has yet to play The Curse of Monkey Island, so try not to
spoil the game for him. mr.xl@usa.net

John Ievins - A big fan of Creatures, a game in which you control the life
of strange furry alien creatures which make cute squeaky noises. Presumably
he also likes Monkey Island, otherwise he wouldn't be posting here. His
e-mail address is thegrendel@thegrendel.freeserve.co.uk.

Simon Reid - me! I am a huge Monkey Island fan - my lifetime ambition is to
create the 'Big Whoop' theme park, devoted entirely to
Monkey Island, including an enormous restaurant inside the belly of a
300-foot-high statue of the zombie pirate LeChuck.
My e-mail address is simon@lreid.demon.co.uk.

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b) Guidelines
------------------------------------

- DON'T post in HTML - find the program's options and select 'plain text'
for newsgroup postings, as some people don't have programs which support
HTML and get a whole load of '</P><P><BR><FONT SIZE="3"><I>' nonsense.
Besides, it increases the time a message takes to download and the space it
takes up on the hard disk.

- DON'T bother asking where to download the games. The games are actually
available to buy...

- DON'T 'flame' (post abuse about) people on the group. If you do so, you
are liable to be flamed by the group in return - we're here to discuss
Monkey Island, not to post unwelcome abuse about each other.

- DON'T reply to spam posts.

- DON'T help people asking where they can get the games for free - I only
know of one case when this occurred, but you must always discourage
software piracy.

- DON'T send attached files like ZIPs, MP3, JPGs etc. to the group - just
tell us where to download it. Generally, only on newsgroups starting
'alt.binaries' is it acceptable to post attachments (the most appropriate
place to post something MI-related would be alt.binaries.games.lucas-arts).

- DON'T post in foreign languages unless you can't communicate in English
properly.

- DON'T use huge signatures when posting on the newsgroup - a short quote
or something following your e-mail address and/or website URL is fine, but
don't make it too long.

- DON'T quote loads of text from a previous post only to write something
like 'I agree' at the end...only quote the relevant parts when you're
following up a post.

- DO consult the group if you're stuck in one of the games and need a clue
or hint - if you just want a straight solution, head for
http://thescummbar.com or http://www.islandx.co.uk.

- DO feel free to post almost anything to do with Monkey Island -
questions, opinions, humour, speculation etc.

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c) Abbreviations
------------------------------------

Common abbreviations used on the newsgroup that you might find useful:

AGLAMI - alt.games.lucas-arts.monkey-island

MI - Monkey Island

SoMI - Secret of Monkey Island (the first game)

MI2 - Monkey Island 2 (the second game)

CMI, or CoMI - Curse of Monkey Island (the third game)

LA, or LEC - LucasArts, or Lucasarts Entertainment Company

LOL - Laughing Out Loud

ROTFL - Rolling On The Floor Laughing

ROTFLMAO - Rolling On The Floor Laughing My Ass Off

FYI - For Your Information

AFAIK - As Far As I Know

IIRC - If I Remember Correctly

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d) Monkey Island sites
------------------------------------

http://www.islandx.co.uk - Island X, owned by regular poster Bishop X - it
started off as a Monkey Island-devoted site, but
now has grown to include Sam and Max, another LucasArts game, with more new
sections to come. Walkthroughs, downloads, character info and loads more
await you on Island X - heck, he's even got Murray, the demonic skull,
answering visitors' questions on his website. Check out the cool MI
'parodies'.
Overall, a great-looking site with loads of great content.

http://thescummbar.com - The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar, a huge site with
everything imaginable about Monkey Island - news, an IRC chat channel
(which Dominic Armato, the voice of Guybrush, and Ron Gilbert, the creator
of MI, have been known to visit), JavaScript games and quizzes, plus links
to all the other MI-themed sites via the Monkey Island Webring, owned by
Skyfox.

http://mi.adventuregamer.com/ - The World of Monkey Island, another big MI
fan site well worth visiting - includes a number of cool Monkey-related
animated GIFs.

http://www.adventuregamer.com/ - Not directly related to Monkey Island, but
probably the very best general adventure gaming news/reviews/previews
source on the web.

http://www.lucasarts.com/ - The site of the company who made the games. You
can get ordering information from this website.

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2) FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
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Q: Hey, I lost my copy protection stuff/damaged the game discs/am a lowlife
software piracy criminal - could someone e-mail me the game files or tell
me where to download them?

A: No! You're unlikely to find anyone on the group who'll send you the
files. You can order them from www.softwarefirst.com. UK residents can
easily buy all three in the 'Bounty Pack', available in all good software
stores. (This includes the updated version of SoMI, using the MI2
interface)

Q: Where can I get a walkthrough for one of the games?

A: Go to either http://thescummbar.com or http://www.islandx.co.uk to
download a solution. Bear in mind, though, that just going through the game
with a walkthrough is a bit pointless, so try to solve most of the game
yourself and only cheat when you are completely stuck and absolutely have
to. If you just want a vague hint or clue to get you going again, post a
message to the newsgroup.

Q: What IS the secret of Monkey Island?

A: Nobody knows except for Ron Gilbert, the creator of SoMI and MI2. On a
recent chat, he announced that if you look carefully at the first two
games, you can find out the secret - apparently, 'a lot of the jokes aren't
really jokes...'.

Q: Why are there so many off-topic posts?

A: A lot of posts which start off MI-related go completely off-topic after
a few days, so don't expect too much discussion of the MI games. For more
discussion of the actual games, go to the MIXNMOJO posting board
http://www.mixnmojo.com/board/monkey or the newsgroup
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.adventure.

Q: Is there going to be a Monkey Island 4?

A: After months of rumours and speculation, Monkey Island 4 was officially
confirmed earlier this month. One screenshot from the full-3D Monkey4 has
been released so far, but it's very small and scanned from a leaflet. All
we can make out is some sort of mansion, a hunchbacked pirate figure
standing next to either a cannon or a catapult, and a figure in a red coat
(possibly Guybrush):
http://headline.gamespot.com/news/00_04/11_pc_monkey4/index.html
LucasArts are supposedly set to unveil more of MI4 as part of their E3
presentation - prepare for more announcements on the 26th April.

Q: What is the release date for Monkey Island 4?

A: No date has been given, but it is expected that MI4 will be out at
Christmas at the earliest.

Q: What are all these secret in-jokes in Indiana Jones and the Infernal
Machine?

A: The recent action/adventure game Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine
features heaps of little secrets and jokes based around MI - fans have
spotted all sorts of stuff from the MI games, as well as references to
other LucasArts games. There is actually a cheat which allows you to play
as Guybrush Threepwood - press F10 and type 'makemeapirate' (check out the
bazooka in this mode!)
On top of that, there's apparently a secret level which lets you explore
the Barbery Coast from CoMI! http://thescummbar.com has a news archive
which has stuff on all the MI things found so far.

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This document is posted approximately every few weeks on the newsgroup
alt.games.lucas-arts.monkey-island.
Written by Simon Reid (simon@lreid.demon.co.uk), with the use of some
material from Huz's old version of the aglami FAQ.
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