vili's recent activity
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili Link ParentManiac Mansion is the big classic (indeed one of the biggest classics), so play it first if you want to explore gaming history. 5 Days a Stranger is arguably the better game, so play it first if...Maniac Mansion is the big classic (indeed one of the biggest classics), so play it first if you want to explore gaming history.
5 Days a Stranger is arguably the better game, so play it first if you just want to play a good game.
I would assume (but can't be sure) that 5 Days runs fine on your Windows laptop and Maniac Mansion should be playable at least either in ScummVM or another emulator that runs on your systems. I've been playing the C64 version of MM with the VICE emulator on my more recent MacBook.
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Comment on What single episode of a show would you recommend as a standalone? in ~tv
vili LinkNorthern Exposure, season 4 episode 18, "Northern Lights". The episode is all about finding light in the middle of the worst darkness, both literally and figuratively. About overcoming isolation,...Northern Exposure, season 4 episode 18, "Northern Lights".
The episode is all about finding light in the middle of the worst darkness, both literally and figuratively. About overcoming isolation, uncertainty and polarisation through empathy, art and coming together as a community. It condenses the series' main themes into a single episode, features almost all of the major characters, is largely self-contained, and has one of the most beautiful endings of any episode of television ever created.
It's sad that the show has been so difficult to watch for such a long time. I would argue that it was as influential and popular as contemporary shows like Twin Peaks and X-Files. But Northern Exposure was also full of great licensed music, and music licensing is complicated, so it all but disappeared soon after broadcasts ended. It remains one of my favourite series, and "Northern Lights" one of my favourite episodes of television. If you can watch it, and like quirky, warm, thoughtful television, do give it a try.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili Link ParentThe Chzo tetralogy is a remarkably good series and I love how each game experiments with a different user interface. Back when these games came out, my favourite was the third game Trilby's Notes,...The Chzo tetralogy is a remarkably good series and I love how each game experiments with a different user interface. Back when these games came out, my favourite was the third game Trilby's Notes, which uses a Sierra style text parser. I'm looking forward to revisiting the series this month.
The main issue with text parser games, and one of the main reasons for Maniac Mansion's then novel approach of using clickable verbs on the bottom of the screen and clickable objects on the graphical side of the screen, was the common frustration of having to fight the parser in text based games. Very often you knew exactly what you needed to do, but communicating it to the computer was difficult. One of the things I'm most excited about when it comes to AIs/LLMs is that we now finally live in an age where someone could create a text parser game that actually understands more or less anything you try to tell it.
In fact, we wouldn't necessarily even need text at all: by now, surely you should be able to control your adventure game protagonist simply by speaking to the game and telling it what you want to do. This could open up a whole new range of puzzles and experiences, as developers wouldn't be so constrained by user interfaces.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili LinkStop the presses! Some beautiful soul has just released an English fan translation of the Famicom version of Maniac Mansion. The International House of Mojo (a LucasArts fan site) wrote about it...Stop the presses! Some beautiful soul has just released an English fan translation of the Famicom version of Maniac Mansion. The International House of Mojo (a LucasArts fan site) wrote about it today and you can find more information about the release here. I believe it’s the first time the Famicom version is accessible to those of us who don’t speak Japanese.
Unlike the NES version, the Famicom release was not done by LucasFilm Games and ended up being quite different from the original. Not only graphically, but also in terms of many gameplay elements.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili Link ParentAh, I indeed made it sound like I do! While I do own more C64s than my wife says is strictly speaking necessary, I decided against running the game on any of them as I only have 30-year-old PSUs...Are you playing on actual C64 hardware?
Ah, I indeed made it sound like I do! While I do own more C64s than my wife says is strictly speaking necessary, I decided against running the game on any of them as I only have 30-year-old PSUs and I fear they'll burn down the house if I use them. I should get around to buying a modern replacement.
Also, I think the last time I booted up one of the C64s, the disk drive was acting up. It's probably fixable, but I just haven't found the time to attend to it.
So, I have been playing Maniac Mansion on the C64 emulator VICE instead. It still requires ejecting and inserting disk images manually. Maybe there is a more elegant way to do it but that's how I use it.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili LinkAs I find myself in what I think is an unwinnable state in Maniac Mansion (I failed to pick up an object when it was available, and both of the kids that I selected for the run seem to require it...As I find myself in what I think is an unwinnable state in Maniac Mansion (I failed to pick up an object when it was available, and both of the kids that I selected for the run seem to require it to solve the game), I was reminded of last spring's Adventure Game Aptitude Test, which tested 831 players against Maniac Mansion and a four-hour completion deadline (in the spirit of How Long To Beat's rather ridiculous suggestion of 3.5 hours). Apparently, two people managed to pass the test, which is more than I thought could if they really had never played the game before. You can read about it over at Kotaku. As the article notes, this game was designed to be played for weeks or months, not hours.
At the other end of the spectrum, the current speedrun record for the game, as reported by speedrun.com, seems to be 3 minutes 51 seconds with a mod, and 8 minutes 24 seconds without it. It doesn't seem like a particularly popular speedrunning game, though. And this in turn reminds me: if you find the idea of people speedrunning classic adventure games interesting, the YouTube channel OneShortEye has excellent documentaries on many games and their speedrunning histories. Sadly, there isn't one for Maniac Mansion yet.
As I'll be starting my second attempt with Maniac Mansion, I'm contemplating switching from the original Commodore 64 version to the enhanced 1989 PC release. Partly for a fresh coat of paint, but mainly because ejecting, flipping and re-inserting the floppy disk whenever I move from one part of the mansion to another is starting to get a bit tiresome. Some areas, like standing in front of the garage, even seem to require data from both sides of the disk to be loaded. And I also encountered a disk read error at one point which forced me to reload an earlier save, so I'm a bit worried that something wonky is going on with the disk.
One thing that I had completely forgotten about is that first LucasFilm adventures lacked two verbs that one could argue became the very identity of all later adventure games from the studio: look and talk. Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, which followed Maniac Mansion, still didn't have them, but 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade did. And I would say the first Monkey Island game perfected their use in 1990.
Anyway, I'm off to think about which two kids to pick for my second attempt at solving the mansion. Which kids are you guys playing as? (In case you haven't read the manual yet, keep in mind that your choice of kids determines how some of the main puzzles play out: "The story — and your approach to rescuing Sandy — will be different depending on which kids you choose and how you interact with the people and things inside the mansion itself.")
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Comment on CGA-2026-09 🕹️🙎♂️🛹 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 in ~games
vili LinkDespite @kfwyre's excellent advice, I never made it out of the starting hangar. I am sorry I failed you, sensei. I blame the very limited time that I currently have for games. The game felt like...Despite @kfwyre's excellent advice, I never made it out of the starting hangar. I am sorry I failed you, sensei. I blame the very limited time that I currently have for games.
The game felt like something that a younger me might have become quite obsessed about. There is a definite flow to it. It punishes you but it feels fair. It's short bursts of concentrated action. You need to learn its mechanics to get good. I love that type of design.
As I played the introductory hangar level, I kept imagining how this game would be introduced today. There would likely be a voice in the loudspeakers constantly telling you what to do. The flow would be broken, as action would slow down so that on-screen prompts can reinforce the voiced instructions: press X now to do a hoopladidoople, then press A + left to complete a flippetifloppy. And as you managed these button combos with the game holding your hand, notifications about achievements would pop up in the lower right corner. Well done, you pressed the button we told you to press! As your reward, you shall get five diamond tokens with which you can buy new cosmetics (also available through microtransactions).
Instead, the game as I experienced it just throws you in and trusts that you will figure it out yourself. It doesn't insult your intelligence or ability. It's confident enough about its mechanics and gameplay loop to know that you'll be having fun, no matter how far you progress.
And while I didn't progress far, I certainly did have fun.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili LinkIf anyone is interested in extracurricular activities around Maniac Mansion, the game designer Ron Gilbert gave a postmortem for the game at the Game Forum Germany in 2011 (and other places). It...If anyone is interested in extracurricular activities around Maniac Mansion, the game designer Ron Gilbert gave a postmortem for the game at the Game Forum Germany in 2011 (and other places). It contains no real spoilers.
One could say that there have been three spiritual successors to the game over the years:
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Day of the Tentacle (1993) is the official sequel. Ron Gilbert himself was no longer involved, but Maniac Mansion's co-project lead and sole artist Gary Winnick did work on it as a writer, and the game was led by Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman, with whom Gilbert had created the first two Monkey Island games. It's a classic in its own right.
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The Cave (2013) is a game by Ron Gilbert (developed and published by Tim Schafer's studio Double Fine Productions) which develops some of the concepts introduced in Maniac Mansion, including how character selection works, and puts them into a more puzzle platformer type setup similar to games like Limbo. It's one of my personal favourites and I think was somewhat overlooked at the time of its release.
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Thimbleweed Park (2017) was Gilbert's return to adventure games, together with Maniac Mansion co-creator Gary Winnick. It was pitched as an undiscovered LucasArts adventure game that could have been developed somewhere between Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island, and I think they delivered exactly that. Thimbleweed Park 2 is currently under development and set for a 2028 release.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 🕹️🏚️ 🦇👻 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
vili (edited )Link ParentA note for purists who are looking for the original version of the game: the version you get out of your Day of the Tentacle copy depends on the version of Day of the Tentacle that you are playing...all official releases of Day of the Tentacle contain the complete, fully playable original Maniac Mansion as a built-in secret "mini-game"!
A note for purists who are looking for the original version of the game: the version you get out of your Day of the Tentacle copy depends on the version of Day of the Tentacle that you are playing and the language that you are playing it in.
With the original Day of the Tentacle (1993), the game prioritises the original 1987 version of Maniac Mansion, but falls back to the "enhanced" 1989 version for languages in which the 1987 version is not available. Meanwhile, Day of the Tentacle Remastered (2016) only gives you the 1989 version.
More information about different versions can be found here (your browser may complain about lack of https) and here (many of the embedded images sadly dead links by now).
Personally, I am playing the original C64 copy, just like
godRon intended. I believe the Steam and GOG releases also include it, although they launch with the 1989 version by default.Edit: A quick note on Maniac Mansion Deluxe -- while it's largely the same game with higher fidelity graphics, it removes some things to prevent dead ends, the graphics change the mood of the game, and there is additional content that doesn't exist in the original. In other words, it's a very well made fan remake, but it's definitely different from the original game.
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Comment on Wikipedia's list of the best video games: how many have you played, and what's missing? in ~games
vili Link ParentThis is why I had to stop using the Bubble Bobble theme as my ringtone in the early 2000s. I was just constantly humming the tune AND happy whenever someone called me. Those were different times.This is why I had to stop using the Bubble Bobble theme as my ringtone in the early 2000s. I was just constantly humming the tune AND happy whenever someone called me. Those were different times.
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: September 2026 voting topic in ~games
vili LinkMother 3 (5) Wizball (5) Spooky Mansion Adventures (3) The Grue That Binds (3) Another World (1) Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist (1) Ratchet & Clank (1) Ys Origin (1)Mother 3 (5)
Wizball (5)
Spooky Mansion Adventures (3)
The Grue That Binds (3)
Another World (1)
Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist (1)
Ratchet & Clank (1)
Ys Origin (1) -
Comment on How CDs are physically made in ~music
vili LinkI didn’t realise there were so many steps involved in manufacturing a CD. The video is a bit of promotion for both the artist’s own album and I guess the factory that pressed it, but it’s also a...I didn’t realise there were so many steps involved in manufacturing a CD. The video is a bit of promotion for both the artist’s own album and I guess the factory that pressed it, but it’s also a fascinating and highly informative description of the process of making a CD.
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How CDs are physically made
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: September 2026 lobbying topic in ~games
vili Link ParentI think something like Tetris could offer a slightly different approach to CGA than what we have had until now. So far, discussion in the club has largely focused on personal reactions to the...I think something like Tetris could offer a slightly different approach to CGA than what we have had until now. So far, discussion in the club has largely focused on personal reactions to the games we have played, both past and present. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I love reading about people's recollections and reactions to what we are playing. And in many ways it's understandable that discussion focuses on this when the games we have played take longer to get through.
But shorter titles like Tetris, which you either already know or can get a feel for in a matter of an hour or two, might offer more time for people to explore broader topics related to the game. Tetris, for instance, would be a brilliant starting point to explore and discuss games developed in Soviet countries, how games travelled across the iron curtain (in both directions), the "Tetris effect" in psychology, competitive Tetris and e-sports, the lineage of Tetris clones and Tetris likes, or just Alexey Pajitnov's other games. There are also plenty of documentaries, and a fairly recent feature film, that we could watch. In other words: less time spent playing the game itself, more time spent exploring, researching and reporting your findings.
Before we started CGA, I somehow expected there to be more of this kind of discussion, but for whatever reason, it hasn't really happened. And it could of course be just me who would be interested in something like it.
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: September 2026 lobbying topic in ~games
vili LinkWizball Quoting from the Commodore 64 gaming magazine Zzap64!, page 106 of issue 043, November 1988:Wizball
Quoting from the Commodore 64 gaming magazine Zzap64!, page 106 of issue 043, November 1988:
(Paul) Not to put too fine a point on it, Wizball is nothing short of being a work of mad genius! The amount of thought put into this game is exemplary, with a marvellous plot, so many neat control touches, terrifyingly addictive play, beautiful graphic design and some of the best music you'll ever hear from a Commodore. Apart from the addition of more levels, there are no improvements which could be made to this game -- everything you could possibly want from a piece of computer entertainment is in there and nothing has been compromised. I don't know how it missed out on a Gold Medal back in Issue 27, but hopefully the DEF award [for the greatest game in its genre] will go some way to reconciling that small misdemeanor.
(Gordon) There's not much I can add to that: for me, it's a toss up between this and Dropzone, with this winning by virtue of its originality. The only fault I found with it was the initial difficulty, but the subsequent gameplay makes up for that by about a millionfold. It's crammed with cute touches (not something you normally find in a shoot 'em up) and is almost totally unique. I've played it and completed it, and I still play it -- if you ever see it lying around, snap it up, because it's not only the best shoot 'em up around, it's one of the best games of all time.
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: September 2026 lobbying topic in ~games
vili Link ParentThese days continuing as Fully Ramblomatic under the employee-owned Second Wind channel, which was founded by former team members from The Escapist who resigned in protest to the firing of their...Zero Punctuation
These days continuing as Fully Ramblomatic under the employee-owned Second Wind channel, which was founded by former team members from The Escapist who resigned in protest to the firing of their editor-in-chief soon after (you guessed it) The Escapist was acquired by a larger media group company.
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Comment on CGA-2026-09 🕹️🙎♂️🛹 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 in ~games
vili LinkI went into this game pretty blind. I had never played it. I had never even heard of it until CGA. I haven't really played any PS1 games at all. I know nothing about skateboarding. I had to do a...I went into this game pretty blind. I had never played it. I had never even heard of it until CGA. I haven't really played any PS1 games at all. I know nothing about skateboarding. I had to do a web search to find out who this Tony Hawk person is.
I'm playing the PS1 version. I have no idea what I'm doing. I get the physics and that I can do tricks with button + stick combos. But at this point, I'm playing it the same way I play fighting games like Soul Calibur and Street Fighter. Button mashing. I recognise that it's probably not the most productive way to progress. I'm still in the hangar.
I thought the manual could help me. But it's like starting to read a science fiction series from the second book, with heavy in-universe terminology. The manual tells me that some buttons do ollies and others do nollies but I feel all I manage are rollies, hollies and follies. Oh gollies.
The music takes me back. As does the fashion. So, I'm not totally disconnected from the game. I'm with you cool kids. Maybe some safe distance away. And maybe you don't notice me. But I'm here. In the general vicinity of cool kids. (Although only until 9pm, as that's my bedtime.)
I have made peace with the fact that I might never get out of that hangar, but I've enjoyed the couple of evenings that I've been there. I got all the barrels and fighter wings already. I almost made it to 10,000 points once. And I will go back. I'm prone to motion sickness, especially from games of this era, but the 3D engine hasn't made me sick yet, which is a testament to how well this PS1 game runs and was designed.
Based on my personal experiences so far, if I could add a song from the era to the game's soundtrack, it would be Chumbawamba's Tubthumping.
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: September 2026 nominations topic in ~games
vili Link ParentFriday the 13th, Castle of Terror, Project Firestart and The Rocky Horror Show are all, like Maniac Mansion, spooky or horror themed Commodore 64 games set (at least to some extent) in a large...Friday the 13th, Castle of Terror, Project Firestart and The Rocky Horror Show are all, like Maniac Mansion, spooky or horror themed Commodore 64 games set (at least to some extent) in a large building.
Or, if you wanted to go with horror themed adventure games, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Phantasmagoria and the already mentioned The 7th Guest and 5 Days a Stranger come to my mind first. But I feel each of these (including Maniac Mansion) would be long enough to carry a month on their own.
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: September 2026 nominations topic in ~games
vili LinkNomination: Wizball One of Commodore 64’s most inventive games, a surrealist blend of bouncy movement, a scrolling shooter, exploration, resource collection and upgrades management. The once...Nomination: Wizball
One of Commodore 64’s most inventive games, a surrealist blend of bouncy movement, a scrolling shooter, exploration, resource collection and upgrades management. The once vibrant Wizworld has turned dull and monochrome after the evil forces of Zark sucked out all of its colour. In this game, which I can only describe as the most prog rock game made for the C64, it is up to you (a wizard who has turned into a green ball) to bring colour back to the world. Both utterly baffling and joyfully brilliant in equal measure.
There are a couple of places where you definitely know you have reached a dead end, but generally you won’t know if you are in a winless state.
And yes, there are quite a few ways to play yourself into a dead end. In fact, I’d say it’s almost certain to happen.
Maniac Mansion comes from an era when adventure games worked with a philosophy similar to what roguelike games employ these days. You are expected to try things out, fail, restart, try other things, fail, try again, and so on. Every “run” you make gives you more information about the world and the puzzles. After a number of tries, and maybe some help from friends, you figure out what to do. Some games of the era also allowed you to play around with multiple save slots.
Maniac Mansion expands that philosophy and loop by allowing you to choose the kids you want to play as whenever you start a new game.
A couple of years after Maniac Mansion, the game’s designer Ron Gilbert wrote something of a manifesto where he argued against this type of design. You can read it on his website: Why Adventure Games Suck And What We Can Do About It.