Exploring the pirate town of Mêlée Island
(This article originally appeared in Wireframe #43 pp.48–49, and has been slightly edited here.)
The otherwise grim year 2020 marked the 30th anniversary of The Secret of Monkey Island; of a game that defined contemporary point-and click adventure game design and shaped not only its genre, but how humour, world-building, and puzzles could be interwoven. Despite featuring pirate-themed T-shirts and security doors during the era of buccaneers, Monkey Island still managed to conjure a believable sense of place. Its most iconic location was the picturesque and masterfully constructed pirate town on Mêlée Island. This was designed for the EGA graphics format, which only allowed for 16 colours and a resolution of 320×200. Its visuals were the work of Mark Ferrari, who also kindly offered some insights for this article.
MEET THE TOWN
Following the famous opening, where protagonist Guybrush Threepwood introduces himself and declares he wants to become a pirate — suitably, on an outlook above the Caribbean — players walk down a seaside cliff to enter the harbour of Mêlée Town. The first buildings glimpsed are in beautiful, dark shades of blue — most of the game is set at night. The blues of night-time, as Ferrari remembers, worked best under the EGA limitations. Helpfully, four of the EGA format’s 16 colours were shades of blue…
