Mapping It Out
The EGA Secrets Of The Islands
How strongly did EGA influence your artistic choices?
Back then, art was never designed in separation from technical limitations. Disk storage capacity and our palette determined it to a great degree. LOOM and Secret Of Monkey Island take place at twilight and night, because the strongest part of the EGA palette is its blues. There were more blues in the EGA palette than there were any other colours.
What was your illustrating process?
I drew on-screen with a mouse. I didn’t sketch out anything on paper. With the notable exception of Mêlée Town, I didn’t even have any visual reference. I just sat down making lines and filling and dithering shapes on-screen. The reason was that the colours and resolution were so limited that almost nothing in preliminary pencil sketches would have been transferable anyway. You use reference to be aware of details that your mind normally forgets or get complex lighting correct. There is virtually no complex lighting when working with EGA, and there are no details.