Escape from Monkey Island™

Escape from Monkey Island™

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Fix launching issues, cutscenes not playing, and play in windowed mode
By <[L4Desu]> FlaSh.G
Fix the game's launching issues and cutscenes being invisible. Also play in windowed mode if you want.

You will need only your computer's text editor and no additional programs. Don't worry, you can't break anything while following this guide.
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Issues this should fix
If you cannot start the game because you're greeted with nothing but a
Could not initialize your hardware
or if you do not see any cutscenes but hear them, this little fix should help you.
How to fix this
Right click the game in your library and click on "Properties". Go to "Local Files" and click the button saying "Browse...".

You now see the game's files in their folder. Don't be alarmed, we're not going to go hacking stuff.

Next up, look for the file named "start.bat". Open this file not by double-clicking it, but with a text editor. If you're unsure how, right-click it and click "Edit".

You should now see a text editor saying nothing but
Monkey4.exe

Change this line to
Monkey4.exe -gl
or to
Monkey4.exe -gl -w
if you want to launch in windowed mode.

Save the file and close the editor.

Now, if you launch the game again, it's possible that Steam wants to revert the changes you just made. If you see a progress bar in a popup window, Steam just reverted the changes. If that is the case, repeat what you just did and try again. For me, Steam gave up after doing it once :)

If everything went well, you should be able to play the game and even watch its cutscenes.

Have fun!
22 Comments
DocZ3R0 Jul 23, 2024 @ 7:29am 
TYVM
VENDETTA Jul 2, 2024 @ 5:10pm 
This did the trick for me. July 2024 using Windows 11.
Full screen mode does not play the cut scenes, windowed mode does.
Configured OpenGL with 32-bit in the configuration launcher. No need for compatibility mode.
As it is soooo small, I just scale my 4K screen to 350% in windows and it is almost full screen.
Xbox 360 controller recognized by steam worked perfectly by selecting use game-pad in game.
Don't even bother with k+m, this is a port from the console game so it will be more enjoyable with a game pad.
AlmightySage Feb 6, 2024 @ 8:03pm 
For those still having trouble with the cutscenes, go to the folder Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Escape from Monkey Island. Start Monkey.exe and make sure you select and apply DirectX on the launcher with 16 bit GFX, also try setting the resolution to 640x480. Cutscenes will play :-)
aranol Sep 19, 2022 @ 12:21pm 
Works like a charm!!
Bedpan Commando Jul 26, 2022 @ 12:12am 
cut scenes do not play for me
Ruthless Jun 28, 2021 @ 9:28pm 
my pc caught fire!
JoeMG14 Feb 16, 2021 @ 3:09am 
I've managed to run the game in windowed, but is there a way of changing the aspect ratio? It's a very small window and won't get any bigger, no matter the size of the window.
<[L4Desu]> FlaSh.G  [author] Jan 28, 2021 @ 1:47am 
@charlottenicholson: Maybe your system is not displaying file extensions. In that case, instead of "start.bat", your file would just be shown as "start", possibly with an icon that looks like a small window with cogs in it.
charlottenicholson Jan 26, 2021 @ 12:48pm 
Hi, I dont have the start bat file? please help
Anomalous Oct 13, 2020 @ 8:06pm 
Fixed it for me. Thanks for the help (also, if it's not working for you, make sure you're putting gl and not g1...they're both letters, no numbers...I made that mistake).