 Stemmle likened the game's episodic development to a relay race, and the development of a full game, such as Escape from Monkey Island, to a "marathon". This production method meant that certain aspects, such as the game's graphics, were worked on until the release deadline. Each episode took around four months to complete. Only a few environmental resources were reused between episodes; while Telltale Games had built previous games such as Sam & Max Save the World and Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures around one set of locations, using the protagonists' homes and nearby streets consistently in each episode, the developers forwent such central hubs and "comfort zones" in Tales of Monkey Island, instead having each episode move off to a new primary location, only occasionally revisiting past locations. However, reusable skeletons and animations were developed for the supporting cast, including generic body types that could be visually altered to suit each character. While four of these were created, size constraints resulted in only two being included in the final game. By the game's third episode, Telltale became unsatisfied with this system, and began diversifying facial features, and providing supporting characters with unique silhouettes and animations.
