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The Omega Syndrome: Game lost to time? [FOUND]

Saduj

Arcane
Joined
Aug 26, 2012
Messages
2,547
Now we just need someone to actually play it to confirm that it's a broken piece of shit.

I played the old version posted by Scarlet Lilith, and that one is likely unfinished because it starts breaking after the first major main quest step. No maps after you enter town will load. I checked the maps folder, which contains all the in-game maps as image files, and found that no maps past the initial ones exist in there.

I will play the newer version tonight, now that we got the registration code.

Bad news for me. I was able to get the old version to work, at least through the first combat and getting the first real quest. Then I saw new version available so I started over...

New version doesn't work for me. If it doesn't crash to desktop, whenever I enter combat I can't move. I can shoot and managed to kill the first two worm things. But whenever I try to move, it expends the AP but doesn't actually move the character, making it unplayable. Patch also doesn't seem to do anything when I run it in the game folder. Game version still says 2.26.

:negative:

Anyway, thanks to everyone who has been digging around for this. Been wanting to try this out for a while. I'm sure I'll get bored enough to mess around with this again but not optimistic about getting it working.
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2018
Messages
50,754
Codex Year of the Donut
New version doesn't work for me. If it doesn't crash to desktop, whenever I enter combat I can't move. I can shoot and managed to kill the first two worm things. But whenever I try to move, it expends the AP but doesn't actually move the character, making it unplayable. Patch also doesn't seem to do anything when I run it in the game folder. Game version still says 2.26.
Sounds like your install is messed up. Fully uninstall the original version then install the version here:
Oh, nice! Got a link to it?

Here you go, this is apparently version 3.27 so it's not the final version but maybe it can be updated with the update files available on the archive.org links.

https://mega.nz/file/Gx0EVaRR#TFHj5o4049hHa22g8CKVk_SCwQ1ACdx6_9-Wz51-MAc

with the patch here:

It should say 3.42 on the title screen and the GUI will look a lot different than the 2.x version
 

LJ40

Cipher
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
612
Location
Wizardry/Ultima/Goldbox
I'm kind of stuck in the starting areas. Been all around the hive and killed everything I could find, but not sure how to progress. Had several crashes so far, all of which when I hit alt to highlight objects in the hive area. Still kind of fun so far.

Edit - Figured it out. Make sure to examine everything you can down in the hive. Missed one spot and it was of course the one I needed.
 
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Saduj

Arcane
Joined
Aug 26, 2012
Messages
2,547
Sounds like your install is messed up. Fully uninstall the original version then install the version here:

I had run uninstall and deleted everything before installing ver 2.26. But I'm guessing it didn't wipe everything because I had uninstalled 2.26 and reinstalled it at one point and when I started the game, it "remembered" that I had already entered the key and didn't ask for it again for the new install.

Uninstalled again and reinstalled on a flash drive. Windows ran the patch properly this time after checking compatibility on the patch file. The patched version won't start and gives the message "BASS_ChannelPLay function not found in bass.dll". Read on the internet that the solution for this for another game is to delete bass.dll from the Windows folder so that only the version in the game folder remains. But, not knowing what the file is or what it does or if Windows needs it, I'm reluctant to do that.
 

Saduj

Arcane
Joined
Aug 26, 2012
Messages
2,547
But, not knowing what the file is or what it does or if Windows needs it, I'm reluctant to do that.

Have you heard of "backing up"?

Sure but moving around the file before and after each time I want to play the game doesn't seem like an ideal situation. I guess I could test it to see if it works at all...
 

Sandor

Novice
Joined
Aug 23, 2019
Messages
25
Thanks for getting this going. Found an issue, in the starting area if you go to trade with the guard, there is no option to exit the trade scree, it gets stuck and the game requires a restart.
 

Monk

Arcane
Joined
Feb 8, 2010
Messages
6,817
Location
Wat
If full screen doesn't work, you can troubleshoot compatibility.
 

Lord_Potato

Arcane
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Nov 24, 2017
Messages
9,836
Location
Free City of Warsaw
With the patch, fullscreen works for me. However the game runs quite slowly. I wonder if it's a problem of my 2006 laptop on which I decided to run it, or something more sinister is happening. Will do more tests soon.
 

Lonely Vazdru

Pimp my Title
Joined
Jan 10, 2007
Messages
6,656
Location
Agen
I reuploaded it, full installer + patch + registration code in one rar:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/hf2ooghrfdl19qi/Omega_Syndrome%2C_The.rar/file
Huston, we don't have a problem !

OS01.jpg


Thanks a lot.

EDIT : Does this game have any music ?
 
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Ray

Literate
Joined
Apr 12, 2020
Messages
8
I don't know how to explain this but I've been struggling to remember the name of this game for 2 weeks now. And I just snapped a few minutes ago and found this thread. I knew I had the Demo on a disk from one of those gaming magazines that were so popular back in the early-mid 2000's but I couldn't find it anymore. The planets must have aligned or something :lol: since we all wanted to play this again. Anyway, thank you so much for sharing. I'm definitely saving this on a USB just in case....:D
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
Patron
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Messages
33,052
Location
KA.DINGIR.RA.KI
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
So I've given it a proper play session or two. First impressions:

- The starting area is ok but the hive is a bit confusing. You must hold your left mouse button down and choose examine on a container where the default left click opens it in order to progress. Kinda unintuitive and the game doesn't tell you this is an option. Had me stuck for a while. Overall this starting area is well-paced though. It is also the newest addition to the game, I think. The previous version had a different starting area.
- Major differences between the earlier version posted by Scarlet Lilith on page 1 and the newest version posted by Jack_Deth: the interface has been fully redesigned, speech skills were added, perks were added - those are all improvements upon the earlier version. But combat has gotten worse, as the earlier version gave you full control over party members and had a choice between real time and turn based modes. Now you only have turn based and party members act independently, like in Fallout or Arcanum. Not a positive change tbh.
- Had several opportunities to use my speech skills, usually they just serve to skip quests. At the start of the game proper (after the beginner dungeon) you get a quest to kill 10 wolves which means roaming the wilderness and hoping to get wolf random encounters. I managed to skip it with a bluff check.
- Dialog and journal entries sometimes reference things you didn't do. In the earlier version, I did the "kill 10 dogs" quest, after which I returned to the questgiver only to find out his camp was attacked and people were abducted. That led to a dungeon inhabited by zombies, the game referred to them as "wild people". This time I skipped the dog-killing quest and convinced the guy to help me attack some agents without doing the quest. My journal still referenced the "wild people" dungeon: "After I returned from the wild people, this guy helped me attack the agents." So the game gives you multiple options in some quests, but then references the default option even if you took an alternative.
- During my explorations I found the house of some gang leader. I didn't know who was inside, but as soon as I approached the guards my character knew who was in the house as I could tell the guards I want to talk to their leader, addressing the leader by name. Used my dialog skills to be let through, and when I talked to the leader my only dialog option was that I needed to buy explosives (do I? I haven't encountered anything that requires explosives to get past; maybe I will encounter it later?). Seems like there are several instances where the game assumes you have done a different thing before, which you may not actually have done at that point, making you wonder wtf that was about.
- You thought eye shots were OP in Fallout? LOL, they are far more OP in Omega Syndrome. Aimed shots to the eyes have a chance of blinding an opponent. Blindness reduces accuracy to -100%, meaning the enemy won't be able to hit any attacks from that point onward. In a fight against two aliens armed with laser guns and plenty of HP, I lucked out and managed to blind both of them in the first two turns. They ended up running away from me as they had no chance of landing a hit ever again.
- The economy is unbalanced as fuck. Downed enemies drop their equipment, and guns are highly overpriced. Even the simple 9mm Beretta handguns cost 600 dollars, and you will pick up half a dozen of those before you even enter the town. Haven't encountered a merchant with enough money to sell all of those off yet, but maybe I will find one later.
- Zombies are dangerous. If they hit you in melee, you have a high chance to contract the Omega Syndrome. That will add a little sticker to your character sheet saying you got the syndrome and have X hours left until you lose your sanity (it starts at 120 hours or so). I don't know what happens when that timer runs out. I always reloaded if my char contracted the syndrome.
- The coolest part of the game are the world map events/encounters. They're random but most of them seem to be unique. There's one encounter where a bunch of crazed policemen stop you, and showing them your special agent ID doesn't dissuade them from arresting you. You can offer a bribe, fight, try to escape, or let them arrest you. If you let them arrest you it's game over as you are locked up and rot in jail. There were a bunch of religious fanatics who want to fight against the aliens that escaped the local research facility, and want to destroy the technology that led to this catastrophe. You can either tell them that you'll join their cult or you won't join a cult that hates tech. With the latter option, they attack you - with the former option, you get a game over upon leaving to the world map as they mark your face with a branding iron as the "initiation ritual" to the cult. There's a lot of encounters that can end in game overs, but usually the game over option is obvious enough to be avoidable. If you choose "climb across the fence" when the text box tells you "You encounter a tall fence with a warning sign on it: WARNING! 1000 VOLTS HIGH ELECTRICITY!" you get fried to a crisp. Well duh.

Overall an enjoyable game but with some obvious problems. Having fun with it so far.
 

Lonely Vazdru

Pimp my Title
Joined
Jan 10, 2007
Messages
6,656
Location
Agen
Last edited:

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
Patron
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Messages
33,052
Location
KA.DINGIR.RA.KI
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
You must hold your left mouse button down and choose examine on a container where the default left click opens it in order to progress. Kinda unintuitive and the game doesn't tell you this is an option. Had me stuck for a while.
Same here, but I found this ancient thread, which is as close to a manual as you can get :

http://web.archive.org/web/20070830141249/http://www.ausgamedev.com/instr_map_001.html

Checked it out and it seems outdated.

Example:
Selecting Party Members

To select a member of your party, point the mouse cursor at the ring around their feet and click the left mouse button.

Another way to select a member of your party is by pressing and holding the right mouse button down and dragging out a box.

The last way to select a member of your party is by left clicking on their portrait in the group member panel on the right side of the screen.

Note: if you press and hold the 'Ctrl' key down during the selection process, you will deselect instead of select.

This was possible in the earlier version uploaded by Scarlet Lilith, but is no longer an option in the newest version where party members function like Fallout and Arcanum companions, with no direct control.

But I guess this is the closest thing to a manual we got.
 

Sandor

Novice
Joined
Aug 23, 2019
Messages
25
Does anyone know how to exit the dialogue screen with an npc? In the first area if I go in the dialogue screen with the guard, there is a ton of dialogue options but no option to exit the screen.
 

Lonely Vazdru

Pimp my Title
Joined
Jan 10, 2007
Messages
6,656
Location
Agen
Does anyone know how to exit the dialogue screen with an npc? In the first area if I go in the dialogue screen with the guard, there is a ton of dialogue options but no option to exit the screen.
There is a down pointing arrow that should appear if you hover the cursor over the dialogue lines. Use it to go to the bottom dialogue line to quit dialogue.

os02.jpg

os03.jpg
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jan 14, 2018
Messages
50,754
Codex Year of the Donut
Some of the previous download links appear to be broken, I never received a response from the developer so I'm going to assume this is abandonware. I'll reupload it in a bit.
 
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Tacgnol

Shitlord
Patron
Joined
Oct 12, 2010
Messages
1,871,734
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Grab the Codex by the pussy RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I helped put crap in Monomyth
Some of the previous download links appear to be broken, I never received a response from the developer so I'm going to assume this is abandonware. I'll reupload it in a bit.
https://archive.org/details/omega-syndrome

Infinitron is this any issue with me linking to this? I attempted to contact the developer but received no response in a year.

This was the last post Davaris made about Omega Syndrome back in 2017. I doubt he'll mind/care if anyone shares it.

Even I don't have a working copy, as it uses outdated tools and programming practices I now despise. If I ever get motivated I may remake it in curses with no GUI, just Vim style commands. Of course that means no one will want to play it. lol
 

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