Outcast by Atari

[pkt-zer0]

If I remember correctly, that exact twist is not that, but...

Spoiler

the fact that those two other scientist guys got transported not just to a different space in their universe, but a different time as well, so they got there a few years before Cutter Slade. The asshole scientist became the evil godlike ruler, the non-asshole one a prophet that spoke of the coming of Ulukai. They were also responsible for teaching the Talans English. (Funny how well the game manages to avoid metagaming concepts.)

NINJA EDIT: Just noticed, when you go into reply mode, the topic review shows spoilers clearly visible, and with enlarged text. Evil.

 

[Gragt]

Bit more info on how to play the game properly on WinXP: it runs ok but it really needs to be slowed down but the trick is that different speed are needed to do different things in the game. Bear in kind I have an athlon 64 3200.

Starting the game normally will give an error message about bad audio track. Slowing the cpu to 75% did not give me any error at all, it starts most of the time from 50 to 75% but once in a while it gives an error so I start at 75% then augment it during the game to 50%.

I can't move at all if I mount a twon-ha unless I reduces the speed to 75%, if speed is slowed between 65 and 75% sometimes it moves and sometimes not, not the best if you have soldiers on your tail.

Running the cpu at normal speed and the game runs a bit too fast, it lowers mouse sensitivity and some surfaces, such as the mud in the Shamazar, make you immobile. But running it at 75% makes me able to run normally through the mud... 50% gives me the normal speed. Same can be said for the walking speed when aiming.

So what I do is launch the loader, reduces my cpu speed by 75%, once the game is launched I get it to 50% and switch back to 75% only when I need to travel with a twon-ha (and these are available/useful only in two regions of the game if memory serves). A minor inconvenience if you ask me. Note that at 50% the framerate is very high and thus the visuals are fluid, at 75% I can see it suffers a bit but not enough to make the game unplayable.

Other than that I haven't encountered any problem yet, I did set the win98 compatibility for all three executables even though the game seem fine without it.

Another minor issue I encountered is the daoka humming sound that you hear when you get close never goes away even if you leave the daoka's area. I solve it easily by simply entering any menu (inventory, configuration, even dialog). 3D sound is enabled but not EAX as it did distort some dialogs.

I'll update this later in case I run into more cpu speed related trouble. I just hope I won't encounter one of the bugs that make it impossible to continue the game, these involve a communication you should receive that is never delivered. It was fixed with the patches but I have no idea if the cpu speed can influence it or not.

 

[flabbyjack]

How does this compare with Omikron : The Nomad Soul ?
David Bowie is a treat hard to beat.

PS - 300th post

 

[Fez]

David Bowie is a treat hard to beat.

Not if you use a baseball bat.

It's much better than Omikron.

 

[ghostdog]

Much better indeed

 

[MetalCraze]

I doubt it could be worse than the second half of Omikron. it was awful. Quantic Dream sure had great ideas for both of their games but why such stupidity in the 2nd half of them?

 

[Gragt]

I actually played Omikron right after Outcast, a friend (who did not play Outcast) told me it was the coolest adventure game he ever played. I remember seeing pictures before in the gaming press and the whole sci-fi/fantasy feel interested me.

Then I started playing the game (it was a loan from my friend, there was no drm at the time, kids!). First compared to Outcast's fields, mountains, city, etc., the big city of Omikron just felt empty. Sure you had people wandering around but you couldn't talk to them, ask them for directions, they did not seem to follow their daily routines but simply walk around. The game, like many others, tried to paint a living breathing world but failed and as I said before many games still fail at that today while a few, like Outcast in its time, managed to do it.

Then there was the combat... It was a stark contrast: Omikron made you enter some very bad 3D combat sequence or even worse FPS mode while in Outcast action and adventure were blended seamlessly. It was even worse for me that the invert mouse option did not work (yes, I am one of the few who needs to play with the mouse inverted).

And I got a lot of other quibbles like the save system (console like, you need to find rings in limited supply and you can only use them at save points), clunky controls, the fact that each time you got a new body you needed to train again to raise your combat skill, inventory management was a pain, etc.

Hell, even graphics and musics did not compare. As said before Outcast uses software but has a lot of special effects that you did not see until pixel shaders started to become the norm.

So yeah, after experiencing Outcast and its roaming freedom, Omikron just felt constrained and clunky. Plus the story, which started good because of the mystery, started to unravel along the way.

Omikron was a big disapointment, I wanted to like it, I still forced myself to finish it but by the end I was glas it was over and never tried to play it again. Lots of potential wasted if you asked me. Outcast on the other hand left me a lasting impression, even if I did not realise it until now I unconsciously compared many games to it.

 

[Gragt]

Should have posted it before but I finished the game some weeks ago. For those interested it is indeed fully playable under XP with nothing more than the game patched and a program to slow the CPU down if needed.

The game crashed only one time and it was during the end movie. I was afraid this was some incompatibility but after replaying the final fight, the ending proceeded without any trouble so I guess it was a unique occurence.

A word of warning though: sometimes when you give supplies to recreators to have them create ammo for you, your character might get stuck and not give the items, leaving no choice but to forcefully exit the game as you can't even get to the menu when this happens.

Other than that and the CPU speed problems I mentionned earlier, all went fine and the game is still badass after all these years.

 

[pkt-zer0]

So, yeah, reinstalled the game just yesterday. However, patch 2 tells me to fuck off with my illegal copy of the game (when it isn't one). Any idea why that happens? Tried screwing around with compatibility modes already to no effect.

 

[Gragt]

Tried patch 3? What is the message, standard "insert original cd" stuff? You might also want playing with the CPU speed when you start the game. Also a bit stupid and it probably isn't the cause of the problem but it happened to me: cd2 is the playdisc, cd1 is only the install disc.

 

[pkt-zer0]

Whoops, it is actually patch 3. The error pops up in in the installer of the patch, not when starting the game. The message goes something like "This patch cannot be installed for an illegal version. If your game is legal, please reinstall." And this is after a fresh install..

 

[Gragt]

That's a bit weird because you install the patch before you install the game: there is an incompatibility with the original installer so all patches contain a new installer for the game.

Or you have the dvd version? That one has only one patch specific to it.

 

[pkt-zer0]

That's a bit weird because you install the patch before you install the game: there is an incompatibility with the original installer so all patches contain a new installer for the game.

I thought that was only patch 1. This is why it sucks there's only a German readme for patch 3 on Planet Adelpha. That's most likely my problem, then. Thanks.

 

[Gragt]

Patch 1 was simply a new installer, the next 2 patches were the new installer plus bugfixes. During the patch install, it will ask you to insert CD1 (if it isn't done already). Actually right before it installs the game from the CD, I get an error message that the "process failed" yet I click ok and the game installs normally.

Edit: since you did not post, I guess you got it working (hopefully).