The Random Adventure Game News Thread

[Elwro]

SQ2 may have been the shortest adventure game I ever played. I think it was shorter than The Shivah...

 

[Manny]

You apparently play as the POS whinepsafjpelffekjpkwnrv ass kid from the second game which I bought but never completed because I couldn't stand the cunt. And BMIII has him again, a bit older but seemingly no less of a douche.

The game might be good, but there is no way I'm playing as him unless it's gone all sierra on us and I can spend my time finding amusing ways to kill him off.

I remember that the main character of the first part also had that kind of personality: he was an uptight and unbearable "kid"; but I was able to live with it. So, if this is the only problem with the third part, I can buy it.

In any case, according to the review from Adventure Gamers, linked by Jaesun, it seems that this last game is the best of the series. The reviewer, Merlina McGovern, also has a review, at that same site, of Black Mirror II. So maybe you can read both and make your mind.

Black Mirror pt. 1 was unique in how unbearably boring it was but somehow managed to keep you playing until the interesting ending.

This is about the way I feel about the first game. The puzzles were boring and mediocre, but the atmosphere and the story kept me playing it. But the ending was one of the worse I have seen in an adventure game:

Spoiler

the "turn of the screw" they tried wasn't plausible, because it contradicted some of the facts presented at the beginning of the story; also, there were various interesting things that never came part of the story.

If it wans't for that ending, I would considerer BM1 as an ok game and not as a mediocre one as I do.

I have played the German demo for Black Mirror 3, and apart from that it takes like forever (5-6 minutes or more) to get into the story, I really liked the demo. The puzzles are great and well integrated into the story, you get clues as what to do (and the clues are logical and require you to think...) And the ending of the demo leaves you wanting more...

This sounds good. And after reading the AG review, I think is time to download the demo and, maybe, buy the game. Right now, you can buy the third and second games for $20 (at least at sites as The Adventure Shop and Amazon).

Not sure if news but a Space Quest 2 remake is due out... today it seems?

I was following the development of this remake by Infamous Adventures, but I havent't visited their site for months. I didn't know the release was so near. Thanks for the news, made.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

That SQ2 remake appears to be some kind of mini-game promotion for the SQ2 remake, called Space Quest for Glory.

Space Quest 2... short? You know, I've never thought about it, but I think you're right. The only reason I think it's "decently long" in my head is because it's one of the few Sierra games that I completed without any help or hints (oh wait, I did have one hint available beforehand, PUT GEM IN MOUTH) so there was a LOT of time spent trying to figure out some of the puzzles.

Come to think of it, Space Quest 3 isn't that much longer.

 

[Manny]

Not sure if news but a Space Quest 2 remake is due out... today it seems?

I was following the development of this remake by Infamous Adventures, but I havent't visited their site for months. I didn't know the release was so near. Thanks for the news, made.

(Sorry for the double post).

It isn't the remake. It's more like an "April 1rst joke-demo", where you control Roger and fight with a monster. At least it's good to see and advance of how is going to be the real remake.

Edit: Unkillable Kat said it first.

 

[Elwro]

Come to think of it, Space Quest 3 isn't that much longer.

Yes but it has space exploration and combat! :D

I was also amazed when I discovered there were at least 2 methods of combating that invisible thing which starts following you at some point. (Rare for adventure games in general.)

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I was also amazed when I discovered there were at least 2 methods of combating that invisible thing which starts following you at some point. (Rare for adventure games in general.)

But not for Space Quest. There were two ways to destroy the spider droid in SQ1 AND two ways to kill the Orat beast in the cave.

Also two ways to dodge the apeman patrols, and beat the Labion Terror Beast in SQ2, though technically the "latter" method is cheating.

I finally had a go at that SQ2 remake demo... lord, the voiceover is awful. The "game" consists of Roger being in the area where the Labion Terror Beast Appeared, and instead of using the classical method of combating it, you must kill it with a plunger, Quest For Glory style.

At least, that was the idea. I couldn't get the key commands to work for me. To make things worse, the game forces me to use some silly 960x6xx resolution which my card can't run in full-screen. Was 1027x768 too much work for you guys???

This actually makes me concerned about the SQ2 remake. Full-screen gameplay is mandatory for me, and the option to skip the atrocious voice-acting is, sadly, a must.

 

[Elwro]

But not for Space Quest. There were two ways to destroy the spider droid in SQ1 AND two ways to kill the Orat beast in the cave.

Hehe, yes, I only found the 2nd way of dealing with beast when replaying the game some 10 years after my first playthrough... it was nice, I wouldn't expect this from Sierra games.

 

[Manny]

Hehe, yes, I only found the 2nd way of dealing with beast when replaying the game some 10 years after my first playthrough... it was nice, I wouldn't expect this from Sierra games.

The Black Cauldron is another Sierra game that has at least two ways of dealing with some of the obstacles present. The same could be said regarding Goldrush! These games aren't the best of Sierra, but they let you explore the world in a nice no-linear way.

 

[Elwro]

Black Cauldron also provides a possibility of finishing the game quite early on iirc :D

 

[Unkillable Cat]

For a quick playthrough of an adventure game, nothing beats the first Monkey Island game. (CTRL+W)

 

[Bubb]

Black Mirror pt. 1 was unique in how unbearably boring it was but somehow managed to keep you playing until the interesting ending.

Oh man, you are actually right. The ending on Black Mirror 1 was quite good. When you play part 2 you will see how the mighty have fallen. It was abrupt and it made very little sense

Haven't played part 3 yet, but I already bought it and I am looking forward to it.

 

[Jaesun]

While not really News.. let's just call this an Editorial...

How not to market your indie game

http://www.projectzerogames.com/htmlpag ... ngeon2.htm

The developer of Adventure Stories (follow link above) basically has released a 2 - 3 minute (he calls it a Demo) of one of the levels of his game he is working on. Which I found interesting. It wasn't too hard to figure out, but it had awesome stuff like many ways to die (this is a good thing). But that said, the guy pretty much has this approach of "Oh HAI! Check out ma 2 minute game! Send money plz so I can make moar levels!":

Adventure Stories is an old-school point-&-click adventure game inspired by games like Zork, Myst, and those great Lucas Arts titles we all played. The concept behind this combines some of my dungeon designs and layouts into an interactive puzzle-based adventure. I want to make more of these, and eventually move to release a version for mobile devices, so I'm also trying to raise a little money to do that.

The first chapter is like a short demo, and it's free to play. I'm raising funds with donations to fund the completion of the 2nd chapter. If you like it and want to play increasingly harder and more fantastic levels, then you can help out for as little as $1.00. The $1.00 donation will get you a code to unlock the 2nd chapter when it's finished. Of course if you want to donate more you can, as this will help to get the 2nd chapter released sooner. Keep an eye on the bar below to see the amount of money raised so far. This will let you know how close the release is also.

I just found this approach as... odd? If this was me, I would have first worked on a much more lengthly "Demo" and THEN asked for donations. What do you guys think?

 

[Jaesun]

http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,1305

Adventure Gamers have their review of The Next Big Thing:

Pros
Stylish art and superb animation; hilarious script; largely exceptional voice acting; engaging characters, most notably Liz Allaire.

Cons
Flimsy, disjointed story; limited, linear game world; gameplay often either too easy or too illogical.

These few rough edges aside, overall The Next BIG Thing is a lovingly crafted production – its sights and sounds are exquisite, the oddball characters are fascinating, and the whimsical script is epic – the nutty conversations are certain to amuse even the most dour cynic. But beneath the beautiful wrapping rests a thin storybook, too few toys to play with, puzzles that are either too obvious or not-obvious-enough, and Barbie-and-Ken dolls who don't quite click with each other yet. The game is quite limited and linear in scope (taking under ten hours to complete), and while it kicks off with great promise, the plot starts to lurch forward in barely-connected chunks that befuddle rather than intrigue, eventually ending with almost childish simplicity. It also focuses almost exclusively on developing Liz as a character, and consequently leaves Dan woefully shortchanged. Not only that, but we rarely see Liz and Dan together; nor do they ever work in tandem, which is disappointing. So in the end, we return to the crucial question: have we encountered The Next BIG Thing? Not entirely, though it's a sleek and witty debut that's definitely worth a fly-by for fans of offbeat comic adventures, with plenty of reason for optimism about the possibility of sequels to come.

Stasis got another update:

http://www.stasisgame.com/updated-medical-bay/

Ive had this update on my ‘to do’ list since the weekend! The medical bay in the previous post brought some awesome crit from you guys, so Ive addressed those changes in the next revision.

There is also a youtube video as well.

I WANT THIS GAME SO BAD!!!!!

Next

Shadow Tor's Second Game, Bracken Tor got the official update to the release date now scheduled for June 10th. I have my fucking calendar marked now. Loved the first game (Barrow Hill).

And lastly,

The dev of that OTHER fucking kick ass sci-fi game that I so fucking want RIGHT NOW Prominence had a fairly long interview here.

WANT GAME NAOW!

 

[kaizoku]

The dev of that OTHER fucking kick ass sci-fi game that I so fucking want RIGHT NOW Prominence had a fairly long interview here.

WANT GAME NAOW!

I didn't read all of the interview but...

We’re not big fans of dialog trees. You start talking to someone and they know all this stuff and you don’t, but maybe you’re supposed to know them already. And then you start going through the discussion and really – if you’re an adventure gamer who’s anything like me – you want to hear and learn everything they have to say, so you start talking to them over and over choosing different responses just to experience it all and gather up all the information. It becomes a little meta-game that can really kill the immersion.

So instead of exploring choices and consequences through dialog, they remove dialog trees and let the player get info from the in-game computer in the forms of text and video logs in order to kill NPC interaction. :/

 

[Darth Roxor]

In related news, I've just finished Black Mirror 3. It's p. cool

 

[Jaesun]

Incredibly detailed news post there Mr. Roxor.

Did you ever play the first 2 in the series?

I'm still waiting for them to do a Trilogy Pack.. then I'll pick this up.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Did you ever play the first 2 in the series?

Yup. The third part is pretty much exactly what it should be: more of the same + ending to the story, thus, it's p. cool. Another p. cool thing is that it has a 'skip puzzle' button pop up after you've spent too much time on a puzzle and haven't managed to complete it. It's not a cool thing because of popamole reasons, but because one of the puzzles is bugged and cannot be completed at all.

I'm still waiting for them to do a Trilogy Pack.. then I'll pick this up.

This isn't really too likely to appear, though, as part 1 and parts 2 and 3 have different developers.

EDIT: Hey, what do you know, there actually IS a trilogy edition... just that it's in Nazi. R00fles!

 

[Wolfus]

Black Mirror III delayed again... Fuck...

 

[Elwro]

GOG added The Last Express soundtrack to the download! Can't download now so I don't know whether it contains the whole Franck sonata, as it should.

 

[asper]

Holy shit, great news. Hah, I remember desperately searching for weeks for the version of Francks sonata that was used in TLE after I played the game for the first time...

 

[Jaesun]

Dragonsphere FREE on GOG

Never played this. And now I have no excuse not to...

 

[Jaesun]

http://www.dtp-entertainment.com/en/news/index.php

News from the Angel of Death: Memento Mori 2 – Guardian of Immortality announced!
Today we announce the cinematic point & click adventure Memento Mori 2! The sequel to the original game which was praised by the press in particular for its story, graphics and atmosphere, will be released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in Q4 2011.

Lara and Max – the dual protagonists from part one – are on their honeymoon in South Africa when Lara receives a phone call from her boss at Interpol. He asks Lara for her assistance in the case of an art theft from a museum in Cape Town. While the police have already put the break-in on file, Lara and Max attempt to pick up the thief’s trail. In the course of a frantic chase, Max and the thief get caught up in a terrible car crash. The thief’s body is salvaged from the bottom of the steep coastal cliff and Max is declared missing, presumed dead.

 

[ghostdog]

News from the Angel of Death: Memento Mori 2 – Guardian of Immortality announced!

Great ! I'm sure everyone was eagerly waiting for more atrocious dialog, painfully cliche characters and mundane puzzles.




On other news (old news) let me point you to a very good indie horror adventure game called Downfall. Excellent atmosphere and great visuals considering it uses AGS. website , JustA review

The music deserves special mention, it reminds me a lot of Silent Hill.

The dev is making a new game now called The Cat Lady. Go to its website here : http://prawkonj.republika.pl/harvest/ga ... watch.html and listen to some awesome music tracks and find more info.

 

[likaq]

First Trailer of Cardbord Box Entertainment's J.U.L.I.A:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjn9DCek_Io


J.U.L.I.A is indie logical science fiction adventure game made by two people in their free time.

Site: http://www.juliathegame.com/

Looks p. cool

 

[Jaesun]

That J.U.L.I.A. trailer looked pretty cool. Very interested in this now.