Community Playthrough - Cruise for a Corpse!

[Andail]

This activity is simple. We all download the 1991 Delphine adventure Cruise for a Corpse.
The game is freeware and can be obtained at various sites, such as the underdogs and abandonia. It's a small and quick download.

I haven't played this game, but I understand that the progress is measured in time, and that each solved puzzle or correct action makes some 30 mins or full hour pass. So I propose that the first segment we play is up to the point where the clock strikes 12:00. I hope this can work out well.
I suggest we give ourselves a couple of days for each segment, so let's say the first deadline is Tuesday, and then we move on to the next segment.

We post regularly in this thread with opinions and comments, and there are no restrictions for how much or how often you can post.

If you can't keep up with the deadlines, just use a walkthrough. I think hiding spoilers in this thread is almost superfluous and quite tedious, so if you wish to try to solve the game on your own, just wait until you've finished the segment before reading a lot of posts.

So, explore the game as much as possible, try out different commands, try alternative routes. Comment about the game's strengths or weaknesses, compare it to AGS games, what could they have done better, what could we do better with AGS, etc. The more elaborate c&c the better.

So, get yourself a copy and let's get started!

[Damien]

Getting the game and running it under windows XP:

Get the game from here.

Now, the game runs fine under XP except it lacks sound. To avoid using DosBox (mounting, tweaking the cycles, bleh), get VDM Sound from here and install it.

Extract the game to any folder you want and run SETUP.EXE first. On the first screen select "vga", "adlib" on the 2nd screen and "Mouse" on 3rd.

The last step is running the game through VDM Sound so it enables Adlib mode we selected. Right click the CRUISE.exe and select "Run with VDMS".
You have a choice, you can use the default configuration or you can create your own, I suggest sticking with the default one in this case.

If you choose to go with a custom configuration and creating one from scratch, you will get a chance to tweak stuff such as enabling expanded or extended memory, setting up a game port, modifying the IRQ ports, etc.

One more thing concerning VDMS, if you select the default configuration and plan to use it for other games, the ports and sound cards you have to select are:

MIDI (MPU-401): port 330
Adlib: port 388
Sound Blaster 16: port: 220 IRQ: 7 DMA1 (8bit): 1 DMA2 (16bit): 5


In game, press left mouse button to interact with the object on screen, right mouse button to see your inventory and press both of them to see the Load/Save/Quit menu.


EDIT:

I haven't played this game, but I understand that the progress is measured in time, and that each solved puzzle or correct action makes some 30 mins or full hour pass. So I propose that the first segment we play is up to the point where the clock strikes 12:00. I hope this can work out well.

Actually, the time that passes with correct actions variates. So far, I don't recall performing any action that advanced the clock more than 10-15 minutes. I'm at ~9:30 at the moment.

[Andail]

Great info there, Damien.

Some general advice when you start playing:
* F10 will open save, load and quit menu
* Right click anywhere to reach your inventory and the map
* The map is your best friend, use it to teleport anywhere, and try this often as locations will unlock at different points.

Good luck!

[jetxl]

I installed and played the game half a year ago. Well, I watched the very nice intro, and then quit. I still have the game installed, so I'm a perfect test subject for this playthrough do-icky.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

If I remember right there was a problem with savegames with the underdogs version.  You could set a save disk and make saves, but if you close/reopen the game it no longer recognizes them.

[Nacho]

Oh! True! that' s why I didn't played the game... If someone can provide a sollution I' m down for this actiity as well...

[Damien]

Well, using the version downloaded from Abandonia, I have no problem. In the main menu I see:
-Save disk
-Save
-Load
-Start over
-quit

Ordinary "save" function works flawlessly. Besides, the game + VDM sound is not even 5MB in size so you could test it.

Get cracking people, I'm already at 12:20 in game and waiting Tuesday to carry on.

[Andail]

Arse biscuits! You're right, the underdog version can't load savegames. That's back to square one for me.

[tube]

The one on abandonia saves and loads fine for me. Using dosbox that is.

[Nacho]

Mine (From Abandonia, as well) works if I use a diskette... 

[tube]

Mine (From Abandonia, as well) works if I use a diskette... 

Try changing the drive using the Save Game Disk option. I guess the default is a:, the floppy drive.

[mätzyboy]

Great choice of game! I had the original for my Amiga. I absolutely love the vector graphics on pixel backgrounds.

I actually think I didn't finish it due to some kind of save game malfunctioning after some specific time. I don't know if it was Amiga specific or if it is there in the PC version too. Might google that, and I may actually join in this activity.

[Andail]

Ok, giving an initial round of C&C here.

First of all, I also played this back in the early nineties on a friend's amiga, so there's a fair amount of nostalgia involved. I remember that we kids played this with remarkable enthusiasm, considering how lengthy and repetitious the gameplay is. I have a hard time believing a group of boys could gather in front of the monitor and feel excitement over any game of this type today. But back then we were happy to see graphics that weren't just scrolling textures or tiles, and stuff that you could interact with, people to speak with etc.

CfaC's biggest strength is the background graphics, I believe, and it's biggest weakness is the GUI. Not only does the GUI feel quite overlooked design-wise, but it's downright illogical at times. Suddenly a couple of seemingly synonymous verbs are added after eachother (examine, search, look etc) and which verbs are available seems arbitrary. Some things can be operated, other manipulated or used. Two identical items may both be useless or impossible to interact with, but still one of them can offer several more verbs to choose from (pick up, get, turn over, open etc).
I think this is a common symptom of its time, but CfaC is too interactive. Too many hotspots devoid of function, simply. In order to lengthen the gameplay, the designers let the player spend half the time just clicking on featureless objects.
This game would be hugely improved with a simpler GUI and less useless hotspots.

In another attempt to add to the game length, you're required to re-visit every location over and over again. Partly because some locations can only be entered at certain times, but also because they will contain different elements and characters depending on when you get there. Quite silly.

Once you've grown accustomed to repeating everything you do ad infinitum, the game starts to feel pretty nice actually.

My next post will be more directly about the plot and the progress I've made.

[Pelican]

First impressions:

The 'cosmetics' of the game. I really don't like the inspector's animation. I love the backgrounds, but Raoul's animations, while very smooth, just don't really match the style of the backgrounds. Its bothersome to me, when so much detail is put into the conversation close ups, that the PC looks so bland and generic in normal gameplay. I don't know what to say about the music... My general rule of thumb is that the decent stuff I don't really notice, but contributes well to the atmosphere, and the great stuff makes itself noticeable. In the few areas that did have music, it was noticeable. Noticeable enough for me to turn my speakers off. I'm no musician, and I can't really say much more than I preferred silence to listening to that. It just seemed far too upbeat for a murder-mystery.

I must concur that the GUI is somewhat haphazard. There is no consistency in commands, some items have more possibilities than others for no apparent reason, and most don't actually do anything. While interactivity can be nice, being able to play around with things as you explore and try to solve the mystery; in this case, it seems to be solely for the purpose of impeding the player. Particularly when Raoul's responses to certain commands seem to indicate you're on to something, only to find its completely useless and irrelevant. Some simple improvements might be to adjust the responses so they are not so misleading, and actually have use for some of these objects - if not for the main story, maybe some side quest, or just some silly easter eggs. More in depth improvements would involve reworking the GUI; and I'm not really sure what would be the best solution to that. Some consistency at least; why does one useless object have more commands to chose than another useless object? A simpler GUI might be best, considering that many of the 'puzzles' revolve around conversation.

On the other hand, the conversation (interrogation) system is a delight. As you question suspects, you pick up more topics to discuss, and you can then go on to question other suspects about this. After a while, it does get to be a bit of a relay, making your way round the suspects to ask them about new topics. However, I didn't find this to be an annoyance, I did feel like a detective gathering information from suspects and trying to trip them up with new facts. I got a real sense of satisfaction when the clock ticked forward after I finished questioning a suspect. Unfortunately though, the time doesn't progress until after the entire conversation is finished, so it was hard to figure out sometimes which topics were the relevant ones which had progressed the story. My only grievance is there were occasions where I wanted to question someone further on a topic after they made an interesting (to me) comment, but there was no option to do so. Also, you can only question about people you've already met, so despite having several people comment on a character, you can't discuss them until you've spoken to them first. This is only really an issue at the start of the game, you'll meet everyone soon enough, but its a bit silly nonetheless.

Onto the specific gameplay for this segment. Spoilers ahead. Niggling bits first. Couple of pixel hunts so far. The paper from the ashtray looks little different from the ashes strewn around, so its easy to miss. The paper you retrieve from beneath Tom's seat is obvious, but a bugger to click on, as is the thank you note. Despite the fact you can speak with the barman, you can't actually question him, and have to show him the paper to ask about the meeting, even though you can question all the other characters directly about it. The key for the desk, how does it end up so conveniently in Raoul's room? There's a real lack of cause and effect, and direction in the game, its very much, "oh time has passed, lets see what's new!" And the biggest nuisance is the scene with Tom and Rebecca, requiring you to enter the screen from the bow. I had this game for my atari and I gave up at this point. I had resorted to clicking everything in the hopes of something new, and was completely stuck because I had entered the screen every time from the wrong end. Shoot me, but I would have preferred the game to be slightly more linear, rather than wandering around hoping to trip over a clue.

Despite all the niggling gameplay issues, it is actually rather engaging. I really enjoyed grilling all the characters and learning about their backgrounds and gossip about them. There's plenty with motive for the murder, and you want to keep playing to find out who really did the deed.

I think that's all for now. Errr, that was a bit long, sorry. 

[GarageGothic]

I don't have time to participate in the playthrough, but I'll comment on a few things I remember from back when I played in on the Amiga (I bought the game just when it came out and still have it here on my shelf, although I don't like the packaging as much as the boxes of my Sierra and LucasArts games).

The graphics were lovely for their time. Especially the backgrounds and the wonderfully animated characters during dialogs. I loved the way you actually saw your character ask the questions instead, instead of just the NPCs responding. I remember that the vector graphics were impressive back then, but I'm not sure that they aged that well, though the animation was about the smoothest thing ever. The intro is still among the most atmospheric introductions to any game, and although slightly different in style, the vector-animated ending cutscene was something I played again and again.

My main issue with the game was - as other people have pointed out - the inconsistency of hotspots. But also the very awkward English translation. Who was the proof-reader? Hercule Poirot? The example that made the largest impression was probably the caption "Tomorrow morning" at the start of gameplay - I mean, unless the whole game is some kind of flash-forward, shouldn't it be "The next morning" or similar? Some of the hotspot names seemed obviously taken from a dictionary and could easily have been substituted with more everyday terms.

[jetxl]

Haven't played it till 12 oçlock but my impression so far.
This game is very french. I've said this before, but many french games have good graphics but suck because of the gameplay. CfaC has the same problem.
GUI says I can do certain things, like I can put the chair up again, but then the main character start to bitch and moan, trying to find excuses why it's so damn inpossible, and that I'm dumb for ever thinking that was an option that would work. It's like talking to my landlord!
Translation is bad too. I don't think a nervous scribbled inventation will be a plessant vacation. And what is the difference between Exmine and Investigate?
I'm not sure I'll finish this game. I probebly will, but with walkthrough.

[LimpingFish]

Unfortunately I already played this game to death, on the Atari ST, back when it was released, so I'll pass on joining in this playthrough.

I remember that I enjoyed it a lot. Although, if memory serves, it has a fatal bug around the halfway mark; at least the ST version did. A a certain item sometimes fails to appear in one of the cabins, leaving the player stranded between hours. It took a lend of a friends save disk for me to continue.

Fun game. Typical Delphine high production values, apparent even on the ST's 16 colour display, from an era when french games were always, if not great to play, at least great to look at.

Enjoy.

[tube]

Although, if memory serves, it has a fatal bug around the halfway mark; at least the ST version did. A a certain item sometimes fails to appear in one of the cabins, leaving the player stranded between hours. It took a lend of a friends save disk for me to continue.

You must be talking about

Spoiler

the screwdriver in the engine room?

[close]

That's the only such bug I bumped into. I just loaded a game I'd saved a bit earlier (and did things in a slightly different order, can't say if that helped) and the item was where it was supposed to be.

[jetxl]

Finished!
The murderer was Dick Smuck. Who would have guessed it.

[Monsieur OUXX]

Several people have mentioned it : the fact that the game is French impacts both on the gameplay and graphics; as a French person, I'd like to discuss it.

It mainly comes from the fact that back in the late 80's, France was still in the "computer race" : we had advanced technologies, our own manufacturers, and therefore our own "computer culture". At the same time, it was the end of a cultural renewal in the pop domain, mainly in the graphics domains : comics, etc. this renewal was a mix of 70's psychedelic pop art and the very beginning of cyberculture.

Those two causes had 2 consequences :
- This very original cyberculture gave birth to very strange pieces of art, beautiful most of the time. Just think of Cryo games, Delphine games, Ishar, etc.
- because the culture was different, this difference had influence on every steps of the game creation : the games concepts were slightly diffrent, therefore the interface also, and the gameplay too. These were attempts to explore new paths, "best practices" in GUI haden't all been discovered yet. As you pointed out, most of the time it led to failures, with games having odd GUIs. for example, in Cruise for a Corpse, I believe they tried to use the same verbs in interactions as one would find in a detective story. the writer never uses twice the same verb (touch, interact, move, activate, turn on...), and spends most of his time describing things - and they did the same in the game, with tons of useless interactions having odd names. It works fine in French, which is a quite descriptive language, but you are right to say that it is catastrophic in English.


I would say that Cruise for a corpse is the exact opposite of Captain Blood/Commander Blood : both have an original GUI and nice graphics, but in the second game the GUI is REALLY original and the graphisms are REALLY good, while in CfaC they chose* to keep standard elements not to confuse the "detective stories" lover (and not to confuse themselves), and it led to quite a bad gameplay

* It's really a choice, because in "time travellers" (by the same people, and using quite the same game engine) the interactions are much better.