Messages

Wyatt: I felt similary. Spoilers for last part of the game follow.

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When Max was throwing Ben all over the place during the dialogue, I figured you'd have to push one of those statues on him. I don't mind the actual resolution that much, however, I felt the dialogue was anticlimatic. It was basically "Hey, the cardinal is insane!" "Huh yeah you're right. Bye!". Considering the guy was basically the second in command of the Knights, and he killed Simon, that just felt way too easy (compared to, say, the final dialogue puzzle in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, but then, that is the greatest adventure game ever).

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I'm at the point where

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Okay, I defeated the robbers and got the invitation. I also extinguished the BBQ and turned the kitty black. Now I'm stuck again.

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Sounds like you didn't find all places you can visit on the map. Check the part of the map west (left) from your beach house. You should be able to figure the rest out.

Well, the download took like three minutes... not really forever in my book.

Anyway, even though I have an aversion against getting weird machines to work, I'll check the game out later tonight and be back with impressions.

Oooh! I hope it'll be released on the 25th. That's the day I have my last graduation exam, afterwards, I'm gonna be OH SO VERY FREE... and drunk. Very, very drunk.

Pelican:Ã,  You're right; a player character must be in danger of death in most horror games.Ã,  And it's not enough to allow the player to replay from the point before death; no, he/she has to restore, old-skool.Ã,  That way, the player is less tempted to do stupid things that they would never attempt in real life.

Anyhow, that's my 2$.Ã, 

That actually depends. If the danger is sort of visible or clued in (even if it's only implied... for example, when you decide to enter a dark cave, it's common sense to save your game first), or you have a chance to avoid it (by running away when a monster approaches, or seeing / hearing it from the distance before you encounter it) - okay. In fact, I actually enjoyed trying to find all the possible ways to die in Zak McKracken and Maniac Mansion, for example, and especially in the SQ games, since you usually got a funny quip.

But if it's random deathtrap #56 that activates because you... I dunno, decided to open a door, there should be a sort of automatic reset to "before" the moment of death.

Take the Nancy Drew game Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake as example.

Vague spoiler, nothing story-wise:

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You see a note tacked to a wall. When you go closer to read it, Nancy says something like "It says: DANGER! Floorboards are roooo..." and falls to her death.

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I considered it pretty funny when it happened, but that scene would have pissed me off quite a bit if the Nancy Drew games didn't have the "Second Chance" option which allows you to continue after you do something lethal. 

The problem is, unless the character can be killed, a lot of the fear is taken out of it. You will quite happily explore the haunted mansion, if you believe you are invulnerable. I guess the challenge is to make the player feel like they are in danger, without resorting to action sequences. And at the moment, I'm stumped!Ã,  :

Exactly. I thought Dark Fall was really scary at first, for example...

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when you enter the second floor corridor and the light starts dimming.

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But when I noticed that you don't seem to die no matter what you do - at least I never died during the game, but maybe it's possible if you do something extremely dumb or something - the whole horror started to lift. That's what made games like Silent Hill and Fatal Frame scary - you had no idea whether something is creeping up on you right now. I'm not a huge fan of "make a wrong step and die" adventures, but in a horror game, I think it's neccessary or the game won't work. I mean, it's hard to be scared of the huge scaly demon in front of you if it doesn't attack you.

EDIT: Whoops... the spoiler tag is HIDE, not SPOILER... my bad.

I've been wondering... has the "everyone has an unusual ability" thing inspired by Xanth? I've been toying around with the idea of making a game with the same idea (or even a Xanth-Fan-Game), but scapped it for various reasons (mainly because I'm a horrible artist).

THE best? Hm... either DOTT or Sam and Max. Maybe FOA too, or the first Monkey Island... strangely enough, I never really liked the second one all that much. Not Maniac Mansion, because that's already included with DOTT... Zak though.

And as Da Fool said, Eric the Unready was pretty awesome, too.

And while I'm at it... how could I forget Zork? I played that in third grade or so, when I knew only a handful of english words... my mom bought it for me at a sale without realizing that the whole game was text-based. But interactive fiction (as it's nowadays called) helped me improve my english A LOT.

If you leave too few clues the player will feel unsatisfied. And never go for the "it was all a dream" ending!
The stakes have to be real and the monster has to be real, else the fear will not be real.

Oh, you can... if you have a very good reason.

Examples... oh well, those would be spoilers. Hm. How do I do this? Anyway, I can think of three examples, one game and two movies.

Very vague hint for the game:

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It's from Konami and a bit dated now.

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Name of game:

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The bad ending of the first Silent Hill.

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And the movies... oh, well. I guess I can't find a good way to give hints for them. Just look at them if you are pretty sure you know which two movies I mean - both are pretty well known.

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Jacob's Ladder and to a lesser extend Devil's Advocate (the one with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves... could be named "The Devil's Own" in the US, though.

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As for the topic itself... rendered graphics look very sterile most of the time, unless they're professionally done. Unless you want to have a sort-of-sterile setting like a space station, I'd advise against it.

And yes, music is EXTREMELY important for the scaryness factor.

No, that's unfortunately just the slideshow demo or something. The game I mean is called "Quest for Orgy - So you want to be a Porn Star", and it was shut down after like a week by Sierra just like PAWS shut down the Garfield game. Though the Garfield game can be found easily enough...

So, did anyone find Quest for Orgy? Like, the full version? I've been looking for it for a while now.

Just a little hint:

Some puzzles can be solved in totally different ways...

I found one!

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You can also open the tapestry by shooting the chandelier and using a shard.

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That version of the riddle makes much more sense, so I have to take back what I said about wacky puzzles above. Also, the line I considered way out of character above is much better in the english version.

Oh, could you give me a hint for the other alternate puzzles?

Could anybody give me a hint on how to open

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the safe?

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Well, there IS a thread in the hint section... anyway...

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You should already have the item in your inventory... maybe you just didn't find it yet.

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Look at the coat.

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Just a little hint:

Some puzzles can be solved in totally different ways...

Ooooh? Bonus marks for alternate solutions!

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Something with the chandelier, the fire or the armor, perhaps? Those were the only things I considered red herrings... I think I used everything on it.

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I'm stuck, have no idea what to do next. So far I have

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loaded the shotgun, shot a bird, revived the cat, in inventory I have, scarf, raincoat, wire, socks, wood, matches, jewels, feathers, gun, and revived cat. Also shot an old lady!

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Wow, I never got an old lady... anyway, examine the tapestry.

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Looks like you have to cut it off somehow...

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Trouble is, you don't have a knife. But you DO have something else that's sharp... if it cooperates.

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You have to get the cat to slash the tapestry for you.

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There's something it likes. You just have to find a way to stick it to the tapestry.

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But you don't have glue. Static electricity, maybe?

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Rub the scarf on the tapestry, throw the feathers against it, then use the cat on it.

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You already have the combination in your inventory... maybe you just didn't find it yet. LOOK closer.

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Oh dear... you're all doing a lot better than me!  I'm already stuck and so far I only have...

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Matches and a shotgun with some powder in...

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Where'd you all get these exciting things from?  What am I so obviously missing?!

Takara.

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Look under the bed for a start. Just use the "look" icon on it.

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You've got to SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER!!!... okay, with something else.

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Like... the board.

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First, put the spring on the carpet, then hit it with the board.

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Only highlight one at a time:

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The shotgun isn't ready to fire, so preparing it would be your next move.

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First of all, you need gunpowder or a reasonable substitute.

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The matches will do fine.

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Then, you've got to compress your makeshift gunpowder...

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...with the wire.

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And finally, you have to load it with something that resembles a bullet...

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One of the jewels.

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Well, that was super dumb, but kinda funny at the same time. The puzzles were... kinda weird, but considering it's so short, a bit of trial and error is perfectly okay, especially for a game done in just three days. I especially like the graphics... I guess the "title screen" would have taken me three days alone.

I played the german version, and there was one thing that was totally out of character in my opinion.

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The "Ah, deshalb quietscht das immer so beim Vögeln". A bit too crude, I think. I realize that it's supposed to be the joke, but still.

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Thanks, you were very nice to help me. I got past the butcher and got the acid from the candy shop keeper but how do you get into the school? The dentist gives me choice of instraments to take but I can't see anything that would make a tool to open a door? Can you help?

Sort of...

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You have to use the acid to open another entrance to the school... you won't get in through the door.

But you can't pour it with your fingers. One of the items the dentist doesn't melt when you use it with acid... (if you already melted an instrument, you can exchange the broken item for another one.

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And if that doesn't help, here's a step-by-step guide...

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Take the spoon. Pour acid on the spoon, and melt the bars that block your way in the sewers (on the main village screen). Enter the school through the sewers.

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