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Yeah, I really get some Flight of the Amazon Queen vibes from the screenshots. Looks great, definitely going on my steam wishlist!

Man, it's such a blast returning to the forums again and seeing stuff like this being developed! Looks absolutely gorgeous, Newwaveburrito, and the plot sounds like fun! Really looking forward to this.

Played it around when it came out, and I'm still a bit in two minds about it, to be honest. On one hand, the graphics and sound were great, it captured that mystical, magical feeling of a tropical island while at the same time managing to imply something eerie and otherwordly. And I thought the game's romantic twist on the whole Lovecraftian mythos felt fresh and fun, really glad to see a new take on that kind of story. Doing Lovecraft as drama instead of horror? Love it!

However, I found the puzzling and gameplay to be a bit lacking. They start off easy enough to breeze through without much thinking, which I don't mind in general, I've really enjoyed a lot of the more puzzle-light and story/exploration-heavy games in recent years (Firewatch, Gone Home, Edith Finch, etc) but when the game later on decides to throw in one really cryptic puzzle it felt very out of place and more like an attempt to pad out the games length than anything else. (I'll admit it stumped me and my GF so hard that we almost stopped playing in pure frustration) Which is sad, because there was a satisfying sequence of really clever puzzles closer to the end that I actually enjoyed.

Overall, it felt a bit too uneven, gameplay-wise. I would rather have seen that it focused entirely on the story and exploration and made it more in the vein of above mentioned Gone Home/Edith Finch, or focused more on the puzzles, making them a bit more consistent challenge-wise.
Having said that, I did enjoy the story, the exploration and the whole atmosphere of it, so I would recommend trying it out for that reason alone.

Really looking forward to this! I'll admit that I thought the original had its flaws, but on the whole I really liked it. Will definately buy the Director's cut when it's out on steam! 

[THIS IS IT! This is the game!]

THIS IS IT! This is the game!

Haha! Yay! As I said, I haven't played it (never really got into the Police Quest games) so it really was a shot in the dark! I just remember browsing through screenshots from it years ago and that particular scene with the head just stuck with me... Obviously did for you as well! Glad I could help you find your childhood nightmare, anyway. 

I never played it myself, so I might be remembering this wrong, but isn't there a "severed head in the fridge"-scene in Police Quest: Open Season? (1993)

Oh man, Haggis, I would've loved to play that Boosh game!

Jeez, can't believe this is my first forum post in eight(!) years, hah. I've become so terribly tired of social media recently, and just got the urge to check in here again a couple of days ago. Made me realize how much I've missed the forums, so I might just stick around again. Anyway, </off-topic>. Unavowed looks truly amazing, Dave, been looking forward to it for ages! Gonna buy it on Steam and start playing as soon as my paycheck arrives on friday!

I haven't seen "If..." as Calin recommended, however I do love Lindsay Andersons sort-of sequel, "O Lucky Man", which I definately would say has a rather pseudo-nostalgic and melancholic feel to it, as well as being rather confusing in a good way.

Apart from that, some recommendations that are a bit different from what you described, but might appeal to you anyway:
Early von Trier: "Europa", "Element of Crime", Polanskis "The Tenant", Jarmuschs "Dead Man", Lynchs "The Elephant Man", Jeunet & Caros "Delicatessen" and "City of Lost Children".

Marry me, Rincewind.

Hey, I'm free - let's go to Vegas and do it!

Hey Rincewind, I've been wondering about Metamatic a long time now, but now you kind of convinced me to give it a try! 

Ah, glad to hear that - you definitely should! And don't forget to check out the amazingly bleak and retro-futuristic music videos, as well: http://youtu.be/v78Jmrb1hPY & http://youtu.be/bL6rcCdx8KA

Such a wonderful mash of the weird angles and lighting from german expressionism mixed with that lovely early 80's grey and dreary dystopian feel.

[Godspeed you! black emperor - "F# A# (Infinity)" (1997)]

Couldn't agree with you more on Kayo Dot and Yndi Halda, Al_nino! Two wonderful albums, quite possibly two of the best albums of the 00's. Can't wait for Yndi Halda to release a new one. Damn, now you got me in the mood of posting some suggestions too.  



Godspeed you! black emperor - "F# A# (Infinity)" (1997)
Post-rock never got any better than this. I love GY!BE and everything they've done, but out of all their albums, this is still the one that I cherish the most. An orchestrated, instrumental, noisy and absolutely epic soundtrack to an imaginary apocalypse. Can't even begin to describe how ecstatic I was when I finally got to see them live in London this wednesday.





Bohren & der Club of Gore - "Black Earth" (2002)
A modern masterpiece. Wonderfully dark, slow and sleazy doom jazz that evokes the feeling of driving through an abandoned ghost town in the outskirts of a backwoods american town with the gun still smoking in the glove compartment. Imagine Angelo Badalamentis soundtrack to Twin Peaks slowed down and infused with an even greater sense of dread and foreboding, and this is what you get.




Boards of Canada - "Geogaddi" (2002)
One of modern electronicas greatest achievements. Amazing electronic music that manages to sound organic as well as syntetic - ancient as well as futuristic - haunting, yet nostalgic. "Geogaddi" sounds as if beings from the far future had recorded alien music and managed to send it back in time to be broadcasted and recorded with pre-ww2 technology.




The Cure - "Pornography" (1982)
Their darkest, and in my opinion, very best album. An anguished musical descent into madness and bleak nihilistic depression, backed up by some of the best songs ever to come out of the post-punk-movement as well as an incredibly minimalistic, yet muddled and hazy production that only adds to the pitch-black atmosphere. Plus, how can you not love an album that opens with the line "It doesn't matter if we all die"?




John Foxx - "Metamatic" (1980)
An ice-cold synthpop classic that still sounds just as chilling as it did back then. Superbly retro-futuristic in its style/theme, "Metamatic" is filled with masterful melodies as well as an ominous electronic mood that brings you images of a decaying, urbanized Britain where man and machine are slowly beginning to merge.




Slowdive - "Souvlaki" (1993)
Shoegaze at its catchiest and dreamiest. Filled with hazy, reverb- and effect-drenched guitars and whispered vocals, this is of the best albums of the 90's, bar none. Dream-like, melancholic and marvelously crafted pop music that goes straight for the subconscious.

Arr, I'm in desperate need of some help right now.
I have this song playing in my head that I heard about ten years ago that I would love to find again, but as usual, I don't know who did it or what it's called. All I know is this:

- Musically, I seem to remember it as a mix between an organ/keyboard-melody and a more modern, dance-oriented beat(though still a rather subtle one) Rather repetitive, most likely intended to be a club-hit or something.

- There was also more or less one vocal line repeated constantly throughout the whole thing - If I remember it correctly it was something like "I see you ride o-on a storm / I see you ride o-on a storm / I see you ri-i-ding on a storm", sung in a rather cheesy, crooning, baritone-like voice. I'm not sure if this is sampled from some other song or if this was actually written for this track, though.

- The music video for the song featured an extremely and deliberately kitschy/colorful 50's/60's-styled party in a living room or something similar, with an equally kitschy/campy live-band playing the song in question.

The one time I heard the song and saw the video was through the Swedish tv-show "Mosquito" that aired between 1998 and 2001, and showcased new music/visuals/3D-graphics, so I suppose it's most likely a song made somewhere in between that timeframe. Anyone who has the slightest idea what this song might be, do please tell, because I think I'm going insane from hearing this song play in my head and not being able to find out what it's called...

Woohoo! Finally a friend of mine found the answer to this question that was more or less driving me mad. So I just felt the need to share with you what song I was looking for - It's a dutch dance track called "Ridin'" from 1996 by an act called Doop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSeu0jmF-oA&feature=player_embedded

I have to say it's better than I remember. (and the video is even campier/kitschier than I remember)

The Coen Brothers have made quite a lot of films influenced by noir/with noir-elements mixed in, the most obvious one being the pastiche "The Man Who Wasn't There"(which is available in both b/w and color, if I'm not mistaken), but a lot of their other films also have quite a few touches of it, even though they don't always follow the stereotypical neo-noir route.
Millers Crossing (More of a nod to old gangster/crime-films of the 1930's, but still with a lot of noir touches to it, both visually and dialogue-wise), Blood Simple and Fargo are probably the straightest examples, but even a comedy like "The Big Lebowski" have a heavy influence from Raymond Chandlers convoluted plots in novels/films like "The Big Sleep".

David Cronenbergs film version of William S. Burroughs "Naked Lunch" is also(despite it's general Burroughs-ish bizarre-ness and Cronenbergian share of body horrors) quite Noir-influenced as well. Also, a lot of David Lynch's stuff could definitely be classified as neo-noirs - "Blue Velvet" and "Lost Highway", most notably.

Been playing this all night now, and I have to say I'm impressed by the mood you've managed to create. The mix between point-n-click and action-survival horror works surprisingly well. Overall, it's a bit hit and miss when it comes to both gameplay and graphics, and I have to admit the spelling errors almost drove me mad, but the atmosphere and general entertainment-level is great. However, I've sort of become stuck near the end of the game, and I don't know if it's a bug or something I've just missed:

Spoiler

I've locked up Warren, raised the temperature and oxygen level in the core,
killed Hannah, picked up her ID card and key, but the laser beams are no longer flickering on and off, and haven't turned off completely, so I can't cross over to the other side of the corridor without being killed... I'm suspecting this is a bug making the whole thing unbeatable for me, but I thought it best to check before starting it all over again... :S

[close]

Looking forward to your next game, anywho!

Nobody has ever seen this, including David Olgarsson... so enjoy!

Wait, what? Snake, you sneaky bastard! Downloading and playing this right away, then I'm getting right back to LE-planning, so that you won't release the finished game all of a sudden, without me knowing anything...

Stupot: Hehe, no, sorry, wasn't that one either, even though the lyrics did match. It was nice to hear some late-80's production values and drum machines, though!

Appreciate the help, everybody, but no, as a Doors-fan I can say that it definitely wasn't "Riders on the Storm" it sampled, even though the lyrics are sort of similar. This sounded more like a cheesy lounge-singer-thingamabob rather than the Lizard King, if you get my drift. I'm pretty sure the lyrics were "[...]I see you riding on a storm[...]", and not "[...]Riders on the storm[...]", and the phrasing was different, too.

The overall mood of it was more that of a cheesy lounge act with a very subtle modern, electronic touch than a techno remix, if you get what I mean... It's really hard to describe it, especially since it was such a long time ago I heard it. Hah.

Haddas: Yeah, goddamnit, you're right! I think we're thinking of the same track, 'cos now that you mention it, I do think there were some cowboys in the video, too... Dancing cowboys, even? Damn, now I'm even more anxious to find this again...

Arr, I'm in desperate need of some help right now.
I have this song playing in my head that I heard about ten years ago that I would love to find again, but as usual, I don't know who did it or what it's called. All I know is this:

- Musically, I seem to remember it as a mix between an organ/keyboard-melody and a more modern, dance-oriented beat(though still a rather subtle one) Rather repetitive, most likely intended to be a club-hit or something.

- There was also more or less one vocal line repeated constantly throughout the whole thing - If I remember it correctly it was something like "I see you ride o-on a storm / I see you ride o-on a storm / I see you ri-i-ding on a storm", sung in a rather cheesy, crooning, baritone-like voice. I'm not sure if this is sampled from some other song or if this was actually written for this track, though.

- The music video for the song featured an extremely and deliberately kitschy/colorful 50's/60's-styled party in a living room or something similar, with an equally kitschy/campy live-band playing the song in question.

The one time I heard the song and saw the video was through the Swedish tv-show "Mosquito" that aired between 1998 and 2001, and showcased new music/visuals/3D-graphics, so I suppose it's most likely a song made somewhere in between that timeframe. Anyone who has the slightest idea what this song might be, do please tell, because I think I'm going insane from hearing this song play in my head and not being able to find out what it's called...

Hah, actually, out of some weird coincidence, I know the drummer of the band that wrote the lyrics quoted in that indeed quite horrible picture, since he works at the same local newspaper I write for. Oddly enough he is a video game critic, too. Not that big fan of adventure games, though, he tends to jokingly mock me a bit for my professed love of 2D graphics and point-n-click. Oh well. But yeah, it has absolutely nothing to do with Guybrush, whatsoever.