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Spoiler

Thanks paolo, I'll check out the manual maybe. I'm still shaking my head that pulling a feather off of a chicken and trying to walk into a house gets me killed in this game, but I suppose it's a Sierra thing.

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Spoiler

All I've got is a chicken feather. I can't even get into the house. If the rest of the game is going to be random clicking with no hints as to what comes next, I might just save myself some trouble and stop now.

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I've got to be honest, I'm findingÃ,  this game incredibly frustrating.

Spoiler

I've been killed like seven times and I just started the game. I can't do anything without the Wizard zapping me. He says I've discovered the secrets of the old magics, but that was never even explained. The generic kill message says I shouldn't let him know what I'm up to, but I fail to see how walking around in the yard should get me killed. As far as I can tell, there's nothing telling me what I should do next. Is the whole game like this? Is it even playable if you don't know the original?

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my ancestral home, Dublin

Seriously?

Bumping for Toronto pics.

I haven't played this yet, but the graphics make it look a bit like a Nintendo DS game. I like!

Hey, I'll be heading to Toronto for the next few days, so I'll take pictures of some of the sights. Hopefully it'll be less snowy come July, but you know, climate change.

Edit: Here we go! It's like a virtual tour of Toronto. Somebody let me know if the high-res pictures are a problem.


We think we're Times Square!


We've got sketchy shopping districts!


We like making new friends!


We let aliens design our museums! (This is the Royal Ontario Museum, a.k.a. the ROM).


We like shiny things that spin around! This picture and all the rest are from the Ontario Science Centre.


What's nerdier than pixel art? Getting your picture taken in tiny bubbles.


How adventure game can you get? The control panel changes the colour of the bars, and pressing the bars causes different notes.


Sports! There's a bobsled simulator just to the left of this picture.


I'm science!


I'm also a sucker for hazel eyes.


At the Marvel Superheros "Science" Exhibit.


Same exhibit. You can lift this car if you want to.


A short video of my favourite museum exhibit ever. I had to push like 10 kids out of the way to get close to it.

In conclusion, science!

Love the graphics. It looks as though a 90s powerpoint presentation and a Dilbert strip got into a freak car crash. Heh, this actually makes me a bit nostalgic. Looking forward to it!

The location looks great, but I really hope the distance from Toronto doesn't make day trips too much of a hassle. Have there been any suggestions for things to do in the Toronto area? I highly recommend the Ontario Science Centre. It's like "interact with object" in museum form.

Wow, thanks so much to everyone who voted for me (and Spooks). It was a happy surprise to get as many nominations as I did, and I still can't believe Spooks got nominated for best game. The awards obviously belong to my wicked-awesome team as well. I guarantee it wouldn't have been the same game without Chris's haunting music or Vince's devilish programming. Oh, also, my crack team of beta testers. Cheers guys.

InnerSpace. Capture icons on your own hard drive and fight off space pirates. Hell yes.

Forget freedom and democracy for a sec and think about what this is actually about.

Say there's a hypothetical virus that's spread by coughing, and that a large portion of the population carries it without ever having a problem. However, let's say 2% of them go on to develop lung cancer. A vaccine is developed. It's made mandatory for the population because cancer is bad, difficult and expensive to treat, etc. etc.

The only reason this vaccine is different is because
1) The virus happens to be spread sexually
2) Some people believe that only "bad" people get STI's, or that they're some kind of punishment for "bad" behaviour.

Frankly, I believe that religious considerations should always take a back seat when it's a matter of public safety. If a particular religious sect doesn't believe in medicine and instead trusts in god to heal them, should their children be exempted from the usual childhood innoculations?

This has got to be one of the most enjoyable AGS games I've ever played.Ã,  The story was well-written, and Rosangela's character was believable in all her redheaded awkwardness. The character portraits were gorgeous, and the level of detail was most impressive. The changing facial expressions were very subtle but added a great deal to the game. There were also a number of very clever puzzles, and as with the Shivah, a lot of them could be solved just by imagining what I would do in real life.

This glowing review has nothing to do with the fact that I got namedropped in the game. Dave, you owe me a sandwich.

In seriousness, this actually inspired me to get going on my game, which I've been a bit lazy with lately. Blackwell was definitely worth the cost for anyone who's been on the fence about getting it.

Aw, thanks desimaui! Glad you were able to finish the game. The sequel is still in the works but it's a long way's off. I'm kind of curious where it will end too.

I got an entirely different meaning from the second set. I saw the lower person exhaling germs, the other person contracting them, and then the unfortunate germ-catcher, er, disappearing. It's like a weird way of illustrating epidemiology...but I do like it.

Just my two cents: Scott Adams's rule of six is useful, at least if you like his kind of humour (I know I do). I don't normally think of it until after I do my first draft, though.

Fluke, I think you've got the joke formula down well, and although the jokes aren't really original, your timing is good. The best advice I got about comics was "Tell funny jokes, not funny ideas." A monkey and a banana sharing an apartment is a funny idea. If the banana walks into the room and says, "Hey Mr. Chimps, have you seen Cheryl?" you might have yourself a joke.

Oh, and add some spaces between the panels, especially since Blip and Radar don't move much. If you were drawing these by hand it would be more of a pain, but since you're doing them on paint there's really no reason not to.

Please, do it for the children! Seriously, those graphics are flippin' sweet.

Heh, I looked it up because BT (the trance/electronic musician) had a song about it on his newest album.

I thoroughly enjoyed the game, and impressed by the usual Yahtzee level of artistry (especially the dialogs). Mad props for the many well-executed scary moments, and the way he was able to tie everything together at last. However, the game felt a bit like a playthrough of confusing/unexplained plot points from the past games.

Spoiler

An army of clone Trilbys? Well, okay, but it seemed excessive that he had to die violently so many times. The worst thing he suffered in previous games was the occasional scare...although I guess he did 'die' in "Trilby's Notes. I had come to like the character a bit much to see him get torn apart so much in this game, and his personality seemed totally different as well.

Also, the suspicions that Siobhan O'Malley from Trilby's Notes was somehow more involved with the Order never came to light.

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All right, looks like I'm in for sure.