Messages

[Gongbot (Greek)Challenge of the TentacleThe Excavation of Hob's BarrowTres Acordes (Spanish)SPHONXGrandma BadassBeyond The Edge Of Owlsgard]

Which games have voice work this year?

Edit: I went through the list myself and came up with
Gongbot (Greek)
Challenge of the Tentacle
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow
Tres Acordes (Spanish)
SPHONX
Grandma Badass
Beyond The Edge Of Owlsgard

In addition, Azazel's Christmas Adventure is marked with voice work, but there isn't any in the trailer. I haven't played it yet.
And Steamed Games:  The Graphic Adventure has the voices from the original Simpsons show and clearly isn't eligible in this context.

I played the demo tonight, and enjoyed it very much. Just like the first game, it feels like playing a cartoon. The animation and attention to detail is awesome, and the music is pleasant. This will be a very strong contender for the best demo award, and it makes me eager to see more in the full game later.

And like everyone else, I instantly fell in love with the baby dino. Petting him in the backsack...aaawww! 

I don't think I ever beat it on the highest difficulty settings on the Commodore 64, so I doubt I'll fare any better here. 

I just played. I've played Super Star Trek or clones of it back in the day, on Sharp MZ-721 and Commodore 64. So this was a welcome tour of nostalgia for me. I actually own the 25th Anniversary game, but never got around to playing it (bought a pack of Star Trek games in some collection, probably for DOS). I recognize the screenshots, but feel a pang of guilt for that unopened box on a shelf in the basement.

I enjoyed playing this. The game itself is the basic game I played years back, but the graphics and sound add a lot to the atmosphere. Even if Picard is the Captain for me, not Kirk. This was a fun casual game (at the standard settings, at least). Controls are easy and intuitive,and I noticed that I buy more into the very limited controls because with these graphics and sound clips, I'm accepting that I don't drive the ship - I give the orders and my officers execute them.

> Well, if it's fancy where we're heading, put on the top hat and dance through the doorway Fred Astaire style to get a laugh from our sister.

+1
  

Thanks to you posting this link, I've now been reading @The Last To Know 's great articles about the games of the last two years. Recommended! (That apostrophe looks weird...but it's the crux of the biscuit, so I'll leave it hanging.)

How's everyone getting along with playing the games?

I doubt I'll manage to play all the games this year. I think I have 19 games left to play, most of them commercial/full length.

>Follow Shoshana

@ponitclickaddict , is it you, perhaps?

Ok, I give up!! Where did you find the magazines??

This puzzle is exceptionally unfair.

Spoiler

Like with the shrub early on, you have to position Grandad in the right spot. He needs to be on the far side of the bed, turned around to face it. Clicking on the lower half of the bed should reveal the magazines. Now, this is the realistic position he has to be in to search that area, but there's no way (at least to my knowledge) of knowing there is something to be found in there.

[close]

It's time to bump this thread up again for this year. In addition to the excellent suggestions for the committee awards above, which can certainly be reused, I'd like to suggest another game from the relatively close past for the Best Innovation award.

The committee will have to do their own choices, of course, but in case they are not familiar with Pedro's Adventures in Spanish, I'd like to make the suggestion that this game be considered for the innovation award. The game succeeds in both being a good and entertaining adventure game in its own right, and a language learning utility. The developers explain a bit about it in the videos on the database page, but to sum it up, the game uses easy-language Spanish, ideal for beginners. Every item and verb is pronounced (may be toggled off) when moused over, giving the player a good indication of both spelling and pronounciation. The game tasks/puzzles start out with introducing names of food and drink, which are necessary to keep up the health bars. This repetition is exactly how words are internalized, except it's done in a game, not in a classroom. Later on, every island the player travels to have different linguistic challenges. In one of them, the focus is on understanding dialogue and descriptions in order to solve the puzzles, for instance.

I was able to play through the game without knowing much Spanish when I started. I think the game deserves to be considered for this award because it successfully merges linguistic learning theory with fun game design. It never feels like a "school program", and all the learning theory is kind of behind the scenes, not getting in the way of the experience.

Edit: Some links:

https://rocketboygames.com/
At the Rocketboy Games home page you'll be able to see the videos featuring the French and English versions as well as the Spanish one.

After meeting a deadline at work, is was great to finally unwind with a long game. So I played this one tonight. Despite owning an Atari ST way back, I've never played or even heard of this game before.

My experience was a wee bit mixed, but the game is absolutely worth playing. First of all, the remake is stunning! The game looks great and runs smoothly. I appreciate that it's been made a wee bit easier in parts, plus implementing the point and click interface. Dead ends and time limits <shudder> So my compliments to arj0n for improving on the original game!

I particularly liked the elevator puzzle(s), the code on the door on the top floor and the treasure hunt in the end. And the box-on-a-rope puzzle.

What I didn't like was a couple of pixel hunts and the massive maze. I needed two hints, both thankfully already available in the hint thread:

Spoiler

I actually tried to look at the shrub in the front yard from another side, but decided it was only a weird phrasing. Even after knowing what I was supposed to do, it took me several minutes. The second hint was the location of the magazines. I didn't like that, both because there was no way of knowing the item existed and because there were plenty of items available that could have solved the puzzle. He's got three drawers full of papers, a hanky, an undie and a towel. Not to mention all the books in the library.

[close]

The maze was par for the course back then, I guess, it's just not a puzzle type I like.

I guess the main character won't be to everyone's liking either. I certainly found him repugnant, but I don't identify with the characters in games anyway, and he's played for non-pc laughs. My daughter wanted to try the game after seeing my maze map, so the jury's out on what she may think.

I'm a bit curious about how many points the vest gives the player. I had 440/500 when I picked it up, then the final screen didn't print my score, but said something like "You got    of 500". I had some unused inventory items, so I may have missed something. I know I did some stuff in the wrong order due to spotting a pixel before it was hinted at in the plotline.

To sum up, the game is recommended if you fancy a blast from the past and don't mind taking the role of an old fart. There are some good puzzles, but also the dreaded pixel hunts, the maze and some deaths.

Spoiler

Why, oh why can't he simply turn off the power while working? The switch is right there! 

[close]

The 1983 game is a text adventure in the Mysterious Adventures series. You can play it online here: https://archive.org/details/zx_Mysterious_Adventures_No._11_Waxworks_1983_Channel_8_Software and several other places. It's not related to the later games of the same name.

Thanks heltenjon, I will check out this novel you mention. Surprised I haven't heard of it.

Can I move this post to the correct topic section myself? I looked but couldn't see where to do it

No, the moderators do that, and it's now in the correct section (General Discussion) instead of Hints and Tips. But to make a mod aware of a mispost, you may use the "more" button and select "Report to Moderator". Up pops a form, and you may write that you accidentally put a post in the wrong section and ask them to move it.

Hope you enjoy Iain M. Banks! He's sadly deceased now, but if you like his writing style(s), there's a whole lot of books to enjoy.

I haven't read any of the books mentioned, but will recommend two books by Iain (M.) Banks that feature games prominently: Complicity and Player of Games. In Complicity the computer game played is something the main character does on his time off, though it may or may not have symbolic relevance to how he views the world. Player of Games is a science fiction novel where a planet elects their leader through a strategy wargame.

Edit: Whoops, I didn't notice that this thread was posted in the wrong section. I hope a mod may move it.

[Public Opinion]

As people are playing through the games of yesteryear before the Awards nominations, please consider also voting/rating them on the games page. For the uninitiated, this is done by locating a paragraph named Public Opinion, just to the right of the download button and clicking on the Your votes link at the end of said paragraph.

Only five of the games released in 2022 has been rated by enough players (5 will do it) to receive a player rating, which is the orange cups. You don't have to leave a comment, and the voters remain anonymous. In addition, this is an excellent way of keeping track of which games you have already played, as the web page link will turn into Want to change your votes? after you have rated a game.

Nooooo! You dug up the Treasure of Obese Bob! WHYYYYYYY 

Because it has the nice Moon poem, of course. And a cool title. And the treasure is made for digging up. 

I guess that's a logo that ought to be familiar, but...   Paw Patrol!

I'm torn between that woman who may be looking up and the possible Christmas ornament on the door of the older woman. Jurassic Park?

[Graveyard]

A collection of four Hourgames with the theme Graveyard is here. They are called:
Roger Finds Treasure
Treasure of Obese Bob
Fuck You, I'm a Corpse
Leo the Gravedigger's Adventure

Tino's Wake Up is here.

The Adventure Think Tank (also known as Troels Pleimert/The Space Quest Historian with friends) has released some pretty entertaining games that are not in the database. On the Gamejolt page we can find a few:
Were We Ever.
All Demons Must Go to Hell.
Long Distance Coughing.
Empty.
Brexit-Man in Airportland: The Rebrexiting.
Ramp It Up.
Danny Sexbang in Celestial Catastrophe.
Kitty Quest.
A Life Worth Losing.
What's in the Safe..
What Spunky Found.

Enjoy!

[MiniGame4]

What are these? Most of the games listed looks like titles in the database, although it would be nice if sincaruk could check on playthrough (if you're going to play the games anyway).

one clue: the cd-rom was burned in 2005, so these 24 ags games are for sure 'oldies'.

I meant specifically MiniGame4 and pqtv2.  I think I understand what the rest are.