[nikolas]

Anna,

Oh boy! no music? I do think that you missed quite a lot... :-/ (if I may say so myself)

I can only think of two things right now, without being 100% sure really.

1. You accidently also deleted the music.vox file (the music file). I'm not really sure about this, since I imagine it also holds the sfx sounds... Either way, if this is the case, just reinstall the game.

2. go to winsetup.exe (double click it) and take a look at the the setting on the right. The digital music must be either in wabeout, or direct sound, and the two options bellow (use digital music pack and use speech pack, must both be selected)

You are talking about the demo, or the whole game, btw? Because the problem with the atropos.avi file is only in the demo, not the full game.

Anyways, if these two things above do not work, I'm not sure what it could be, but I'll notify Alkis to take a look at it. He is getting tons of e-mails and is unable to keep an eye on different forums, as far as I know.

[VOLKANA]

I think getting a ton of emails is a good thing. Right? It suggests that many people out there playing your game... I was really impressed by the English too... If i hadn't seen your site i wouldn't imagine that this one is a game made in Greece... :-)

[annaluna]

Originally Posted by nikolas

Anna,

Oh boy! no music? I do think that you missed quite a lot... :-/ (if I may say so myself)

you were absolutely right nicolas, the music is great and adds another dimension to the story as you thought my second box in the winsetup was unchecked, i just finished the game again with the music on , really the first game that i replayed so quickly
thanks again
anna

[nikolas]

I was wondering what happened with your 'case'. Gald I could help, and even more content that you enjoyed the game even better with the music on.

[alkis21]

The long-awaited Adventure Gamers Review is here!

Although it is less enthusiastic than the other reviews I've read, I would nevertheless like to thank Mr. Williams for his comments and promise to take them under serious consideration in my future games.

The only thing I'd like to comment on is that I find the reviewer's claim that the game can be completed in maybe 4 or 5 hours extremely inaccurate.

[Toefur]

Hi Alkis,

I don't get the time to check out this site and play games as much as I once did, but I saw the review for the game on visiting the site today. I just wanted to say that the game sounds promising. I know that my young brother and I greatly enjoyed Other Worlds years ago when you released that, so I am looking forwards to playing this one. As soon as I have my monies sorted out, I will be purchasing this game.

Looking forwards to it!

[stepurhan]

Originally Posted by alkis21

The only thing I'd like to comment on is that I find the reviewer's claim that the game can be completed in maybe 4 or 5 hours extremely inaccurate.

Presumably you think the gameplay time is longer. I can't imagine the 4 or 5 hours figure was plucked out of thin air though. What is your estimation of gameplay time? Also would your estimate be for just the critical path (solely doing what is necessary to complete the game and nothing more) or including viewing extra details you've put in?

[alkis21]

The game is easily four times longer than that if played at a normal place by an average gamer. It will last even more for most people. I know it by heart of course as I created it and even I would have trouble completing it in 4 hours even if I skipped every line of dialog and only sticked to what needs to be done in order to progress.

I will not comment on anything else the reviewer said as it's based on his opinion which I respect, but I felt the need to correct that point as it is a matter of fact, not a matter of opinion. It's no different than someone saying that the game uses 1st person perspective.

[nikolas]

Since there is a walkthrough available (and I used it while checking out the last beta), I do know that it does take around 3-4 hours to complete, with clicking away most dialogues away. In all truth, in all forums I've been and people discussing it, I've never seen anyone finishing it in less than a day or so (not straight through 20 hours of play, for pit's shake! )

[AGA]

Perhaps my estimation of the length was a bit low, since I played the game through in a few sessions. It definitely didn't take as long as 20 hours, but perhaps I should see about adjusting the comment in the review, thanks for pointing this out.

[Len Green]

Presumably you think the gameplay time is longer. I can't imagine the 4 or 5 hours figure was plucked out of thin air though. What is your estimation of gameplay time? Also would your estimate be for just the critical path (solely doing what is necessary to complete the game and nothing more) or including viewing extra details you've put in?

I do not believe that anybody has or can finish DITR in 5 hours - in any which way!
The Reviewer himself has now amended his contention to "Under 10 hours".
I think that hardly any players will finish it in under say a dozen hours unless they take a few peeks at the walkthrough (or searched Hints Forums... whose helpers have generally used the walkthrough to overcome their not infrequent stucknesses!).

The review has some personal subjective criticisms of the game to which the Reviewer is 100% entitled. But in addition to the length of the game there are IMHO several factual aspects which are unfairly biased !
Please see :-
http://www.adventuregamers.com/forum...ad.php?t=22404

[stepurhan]

Originally Posted by Len Green

The review has some personal subjective criticisms of the game to which the Reviewer is 100% entitled. But in addition to the length of the game there are IMHO several factual aspects which are unfairly biased !
Please see :-
http://www.adventuregamers.com/forum...ad.php?t=22404

The assertion that there are factual errors in the review has already been responded to prior to your making this post. As has been pointed out in the other thread, apart from the assertion about length (which, as you accept, the reviewer has already amended) the items you point out are opinions and NOT facts. This is a very important distinction and I would request that you refrain from mixing the two in future.

I also feel it only fair to point out, for the benefit of those that don't follow through to that other thread where you admit as much, that you were involved in the development of the game. It is natural that such involvement should make you keen to defend the game but it is important that, like alkis and nikolas have done, you make your involvement clear in all places you are doing so.

[alkis21]

I want to point out (before this discussion escalates) that I am the only person who is legally and financially related to Atropos Studios (as co-owner). Nikolas worked on the game's music and sound engineering under a contract, while Len offered substantial pro bono services, mostly in the area of text editing and beta testing.

What I'm trying to say is that their opinions, as expressed in this forum or anywhere else, do not necessarily reflect the official AS views.

[Len Green]

Post garbled ! Redone !!!

~~ Stepurhan ~~

I also feel it only fair to point out, for the benefit of those that don't follow through to that other thread where you admit as much, that you were involved in the development of the game.

I did not "admit as much" but stated it purposely and boldly as an introduction, at the very beginning of my post!

The items you point out are opinions and NOT facts.

IMO they are facts.
In my post I "requested the Reviewer to post any places where he observed any “awkwardness in the writing".....
I also asked him "to point out any spelling &/or grammatical mistakes."
In addition I asked him to post any places where the voice acting "sounds a bit irregular, with stresses on the wrong words in sentences".
If he posts a few of the above (as I said I can easily & quickly check, having 72 Saves) and if he is correct, I will sincerely apologise for maligning him
If not ... they are facts and not merely my opinions set down without objective backing.

[skurken]

Just wanted to say I respect Alkis21's way of handling this. Very professional indeeed.

Oh and Len, IMO, I really think you are confusing opinions with facts. Whatever your credentials are, sorry.

Carry on!

[CoyoteAG]

I wish it was available as a download. As more and more developers do this I really love it. We live in an age of "instant gratification" and I am one who is used to that. I love being able to buy a game and play it within a few hours. I know that a lot of people like to have the boxes and save them but both versions can be offered. Would it be difficult to make it available for download?

Just a suggestion from an avid adventure gamer for this game or any future games that you may make. I'm sure I'm going to order this anyway, but if it's going to be available for download in the future, I'd wait.

[alkis21]

I'm afraid there are no plans for a downloadable version of DITR, for a variety of reasons.

[Jackal]

Originally Posted by skurken

Just wanted to say I respect Alkis21's way of handling this. Very professional indeeed.

Ditto.

And I trust the pointless argument won't actually escalate any farther, as that would reflect poorly on the game through no fault of its own (or its developer). This thread is about the game, not Len's opinion of AG's review.

[stepurhan]

Speaking personally I shall probably get this game despite the mediocre review here. The main reason for this is the nicely thought out demo.

Two things stand out from the demo to bring me to this conclusion.

Firstly, I just like the thoughts system. I have played games with this sort of system before (Lewton's notebook in Discworld Noir) but the post it note layout and active thought option make it easy to use. I think this sort of system helps bridge that gap of getting a character to make a connection that a player has realised. It's so often frustrating when you know what you want to do but can't get a character to do it because of this knowledge gap.

Secondly, sufficient plot is dangled in front of the player to leave them hungry for more. The lead character has taken a fatal poison? I so want to know how someone can come to this point.

If the review had said the payoff was a let-down I probably wouldn't bother (a poor ending can be worse than not knowing) Since they said exactly the opposite then I think I'm prepared to put up with any issues (and it might turn out my opinion differs anyway) to reach it.

So hats off to the Atropos Studios team. You've made a demo that does exactly what a demo should, entices people into playing the full game.

[alkis21]

You know, what's interesting is that many people who played the game said the exact opposite to me. They claimed that the demo did not do the game justice at all, mostly because it was rather short and the puzzle included was not one of the good ones.

Anyways, for those of you who speak German two more reviews are online:

Adventure Spiele (4/5 stars)

Adventure Archiv (83%)

And for the handful of you who speak Greek , this month's issue of the PC Master magazine features a review too (80%).