[Arial Type]

Originally Posted by Phod

Kinda shocked to see the "engine" called bad or slow. I've played all recent adventures on the same computer and Gray Matter is easily one of the quickest.

You must be doing something wrong.

Is it? Then there must be something wrong with me, what a relief Although I have a fast PC, sometimes there's enough time to read two messages. And not all of them are idiotic, Fien. There are some historical or in-game facts, about Sam's boyfriend for example. Anyway, I play on the highest conf and that's hardly too much for a rendered game...

As for

Originally Posted by Fien

And I don't want the game to produce the name of every object I look at. I can SEE it's a portrait, a chair, a table. If there's anything in the manual about turning this superfluous "service" off I haven't found it.

I also wish it was turned off, because the pauses they take to appear are really irritating. Then again, there are those little things Roper Klacks talks about. The interface could've been so much better.

[Fien]

Originally Posted by Arial Type

Is it? Then there must be something wrong with me, what a relief Although I have a fast PC, sometimes there's enough time to read two messages. And not all of them are idiotic, Fien. There are some historical or in-game facts, about Sam's boyfriend for example.

Facts about Sam's boyfriend which I miss out on because the loading times are not long enough? The irony! Especially after So Blonde.

The story really really has to be good...

[Lupin The Third]

I'm wondering if the US release of this might actually get an overhaul and improved animations as first announced. When Lace Mamba announced the delay last month into next year they announced that it was for quality issues. Yet now the game slips out in some Euro territories before the February release date. I wonder if they figured most gamers in these regions would prefer to play it now, regardless of animations and such, and they'll simply tidy it up for the US and elsewhere? Will be interesting to see...maybe the worldwide release will address some of the complaints. Then they can re-release it in Germany and such as a "Director's Cut" version....

[Roper Klacks]

Originally Posted by Lupin The Third

I'm wondering if the US release of this might actually get an overhaul and improved animations as first announced. When Lace Mamba announced the delay last month into next year they announced that it was for quality issues. Yet now the game slips out in some Euro territories before the February release date. I wonder if they figured most gamers in these regions would prefer to play it now, regardless of animations and such, and they'll simply tidy it up for the US and elsewhere? Will be interesting to see...maybe the worldwide release will address some of the complaints. Then they can re-release it in Germany and such as a "Director's Cut" version....

I really doubt that.

[inm8#2]

Reading this thread gives me so many different emotions:

Jealous - game is not out in US yet
Disappointed - people are complaining about graphics when it has been known a long time that this game has had budget issues; I can't criticize downloaders who have paid for or will pay for the game, but Jane Jensen and her team of developers deserve every penny from anyone who plays
Excited - overall people seem to really be enjoying the game
Bittersweet - having waited so long, it's tough to accept the game is actually done!

[Phod]

The ridiculous nitpicks this game is getting is hilarity.

[diego]

Because we're talking Jane Jensen here. It's just if Roberta Williams would to make a new game, or Tim Schafer (oh yeah, he did).

But Sierra was big company, and people should realize that not only Jensen herself made all that puzzles, scripts... So, you gotta give a credit to this new team also and not judge it by the retrospective of one of the best games of adventure games heyday.

[ncf1]

I admit, its been such a long time coming, this game has, that expectations are ridiculously high. As I relax into it a bit more and simply enjoy it, this adventure is simply a class above; its the best adventure game in years and I think as the dust settles a bit it will be thought of as another Jane Jensen classic.

[Arial Type]

Originally Posted by Fien

Facts about Sam's boyfriend which I miss out on because the loading times are not long enough? The irony! Especially after So Blonde.

Yeah, that's the life. Though I'd prefer quicker loading times.
There are also some of the nicest references to Janes' games I ever saw in Janes' games. And even a reference to her favourite movie.
And her favourite toothbrush...

[Phod]

Through the second chapter and the game continues to get better. The gripes about the graphics are pretty petty. The backgrounds are fantastic, the models aren't incredible but they aren't awful either. The biggest issue is the animations which are very clunky: people turning around in place to get lined up correctly, etc. Sure it breaks immersion a little bit but I still think it's a large nitpick. If you play adventure games for cutting edge visuals and flawless animation then yeah, Gray Matter ain't your thing.

The story is really good so far, in my opinion, and you can just tell it's by a professional writer. The pacing is fantastic. Compare this to some recent adventures and it's just laughable the difference. So while the game may lack polish in the graphics/animation department, it lacks none in the writing... at least so far.

[Hannes]

At the end of chapter 1 now and really loving the game! You can so tell it's a Jane Jensen game, from soundtrack to the story. I guess I'm not disappointed because I gave up on this game before it got released and when I started playing it, I expected it to be buggy and unfinished, but it isn't. It's really nice, and I hope they'll make more games together!

[Hannes]

Originally Posted by ncf1

I admit, its been such a long time coming, this game has, that expectations are ridiculously high. As I relax into it a bit more and simply enjoy it, this adventure is simply a class above; its the best adventure game in years and I think as the dust settles a bit it will be thought of as another Jane Jensen classic.

I absolutely agree. Someone said Syberia is far better than this.. I disagree 100%. Syberia had cool graphics and it was longer, but lacked in the story side; Syberia was filled with story "shortcuts" and rushed even.

Originally Posted by Phod

If you play adventure games for cutting edge visuals and flawless animation then yeah, Gray Matter ain't your thing.

I agree with your points as well. Then again, if you play adventure games for cutting edge visuals, you're screwed, as they don't really exist. Expect an adventure game, not a big budget Hollywood-graphics and you can't go wrong with this.

[Hannes]

Originally Posted by Arial Type

The engine by Wizarbox is bad. It was bad in So Blonde, it's still bad in Gray Matter. Long loading times, irritating hotspots, painful pathfinding - that's something a polished game shouldn't have. And as far as animation goes...

We saw rotoscoping, FMV and even realtime 3D. That was in 90th. It's XXI century now, and the best they came up with is the "black screen" magic? I understand everything, but they could at least add some comics in between.

Of course, I can live with it as long as the writing will remain as good as it is. As well as other fans of Jane. But for many other gamers it will ruin the fun for sure. It even ruins some fun for me now. From now on I'll try to concentrate on the story, writing, puzzles, something that only Janes' holy hands touched.

Jane Jensen is too good for this game.

I wanna point out that the loading times are not long if you've got a modern pc/laptop. I'm playing with Sony Vaio E-series laptop and I don't even have time to read the texts on the screen before it's already loaded. So, it's not the game, it's your pc.

I don't see the point in whining about the graphics. It's an adventure game, the budget was small. You can't create Bioshock-style graphics with no money. Instead of doing the usual, poor 3d animations, they went for something different, and I like it. Either way, people would still whine no matter what the technology was. If it really bugs so many of you, then why don't you people donate some money for the company, so they can create a high-end graphics game? lol IMHO the graphics are fine, and similar to other recent releases. Not outdated at all.

[Fien]

Originally Posted by Hannes

I wanna point out that the loading times are not long if you've got a modern pc/laptop. I'm playing with Sony Vaio E-series laptop and I don't even have time to read the texts on the screen before it's already loaded.

That's right, either way you win something and you lose something. A wonderful design feature. I can tell lots of thought went into it. Oops! I shouldn't whine, so sorry. Of course the glass is half full, not half empty.

So, it's not the game, it's your pc.

Heh. I remember how people told me the specs of my *brand new* computer must be the reason the loading times in So Blonde were 30 or more seconds.

[Hannes]

Originally Posted by Fien

That's right, either way you win something and you lose something. A wonderful design feature. I can tell lots of thought went into it. Oops! I shouldn't whine, so sorry. Of course the glass is half full, not half empty.

That's nitpicking, and you know this perfectly well. You seem really bitter. Any game that has a loading screen like in GM suffers from the same problem: you either miss the texts or they're on your screen for ages. From the little that I've managed to read, the texts aren't really that important anyway; they're there to distract you from the loading time.

Originally Posted by Fien

Heh. I remember how people told me the specs of my *brand new* computer must be the reason the loading times in So Blonde were 30 or more seconds.

Well, how else do you explain that my year old laptop runs the game perfectly and the load screens go by fast, while others' don't? What else could it be, other than the specs? If it's really such a big problem to you, I can't see how you can play most adventure games at all...

[Fien]

Originally Posted by Hannes

Any game that has a loading screen like in GM suffers from the same problem: you either miss the texts or they're on your screen for ages.

Yes. You don't seem to understand that's why it's a BAD IDEA to put info or nice little tidbits on screens which most people will not be able to read.

Well, how else do you explain that my year old laptop runs the game perfectly and the load screens go by fast, while others' don't? What else could it be, other than the specs? I get the feeling you just really wanna rant about something.

Sorry, but that's nonsense. Many, many possibilities besides specs. Wizarbox was to blame for the problems with So Blonde, there was never any doubt about it. *

You're mistaking my sarcastic tone for bitterness. And I don't like being patronized by people telling me I should stop playing the game, stop whining, donate money, when I have legitimate criticism. I can live with the animation. I realize we will see more and more casualised cutscenes. Low production values and all that. But the gameplay issues are design flaws I find seriously annoying.

*EDIT: Daedalic's A New Beginning is unplayable on my three-year old computer. Literally. After the first screen the game crashes. My specs not good enough? Ha! I can play it on my six-year old XP machine. The loading times are far worse than So Blonde though but I can play it if I have all the time in the world. Am I the only one? You should read what other people have to say about it on German forums.

[HitBattousai]

My take having finished it.

Positives: Good voice acting, soundtrack, characters, and story. Beautiful backgrounds and I personally like the cutscene art style a lot. A few good puzzles in there and a good balance between the story and puzzles.

Negatives: Not horrendously so, but a bit short, guessing the average completion time for most people would be about nine hours. The character models and animations aren't the best as others have said. The "magic" system in the game is a neat concept but they might as well have just saved the player time by doing the trick you pick out by default without having to input the steps yourself because none of those puzzles present a challenge. Most of the puzzles are pretty easy(which could be a positive or negative) but sometimes it's hard to know what you missed in an area, particularly a conversation you might need to have.

Overall, I'd say it's one of the better adventure games to come out in a while, but not on the level of the GK games, and it's somewhat hard to understand why it took so long to make with the shorter length and low budget nature of the game engine. It has a conclusive ending, but feels like the type of game that could have sequels, so hopefully if Jane doesn't go back to Gabriel Knight she'll continue this series hopefully in faster order than the first game.

[dekaneas297]

HitBattousai reminded me something I forgot to mention. The magic tricks were totally not what I expected. Apart from the uninspired boring steps to fulfill them, I imagined a cutscene in each one visualising the trick and all we got was a "yes I did it". Major letdown for something that was one of the presumed highlights of the game.

[Sidrath]

Originally Posted by Arial Type

The engine by Wizarbox is bad. It was bad in So Blonde, it's still bad in Gray Matter.

Just a note: this is not the same engine as in So Blonde, neither the first nor the Nintendo version. Not that it matters or anything, but for clarity's sake ^^

[Roper Klacks]

Originally Posted by dekaneas297

HitBattousai reminded me something I forgot to mention. The magic tricks were totally not what I expected. Apart from the uninspired boring steps to fulfill them, I imagined a cutscene in each one visualising the trick and all we got was a "yes I did it". Major letdown for something that was one of the presumed highlights of the game.

I gotta agree with you. And overall i think the magic system was underdeveloped, basically you don't have to think, just read and follow the steps. They could have done things a bit more chalenging and let the player test and invent new and different tricks.