[Len Green]

I played “5 Days a Stranger” (and even wrote a walkthru on this enjoyable freeware game).

I recently downloaded its sequel “7 Days a Skeptic” but was occupied with other game affairs until a couple of days ago.

I read the Review on ‘Adventure Gamers’ and thought it was harsh … particularly after I enjoyed the first few ‘days’ of 5DaSk as much as (or maybe even more than) 5DaSt.
http://www.adventuregamers.com/under...article/id,420
Then I came to Day-4 !!!!

Before you know where you are you have to (A) grab an item and (B) neutralize a baddie (not giving direct spoilers here).
There is a walkthru … but all it says is the above sentence … but no hint as to how to perform either (A) or (B) within the VERY short time allocated.

Well, it took me close to a dozen repetitions (each time with a reload + some back-play) until I managed (A), before dying. After another dozen attempts (or more) I have so far been unable to ‘live’ through both (A) + (B).

The reviewer implies that things get even worse later !!
I am going to copy this onto “Hints etc.” in case anybody can fill in some details, or tactics on how to accomplish this mission.
If not, I am going to break my general self imposed rule to ask for a Savegame.

In the meantime … I recommend being ‘wary’ of this game.

[RLacey]

I like courting controversy with my reviews .

On a serious note, though, I felt that 7 Days a Skeptic did have a few serious problems in the design department - however, I enjoyed it despite this, and I'm sorry if you felt the review was too harsh.

As for your problem...

Spoiler:

I'm assuming you're stuck in the chair, right? If this is the wrong day, DON'T READ ON!

Right...

http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/7days/7days_sol.txt is the walkthrough you're using, I assume. Day 4 being Thursday, the section that you're on requires you to pick up the gun and use it on the killer. Is this the section that you're stuck on? I don't remember a specific time problem, but you could try using a slow-down program if you're finding it too difficult?

[Len Green]

I've been busy lately with beta-testing "Lifestream" & "Law & Order 3" with an over detailed walkthru on L&O#3.

Maybe a misunderstanding. I wasn't intending to criticize your review (which I thought was excellent).
I think that ANY 'pure' Quest/Adventure game which has timed-manipulation problems which can't be overcome by the AVERAGE player (that's me ... also, I'm 3 months short of 80 yo) DESERVES to have the harshest of criticisms ... no matter what all the other aspects of the game are like.

I hope you're still 'available' tonight (I'm 2 hours ahead of you).
I still need help (or a save game if no help will help ) and will post details shortly.

[Erwin_Br]

Originally Posted by Len Green

(that's me ... also, I'm 3 months short of 80 yo)

Yo, that line really cracks me up.

--Erwin

[Len Green]

Originally Posted by Erwin_Br

Yo, that line really cracks me up.

--Erwin

Is that meant to be funny or snide or what ?

[LauraMac]

funny, I am sure

And it made me smile too. Hi you.

[Len Green]

Originally Posted by LauraMac

funny, I am sure

And it made me smile too. Hi you.

Well many people say that English humour is weird ... but it seems that Dutch & USA humour (sorry humor) is also strange ??

[Len Green]

I have too much bumff on my computer to risk mucking around with slow-down routines (which I haven’t used since the old DOS days) !
If it was a highly priced ‘commercial’ game I MIGHT do it … to get value for my cash outlay. But it’s not worth the effort (or ANY delicate tweaking) for 7DaSk … I’m afraid – and with all due respect !

IMO … there is NO EXCUSE for needing one in games produced NOW.
I help folk wherever & whenever I can. One cry for help (known to you all I imagine) on another Forum is the “getting out of the cauldron/cooking-pot in Toonstruck”. There is absolutely NO WAY of doing this with a computer bought within the last 3 or probably more years … it’s too fast. Only a savegame (or a slowdown program maybe) can overcome this.
But Toonstruck was made 8 years ago for MUCH slower computers …… so that’s fair enough.

My computer is 2¼ years old and was fast for the time I bought it but slowish now (Pentium-4 / 2GHz / 512 MB RAM / GeForce4-MX-440-GPU / WindowsXP-Professional/ DirectX-9.0b / Etc.) and the game (made I assume in 2004) should have been coded so that there was MUCH more time to carry out the task(s) FOR MANY PLAYERS ..................
EVEN SOME HALF MY (FUNNY) AGE !

[Len Green]

I read on the AGS Site that several players had finished the game … presumably without hand-eye-coordination problems.

I was always FAIRLY good at this sort of thing (not on computers of course) but never VERY good.
****** Now ……………. Wait for it ... before you split your sides laughing ……………………. At my very nearly four-score years (hahaha hohoho hahaha heeheehee) I’m VERY AVERAGE (for ANY/EVERY age group).

When you regain control, the cursor is somewhere off the picture frame down left bottom corner.
You have to very quickly ........
(1) left click & drag it up & right to the gun
(2) right click on gun
(3) left click on ‘hand’ in inventory
………………….. the very slightest hesitation during all this and you’re dead already ……. Reload/Talk sequence/cut sequence//
After a (fairly large) number of practice tries, I can now complete this successfully about 2 out of 3 times.
When I succeed, the baddie is almost on top of me and I can never get a shot at him before I’m dead …. EVERY TIME !!
Have I missed some escape routine, or gimmick ????

[Yahtzee]

Like the Candyman, you need only badmouth my products five times to summon me.

Hey Len, I remember you. Yes, I freely admit I made a lot of mistakes with 7DAS... I guess I was just pretty excited about it and released it without enough testing... and I was going for slightly more of a Survival Horror-esque challenge this time around, not to everyone's tastes.

That said, you are the first person to complain about not being allotted enough time to grab the gun. Most people just complain about having to use a towel rail in the next puzzle when a judo chop to the back of the neck could have done just as well.

[Erwin_Br]

Originally Posted by Len Green

Is that meant to be funny or snide or what ?

No, no, no, not at all!

You just made me laugh, that's all. Not about your age, though. About that one little word. Yo! I thought that was funny.

--Erwin

[Len Green]

SORRY ! ... Erwin_Br.

I was feeling over-sensitive due to some VERY nasty flaming on a diffrent Site entirely.

I hope you accept my sincere apologies for my rather caustic comment ... also of course LauraMac (We've been in 'touch' quite a lot, one way or another ! )

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by Len Green

I still need help (or a save game if no help will help ) and will post details shortly.

If timing is the problem, then I suggest you grab a slowdown program such as CpuLower, and run that. This will slow down your PC and thus the game by filling processor cycles, and so give you much more real-world time to attempt the puzzle (even if the characters will be moving more slowly and so on).

If that still doesn't work, then email me your savegame from just before the puzzle and I'll solve it for you. I'm lazy, mind you, so you mihgt not get it back today ...

[Len Green]

Hold it folks ... and my excuses. :eek:
PARTICULARLY TO BOTH Rlacey & Yahtzee !

I sent an SOS to several Forums and nobody came up with a straightforward solution.
But ONE person gave me a partial clue as to how HE succeeded (Thanks “Kewalaka”!)

This gave me an entirely different 'perspective' on the puzzle.

Using it (in a different approach from my previous one) I EASILY succeeded FIRST TIME.
I then repeated it a couple more times to check that it wasn't a fluke ... and it's EASY & REPEATABLE.

Whether succeeding similar puzzles will be just as easily overcome ... I don't know -- YET !!

[Len Green]

Been involved in other things lately.
Finished 7 days quite a while ago.
On the whole I thought it was a good game ... WELL above average !!

[ProgZmax]

I have to say that I really enjoyed both 5 and 7, and I didn't really have any problem with the puzzles in either. The only thing that nagged me, simply from a story point of view, was the tie-in to the original. It seemed rather tossed in, like Yahtzee 'wanted' to take the story in a different direction but felt compelled to give in to the fans. I think that on its own (apart from 5 Days entirely) Skeptic stands as a very inventive and interesting game, but again, the ending just seemed kind of tacked on. I still recommend the game highly, though .

[Momcat]

I think the miscommunication (now that I've read these posts several times as I played 7 Days) happened because "yo", rather than a Sly Stalone type greeting ie "Yo, what's up?", was meant to indicate (y)ears (o)ld. Am I right Len?
I myself am 60 (yo!) and I'm having a great time as a gamer!

[Erwin_Br]

Originally Posted by Momcat

I think the miscommunication (now that I've read these posts several times as I played 7 Days) happened because "yo", rather than a Sly Stalone type greeting ie "Yo, what's up?", was meant to indicate (y)ears (o)ld. Am I right Len?
I myself am 60 (yo!) and I'm having a great time as a gamer!

Hehe, I indeed thought the 'Yo' was a 'hip greeting', which sounds kind of funny. I thought Len was more or less saying; "Yo man, I'm 80!" So yeah, that was funny.

I never thought he meant 'years old'.

Oh well

--Erwin

[Momcat]

Without posting any spoilers (since I'm not sure how to do invisible text). Could someone tell me if the ending in the Walkthrough is actually possible, or is it just a misdirection, so you won't know what's going to happen?

[Len Green]

Originally Posted by Momcat

Without posting any spoilers (since I'm not sure how to do invisible text). Could someone tell me if the ending in the Walkthrough is actually possible, or is it just a misdirection, so you won't know what's going to happen?

AFAIK, the story is left deliberately ambiguous.
If/when you get the full large onscreen notice (white on black) "7 days a skeptic" ... YOU'VE FINISHED the game fully !!