[Fien]

The client is drop-dead gorgeous. Her father is just plain dead-of an apparent suicide. She’s certain he was murdered and is willing to do anything to prove it. Tex Murphy, the P.I., is willing to do almost anything to make rent.

Welcome to the Overseer Community Playthrough, fellow adventurers! Overseer is the fifth, and last, game in the Tex Murphy series. It is essentially the story of the first Tex game Mean Streets retold.

For those of you who have never played a Tex Murphy game, here’s some very basic info. Tex lives in futuristic San Francisco. The year is 2041 or thereabouts. There has been a Third World War, a nuclear one, with the result that the population now consists of “normal” people and mutants. We’ll get to meet several mutants. Rumor has it that Chelsea, Tex’ wannabe girlfriend, is a mutant too, but you’d never know it from the looks of her.




My Overseer box came with a led light construction taped to the inside of the box, which was supposed to shine or flash through the little hole on top of the tower. This fragile construction was already damaged when it arrived and I never saw it work. Anybody here who owns a box with a properly functioning led light?



More info.The unofficial Tex Murphy web site has lots of information, screenshots, patches, help to get the game running on modern machines, etcetera. http://www.unofficialtexmurphy.com/

Navigation and interface. This is one game where you need the manual. Moving in the 3D world is kind of cumbersome at first, especially compared to modern 3D games, and it’s also different from the navigation in UAKM and Pandora. Always remember to look behind, under, and inside things. It’s very easy to miss stuff. Just opening a drawer is not enough, you may have to raise/lower your eye level, look up/down. In short, manoeuver yourself in a position where you can see every nook and cranny. Which is not as realistic as it sounds, because you can open doors across the room and pick up objects from a distance, as long as the doors and objects are in plain view.

Entertainment versus Gamer mode. Easy or hard puzzles. See the manual In my opinion, everybody should be free to choose their own level. AFAIK most puzzles are identical; the main difference is a time limit in Gamer mode.

Spoiler tags. Please use them when appropriate, for instance when discussing puzzles. And please don’t discuss episodes we haven’t played yet.

We have 5 days (till Monday 26th) to finish the first part of our playthrough in eight parts. You’ll know day one in the flashback has ended when you see Chelsea and Tex together again. So, without further ado, let’s immerse ourselves in the fascinating, deep, complicated, and fun story of Overseer!



Quote of the Day:
I guess I’ve always had a certain fascination with private dicks.
Delores Lightbody

[TheLongestJourney]

Hey. I'm glad to see another playthrough up. I tried to follow along with the Sanitarium playthough last year but I didn't end up contributing much.

I see that this was well timed with the sale on gog over the weekend because I picked up this game during the sale. I finished Under a Killing Moon last month and really enjoyed it.

My question is should I play The Pandora Directive first or could I skip that one and jump right into this game in order to follow along?

[inm8#2]

Looking forward to this.

Regarding the Entertainment vs. Gamer modes, does the time limit only affect points or do you "lose" the game if you don't move quickly enough? I think it's just a matter of points for solving certain puzzles, according to the Wiki page.

In Entertainment mode puzzles may be skipped and hints are available. How difficult is the game? Since the game content itself is not different between the two modes, this might be better in the interest of time. However, if the endings change based on which mode you play or how many points you gain, Gamer mode might be worth it.

[PolloDiablo]

Tried to install, got error message about it not being compatible with 64bit, but simply copying the entire Overseer folder from the CD to my hard drive did the trick. Seems to work fine, sound and all. Ready to go.
Fien, I got mine secondhand and I never saw the light work either.

-edit- Not so fine, after all. The first video plays fine but when I go to my office and click stuff no sound and no animations. Guess I'll need to play around with the settings and patches after all.

[Fien]

TheLongestJourney, (can I call you TLJ?), jump right in! For one thing, the story takes place before UAKM. And the Pandora Directive is generally considered the best of the three Chris Jones games, so you'll have something to look forward to. It's best to play UAKM before Pandora, storywise, but you've already done that.

inm8#2, that's a good point about the Entertainment mode being the best choice if we have only 5 days to finish an episode. Hadn't thought of that. I'm going to play in Gamer mode, because I've already done Entertainment during my first playthrough, which makes it much easier. I find all the Tex games pretty hard, although there are of course easy puzzles. I love the unique hint system.

Oh yes, you can definitely "die" (hehe... the story is told in flashbacks! ) if you make a wrong move and I think that goes for at least some Gamer puzzles too. Pandora has all these different routes and endings, but Overseer doesn't. You can always try Gamer mode first and if it is too hard or time-consuming switch to Entertainment. BTW, the game does switch automatically if you ask for a hint.

Anyway, if five days is not enough for episode one, just holler and we'll slow down. Having fun is our main goal.

[Intense Degree]

Excellent, will install and start playing tonight!

[Arial Type]

I wish I have time for Overseer... This is the only Tex Murphy game I never played, and I haven't seen much of Mean Streets either. I'll try to join the playthrough, although it is not the right time for long, hard games.

[TheLongestJourney]

Originally Posted by Fien

TheLongestJourney, (can I call you TLJ?), jump right in! For one thing, the story takes place before UAKM. And the Pandora Directive is generally considered the best of the three Chris Jones games, so you'll have something to look forward to. It's best to play UAKM before Pandora, storywise, but you've already done that.

inm8#2, that's a good point about the Entertainment mode being the best choice if we have only 5 days to finish an episode. Hadn't thought of that. I'm going to play in Gamer mode, because I've already done Entertainment during my first playthrough, which makes it much easier. I find all the Tex games pretty hard, although there are of course easy puzzles. I love the unique hint system.

Oh yes, you can definitely "die" (hehe... the story is told in flashbacks! ) if you make a wrong move and I think that goes for at least some Gamer puzzles too. Pandora has all these different routes and endings, but Overseer doesn't. You can always try Gamer mode first and if it is too hard or time-consuming switch to Entertainment. BTW, the game does switch automatically if you ask for a hint.

Anyway, if five days is not enough for episode one, just holler and we'll slow down. Having fun is our main goal.

just call me Jim or TLJ whatever. Both are three letters so it's easy to write. I'll install Overseer this weekend and hope that it works as well as UAKM did.

[diego]

Liar, Liar Pants on Fire! Looks like someone has been preparing big fat post after all.

As i said here, i managed to run non-GOG version under XP, and everything is working nice so far. As Fien said, unofficialtexmurphy is your best bet if you're having trouble, and there you'll find also this guide for turning CD into DVD version.


Now, every time in the past when someone was to say he/she is playing for the first time some classic like Monkey Island or Gabriel Knight, i've been sorta jealous, but now i feel like in that role My only experience with Tex Murphy games so far was with Martian Memorandum couple of years ago but i experienced some bug near the beginning, and Overseer seems like a great way to start the series since it's a retelling of MM.


I'm only at the beginning, and just left the office for the police station. It's true, moving around is a little bit clunky, mostly because of looking down and up which makes things easier to miss, but somehow it also adds to more realistic atmosphere. Apart from the client girl who reminded me why i love FMV (i think MM also featured some nice feasts for the eyes, so i'm liking Tex Murphy series already ), some of the impressions right at the start are nice descriptions of the surroundings, in a typical private eye manner, and 3D graphics which holds up. So, interface and inventory are the only things which will need some time to get used to.

[Fien]

Originally Posted by diego

Apart from the client girl who reminded me why i love FMV (i think MM also featured some nice feasts for the eyes, so i'm liking Tex Murphy series already

Salient detail: Sylvia Linsky was played by one of Jack Nicholson's many exes. They have two children together.

[diego]

And how convenient that GB has just published Overseer review


BTW, i'm playing in Entertainment mode, mainly because i like in-game hints rather than looking at outside walkthrough when i'm desperately stuck, but if you can convince me i'm missing something i will change it, i'm not sure yet.

Originally Posted by Fien

Salient detail: Sylvia Linsky was played by one of Jack Nicholson's many exes. They have two children together.

Ahh, Jackie, you ol' devil And now i see she was one of the hostages in Die Hard

[Fien]

Originally Posted by diego

BTW, i'm playing in Entertainment mode, mainly because i like in-game hints rather than looking at outside walkthrough when i'm desperately stuck, but if you can convince me i'm missing something i will change it, i'm not sure yet.

You'd have to start allover again, you can't switch back from Entertainment to Gamer mode. I don't know (yet) if you're missing out on something, but going by my experience with The Pandora Directive I expect Gamer mode to have more puzzles than Entertainment.

[Siddhi]

Ok I'm stuck for the last hour or so and in a rather silly way

Spoiler:

I'm in the warehouse, but I can't see any way of leaving this location. Clicking the door just says "this is the only way in or out of the warehouse" and the key is gone from the inventory. How do I get out?

[AnneS]

It's been thirteen years since I played Overseer. This and Under A Killing Moon were two of my favourite games as a teenager when I first got into adventure games, but I'd forgotten just how much I enjoyed spending time with Tex.

(Before anyone asks about the obvious oversight, I never got to play The Pandora Directive growing up. Living in rural Australia, games were not always easy to come by, and my brother and I never saw it at retail. Since this was before internet shopping was widespread, this meant we missed out. For years, it was my adventure game Holy Grail - thank goodness for GOG. I still haven't played it, but that's because I want to choose a time when I can devote myself to the experience without any distractions.)

I had to rush through Day One last night as I'm going to be away from my computer for the next few days. (I needed a couple of hints to get through it so fast, notably for the domino puzzle. I suck at those things.) The other thing I'd forgotten was just how fiddly the interface can be - Fien is right about making sure you look into every nook and cranny. Make sure to check the inside of every draw and the underside of every desk! It's both frustrating and kind of fun to hunt for clues like a real detective.

My favourite part of the Tex Murphy games was always the dialogue system - choosing the general tone gives you control over the conversation, but you never know exactly what Tex will say. The dialogue is as funny as I remember it, and there are plenty of in-jokes here for people familiar with the other games in the series.

I'm now frustrated all over again that this is the last game in the series, especially given ... er, and I'll stop there to avoid spoilers.

[AnneS]

Siddhi: move your mouse to the left-hand side of the screen. The travel menu will pop up. (Not a spoiler; you've just missed part of the interface.)

[Siddhi]

ah! Thanks Anne. I knew it was something stupid. So far I've been traveling by opening doors and walking out through them

[Intense Degree]

This is my first time playing a Tex Murphy game (although I saw about 5 mins of UAKM at a friend's years ago).

I have just got to the warehouse but thought I might share some first impressions.

I like FMV games but am always wary of them as when they are done badly... however, no need to worry about that here as it is clear from the beginning that this game works well with the FMV sections and the 3D rooms.

The controls took a little bit of getting used to, but on the whole they are OK already and I like the fact there are options to use a combination of Keyboard/Mouse/Funny on screen thing.

The bit I don't like is the move the camera up and down function. Useful for looking high and low of course but I find it kills the immersion a bit suddenly to be scraping my chin along the floor instead of swaggering around in my overcoat! It's only a minor gripe though and this isn't the only game with it.

Characters are good, larger than life and pretty well acted so far. I like the dialogue system giving you the gist of what Tex is about to say rather than the exact words, I think this works well in games where the dialogue is very conversational rather than factual, which this is.

Lastly, I like the pacing between investigation, talking and puzzles in this first part, not too difficult (or easy) and the game keeps moving, which I think is important for the first part of any game.

So in summary the game gets off to a flying start for me!

Probably have to wait until the weekend to get into the warehouse but looking forward to more already!

[diego]

Originally Posted by Fien

You'd have to start allover again, you can't switch back from Entertainment to Gamer mode. I don't know (yet) if you're missing out on something, but going by my experience with The Pandora Directive I expect Gamer mode to have more puzzles than Entertainment.

No biggie, since i'm only at the beginning. So, what mode is everyone playing?

[Intense Degree]

I went for Gamer mode.

I suppose the only thing it would have affected for me so far would have been the domino puzzle, but to be honest I just worked it out on paper anyway to avoid the time limit!

[diego]

haha, this cracks me up:




I decided to stick with the Ent. mode because i couldn't confirm that you lose some of the puzzles in that mode, the difference being only with an option to access hints and skip the puzzle. BTW, talk about being over its time, with these two options as a default in modern games.