Adventure Gamers - Forums
You are here: Home → Forum Home → Gaming → Adventure → Thread
Post Marker Legend:
-
New posts -
No new posts
Currently online
AG Community Playthrough 77 - Black Mirror 1
I’ll be crushing this party.
Loved Black Mirror when it came out with all its Gothic flair (and played it exactly that long ago), so I think it’s time to revisit.The game is installed and runs fine. I’ll report back when I played some. Looking forward to this playthrough!
Just a heads up: I played the Steam version of this on a Windows 10 PC a while back. When I was in-game and clicked on the Windows key on my keyboard to return to the desktop without leaving the game first (to check my email or whatever), I could not get the game screen to come back up which forced me to close the game window and restart it. I highly recommend saving your game before doing this if you don’t want to replay whatever you’ve completed prior to your last save!
Life is too short to drink bad wine…
I’ve finished the 1st chapter but did find that after the Chapter 2 screen appeared I had to go through some cut scenes before I could save the game.
…. Had a minor issue with the options. I tried changing the sliders, but clicking-and-dragging didn’t work, and the +/- signs didn’t work either. I had to single-click and then move the sliders for it to work. Felt counterintuitive to release the mouse-button before being able to change the sliders.
Quitting and restarting resets the options, apparently. Not sure if they’ll be saved with the save games…….
I decided to download the game from GOG but didn’t bother to download the manual until I found saving & adjusting the options clumsy also. The manual seems to be the same as the one that can only be accessed from the original game disc (rather than a separate pamphlet not included in the game case!). I thought the manual was helpful.
Once you’ve set options I did find that on saving a game that those options remained on loading the save.
Until now, also the things that stay red are not right-clickable for me. I’ll keep trying :-)…..
I’ll keep checking!
Yes! You definitely need to right-click in a few places to progress. There is at least one place that you have to right-click first before left-clicking.
Here’s a section from the game manual:
“Pressing the ‘Tab’ key will show all the available exits from the location you are currently in. Pressing the rightmouse button on certain active areas of gameplay and on certain inventory items will trigger additional actions to occur. These areas are not specially indicated in the gameplay so we suggest that you leftand then rightmouse click all active areas of gameplay”
…….Loved Black Mirror when it came out with all its Gothic flair (and played it exactly that long ago)…………..
Me too & I’m sure it was a favourite at the time so I was so disappointed when I didn’t quite ‘feel the love’ on wading through the first part this time nearly 20 years later!
I very much enjoyed exploring the house & grounds but it was just too easy to miss small details & having to backtrack to pick up an item you couldn’t pick-up earlier, although logical, was frustrating!
In at least one place you can’t leave as you are advised you have more to do but I liked that & minded it far less than having to go and talk to every character again on the basis of a smidgen of info…… but that would have been okay if they hadn’t been so scattered.
I found the voice acting passable & Samuel not very likeable but I love the graphics & the story is intriguing.
The relationship between William & Samuel is clear but couldn’t work out what it is with Robert & Victoria?
I’m looking forward to playing on!
Alright, first chapter finished.
First impressions so far…
Wow, I completely forgot what a pompous prick Samuel comes across as! He’s so snooty, it’s quite amusing. I couldn’t help myself but comment out loud every time he would tell someone “do this or look for a job tomorrow” or “my father would never give our expensive family vintage wine as a gift” (right? how dare he - lowly peasant isn’t worthy of a gift of ONE bottle of wine - speaks about William’s character too) or how he talked about Henry (no excuse for his behavior but damn, man…). So far he’s been on the edge of “very unpleasant” for me, but I’m at least supporting him in founding out what happened. Didn’t quite remember this from before for some reason…
The castle is HUGE. I haven’t wished for a fast travel map so strongly in a while. I pretty much can agree on most of what you’re saying, chrissie.
It’s a sort of “get an item -> walk all the way to the other side of the castle to use it -> realize you need a second item from the part of the castle you just left-> go back and pick it up -> walk all the way back to use it -> if nothing clear happens right after -> walk ALL OVER castle and talk to everyone and see what they have to say”... Would be your average adventure game, if everything wouldn’t be. SO.FAR.
Voice-acting is, for the most part, good. I like everyone’s voices (although a man named Morris has a vaguely Russian accent to my ear. Maybe he was supposed to be Boris), but everything comes out very stiff. Also, to my understanding the year is 1981? So there’s lots of grandeur to everyone’s speech, including Samuel who was away for many years. Don’t know - maybe people with titles next to their name still speak like that.
Background art is BEAUTIFUL. This is true Gothic here, which one can rarely feel in adventure game. I love the shot of the castle right up the staircse from burning pile of leaves.
So far, I’m intrigued about the story. I remember some things, and totally forgot others. I like the deep fantasy influence it has to it. Coupled with art - it’s pretty cool.
I had to pixel hunt for a door frame a bit. I know he gave verbal cue, but I thought that maybe some event will open something there later. And also, yes, that traitorous right-click in one of the last scenes… I usually don’t like when game prohibits me to go where I want to, but here I’m glad it insisted on staying and checking everything out, because I see myself doing another lap around the castle (and now all the new locations) before coming back and trying to right-click THAT ONE SPOT.
I think if I played this game for the first time now, I probably (like you, chrissie) would be way less impressed than back when it came out. With that being said, the actual process of replaying something I haven’t in so long (and held in high regard) is really fun. Makes me want to go and replay all those games that I put on my top list to see how I feel about them.
So far, I’m really enjoying myself with this game, even if I see a lot more flaws here.
I’ve been following the thread, and am torn between “I wish I had joined” and “Glad I didn’t”. There have been several comments about how the game, played today, isn’t living up to the memories of your initial experience playing the game.
I feel your pain! I lobbied long and hard for playthroughs of both Shivers and Lighthouse. I loved those games when I first played them. And thoroughly enjoyed replaying both as a CPT. But the experience was not the same. Part of that is due to the fact the I was probably playing the original games on a 10” or 12” CRT display using whatever Windows version was current at the time on a PC that used whatever Intel x86 chip was their latest and greatest. So, what was amazing at the time, particularly the graphics, is pretty “Meh” by today’s standards.
These two games still rank in my Top 20 “memorable” games I’ve played. But they no longer rank in the Top 20 “best” games I’ve played. While some may think of this as blasphemy, there are two casual game series, Enigmatis Trilogy and Dawn Trilogy, that I would rate superior to either of the aforementioned Sierra games.
Maybe it’s true that you can’t go home again. And if you do, you might be disappointed in what you find.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
Just a heads up: I played the Steam version of this on a Windows 10 PC a while back. When I was in-game and clicked on the Windows key on my keyboard to return to the desktop without leaving the game first (to check my email or whatever), I could not get the game screen to come back up which forced me to close the game window and restart it. I highly recommend saving your game before doing this if you don’t want to replay whatever you’ve completed prior to your last save!
That’s supposed to be the shortcut. But Alt-Tab works better.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
Hey all, just before we get thinking about staring the next section, the comments about the game being different to how you remember it got me thinking…
One of the criticisms of the game in this site’s own review is that the puzzles are a bit… well… largely a bit standard and boring.
Personally, with my 2003 hat on, maybe I can see that, but now? I think that maybe because there are so many non-traditional adventure games out there I actually welcome some old school puzzling. I quite enjoyed piecing together the photo and even how much hassle it was to take a simple photo.
However, that’s just me, what did you all think of the puzzles from Chapter 1?
3.5 time winner of the “Really Annoying Caption Contest Saboteur” Award!
Well, as usual, I haven’t been able to play yet. I will catch up this weekend.
Currently translating Strangeland into Spanish. Wish me luck, or send me money to my Paypal haha
I’ve played around a bit, exploring the castle (it sure is big) and progressing a little (I’m now about to talk to Victoria to get the key to the old castle upper room).
It reminds me *very* much of Phantasmagoria at the moment. The house even has a very similar lay-out (possibly intentional?).
The shredded photo reassembling puzzle was harder than expected, sort of a perfect difficulty for that type of thing.
The main issue I have at the moment - like others have mentioned - is that traversing the castle is sloooooow, and fast-travelling doesn’t work. And of course you’re constantly sent to the complete opposite side of the terrain…
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
I’ve spent a few hours playing. Although I must have played this game at least two, possibly three times in the past I’m now completely stuck. The gameplay can be really frustrating, having you run around, trying to find hot-spots to trigger new topics to talk to the other characters about. By modern standards the game design doesn’t feel very intelligent. But it’s hard not to like the game for what and from when it is.
I for one don’t like the English voices that much. Especially the voice of Samuel to me sounds like an old man and not the man in his early to mid-30’s that he’s supposed to be. The other voices are passable but not more imo.
Well, well. I must find the way to trigger having Dr. Hermann’s errand boy come to the main gate I guess. Have been around the castle area several times trying to find that elusive hot-spot and trying to engage the others in conversation. No dice. Hopefully I’ll have better luck when I start the game up next time. I should be close to finishing chapter 1.
...and fast-travelling doesn’t work. And of course you’re constantly sent to the complete opposite side of the terrain…
What do you mean by fast-travelling here? Double clicking on the exit points quickly takes Samuel to the next area. One of the first adventure games to have this feature I think. I was very impressed with the interface when I first played this game in 2003.
What do you mean by fast-travelling here? Double clicking on the exit points quickly takes Samuel to the next area. One of the first adventure games to have this feature I think. I was very impressed with the interface when I first played this game in 2003.
It often takes quadruple clicking, and it’s nowhere near immediate, imo. To the point I doubt it even works…
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
Personally, with my 2003 hat on, maybe I can see that, but now? I think that maybe because there are so many non-traditional adventure games out there I actually welcome some old school puzzling. I quite enjoyed piecing together the photo and even how much hassle it was to take a simple photo.
However, that’s just me, what did you all think of the puzzles from Chapter 1?
Absolutely. I also enjoyed that puzzle. I agree with Timovieman that it had just the right difficulty where you thought about what you were doing and put some effort into it, despite it being one of the most common puzzles out there. I also welcomed the planet one. It took me slightly longer than I anticipated, mostly because I feel like the sizing/coloring the developers put in there was a bit off – and I had to move things around. (Also, it includes Pluto, and many modern charts no longer do - how crazy is that? Time waits for no one).
Just a bit more of these kinds of puzzles would balance out incredibly long walks to and fro the item or NPCs. And you’re right – it seems like we get less of those in modern adventures, just straightforward, well-executed traditional puzzles.
Fast-traveling works, but yes – it takes quadruple clicking sometimes to activate, and while I’m thankful for its existence (Samuel takes his time when walking) – when you fast travel through 20 different locations for an item, and then back – it still makes for a looong walk.
Well, well. I must find the way to trigger having Dr. Hermann’s errand boy come to the main gate I guess. Have been around the castle area several times trying to find that elusive hot-spot and trying to engage the others in conversation. No dice. Hopefully I’ll have better luck when I start the game up next time. I should be close to finishing chapter 1.
This will be triggered by a (non-spoiler answer I’m covering up JUST IN CASE) game event, although I, too, spent time thinking I could do something about it. If you can tell me what’s in your current inventory - I can probably nudge you in the right direction, saving you long trips I have endured.
….
One of the criticisms of the game in this site’s own review is that the puzzles are a bit… well… largely a bit standard and boring.
To me there’s nothing wrong with standard (i.e., familiar puzzles) which I thought were well integrated into this first chapter, I enjoyed them & certainly didn’t find them boring!
The shredded photo reassembling puzzle was harder than expected, sort of a perfect difficulty for that type of thing.
YES!
The other main puzzle in this first part that I enjoyed very much was placing the planets in the correct slots
………It took me slightly longer than I anticipated, mostly because I feel like the sizing/coloring the developers put in there was a bit off – and I had to move things around.…….
My thought on this puzzle was that it was based on perceived knowledge (by the developers) that gamers may have varying degrees of (if any), potentially leading to guesswork to solve it. I think there should have been some in-game clue at least for identifying some of the planets by colour.
From the review: …..
”Some puzzles did require some independent research, which was a nice touch that you don’t see very often in adventure games - although having to shut the game down to research a puzzle online did have the tendency to pull me out of the game in the process”
I don’t disagree that’s a nice touch…. but for me not in this game as it doesn’t make sense. Samuel, in pre-internet times, needs to align those planets whilst in a large library & you the player needs to shut down the game to externally research?????
…. I think that maybe because there are so many non-traditional adventure games out there I actually welcome some old school puzzling………. and even how much hassle it was to take a simple photo.
Trying to get the camera held me up because I failed to see the hotspot on the door frame to find the key.
I ended up minimising the game via the windows key to peek at a walkthrough:
Just a heads up: I played the Steam version of this on a Windows 10 PC a while back. When I was in-game and clicked on the Windows key on my keyboard to return to the desktop without leaving the game first (to check my email or whatever), I could not get the game screen to come back up which forced me to close the game window and restart it. I highly recommend saving your game before doing this if you don’t want to replay whatever you’ve completed prior to your last save!
I didn’t have a problem getting the game screen back – I’m playing the version from GOG but have had problems in the past so that’s good advice.
Another section from the review says:
“This is a game with several long conversations, and they seem to drag interminably with characters slowly droning on through the storyline…..”
I did find that I couldn’t fast-forward cut scenes but could click through conversations pretty quickly.
What do you mean by fast-travelling here? Double clicking on the exit points quickly takes Samuel to the next area. One of the first adventure games to have this feature I think. I was very impressed with the interface when I first played this game in 2003.
It often takes quadruple clicking, and it’s nowhere near immediate, imo. To the point I doubt it even works…
I did find that by double-clicking on the exit points that Samuel was taken quickly to the next area but that was the extent of fast-travelling - it would have been great if he could have walked a little faster!
You are here: Home → Forum Home → Gaming → Adventure → Thread
