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The all-things-Tex Murphy: Tesla Effect thread
Theres actually a discussion on the steam forums and other people seem to be having the same problem with the mac demo. Makes me really sad 
Nobody seems to be sad that a backer who invested way more than she should have one year and 47 weeks ago and wouldn’t touch Steam with a bargepole doesn’t get to play the demo.
Nobody seems to be sad that a backer who invested way more than she should have one year and 47 weeks ago and wouldn’t touch Steam with a bargepole doesn’t get to play the demo.
That’s probably because you can download the demo from GOG as well.
Nobody seems to be sad that a backer who invested way more than she should have one year and 47 weeks ago and wouldn’t touch Steam with a bargepole doesn’t get to play the demo.
That’s probably because you can download the demo from GOG as well.
Oh? Last time I looked, the demo was available for anyone who “pre-ordered” the game. According to JudasIscariot, it will be “on your game shelf”. It’s not on mine because I didn’t pre-order from Gog. I backed the game with the understanding that I would get it on GOG when it is released.
Oops! I beg your pardon, you’re right…sort of. Someone who has evidently pre=ordered the game has put it up for download on mediafire and provided a link on the GOG forum. It was nice of him but, AFAIC, there’s something a little wrong about a backer having to hunt for a way to download the demo from someplace other than Steam. At the rate it’s crawling down, btw, @400 kbps, I may just forget it.
Well technically a demo was never promised to backers or anybody for that matter, so I hardly think people (backers and non-backers alike) really have much reason to snub Big Finish Games for this bonus not being more accessible on platforms other than Steam. It is also up to release platforms like Steam and GOG to arrange it so their system makes it easy for people to get content, not Big Finish Games. So if you are having issues getting it from GOG, and hate to use Steam then the problem is not the developers of the game, it is a combination of your own personal preferences, and the delivery platforms.
Nobody seems to be sad that a backer who invested way more than she should have one year and 47 weeks ago and wouldn’t touch Steam with a bargepole doesn’t get to play the demo.
Would that backer be able to access the demo by downloading it via Steam?
Well technically a demo was never promised to backers or anybody for that matter, so I hardly think people (backers and non-backers alike) really have much reason to snub Big Finish Games for this bonus not being more accessible on platforms other than Steam. It is also up to release platforms like Steam and GOG to arrange it so their system makes it easy for people to get content, not Big Finish Games. So if you are having issues getting it from GOG, and hate to use Steam then the problem is not the developers of the game, it is a combination of your own personal preferences, and the delivery platforms.
Big Finish could easily have provided a link “themselves” to the demo in the email to backers. Since there appear to be so few of us, in their view, who object to using Steam and deserve the consideration, it surely couldn’t have burdened them too much.
And to answer the post below yours, yes, a backer can access the demo via Steam.
Nobody seems to be sad that a backer who invested way more than she should have one year and 47 weeks ago and wouldn’t touch Steam with a bargepole doesn’t get to play the demo.
You’re right, I’m not sad about people who set their expectations too high and expect special consideration for their personal hang-ups.
Adventure Gamer Since 1992
Big Finish could easily have provided a link “themselves” to the demo in the email to backers. Since there appear to be so few of us, in their view, who object to using Steam and deserve the consideration, it surely couldn’t have burdened them too much.
With over 7,000 backers, and a demo consisting over over 2.5GB of data, it equates to over 15TB of data bandwidth required to guarantee safe delivery of every copy to backers, let alone the non-backers that would equate to 1,000’s more downloads.
Big Finish Games is a small, independent developer, not a huge AAA studio with access to massive file servers. If a website as big as GOG doesn’t even have the capacity to host it publicly for the masses (“we don’t have the resources as of right now to host a demo that can be accessed by all”), how do you expect BFG to host it?
Just finished the demo a couple of things immediately spring to mind…
[spoiler]First of all, I LOVE the gameplay section. I’ve been wanting to play a first person adventure game that plays exactly like an FPS for years. And while I’m sure this isn’t the first, its the first I’ve played that really captures that. If you liked opening everything to find clues in Gone Home, you’re probably going to enjoy investigating the environments of Telsa Effect.[/spoiler]
Graphically, it generally looks pretty good. Its Unity, so its not the most advanced 3D engine ever made, but it gets the job done. Honestly the most disappointing part is the 3D graphics aren’t quite as sharp as the FMV actor cutscenes. Also, lower detail made solving a few puzzles trickier then they should have been. Which I’ll get into latter.
Which brings me to the gameplay itself. Its very very very VERY old school. Mostly hinging around a scavenger hunt as you search the environment for absolutely everything you can pick up. Most things have exactly one use, and then they are removed from your inventory (you actually pick up two different hammers in this one demo sequence) If you hate this kind of esoteric ‘every item has one use, and one use alone’ type gameplay, you’re probably not going to dig it. There are also a few brain teaser puzzles thrown around. Including a 15 minute time waster of a sliding tile puzzle that very nearly killed my love of all Adventure Games ever. There’s also a puzzle that unlocks a door by putting things in a certain position, and a puzzle where you have to fill a series of water pipes to the same level to flood a basement (which I clicked on twice and solved by accident).
To be honest, I like this mix of inventory puzzles and brain teasers. Never was a big fan of games that did one or the other. Sure it makes the world you inhabit convoluted as all get out. But it keeps you busy.
The writing is pretty good, I chuckled out loud at more then a few of Tex’s quips. The story it drops you in the middle of is generally kind of interesting. The FMV acting is adequate, at least as good as a high profile Youtube series, or Netflix Original.
My only real negative about the demo I played was puzzle related, I got stumped for way to long looking for something to unscrew a broken cog. I went over the entire environment three or four times to see what I missed. Finally I went back outside to the poison river, with the only hint I had was Tex saying the Grab-O Arm was good at fishing things out of toxic water. Looking closely I finally managed to spot something that sort of looked like a screw driver on a lilypad. I’d walked past it a dozen times because it also looked exactly like a Typha (‘Cat Tail’) plant that would totally make sense in a swamp. In short, ‘Pixel Hunting’ has become ‘Polygon Hunting’ I’m afraid.
So yeah, Demo was pretty good and of decent length. You’ll probably know if Tesla Effect is for you after the demo.
I also agree about the ladder puzzle, it was clearly placed there just for the sake of it, not because it was needed.
The Ladder puzzle felt like a ‘here’s how the game is played’ tutorial if I ever saw one. You had to navigate the environment, pick things up, combine items, and apply them to the environment to solve the puzzle. Once you do all that, you’re basically good to go in terms of how to play the game.
Adventure Gamer Since 1992
The Ladder puzzle felt like a ‘here’s how the game is played’ tutorial if I ever saw one. You had to navigate the environment, pick things up, combine items, and apply them to the environment to solve the puzzle. Once you do all that, you’re basically good to go in terms of how to play the game.
Very true, except this demo is from the middle of the game.
What I want to know is whether the enormous size of the game is going to make it impossible for them to release versions for iPad and other mobile devices.
I hope not, as I would prefer to play on a mobile device. I didn’t back this Kickstarter, but probably should have. This looks like one of the only big adventure Kickstarters that is actually going to deliver a full game that is decent.
If they release to mobile, they’ll probably down res the video. As I imagine the 2K resolution FMV make up the bulk of the game’s file size on PC.
Adventure Gamer Since 1992
Played a little of the demo, kinda what i expected (old school Tex), but i really hate the HUD system. It seems complicated for no reason.
Awesome, I think this game would do well with mobile gamers.
The FMV makes it stand out from other games. What’s old is new again!
Hope the game sells well.
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