Adventure Gamers - Forums

Actually the first day was not bad at all, went by quickly. This game is a true horror classic, worth so much more than what I paid - some great scares even in the beginning. There is at least 100 more physical PC adventure games I can get on Amazon.com - some of which have sterling reviews.

Before that, I’ve got to get my 76 PC adventure game backlog down to zero. I do hope I’ve got another great gem like this one lurking in my box…..........

Oh NO - did my flashlight just go out !!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

I had Director’s Cut sitting on my hard disk for quite some time… and since I’m also using XP I have no troubles running it. I had little time to play it (need the basement key), but I like what I saw so far - roughly speaking, it’s like playing Black Mirror 1 from a 1st person perspective - you know, the creepy house to explore, owners went berserk…

The graphics are pretty decent, even though it was criticized even when the game came out. And what about those footsteps sound effects? Creepy as hell! I jumped out of my chair once because I thought they belong to someone else!

The only minor gripe I have is that I’d like if left click wouldn’t cancel the inventory object I’m holding. And perhaps clicking the right click twice in order for it to be available to use could have been avoided by the “constant” inventory track at the top (or bottom). But you get the hang of it eventually.

Is there a way to slow down the game/cursor via an edit to the cfg file? I just finished playing for about 1.5 hours and I have a headache. I have found all sorts of stuff. None of which I know where to use.

The graphics are pretty decent, even though it was criticized even when the game came out. And what about those footsteps sound effects? Creepy as hell! I jumped out of my chair once because I thought they belong to someone else!

Yes, the graphics are pretty solid, they get the job done and then some. I also found the sound effects to be excellent, I also have had some moments of panic caused by the sound effects in this game!

rtrooney - 13 May 2015 01:39 PM

Is there a way to slow down the game/cursor via an edit to the cfg file? I just finished playing for about 1.5 hours and I have a headache. I have found all sorts of stuff. None of which I know where to use.

Are you playing with the regular controls on (cursor stays in the middle)? In that case, I think setting the camera speed to “slow” in the in-game setup might do the trick…

It took me the better part of Day One. I don’t know how chrissie is doing, but I thought I might have to give up. (As I regrettably had to do about 3/4 0f the way through Pandora Directive.) The 3D control is just hard for me to get used to. I tend to over-correct.

I did spend a lot of (wasted) time looking for oil for the lamp figuring that our protagonist would need a nightlight before he could go to sleep.

I’ve arrived at the dawn of Day Two. Rain, wind and thunder. Similar to what we’re expecting here tonight.

Will await the next go-ahead. Normally I would be chomping at the bit. But this time I’m glad I have a day or two to relax.

Had a small glitch in the game when looking out of the tower windows: in the regular screen, the sky is normal (daytime), but when looking out the window at the detail screen, the sky is black. This happens at both windows. See below:

Reached the second day.

The “Michael, Michael” whispers during the nightmare sent a shiver down my spine.

And oh, goody, lightning flashes for added atmosphere during the second day…

Some thoughts about the story:
- Ending up with a dead car battery because we left the car’s lights on to make sure we’re “grounded” feels a bit contrived. As does just missing the electrician in a game that doesn’t even use a realistic form of time progression.
- I think the diary about the African tribe is going the be super-important. It mentions a seemingly ‘magical’ mask that has the tribe under its influence. I have a nagging feeling that this mask is the one that’s missing from the display in the ‘Africa’ room. I also think that we’ll find it behind the cabinet with the tusks. I’ve already established that that has wheels underneath it, and the nightmare more or less confirmed my suspicion that there’s something behind there.
- About the 1963 murder: I don’t think James did it. He may have been seen burying the body, but I feel that this is more “covering up what happened” than “actually having killed her”. That is if the game doesn’t throw us a curve ball, of course, as the info we’re going by now is VERY vague.
- No clue about the scratching noises yet. I’m either thinking poltergeist - maybe the dead wife? - or we’re not alone in the house. Would explain our feeling of a lurking presence in the shadows in the attic. In either case, I’m somehow hoping for a little “gaslighting” where certain objects or furniture pieces get changed/moved around just to mess with our heads. I just hope that I will notice if this does happen…

Anyway, the game absolutely deserves top marks for its creepy atmosphere, even if little has happened yet.
Also, “HA!” at one of the most overused AG puzzles not working out.
And LOL at finding the ‘Necronomicon’ and H.P. Lovecraft’s ‘At the Mountains of Madness’ in the study as well as a “boring and annoying” book ‘Worlds of Myst’.
The “lazy developers” comment with the re-use of the shirt assets felt really out of place, though. Be careful how and when you break the fourth wall. This is not the game for it, I feel.

@ Agustín: based on the books I found in-game, you’re a fan of Lovecraft and a hater of Myst, right? What’s your issue with “overrated bloke” King, though? Do you simply not like him, or do you just feel like he’s getting far too much attention within the genre?
Personally, I think he’s great IF you get rid of more than half of his bibliography. He’s just too productive and it has a “quantity over quality” feel. Usually, out of ten books or short stories he writes, 6 are bad/mediocre, 3 are good and one is genius. It’s this last category that does indeed make him the master of horror, imo. When he hits his stride, he has the capacity to truly haunt you, and that’s the mark of a great writer, imo.

Sort of like this game.
When it hits its stride, it has the capacity to truly haunt you, and that’s down to both great art design (the house feels real and is genuinely creepy at times), and great sound design (the ambient noise, the chilling music).
It’s still too early to see if the actual story and game design can be added here.



As an aside, I found a small error: the attic door opens from the left, but the door handle is on the right (when you enter - it’s fine when you exit). Oops?

TimovieMan - 15 May 2015 07:18 PM

Anyway, the game absolutely deserves top marks for its creepy atmosphere, even if little has happened yet.

I can’t say we disagree here. But to be honest, as I mentioned in a prior post, I find maintaining equilibrium, and not becoming nauseous, is a major endeavor. So much so that, I’m afraid, a majority of the creepy atmosphere slips on by me. I’m too busy concentrating on getting down the stairs to notice the background noise.

I just try to get through it one scene at a time. Which is probably not what Augustin had in mind as a player experience.

Are you experiencing motion sickness from the camera system?

I don’t think a lot can really be done about that (it’s a first-person game, after all), but have you tried the alternate control scheme and the slower camera movement? Have they helped at all?

I feel sorry for those who feel motion sickness in a game, but fortunately I’ve never experienced it myself.

Regarding the noise and music: I’ve already mentioned the nightmarish basement music and those creepy whispers during the nightmare, but I would also like to point out the ending of the music box (those slower metallic notes at the end are unnerving), and one of the piano pieces that sometimes plays (I heard it in the master bedroom for instance) that has several notes just slightly off-key. Unsettling stuff.

Sorry folks for the brief radio silence! You know, life, work and babies have prevented me from perusing social networks and forums as much as I wanted to in the past few days.

I’ll be addressing your questions and technical problems soon, but first something I wanted to say about that tense first visit to the basement: the credit goes 99% to Cellar of Rats. Sure, we created the scene and that moment was scripted in the story, but CoR insisted on using that unnerving chord upon entering the basement. Personally, I felt it was lackluster—I wanted a more “traditional” approach with a less abstract layer of sound, something more movie-like, a suspenseful theme. But CoR insisted on using that damned chord and, well, you see how that turned out.

I’m marveled (and even a bit envious) at how people were so easily scared with one room and a simple, yet perfectly engineered chord. I sincerely wish I could experience fear like that. I don’t know how it worked, but it did—that basement is one of the most terrifying moments of the game in broad daylight, and all thanks to CoR’s acute sense of mood and dread.