| 11 JUN 2010 at 2:49pm |
LisaAnnIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 45
Joined: 19 JAN 2008
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Rados (21 MAY 2010 8:12am)
I got the Adventure Company release of Black Mirror some time ago as a birthday gift from a friend. I went to install it today and as soon as I saw the StarForce logo screen asking me to restart my computer quit the installer ran a StarForce removal utility and manually checked over my device manager and registry to make sure that all traces of starforce were gone.
I as well as acquaintances of mine have personally experienced USB port and CD/DVD burner faliures due to StarForce and as I work from home and rely on my burners to deliver presentations/reports/ and audio/video data to clients I can not risk a failure of these devices. In short I will not touch StarForce, not even with a 10 foot pole.
I have read over the forum posts on BM and SF and have found that a crack is reccomended for those wishing to avoid StarForce issues, I not only wish to avoid issues but wish to avoid having any trace of the vile starforce on my system.
I've heard nothing but good things about BM and would love to play it, I would even be willing to go so far as to do a manual install if such is necessary, but if starforce drivers are automaticaly installed by the game and I can not avoid them I'm afraid I will have to find the game a new home.
Any suggestions?
I just recently got Black Mirror to work on Windows 7. See this thread for links for downloads.
http://justadventure.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1273124753
Hope it helps!
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| 11 JUN 2010 at 3:06pm |
GreyFussPrivate Detective
Posts : 767
Joined: 4 DEC 2006
Location: US
Status : Offline | Replaying Black Mirror. Didn't realize how much I had forgotten about this game since I played it when it was first released until I finished Black Mirror 2.
"Don't Hate Me Because I Am Beautiful...There Are Many Other Reasons"
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| 14 JUN 2010 at 4:32pm |
| Deleted User | I've started Nostradamus, but it feels so excruciatingly boring (like a Nancy Drew game for teenaged girls) that I might ditch if for Darkness Within.
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| 14 JUN 2010 at 4:37pm |
FnordSchattenjger
Posts : 2758
Joined: 15 SEP 2008
Location: SE, Stockholm
Status : Offline | About halfway through kings quest 2. This game feels less primitive in many ways, even though I play the original version (the version of kings quest 1 that came with King's quest collection was the remake from 1990). I was also surprised to see batman in this game.
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| 14 JUN 2010 at 5:05pm |
CrisGerSchattenjger
Posts : 2548
Joined: 28 APR 2007
Location: US
Status : Offline | Even those early ones are fun in their own way...
i am having a blast in Anachronox, finally made some progress..and got to two new areas, the Junkyard and the Mystech tunnels and both are brilliantly done, there is so much detail and scale in this game i am very happy with it, and having more fun than i have had in a game in a long time, the dialog is great too and the cut scenes are a hoot...
[img]http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/5105/junkyard1.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/7863/junkyard2.jpg[/img]
searching for the secrets of the lost aliens in the mysterious tunnels beneath Anachronox...
[img]http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/1808/mystechtunnels1.jpg[/img]
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| 14 JUN 2010 at 5:29pm |
SALIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 4
Joined: 14 JUN 2010
Status : Online | RHEM 2....and I am stuck....Get to the where the second piece of the star is, but the window will not open to get it. flip the switch, listen to K...., then try to press the red button, but nothing happens. How do I get the second piece. I even reverted to following a walkthrough from the beginning to this point....HELP!
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| 14 JUN 2010 at 5:32pm |
FnordSchattenjger
Posts : 2758
Joined: 15 SEP 2008
Location: SE, Stockholm
Status : Offline | Even those early ones are fun in their own way...
Yes, as long as you have a walkthrough
Anachronox, now that is a game that I have not played in ages. *gets a sudden urge to replay that game*
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| 14 JUN 2010 at 5:32pm |
DonaJourneyman
Posts : 801
Joined: 19 MAR 2005
Status : Offline | SAL, you're better off asking that in the Help forum or googling a walkthrough...
As for me, I think I'm going to dive into The Whispered World. I also need to play The Lost Crown, but it's a really slow game
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| 14 JUN 2010 at 5:42pm |
SALIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 4
Joined: 14 JUN 2010
Status : Online | I have the walkthrough of RHEM 2, but after following it, unless I missed something, I cannot open the window to get the second piece of the star.....Will try another walkthrough and start over.....Thank you for quick replies......
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| 14 JUN 2010 at 8:56pm |
CrisGerSchattenjger
Posts : 2548
Joined: 28 APR 2007
Location: US
Status : Offline | Fnord if you do, check out this thread...
http://justadventure.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1276049713
and a download from my archive in case you dont have all the patches..
it has instructions on how to run it on XP and modern Nvida cards...
i am having great luck so far, found all the Anachronox symbols and two of the Red Biperils or however you say em so far and four or five tacos...and i just love this game it is amazing and the depth and fun is great.
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| 14 JUN 2010 at 9:16pm |
| Deleted User | Originally Posted By CrisGer (14 JUN 2010 5:05pm)
i am having a blast in Anachronox, finally made some progress..and got to two new areas, the Junkyard and the Mystech tunnels and both are brilliantly done, there is so much detail and scale in this game i am very happy with it, and having more fun than i have had in a game in a long time, the dialog is great too and the cut scenes are a hoot...
I thought it was a blast too. Ha, finally a game that we both agree on. I played it about two years ago and at the time I was truly amazed at how quickly I was drawn into the story and the world of Anachronox. To me the sheer size of the game world(s) was something I had never before experienced in a video game with all its various party quests and individual character stories. And all of it on just two CD’s.
Originally Posted By Fnord (14 JUN 2010 5:32pm)
Yes, as long as you have a walkthrough
Anachronox, now that is a game that I have not played in ages. *gets a sudden urge to replay that game*
I still have it installed on my XP machine as I know there will come a time when I will have my own urge to return. I will definitely have that walkthrough handy though, as I know that there were quite a few things that I both missed or should have addressed in other ways that affected the outcome of the game. :-X
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| 14 JUN 2010 at 9:55pm |
FnordSchattenjger
Posts : 2758
Joined: 15 SEP 2008
Location: SE, Stockholm
Status : Offline | My walkthrough comment was meant for king's quest 2 *smiles* But if my memory serves, there were quite a few hidden objects in anachronox, so a walkthrough might help quite a bit with that game as well.
And thanks for the link CrisGer. I'll give it a try once I'm done with KQ2.
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| 14 JUN 2010 at 10:24pm |
HalcyonSchattenjger
Posts : 1653
Joined: 17 NOV 2006
Status : Offline | What is this game? Is it a cartoon-type game? The screenshots on Gamespot look kind of elementary, no round edges, kind of flat. Might be the problem of whoever took them.
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| 14 JUN 2010 at 11:03pm |
FnordSchattenjger
Posts : 2758
Joined: 15 SEP 2008
Location: SE, Stockholm
Status : Offline | Anachronox is more of a western take on the JRPG genre than a true adventure game. The game uses the now ancient Quake 2 engine (heck, the engine was old when the game was first released, back in 2001), and thus it is not a technically impressive game.
But the game has a strong story, and some rather interesting characters (like a grumpy old man, who's special power is to yammer until people give up, and give in to his demands). It also has its own artistic style that works rather well for it. The game might be a bit hard to track down, as I don't think it sold very well. Ion storm was a company that people did not have much faith in at the time thanks to Daikatana (even though they had also released Deus ex, which is an amazing game), so that did not really help the game, and combine this with a graphics engine that was 4 years old, and it is easy to understand why most people did not buy this game. Their loss, really.
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| 15 JUN 2010 at 12:46am |
CrisGerSchattenjger
Posts : 2548
Joined: 28 APR 2007
Location: US
Status : Offline | Halycon it is an epic sci fi game with a remarkable depth. It is based on the discovery of a huge aritifial planetoid in space that is inhabited by the dregs of intergalactic society before it is officially settled and therefore has a thriving underwold...
the main character is a really funny and well done Private Eye, named Boots, and he has a cyrbentic secretary who he ran over by mistake and so he had her digitized so she would be able to go on helping him, she has a great and funny character too.
What they did is envision a totally whole Sci fi universe and then set about making it "real" with some wonderful stylistic devices using the best 3D engine of the time, and absolutely amazingly good artisitic choices re colour, lighting, and texturing so you have a fully realized and highly detailed world based on the older quake engine something like URU but done maybe five years before.... so things are a bit simplified in some ways but the faces all express emotions, the mouths move the cut scenes are fully alive and realized and really the entire thing is like being insdie a livving work of art based on Sci fi.
It has a deep story and you get to travel to other planets...they planned a sequel but so far it has not happened yet. but....
they gave us the full files and editing tools so maybe someday...
bottom line, it is a lot of fun, and it keeps surprising you and has a wry sense of humor that is definietly Pre Stock Market Collapse...it is based on that old devil may care sure of ourselves world we used to be and there fore really has a great time poking fun at all sorts of steryotypes and genres....but wraps them up in a really immersible world, the music is awesome too btw.
it has complex game functions that still work quite well if you have the patches....i am surprised they were able to pull of some coding things that even Oblvion has trouble doing...and with a much more primitive engine.
it is a visual and adventuristic delight. I would put it among the five best games i have ever studied...
A remarkable thing about the initial area you are in...the Planetoid, Anachornox is in a weightless space environment but has a breathable interior atmosphere, so you have one of the most unusual and remarkable game world spaces to explore, there are "gravity walkways" that allow people to walk normally on the ceiling four stories above you, or to put it another way you are walking on THEIR ceiling....there is a labyirynth of elevators, stairs, ramps, corridords because the current human and alien inhabitants basically colonozed this planetoid wihtout knowing really what it was created for or who by....
it is beautifully decorated with lots of space urban type establishments, many of which are fully functional, bars, restaruants, shops, a clinic for making restorations to human or alien anatomy, apartments (there is a five story appartment building which you can explore and break into all the roooms of and they are all fully furnished....down to some quite nice artwork bathrooms, kitchens etc.. and everything is done really well with textures and modeling even though as i said somewhat simplistic....if one suspends the critical eye that has become accustomed to the highly detailed photorealism of most modern games, it is really a lot of fun...for you just dont know what you will find next and there are some great sub plots.
I will give a lock picking tutorial ilf anyone needs it for you do have to use lockpikcing and the process seems a bit obscure at first, but it is really quite easy. Same re the fightting you have to do you and your party for other game characters join you and you can let them lead your party and they will help in conbat situations with their own skills...as well as you as Boots have a chance to upgrade your skills and gain new equipment too.
[img]http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/6917/16732101.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/3618/97417631.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/9796/25155955.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/4054/43933271.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/7452/26385801.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/3151/61308549.jpg[/img]
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| 15 JUN 2010 at 12:54am |
| Deleted User | Originally Posted By Fnord (14 JUN 2010 9:55pm)
My walkthrough comment was meant for king's quest 2 *smiles* But if my memory serves, there were quite a few hidden objects in anachronox, so a walkthrough might help quite a bit with that game as well.
Sigh. I must proofread my posts. :
True, some of the quests require you to collect certain types of objects, and it is also easily possible that you could miss that one NPC that really does need your help instead of all the others that tend to diss you off. Throughout the game you get to choose your party but at the very end there are only two set characters that get to finish the game and if one of those characters isn't strong enough because... you might just be SOOL. :
Originally Posted By Fnord (14 JUN 2010 11:02pm)
Anachronox is more of a western take on the JRPG genre than a true adventure game. The game uses the now ancient Quake 2 engine (heck, the engine was old when the game was first released, back in 2001), and thus it is not a technically impressive game.
Translation: *smiles* The characters are blocky (IMO it makes Sylvester look tough, but does nothing for Stiletto’s appeal) and motion may seem clunky and difficult to steer when running. Still very easy to get used to and live with.
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| 15 JUN 2010 at 1:13am |
CrisGerSchattenjger
Posts : 2548
Joined: 28 APR 2007
Location: US
Status : Offline | the game controls will be very familar to those who play some other "world games" like URU and Oblvoin, you can direct with the left hand using the WSAD keys and click on things in the game world using a special invention of the developers of this game, which is a flying device like a activated cursor but in 3D Space that flies with you and which you use to click on people or things to make things happen. You also have your digital virtual secretary on call for help and she appears often in the game to check on things for you and to help with the story.
You (your main character) and your party members will also speak actual recorded dialog, which is well done the voice acting adds a lot to the game and to the fun....but only in the cut scenes. All the "live" dialog exchanges and some choices of dialog response are text that appears in word balloons, i thought at first i would not like this, but it really does not hurt much at all, ..... it is such a complete and huge world...and such fun.
We are lucky in some ways they did not have more modern engines and demands, for if they had had to model all the objects and locatoins in the game in totally realistic 3D as games are now, this game would never have happened.
I would put this in the category with Omikiron of very unusual and remarkable titles that happened just before major shifts of game technology and as such I see these as classics that really stand on their merits in spite of the aged graphics and 3D world feel.
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| 15 JUN 2010 at 1:24am |
HalcyonSchattenjger
Posts : 1653
Joined: 17 NOV 2006
Status : Offline | Okay, my friends, I'm sold. Thanks for the info, pics, details and opinions. I can be pigheaded sometimes about my choices, but even though this breaks some of my "requirements" for a great game, I'm very intrigued.
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| 15 JUN 2010 at 1:40am |
| Deleted User | And if you haven't already visited Amazon marketplace you will see that it is available new at a reasonable price.
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| 15 JUN 2010 at 2:18am |
HalcyonSchattenjger
Posts : 1653
Joined: 17 NOV 2006
Status : Offline | Love Amazon!
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| 15 JUN 2010 at 3:31am |
CrisGerSchattenjger
Posts : 2548
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Location: US
Status : Offline | ok once you get it check out my thread for patches and the Vid card fix, it should make it install and run well.
It is a treat, and i am glad my earlyl reluctance to play it, because it was not fully voiced some years ago let it lie asleep in my game chest until now, for i can look forward to the unfolding of the story and the fun to come.
I do plan to try my hand at making some additions to the game with the tools once i finish..and if i can get a hold of some of the former staff as i hope, including the Chinaman who made the patches.
Ion has to close down before the sequel could be made...i have heard....once the company folded up, they kept one employee working on in the empty former offices in a high rise in Texas working on the offcial patches...the first one for fixes in the game and the second one they wrapped up the important code, tools and resources like textures and models for the game and gave em to us like a set of tools for a possible future. If i can get a story outline of the sequel, i am quite interested in seeing if it may be possible to continue the story. We will see. for now, we have the fun to enjoy. This is one reason i have been studying 3D modeling and mod making.
Deus Ex was also a remarkable game too.
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| 15 JUN 2010 at 4:40am |
| Deleted User | Originally Posted By CrisGer (15 JUN 2010 3:31am)
If i can get a story outline of the sequel, i am quite interested in seeing if it may be possible to continue the story. We will see.
Awsome! Based on my own prior knowledge, the story was definitely written to include a sequel that never came to past. Many thanks Cris if your research and contacts with former Ion representatives make it possible to conclude this epic game. 8-) A sequel would certainly make my day.
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| 15 JUN 2010 at 5:16am |
CrisGerSchattenjger
Posts : 2548
Joined: 28 APR 2007
Location: US
Status : Offline | It has been a pet project idea of mine for some time now once i realized what a gem this game is....and it would be a kick in the teeth of relentless and merciless progress in the game industry which tosses out some wonderful games and game series unfinished. There was supposed to be a Kyrandia IV and sequels to a number of wonderful older games...so this would be a fun thing to pull off. We will see, i know some of the guys and gals who were on the development team are still among us...lurking
/me looks around behind the storage crates in the lower levels
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| 15 JUN 2010 at 9:31am |
| Deleted User | I was just last night trying to clean up my hard drives a bit, and saw how many started and stopped games i have just sitting there... :-[ :-/
Anyway, I got Anachronox about 2 years ago already, and never got to playing it, so I guess now is as a good a time as ever.
On the other hand, I do have an itch for Darkness Within, I hear the sequel is out already. Maybe I'll just install both.
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