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| 30 APR 2009 at 9:25am | |
SteveSpace Cadet Posts : 112 Joined: 3 DEC 2003 Status : Offline | Thanks for testing the save games for me LenG |
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| 30 APR 2009 at 11:39am | |
richmcdIntergalactic Janitor Posts : 64 Joined: 17 APR 2009 Status : Online | I seem to find myself in the very problem you describe if I wan't to prove my "personal credentials and authenticity": how on earth would I go about proving that I have no relevent credentials and am an authentic curmudgeon? I know I seem down on this particular game but I'm down on all games at the moment - almost everything I play suffers from similar problems, especially in the translation. This just happened to be the one that there was a thread about. If you give it time I'm sure I'll come down hard on some different games and everything will even out. I apologise about that sentence you quoted - the tense is all wrong. I wrote it quickly and merely as an example to show how your in-depth experience of the game affords you insights into the later parts that I can't comment on. It really wanted to be in the future subjunctive: "If you were to suggest the plot gets better then I wouldn't be able to argue with you." but in actual fact there’s tons more as good or maybe better ! And now you have. I'm glad to hear it. As I say, I can't argue with that. Anyway I'm sorry for the mistake: I'll edit my earlier post. I agree if someone hates a voice or a character model (although I'm sure no-one's seriously suggesting the latter) then there's nothing to prove or disprove. I was talking about the awkwardness of the translation and there's a perfectly good way of proving me wrong; just find me a contemporary example of people talking in English the way people do in the game. Not very easy, perhaps, but my hypothesis is still falsifiable. Top-notch science. Karl Popper would be proud. 8-) |
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| 30 APR 2009 at 12:17pm | |
| Deleted User | /me settles down comfortably in her seat and gets a packet of popcorn ready... |
| 1 MAY 2009 at 10:31pm | |
| Deleted User | ~~ richmcd ~~... I'll cheerfully accept that my experience of the game was extremely superficial. I played it for an hour, didn't much like it and then spent four times as long on here bitching about it I'm just about finishing beta-testing Last Ha;f of Darkness: Tomb of Zojir ,containing many tough puzzles (for those who like same !) and only just now had a bit of time to digest the above :- Wouldn't it have been fairer and better to have completed (the very long) demo before sounding off in quite a few directions, to see if your criticisms were 'one (or only two) offs', or really widespread ? [smiley=shrug.gif] Although I think that they were unfounded, I do not wish to continue an argument on the 'facts' of the matter . And nice to see you on this Forum --- even if I DO disagree in this instance ! [smiley=angel.gif] N.B. Although I haven't been informed at all. I guess that Tomb of Zojir will be released some time this month. |
| 1 MAY 2009 at 11:04pm | |
richmcdIntergalactic JanitorPosts : 64 Joined: 17 APR 2009 Status : Online | Well maybe it took more like ninety minutes, but I did play it all, although I have to confess that after about ten minutes on the cruise ship I really wasn't enjoying it so I cheated and used that walkthrough you mentioned. Maybe it would be more correct to say that I saw it all. I would have just quit but I was intrigued to find out what the cliffhanger you mentioned was. It's just possible the voice-acting gets better, since I took to just reading the subtitles and clicking to the next line of dialogue once I'd read them, rather than waiting for the speech to finish. And thankyou, it's nice to be here. Everyone's so polite and reasonable. It's hardly like being on the internet at all. |
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| 1 MAY 2009 at 11:18pm | |
| Deleted User | Hehehe ! [smiley=skull_laugh.gif] Cheers --------- Len. [smiley=beer_buds.gif] We do have quite serious differences of opinion and arguments. But everybody tries to keep them objective and not personal ! |
| 3 MAY 2009 at 7:46am | |
AubstopperIntergalactic Janitor Posts : 85 Joined: 19 MAY 2008 Status : Offline | ok i don't know why some of you guys are complaining...but from what I've seen in the demo, it seems like a very solid game...much better than the Still Life 2 demo... I played Tunguska and had a love/hate relationship with it and was very weary about trying this one out.. I actually very much enjoyed the demo (it was a good few hours of gameplay!), and after sampling it i've decided to actually buy the game. It kept my attention till the end and other than some of the character's faces looking a little weird, i have no complaints. I'm sure someone has said this before, but does anyone know when it's coming out in the US on PC? "Man's greatest tragedy is that he can perceive of a perfection that he can never attain." |
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| 3 MAY 2009 at 8:25am | |
| Deleted User | I'm not 100% sure but I think VERY soon --- I wouldn't be surprised if at the end of this week --- i.e. approx. 8th May. [smiley=clap.gif] [smiley=thumbs.gif] [smiley=angel_smiley.gif] |
| 3 MAY 2009 at 10:19am | |
| Deleted User | richmcd Copied from Traveler's quote in parallel thread here http://justadventure.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1241315701 Bottom line? Still Life has all the trappings of the prototypical subtle classical terror stylings of many authors from the 1920’s to 1940’s. It is intelligent, amazingly deep, and has one of the best stories in gaming. Hell, it was my runner up to Digital Devil Saga for best story of the year in 2005. It is mature, yet not gratuitous. It requires a lot of brain power, but little hand to eye coordination…save for one god awful evil puzzle. Still Life is the horror game of the intellectual bent, combining horror WITH terror, and considering it can be found on the PC or Xbox for less then twenty dollars, there’s no reason to not have this game be one of your first forays into the realm of digitized horror. |
| 4 MAY 2009 at 6:24pm | |
| Deleted User | Oh, I've been meaning to ask you, Rich, have you ever played any of the Myst games? |
| 8 MAY 2009 at 1:05am | |
| Deleted User | I decided not to add any further comments on Secret Files : Puritas Cordis until I had cleared my desk of other urgent beta-testings and work. I have just now finished playing through the final commercial packed disk version. Previously I had only seen a nearly final beta version which had various matters incomplete and missing. In view of the criticisms of the (very long) demo expressed in this thread --- here are some comments similar to my previous ones but reinforced now by having played the complete game :- YES! ~~~ There is a VERY great deal of dialog throughout the game. A lot of it is in order to give hints or at least some guidelines as to what to do next. Some of it is meant to be light humour. The narrative is a very fictional sort of thriller with light overtones, and not to be taken too seriously. As such, most of the fun quotes are successful and some quite clever, whilst a few fall rather flat… I don’t think that any are uproariously funny and I don’t think they're aimed to be --- but on both of those counts I may be wrong. There are adventure gamers who hate tons of dialog. I think that those should be warned in order to avoid disappointment and criticism. Actually you can skip over any and all dialogs with one simple key-stroke whenever you like. But if you do, you risk missing some helps during the game (as well as the better humorous cracks !). YES ! ~~~ throughout this considerable mass of dialog (I have no idea how many words & sentences --- but VERY many) there are maybe a maximum of half a dozen sentences of slightly stilted phrases (maybe due to translation… or maybe not !) --- but no more. This represents an absolutely negligible percentage of the whole Not one of these is a howler and this tiny number is only discernable to those with extremely critical eyes. Hence IMHO the accusation of bad translation is both ridiculous and unfair. The translation on the whole is absolutely first class --- I have come across several games developed by people whose mother tongue is English and in which the dialog is far worse ! And even if it was not almost perfect, which it is, whilst not wanting to put up with bad English, such a light adventure is not designed to be a lecture in higher English literature ! On a similar subject :- I can’t help myself but to scrutinize ALL texts carefully for errors in English spelling, syntax, and grammar… particularly when I’m beta-testing, but also (nowadays as an unfortunate habit) when I’m just playing a game for enjoyment & relaxation ! There were many mistakes in English in the beta version --- I don’t remember how many… put plenty ! In this final version I did not notice one single English error in this extremely large body of texts/subtitles… and that was not for want of searching ! Nevertheless, of course it’s more than likely that 1 or 2 or so slipped through. *~*~*~* About 62 years ago I was the editor of a quarterly magazine for over 3 years (every issue, as always, stored for posterity in the British Museum, just opposite to where I worked in Great Russell Street in West London). I learnt then that you can go over articles 10 times and some small error is quite likely to be overlooked !! If there ARE no English mistakes (or only say 1 or 2), this is a very great achievement IMO. After listening to both Nina & Max for a long time, I think that both of their voices are quite suitable. To those who feel that their voices are UNsuitable for their (fictitious) characters, I am not a psychologist, but they seem appropriate and fine to me. YES ! ~~~ Nina DOES speak quite slowly and distinctly (Max also). IMO this is an exceptionally good trait since this game, albeit in English, will be played by thousands of folk for whom English is at best a 2nd language. Nina’s personality (as an unwitting ‘saviour of the world’) IS pretty sassy, frivolous and maybe sardonic --- but who cares --- it’s only a carefree harmless romp of a game and not to be taken and analyzed TOO seriously ! It’s a light hearted game, in my personal opinion, excellent, entertaining and absorbing, but without pretensions to be a Superb Block Buster ! Finally :The puzzles are almost all inventory based, and only a few are ‘stand alone puzzles’ and those are not terribly difficult. Certainly plenty of these puzzles are quite zany --- think Monkey Island not 7th Guest or Myst ! However there are absolutely no sliders, mazes, sound or colour puzzles, action or timed puzzles, diaries &/or documents filled with masses of boring written stuff, or ANY of the standard fare so often encountered in Quest/Adventures, People who want Mensa type brain crunchers may also be disappointed and critical. That’s about it !!! If anybody wants further facts &/or opinions I would be happy to supply, especially when the game is officially released --- I hope any day now ! As I said previously, I have no financial or connections legal, commercial or otherwise with Kochmedia apart from the (purely voluntary) beta testing --- and the same applies to ALL the other many Developers I have ever worked with. |
| 8 MAY 2009 at 8:40am | |
| Deleted User | Since the controversies in this thread dealt mainly with the English phraseology, the translation, and the voice acting, I did not add a couple of other aspects which are at least as important and probably very much more so :- (1) For those who haven’t tried the demo, the game is third person point & click. (2) The interface is as smooth as silk and could hardly be easier to manipulate. (3) AFAIK there is not a single bug, crash, dead end, or glitch in the whole game. (4) As mentioned in my previous post, only a very small percentage of the puzzles are what can be classified as “stand alone puzzles” and those are all original and not the mundane overexposed run of the mill puzzles nor those types hated by many players. The rest are what can be described as “inventory puzzles”. A large number of these involve considerable ‘thinking outside the box’ and some indeed need pretty outrageous leaps of logic. Some players love this type of puzzle but others the opposite. For the latter, they are all covered in the only walkthrough I have seen so far (not mine). But I know that many players refuse to use ANY walkthroughs for various reasons --- this is a matter of pros & cons and is a complete matter of personal choice of course . (5) I don’t think that there is a single shocker of a puzzle which upset some players due to criticism on aesthetic grounds as there were in the previous Secret Files : Tunguska ‘watering the cat’ or ‘crashing the truck to get a lemon’. Kochmedia apparently listen to complaints by players and act upon them (not all Developers do !) both in these cases and in the more important one of Nina’s voice actress. (6) The graphics are extremely good and clear. (7) The magnificent original symphonic style music sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it… I think it will have that effect upon others as well; but of course is another matter of personal taste. ( The full game is pretty long but not excessively so (as are a few games) especially if one includes the intro & very long chapters 1 and 2… i.e. the demo. As a purely personal aside --- I would not have included the whole of chapter 2 (on board the “Calypso”)… IMHO it was a “waste”. I think that somehow there could have been some method of cutting it down to about half in the demo. But that is a purely personal impression, open to pure opinion, and not my decision anyway !! |
| 8 MAY 2009 at 10:31am | |
| Deleted User | I completely forgot : I did not use any of the following at all (at least on this time round), but ---------- ****** The game comes equipped with a device for seeing ell hot spots and exits clearly whenever & if ever required. ****** It also has a built-in colour illustrated diary of nearly 40 double pages containing hints (but not spoilers) for those who want to use it ! ****** Enclosed in the game box is a beautifully printed 56 page booklet, pocket book size. Half of it is the manual and the other half colour illustrations and photos pertaining to the game, |
| 8 MAY 2009 at 10:58am | |
ShanyGuild Master  Posts : 3313 Joined: 19 JUN 2003 Status : Online | I have to say that I am tempted to get the game just for the graphics and puzzles (and maybe the music). Maybe when it's cheaper... |
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| 8 MAY 2009 at 2:52pm | |
Jenny100Guild Master Posts : 3510 Joined: 12 OCT 2002 Status : Offline | Originally Posted By LenG (8 MAY 2009 10:31am) Wow! I haven't seen anything like that for a while. |
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| 8 MAY 2009 at 6:20pm | |
| Deleted User | Just got around to trying out the demo. As far as I'm concerned, the voice acting won't be much of an issue. [img]http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb35/Camaroboy1968/Nina03.jpg?t=1241808141[/img] [img] http://www.clipartof.com/images/thumbnail/1222.gif[/img] |
| 8 MAY 2009 at 11:56pm | |
| Deleted User | ~~ Camaroboy1968 ~~ [smiley=whistle.gif] [smiley=grin.gif] ~~ Shany & Jenny100 ~~ I hope that I haven’t over enthused --- It’s my OPINION that the game is enjoyable, entertaining and overall very good, but NOT ‘SUPERB’. If/when you play it, hope you will agree --- but no guarantees ( or money back ! [smiley=devil_smiley_grintail.gif] ) [IMG]http://i43.tinypic.com/2ut6xj6.jpg[/IMG] [size=16]A TOTALLY unexpected surprise ! [smiley=blush.gif] [smiley=jumping.gif] [IMG]http://i39.tinypic.com/eu3r41.jpg[/IMG] |
| 9 MAY 2009 at 12:16am | |
| Deleted User | Thanks Len. [img]http://www.clipartof.com/images/thumbnail/648.gif[/img] Seriously, I really appreciate all that you contribute to the industry. [img]http://www.clipartof.com/images/thumbnail/1233.gif[/img] |
| 9 MAY 2009 at 11:25am | |
pollodiabloSorcerer Apprentice  Posts : 295 Joined: 4 NOV 2002 Status : Offline | What a great surprise Len! I'm definitely buying this game as I enjoyed Tunguska a lot (although I didn't really like having to feed the cat something I knew was bad for it). Also, I haven't yet played a game Len beta tested and approved that I didn't like. Beta-tester of 'The Path', 'Rhiannon', 'Scratches', 'Hope Springs Eternal', 'Time Stand Still', 'Frasse and the Peas of Kejick', '1893: A World's Fair Mystery', 'Carte Blanche' and 'Oakhaven Plantation' a.o.&& |
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| 9 MAY 2009 at 8:30pm | |
KarstenSorcerer Apprentice Posts : 347 Joined: 23 SEP 2006 Location: DK Status : Offline | Originally Posted By LenG (29 APR 2009 12:54am) The thing is, people will complain abiut anything they are not satisfied with at all. Even a logo change can begin a rather long thread; on the Bioware boards for the Dragon Age: Origins rpg game this is the thread about the logo change: http://daforums.bioware.com/viewtopic.html?topic=677338&forum=135 Other threads revolve around mages, dogs and how the games will play out... For the record, though, I liked Ninas new voice, and who is to so say that a fictive character can't develop her character between the two games.... Oscar's voice was very annoying, I agree. However, it defined his character very well, the annoying little brat, and as such I liked it. It added flavour, feelings and sentiments to the demo (game)... I liked the ending, it made me curious to find out what happens next As for the guy shouting about the 'end is nigh' it was just to establish the idea of the end times, I think... I'm well aware that most adventure games require you to run around doing something very silly while you solve bureucratic puzzles; however to start up with two puzzles of this sort might have been to much, I find. In SF: Tunguska the puzzles seemed logical and consistent, you did the puzzle to get access to some things on screen to help het further in the story. In this second game, the puzzles just seems added (at least they did in the demo, imo) as sort of an afterthought, not being integrated (well) into the story... To prevent adventure game dying out; I'm going to buy this game when it is released in Denmark... |
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| 10 MAY 2009 at 12:13am | |
| Deleted User | I understand that the game has already been shipped from Interact. I'm not knowledgeable about the pros &/or cons of the various sale outlets for the game, but I guess it will be in the hands of some players in a couple of days time ! ~~ Pollodiablo ~~... I haven't yet played a game Len beta tested and approved that I didn't like. Somewhat of an oversimplification. But it would take 2 or 3 paragraphs to clarify properly... and not really justified here/yet ! But thanks for the compliment ! ~~ Karsten ~~... Oscar's voice was very annoying, I agree. However, it defined his character very well, the annoying little brat, and as such I liked it. It added flavour, feelings and sentiments to the demo (game)... I totally agree --- he is MEANT to be, as you say, a VERY “annoying little brat” ! I'm well aware that most adventure games require you to run around doing something very silly while you solve bureucratic puzzles; however to start up with two puzzles of this sort might have been to much, I find. Here I respectfully disagree with you. Throughout all the rest of the game, Nina (and Max) have definite plans as to what to do next. Quite a number of these plans are fictional impossibilities… but they are objectives nevertheless and I think that most of them are ‘logical’ & or pretty much so (as you said in Tunguska). However, the means of performing these actions are often fairly complex (almost all inventory) puzzles ! Several are quite outrageous and some as much as Gyuybrush’s monkey-wrench or Gabe’s moustache. However there is no discomfort to cats or any other of the several animals in the game, or crashing of vehicles simply to obtain a lemon. About the 2nd chapter (i.e. the demo). I’m afraid I’m also in disagreement. The way I look at it is as follows :- Nina is off for a restful sea cruise vacation. (Isn’t it partially, or wholly as a result of her break up with Max). She has no connection with or knowledge of any sierious goings on behind the scenes. WE the players DO know because of the intro and previous chapter --- but Nina DOESN’T! She’s just about to board the Calypso when a bizarre and very unsettling affair occurs, but she thinks it has nothing to do with her. And then a series of strange and incomprehensible events start to happen to her. Some by chance turn out to be merely the pranks of a young boy --- spoilt owing to the fact that he’s the captain’s son. And gradually there affairs become more puzzling and sinister --- luggage disappearing and reappearing; a break in and theft; a strange woman being involved and then in trouble, etc. Eventually, by the end of the chapter she realizes that there’s something SERIOUSLY wrong which may affect her father and, rather unrealistic heroine that she is, she feels obligated to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. IMHO, all this is an excellent beginning to a (VERY) fictional drama --- with some light overtones ! DON’T YOU ? BTW --- If I were you, I wouldn't buy the game simply To prevent adventure game dying out;and no more !!! |
| 10 MAY 2009 at 10:25am | |
KarstenSorcerer ApprenticePosts : 347 Joined: 23 SEP 2006 Location: DK Status : Offline | Hi Len When you say it that way it makes sense - Nina doesn't know anything about what happened in the first chapter, of course, so she probably just becomes more and frustrated and irritated along he way. If this was the idea behind the second chapter, the should have axed the first chapter, imo - and just made reference to an ancient manuscript in the second chapter i.e. Nina being onboard the Calypso. The problem, I see, is that we the players know more than Nina does. This is of course a problem with the presentation itself and may not be a problem with the game itself.. I must not have paid that much attention to some of the story since I didn't get that Oscar was the captain's son? or that Nina was off to help her father? I don't remember this being mentioned in the first two chapters ? (the demo, I mean) And I a not buying the game only to prevent adventure games from dying out.... I want to know what happens next.... |
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| 10 MAY 2009 at 12:16pm | |
| Deleted User | ~~ Karsten ~~... Very nice discussing the plot of the game with you. You are right about the fact that we the players know from chapter-1 that something VERY nasty is going on whereas Nina at the beginning is totally ignorant. I'm DEFINITELY NOT a person who's good at plot analysis. However I seem to have noticed that many TV (and maybe film) thrillers use that sort of dramatic device. i.e. something horrible happens to somebody for whatevere nefarious reason by a person or person's unknown --- then switch to somebody else who knows nothing about it but somehow gets inextricably caught up in the machinations ! I am of an age before air travel really started (except maybe for the very very rich or powerful) and we voyaged a few times by passenger boat. I'm certain that if our luggage got mislaid and then returned and then broken into and then my wife's handbag stolen, and a passenger murdered, etc. etc., I would have been DEFINITELY EXCEEDINGLY DISTURBED !!! |
| 11 MAY 2009 at 7:13pm | |
bazzer55Intergalactic JanitorPosts : 13 Joined: 8 MAY 2009 Status : Online | hi folks! just passing through on a search for sf2 references. i have read all the cut-and-thrust dialogue above. i am amazed at the length and intensity of the discussion and am very pleased to find that there are still people capable of expressing themselves so eloquently. bravo! anyway, having immensely enjoyed both the first sf. and the new english demo, i was pleasantly surprised by the firm thump of my pre-ordered copy; through amazon, on the front-door mat on saturday last. i can confirm that the save-games from the demo are easily transferred to the full game. imho, the game as it progresses is more and more pretty!! i have NEVER in my years of adventure gaming completed a title without resort to a walkthrough and this one is no different. i can live with that and i am just glad that i am not the first player of any game. the initial oddities of the dialogue; discussed already ad nauseum, do not seem to impinge on my consciousness as i pursue the designated route. perhaps i am deaf to them? perhaps they have petered out... so....so far so good...enjoy!!! |
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