Hi Trav,

             VERY nice to head from you. I hope you are keeping well and your children & family. I read that you had some most unpsetting personal troubles some time ago. I sincerely hope that they were not life threatening and whatever they were you have overcome them and things are now happy with you - I believe that you are a an extremely positive person ! Also I remember that you had some worrying retinal problems - as  a result of bashing into a door I think. I hope that has cleared up. We have quite a bit of congenital retinal "experience" - my mother, myself, and our youngst child (Dana - she is now 53 - around your age I would imagine) !so I can empathize !!

Yes I agree with you - a good descvription - Lost Horizon is emminently a fun game. Not funny although touches of mild humour throughout (Essentially Britich type - somewhat subtle humour rather than laid on with a trowel)

Cheers - keep well & ATB ----- Len.

I'm currently playing Syberia and totally failing to rediscover its charm that had so many people spellbound back in 2002/03.  Talk about S.L.O.W....... zzzZZZZzzzz.....

I've just sat through a most boring lecture by Prof Pons that was every bit as boring as some real life university lectures I've sat through! 

It's taken me ages to get the train to the wall - at this rate she'd have been there and back half a dozen times if she'd flown instead....

@ Greyfuss:  "And take a look at Phobos 1953 here http://www.centauriproduction.com/mementomori2.php I believe an English version is in the works now."

Followed the link but found no reference to Phobos 1953 - am I missing something?

I too am looking forward to an English version ever since "sneeking a peek" at the Russian one. Same team that produced the great Outcry and has a very compelling look and feel.

BTW, not sure how the "add quotation" thing works any more - hopefully the quotes will help.

Originally Posted By tincup2 (11 FEB 2012 1:40pm)

@ Greyfuss:  "And take a look at Phobos 1953 here http://www.centauriproduction.com/mementomori2.php I believe an English version is in the works now."

 

Followed the link but found no reference to Phobos 1953 - am I missing something?

 

I too am looking forward to an English version ever since "sneeking a peek" at the Russian one. Same team that produced the great Outcry and has a very compelling look and feel.

 

BTW, not sure how the "add quotation" thing works any more - hopefully the quotes will help.

 

You are right Tincup2, sorry...here is a good one (I hope)

http://www.phobos.su/en/

Now playing Corrosion: Cold Winter Waiting.......Fantastic....better get your thinking caps on.  My kind of game

Originally Posted By GreyFuss (11 FEB 2012 6:07pm)

Now playing Corrosion: Cold Winter Waiting.......Fantastic....better get your thinking caps on.  My kind of game

I was thinking about getting this. Hesitating because 19.95 seems a little expensive for an indie developer. Let us know if it's good!

@ Greyfuss  "You are right Tincup2, sorry...here is a good one (I hope)"

http://www.phobos.su/en/

Yes that's the Phobos 1953 website. Linking to the forum I found a post from last August [in english] saying that they were looking for a partner to do the english version with and they would let us know of any success. Let's hope someone steps up.

From my "sneak peek" it's evident that translating Phobos 1953 is more involved than just adding english subtitles and voice overs. There are scenes in which you need to read Russian - machinery lables, posters, bulletin boards, account logs, diaries, etc., to make any progress in the game so some of the in-game graphics themselves need to be re-worked.

Looks like a great game so let's hope they can get it together. I scavenged Euro eBays with no luck, apparently it's impossible to find outside the Russian zone... 

Originally Posted By GreyFuss (11 FEB 2012 6:07pm)

Now playing Corrosion: Cold Winter Waiting.......Fantastic....better get your thinking caps on.  My kind of game

Looks like my cup of tea Greyfuss.

I just may have to purchase it even though I am so far behind on games to play.

I'll see how long I can control myself.

I am quite a ways into Corrosion Helen and I have to say that it has been a long time since a game has made me think about it even when not playing it. Make no mistake though...you will have to put on your thinking cap. Indie developers like Bill Fisher, Jonathon Boakes, Matt Clarke and all, move over  there is a new player in town in the likes of Dan Peach developer of this, so far, fantastic game for me. Boy that sounds good to me, I have only been able to say that a few times in the last 5 years or so.

Sounsd great GreyFuss. I'm really regretting not buying Cold Corrosion instead of Dark Secrets.

Originally Posted By walsh (13 FEB 2012 6:37pm)

Sounsd great GreyFuss. I'm really regretting not buying Cold Corrosion instead of Dark Secrets.

Dark Secrets?  Golly, I'm out of touch with the AG scene atm.  Did I miss a post anywhere?  Care to tell more?

@ Len Green: Hi Len, everything is fine with me.  I've been wondering how you've been doing, especially with your eye problems.  It looks like you must have managed to come to some kind of arrangement that helps you to see text well, because you seem to be seeing our text fine, plus you're using a small font.  Are you using a screen magnifier?

Originally Posted By Traveller (14 FEB 2012 3:58am)

Originally Posted By walsh (13 FEB 2012 6:37pm)

Sounsd great GreyFuss. I'm really regretting not buying Cold Corrosion instead of Dark Secrets.

 

Dark Secrets?  Golly, I'm out of touch with the AG scene atm.  Did I miss a post anywhere?  Care to tell more?

 

Sure. I'll post what the developer poster over at AGers.

Dark Secret Is released!

We at Dreamcraft entertainment is proud to announce that our title Dark Secrets has finally become available to the public!

"Dark Secrets is a first person adventure game set in small isolated Scandinavian village. After five years, Arthur returns to home due to his father's sudden death. He inherits the family's old antique shop and the countless of strange objects within that his father had collected over the years. Through these mysterious objects Arthur begins on a journey to uncover the dark secrets that are hidden behind the facade."

Two years ago we got together and said “Let’s make games!” and well. This is the result of that first step. It has been a long journey, and we have used every step on that journey to hone our skills in the various departments of development.

This however doesn’t mean we are done because we want to be able to deliver the best possibly experience. We are currently working on the last touches of the 1.01 patch, which fixed a lot of small things in the game as well as restoring some minor content that didn't make into the released version.

As soon as the patch is green-lit and has gone through our rigorous quality control we will release the patch which if everything goes smoothly will be sometime next week.

For more information about Dark Secrets please visit our IndieDb page.

Dark Secret have been released in the following Online shops.

GamersGate

AdventureShop

We have also Released a demo to match the quality of our release. Just in case you wanted to try before you buy. You can find it by simply clicking here.

Thanks Walsh. Please let us know sometime what you think of the game. 

I rarely complain here but I recently downloaded the Corrosion CCW demo provided for us here by JA. Apparently the demo consists of the full game minus an activation code. You don't get to play a limited portion of the game at your leisure, what you get is 20 minutes to see fast you will get stuck in the game. Since it's a race against the clock you won't want to waste a lot of time scouring the environment, or for that matter get to absorb any sense of appreciation for the game. I did manage to discover that the game is a solitary FPP NSEW slideshow, something I thought we had seen the last of.

In the meantime I have the Dark Secrets demo ready and waiting to receive my proper evaluation in a stress-free environment. 

Hi Trav,

I'm VERY pleased that you're fine. I know that you've had a couple of upsets over the past year or two and it's so good to hear that you,ve overcome them.

BTW - You hardly ever mention your children - I think you have two ?!! They must be quite grown up by now !

Thanks for mrntioning mr & particularly eye trouble - which I've had for decades but only relatively recently caused me REAL trouble.

I started with this macula degeneration 3 years ago when I was 84 and it has grown steadily worse reaching its present state. I can still read the headlines of newspapers and could read the text with a strong magnifying glass - but I don't much since it's a great strain. I can watch TV - albeit I can no longer identify the features of characters unless the are in very large close-up... mau=ybe in some cases thast's a blessing hahaha !

I can still use my computer by virtuie of being able (generally) to magnify greatly - it's tedious since I have to scroll all the time - but I still get by.

My wife insists on accompanying me when I go out shopping - but sometimes I slip out by myself when she;s sleeping. It IS somewhat dangerous and she ticks me off so occasionally I don't tell her !!!

 are no longer alive or have terrible illnesses physical &/or mental.

I keep busy and don't get depressed at all.

My mother who died aged 94 was blind for the last few years of her life and used to say :Well - we're in the departure lounge" hehehe.

                  All the very best --- Len

But I don't complain and consider myself EXTREMELY lucky. So many of my friends and relatives are non

Originally Posted By Traveller (14 FEB 2012 8:43am)

Thanks Walsh. Please let us know sometime what you think of the game. 

I wouldn't recommend it, unless you like buggy games with very poor writing. I'd estimate I'm a third of the way through and so far the plot has done nothing more than meander around some much talked about 'Dark Secret' with little in the way of progress. The graphics are actually pretty good for an indie game except for the awful character models, but there is no speech and every line has a grammatical or spelling mistake, literally.

There's also no indication whatsoever of what you have to do or where you have to go. None - and that's not an exaggeration. You'll wander around the village in the hope that you'll find something has changed, a new object or person. It's incredibly tedious. But the worst part is definitely the writing. It's designed by Swedes, but that's no excuse for the dialogues coming across as a creative writing piece for a 6th grade english class.

I just played through Lume. A short (40min) logic based puzzle/adventure game. It had a charming style to it, but it really should have had a few more puzzles. 

I'm currently playing Ceville, and I can't quite see why this game got such great reviews everywhere. It is not a bad game, but I'm not overly impressed by it either. Also, the loading times are very long. 

Originally Posted By Fnord (23 FEB 2012 5:40pm)

I'm currently playing Ceville, and I can't quite see why this game got such great reviews everywhere. It is not a bad game, but I'm not overly impressed by it either. Also, the loading times are very long. 

I noticed it was on sale yesterday. I played it around the time it came out, wasn't impressed it all... humour seemed forced and it was kind of slow, plus the loading times were horrible. It sucks to hear they didn't optimize it better. Never finished it.

I'm giving up on this game, it is just not getting any better, and I have too many unfinished and potentially better games to play one that is just "alright". 

The cause of the loading times is quite easy to pinpoint, they are loading the entire chapter in one go, which is a pretty horrible design decision. They could have easily hidden the loading times in other ways.

Also, the game is a bit buggy. At one point, while talking to the man outside the council chamber, the game just started showing subtitles and stopped playing the voice clip. This was just temporary and it went back to no subtitles but with voices instead. Also, characters quite often walk through solid objects and pop in and out of existence.

I think I'll play the free game "The cat and the coup" instead. 

Originally Posted By Fnord (24 FEB 2012 8:04am)

I'm giving up on this game, it is just not getting any better, and I have too many unfinished and potentially better games to play one that is just "alright". 

 

The cause of the loading times is quite easy to pinpoint, they are loading the entire chapter in one go, which is a pretty horrible design decision. They could have easily hidden the loading times in other ways.

 

Also, the game is a bit buggy. At one point, while talking to the man outside the council chamber, the game just started showing subtitles and stopped playing the voice clip. This was just temporary and it went back to no subtitles but with voices instead. Also, characters quite often walk through solid objects and pop in and out of existence.

 

 

I think I'll play the free game "The cat and the coup" instead. 

Are you talking about Ceville here?  I thought the game was very funny.  In fact, I liked it so much that I wrote a walkthrough for it; it was hosted  here on JA before the 'takeover'.  I have no idea what you mean by long loading times.  As you can imagine, for writing a walkthrough one has to load many times, since you have to save and reload to try alternative possibilities.  Never once did I come across slow loading or buginess of any kind.

My apologies if you weren't talking about Ceville.

EDIT:  I see Dona had a similar reaction to it.  Well, maybe my system simply liked the game then, or I was playing with more up-to-date hardware.

Originally Posted By Traveller (24 FEB 2012 12:30pm)
Well, maybe my system simply liked the game then, or I was playing with more up-to-date hardware.

Very possible as far as I'm concerned, I played it on my old computer.

I had to deal with over 1min long loading times, which was very frustrating. But yes, my computer is very old, so that might have been part of the issue.

Some of the jokes were funny, mainly the ones that were based around Ceville being childishly evil (he reminded me a bit of the evil architect from Asterix and Cleopatra, who was so evil that when he made a poisoned cake, he only added one slice of orange, instead of three, because he did not want the cake to taste good), but most of the others did not really do it for me.

The Cat & the Coup was an interesting little game. It was a 10min long documentary game, about the coup in Iran in 1953. It probably belongs in the puzzle game category though. 

*edit* Our posts were not even a second apart, which seem to have confused the forum a tad bit. Here it claims that I made the last post, but on the main forum view, it claims that Dona's post was the last one. 

Due to lack of a decent alternative, I've just restarted "The Next Big Thing" which I abandoned a few noths ago being tied up with other more important game-matters.

I was not over impressed with the little I played then !!

Originally Posted By Fnord (24 FEB 2012 1:06pm)

I had to deal with over 1min long loading times, which was very frustrating. But yes, my computer is very old, so that might have been part of the issue.

 

Some of the jokes were funny, mainly the ones that were based around Ceville being childishly evil (he reminded me a bit of the evil architect from Asterix and Cleopatra, who was so evil that when he made a poisoned cake, he only added one slice of orange, instead of three, because he did not want the cake to taste good), but most of the others did not really do it for me.

 

  

What I really loved about Ceville, is how it "deconstructs" stereotypes. It cartoonises and exaggerates them in a very fun way. You see all the most common stereotypes there, all depicted in very fun ways, and you also see some social commentary going on. You have the evil dictator, the "innocent" (or not so innocent) little girl who kicks ass and tries to save Ceville, while he in turn tries to use her, there's the "glorious hero" so full of himself. (I sniggered a lot with his "grooming in front of the morror'" scenes, I pictured David Hasselhof's head on his shoulders).

There's the "good fairy" (the social worker who tries to reform everyone) hehe, and all those criminals turned "good" heheheh, there's the actess/singer so full of herself (JLo), there's the scummy scamster, there's the town council, there's the big corporation and more. Man this all just reminds why I loved the game so much.

If you look at the game in terms of a "making fun of stereotypes"  you get to appreciate the humor a lot more.