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| 9 AUG 2004 at 7:59pm |
KsandraSchattenjger
Posts : 2459
Joined: 2 APR 2003
Status : Online | There's a link to some mirrors in this thread.
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| 9 AUG 2004 at 8:38pm |
Jeroen StoutSchattenjger
Posts : 2798
Joined: 14 NOV 2003
Status : Online | So, then finally installed it... some warning about drivers... I try to play it... hmmm.. buggy. Gods, I'll have to update the drivers after all. Hate it when I have to do that. I just downloaded 200 mB... why do I need new drivers ... can't I just play?
Hehe, first opinions so far:
Music: Yeah, it's ok.
Sounds: Not so much of them (yet).
Graphics:
epth of Field: Let's pray it's a bug of my drivers, because it looks baaad and is slow as a brogmoid on a hot day.
Scenes: Hmmm... not that inspiring. Hope for improvement?
Video: Unsharp and clearly 'moving in no general direction'
Water: Ugh.
Overall: Let's pray the drivers will do their job, because this is not Myst as it is meant to be. It looks like a fanproject at this point.
I'll keep you posted
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| 9 AUG 2004 at 8:40pm |
Jeroen StoutSchattenjger
Posts : 2798
Joined: 14 NOV 2003
Status : Online | Grrrrr I can't install my new drivers with some 'windows XP logo problem'. Bill Gates, keep out of my Myst experience. Grrrumbah.
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| 9 AUG 2004 at 8:59pm |
Jeroen StoutSchattenjger
Posts : 2798
Joined: 14 NOV 2003
Status : Online | Ok, so I tried again... no depth of field... no drivers, so I'll lay low on some graphical bugs (darn Microsoft, I hope their HQ gets infected by grues)...
The demo is too short. You don't want to download 200 mB for this. I'm lucky to have broadband, but if you don't: leave it.
What I thought of the general game: uhm. The 2 puzzles in this game, were, so to say, rubbish. I cannot help it. They were easier beond Syberia even. Atrus just *leaves* a note how to solve one with a description that makes it more clear as you'll ever need to know. He practically writes down what you need to do. Who needs a help system?
Although it all looks fairly good (beond my 3d powers, I assure you), it looks rubbish. The video has a bad transition to real-time, the effects look like they merged prerendered with realtime 3d, only with low-res prerendered and realtime3d from the year 1990. I may be unfair in this, with the drivers, but that are maybes.
The effects, the sounds, the ideas, the story... this game doesn't do it for a Myst game, I'm afraid. Sure, it may look kind of nice... but it has no feeling. The music was nice again, with a Myst tune in it (finally, I love that tune), but it wasn't good.
There is nothing of a plot in this game, actually. There is one letter and a few flashbacks, but nothing interesting overall. It's dull.
I must say that it's painful to write this, as I really, really was looking forward to this game, but if you excuse me, I'm going to remorse 200 mB of lost bandwidth. This demo and so possibly game... is a shame.
Amen.
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| 9 AUG 2004 at 10:22pm |
bysmittySpace Cadet
Posts : 122
Joined: 29 JUN 2004
Status : Online | Well I downloaded the demo imediatly after reading theParrots comments so I could tell him to stick his feathers in his mouth before insulting anything myst. Of course... I can't. The reason... the demo won't even launch on my computer. Just crashes to the desktop, even with the latest drivers and after the myst 4 configuration utility okayed my system specs. So I guess I won't be able to tell everyone how beautiful the graphics are and how well thought out the puzzles are. I can't tell everyone that theParrot is just a birdbrain with a sub-par computer. I can't because it seams he's right. :-[ ...bysmitty
Things I need to do today:&&-change out of pajamas&&-[s]come up with witty yet sophisticated signature[/s]&&-sober up&&-[s]watch simpsons at 6pm[/s]
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| 9 AUG 2004 at 10:28pm |
Jeroen StoutSchattenjger
Posts : 2798
Joined: 14 NOV 2003
Status : Online | My computer actually is way over the specs, yet Myst still says it doesn't and is below the specs.
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| 9 AUG 2004 at 10:47pm |
HermanToothrotIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 70
Joined: 15 APR 2003
Status : Online | Ok Parrot, either something is wrong with your eyesight or it's your computer because this game is BEAUTIFUL!
Need some alone time - will post my full review later!
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| 9 AUG 2004 at 10:52pm |
dombrewerGuild Master
Posts : 3103
Joined: 19 JAN 2003
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By The Parrot (9 AUG 2004 8:58pm)
Although it all looks fairly good . . . it looks rubbish.
Say that again? ??? :
[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/detective.gif[/img][b]Playing:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/blahblah.gif[/img][b]Reading:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/whistle.gif[/img][b]Listening:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/indie.gif[/img][b]Watching:[/b]
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| 9 AUG 2004 at 11:06pm |
Jeroen StoutSchattenjger
Posts : 2798
Joined: 14 NOV 2003
Status : Online | I think it's the computers... lots of people have these problems.
Dombrewer > well, it looks like good rubbish at least ...
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| 9 AUG 2004 at 11:33pm |
KsandraSchattenjger
Posts : 2459
Joined: 2 APR 2003
Status : Online | I quite liked it. I think the shortness and the blurry graphics are due to them having to keep the file size small - remember that the full game comes on 2 DVDs. Some of the people who were at Mysterium say the final game looks much better.
I actually found the graphical effects pretty impressive, and I thought the music was lovely (though this is a matter of personal taste, I suspect). But the voice acting... is it just me, or does Atrus's voice sound somewhat different from how it is in the other games? And Catherine, well, her voice just seems to get worse with each subsequent game.
The puzzle was much too easy, I agree. Let's hope it's just a placeholder.
Oh, and I got a message saying my video drivers weren't compatible as well, but the game ran fine. [smiley=shrug.gif]
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| 10 AUG 2004 at 12:07am |
Jeroen StoutSchattenjger
Posts : 2798
Joined: 14 NOV 2003
Status : Online | That puzzle was no placeholder... ...
Hmm... having just played it again, it somehow looked sharper this time around (odd, I know)... still, no praising of the graphics, but they did do their best on them, I think.
Catherine should be silenced she sounds like the girl from Syberia 2. Ack!
Still, no immersion. Too bad. The style isn't great, in my eyes... but what the heck... download, and see you for yourselves!
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| 10 AUG 2004 at 12:48am |
Lucien21Guild Master
Posts : 4876
Joined: 9 JUL 2003
Location: 0
Status : Offline | Ok
Not bad. Reasonably enjoyable
Good
* Music was nice
* Graphics were nice-ish (also see bad)
* The hand pointer was excellent. I liked the way you flip the pages of the book, Use real hand movements to open things and can tap virtually any surface to get a different sound (Petty I know but it adds to the immersion)
* There seems to be a more explicit story in this one. Short flashback video and audio sequences immerse you in the storyline.
* The in-game camera and notebook for making notes is an inspired idea that should be used in all adventures. (Saves paper)
Bad
* I thought there was something wrong with my eyesight. Major fuzzyness > (if it's low rez on purpose to keep size of demo down they are doing a disservice. I thought the point was to attract buyers not put them off with fuzzy graphics. If this is the real quality of the graphics i'm not impressed)
* Very short demo with only a couple of rooms.
* Voice acting is a tad dodgy
* Puzzle was too easy with explict instructions in how to do it. Hopefully not an indication of whats to come.
Might be worth a shot.
Dear Diary, My teenage angst bullsh*t now has a bodycount.
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| 10 AUG 2004 at 2:41am |
| Deleted User | I just read the Gamespot "Preview" and it mentions that the game has been designed for the dedicated fanbase but also NOW caters for the Casual gamer. These are words of death for me because for some stupid reason this tends to end up with the game being FUBAR!
Does "Casual Gamer" mean people who are clueless, uncoordinated and incapable of comprehending the most basic of gaming principles? Only the moment this term is mentioned in game design principle, the game tends to turn out pleasing absolutely no-one!
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| 10 AUG 2004 at 4:27am |
Jenny100Guild Master
Posts : 3510
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Status : Offline | It's supposed to have a hint system with three levels of hints.
If they didn't include that in the demo, they may have just used an easy puzzle instead.
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| 10 AUG 2004 at 6:29am |
Jeroen StoutSchattenjger
Posts : 2798
Joined: 14 NOV 2003
Status : Online | Ehm, Jenny... this could be counted as an easy puzzle. I solved it in 10 seconds. It's a very standard 'checkbox' puzzle.
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| 10 AUG 2004 at 8:02pm |
Jenny100Guild Master
Posts : 3510
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Status : Offline | Yes that sounds like an easy puzzle.
But maybe not so easy for "casual gamers" who've never seen a standard checkbox puzzle before.
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| 11 AUG 2004 at 12:32am |
veistranIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 3
Joined: 10 AUG 2004
Status : Online | Check it out, when you start outside go and take a look around where you can see things close and far away (the rail and a building in the distance) move the hand over the rail and witness as it becomes the object of your focus and is no longer blurry. Now move the hand off to the building in the distance, watch as it snaps into focus and the rail fuzzes.
The hand seems to dictate where and what your focus is on, interesting feature but I don't know if I like it or not yet.
edit: I got curious and checked the options, it is indeed something that can be toggled on and off, it's the aptly "depth of field effect."
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| 11 AUG 2004 at 3:10pm |
thomasbcSpace Cadet
Posts : 132
Joined: 20 NOV 2003
Status : Online |
I quite liked the demo because I treated it precisely as what it is: a demo. Is it indicative of the entire game? No. Is it a good introduction to some of the new features of the interface? Hell yes!
You can't expect to get "immersion" from a short, 10-minute demo (although, this demo accomplishes this, to a certain degree, a whole lot better than most other demo games).
I actually liked the "depth of field" effect, as previously described by Veistran, not only from an aesthetic perspective but from a technical perspective as well. For a pre-rendered graphical environment, an effect like that is mind-boggling. Even real-time 3D engines would have a difficult time implementing something like that. Well done!
The hand cursor is also a big improvement over the standard PnC cursor. About the only thing I didn't like about it was the fact that it definitely has a "lag time" in changing from one indicator to another. A good example is when it changes into the "hand with a magnifying glass" when you track over a hotspot that you can closely examine. If you have your panning speed cranked up, it might be easy to miss some of these cursor transitions. Also, the "hand change" when hovering over a switch on one of the lamps is SO subtle that I hardly recognized it as a hotspot even when I was being very careful in "feeling" around those objects. But, at least I now know what to look for in the future.
As for the hint system (which I assume would have regulated whether or not you would find as much info or any info at all on the "cheat sheet" from Atrus), I applaud it. If it means more people will be able to enjoy playing a game like this, without feeling intellectually "challenged", then I'm all for it. I, for one, will probably start off with it turned off completely (but will be probably be glad its there for the inevitable "stinker" puzzles). My wife, who played the demo seperately from me, actually solved the puzzle without even finding the "cheat sheet". I guess I'm the intellectually challenged one, then.
Overall, this demo whetted my appetite for this game even more. Bring it on! [smiley=hyper.gif]
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| 11 AUG 2004 at 10:16pm |
KsandraSchattenjger
Posts : 2459
Joined: 2 APR 2003
Status : Online | I liked a lot of things about the demo, but I do think that Ubisoft are doing themselves a disservice by keeping the graphics quality low. After all, this is probably the first thing people who've never played a Myst game before will notice, and they won't realise that it will be improved in the final version. Ah well, maybe it was the best they could do for the moment...
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| 11 AUG 2004 at 11:07pm |
| Deleted User | Originally Posted By Ksandra (11 AUG 2004 10:15pm)
...and they won't realise that it will be improved in the final version.
This is sheer conjecture at this stage isn't it? I mean, if you are going to produce a 191mb demo, then you are catering to broadband users anyway (hence, I won't be bothering with it), so why reduce graphical quality... I wouldnt be surprised if what you see is what you get. Plenty of times demos are released and people assume various improvements will be made in the final product only to be bitterly dissapointed.
To be honest, graphics is what made Myst succesful in the first place, one would think it would be the last thing they would misrepresent in the demo.
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| 12 AUG 2004 at 2:23am |
LimeIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 15
Joined: 4 MAR 2004
Status : Online |
I have to agree, the first most striking thing, was the Fuzzy, almost somewhat dated looking visuals
Where's the "WOW" factor, i thought they were going to go the extra mile with this to make up for the disaster that was URU....... ( NOW DEPRESSING, it is wondering around that deserted project!, i don't even play it, it feel's so emply and heartless)
I HOPE to go they consider spffining up the graphic's becuase im not impressed with the demo at all...
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| 12 AUG 2004 at 9:18am |
Jeroen StoutSchattenjger
Posts : 2798
Joined: 14 NOV 2003
Status : Online | The graphics in the final version will be a lot better.. they heavily compressed the demo.
However, I didn't like the style of the overall sample, and the effects (which aren't compressed, of course) seemed fake and bad 3d.
Ah well... I'll be waiting for the reviews.
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| 12 AUG 2004 at 9:48am |
KsandraSchattenjger
Posts : 2459
Joined: 2 APR 2003
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Bazza (11 AUG 2004 11:07pm)
This is sheer conjecture at this stage isn't it? I mean, if you are going to produce a 191mb demo, then you are catering to broadband users anyway (hence, I won't be bothering with it), so why reduce graphical quality... I wouldnt be surprised if what you see is what you get. Plenty of times demos are released and people assume various improvements will be made in the final product only to be bitterly dissapointed.
To be honest, graphics is what made Myst succesful in the first place, one would think it would be the last thing they would misrepresent in the demo.
It has been confirmed by one of the developers that the graphics have been compressed and will be improved in the final version. But this is precisely what I'm saying: most people who play the demo are not going to be aware of this.
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| 12 AUG 2004 at 9:29pm |
| Deleted User | Originally Posted By Ksandra (12 AUG 2004 9:47am)
It has been confirmed by one of the developers that the graphics have been compressed and will be improved in the final version. But this is precisely what I'm saying: most people who play the demo are not going to be aware of this.
In that case, your right. What a dumb decision... Does it really matter if your demo is 191mb or 300mb?
Anyway... makes me happier about the final product
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