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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2014 21:23:17 GMT -5
I don't know of another game where you can commit suicide by duct-taping a goldfish bowl over your head, though!
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Post by drpepperfan on Mar 19, 2015 16:06:17 GMT -5
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Post by Gendo Ikari on Mar 20, 2015 3:15:56 GMT -5
If they included both PC versions (original straight-ported from C64 and Enhanced) it'd be a definitive edition to get.
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Post by drpepperfan on Mar 20, 2015 5:18:52 GMT -5
Oh yeah, should have mentioned, also available on GOG for the first time are Outlaws (aw yiss) and, oddly, Indiana Jones and the Emperors Tomb.
Outlaws appears to only support single player tho. ._.
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Post by jorpho on Mar 21, 2015 1:19:42 GMT -5
That German game never did come out in English, did it?
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Post by Gendo Ikari on May 4, 2015 10:21:53 GMT -5
Between Time and Space has finally a release date for the English version: May 12th. After all these years I hope it will be worth the wait.
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Post by Gendo Ikari on May 13, 2015 4:42:59 GMT -5
So, got BTAS, still early in the game but I can already make some observations.
They didn't spend all these years just translating and dubbing in English. The original German-only version came with a SCUMM-style interface, with verbs and inventory occupying the bottom part of the screen; now there is only a row of objects on the bottom, while actions are performed like in Curse of Monkey Island. Originally the screen had a 4:3 ratio and now it's 16:9, the locations seem fine but I don't know if they've been modified or just stretched - I'm downloading a copy of the old versions right now for a comparison. Looking at gameplay videos of it in the meantime, it seems that some in-engine cutscenes have been replaced with FMVs, which is not for the better because while those movies are impressive in number and sometimes in object modeling and directing, character models are much worse and definitely show this is a fan project that was in the works for many years. 2D graphics are much better if obviously a bit inconsistent (especially with characters), Zak is especially well done.
After the first location, which turns out to be a dream sequence, you can choose between two difficulty levels, like the second and third episodes of MI. Even playing the Easy mode there are plenty of objects, and in Hard they seem to become almost overwhelming, and many puzzles are quite out there, but after it was the same in the original. Obviously there are no more VISA codes, buying tickets is simple (Zak even comments on that), but even if the CashCard starts pretty hefty, with about $12K, money is obviously drained when buying tickets, so I don't know what they have programmed to happen in case money ends.
The biggest issue so far however, seems to be with the writing. The humour often feels forced and it seems they wanted to crank up the wackiness factor, while the original was much more subdued; this is especially evident with the dialogues with other passengers on the plane. At the difficulty selection screen, the highest has Zak saying "Yes baby, I like it Hard!", one of the unnecessary juvenile bits I've seen so far. The translation from German probably doesn't help matters. I'm afraid the dreaded German adventure writing may be in force here.
I'll still play it because it is an admirable fan effort and looks to be fairly long, but I have serious doubts they really managed to capture the spirit.
(Just loaded the savegame and it crashes every time, I'll probably have to start over. Baaad.)
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Post by Snarboo on May 13, 2015 5:49:32 GMT -5
I'm afraid the dreaded German adventure writing may be in force here. I'm curious what you mean by this! I've played a few German adventure games that were translated into English, and other than cultural stuff, the writing doesn't seem any better or worse than other contemporary adventure games.
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Post by derboo on May 13, 2015 5:57:52 GMT -5
If you've played mostly games by Daedalic, you wouldn't have noticed much, but many others do have a tendency to desperately chase one-liners with almost every sentence, trying to imitate the Monkey Island style, but they usually fall flat.
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Post by Snarboo on May 13, 2015 6:18:16 GMT -5
Ah yeah, I've only really played Daedalic's stuff! I'm not sure bad writing like that is unique to German adventure games, as the genre in general gravitates towards snarky or unlikeable protagonists. It's one of the reasons why I've had difficulty getting into the genre until recently, outside of Myst clones.
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Post by Gendo Ikari on May 13, 2015 6:36:33 GMT -5
^ Exactly what I meant.
I've installed the original version and I can confirm some in-engine cutscenes have been replaced with FMVs, but impressively, all the FMVs I've seen so far have been completely redone from the originals. Also the locations that were on a single screen, without scrolling, have got additional details so to fit them better in the new 16:9 resolution, and I've noticed little retouchings here and there too. The new version also shows hotspots by pressing Space. What unfortunately seems lost in the English voice acting is the really funny accent the Caponians speak with in the German dub. Regrettably there are no subtitles during the cutscenes, which becomes a problem if you want to use the French localization - there's only text, no voices, and only English audio in the FMVs. All in all, however, there's still a lot work behind - this is not just a translation but a remaster.
The developers are also using BTAS as a vehicle to promote a Kickstarter for another adventure project by them; from the trailer, it has a completely different atmosphere but the main character, with his shirt and loose tie, looks quite a bit like Zak.
And speaking of Daedalic, most of their adventures share the same engine, Visionarie Studio, with BTAS (which was one of the first games developed with it).
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Post by Gendo Ikari on Jul 15, 2015 10:37:53 GMT -5
So, also thanks to an English walkthrough released on its Facebook page, I finally finished BTAS. Before going on some tirades in following paragraphs, I must confirm my judgment on the writing and overall spirit: it has clever parts, especially when there are callbacks to the original, and the main plot deals with another zany plot by Caponians, but often it leaves place to ribald or mean-spirited humour. As a game of its own, however, it's long, difficult and with impressive production values, despite the jarring divide between 2D parts and FMVs; the latter however have been remade and are better than the 2008 version. Many puzzles are really hair-pulling but are also clever, like the ones involving disguises, one of the instances where the homage is evident. This time the Caponians have a typical flying saucer but you get to see their king's room and his bed is shaped like the original ship. Among the worse moments, there's a point where, to get a doll, you have to use a slingshot to throw a pebble at a little girl, to have her drop it. You get it and leave her there, crying. That's it. But the worst is the poor treatment of the original female characters. Melissa and Leslie are reduced to a cameo, while Annie has only a small part. Annie had little characterization originally but you could see she was studious and resourceful; here, however, she's quite sexualized (the two times you see her, she is in a bikini and a towel - sexy lingerie in the 2008 version), is completely unrecognizable because for some reason she's now blonde, has married a French guy mere weeks after meeting him, and in general she's been made into "the girl to get". And the consequence of one puzzle is making her a widow. But don't worry, this causes her to get back to Zak, as she calls him at the end of the game! *groan* Among the good moments, there's a cameo of David Fox and Matthew Kane - voiced by themselves! And one of Al Lowe, but I missed or didn't notice it. That's one of the things that made me see that for all its flaws the game is still a great labor of love which, between the original work and all the improvements of the present version, has taken over a decade.
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