Adventure games

[Duke0196]

Thanks for the info. I'll have a look but I have already started "Syberia II". Is it just me or did "Syberia" seem a bit short? I have read how "Amerzone" was short, could it truly be possible that "Amerzone" is even shorter than "Syberia?"

Did you buy the game new or used? If it's used they may not answer you.

It's new. All three games on 1 DVD.

[Duke0196]

Duke, Check out this link. It says Amerzone is not compatible with windows vista 32-bit.

Hmm, interesting. I noticed, however, it says Amerzone Classic. I'll bet they are referring to the original version released in 1999.

I searched for Amerzone and windows 7 compatibility and found this information from facebook.

The apparent lack of Amerzone compatibility issues online leads me to believe it just might be my system. In fact, a thread on Gameboomers said it worked perfectly on W7 64-bit ... and the thread was from 2009. It definitely has something to do with video playback so I tried some older drivers but decided to hold off until I finish Syberia II. I am currently in the Youkal Village.

I don't know what they mean but maybe you should visit Microids website or try asking them by sending them an e-mail. I think you really should e-mail them as you will have trouble finding an answer on the web.

Actually my manual states to contact Iceberg Interactive since they released the Syberia Collection. Unfortunately, to add insult to injury their website says the Collection is: Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/7™ compatible and both 32-bit & 64-bit. They must have done something to the games when they compiled them to make them compatible.
http://www.iceberg-interactive.com/game ... ction.html

This is not to say folks aren't having problems with Microids games. I found this info but unfortunately they didn't help.
http://www.dreamlogic.net/archives/how- ... -windows-7

Anyway, I really appreciate the advice & info.

[geosouv]

I am currently in the Youkol Village.

Jesus!, you mean you have finished Syberia 1 and you are now at the Youkol village in Syberia 2? You seem to be a veteran at adventure games. I think you found your genre Duke!! I wish I was that good but puzzles are not my thing Oh well, you can't have it all can you? Not to mention it took me 3 years to finish Secret Files: Tunguska No help used whatsoever.

You should scan your system with a strong antivirus like NOD32 or Kaspersky. Do you have an antivirus running? Tell me the name of it and I'll tell you if it is good enough for today's standards (in fact I
'll read a review on it). If you cannot afford commercial antivirus download avira antivirus system (it's German) together with malwarebytes anti-malware. You should download and use malwarebytes anti-malware even if you have a strong commercial antivirus installed. Do a whole system scan with both. I suspect you have a virus.

I hope I helped.

[Duke0196]

I am currently in the Youkol Village.

Jesus!, you mean you have finished Syberia 1 and you are now at the Youkol village in Syberia 2? You seem to be a veteran at adventure games. I think you found your genre Duke!! I wish I was that good but puzzles are not my thing Oh well, you can't have it all can you? Not to mention it took me 3 years to finish Secret Files: Tunguska No help used whatsoever.

Point-and-click is a piece of cake. Like I said, I used to do text adventure games when you had to create your own maps with paper & pencil so you wouldn't get too lost. It also helps I have the time to concentrate on a game with minimal distractions (remember I'm retired); plus, many of the puzzles were pretty straight forward, and foremost, they are games that I wanted to play but didn't find locally. Thanks to you my interest in Syberia was renewed and I am extremely happy about it.

You should scan your system with a strong antivirus like NOD32 or Kaspersky. Do you have an antivirus running? Tell me the name of it and I'll tell you if it is good enough for today's standards (in fact I'll read a review on it). If you cannot afford commercial antivirus download avira antivirus system (it's German) together with malwarebytes anti-malware. You should download and use malwarebytes anti-malware even if you have a strong commercial antivirus installed. Do a whole system scan with both. I suspect you have a virus.

Thanks for the offer and concern but it's doubtful I have a virus. I do a weekly update of my home network every Wednesday (3 desktops, 1 laptop, 1 netbook) ... and today is Wednesday. This includes updating drivers, flash, browsers, full scans etc.

Anyway, to answer your question, yes, I do have antivirus running from boot-up to shut-down. I run Avast 6 along with Winpatrol and Zonealarm. Malwarebytes is already part of my weekly regimen and I sometimes run it mid-week. Among the security and utility programs that are always running, I also use Firefox with several extensions and tweaks to lessen browser-related security issues.

================
The following quotes were copied on the Trebissky thread since it was about adventure gaming.

I am also playing B. Sokal's Paradise at the moment, along with Half-Life 2 and Soldier Of Fortune 2 (that one is really a sweet shooter). Half-Life 2 and Paradise both have puzzles and Paradise seems very hard although I am still exploring the first area. I am guessing it will take me more time than Secret Files: Tunguska, to finish the game but that's alright.

If you like a "darker" type of adventure game ... you might try American McGee's Alice. That one was strange indeed with some difficult puzzles.

Duke, you seem to be pretty good at adventure games. I mean, you just started Syberia and you are already at the world. You should consider playing adventure games more often. I pretty much suck at adventure games but love them anyway

Well, as far as the Syberia games, I definitely have the time and the interest. I found myself wanting to do a little more to see what the next thing might bring up. Later ...

[geosouv]

Duke,

I am sorry to inform you that avast is not the best freeware antivirus at the moment. My sister used to have it, she had many viruses and the antivirus couldn't find a single virus. I suggest you uninstall avast and switch to avira. Avast is not good enough nowadays. That's my opinion anyway. Avira was recommended by my computer technician actually. He said avast was insufficient as well.

Well, I have done some reading about what a text adventure was like. I think they were a lot harder than modern adventures. That explains your mastery over the adventure genre . You should try Paradise. I find it a very hard game. A truly great game is macinarium, made by a small Indie Czech developer. It is similar to Syberia, as it is lonely, emotional and has robots. I have read that its riddles are considered pretty hard (especially in the last parts of the game). Its music is supposed to be wonderful, but I didn't find it that attractive (that's just my taste). It is available here at the best price. The only serious disadvantage I found in this game is that it is uses flash player to run. I've only played the demo, but I found it quite interesting but not interesting enough to buy it.

Check out the demo here. It is quite short, as the game itself is quite short. The demo occupies very little space on your HDD so you don't have to worry about disk space.


See you around.

[Duke0196]

Thanks for the suggestion George. I really don't know how we got onto this virus kick but my IT instructor would love your persistence. You ever think about selling used cars? Come to think of it ... his name was George too. Its kind of funny because one of my first IT papers was test and provide a report on free AV software.

Anyway, Avast and Avira have been flip-flopping between 1st and 2nd for a while so it isn't any major dramas. PC World had Avast 1st and Avira 2nd in their 2011 Round-up; yet an online article dated September 22, 2011 put Avira 1st and Avast 2nd while another updated on 28 October 2011 - put Avast 1st & Avira 4th. The bottom line is don't get caught up in the numbers game since no AV will catch everything ... so it stands to reason Avast may catch things Avira doesn't and vice-versa. Someone will come out with some new bell or whistle putting it temporarily on top until the other guy comes up with something to out do its competitor.

Furthermore, dumping Avast would not be good for me even if I wanted to switch. Avira Free does not scan email. Avast, however, provides me with shields for my mail, the web, P2P, Network, etc. For additional protection it also provides AutoSandbox, and Site Blocking.

Another thing, that you would not have known. The only way my gaming laptop would have gotten a virus is if it came from Windows Update, the original software, or the software accessing their website for updates ... which I need to provide access via Zonealarm. All surfing, etc (like me writing on this forum) is done on an old XP desktop.

From past experience I am fairly certain its a graphics issue since the game will work. Its just the cutscenes that do not play properly. For instance, you can hear the conversation in the background but a screen has frozen on top. When I bring up the Task Manager to get out ... your can see that the video was actually playing behind the frozen/stuck screen.

Another thing, I have noticed folks referring to issues with AMD Radeons and often its just a matter of reinstalling older drivers. As I previously said, I'll follow that route once I complete Syberia II.

Thanks again ...

[geosouv]

IT instructor? What's IT? Remember I am not from the U.S. so I don't know a lot of abbreviations.

[Duke0196]

IT instructor? What's IT? Remember I am not from the U.S. so I don't know a lot of abbreviations.

No worries. IT = Information Technology. You know computers and stuff. Anyway, I went to college in Australia. That is why some of my sayings might be Queensland / Aussie slang rather than American. My field of expertise was Information Technology: Network Engineering.

Cheers ...

[geosouv]

So Duke, you are a computer expert. That explains your excellent performance in games.

[Duke0196]

So Duke, you are a computer expert. That explains your excellent performance in games.

Negative George. I definitely am not an expert. Plus, computer expertise has nothing to do with game performance. A lot people like computers but dislike gaming.

I've been computer gaming since my first Commodore 64 in 1984 and before that on my Atari 2600 console. At one time I used to have 5 computer magazine subscriptions at once to keep up on reviews and upcoming releases so I think I can honestly consider myself a gamer.

[geosouv]

5 Computer magazine subscriptions... oh my! You were really a hard core gamer. I used to be a subscriber for three years for a Greek magazine called PC MASTER. It is the best selling PC magazine in Greece actually. Now I buy it almost every month (it is monthly). I'd like to be a subscriber today but I don't have a lot of money

[Duke0196]

5 Computer magazine subscriptions... oh my! You were really a hard core gamer.

Yep, five subscriptions. Before the internet, that was about the only way to get reviews, learn what was coming out, and get demos.

I used to be a subscriber for three years for a Greek magazine called PC MASTER. It is the best selling PC magazine in Greece actually.

¿So is "PC Master" PC-only or a mixture of PC & console?

I used to subscribe to Computer Games Magazine (formerly Computer Games Strategy Plus) and the wikipedia article says the Greek edition is still in print.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Games_Magazine

Now I buy it almost every month (it is monthly). I'd like to be a subscriber today but I don't have a lot of money

¿Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a yearly subscription?

[geosouv]

Duke,

PC MASTER is a PC only magazine. I hate consoles and so does the PC MASTER team and their readers. Consoles are the great enemy of PCs.

Actually you are right. It would be cheaper to subscribe for a year and I will probably do so very soon. Do the PC magazines in U.S. give a full game with the magazine every month? PC MASTER does this for many years and is still doing it, although the quality of gift-games has dropped since the economic crisis. This month it gave Ground Control 2: Operation Exodus which received an impressive score of 8.5 at gamespot and a score of 92% on PC MASTER. Greek reviewers tend to be more lenient and I like that because I am also lenient on my reviews.

Cheers mate.

[Duke0196]

Duke, PC MASTER is a PC only magazine. I hate consoles and so does the PC MASTER team and their readers. Consoles are the great enemy of PCs.

I understand your viewpoint since I am not a console fan either. If "PC MASTER" can stay PC-only then that is great for them. Unfortunately, the reality is consoles are big business. Even PC Gamer US went multi-platform several years ago.

Do the PC magazines in U.S. give a full game with the magazine every month? PC MASTER does this for many years and is still doing it, although the quality of gift-games has dropped since the economic crisis.

Its been awhile since I've checked but I think PC Gamer US does have a disc with their magazine. After all, it is still a way of developer's advertising their product and getting their demos out to gamers. I'm pretty sure they pay PC gamer top dollar for that convenience.

While I no longer have many of my early magazines. I still have CDs from various magazines, some going back to 1995. Most offered subscriptions with or without the disc or prior to that diskettes.

- PC Gamer (still active)
- Computer Gaming World/Games for Windows Official Magazine (gone 2008)
- Strategy Plus/Computer Games Strategy Plus/Computer Games Magazine (gone 2007)
- PC Games.exe (gone ???? - the discs I have are from 1997)
- PC Accelerator (PCXL) (gone 2000)
- Incite Magazine (gone 2000)

Incite did not even last a year; however, I still have Incite's Millennium Edition (Jan 2000). PCXL and Incite were like Playboy for Gamers. You can check out Incite's Millennium photo shoot here with Victoria Silvstedt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NsgVMzzii4

[geosouv]

Duke,

PC MASTER is trying very hard to revive the PC in general, and will stay PC only, most probably. Actually you didn't answer my question. I was asking whether the PC magazines in the U.S. give a full game plus utilities and game demos in every issue. PC MASTER used to give excellent games in the past like Deus Ex, or both Syberias or even Amerzone and many many more. Now it gives games of lesser quality due to the economic crisis that struck Greece and the western wolrd.