[COMP 99] Hunter in darkness
Amit Amely
this game would have won the competition or at least be one of the top
three.
It's a shame this game didn't have a walkthrough or hint system, as
maybe more people would have noticed that it was more than just a maze.
I'm not so sure, like some other review writers, that the author was
wearing a sadistic smile as he wrote the maze puzzle. It took me no more
than five minutes to realize that walking around the cave maze wasn't
the solution.
The game itself had a great atmosphere and very smart,
challenging-yet-rational puzzles.
It even had an interesting conclusion.
"Bliss" was too obvious for me - kill and kill and kill again, with no
way to avoid that, I just knew there was something behind all this, and
have managed to guess the ending.
"4 Seconds" was too similiar to "Babel", too buggy, and too difficult
(in the end).
"A moment of hope" was either written by someone who really hates women,
or by a talented writer who brilliantly built this poor soul's
character.
"Calliope" : unlike most of the review writers, I liked the world in
which the story takes place; too bad it had only one ridicilous puzzle
of "kill the fly".
"HeBGB" : too bad it was made in ALAN. Eric, you've got a potential!
study Inform or TADS! It's not that difficult.
"Exhibition" : I enjoyed watching the gallery through the different
eyes. Each character was describing a picture of himself by expressing
his feeling about each picture, and 2 of the characters (Wife and Gay
lover) told us the story of the artists life. It was "Interactive
fiction", as piece after piece of the complete jigsaw was laid in front
of our eyes.
The "supposed-to-be-funny" pieces just aren't my type: "Pass the
banana", "Wossname", "Death to my enemies", and "Beat the Devil"
couldn't gain my sympathy, though they were all very well implemented.
"Only after Dark" was good but too short. Playing it in colors with JZIP
added to the scary atmosphere.
"On the farm" :I liked the world in which the game took place. The NPC's
were interesting and well implemented. I didn't care about the weak
plot but some of the puzzles were a bit too difficult (spreading the
rope from the rope ball and fixing the ventilation in the
obviously-stolen-from-"Eric the unready" pig shit hole). The hint system
was helpful.
"Lunatix" and "Six Stories" : adding pictures/sound to the game
sometimes steals the attention from the main thing - the story. Lunatix
wasn't very original and the implementation wasn't very friendly. Six
Stories was better in every aspect, but had only one puzzle which was
pretty obvoius ("We need to go north but we don't know where it is.
Maybe you can guide us, by using these items: a magnet, a needle, a
glass of water and etc.?").
"SNOSAE": I had a very bad luck, picking this game as the first game to
play. I've wasted 2 precious hours in this boring mind-breaker.
"Beal": It is an interesting piece, but it doesn't belong here.
First 3:
Hunter in Darkness - 10
Exhibition - 9
On the Farm - 8
Unfortunately, I didn't manage to play the others.
Mike Snyder
>sometimes steals the attention from the main thing - the story. Lunatix
>wasn't very original and the implementation wasn't very friendly. Six
>Stories was better in every aspect, but had only one puzzle which was
>pretty obvoius ("We need to go north but we don't know where it is.
>Maybe you can guide us, by using these items: a magnet, a needle, a
>glass of water and etc.?").
Just a quick question - what other games was Lunatix like? I didn't borrow
anything from any existing works. I suspect you mean that my ideas have been
done already by others (would stand to reason) and I'm interested in similar
works if that's what you meant. Unfortunately I've not played every game in
existence, but that's certainly no excuse for lack of originality (something
I thought I achieved -- mark of a novice I guess).
Thanks!
Mike.
Neil Brown
<URL:mailto:ame...@bezeqint.net> wrote:
> "Only after Dark" was good but too short. Playing it in colors with
JZIP
> added to the scary atmosphere.
At what point did the colour kick in? I played it to day two and
didn't see any colour, and I tried with both Zip and Frotz ports.
--
Neil Brown
ne...@highmount.demon.co.uk
http://www.highmount.demon.co.uk