Free Fahrenheit Remasters (but only if you own the original)

[Spalls Hurgenson]

Well, this is a nice surprise.

Owners of the original "Fahrenheit" (a.k.a. "Indigo Prophecy") get the
remastered version for free if they have it on GOG and Steam. No need
to do anything; it will just appear in your library.

I mean, sure, I wish it was for a better game - David Cave has
cinematic talents, but is a shit-poor writer and has awful ideas as to
what makes appealing game-play - but I'm not turning my nose up at
free stuff. I LIKE free stuff.

Of course, GOG being GOG, they couldn't do something like this without
screwing it up, so most people - myself included - learned about this
free offer thanks to an email receipt that implied we'd PAID for the
upgrade. In fact, they had just used the wrong email template and no
money was charged. But that's GOG for you; their communication
department sucks.

But one question remains: do these free remasters count as a new game?
Specifically, do they make The Number go up?

[candycanearter07]

On 9/25/23 11:01, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> remastered version for free if they have it on GOG and Steam. No need

*and*? So you had to buy it twice?
--
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

[Metal Guru]

On 9/25/2023 12:01 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

> Owners of the original "Fahrenheit" (a.k.a. "Indigo Prophecy") get the
> remastered version for free if they have it on GOG and Steam. No need
> to do anything; it will just appear in your library.

I remember playing the original demo that had that initial scene in the
bathroom of a diner and thinking how thrilling it was, only to find out
later that the rest of the game was pretty meh and played nothing like
that, in typical David Cage style :( I still think Omikron the Nomad
Soul is one of his 'best' efforts, it was truly revolutionary (for the
time) despite its many glaring faults.

Here's another one for The Number Game that is not quite worthy of its
own thread:

https://freebies.indiegala.com/eron

(that trailer vaguely reminds me of Lode Runner but this one is a pass
for me)

--
For many Americans, the most profound legacy of the tRump era will be
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[Spalls Hurgenson]

On Mon, 25 Sep 2023 14:59:13 -0400, Metal Guru <Meta...@IsItYou.com>
wrote:

>On 9/25/2023 12:01 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>> Owners of the original "Fahrenheit" (a.k.a. "Indigo Prophecy") get the
>> remastered version for free if they have it on GOG and Steam. No need

minor correction: GOG /or/ Steam

>> to do anything; it will just appear in your library.

>I remember playing the original demo that had that initial scene in the
>bathroom of a diner and thinking how thrilling it was, only to find out
>later that the rest of the game was pretty meh and played nothing like
>that, in typical David Cage style :(

Yeah, the game starts really well, seemingly a murder-mystery where
you get to play the roles of both the suspect AND the investigator,
all quite stylishly told with lots of cinematic flair and pacing.
Unfortunately, it very quickly devolves into a tale involving
psychics, an occult conspiracy, an AI, a messiah, time-travel and - I
think? - aliens. All of which is wrapped up in game-play that's 10%
walking and 90% quick-time events.

> I still think Omikron the Nomad
>Soul is one of his 'best' efforts, it was truly revolutionary (for the
>time) despite its many glaring faults.

I have a certain fondness for "Omikron", partly because of its awesome
soundtrack (it's got Bowie!) but also because it was one of the
earliest 3D-rendered open-world cities. It has an amazing introduction
too; after some light tutorializing in cramped corridors, the game
suddenly opens up into this vast metropolis, Bowie's "New Angels of
Promise" spins up in the background, and the introductory cinematic
swoops and pans through the city. Better still, the intro wasn't
cinematic magic; it was real-time rendered. It was truly jaw-dropping
for its time.*

Unfortunately, like too much of David Cage's projects, "Omikron" was
overburdened with ideas that are never fully realized. Its story
tinkers with alternate universes, supercomputers, sci-fi and magic,
demons, and soul-travel... while its gameplay cribs from a mixture of
badly designed third-person Tomb Raider style exploration, boring
first-person shooting, and clumsy side-view 'Street Fighter' brawling.

Despite this, I agree that "Omikron" is one of his better works...
although I think that "Detroit: Become Human" might be slightly
better. "Detroit" is incredibly anvilicious (and is still too heavily
dependent on quick-time gameplay), but it largely sticks to one
concept rather than trying to cram every idea Cage ever had into a
single story.

>Here's another one for The Number Game that is not quite worthy of its
>own thread:

>https://freebies.indiegala.com/eron
>(that trailer vaguely reminds me of Lode Runner but this one is a pass
>for me)

Despite my usual condescension towards retro-flavored games, this one
has a certain visual appeal to it (and "Lode Runner" was an all-time
favorite of mine in years gone by), but hearing the reviewer describe
the intro section as 'something I had to replay a hundred times' and
describe the whole thing as 'frustrating' isn't going to win it any
favor from me. I'm not averse to difficult games, but games with poor
onboarding? I've better things to do with my time.

Thanks for the notification, but I think I'll pass.



-------------------
* if you've never seen it, watch "Omikron's" intro here:
https://youtu.be/XCSaUbEW-jg?t=525
(I've bookmarked right before you enter the city proper to maximize
effect)

[Zaghadka]

On Mon, 25 Sep 2023 15:35:51 -0400, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>if you've never seen it, watch "Omikron's" intro here:
>https://youtu.be/XCSaUbEW-jg?t=525
>(I've bookmarked right before you enter the city proper to maximize
>effect)

Reminds me of Anachronox a bit, which was based on the Quake 2 engine.
This engine is similar.

--
Zag

No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had
spent more time alone with my computer.' ~Dan(i) Bunten

[rms]

>I remember playing the original demo that had that initial scene in the
>bathroom of a diner and thinking how thrilling it was,

I got to just this point, but the control/choice scheme confused the heck
out of me, and I gave up :( Wonder if the remaster addresses that?

rms

[PW]

*--

Don't have the original. But for some reason, I looked at it and
Heavy Rain. I thought I bought one of them but I guess not because I
can't find either!

-pw

[PW]

On Mon, 25 Sep 2023 12:01:15 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:

>

*--

I downloaded th eHeavy Rain demo from Steam. Looks interesting, a
detective game.

But the controls are the weirdest I have ever seen and lasted about a
minute.

From what I read in some reviews of Fahrenheit, they are just as
diffucult to use.

No thanks! Oh well.

-pw

[Spalls Hurgenson]

On Mon, 25 Sep 2023 22:12:49 -0600, PW
<iamnotusing...@notinuse.com> wrote:

>I downloaded th eHeavy Rain demo from Steam. Looks interesting, a
>detective game.

>But the controls are the weirdest I have ever seen and lasted about a
>minute.

>From what I read in some reviews of Fahrenheit, they are just as
>diffucult to use.

In terms of control, "Heavy Rain" pretty much uses the same control
scheme as "Fahrenheit", albeit with a bit more polish. Both games are
designed to be used with a gamepad though. While technically you CAN
play the game with mouse-keyboard, it isn't a good experience at all.

Even with a gamepad, I don't find the controls much fun, though.
Movement is okay, but actions all require quick-time events. They
movements you make with the gamepad joysticks are intended to emulate
the movements your character makes on-screen, except it's rarely an
intuitive match, so you're constantly staring at the screen waiting
for the appropriate button-prompt.

"Heavy Rain" actually has a more streamlined and toned-down version of
the mechanic. So if that game's controls annoyed you, you'll dislike
"Fahrenheit's" controls even more.

The scary thing is, both games have far, FAR better control than
"Omikron: Nomad Soul". That game was an absolute mess when it came to
its controls.

[candycanearter07]

On 9/26/23 09:50, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> "Heavy Rain" actually has a more streamlined and toned-down version of
> the mechanic. So if that game's controls annoyed you, you'll dislike
> "Fahrenheit's" controls even more.
>

Well, was Heavy Rain released after?

[PW]

*--

Never heard of that last one. I will try the demo with a gamepad but
screw games like this!

Elden drove me up the wall until I figured out how to remap the keys

Thanks Spalls!

-pw

[Spalls Hurgenson]

On Tue, 26 Sep 2023 09:58:05 -0500, candycanearter07 <n...@thanks.net>
wrote:

>On 9/26/23 09:50, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>> "Heavy Rain" actually has a more streamlined and toned-down version of
>> the mechanic. So if that game's controls annoyed you, you'll dislike
>> "Fahrenheit's" controls even more.

>Well, was Heavy Rain released after?

Yes, about five years. Quantic Dreams generally releases on a 5-year
schedule (usually one game per console generation)

Omikron: Nomad Soul 1999 (Dreamcast)
Indigo Prophecy 2005 (PS2)
Heavy Rain 2010 (PS3)
Beyond Two Souls 2015 (PS4)
Detroit: Become Human 2018 (PS4)
Under the Waves 2023 (PS5)

All their games from 2005 more or less have used the same style of
gameplay mechanics ("Omikron" being the exception; it's not good
either, but it is radically different), but each iteration has
generally improved over the earlier one. A major criticism of
"Fahrenheit" was regarding its controls and mechanics and - at least
to some degree - the developers took that to heart and worked to
improve it in the sequel. Similar things happened with each game that
followed, and, thanks to this iteration "Detroit" (arguably) has
/good/ controls... IF you one of those people who like that sort of
gameplay. I just don't happen to be one of them.

"Heavy Rain" is just generally less fiddly than "Fahrenheit", with
fewer annoying QTEs: they were usually shorter, less complex in length
and number of key-presses, with those actions relating more clearly to
the on-screen action. "Beyond" and "Detroit" marginally improved in
this area too (the biggest improvement in "Detroit" was to its story
rather than its mechanics, however). I found "Fahrenheit"
incomprehensibly clunky to play, but "Beyond" was bearable... it was
the story that drove me away more than anything else.

(no comment on "Under the Waves"; I hadn't even known of this game's
existence until writing this response ;-)

So, I think there's been definite improvement over each iteration.
Still, making a game with 'bearable' controls after twenty years of
game design isn't really much of an accomplishment.

[Metal Guru]

Alas I can't answer your question since unfortunately (and surprisingly)
I don't have the game in any of the digital stores and the physical copy
must have been thrown out a while ago :(

Yeah the PC controls could take a while getting used to, I'm pretty sure
I ended up using and old Logitech gamepad that was laying around back
then. The many QTE scenes during the course of the game were also much
easier done that way. It's a pretty decent game, far better than say,
"Beyond: Two Souls" which has the distinction of being the worst game
I've ever played to completion - I finished it purely for the lulz :)

--
They didn't call the trillion-dollar Wall St. bailouts "socialism".
They don't call nearly $1 trillion in oil and gas subsidies "socialism".
They don't call the billions in farm bailouts "socialism".
But health care, wages, food for poor people and children? "SOCIALISM."

[Metal Guru]

On 9/26/2023 5:16 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

> (no comment on "Under the Waves"; I hadn't even known of this game's
> existence until writing this response ;-)

Me neither, probably due to the fact it was only published by Quantic
Dreams -- the actual developer, Parallel Studio Games, have only four
titles to their name among PC, consoles, VR and mobile games.

QD's next major game is supposedly 'Star Wars: Eclipse', a game that was
announced years ago but seems to be in limbo right now.

"Can I say it still exists? Because it exists. It's just not ready. It's
simmering.” said VP of Marketing for QD Lisa Pendse earlier this year.

--
Girl: Mom, what is a "contradiction"?
Mother: Believing that a 12 year old is mature enough to give birth, but
needs parental approval to check out a library book.

[Werner P.]

Am 25.09.23 um 21:35 schrieb Spalls Hurgenson:

> Despite this, I agree that "Omikron" is one of his better works...
> although I think that "Detroit: Become Human" might be slightly
> better. "Detroit" is incredibly anvilicious (and is still too heavily
> dependent on quick-time gameplay), but it largely sticks to one
> concept rather than trying to cram every idea Cage ever had into a
> single story.

David Cage loves QTE... you wont get any game from him as designer
without them.