Conspiracies 2 is a go!

If they make a new Tex game with acting that bad, then it will surely be the death of adventure games as we know it.

No thanks...

-Cub. =o)

P.S. Forgive the cynicism, it was games like this that killed the adventure genre in the first place.

Dear god what the hell was that? I hope to hell they wouldn't release a game with that horrible overdubbing in it. That was absolutely dreadful.

You do realize that the original language for the Conspiracies games is Greek, don't you? You'll never properly lipsynch that with English.

As for the first game, I agree that the acting can be a bit bad at times, but the detail to story & explorable environments more than made up for it. And it came on CD & DVD in the same box, much like Overseer did, but without the technical issues for the DVD version. The only thing I'd call bad about it was its uber-difficult puzzles, some of which left you dead & with a lot of backtracking if you didn't save frequently.

All things considered, though, I'm looking forward to this one coming out, not as a result of my loyalty to the adventure genre, but simply because I enjoyed its predecessor.

A loyal adventure gamer,
Hammerhead

Okay, I never played the first one, never heard of it till now actually... But what I just saw on You Tube, that was just uummm... Well Lets put it this way, the way the environment is laid out and the way the acting was... It made me think of what you would get if you Crossed Myst with Porn Acting...

Hammerhead wrote:You do realize that the original language for the Conspiracies games is Greek, don't you? You'll never properly lipsynch that with English.

Yep, I remember the first one well. But to be honest, the bad voice acting complimented the bad acting perfectly. ...where as good voice acting would've looked odd against such wooden performances.

The 3D environments, while they look good, are more like the result of a 3DsMax tutorial than anything else.

Personally I am sick of saying: "It's pretty good... for an adventure game". Adventure games used to be the benchmark when it came to stunning visuals, but now they are in a league of their own, one that has been relegated to the lowest division... it's too sad and I am tired.

It's the modern era, face the facts... people don't have enough time anymore to play games as patiently as they used to (regardless of how many hours they need to play to experience the "story" which is apparently the only thing these games have goign for them), so if you don't capture people with the graphics, the acting or the overall impact from the start, you might as well have never made the game.

-Cub. =o)

Cubase wrote:If they make a new Tex game with acting that bad, then it will surely be the death of adventure games as we know it.

No thanks...

-Cub. =o)

P.S. Forgive the cynicism, it was games like this that killed the adventure genre in the first place.

I'm with Cub on this one. As a shamed owner of the first Conspiracies title, if the quality of the sequel is half as bad as the first, its no wonder the Interactive Movie genre is nothing more than an antique. Poor acting, ordinary plot, abysmal graphics, English voice overs (as it is a Greek production) that don't sync properly or reflect the characters and worst of all, you can see a boom mic in one of the movie sequences!

If that's the future of Interactive Movies, then i'm out. Sorry guys.

Cubase wrote: It's the modern era, face the facts... people don't have enough time anymore to play games as patiently as they used to (regardless of how many hours they need to play to experience the "story" which is apparently the only thing these games have goign for them), so if you don't capture people with the graphics, the acting or the overall impact from the start, you might as well have never made the game.
-Cub. =o)

I don't think that it is the fact that people don't have the time or patience anymore... The fact is, there aren't many of us True Adventure Gamers left... A lot of them from the Adventure Generation took the path of Non-Game playing when they grew up... I did it myself for a while... Most of them never get back into it, so it's much like the "Gentleman" thing... We Are A Dying Breed... That is the sad truth...

It's all that plus the fact that Adventure Games don't have the same reputation as the First Person Shooter genre (with games like Bioshock, Far Cry and Crysis) which really push the boundaries of PC hardware. While I love where graphics are headed, it's such a shame that it's superceded the need for a deep story and tight character development. I predict that it will slightly swing back the other way over the next ten years and hopefully achieve that balance between spectacular visuals, increadible gameplay and a story you can sink your teeth into...like Mirrors Edge

I can't stand First Person Shooters... Very few games have I found that I'll play that are like that... I have be in the 3rd person view mode in order to enjoy it or have it set up like the adventure games were, like Tex and so on...
I just don't like the First Person view like that while trying to kill things coming at me from all directions...

...so if you don't capture people with the graphics, the acting or the overall impact from the start, you might as well have never made the game.

At least they're TRYING to make a good adventure game. If everyone just decided to throw in the towel because they couldn't have the best graphics, the best actors, the best this & that, then there wouldn't even be an adventure genre anymore. Why, if that's your criteria for making an adventure game, UAKM wouldn't have been made because the actors for the most part couldn't be filmed together for their scenes. We must also remember that the Access crew weren't experienced actors & made mistakes just as obvious as what you're pointing out in this video. Perhaps there's a reason why PD & Overseer had a professional director.

And as far as interactive movies are concerned, I think they're alive & well, albeit not full-motion video. Just because games these days have more in common with The Incredibles than with Tex Murphy doesn't mean that games these days aren't interactive movies. You have to remember that when Tex was last made, computer graphics (at least as far as character animations were concerned) weren't nearly as developed as they are now. The FMV was used to add that extra touch of realism then that the graphics of today can provide, & possibly even at a fraction of the cost of FMV, while still accomplishing the same storytelling goals.

That being said, I applaud their effort, even though they inevitably will make mistakes. To err is to be human, after all. And so what if their FMV is lower quality than Tex's? It's not like they've got a popular golf series helping them fund their production of "Mediterranean Murphy".

Hammerhead

I agree with Hammerhead. Like Louie said when Tex was looking for a job. Beggars cant be choosers. It was the limited inventory that bothered me more than anything else.

Hammerhead wrote:

Why, if that's your criteria for making an adventure game, UAKM wouldn't have been made because the actors for the most part couldn't be filmed together for their scenes. We must also remember that the Access crew weren't experienced actors & made mistakes just as obvious as what you're pointing out in this video. Perhaps there's a reason why PD & Overseer had a professional director.

Yes, but don't forget that UAKM was one of the (if not, THE) most innovative titles of its time. The Virtual World engine alone was enough to wow people off their seats, alongside the fact that you had real actors on your computer screen (which was rarely seen). The acting in UAKM probably was not as good as it could be... but as you said, it evolved as the series (and the technology) got better.

But the main problem is; this technology is evolving, not only that; people's expectations are as well. Of course if UAKM was released today it would be pretty terrible... but considering it was released in a time where even Doom was considered groundbraking, it did very well.

But as other genres develop further and take advantage of technology, adventure gaming has been left behind... and I have been a loyal supporter (like you) for a long time, but I have finally reached the end of patience. It should not be up to me (nor any other adventure gamer) to take the weight of the modern world on their shoulders and still have to support adventure gaming despite lacking in so many elements that other titles have.

It's very much like Australia's film industry: we have so many talented people, but the industry fails to recognise that, and so most Aussies go overseas to make films... which does not help our industry (in fact it damages it further)... but it should not be up to the filmmakers to stick around and waste their time flogging a dead horse. The industry needs to take a risk and explore this talent... which relates to that one glorious constant: having faith!

So, my conclusion is; while I respect adventure game producers (such as the makers of Conpiracies) for their ongoing commitment and gusto, I no longer feel it is my responsibility to support a genre which has failed to impress for so many years. I don't have the time or the patience.

The adventure genre's biggest mistake was falling behind and assuming their fanbase would tolerate it... and they did, for a time. Not anymore.

-Cub. =o)

Screw the 12 million dollar budget. I'd consider an UAKM quality Tex sequel with just longer gameplay a blessing!

Same here, Blair. And I feel that, based on its predecessor, Conspiracies 2 will be at least UAKM-like in quality. Who knows? It may even possess elements reminiscent of PD. If it does, it'll be quite the treat!

Hammerhead