That was a fantastic read. My best friend back in school had this game and I played it several times during school holiday. As described in the article, it felt like an actual episode of the X-Files. Had an interesting packaging as well because of the 7 CD's it included.
If I remember correctly, it did have a showstopper in, not sure if intentional or not. At the very beginning, when the reporter asked you for information, and you don't give any ... later in the game (in the ship) when you need her help, the game just can't go forward. And you have no idea why, because nobody tells you.
This is so stuck in my head as a very bad design choice, if it was intentional.
I feel like 90s PC games were filled with things like this. Stuff that would be probably day one patches in the following decade, but that (of course) wasn't a thing then.
I remember at least two of the Police Quest games having similar breakage, where you just couldn't go forward after putting 20+ hours into the game, because of a choice you made early on.
There's definitely a Space Quest game where if you kiss an alien early on there's a non-escapable death by stomach-bursting right near the end.. bummer if you saved after the kiss (I did).
There was even a gag about it in the Curse of Monkey Island (Lucas) where your character (Guybrush) seemingly dies and credits start to roll, but the narrator recognises that it is not a Sierra game, credits start rolling backwards and the game resumes.
While frustrating, obtuse, absurd, and a plethora of other adjectives aside, those (early, at least) Sierra games had the benefit of being pretty short. If you screwed yourself because you walked over the bridge one time extra in King’s Quest 2, a restart only cost you somewhere in the neighborhood of half an hour. (I’m not sure about later games, though. Maybe they were worse?)
That seems like a horrible design choice, though. It just randomly and gratuitously punishes the player for something they couldn't even have foreseen.
I'll put a word in for the game Bureau 13 and its related novels. Secret govenment agency that protects us from weird stuff. It's halfway between X-Files and Get Smart. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_13
Having own this game, a little tidbit is that while the playstation release loads on the ps2 the graphics are gabled at least on the pal version. I only got it to play on the OG psx console.
I worked for the game studio as an intern in the lead up to them making this game. They had a few games in the can already that used this kind of game pattern (quantum gate, QG2: vortex) .. while I was around they were producing their own engine to build their next game which eventually became the xfiles. They kept the lights on doing a bunch of random CDROM industry work (cd rom magazines, educational stuff, etc) We did shoot another 'short game' that was a pitch for the xfiles.
People like to crap all over this game, for a good reason perhaps. But man they absolutely nailed the X-Files atmosphere and aesthetics of the Vancouver era of the show (S1-S5).
Also, RIP Jordan Lee Williams, aka Agent Craig Willmore.
What do you mean? Maybe they changed their profile since your comment but it just has a .at.hn address which everyone has (at.hn is independently operated outside of yc).
That was a fantastic read. My best friend back in school had this game and I played it several times during school holiday. As described in the article, it felt like an actual episode of the X-Files. Had an interesting packaging as well because of the 7 CD's it included.
If I remember correctly, it did have a showstopper in, not sure if intentional or not. At the very beginning, when the reporter asked you for information, and you don't give any ... later in the game (in the ship) when you need her help, the game just can't go forward. And you have no idea why, because nobody tells you.
This is so stuck in my head as a very bad design choice, if it was intentional.
I feel like 90s PC games were filled with things like this. Stuff that would be probably day one patches in the following decade, but that (of course) wasn't a thing then.
I remember at least two of the Police Quest games having similar breakage, where you just couldn't go forward after putting 20+ hours into the game, because of a choice you made early on.
There's definitely a Space Quest game where if you kiss an alien early on there's a non-escapable death by stomach-bursting right near the end.. bummer if you saved after the kiss (I did).
I think that was fairly common with sierra games, happened a lot less with Lucas ones.
There was even a gag about it in the Curse of Monkey Island (Lucas) where your character (Guybrush) seemingly dies and credits start to roll, but the narrator recognises that it is not a Sierra game, credits start rolling backwards and the game resumes.
While frustrating, obtuse, absurd, and a plethora of other adjectives aside, those (early, at least) Sierra games had the benefit of being pretty short. If you screwed yourself because you walked over the bridge one time extra in King’s Quest 2, a restart only cost you somewhere in the neighborhood of half an hour. (I’m not sure about later games, though. Maybe they were worse?)
Could almost call it a staple of Sierra games.
It didn't happen at all after the first couple Lucas Arts game. The made it impossible to get stuck as a design principle.
That seems like a horrible design choice, though. It just randomly and gratuitously punishes the player for something they couldn't even have foreseen.
A perfect imitation of real life…
Searching for that bullet in the warehouse was an absolute nightmare during my first playthrough.
Related X-Files parts (more about the show's origins and development):
https://www.filfre.net/2024/09/the-truth-is-out-there-part-1...
https://www.filfre.net/2024/09/the-truth-is-out-there-part-2...
I'll put a word in for the game Bureau 13 and its related novels. Secret govenment agency that protects us from weird stuff. It's halfway between X-Files and Get Smart. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_13
Having own this game, a little tidbit is that while the playstation release loads on the ps2 the graphics are gabled at least on the pal version. I only got it to play on the OG psx console.
I worked for the game studio as an intern in the lead up to them making this game. They had a few games in the can already that used this kind of game pattern (quantum gate, QG2: vortex) .. while I was around they were producing their own engine to build their next game which eventually became the xfiles. They kept the lights on doing a bunch of random CDROM industry work (cd rom magazines, educational stuff, etc) We did shoot another 'short game' that was a pitch for the xfiles.
What was it like working there? Any interesting stories from the experience?
Title is: The Truth Is Out There, Part 3: The Game of Belief
This takes me back. I’m guessing they’ll eventually cover Blade Runner and Men in Black
https://www.filfre.net/2024/05/blade-runner/
That review is amazing. I am not into movies or games much but that is so well written that I had to read it all!
People like to crap all over this game, for a good reason perhaps. But man they absolutely nailed the X-Files atmosphere and aesthetics of the Vancouver era of the show (S1-S5).
Also, RIP Jordan Lee Williams, aka Agent Craig Willmore.
Unrelated to the article, what’s the deal with the submitter, who seems to want to give the impression that they’re https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=thunderbong cc dang
What do you mean? Maybe they changed their profile since your comment but it just has a .at.hn address which everyone has (at.hn is independently operated outside of yc).
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