Shivers 7: Eating Ixupi

Finally some progress! I have caught the wax ixupi (that took some time, actually), and am in hot pursuit of the wood ixupi.

The pot and lid of the wax one were in the anansi spider music box room. And lo! There was a wax snake. Had to go in and out and in and out of the room to catch it there--and then it kept running away instead of getting in the pot. After about a dozen tries I went downstairs and did the Maya god door puzzle to get into the same room from the other direction, and this time I got it!

That door puzzle used to give me fits, but I got it on the first try. Also got both puzzles in the astronomy room. However, that multicolored disc puzzle is stumping me this time. I have solved that several times on my own so I know I can do it, but gad. It's elusive. 

Anyway, I got the wood head in the astronomy room, and had been carrying the wood jar until I put it down to get the wax one. Now I've got the two joined and have tried a couple of times for the wood monster. I've got him scared and on the run, and I'll try again when I have a few minutes to rub together.

But all of that was fun! I don't recall ever doing it this way before. Normally I solved everything and then went ixupi hunting. But hey, if I get lucky enough to get joined jars and lids, I'm going after 'em!

Alas, I won't be able to transfer screenshots from that computer to this one. The "new" iMac is so old (which is exactly what I wanted), it doesn't recognize the thumb drive. Have to stick to cute cat pics instead.

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Shivers 6: Escaping the Monsters

Really getting places in the museum now, but I'm running into ixupi everywhere, as usual. Problem is that I know where they lurk, so it makes things a bit more tense. However, now that I have the game playing on the iMac in almost full screen, I can evade the monsters much more easily. 

But! I got into the theater (had to do the door puzzle twice when I went back later--normally you shouldn't have to solve a door-opening puzzle more than once--hmmm.) Found the marvelous little film with Windlenot, and, alas, got into the clock tower. I remember that clock-setting puzzle. Not my favorite. Figured out how the chains work, re-set it to 12:00, and left it for later when I'm more in the mood for math.

I still couldn't solve the chinese checkers puzzle. I really tried. Then I printed out the solution from the Gameboomers walkthrough, saw where I ought to end up, and couldn't get that configuration on my own either. Problem with that puzzle is that you have to think well ahead. It's a good chess-players puzzle. Even though I normally can figure out chess puzzles, this checkers one is beyond me. Well, it's infamous. One of the most difficult puzzles in puzzle-gaming history. There was a separate WT just for that puzzle on Gameboomers.

I found the basement electrical room too, but because I know that's the endgame location, I stayed outta there. The electrical ixupi lurks there, and he's always the last one you get. I think the ashes one is always first, and the rest just might be randomized. 

Solved some nice puzzles though. The Egyptian sarcophagus puzzle, three door puzzles, the Sumerian lyre puzzle, the drums puzzle, and the siren singing in the Atlantis room. Didn't go into the maze though. I'll save that for later. It is of course easier for me, all of it, having played the game several times, even though it was years ago. These puzzles do seem on the easy side anyway (except for chinese checkers)--if you've spotted the clue somewhere along the way--usually in the books you find--you've got many of them. That flashback feature is excellent in this game. You still have to take some notes, but it saves a ton 'o time.

I've found both Beth and Merrick's ghosts. I must say, that except for the opening and closing scenes and that one awful VO from the sphinx in the Egyptian puzzle area, the acting in this game is pretty darned good. Windlenot takes some liberties going overboard, but he should. The narrator is really great--very Rod Serlingish, but with nice dry humor.

Tomorrow I'll venture into the third floor. Had good fun today. (And I was able to find Ferazel's Wand and load it, and it works perfectly!)

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Shivers 5: More Progress

Things are going well with Shivers and the new iMac, although I did have a few glitches today. Sorta normal with a new machine.

But I progressed enough to actually capture an ixupi! I managed to get the ashes one, which took three tries, but I got him. I went to the library to get the book that shows you which pots are which. Now that I have a large enough screen window I can see the designs, with a bit of squinting. Just got lucky and got the right head for the right pot. Looked in the book, saw it was ashes, and headed back to the office to capture my monster. Finally got him! 

So now I have at last rejoined the game where I left off on the Thinkpad, but with more accomplished.

I did encounter some "Type 1 errors," which doesn't mean the same thing it means in research, that crashed the game. Kept happening. Most annoying. But it said to restart the machine, so I did, and it worked just great after that. Still, I am saving early and saving often, just in case.

I loaded some more great games today. Got all the Index+ games I enjoy so much, Crusader, Vikings and Genysys. They all work perfectly. Also got Morpheus, Timelapse, The Ring (which I've never played), Titanic and Traitor's Gate, which gave me a bit of trouble because I skipped too fast in it. At first the Traitor's Gate CD spun out of control and I had to crash, but it loaded and installed the game just fine on the second try.

I must look for Ferazel's Wand. I loved that game years ago, and I know I have it somewhere.

It is just so awesome to be able to play these old games again. They were marvelous in their time and they're still darned good today. The imagination is still there even if the graphics aren't what we'd expect today. I still enjoy the graphics.

And the Shivers museum still looks good, even if it isn't as sharp as today's hi def stuff is.

Awesome.

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Shivers 4: Restart with New Old iMac!

So I was surfing on E-Bay the other day, just looking at old blueberry iMacs to see what they tend to sell for, and I found one advertised as brand new, never even taken out of the box. 

Now, I don't need to be throwing money around right now, but I figured that I do have this inheritance, and I can justify getting just one thing that I really want. So I bought it! Cost lots less than I would have had to spend to fix my old one.

Yes, it was factory sealed! But somebody had used it, because it had payroll software on it, and it was upgraded to OS 8.6, when the box had 8.5.1 included. There were weird things in the extensions. 

I decided, because all the old games I have are really, really old--most running System 7, actually, that I could go ahead with the 8.5 OS, because the stuff already loaded was giving me fits. At one point my cursor froze and I had to consult the google on this machine to figure out how to get out of it. Yeah, I know 8.6 is kinda the cutoff point for later software, but the stuff I want to play is older software. If I need 8.6 or 9.0 (I know I have a 9.0 disc somewhere), it's easy enough to find on the internet, and the download is free.

So I did a clean install of the 8.5.1, which went well. But I still couldn't get Shivers to install--it kept saying it hadn't loaded one file. Yet, I knew it should run. 7th Guest wouldn't load either--said it needed Quictime 3.0, or Obsidian. 

But ha! I learned by loading stuff onto that IBM Thinkpad I bought that plenty of games will install the software you need. So I installed some more stuff. I got a copy of Quicktime 4.1 from my Alice CD--just loaded that. That made 7th Guest happy, although it still needed something else. So I kept loading games, and most worked just fine. I think I must have gotten some good software from my Zork Nemesis CD--which ran just fine.

Tried 7th Guest again, and voila! It runs perfectly now! Tried my beloved Obsidian again, and that worked too! (Oh man, I thought I'd never be able to play that again.) 11th Hour runs too, and Day of the Tentacle, and The Dig. Haven't tried much else.

And . . . finally Shivers loaded and runs! Ha ha! However, it still won't go full screen. Doesn't matter in this case though, because the window it runs in on the iMac is three times the size of the Thinkpad window. Perhaps it never did go full screen--but this window is plenty big enough to play just fine.

There are still a couple of games I've tried that won't load, but later on I can load newer software, or perhaps transfer some stuff from my old machine to this one.

Anyway, I'm only going to use this new machine for my old, much loved games. A few are being reproduced on the GOG site, but they don't go for adventures much. Most likely it will take years, if ever, for them to get most of my old stuff. I'll try to transfer some screen shots, but I might have to hook it up to the internet to get shots onto this blog.

Of course, the Thinkpad is for PC games. But I have dozens of old Mac games that I'd never be able to play again, without this new machine. So I'm pretty well thrilled!

So! Back to Shivers! I've solved the gazebo puzzle again, although it took three tries this time. I didn't remember everything on the Stonehenge puzzle, but I'll go back and scope out the clues. Then it'll be easy to get back to where I left off on the Thinkpad.

Woo Hoo!

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Shivers 3: Memories

Just some quick play tonight. Poked around in the office and found background material, newspaper article about missing teens, Windlenot's scrapbook and a letter from his wife about his son Geoffrey. A tape recording that appears to include Windlenot getting bitten by an ixupi, plus more instructions about what we're supposed to do in the game.

Navigation is kinda slow, which worries me about the ixupis. If you turn away from them right away they can't bite you. But this game doesn't react very quickly. Best thing is to stay away from them, which I normally used to do anyway. They make a unique sound before they bite, and if you react quickly enough you should never get bitten.

But still.

Problem is, I keep remembering where the darned things are, and sheesh, they are all over the place. There's the ash one in the fireplace in the office. That one's easy. Then I remembered the wood one in the woodworking area off the office. Then there's the water one, but only once you've filled the fountain in the lobby. Then there's the metal one in the iron horse, the sand one in the plant room.

Darned things are everywhere. And that's just from my memory.

Nevertheless, I've already solved a puzzle! Yay! Kinda easy, actually, the drawers puzzle in the woodworking room, which yielded a pot. Also found a lid in Windlenot's desk. Swapped that for the pot. Then found another lid in the bird heads on the wall in the lobby, and another pot in the plant room, which I didn't take. I'm keeping notes about all these. Later, I'll find the icons in the library that tell me which is which.

I wandered into the Atlantis room. As I recall there is one there, but it's pretty much out of the way, and I remember that there are at least three puzzles in there. Also remembered to push the little buttons at the entrance of each exhibit room--you get points for that.

I'm having a real problem with this thing running in half screen. Have to get my nose right up to it to see some details properly, and to read stuff.  Still, it's the Shivers I remember, so I'm mostly happy.

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Shivers 2: Out of the Basement

I'm out of the basement! Of course I remembered where the professor's desiccated, dry body was, and got the "Hieroglyphs Explained" book (I will certainly need that later). 

Then we have the task of moving the boat. I knew there was a trick to it, but I finally noticed that the cursor was pointing down at certain points. That's the problem with this half-screen view--you can't see everything as well as you should. However, I found the trick, and "rowed" the boat across the basement lake (I mean, how many folks have a lake in their basement? It's a museum of the "strange and unusual," after all). The shape of the cursor also can give clues.

And halfway across, the water ixupi jumps out and grabs some of my life essence. I know there's no way to avoid that. Once Dad managed to get that bit of life restored quite by accident later in the game, but I have no idea how he did it.

So I watched the professor's little video which tells you basically what you need to do in the game, and headed off down the next maze. Really not much of a maze, because this one has clues: you can see the direction of the lighting source. Follow that, no worries.

And I faced the first of the elevator puzzles. These are really kinda nifty. This one only has four squares so it's much easier than some others I remember, but it's still a little bit of a challenge! Solved it, rode the elevator up to the office, and saved there.

The stuff that made this game so good were the really excellent puzzles, good variety of puzzles, the outstanding graphics, especially for its time, and that little bit of fright factor from the ixupis. Plus, you can wander around at will once you open up new areas. In fact, you have to access the whole museum in order to win the game. It's important to take notes about where you left the pots and lids, because you can only carry one at a time.

Ah yes. This is as much fun as I remembered! Except for the half screen view, which appears to be unfixable.

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Shivers 1: Back to the Old Days!

NOTE: 
A complete 2018 replay of this game begins here.

I first encountered adventure gaming when I was given a copy of the old 1985 Mac game "The Uninvited," a floppy-disc effort that worked with my first computer, an old Mac SE with the 9-inch black and white screen. It was a black and white graphic little game, in which you negotiated a haunted house. It played in a tiny square in the small screen, so I would have my nose almost touching the screen. When I encountered my first ghost, I jumped in my chair, it scared me so much.

Uninvited Screenshot. The beginning of graphic adventures.

So that was it. I was hooked on adventuring right then. 

I managed to finish The Uninvited, and replayed it enough that I finally wrote my own movement-by-movement walkthrough for it. That was a real accomplishment, because it was before the internet, or at least years before I was on the internet, so there were no walkthroughs to consult. I got some other adventures for that old Mac, but can't remember much what I did with them until I finally got an old Performa with my job at the university and played Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within because it had German in it. That grabbed me. Somehow I got a copy of Shivers. I either played it on that Performa, because it's in color, and that's the first color machine I had, or when I bought my blueberry iMac after I moved to New Hampshire.

Anyway, it was The Beast Within and Shivers that really grabbed me for adventure gaming, with Shivers grabbing me for puzzles (and excitement with those dangerous ixupis!). Great graphics, excellent puzzles, many of which really made you think hard, and some thrills when the ixupis jumped out at you. In fact, the graphics still look good even today.

I played it with Dad when I first moved back to Oceanside, and he loved it too, although he never could figure out how to move around. But I always had an amazing amount of fun with it, it was so replayable.

My old system 9 iMac has developed a terrible buzz in the sound system, so I've retired it until I can afford either repair or a "new" one on E-Bay (I have so many system 9 games that I'll really have to replace either the part or the computer). But I wanted to play Shivers again now, darnit. I just got the bug for it. I now have this great old vintage IBM Thinkpad running Win98SE, so I went back to E-Bay and got a good copy of the game for a little over $6.00. Even though I'm seriously poor right now, the $6.00 isn't going to hasten my demise too much, and it'll keep me in a happy mood.

It runs great, except that for whatever reason, it won't go full screen, which is seriously annoying. But aside from that, there it is! Actually Shivers!

So I'll blog this next, because it was the game that cemented my love of adventures. They don't make 'em like this anymore, but these old games haven't lost any of their punch.

I skipped most of the opening movie, because the opening and ending "movies" with the teenagers are just lame. However, I got the letter from the dragon's head by the gate, looked at the sign outside the front of the museum, climbed the stairs and found two of the colored symbols I'll need to get in, listened to the door announcement, and headed to the back and the entrance puzzles. 

The voiceover work really is great in this game. I dunno who that guy was, but he milked his lines right in line with the spooky but slightly humorous spirit of the game, and adds a lot to the gameplay.

I remembered where to look for the other colored symbols, but I didn't remember how to open the gazebo puzzle. It has a three-number combination. I went looking for numbers. Looked in the letter, which has a three-digit number in it, but nope, that didn't work. I trekked back up to the museum entrance, but nope, no numbers there. Finally I tried manipulating one other thing that is manipulatable, and there was a two-digit number. I plugged that in, starting with zero and voila(!), the puzzle opened! Solved! 

But now I faced what really is a toughie, one that I always took several tries before I solved it when I played the game before. I did remember the trick, but that trick still won't work unless you do everything right. The Gaming Gods were with me--I solved it on the first try! Wow! I know I never did that before! After all these years!

So I trekked across the stones to get to the Stonehenge puzzle. I remembered the colors of the symbols. Again, my ancient memory of this game must have helped, because I solved that easily too. I got the lights turned on, and saved at the beginning of the maze that leads to the underground lake. (I'm still not actually in the museum, just under it.)

If only I could get this thing to go full screen! I can't understand why it won't. It's a Win 95 game that ought to run just fine under Win 98. It has a "full-screen" option, but clicking it just doesn't have any effect. Very strange. 

Still, so far it's meeting my expectations. I can play Shivers again! And it's been so many years since I've played it that I know I'll have trouble with some of these puzzles. I never did solve the chinese checkers puzzle--always had to follow a WT for that. However, that's quite a ways ahead. 

Obviously, I can't put any screenshots here, because the old Thinkpad isn't going to be compatible with my state-of-the-art Mac now. But I will blog my progress anyway, with cute cat pics.

To the Museum!

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Lights Out 10: Done!

So I was able to finish after all, but only because I found that director's cut walkthrough. I mean, honestly. The director's cut eliminated the spitfire hot spot that takes you back to 2004? Why make the player navigate that maze in 2090 over and over again? 

Sigh.

I might have found it on my own, because I went back through the maze to the elevator, but even though I'm well aware that navigation is awful in this game and looked thoroughly, I still didn't find the hotspot that would have led me back to the brick wall on the other side of the 1912 boiler. Needed the WT for that too.

Well. I went back to the stone age because I knew I'd missed something. I should have found at least one inventory item there. But where? Fortunately, the WT solved that for me too. I really was pretty thorough the first time I was in that time zone, but the item is in such an out-of-the-way spot that I can't imagine too many people finding it on the first try. 

This is not where the item is

Once I had that item things went well. I even found another glowing colored circle pattern. And then another. I never did see Polly White's eye in the keyhole--maybe that was changed too, but she did speak to me.

A ghost encounter

Of course I had to go back yet again to 2090 to make the remote controller work and get that last clue. Then back again to the stone age, where I knew I'd find the endgame.

Approaching the Endgame

I had hoped I'd like the game better this time. Maybe if Jonathan hadn't eliminated that easy travel option I would have been happier, but I still can't see the plotline in this. We start with Jonathan's usual ghostly tale, the kind of thing he does extremely well, but we end up with science fiction that really doesn't explain much. Plus, the audio in the endgame is only barely intelligible, so we don't even get that much of a payoff.

Things I liked:

• The graphics. Nicely done.
• Great atmosphere, especially in 1912.
• More ghosts in the director's cut. Good.
• The creepy audio.
• Good puzzles for the most part.
• The start of an intriguing story.

Things I didn't like:

• Difficult navigation--probably because of a low budget.
• The ghost triggers never go away, but repeat and repeat. If you start an encounter with a ghost, you have to finish it.
• Easy puzzles to start, but the final puzzle is nearly impossible without a WT to guide you. Not enough clues as to what's important, and what to do with the clues that we find throughout the game. OK, we know they're clues so we take notes, but putting it all together is one daunting task.
• We have to take notes.
• The intriguing story becomes incomprehensible. We need much more information on how the probe causes the ghosts, or sends people into madness. Why? 
• Eliminating the easy travel in the director's cut was a deeply bad idea.

So all in all, I'm glad I played the director's cut because I want to see all of Jonathan's games, but my opinion of the storyline hasn't changed. We just never get enough information for it to make any real sense.

Nevertheless, how many game designers take the time to thank their players?

In the credits!

And thank you Jonathan, for another good effort, even if this one wasn't quite up to your usual standards. It had plenty of great moments though!

Lights Out 9: Over and Out?

Alas and alack. I fear I have a corrupted copy of the game.

I hunted around again and found the hotspot I missed in the little medical clinic and found more glowing numbers.

Then I decided I ought to go back to the prehistoric time because I didn't look around quite enough there. Got lost in the caves and might easily have missed something. After all, I didn't find an inventory item there. Seems as though I should have found something.

But I couldn't find a way back. I remember that you're supposed to be able to use the goggles on the pic of the spifire in the lunch room, but that doesn't work. I went back through the maze and go to the elevator, but couldn't get down, or up, to go back through the brick wall in the 1912 lighthouse.

Finally I looked at a WT. And it confirmed what my memory had said: in the 2090 lunchroom there is a picture of a spitfire. You're supposed to use the goggles on that, and it will take you back to 2004. 

But that doesn't work. The hotspot isn't there.

As far as I can tell, that's the only way out of this time zone, because I tried going back through the maze (twice) to get out the way I came in and there's no hotspot there either.

Result: I am stuck in 2090 and cannot finish the game.

So maybe these Amazon downloads aren't that great after all.

I will try to re-download the game and see if the problem gets fixed. I shouldn't lose my saved game, because the saving system is so primitive that it's stored in the documents.

If I can't fix it, that will not be good. I think I'm pretty close to the endgame.

Alas.

Update: I tried removing my game completely (renamed the savegame file so I wouldn't lose that) and redownloaded the game from Amazon. Relaunched. The savegame worked, but the game still has that glitch. My only option now is to try it on my Dad's Vista computer--I might be able to transfer the savegame file via my little USB drive, and/or asking Jonathan if he has a patch or a fix I could use.

Stay tuned.

Up-Update: Good news! I found a WT for the Director's Cut version. It seems that the spitfire pic is not animated in this version. Instead, I have to go back through the maze (for the third time, this will be) and click on a certain portion of the elevator wall to get back to the 1912 lighthouse. I've tried that twice and couldn't find the hot spot, but apparently I missed it, which is easy to do in this game. Navigation, if I haven't mentioned before, is a bitch. So! I CAN finish the game if I can find that hotspot, and the Amazon download's reputation is saved. 

But not for a few days yet.

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Lights Out 9: Fun in the Future

I've been gone a long time. Dad, at age 94, passed away. I've been dealing with financial stuff and some rush Kirkus books, along with just missing Dad. It's time I took a bit of relaxation for myself, so I have returned to Lights Out.

I did take a brief trip to 2000 B.C., and found some clues. Also hunted around and found Malakai, the space probe from the future that I know is the cause of all the trouble. What remains to be seen is: how? We never learned that in the original game. I doubt we'll learn it now, as Jonathan tends to leave his games just a bit too loose-ended, but we'll see. 

I note that navigation is still difficult. Didn't think I'd ever get out of that cave. But I did, and I found some glowing numbers on an island, along with some decorations on a stone-age necklace that should not be in 2000 B.C.

The Stone Age

Then I went to the far future, the games fourth time period, in 2090. No lighthouse survives on the site (although the children of one of the programmers are having nightmares about a lighthouse there. Uh oh!) Instead, there's an undersea (why?) base where they manage their space probes that will try to retrieve dark matter from deep space. One of their space probes, Malakai, has gone missing. And indeed, just as Drake was captured, the handyman on this base has suffered the same fate.

A room in the undersea pod

I took a different route getting to the future this time. Probably I did this once before, because a few things looked familiar, but I really had to figure things out! (Actually, I think I may have exited this way in a previous game). I went through the back wall of the 1912 lighthouse, and had to make my way up, or perhaps it was down, through a maze-like series of ducts, into the base.

Once in the base I had myself a grand time! There were plenty of clues to find, plenty of hot spots to click on, lots of things to do. I remembered just a bit of it, but I'm really stuck on one item. In one of the rooms is a robot with a remote control that has five colored buttons. Five is too many to hack your way through, but I can't find the verdamnten clue to the puzzle. So I stopped there. Couldn't find anything do to in the little first aid station either. Why let us in there if there's nothing to see or do? I must have missed something.

First Aid Station

But I sure did have fun, and played for quite awhile this afternoon.

Next stop: more searching. I have missed something. (I did enjoy seeing an "old" sci-fi magazine with David McCallum on the cover. Hah! He did a series in the UK called "Sapphire and Steele" which I never saw. I'll find it someday. Netflix used to have it but they deleted it before I could get it.

Also, there was a poster on a wall about "The Dowerton Experiment: new adventure game!" Nice reference to DarkFall 1: The Journal. I always enjoy finding these references to his and Matt's other games. Nothing wrong with a bit of self-promotion!)

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Lights Out 8: From Time to Time

Aha! I don't know if I've made much progress (although the storm in 2004 seems closer), but I've sure been getting around!

Storm getting closer

First, I did the haunted radio puzzle again with the dials set according to the photo in Andrew Verney's puzzle box. That got me some numbers that I haven't been able to use yet. Wandered around and finally realized that there were more of those numbered cards to find, even though the puzzle box uses them. I got the number two card from the puzzle box, and found several more, one labeled "L", which I think is going to translate into "5."

Andrew Verney's Puzzle Box

But so far, no further puzzle calling for these things has appeared.

Polly is still hiding in Drake's room, so I did more exploring. Now that I have the ghost glasses I'm getting all kinds of encounters. I've talked with both James and Robert. Drake, apparently, lurks. I swear I don't remember those conversations in the earlier version, but it's been so long since I've played the game that I can't be sure. 

All this exploring has led me to both of the other time zones, although I didn't explore them. I've now found easy ways to bounce back and forth to any of the times I want. (Yes, that means I solved the puzzle in Drake's 1912 closet.)

Drake's Closet

So now, I guess, I should do more exploring in one of the two new time zones. I seem to have just about exhausted the possibilities in 2004. Think I'll pick the past, and see if I can pick up a useful item or two there. I know that period is the least extensive of the four (although still a bitch to navigate).

But! That was fun! Exploring and finding things is my most favorite thing to do in adventures!

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Lights Out 7: Climbing Stairs

A little bit more play tonight. Still having a bit of trouble navigating the stairs in the lighthouse, but had some fun anyway. Solved a couple of puzzles!


Lots of reading to do in this segment, plenty of nice stuff to look at, especially this mannequin:

When playing, be sure to look at this guy several times. Odd things, which appear to be random, might happen. Makes for more creepiness, if the echoing footsteps and the "over here" whispers don't do enough of that for ya!


I recognize both Jonathan and Matt Clark as the voices of the little show in the former dining room. This time I wasn't terrified, as I was the first time, on entering the dark little cafe. I do recall trembling a bit at that point the first time I played.


Made it to the top of the lighthouse to see Matt's very nice paintings, and solved the puzzle box. I only really needed the two clues I found last night to do it. Once you have those you don't really need a third clue, although another is available quite close by. (Good adventuring: click everywhere you can click.)


That allowed me to do the radio puzzle down in the history shed. Stupid me, I didn't scrutinize the photo clue to get the proper dial settings when I had the chance, but I was able to bulldog my way through that too, and got a nice effect. 


Also, I ran across dear old Andrew Verney's name, from Darkfall 1. He made the puzzle box, it seems. Yup, that's what he did in the earlier game too, as I recall.


I found the ghosthunter glasses. I remembered their location, having hunted like a demon for 'em the first time I played. However, I've climbed back up the stairs to Drake's room, where Polly is hiding. I remember she puts her eye to the keyhole, but apparently I've missed something, because she isn't doing that yet.


Well, next time I'll pop back up to the top and look at that photo again, just to be sure I got everything from that radio.


So! Another short session, but fun!


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Lights Out 6: I'm in! Again!

Making so much progress on my Kirkus books that I decided I'd get back to my game. And I had fun! 


Didn't play very long, but long enough to take a peek around the outside of the 2004 lighthouse. Found a puzzle in the--what is it--a history shed?--that I can't do yet involving a radio. I also was able to play my floppy disc that I found in the original kitchen when the game started. It has an EVP that I can't understand. Found coins that let me look through the coin-operated telescope and got a clue for an upcoming puzzle. Also found another clue to that, so I now have numbers one and three for that puzzle. 


Then there was breaking into the lighthouse gift shop, and the lighthouse itself! Had to get through the security system. I found the first clue with the first two numbers on the pin code that you have to plug into the door. Tried to bulldog my way through the rest, but then realized that the other half of the code had to be somewhere I could get to. In fact, I remembered a place where it really might be, went back to that and found it! Ding! I'm in.


I'm still having trouble navigating here, but I think I figured out the trick to it.


Anyway, I have read the books in the bookstore--one written by "Timothy Pike," the little boy ghost from Darkfall 1. I love it that Jonathan keeps re-using names in all his games. Kinda like little easter eggs for fans. Also found the clue to Drake's closet puzzle, which proves that I'll be going back to 1912--well I knew that anyway. Can't solve it in this time period because the whole thing has been removed.


Poked around the gift shop and found a ghostly message that I can't understand in one of the CDs on sale. Polly White is here (as I recall we only see her eyes--she's in Drake's room, which is another reason we can't solve that puzzle in this time period). I wonder who's stealing 200 pounds from the till? Don't remember anything about that.


I left it just before going through the red curtain.


But I found some stuff and solved a real puzzle! So I'm quite pleased.


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Lights Out 5: New Times!

Ashamed as I am to admit it, yes, I had to look up a walkthrough. Now that is embarrassing. I mean, it isn't as though I haven't played this game before. Sheesh.


Still, I was quite right that the next move was to follow the map--assuming you can figure the dratted thing out! The map is not all that revealing. You really have to study the thing to realize that you can't go the way you went before (as confusing as that was anyway).


But when frustration reaches a certain point, the game becomes no longer fun. Look up the WT.


Even with that I had to do lots and lots of exploring. However, I have emerged from my wandering into the 2004 segment of the game, as I was sure I would. As I recall, navigation is almost as damnable in this segment as it is in 1912. 

Entering 2004

2004, of course, was intended to be the present when the game was made. I recall some interesting things here, and also where to find some glasses I'll need. That memory ought to save me some frustration.


So I left it there. I've done quite enough wandering in this game for the evening. Now that I've finished with my stuckness, I ought to be able to make some progress.


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Lights Out 4: :Looking for the Tunnel

Well I wish I could find it. 


I'm back outside, trying to navigate to the tunnel. I know it's blocked off, but I know it's there. There was a photo of it in the cottage kitchen. It's a little tunnel with a wine bottle lying in it.


I cannot find it.


I did manage to get into that locked drawer in Drake's room. Just did some basic adventuring. There really aren't all that many things to click on in that room, so I hunted about it bit and found the trigger.


But alas, in the drawer I found a great clue to the endgame, and copied that down. There was also a map showing a path around the lighthouse. I'm just making a complete hash of following it (probably because I didn't copy it down). 


So next time, I'll go back to Drake's room, copy the map and follow it. I'm pretty sure that ought to be the next move, as I've pretty much exhausted the possibilities here in the lighthouse. I've been up to the light and poked around, and now the game won't let me go back up. So I must have done something right up there.


When you find a clue like that map, though, it's a pretty good guess that following it ought to be the next move. I'll also check behind the boiler again, but I'm pretty sure I can't get through there until much later in the game.


I do keep getting some nice disembodied sounds of taunting laughter and "over here," "no, over here" as I stumble around in the dark. Interestingly, these are a man's voice. The little "here" voice clues in all Jonathan's other games are a woman's voice. So there's that.


I think I'm pretty well done here in 1912. I need to find that tunnel, and then somehow I get up to 2004. Cannot remember how that happens. Then there are two other time zones after that. I don't think I can get into Drake's closet puzzle yet, because that sends us to the endgame.


So I'm frustrated, but only because I did not do due diligence with the map.


Hmph.


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Lights Out 3: Puzzled

Just a little bit of play tonight. I managed to get into Drake's room. There's a door puzzle, but if you've found the clue it's a cinch.


I do recall that it wasn't a cinch the first time, but I remember the meaning of the numbers you find in the clue. Actually I hadn't found the clue when I first got to the door, but there really could only be one place for it, so I went back and there it was.


Now, that was easy because I've played before.


However, Drake's closet puzzle is more daunting. I know where part of the clue is, and easily found that. But I can't remember what to do with it. Plus, there's a drawer that I can't open. I'd bet that the last part of the clue is in there, but I can't remember how to get the blasted thing open. Yet.

Drake's Room

Still noticing fun sound effects from other games. The violin is from Darkfall 1, the coughing shows up again in Lost Crown, quite prominently.


Also, there was a fun little poem that is said to you by a ghostly voice in the speakerphone. If I hadn't once been married to a Brit I wouldn't have been able to understand it, but it goes:


As I was walking up the stairs
I saw a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today.
I wish that he would go away.


I've heard that little rhyme often, but few Americans know it.


And the Story of Fetch Rock continues in the books in Drake's room!  I know that's different from the original release of the game.


Went up to the actual light in the lighthouse. Remembered how to get out onto the balcony and in again, but I can't remember if I'm supposed to turn on the light. I sorta tried, but couldn't. Alas, the outside fog is completely pixellated, and the creepy atmosphere mostly lost because of that. Well, I can't fault the game for being old.


It may be that I'll have to find my way into the next time zone in the game to get the clues I'm looking for. I'm pretty sure that the item I'll eventually find behind the closet puzzle takes me to the last phase of the game.


Knowing how this thing ends, I must say that I'm surprised to find so many references to it. Of course they make no sense to a new player, but if you know what's gonna happen, it fits nicely.


I'll see how I feel about that later on. I hope it helps me to like the last part of the game better.


Tonight I just didn't give things enough thought.


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Lights Out 2: I'm In!

Aha, I made it up the path to the lighthouse! The only way I've ever been able to get there is by just clicking all over until I finally found the path, and that's what I did this time too.


So I'm in. Of course the spooky stuff starts right away. We see a shadow flit by when we first enter. Footsteps run from us. I think some of that has been added, although not all.


But now I'm seeing real differences in the director's cut from the original game. The turn-on-the-light puzzle is much, much easier now. In the original, you had to find a paper in a completely dark corner. If you didn't see the icon telling you to shine your lamp there, you would not have been able to do the puzzle, because it told you how to work the boiler. Then outside on a balcony was another paper, much easier to find, but it had drawings of different ships that you had to decipher in order to learn the order to press some levers that connected to the boiler inside. This time there were no ships. It was exactly the same clue as the other paper, so if you missed one you would find the other pretty easily. Both clues spell absolutely everything out about how to turn on the boiler. Easy peasy. I know that's different, because I suffered over that puzzle when I first played the game.


Also, there are more spooky sounds, and this time we even get to have a conversation with a ghost. If that had happened in the original, I think I would have remembered it. We even get dialogue options in 1912 script. I'm really darned sure this stuff is new.


Which is great! It's exactly why I bought the director's cut.


I saved in James' bedroom. There, the story in the bookcase of "The Bride of Bodwin Moor" has been replaced--in every book--with a part of story explaining what "Fetch" means (it's the Fetch Rock Lighthouse). Much shorter. When I first played I actually read the entire story about the bride, which turned out to have absolutely nothing whatever to do with this story. So this choice is better.

James' Bedroom

My only complaint is that there are no subtitles, and some of the ghostly voices are difficult to understand.


But I am having fun! Till tomorrow!


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Darkfall 2: Lights Out (Director's Cut)

Bought this game as an Amazon download* long ago, and finally I'm getting around to playing it! I played the original version at least twice when it came out (once for me and once with Dad), and I will admit that although I loved the first two-thirds, I really didn't like the last third or the resolution, such as it was. 


Anyway, perhaps the director's cut will make things more clear and the final third of the game will make more sense. At any rate, it's sure to have extra scenes, and I don't want to miss any of that. I adore virtually all of Jonathan's work, despite the last third of the original version of this game, and I don't want to miss any of it.


OK. After getting halfway through a very good Kirkus book, I stopped to play just to get the game started. We read how our character, Benjamin Parker, from whose eyes we will experience the game, reluctantly arrived in Cornwall to map the coastline. Jonathan starts setting up the atmosphere right away. We've already had warnings about the lighthouse. First, it isn't on any map. Second, it has a bad reputation, and the townsfolk want those three good lighthouse keepers off that island. One has a girlfriend who's worried about him. Of course, the nighttime scenes outside of our door help to set up a spooky atmosphere as well.


Already I've noticed a couple of different things in this director's cut, although I can't be sure because I haven't played the original in several years. First, there are many, many more photographs in the stereoscope that you find in the cottage kitchen. One of them looks suspiciously like the "original" drawings of Harbour Cottage from Lost Crown, when it was still a fisherman's depot of sorts. Second, I don't remember hearing the sounds of the townsfolk having a cheery evening in the pub as I move around the town. I recall silence in the town at night in the original game. Aside from that everything is the same so far.

The Cottage Kitchen

(click to embiggen)

Alas, the screen pixels are too low for my computer (a one-year old Mac running this game under Fusion, with XP), at least in the nighttime outdoor shots, and there doesn't appear to be a way to change that. Pity, as I always like seeing moon shots in games. Indoor shots are just fine (as above), and as most of the game takes place indoors it shouldn't bother me too much. We'll see how daytime outdoor shots go. I'm betting those will be OK. Well, you have to expect it. The original game is from 2004. Technology has moved on. So far it's running perfectly.

The pixellated night sky

(click to embiggen)

Already I've spotted several well-known names from Jonathan's other games: Reubans, Spivey, and of course, the ever-present Hadden. I know more are coming. And again, Jonathan's favorite date, April 29th, is when the game starts, as do all of his games except for Lost Souls. It also turns up in one of the stereoscope photographs, if you're really looking. Voice acting is the same. Dear Prof. Oogle from Lost Crown narrates the poem from which Jonathan got the concept for the game as we enjoy our boat ride to the island.


I've only done the preliminary stuff: read the always required diary to set up the story (at least it's short), looked at some maps and pictures, hunted around the cottage kitchen, found an inventory item. Poked around outside and set up the mystery, then met secretly with the man in charge who has sent me out on a surreptitious mission to the lighthouse. The boat ride was nice. However, I was told to gather stuff from my room then go to the boat. Never did get back to the room, but got in the boat and off it went.


Navigation in this game, at least outside, is a true bitch. You never know where in rotten hell you're freaking going. Every time I've played this I've had trouble reaching the lighthouse, and tonight is no exception. Click click click--where am I headed and where is the verdammten path? So I saved there, as it's already too late to be playing anyway.


As with Darkfall 1, the save system is more than primitive. You actually save to a document file. Also, you can't get back to the menu from anywhere in the game--but then there aren't any settings there that you can tweak anyway so you really don't need to do that. You can only choose to save, load, or quit.


I did want to get started, though. Fun times ahead!


*(I'd be happy to buy all my games as Amazon downloads. I trust that Amazon will be there for the next several decades, so I won't lose my content. It's usually cheaper and the discs don't get scratched or lost.)

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