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 What is this? Beneath A Steel Sky is a point-and-click game set in a dystopian future, it was released in 1994 and developed by Revolution Software who later went on to creating the Broken Sword series. The game was a collaboration between Charles Cecil (developer and co-founder of Revolution Software) and Dave Gibbons (comic book legend whose credentials are far too many to list). We play as Robert Foster, the sole survivor of a helicopter crash in an area known as "The Gap" as a child. A group of aboriginals found and raised him as one of their own. Many years later, Union City decides to "rescue" Robert and bring him home. Beneath A Steel Sky was critically acclaimed upon release, received high reviews all-round and has left a long legacy behind it. Where To Find it and news on the upcoming sequel As of 2003, Beneath A Steel Sky was made available as freeware by Revolution Software. Their own website directs you to GOG for downloading, so I will too: https://www.gog.com/game/beneath_a_steel_sky The freeware release utilises ScummVM and it is the version that I will be playing for this LP. Rumours of a sequel have been floating around for a couple of decades or so. Both Cecil and Gibbons have stated several times that they would be interested in collaborating again for a sequel. An official announcement was made last year that not only was a sequel confirmed, but development was also well underway. The latest statement from Revolution Software reveals that the game is now almost complete. More information, as well as screenshots and a dev diary, can be found on their website: https://revolution.co.uk/categories/beyond-a-steel-sky/ There is a Steam store page for the game, as of now there is now release date. The developers seem to be fairly active in the Steam discussion forum for the game and have been answering questions here and there: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1146310/Beyond_a_Steel_Sky/ LP details  Attention: My ScummVM volume sliders were bugged and the volume was stuck at full blast for the first five videos. Thankfully, AbstractNapper was very helpful and found a solution that worked for the final three videos in this LP. Their solution can be found here: https://forums.somethingawful.com/newreply.php?action=newreply&postid=505175063 This is going to be a VLP, I'll be doing commentary as I play. I aim to upload one video every Sunday. I'm going to aim for a midweek video if time allows with the extra editing. I will upload a bonus video with some additional content. The dialogue tree is mostly linear but there are a few occasions where it branches. I will attempt to show off all the different ways that you can be killed in this game and I will also show the alternative ending to the game. Let's Play: Beneath A Steel Sky         Bonus Videos: Additional Dialogue Death Sequences Rocket Baby Dolls fucked around with this message at 22:19 on Jun 9, 2020 |
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May 13, 2020 22:22
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Yapping Eevee posted:
I'm not sure why it took so long as a sequel was always under serious consideration. I'll have to look into it more when I have some free time. I believe that Wasteland holds the record for the longest time between releases, this may break that record.
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May 14, 2020 10:47
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I think this is the first time you've LP'd something I've actually seen played before. (Yahtzee did a casual playthrough of it way back when.) It's an interesting game, though a sequel 26+ years after the fact is sure a decision to make. 
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Old Grey Guy posted:Have you tried to set up the sound/volume in ScummVM instead of the game? It seems to respect the VM settings. I've changed the in-game settings, the ScummVM settings and also the config files. I've even muted the music and it still comes back with a vengeance.
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May 14, 2020 18:18
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Old Grey Guy posted:Bugger. What about your system's audio mixer, or maybe a different version of ScummVM? (I'm on Linux these days, and for me, lowering the music volume in the ScummVM (v 2.0.0 / March 2018) options under the volume tab did the trick.) The GOG.com version comes with ScummVM attached. It seems to be the "2.0.0 (2017-12-17)" version. I currently have the "2.1.1 (2020-01-31)" version installed but I can't seem to link it directly to the GOG.com installation folder. I copied the files from the stand-alone ScummVM folder into the BASS ScummVM folder which forced that version to update. The original problem still remains. I've just visited the ScummVM website and they have a download link for BASS here: https://www.scummvm.org/games/ This version does work with the current version of ScummVM and the volume settings do work. I will switch to this version for the LP. Tiggum posted:It's weird how they decided to set the game in Australia but the voiced dialogue is distinctly not Australian and, outside of a couple of references in the intro, I don't think it has any impact or importance at all. Despite any flaws though, this game will always be one of my favourites for how cool the gimmick of switching Joey into new bodies is. That really feels like an underutilised concept in video games in general. Cecil and Gibbons went above and beyond with the story and characters. Being set in Australia makes sense for the storyline as the outback, or "The Gap", is a frequent plot point. But the cast is primarily British, which is understandable as Revolution Software is based in England, it just makes things a little more confusing. Revolution Software has a pdf of the manual on their website. The manual contains more background information on the game World: https://revolution.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/beneath_a_steel_sky_manual.pdf
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May 14, 2020 23:05
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Flair posted:Have you tried contacting GOG support? GOG has pretty good tech support. It doesn't seem to be a common problem, I've only seen one other person on the forum with an issue. It's nothing game breaking but I will probably shoot them a message when I have more free time.
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May 15, 2020 21:58
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It looks like I spoke too soon as I only did a brief test before. After investigating further I'm having the same volume issues with the stand-alone ScummVM and their version of BASS. I'm going to try the CD-Rom version with Windows 98 tomorrow
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May 15, 2020 23:00
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Thesaya posted:I was sure I'd played this before, but I think I had it confused with the Dig for some reason. Seeing that there are death scenarios, I would have avoided it as a kid, I was always more about LucasArts than Sierra. I have watched the intro, I am almost certain, might have quit the moment I had my first death. Now I am torn between watching this or playing it for myself... Black Robe posted:I have this in my GOG library (along with just about everything else that is or was free on there, because hey, who doesn't like free poo poo) but never got around to checking it out. Looks like I maybe should. I'd highly recommend playing this game, it's a game from my youth and I have a lot of fond memories of it. I always come back to it every now and again. The characters, setting and humour are constant high points for me. This game does have it's moments of confusion, but it's mostly the usual adventure game logic. There is a couple of sequences where a guide will most likely will be needed, but there are many available with a quick search. As for the deaths, there are only a handful. There's no outright spoilers here but to be on the safe side I'll keep this optional. I will try to point them out in the LP as I go. The first couple have some obvious red flags. I believe that you can trigger a later one that comes out of left-field, but only out of persistence, my memory might be playing tricks with me over this one. Later on, there's a really cheap one unless you're being overly cautious, there is an ominous tone to the situation but examining the danger zone kills you. There's a QTE shortly afterwards. I believe the last one is fairly obvious but there's also time to back out of the situation. If it helps, I can provide you with more specific details. Or you could stick to a guide which will tell you how to deal with each location successfully but without specific focus on death sequences. I'm going to test out the CD-Rom version later, I have childcare all day today. Right now she has been distracted with Peppa Pig. Well, she was until now.
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May 16, 2020 10:35
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For now, I will be continuing on with the current version that I started with. I have sent a report to the GOG.com technical team to let them know the issue that I'm having. I played around with Windows 98 and was getting a lot of sound issues, I also forgot that Windows 98 doesn't support widescreen so I scrapped that idea pretty quickly. I did install ScummVM just to test it out and it played just fine, but I was still getting the same volume issues. I'm happy continuing on with how I started. Vegas rendering times are an absolute beast, it'll just give me an excuse to get off my rear end and do some productive things away from the computer for a while.
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May 16, 2020 19:24
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Yeah? In this episode, Robert explores the top of Eyrie tower and finds a way down to the next level. We're not done exploring the entire top level just yet but we've done all that we can do right now. I experienced a couple of major bugs that I have never encountered before, it breaks immersion a little but I've kept in glitches and crashes in previous LP's. There's a slight edit around the twenty-four-minute mark as I re-recorded the last part of this video, I spent far too much time faffing around originally. There are a few minor things that I missed out during this recording which I may explore further, I did miss out on a short conversation with one character which I will explore when I record additional footage. Yeah? Death count list: 2. Being silly with the putty. Edit: Hello to Sartorius from Space Station 13, thank you for the kind words.
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May 17, 2020 09:59
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RabidWeasel posted:You missed a (hilarious) death keep trying to use Reich's card in the Security door, there's extra dialogue too IIRC I wasnt aware of this, thank you for telling me. I'll give this a try very shortly as I'm preparing to do some more recording.
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May 17, 2020 13:30
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In this video, Robert and Joey explore the new level to the best of their ability at this point in time. Now we're three episodes in I've only just noticed that I've been encoding the videos in the wrong resolution with Vegas. I reviewed everything during the editing process to make sure everything was fine. When I play it back on Youtube, I usually check that the video plays fine and then switch it to the background to make sure the audio is okay. As I was looking for a screenshot I noticed that the dialogue tree was slightly cut off. After further investigation, when it came to rendering the video in Vegas I had pressed a 5 instead of an 8 and kept it as default. It's resulted in four or five in-game pixels being cut-off on each side of the game screen. I apologise, I should have been vigilant, hopefully this hasn't spoilt the experience too much for anyone. I feel like a tit right now! Rocket Baby Dolls fucked around with this message at 21:12 on May 21, 2020 |
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May 21, 2020 20:58
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It was my responsibility to check beforehand. I'll fix it when I record the next episode, which will probably be tomorrow night for uploading on Sunday.
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May 21, 2020 23:02
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Edit: Removed to avoid confusion. In this video, Robert steals a dubiously titled videotape and exposes himself. We explore a few more areas, make some new friends and Robert manage to lose his testicles. Apart from a couple of minor conversations, we have done all that we can do on the first two levels. Death count: 4. Exposing yourself. Rocket Baby Dolls fucked around with this message at 22:04 on May 25, 2020 |
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May 24, 2020 08:34
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Sjonkel posted:There's some stutter in the first few minutes while talking to Anita, but the rest of the video is fine. It's really weird seeing this played after 25 years, I remember some things very clearly like Anchor and Burke, but most of it is completely blank and I feel like I'm watching it blind. I've set this video as unlisted for the moment, I'll re-do this tonight and hopefully replace it tomorrow. Thank you for letting me know and thank you for your kind words.
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May 24, 2020 12:01
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Due to some quality control issues I'm going to take a step back before continuing onwards. With work, childcare and other factors in life I've not had a lot of free time lately and I've pressured myself into trying two videos a week. Because of this, the LP is suffering. As of now I'm going to restrict this LP to one video a week until life eases up a little. I will fix the aspect ratios of the first two videos and reupload them. I'll need to re-record the first scene of the third video and upload a replacement for the latest one. It will take a few days to correct things, normal service will resume next Sunday. I apologise for letting things slip this much.
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May 24, 2020 14:34
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Thank you, everyone, for being kind and patient. This is the LP forum and not E/N so I'll keep real-life stuff off from here. My mind and motivation took a bit of a nosedive last week, I've been able to start picking myself up again which is the main thing. I finished work early tonight and have re-recorded the first section of the fourth video. I'll encode it overnight and upload it tomorrow. I'm not one for staged commentary but I've tried to keep any comments in the same vein as in the original video, the comment about the locker is probably the only thing that is the same as before. Throughout the next week, I'll be re-encoding and uploading the first three videos in their original resolution, no changes will be made to the gameplay or audio. There will be a new video up next Sunday, it is my weekend off next week so I will have time to record a video and make sure it's above board. RabidWeasel posted:I still enjoyed the last video in spite of the slight issues at the start He never seemed like anyone of importance so I never paid him any attention after the initial conversation before now. I'll speak to everyone again before we head into the next act. I've just remembered that there is a cutscene with the old man in the security lobby and I fear that I've left it too late to trigger.
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May 24, 2020 22:05
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Episode four, re-done. The gameplay is exactly the same as the original video.
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May 25, 2020 08:47
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Samovar posted:The aesthetics of this is so close to 2000AD, I feel almost reluctant to even mention it, just in case I overlooked this very fact being mentioned and then being pointed at and laughed at. The co-creator and artist used to be an artist for 2000AD, he also used to do a lot of work for DC and Marvel comics too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Gibbons
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May 25, 2020 16:06
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Thesaya posted:Maybe remove the vid with the stutters? I just watched that one before scrolling down and realising that you had a fixed version out. I will do when I get home, thank you for the reminder.
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May 25, 2020 20:04
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The first three videos have been re-encoded in the correct resolution and have been uploaded to replace the original videos. There's no need to watch these if you have already seen the originals.
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May 26, 2020 21:08
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In this episode, Robert explores Lincspace for the first time and he makes some new friends as we find a way down to the next level. AbstractNapper posted:Hello, first off, I'm enjoying your recent LPs and BaSS is one of my favorite adventure games. Thank you for taking the time to reply with this information. I've tried to lower the volume with the ScummVM settings and I've also edited the config file but the volume keeps resetting. I tried to shoehorn the latest version of ScummVM onto the installation folder by copying the latest versions files into it, but I'm not sure whether it worked. It forced an update when I loaded the game afterwards but the problems still remained. I've just launched ScummVM from the BASS installation folder and it's currently using the "2.1.0 October 5th 2019" version.  I have the most current version of ScummVM as a standalone installation but I'm not sure how I can link BASS directly to that version. I'm going to record another video this weekend for a Sunday upload, I will try a different audio emulator and see if that will make a difference. Thank you for the suggestions.
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May 28, 2020 23:34
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AbstractNapper posted:In theory, what you did should work. Just copy the new ScummVM version's files over the ones in the GOG ScummVM folder for the game, and then keep launching the game from the GOG shortcut. This should be the most hassle free way, because GOG's shortcut (typically) sets and uses a custom configuration file and save-files path, whereas a standalone ScummVM installation will, by default, use a path under your Windows AppData. For some reason, it wouldn't let me "Add game..." in my standalone ScummVM installation. I've tried again and it worked this time. I'm still having the same issue with the music resetting to the default volume. I've also downloaded, what I believe, is the latest daily build and I'm still having the same problem with the music. I made a test recording with the latest version that I have downloaded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSgE3eujxVI Carnafex posted:For some reason I thought this was based in dystopia Melbourne (closer to Hobart), but then seeing St James and Museum station, those are both real train stations in the Sydney CBD. Not what I was expecting! Until you had posted this I had forgotten about this game being set in Australia.
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May 29, 2020 22:33
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AbstractNapper posted:Please try the development daily build. It's the left column in the daily builds page. The version number should be prefixed by 2.2.0git and the displayed version date should be very recent (like today's or yesterday's date).  It seems to be working. Thank you!
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May 30, 2020 11:16
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I've recorded another video which I will upload tomorrow. I'd like to say thank you again to AbstractNapper for solving the sound issues that I was having. Things should be a lot more straightforward with recording and editing. Some of the background noises fluctuate wildly in some areas, I'll need to get a little closer to the mic when encountering these places in the future. I have some free time tomorrow so I will try to do some recording of any missing scenes, deaths and alternate dialogues.
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May 30, 2020 22:12
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In this video, Robert gets propositioned, fails to get served at a bar and engages in a bit of animal cruelty. Is the music level okay or does it need turning up a few notches?
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May 31, 2020 10:40
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In this video, Robert attends a court session, travels to a new subway station and says hello to an old friend. I spent time recording some additional footage last Sunday, I think that I caught everything on the top floor up to the end of the second video in this LP and there was quite a lot to capture. It turns out that the conversation with the guard that I missed in the second video had a lot of useful lore to teach us. I haven't had a lot of free time since Sunday but I'm going to try to record more additional footage over the next few days. I'm very sad to tell you all that there is no way to take the sandwich down to the next level. I tried my hardest to find a way around it but alas, it was not meant to be. Death count list: 5. The Dickish-Hole 6. A Crushing Blow
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Jun 4, 2020 21:21
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evilmiera posted:Beyond a Steel sky looks like a sorta different game, but not a bad one. You think you're gonna lp that when/if it comes out? I would like too if it runs on my system. I'm definitely going to buy it when it comes out.
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Jun 5, 2020 08:43
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This is the final video of the main LP and I won't spoil anything for those who haven't seen it. There is an alternate ending which I will make sure to show off in a bonus video, most likely with the additional and missed dialogue. I've recorded additional material up to the courthouse at the moment, there's a fair amount of additional content in this last section of the game. I'm hoping to record the rest of the material over the next two or three days when I have a little time away from work and childcare. If all goes well I should have the extra material up by Wednesday. Death count list: 7. Walter A way to die! 8. Waking someone up from a bad dream. Thank you, everyone, for being a part of this LP. This has been a wonderful trip down memory lane and it's always an absolute pleasure to return to Beneath A Steel Sky. I will definitely be checking out Beyond A Steel Sky when it comes out and I would like to continue on with the story if I am able too. It's just going to take time for it to come out and to give it a playthrough so I know what I'm doing, it also depends on whether I have enough hardware to run it and record at the same time. I will hopefully be back within a few days to finish off the extra content. I'm also hoping to return with a new LP next week, Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans is at the top of my list right now.
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Jun 7, 2020 10:08
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Thank you everyone for your kind words, I'm glad that you enjoyed the LP. These are the last two videos for this thread, the first is the missed dialogue from the main playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWfxVOhtWJg Inside Factory - Additional dialogue with Joey and Hobbins Outside Factory - Conversation with the guard Offering people my sausage sandwich. Additional dialogue with Anita, Lamb and Potts. Additional dialogue with Anchor, Travel Agent and Lamb. Failing at Linc-Space. Additional dialogue with Vincent and Mrs. Piermont. Additional dialogue with the Bar-Man, Bouncin' Babs and Colston. Trying on a new suit. Additional courtroom dialogue. Trying to free Ken. And here are the death sequences: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo4ffGswlNg Factory - Walking down the guarded stairs. Security Lobby - Using an untampered card in the scanner, twice. Maintenance Room - Using the putty while the generator is switched on. Reactor Room - Opening the reactor door without a radiation suit. Subway - Being eaten by the photophobic monster. Underground - Staying still while the roof collapses. Vat Room - Failing to set the trap for Walter. Android Room - Waking up Android #3. Council Room - Multiple ways of failing to contain Linc. Samovar posted:What better way to end this LP than with this? Thank you for the link, this is great timing as it seems to have been uploaded today. My only take on the ending to BASS is that there was more than one settlement out in the gap, after watching the trailer they seem to be going for that aspect too. As for Ken, I have absolutely no idea what that was all about. Sjonkel posted:I'm going through your Monkey Island LP's right now and enjoying them a lot also! I'm glad that you are, I learnt a lot from doing that LP series and its one that I sometimes wish I could do-over.
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Jun 8, 2020 22:11
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Thank you, everyone, for the kind words despite the technical difficulties. I would like to thank AbstractNapper again for the advice and patience with solving the volume issues. The OP has been amended and I've submitted this LP to the archive. I didn't realise before but this game was LP'd once before in 2009 in screenshot format, the images are lost to waffleimages unfortunately: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3104301&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1 The list of games to LP is long and ever-changing and I've made a decision to start [Warcraft Adventures: Lord Of The Clans[/b] next. Sanitarium was on the cards but I've only just started playing it again for the first time in almost twenty years, I want some time to get familiar with it again before I do anything with it. For some reason, the Doctor Who adventure game has been on the back of my mind recently and I've downloaded it again. I'm happy that my save games from the last time that I played it are still on the cloud, the game glitched itself into an unplayable state and still are now. I'm probably the last person who should LP a Doctor Who game so you should probably expect it at some point soon. When it comes to irreverent, I think that's what keeps me coming back to games from around this era. The late '80s and early '90s are where I grew up and where I started playing games, so it's probably not a surprise of why I keep coming back to them as they hold elements of nostalgia. Amongst the cat moustache kind of logic to some puzzles, there is a lot of abstract and surrealness from this time that will always appeal to me. I've always wanted to approach earlier adventure games that were more suited to screenshots and I did start an LP of Zakk McKracken many years ago but I abandoned it pretty early on. If my memory serves me correctly I have started two screenshot LP's and both were abandoned. I might start a screenshot LP if it didn't take me two hours to make an initial post and then edit it several times hours afterwards.
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Jun 9, 2020 23:39
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