(In The Longest Journey, I am currently trying to remember how to puncture the rubber ducky while dangling it over a dangerous hotpost -- I mean hostpot I mean hotspot.)

If it's broke, fix it with a rubber ducky.

Becky, I tried to avoid him also and I couldnt. I kept hitting the right mouse button and even the K key to perform the heavy attack, I also used the space bar to block the attack. It would take several trys before Zoe would decide to attack and block and by then he had already beaten me to death. This is where I really got frustrated. I was pressing the right keys etc but Zoe would just stand there and take the beatings.

Avoiding him involves a distraction, creeping through shadow, and continuing to creep for the rest of the area.

Later there's an action you must take which *may* attract his attention, but I think it's still possible to avoid him.

If you do get into a fight with him, you need to dodge his strong punches and counter with a strong attack of your own--preferably in an area with a lot of room to maneuver. It's not easy, but there's a simple pattern to his attacks, and once you've found it you can defeat him.

Hmmm. Gotta try that, Demosthenes.

I beat him by not blocking him at all, but by backing away from him whenever possible, then running in and kicking, then backing away from him again.

It drove him nuts. I think he keeled over in sheer frustration.

JB -- I've never had Zoe just stand there while I was pressing keys! Sometimes she takes a second to wind up and kick -- but other movement is instantaneous.

Wonder why the experience is so very different?

Well, since there's no actual "dodge" button, running back and forth was pretty much all I did--it sounds like we used pretty much the same method for beating him, except I tried dodging left and right whenever he swung.

There is a long lag time between attacks and block moves. You have to plan everythjing in advance: if you press weak attack, for example, Zo

Well I'll have you know April just kicked some serious booty - course she had to die once before she prevailed but she did Zoe definitely needs April's staff. I am not, however, looking forward to this guy you all are talking about - I can see many reloads in my future

I think I'll put a spoiler tag on this thread if no one minds -

Well now that Ive adjusted the controls I'm moving right along. Just started "Winter".

Thanks Syd for the spoiler warning! Nice to see April again, isn't it? In TLJ she moved like a dancer -- now she moves like a warrior.

Blocking still lets you take damage, just not as much, right? Since it slows down your ability to make other moves -- errr, why bother with it?

Blocking works well against weak attacks, but it's useless against strong attacks. So it's a good thing to use if you think the enemy is going to use a weak attack--otherwise it's best to attack (if there's an opening) or dodge. Blocking is especially useful in tight corners where you don't have room to maneuver out of harm's way.

The controls are too sensitive by default. If you're using the mouse you may be able to fix the problem by reducing the mouse sensitivity on the Mouse tab in the game options menu.

Re: the guy in the basement... yup, you can avoid that fight altogether. That's what I did. Of the 4 obligatory fights I mentioned, none of them are as Zoe (1 April, 3 Kian). Yes, some may need longer to beat the fight sequences, but given that Ragnar himself said that you play as Zoe for about 70% of the game, and that you NEVER have to fight as her... it's still a small percentage. I'm not an action gamer, so when I said that the fights were a very small part of the game for me, part of that included using avoidance wherever possible. Think of that as another type of "puzzle" in a way.

I'm very upset that they ruined (imo) TLJ's followup. I still haven't decided whether or not to buy it because of the action elements. I will probably wait until I can buy it cheaply since the only way I'll be able to play is with saves from other people. This game is probably the biggest disappointment in games that I will have for 2005-2006.

I agree with Oldman in that when they make changes to the format like they did to Dreamfall, it just makes loyal adventure fans angry and doesn't bring a big enough return from the combat gamers. My last big disappointment for the same reason was Broken Sword and now they're admitting that it was a mistake. I still have that game sitting on my shelf started but never to be finished.

I'm so glad this is such a good year for games in general and there are so many to choose from making this disappointment easier to swallow.

Melanie

Well I'm with the guy in the basement right now and if you guys were able to sneak past him you're better sneakers than I am. He has nailed me 8 times now (both sneaking and beating me because Zoe just stands there like a dope) and I'm pretty sick of it. I want to pick up the pizza and hurl it in his face - 2nd degree burns would slow him down (now I'm not sure but I didn't think adventure games were meant to cause people to have violent thoughts - FPS yes, adventure games, no)

Here's how I sneaked by him:

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Activate the pizza thingy. Run over and stand flush against the left side of the doorway into the room with the guard. Wait for the pizza to ding and for him to walk over to it (don't move to soon). Then just sneak into the next room using the CTRL key. Head over to the stairs on the right. When about halfway there, you can switch to walking (SHIFT). Once you reach the stairs you can go back to running. The guard will come upstairs a little later to use the bathroom, so don't linger around too long.

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Hi guys,

Please if you have any gameplay hints - please post it at Hints forum. It will help the other gamers there. This forum is for discussion only. Thanks.

Snatcher, I will copy your post to the Dreamfall thread at the Hints forum. Thanks.

I've stopped reading this thread carefully because of the spoilers (haven't played the game yet), but I do feel the need to respond to this:

Are the people griping about the differences between Dreamfall and TLJ even considering the fact that Ragnar Tornquist made the game he WANTED to make, in the way that he WANTED to make it? Do you really think that making a game that differed from the (brilliant, IMO) designer's vision would have made it a stronger game? I've been lucky enough to see Ragnar demo and talk about this game several times now, he strikes me as a really sensitive guy who cares deeply about the game he made, and about the audience he made it for. (Even if you've never met him, this comes across very strongly in his blog .) And he clearly cares very much how adventure gamers respond to his game, and tried really hard to make something that audience would enjoy. It's simply not true that Funcom has turned their backs on TLJ's core audience. In fact, I imagine Ragnar's lost a lot of sleep over this.

I see a lot of uninformed "they did this, they did that" comments being thrown around (not just here) from people who haven't even played the game and appear not to know that much about its development... which would be fine if these were just conversations over coffee in someone's living room. But word of mouth spreads like wildfire when it comes to a game's reputation -- ESPECIALLY an adventure game which has an uphill battle to begin with -- and this speculation about the "evils" of what the developers have done here could hurt the game. Badly.

I'm all for people expressing opinions based on what they themselves have experienced playing the game. It's the rampant speculation on the part of people who haven't played it that concerns me. Wouldn't it s**k if the game tanked under the weight of all this unfounded word-of-mouth criticism, and then you get around to playing it five years from now and find that you were wrong?

I completely support any designer making the game he or she really wants to make to fulfill his or her deepest creative impulse. However, IMHO no one is obligated to refrain from criticism because that's what a designer has done and no one is obligated to appreciate someone else's creative vision. I haven't myself seen "rampant speculation" from people who haven't played the game (not to say there isn't any, just that I haven't seen it.) What I've seen is a lot of people who are playing--or trying to play-- the game complaining about the controls, the combat, the sluggish response, etc. And the discussion of those elements is to the exclusion of anything else about the game. The most I've heard is, "oh yeah, the story's pretty good if you can deal with the rest."

The combat and stuff like that is supposed to be a relatively minor part of this game, but everything I've read gives me the impression that it totally eclipses anything else--that's what stands out in people's minds. That being the case, I'm positive that this is not a game I would enjoy, more's the pity.

'a course, I'd be happy to see a thread that said differently.

WW

Really? Did you read Adventure Gamers' review?

As I said, I don't mind if someone who's played it expresses an opinion on it. That's what forums are for! But I am seeing a lot of people complaining about the combat who haven't actually played the game. That's what bothers me.

I feel a need to put my thoughts here Fov! I appreciate what you are saying about the developer making the game that he wants to make -and I appreciate what you are saying about people that even haven't played the game complaining.

I am waiting for the game to arrive and I've read all the posts here - fore-armed is fore-warned! I would like to make up my own mind!

But it is clear that the game has disappointed a lot of people with the introduction of action elements etc! My personal feeling is that if the developer wanted to try a different approach he should have then gone ahead with a completely different game. I apologise for my cynicism! - but the developer is going to get a lot more sales of this game on the back of TLJ - than he otherwise may have got. I can't help feeling this is very unfair on people who bought the first game.

There are currently nine threads about Dreamfall in Glitches. These have been posted by people that are playing the game.

Rusty

I probably wouldn't have as much of a problem with the action sequences, if it weren't for the very bad control system. Its horrible. This game, I'll never recommend.

Hi fov,

WW, Chrissie, Oldman, Rusty and many others have said it better than I could & I totally agree with their replies.

Must make one more comment though. When I decide whether or not I would like a game enough to buy, I do not consider the opinion of AG's review (a player who also plays action games wo problems) with all due respect, as much as I do, those who like the same games as I do opinions. I don't have to spend the $40 to have an opinion as to whether or not it was a good idea to buy it. I can pre-judge based upon those comments by others and what I see in glitches and hints threads. If this hurts the designer or games sales, naturally, I am not happy because of the hurt, but am happy that it shows that this is not a popular design to continue.

He should have tried his vision on a new game and not disappointed fans who have been waiting years for the sequel only to find it is not the beloved game's sequel in gameplay and is unplayable for them.

Melanie

Hi Rusty! Fair comment! I haven't played the game yet. But I think the point I was trying to make is that if it hadn't been a sequel to a game that myself and many others loved - I would have thought twice about buying it based on the experiences of people who have played it. I, like most people, before buying a game - will usually go on a review/recommendation first - the opinions in the posts all contribute to this!

I'd like to stick my two cents in here. I do read the comments and reviews, especially this year. There are so many new games available, and I wasn't a fan of the original TLJ, that I can be rather careful about what I purchase. I don't know if I like Dreamfall, but I know I won't buy it.

Hi chrissie



You said it all...........Thats my views also.

Alot of us are stuck with a $40.00 game...Most can't play at ALL....And the ones that can are very Disappointed........


Darleen