Well, I sorta didn't start gaming that early, but I do remember DOS being on the PC. Most of the games I was playing were old by the time I got to them. I thought there were SO many adventure games! I could take my time and work through some confusing puzzles. The very first game I played NEW and got all the way through with no help at all was Mission Critical. That one stays on my mind a lot.

Hi all,

new to this board so I hope you don't mind me resurrecting an older thread
There are some games that I literally wanted to smash against the wall because they infuriated me so much. Some of them were good and I finished them eventually; some weren't worth the effort, and others were good but I never managed to finish them because of annoying features. Here goes:

- Gabriel Knight - Sins of the Fathers. Loved that game until I reached the underground African temple and had to deal with the mummies. No matter how often and how hard I tried, I never managed to get past the [blip] things. Needless to say, I've never completed this game which is a real shame because I love the GK series. It's just that I do poorly at timed/action/stealth sequences; needless to say, the final sequence in GK 3 - Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned gave me a hard time too but nothing like those mummies...

- GK - The Beast Within. The final "maze" in the cellar was awful. Took me a while but finally, I managed to pass through it. Then I had a hard time finishing off the wolf but I did it. Great game. Have to replay it sometime

- Loch Ness. Overall, I didn't like the game much; in fact, I thought it was pretty boring and I couldn't care less for the main character. The underwater maze was a nice idea but I had to try several times before I beat it. I hate mazes...

- Broken Sword - The Sleeping Dragon. I'm a huge fan of the series; Broken Sword - Circle of Blood was the very first adventure I ever played and I'm still in love with that game. Still, the third installment of the series was a disappointment - not a major disappointment because it did have a good story, good dialogues, and George and Nico were still cool characters I cared about. But the controls were awful, especially during the action sequences because the camera angle would just change and all of a sudden, you're not running away from the killer but towards her. What a brilliant idea...
And the stealth sequences simply drove me mad - especially the one beneath Montfaucon. I don't know how many times I've tried and how often I almost reached the other side just to be shot again. I tried and tried and tried... searched for a walkthrough on the web and, to my dismay, had to find out that I'd have to complete that sequence yet two more times. That absolutely did it for me. I finished the game by loading a savegame I had downloaded from the web because I just didn't feel like trying hundreds of times in order to complete that stupid sequence. It really spoiled the fun for me. Up to that sequence, I thought the game was ok; not great, but ok. Because of that part (and the crates) I cannot help but think of it as the weakest game in the series even though it does have its great moments. Oh, and another moment in the game that nearly made me toss it against the wall: the final fight *argh* This game could have been so much better...

Jehane, welcome aboard. I agree with a lot of what you said, especially with BS3. As for GK1 if you still have the game I do have a save after the mummy if you would like it. Use of saves in those old games are a bit different but can be done. surprise but GK1 is still available, though used. Amazon resellers have it ranging from $18-$80 Who would pay $80? Prices are better at half.com ranging from $6 to $20.

They are still out there of course you are dealing with people you don't know but having bought several games from those sources I always got what I ordered and in the condition advertised.

Jehane, it is really easy to get past the mummies in GK1 if you use the tips in the walkthroughs posted on gameboomers. It tells you exactly where to go and what vine to grab to make it to safety.

The first time I played it, it took me a long time to get past that scene but I recently replayed it and read the walkthrough for that part first and it was a piece of cake.

I disagree. Without pictures I couldn't tell where things were that they were talking about in the game -- not until after the mummies had got me. It took me several tries to get past them. I wouldn't say it was easy. And I think you may need a slowdown program unless you're using the updated GK1 installer.

There's a GK1 installer? I still have the game, of course - took me ages to find it, I won't give that one away, ever Not even for $ 80 or more. It's part of the GK Mysteries Box including The Beast Within; Sins of the Fathers comes on CD, German texts but English voices - they're kind of stuttering since my computer seems to be way too fast, even when using DosBox I'll give the game another go as soon as possible; I'll have to start from scratch, though, because my saves for the game are on my old computer which crashed (or rather, something in there went *bang* and then it started to smell like sth burning...). I got a walkthrough as well (came with the box) but it was no use at this point; maybe with screenshots, I can pass the bloody mummies...

The GK installer is here
http://vogons.zetafleet.com/gkpatches/

Jenny, good point about the GK installer. I did use that when I played it recently and it was easy to get through that part (probably because it was slowed down).

Now the maze in GK2 was a different story for me. I did make it through (after many tries) years ago when the game was new and I still don't know how I did it back then. I replayed it recently and I just couldn't do it. I resorted to seeing the ending again in a You Tube video!

Hi Jehane, sounds like you have the similar boxed version of both games that I have. I've had GK1 for years, was able to play it, just about! (in a small screen), but was unable to save games so had to put it on hold.

I came across this wonderful XP installer & was able to play the game for the 1st time over a year ago! (with the option of playing in small or full sized very pixellated screen!!) - the mummy part was difficult but possible & thought the game was one of the best!!

I tracked down the link to the installer - Jenny100 has already posted it! - it's well worth downloading & there is also one for GK2 on the same link.

I was able to play GK2 quite a few years ago on XP but had to play it in a small screen - with the installer I could opt to have the full screen & the game ran smoothly.

Wow, cool Thanks guys I already have the installer for GK2 and also used it; seems to work fine on my computer except that my screen is not entirely suited for this kind of game - flatscreens seem to mess up the graphics a little, at least I get strange horizontal streaks.
As for the GK1 installer: I believe I have installed the game on my computer but without using the installer. Do I just delete the game and re-install it, using the installer?

@misa: The maze in GK2 is awful. I got through it like this: I made a screenshot, numbered all the rooms, started out in number 9 (I think - it's been a while), closed the doors after checking on the map that I had picked the right doors, i.e. those closing off the rear rooms with the exit. Saved after the first section, then went forward. I still got the notes for this part of the game; in fact, I wrote a whole walkthrough because I know I'll have forgotten how to do it next time I play the game

Edit: Just tried to run the installer. It's not working properly, telling me that it can't find certain .avi-files on the GK disc. I skipped that part and completed installing the game, but it won't start up. Guess it's DosBox after all for me..

Yet another edit: Turned out the installer and fiddling with DosBox aren't working but by pure chance I found a patch that solved all GK1-related problems for me. Now it's working and I'm happy as a lark