Dear Esther
#860947
01/07/13 10:19 PM
01/07/13 10:19 PM
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Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 3,669 New York
Mary
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Is Steam the only place to get Dear Esther? It's my kind of first person, beautiful, look all over kind of "game", but with nothing else to do but look around, I'm a bit hesitant at getting it.
The answer is....chocolate! Who cares what the question is.....
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Re: Dear Esther
[Re: Mary]
#861002
01/08/13 09:05 AM
01/08/13 09:05 AM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644 southeast USA
Jenny100
GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
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GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
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Joined: Oct 2000
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southeast USA
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Is this a keyboard controlled game? Here's a description of the controls from ***the Steampowered forum***1. you have the standard, W,S,A,D for forward backward, left right movements.
2. you have Q which is for swimming. You can enter the ocean, almost anywhere along the Island shoreline. The water can be shallow, or deep and dangerous, with many unknowns.
Q is there to save your life.
Used along with W, Q gets you out of danger, drowning or worse.
3. you have Zoom control, which helps a lot, its like using binoculars. The Zoom control really aids you while searching around the Island; while inside buildings to see objects up close, to inspect clues drawn on walls etc.
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Re: Dear Esther
[Re: Mary]
#861017
01/08/13 10:34 AM
01/08/13 10:34 AM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 23,997 UK
Rushes
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True Blue Boomer
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Posts: 23,997
UK
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I found Dear Esther to be a gorgeous experience. The gameplay is from walking around the island and down inside the stunning caves, listening to the random narration and working out and piecing together Esther's (and the narrator's) story. If that doesn't sound like your cup of tea, best avoid. But I loved it!
"Bleat, Watson -- unmitigated bleat!" ~ Sherlock Holmes
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Re: Dear Esther
[Re: Mary]
#861031
01/08/13 11:13 AM
01/08/13 11:13 AM
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Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 3,669 New York
Mary
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Jenny, After your post I'm not sure I want to get this game after all: I have to get out of danger, keep myself from drowning, or WORSE? This is NOT the quiet, calm, enjoying the landscape "game" that I thought it was!
The answer is....chocolate! Who cares what the question is.....
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Re: Dear Esther
[Re: Mary]
#861038
01/08/13 11:45 AM
01/08/13 11:45 AM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 23,997 UK
Rushes
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True Blue Boomer
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Mary, don't worry, there's no worse! There's the possibility of drowning only if you wade too far out into the water, and even then you're placed straight back on land after the blackscreen. Nothing else bad can happen, unless you deliberately jump off a cliff or into a chasm! The original poster at the Steam forum was exaggerating madly there.
"Bleat, Watson -- unmitigated bleat!" ~ Sherlock Holmes
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Re: Dear Esther
[Re: Mary]
#861043
01/08/13 11:49 AM
01/08/13 11:49 AM
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Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 3,669 New York
Mary
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PHEW! Thanks for the info, Rushes; I may still get the game.
I've never had any experience with Green Man Gaming. Their price is better than Steam, though.
The answer is....chocolate! Who cares what the question is.....
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Re: Dear Esther
[Re: Mary]
#861330
01/09/13 09:57 PM
01/09/13 09:57 PM
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Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 3,669 New York
Mary
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Thanks, oldbroad. I'm still trying to decide if the keyboard controls will work for me: I ran poor Grim Fandango into so many walls with my keyboard control of him, that I was feeling sorry for him!
The answer is....chocolate! Who cares what the question is.....
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Re: Dear Esther
[Re: Mary]
#861346
01/09/13 11:07 PM
01/09/13 11:07 PM
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 11,834 Québec
Chief
Adept Boomer
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Québec
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Mary, go for it. It's a very large outdoor (and caves) place to visit. As Rushes said, the W key for forward movement and the mouse to pan right and left. I don't even remember using the A S D keys. Have fun. Chief
Chief
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Re: Dear Esther
[Re: Mary]
#861512
01/10/13 04:35 PM
01/10/13 04:35 PM
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 83,347 In the Naughty Corner
BrownEyedTigre
The Sassy Admin and PR Liaison
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The Sassy Admin and PR Liaison
Sonic Boomer
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 83,347
In the Naughty Corner
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MaG referred to the page to get the very first DRM free Dear Esther that says Steam Free version. I do not believe she was endorsing the other links on the page. Ana
Don't feed the Trolls
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Re: Dear Esther
[Re: Mary]
#861629
01/11/13 10:08 AM
01/11/13 10:08 AM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 790 Virginia Beach, VA
Uncle Reg
Settled Boomer
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Virginia Beach, VA
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Well, I decided to take a chance based on Chief's and Rushes' comments on using the W key and pan with mouse movement; as well as the Steam-free version pointed out by MaG. I'm glad I took the plunge, I'm enjoying this.
Are there any player interactions with the environment that require using the mouse button? If not, I have found that, in addition to being able to program the movement keys to use different keys, you can also program the left mouse button to replace the W key for forward novement. This provides movement that is exactly like the original 1st person view in the Sherlock Holmes games (Arsene Lupin, The Awakening, etc.), where you held down the left mouse button to move, and steered by moving the mouse from side to side.
During the course of my exploring, I was following a narrow path between two high rock walls, when all of a sudden, a loading screen appeared. It looked almost like I had fallen, this narrow path being covered with plants, and no actual visibility with the ground. Continuing on from this point I came upon a big wrecked ship, and later on moving up the hill I discovered a house with a smaller building adjacent to it. If I remember correctly, this place where I fell(?) occurred shortly after I had passed a group of large standing stones arranged almost in a circular pattern, and there was a book lying on the ground among the stones. After passing the wrecked ship, I tried to retrace my steps to see if I could find this area again, but I was unsuccessful. Does any of this sound familiar to those that have played the game? Was that loading screen supposed to indicate something like a fall?
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Re: Dear Esther
[Re: Mary]
#861640
01/11/13 11:28 AM
01/11/13 11:28 AM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 23,997 UK
Rushes
True Blue Boomer
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True Blue Boomer
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Posts: 23,997
UK
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By holding down the left mouse button you can achieve a short zoom-view of what's ahead of you. I guess that could be reprogrammed to a different key if you want that feature. The loading screen that you saw was the transition from one chapter to the next (there are four chapters in the game). Once you move into a new chapter then it isn't possible to return to a previous area -- unless you go back to main menu and reload the last chapter to play from the start of it. Glad you're enjoying it so far, Uncle Reg!
"Bleat, Watson -- unmitigated bleat!" ~ Sherlock Holmes
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Re: Dear Esther
[Re: Rushes]
#861667
01/11/13 02:28 PM
01/11/13 02:28 PM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 790 Virginia Beach, VA
Uncle Reg
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Rushes,
Mine came with the right mouse button programmed for the Zoom mode. That's what caused me think that I might be able to program the left mouse button also. I tried it, and it worked. Left mouse button moves forward, and right mouse button zooms the view.
Now that I look closely at the small screenshots of the four chapters on the main menu, the one for the 2nd chapter does look like that wrecked ship that I described. Since my last post, I have explored further, and hit another loading screen. This one was definitely a fall into the underground cave, and it looks like the picture that's shown for the third chapter. However, when I restart the game, the only chapter that I can start is the first one. I can load the saved game and jump to where I saved, which is now at the start of the underground cave, but I am not able to select the second or the third chapter to start from the main menu, even though it appears that I have advanced that far in the game. Is this a bug? Is that the way it worked for you?
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Re: Dear Esther
[Re: Mary]
#861707
01/11/13 05:44 PM
01/11/13 05:44 PM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 23,997 UK
Rushes
True Blue Boomer
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True Blue Boomer
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 23,997
UK
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If you select New Game from main menu, that should take you into a screen with four screenshots, one for each chapter. Supposing that you've reached the third chapter, you should be able to load and play the first three from their starting point by clicking on the respective screenshot. I've never used the mid-chapter save feature, simply because I tend to play the game straight through in one sitting rather than in chunks.
"Bleat, Watson -- unmitigated bleat!" ~ Sherlock Holmes
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