playing a great old game-Beast Within

After seeing this game on the top of many "best liked" lists I bought Gabriel kight-Beast Within way back in 2002- when I was still BAAGing like crazy,- then got a new XP machine and thought it wouldn't play, it's too old-made in 1995.

Lo and behold I happened to read somewhere that BW plays on XP, so I checked Inferno's XP corner and sure enough it's on the list, so I loaded it(you can only play 1 disk at a time) and it plays perfectly, altho in a small window, The graphics are long outdated, but not too bad and the music is great-very fitting to the story and not repetitious.

Am on chapter 2 and am really loving the characters and the story-Gabriel with his southern accent and feisty Grace with the attitude-she could give April Ryan a run for her money. So far the exploration and the inventory makes sense as well as interesting background info-all the ingredients are there for a top notch game.

Why is it that now with the fantastic looking graphics in games are the characters and stories not as good as some of the oldies?
Just an opinionated observation.Anyone else noticed this?

Heart went into making classic old games, compared to the commercialization of modern games where most games are dumbed down for the masses. Whereas the older generation games were usually catered to a certain group which made the games popular for those that like them but were not usually sold well as not everyone got into em.

BigMamma,
I agree with your opinion of Beast Within. It is a great game! I still hold many of the "old" games as my favorites, along with The Longest Journey, Siberias, etc. It takes a lot of time and effort to produce those quality games, and the sales don't support them, I guess.
Have fun with "Beast"; I envy you playing it for the first time!

I envy anyone getting to play this game for the first time!

I've always thought of Jane Jensen as a storyteller first and a game designer second (although the puzzles in the Gabriel Knight games are very good). The relationship between Gabriel and Grace is very interesting to watch in terms of its progression throughout the three games and it gives the games an added richness and depth.

I remember when I finished The Beast Within I felt like I had lived a lifetime and had also learned a lot (you will see what I mean in the latter chapters of the game).

With more and more eye candy in games as the years have gone by, I think it is a bit easier to focus on that rather than the story. It's a little bit like movies that way; if you go back to the black-and-white classics, the appeal of the movie had to revolve solely around dialogue and character interaction rather than special effects. I think it's still possible to combine the two and come up with a very good game, but I also believe sometimes there is an element now of more flash and less substance.

I have high hopes for Gray Matter next year.

Oh, and Bigmamma, please see your PM.

Hi,
Just finished GK2,again. With the help of glitches got a great link so it would play on XP. It installed to computer no disk changing. It's great it's a good keeper. I have all 3 GK Games and still haven't played GK3 yet. I have had it for some time and wanted to play the first two before I played Gk 3. Gk 1 with the voice of Jim Cary, great fun. Gk2 with Dean Erickson terrific. Maybe the graphics aren't as good but the stories are better. I have the first two in books and the games play close to the books.
Hoping to get more of the older games to play.
Looking forward to a great new year of games, new and old.
Charllotte

Charllotte, GK2 is one of my most favorite games, and after playing it and the first one I did some searching around and managed to get copies of the books too. They seemed to follow the games exactly, I'm not sure which came first--Jane Jansen may have written the books after the games were developed.

I didn't like the third game quite as much as the first two but that was mostly problems in getting around, not the story. I was looking forward to getting the book for #3 also, but apparently there was never one written for that game...

Hi, Jenny.
Glad you're back posting and feeling better. We can only dream of another Gk. I found a Jane Jenson,Dante's Equation. I haven't read it yet but I bought, hoping for another GK type. You're right no book for GK3.

Let me know how the book turns out, will you please? I can't understand why there wasn't a third book, except that the first two must not have sold well...

The best adv. game. Its not like a game , atmosphere is so realistic that sometimes you think you live in the game.

GK3 has a good story as well but the 3d graphics and lack of controls...

Hi sweden and welcome to GameBoomers!

GK2 is Windows 95 game so you can for sure play it under XP but remember to select Windows 95 compatibility for exe file. There is also 1.1 patch that solves many script problems.

Did you guys know there is a replacement installer that not only allows you to play GK1&2 on XP but you can also convert your GK2 disk to a single DVD and install from that? Makes a nice backup possibility.

GK 1 & 2

You gotta look for that dvd installer but it is on that page.

This is one of my favorite games. I had a huge crush on Gabe!

FYI, if you set your computer's screen resolution to 640x480 before launching the game, it'll take up most of the screen instead of that small window. To do this:

Right-click desktop and select Properties
Go to Settings tab
Click Advanced
Go to Adapter tab
Click List All Modes
Select 640x480 from the list (you probably also want 256 colors for this game)

Thanks for those tips, Fov and OldMariner...

Hi bigmamma1

This is one of my favourite game & I also first played it in a small window. If you get the link mentioned earlier you can play it in full screen! I have to agree that the story & characters are wonderful & glad that you are enjoying it! I also have to agree that some newer games with lesser stories engage you with better graphics! But, if you want story you just have to go for Gabriel Knight 1 next - the graphics & interface are very dated but the tale is compelling I recommend old mariner's link a couple of posts above for ease of playing!

Alas-I'm having problems with this game-the infamous 999.pal error-have tried the installer which installed all 6 CDs but I still get the error message.(have already posted on Glitches)
I tried compatibility mode with this one-got a message saying "cannot be set...not a program executable file" I was so hoping I could finish it but am ready to throw in the towel-BooHoo!

Up date! with the help of some kind folks at Glitches, I have solved the problem(I hope) and have gotten back to Ch 2, at least.Will keep ypu posted.

This game i really enjoyed...have the first one but not played it yet....did get the 3rd in the series and never finished it...it was sooooo tedious... You are right...no matter what the graphics....a game has still got to have a great story!!! and Atmosphere! Seems like nowdays in movies atmosphere just means gobs of blood or big explosions...pfuii. I have watched some old black and white movies that are really creepy..and shivery...not a speck of blood and nothing blown up. So...it still takes great storytelling and writing.!!

Happy to say I finally got the game working again!Unbelievable how simple the solution was-just some fiddely things I didn't do.
BTW, I tried changing the resolution and all the printing on the desktop got huge and then I couldn't change it back again, so had to do a system restore. I really don't mind the small screen.

The GK series are some of my favorites of all time. Oh yeah, The Beast Within will show you what I mean about great FMV. That and Tex, and Zork Grand Inquisitor. I still have the hardware to play the DVD versions that were released, like a Holywood+ MPEG decoder card. They were way ahead of their time.

Albert

I love the Beast Within also. Have fun with it. I played it on XP not too long ago with my resolution set at 640x480 with very few glitches. I love those older fmv games!

I loved that game as well. GK 1-3 is one of my favourite series. I recently just dug out GK1 to replay so GK2 is next on my list!

Hi

I, too, love the Gabriel Knight games.
One of the best adventure series ever made, certainly for me, anyway

GK1 (Sins of the Fathers) is my absolute favourite, GK2 The Beast Within is my second favourite and GK3 Blood of the Sacred my third.

It's SO sad that we won't see Gabriel again

Cheers.

Mad :HNY:

Helllo everyone-
Thanks for all your comments.I'm still enjoying this game, now in ch. 3-the dialogue and characters are just great. I hope the story goes to King ludwigs castle(I actually did go there once upon a time, as well as to Munich)
OK, back to the game :newyear:

I wouldn't take that for granted. Jane (the creator) reminds almost in every interview of hers how much she would like to publish her fourth GK. She already has two completely different scripts for a GK4 "laying in her drawer" (as she said). The only issue, and a big issue it is, has to do with the rights and boring stuff we adventure-gamers would rather not dwell on .
Right now Jane is focused on her upcoming game - Gray Matter. (for those of you who haven't checked it out yet: http://www.graymatter-game.com/ is the official site, and http://cort-x.fwheel.net/ is a really nice fan site, with lots of info)
If all goes well, Jane plans to make Gray Matter a series, much like GK... but she never showed any signs for giving up GK4, and believe me, she knows how much fans want it.
However, Gray Matter looks so tempting, much like Gabriel Knight.
I really hope it sells...

FYI: The September 2007 issue of Adventure Lantern (free download) has my article on running Gabriel Knight 1 & 2 under Windows XP. And since I'm in 'promotion mode' , check out the latest issue (just released) for the article on running The 7th Guest under WinXP:

http://www.adventurelantern.com/Magazine/Index.htm

Hi Tomer

I admire your optimism re GK but can't say I share it .... sadly

Cheers.

Mad

Hi All,
We can only hope for GK4, although I really wanted to like BS4 as well as I did the first three, somehow it didn't quite make it. So maybe we should just think and dream about the next one and not be disappointed, although if Jane Jensen writes it, and not some ome else it should be good. Jenny just getting into Dante's Equation. It looks to be interesting, myth, legend, and fact a thriller, no doubt.
Charllotte

I guess only time will tell.

I just went on a tour of Neuchwanstein- just as i remember it from the actual tour-I also remember sneaking a couple of photos.

I would love to see a GK#4 too, but am keeping an eye on Grey Matter-looks like that is for real. Jane Jensen is one of the all time greats in the game world, IMO.

Cheers