Are Still Life 1 + 2 (Microids) on Steam stripped down?
#1229258
09/29/20 03:37 AM
09/29/20 03:37 AM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 288
mike_bn
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Hi all,
a long time ago, I asked for a good myst clone and got really good advice from several Boomers. In particular, one of you was very knowledgeable and mentioned that some games from some companies (Microids,...) offer stripped down versions on Steam. Being sort of a perfectionist, I would like to play the full versions of all games. I can't find any information about the versions from Still Life 1+2 (Mircroids) that are on sale (1,49! for the bundle) on Steam. So I am wondering: does anybody know whether these are the full versions or not?
Thanks in advance, Mike
Last edited by mike_bn; 09/29/20 03:51 AM.
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Re: Are Still Life 1 + 2 (Microids) on Steam stripped down?
[Re: mike_bn]
#1229341
09/29/20 07:01 PM
09/29/20 07:01 PM
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Joined: Jan 2004
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BrownEyedTigre
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Mike, it was Jenny100 that said the games aren't complete in this thread here.Although, both Marian amd Jenny100 are rockstars in the help they provide! We'd be lost without them! Ana 
Don't feed the Trolls
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Re: Are Still Life 1 + 2 (Microids) on Steam stripped down?
[Re: mike_bn]
#1229378
09/30/20 07:54 AM
09/30/20 07:54 AM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 288
mike_bn
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Thanks for the link to the old thread, Ana. I read it again and have questions to Jenny. As I don't come here on a regular basis - is she still active? So, Jenny, in case you are reading this, at some point you wrote: All 1st person games from Kheops, Cryo, and Microids published by GOG and elsewhere are stripped down mobile ports. I have played (or started playing) nearly all Mac OS X versions of 1st person games from Kheops, Cryo, and Microids offered at GOG, and without exception they have been the eviscerated mobile ports. That includes Amerzone, the Egypt games, etc.' Is it possible that the statement in the first sentence of this quote ONLY refers to the MacOS versions of the games from these companies? This is the only way I can see this not contradicting other statements you made, eg. like he Windows versions of the Beyond Atlantis games on GOG are the full versions These games are from Cryo, so this would be a contradiction. I have more questions but I don't want to bother you with too many questions at the same time :-) Update: Maybe one more question here  What exactly is the meaning of 'mobile port'. I know what port means here and in general I know the meaning of the word 'mobile', but I still cannot figure out what exactly a 'mobile port' is.
Last edited by mike_bn; 09/30/20 07:56 AM.
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Re: Are Still Life 1 + 2 (Microids) on Steam stripped down?
[Re: mike_bn]
#1229396
09/30/20 10:22 AM
09/30/20 10:22 AM
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Joined: Oct 2009
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mike_bn
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Marian, thanks, but i am still not sure i get it. You mean 'mobile' like 'cell phone', so a game available in apple store, google store? I am not sure why this would make sense in this context, because to me, Jenny is comparing the orginal CD/floppy version with versions available on GoG/Steam. I am not sure why it should be relevant in this discussion whether the game has a (probably stripped down) version on AppleStore/Google Store for cell phones. Or is it meant in the way that the mentioned companies (Microid, Cryo...) created stripped down versions for ios/android (=applestore, google play store) and then used these versions on GoG/Steam? Sorry, I am still confused...
Last edited by mike_bn; 09/30/20 10:24 AM.
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Re: Are Still Life 1 + 2 (Microids) on Steam stripped down?
[Re: mike_bn]
#1229668
10/03/20 08:28 AM
10/03/20 08:28 AM
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Joined: Jan 2004
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BrownEyedTigre
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mike_bn, mobile means cell phone and pads that people can easily transport and play on the fly. I can't speak for Jenny and she hasn't been here due to personal reasons. She will be back when she can.
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Re: Are Still Life 1 + 2 (Microids) on Steam stripped down?
[Re: mike_bn]
#1229724
10/03/20 04:21 PM
10/03/20 04:21 PM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 51,336 near Yosemite
Marian
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I found an old post by Jenny from 2015 in a thread about Cryo games, and I am going to repeat it here because it contains useful information about stripped-down versions of games: The Anuman ports I've tried are stripped down garbage compared to the originals. The Mac ports seem to be the same as the iPad/iPod ports in the games I've tried. Hotspots are removed. Puzzles are removed. They increased the resolution of the graphics, but so many of the nodes are removed (nodes being the places where you can stand and pan around). And they didn't just do that with Cryo games. They also did it to Microids games like Amerzone. In the original Amerzone, there's a door on the upper floor of the lighthouse. You can open the door and walk around a sort of balcony outside the upper floor of the lighthouse. In the port, the door can't be opened. There are also objects in the lighthouse that you could interact with in the original. They are only pictures of objects in the remake -- non-interactive. When you go downstairs and through the tunnel in the floor of the lighthouse, there are places you could walk in the original that are missing in the port. They simplified the computer in the basement to the point that you "solve" any puzzle connected to it just by clicking on it at random. I didn't get further than that. I was too disgusted by what they did to the game.
With Atlantis II, they removed the Mayan number puzzle. This makes the clues given by the guards confusing and meaningless. You can pick up the little stick or stone, but you just plonk it on the wall any old way -- even though it's the wrong answer to the puzzle. Anuman also removed the rainbow bridge puzzle and some inventory puzzles. The only thing they left intact was that annoying jungle maze, where you can get turned around just as badly as in the original. I didn't play any more of the game after that.
With Road to India, it seemed there was practically nothing left. No real puzzles left. You just stumble around looking at things until you're done.
It's been that way with every Anuman port I've tried for Mac or iPad/iPod versions of games by Cryo, Microids, and Kheops. I do not recommend the ports at all.
The last time I downloaded the PC version of Beyond Atlantis from GOG, it was the old version with old graphics and all the puzzles, nodes, and hotspots intact. However the Mac version that GOG had was the Anuman version. Hopefully GOG will keep the old PC version available and won't replace it with the eviscerated Anuman version. Anyway, so far the PC versions of games from GOG were the original versions last time I downloaded them. But not the Mac Versions.
I bought several Cryo and Kheops games for iPad/iPod when I saw them offered. Unfortunately I threw my money away because they'd all been gutted by Anuman. I can't stand playing them in that state.
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Re: Are Still Life 1 + 2 (Microids) on Steam stripped down?
[Re: mike_bn]
#1229758
10/04/20 06:42 AM
10/04/20 06:42 AM
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mike_bn
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Thanks for re-posting the old post, marian! Our goal is to identify all games on our 'to-play-list' where stripped down versions do exisit, so that we don't accidentially play one of those stripped down versions. So every post like the one you re-posted helps!
Last edited by mike_bn; 10/04/20 06:42 AM.
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Re: Are Still Life 1 + 2 (Microids) on Steam stripped down?
[Re: mike_bn]
#1230000
10/06/20 04:07 PM
10/06/20 04:07 PM
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Jenny100
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It is the 1st person games like Road to India, Return to Mysterious Island, and Atlantis 2 and 3 that get stripped down with puzzles and locations removed, not the 3rd person games like Syberia and Still Life.
When I played the Windows version of Atlantis 2 from GOG, it was not stripped. The Mac version, however, was stripped -- the bowdlerized port of the tablet version.
Last edited by Jenny100; 10/06/20 04:10 PM. Reason: added info
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