News from Frogwares (Sherlock Holmes and others)
#379802
08/23/08 12:48 PM
08/23/08 12:48 PM
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 613
PolloDiablo
OP
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OP
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At the booth of Focus Home Entertainment I met Wael Amr, CEO of Frogwares and he showed me the games currently in development.
1) Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Mummy is being remade for the Nintendo DS. It's a first person detective mystery in which you will get to discover hidden places inside a mansion. This was Frogwares' first PC-game and it has been completely remade for the Nintendo DS. The controls are very intuitive, by moving the stylus across the screen you turn around and whenever a hotspot appears you can click on it to have a closer look or go through a door. Solving puzzles is also a matter of simply clicking on the touchscreen of the DS.
A very nice feature is the addition of a note-block. Because the Nintendo DS is a portable console, many people will be playing this game while travelling or commuting and will not be carrying pen and paper to write down notes. You can instead just open the scribbling pad in the game and write a memo to yourself or draw a diagram.
According to Wael the game will be easy to moderate in difficulty and will last about eight hours. It is expected to be published in Q4 or Q1.
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2) Sherlock Holmes 3 Deluxe Great news for those players who loved to play Sherlock Holmes games but got motion sickness from the first person perspective and those who would have loved to see more of Sherlock Holmes himself. Sherlock Holmes 3 (The Awakened) is being completely remade with a choice of first person or third person perspective. You can switch between the two perspectives whenever you want. If you like to play the whole game from third person perspective, you can. You can also still play from first person perspective with the cut scenes in third person perspective. The graphics have also been enhanced and look even nicer than they already did. Wael showed me the pub in the harbour and a couple of other locations and I was very impressed with how smooth everything looks.
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3) We then talked about casual games for a while. Frogwares is working on a puzzle/adventure mix based on the Mata Hari story. She was a spy who tried to seduce high-ranked military people in order to get secrets and war-related plans. The game will have two difficulty settings and a number of different kinds of puzzles. There is for example a variation of the hidden objects games, but instead of finding random unrelated objects you need to find items that are relevant to the story and which you can use to solve puzzles. For instance to use a type writer, you first need to find an ink ribbon. And to solve a wire-connecting puzzle, you first need to find some wires or a plug. The first few puzzles will be very easy but this will progress to more difficult ones. Estimated length of the game is ten to twelve hours. It will be possible to skip certain puzzles if you don't like them.
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4) Sherlock Holmes 5 - Sherlock Holmes versus Jack The Ripper This will be the darkest Sherlock Holmes game so far. Although it will not be gory or gross, it will have a very dark atmosphere. It is based on the murders that really happened in the Whitechapel area of London in 1888.
As you may know, the true identity of Jack the Ripper was never found and the murder cases remain unsolved even today. Still, Frogwares have studied lots of historical information on the actual murders and have kept close to the known facts, such as the names and circumstances of the victims that have been documented. The player will, for instance, get to investigate the crime scene where Polly Nichols was found, and will learn what it may mean if a victim has been stabbed but no blood is found on the walls. Socalled "Ripperologists" have studied the cases for many years and although a number of suspects have been named, there was no conclusive evidence for any of them. Since police were patrolling the whole area on a very frequent basis, the murderer must have been very cold blooded and must have planned his attacks very well, because he was able to escape without being noticed every time. Sherlock Holmes will get to know a couple of people who fit this description...
As with Sherlock Holmes 3 Deluxe, the whole game will be playable from either first or third person perspective depending entirely on the players preference. To make the game as realistic as possible, a lot of random people will be walking (or staggering) around on the streets. I've seen the game in its early stages and although Wael said it was far from being finished I was already impressed by the number of different people and how convincingly drunk and/or miserable they looked.
In the game, you will get to form a theory about the true identity of the murder. It is not an occult or paranormal game, but it will be controversial.
I'll be back, one day, when I feel like it.
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Re: News from Frogwares (Sherlock Holmes and others)
[Re: Becky]
#379809
08/23/08 01:20 PM
08/23/08 01:20 PM
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 15,022 Northeast NJ
Darleen03
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Thanks PolloDiablo That is Great News On the Motion sickness I will finally be able to play at last
Luv Dar
GameBoomers "Games Are More Enticing Because Of Our "MaG"nificent Efficient Radiant Site"
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Re: News from Frogwares (Sherlock Holmes and others)
[Re: PolloDiablo]
#379822
08/23/08 01:46 PM
08/23/08 01:46 PM
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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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4) Sherlock Holmes 5 - Sherlock Holmes versus Jack The Ripper This will be the darkest Sherlock Holmes game so far. Although it will not be gory or gross, it will have a very dark atmosphere.
I'm glad to hear it won't be gross. Since police were patrolling the whole area on a very frequent basis, the murderer must have been very cold blooded and must have planned his attacks very well, because he was able to escape without being noticed every time. It sounds like they're pitting Sherlock against another highly intelligent individual who wants to match wits with him -- only Lupin was a lighthearted adversary, and Jack is a dark one.
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Re: News from Frogwares (Sherlock Holmes and others)
[Re: Jenny100]
#379839
08/23/08 02:15 PM
08/23/08 02:15 PM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 23,997 UK
Rushes
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Thanks, Pollo! Great news on SH 3 Deluxe. So many folk are waiting for this version to be released. I'm really looking forward to SH vs. Jack the Ripper.
"Bleat, Watson -- unmitigated bleat!" ~ Sherlock Holmes
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Re: News from Frogwares (Sherlock Holmes and others)
[Re: Rushes]
#380039
08/23/08 09:37 PM
08/23/08 09:37 PM
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 4,940 Lincoln, NE
GuybrushThreepwood
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I prefer 3rd person but don't mind 1st person as long as there are other characters to talk to. I have the original Awakened and probably won't bother with the remake, but 5 sounds good.
Currently Playing: Adventure Game: Broken Age Darkside: Star Wars: The Old Republic
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Re: News from Frogwares (Sherlock Holmes and others)
[Re: GuybrushThreepwood]
#380076
08/23/08 10:50 PM
08/23/08 10:50 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 34,381 United Kingdom
Mad
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Sonic Boomer
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Hi PolloDiablo Thanks for all that !! Cheers. Mad
Time : The Most Precious Commodity
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Re: News from Frogwares (Sherlock Holmes and others)
[Re: Mad]
#380108
08/24/08 03:19 AM
08/24/08 03:19 AM
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 25,143 Marlborough USA
Kaki's Sister
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Thanks for sharing the good news Pollo. I look forward to these games.
Gerry
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Re: News from Frogwares (Sherlock Holmes and others)
[Re: Kaki's Sister]
#380111
08/24/08 03:55 AM
08/24/08 03:55 AM
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,310 Larnaca, Cyprus
Butcher
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Thanks for the great news!!! Does anyone know if there will be a similar patch/version for Nemesis/Arsene Lupin?
"Cannot The Kingdom Of Salvation Take Me Home?"
R.I.P Cliff Burton
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Re: News from Frogwares (Sherlock Holmes and others)
[Re: dragonuk44]
#380116
08/24/08 04:12 AM
08/24/08 04:12 AM
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,310 Larnaca, Cyprus
Butcher
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Thanks again!! BTW does anyone else have a problem with Interact? I try to search for games but i get this error:
"Software error: Can't call method "prepare" on unblessed reference at Symphero/MultiValueDB.pm line 114.
For help, please send mail to the webmaster (despain.brian@gmail.com), giving this error message and the time and date of the error. "
"Cannot The Kingdom Of Salvation Take Me Home?"
R.I.P Cliff Burton
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Re: News from Frogwares (Sherlock Holmes and others)
[Re: GBC]
#380134
08/24/08 06:16 AM
08/24/08 06:16 AM
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 617
Moondancer
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Frogwares have been improving by leaps and bounds, imo. I can almost not believe that the same devs who brought us the fabulous Dracula Origin, SH Nemesis and The Awakened, is actually the same team that did such a mediocre game as Mystery of the Mummy. One of the devs chatted to us about SH Jack The Ripper, on another website a while ago already, so I've been looking forward to that one for some time now. Mata Hari sounds as if it might lean a bit heavily towards the puzzle side, but just judging by Frogware's most recent work, I'll definitely try it out as well. In any case, I'm glad that they've kept in mind that some of us actually prefer first person p.o.view, and that I'll be able to do Jack the Ripper in first person, as first person is simply so much more immersive than 3rd person. (Never had a moment's motion sickness - ever)
`Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice
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Re: News from Frogwares (Sherlock Holmes and others)
[Re: Moondancer]
#380162
08/24/08 08:22 AM
08/24/08 08:22 AM
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 4,940 Lincoln, NE
GuybrushThreepwood
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I don't agree about 1st person being more immersive. BTW spell checker doesn't recognize that as a word.
Currently Playing: Adventure Game: Broken Age Darkside: Star Wars: The Old Republic
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Re: News from Frogwares (Sherlock Holmes and others)
[Re: Becky]
#380200
08/24/08 09:47 AM
08/24/08 09:47 AM
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 4,940 Lincoln, NE
GuybrushThreepwood
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The Firefox spell checker.
Currently Playing: Adventure Game: Broken Age Darkside: Star Wars: The Old Republic
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Re: News from Frogwares (Sherlock Holmes and others)
[Re: GuybrushThreepwood]
#380387
08/24/08 04:49 PM
08/24/08 04:49 PM
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 617
Moondancer
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I don't agree about 1st person being more immersive. BTW spell checker doesn't recognize that as a word. Well, Guybrush, in first person, it feels as if it is "you" doing all the actions, because you don't see yourself - you are looking at the world as if through your own eyes. When it is in third person, you are looking at your character, and then it is rather hard to imagine that you are that character, isn't it? In third person, it is more as if you are just telling the character what to do, and not as if you are doing it yourself, like it feels in first person.
`Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice
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Re: News from Frogwares (Sherlock Holmes and others)
[Re: Moondancer]
#380396
08/24/08 05:08 PM
08/24/08 05:08 PM
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 1,372 PA, USA
misa
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Mata Hari sounds as if it might lean a bit heavily towards the puzzle side, but just judging by Frogware's most recent work, I'll definitely try it out as well. Mata Hari (by Frogwares) is definitely a casual game in the same vein as Sherlock Holmes: Mystery of the Persian Carpet (you can try the game for 60 mins). You might like it though as lots of folks are not only going from casual -> adventure but also adventure -> casual like many of us who frequent the casual game subforum.
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