a Few Questions about Gabriel Knight 2

I just finished it, and Love it of Course,
Now I am playing 3, and wonder why they didnt
keep the same format, I really loved the movie
format,even changing the CD's didnt bother me,
it seem to add to the suspense,
I will put this GAME at the top of my favorites
I am so grateful for the Annual list, giving me
the opportunity to see oldies but Goodies,
and because of the format, to me it didnt seem
14 years old, I really liked playing as real people
why didnt they do number 3 that way,
does it cost alot more money?
Maybe others didnt like it that much, but it really
seemed to add to the realness for me, and I really liked
all the people in it, I thought Gabriel was great, not the
best actor, but he seemed to be real people, and loved
GRACE, now I am on to GK 3 and wish I would of played it
first, its a downer, the voice of Gabriel and the graphics...
anyway, that makes me wonder, what other games out there
use this kind of format also,
is there any word from the Creator of GK, for more games,
has she created other Series,
I would recommend them to anyone who hasnt played them,
ESPECIALLY GK 2, what a TREAT, I was so into it, and I am not
into the subject matter that much, it was just such a well written story
anyway, wish there was more of the movie types... like that...
Marcia

Sorry, you didn't like #3, Marcia. I've heard that quite a bit. Glad you got to enjoy the first two though.

Ana

Hi Ana, not that I dont like It, just not as well, as the
movie format, but... I am still going to play cause she is such
a great writer hoping the story will be worth it...

also meant to ask, is the first one like the second, I mean as far as the movie type format?
Thanks ANA!!

Marcia

No the first is like this
http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/gabriel-knight-sins-of-the-fathers/screenshots

Some other games that use live actors are

Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon
Tex Murphy: Pandora Directive
Tex Murphy: Overseer
Black Dahlia
Ripper
Phantasmagoria
Zelenhgorm
Myst I
Riven
Myst III: Exile
Myst IV: Revelation

Hi everyone

I'm feeling a little bit out of the loop! I have never played any Gabriel Night Games! Where can I get them and will they play on windows XP?

Thanks for any help.

Lori

Amazon.com still sells all three at a pretty reasonable price. and for the first two there is an installer. that works for XP. GK3 has been played by many here on XP and, if you have problems with it there is help on glitches to show you how to tweak it.

Yup, unfortunately the movie format does cost more money, HJoy, especially if you get good actors to play in it. I too love this format, but you need a big budget upfront for that format, since you need to pay your actors, etc, before the games get sold. You also need people to do the filming, and to edit the footage, besides that you still have to program the game itself.

As for GK3, unfortunately they decided to go with a 3-dimensional format for GK3, which was all the rage at the time, as it was still new technology back then.
Of course it is now widely used, especially for action games, but with better hardware, they can generally make 3-D look a lot better these days.

In general, adventure game companies gave up on FMV because of high costs. It is not cheap to hire good actors and actresses. I prefer FMV adventure games more than anything because realism is superb. I can't get attached to 3D polygons. Today, when HD is around us it would be great to have BD game out there with 50GB of data storage per disc. No need to switch discs and you play in full 1080p on large LCD/plasma TV with lossless audio.

There is a web site that explained how to copy all 6 discs of GK2 to hard drive and I explained how to make one DL disc out of 8 CDs for Black Dahlia. Playing Black Dahlia on my TV late night was great.

GK3 was good game with interesting story but abysmal graphics ruined it completely. I have no idea why Sierra used that horrible 3D game engine because King's Quest VIII was excellent game with great 3D engine at that time.

thanks for all the thoughts, and recommendations for the other movie games, I will check those out, I see now why it cost more
I was able to Play GK 2 on my XP ok, I just needed to save alot as
once I played awhile, it would lock up and needed to reboot, but other than that no problems, I loved it ....
yeh, I thought they had better graphics at that time, doing
a little bit of work, on it, in adjusting my own pc and using XP, It looks a little bit better, the GK 3 that is,
I think I will play the Tex Murphy games next, I have heard of them :), if I can find them that is LOL
Shyty, I got my game through a trade on Gameboomers,
I have gone through the Annual list, and made a "Want list"
add it to my trades on the trade forum,
have received some really cool older games that way,
Like Shivers, Jewels of the Oracle, and Black Dahlia, and also
the GK games...
This Site ROCKS!!!
thanks again,
Marcia

Gamasutra has a post mortem feature that talks about some of the design decisions for Gabriel Knight 3 here.

HeavenlyJoy,

I couldn't agree with you more. GK2 is such a good game and it is at the top of my games recommendation list every year. It is the first game I ever played where I really cared about the characters as if they were real people. I loved the movie format and the way you got to play as Gabriel and Grace. I also loved how a location would flash on the map if you still had things to accomplish in that area. I found that to be a great time saver anytime I was stuck in the game. GK3 was a big disappointment to me. I didn't like the blocky graphics and I thought the game was very hard when it came to the computer part of the puzzles. As with all the Gabriel Knight games the plot was excellent. If any of you have not played GK2 The Beast Within I think you are really cheating yourself of a great experience.

Gabriel Knight 3 was the first game I played in the series. The story was excellent but I hated the interface from beginning to end! I did pursue the other two games but was only able to get Gabriel Knight 2 running soon afterwards. I did eventually get to play the 1st one with the XP installer - it took me a while to get used to the 'old' style of it but it completely had me hooked & I thought it was every bit as good as the second in a different way!

To add to the list, Yoomurjak’s Ring which has just been published by Adventure Shop is also an FMV. This game is the work of AGON game designer Pierrot and Private Moon Studios. Voice is Hungarian, with English subtitling.
And indeed, it costs much more money. First you have to make a movie and then make a game. Yoomurjak's ring has 30 actors and more than 600 panormaic views made of panoramic photos. Since it is first person, you can practically walk around the town as if you were there.

I had no chance to play GK2 so maybe this is why GK3 has been one of the greatest games for me. It is special because of the excellent plot, using elements of a book I had read before, and on that time this was one of the few games where the characters did have a „personality”.

GK3 went back to original voice actor for Gabriel Knight.

GK 3 was my first GK game ever - I stumbled upon it by pure accident, it was part of a games collection sold at a local store for 5 bucks. Since a friend of mine had already started playing it and was going on how great it was, I thought I could give it a try. This was at a time when I was new to the genre; so far, I had only played Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars. I instantly loved GK 3; since I didn't have any other games I could compare it with, I didn't mind the graphics or the controls - both worked fine for me, and I have replayed the game twice since. To me, it's the best game ever made and also the best of the series in terms of story.

I finally found GK 1 and 2 on Ebay for a reasonable price and was able to play both of them on my old computer (Win2k) even though I never got past the part in GK 1 where you have to avoid the mummies - never finished the game. Loved part 2, though; I had played Phantasmagoria before and thought that FMV was a cute idea but it didn't really work for me then - probably because the actress playing Adrienne in Phantasmagoria was awful. In GK 2, the concept worked even though Dean Erickson might not be the best actor around. It took me a while to get used to him - I "knew" Gabriel only as a blond-haired guy with a hairdo that wouldn't move at all, thanks to 3D *g* In GK 2, he looked so different from what I thought he should look like; still, the game had me glued to my computer for days; absolutely loved it.

Yes, Tim Curry of Rocky Horror fame. Also played Pennywise in Stephen Kings 'It'.

Oh there is where I heard the name Tim Curry LOL
Its funny how after you play awhile, a character will grow on you,
that is the case, I am a little further into GK 3 and actually beginning to like Gabriel, and use to his voice, some of his lines are funny, and he is just sooooo annoying sometimes, but in that kid brother way LOL

Thanks BECKY, I will check that site out, this game has got me, looking up more about this game, I have looked up the Actors and info on the Writer, .... that sounds interesting too ..

I think I would love to play GK 1 also, need to hunt for it, maybe I can get it in trades...

Yoomurjak’s Ring also sounded interesting, and to know its FMV
I will for sure have to download it, is this the only way to get it??
thanks
Marcia

Marcia -- yes, downloading is the only way to get Yoomurjak's Ring if you don't speak Hungarian! The download has Hungarian voices and English subtitles.

Yeah and also did other games, including Toonstruck (Count Nefarious) and Frankenstein: Through the Eyes of the Monster (Dr. Frankenstein).