Darkstar

Wow I just got this game in today. I've got so many games ahead of it that I probably won't get it installed for a few days.

Treasure Island came in today also and Alter Ego should be here any day so I'll be a busy gamer.

This is always a good time of year, isn't it? Happy gaming!

Let us know how it is I'm also thinking about geting it.

It looks like you have some serious gaming coming your way oldman.

I know what you mean, oldman. I just got this one myself, but noticed it takes up 14 GB of space on my hard drive. Guess I'll have to work hard to free up some space. It really looks interesting, though.

Here is a review of this game. It is a long review and quite detailed. After reading this review you will know if the game is for you or not.

Review

Well I couldn't wait to try it so I installed the game. It does take 14 Gig on the hard drive so it takes a long time to install.

Anyway I played the game for 10 minutes and really like the look of it. The graphics are great and you only have one mouse icon for everything you either move or interact with an arrow icon. You can move pretty much 360 degrees by holding the right mouse and turning. However, it's one of those games that I'm going to have to wait for some smarter than me so that I can pick their brains. I'm already stuck so will be playing other games until others have the game and I can ask questions.

Oldman,

Can you describe a bit more about the video quality of the FMV? I remember that many old FMV games are flawed because the quality of the video falls far below the quality of the rendered graphics so that the chromakey scenes always look hokey.

What about the puzzles? Most FMV games have very limited interaction. You often feel like you are just watching a movie rather than playing a game. Is Darkstar like this as well?

Can those who owned this game tell me how big this game is? How many DVD? I heard the game comes on DL (dual layered) DVD?

Also, does the install require you to copy the entire DVDs onto the hard disc? Is there any DRM on the disc (such as Securom)?

DaveHT

2 Dual Layered DVD's which installs the whole game (14 GB's)onto your Hard Drive with no need for a disk in your player to play the game. I could be wrong but I don't think there is any invasive DRM with the game. If you have any other questions I would be happy to help if you can. I believe I am pretty far into the game right now and it is exactly the type of game I love and long for...First Person - FMV - Sci Fi - Solo Exploration

GreyFuss,

How is the blending between the FMV and the rendered graphics? I saw the sample trailer and gameplay videos on YouTube, but these videos are heavily compressed so that I am unclear if all the artifacts I am seeing in these videos are also in the game?

As you may remember, many of the oldie FMV games have terrible chromakeying so that the FMV often looks degraded relative to the rendered graphics.

They have done an excellent job with the FMV. I do not consider this game fitting under the term of "Interactive Movie" like the ones with little interaction. This is an adventure game in every sense, old school, and the FMV is all in the cut scenes which are very good. If this game would have been released way back when they made it I believe it would have been ahead of its time. The exploration is fun, the puzzling is on the easy side except for one area which I will not elaborate on. Better you experience this for yourself. Plenty to see and do. The acting is also pretty good if not cheesy but what would you expect from the cast of Mystery Science Theater. All I can say is that I am loving it but that is a prejudice view seeing as this is my type of game.

Have you tried viewing the videos streamed from the developers web site? They look excellent on my computer and exactly what I see in the game. Videos

I think the video quality has been sufficiently answered(Just saw this post) as for the puzzles I haven't encountered the first one yet so couldn't tell you. I'm supposed to free a girl from a sleep thingy and haven't figured that out yet so I went on to some other game and will return when more people are playing and I can get hints.

I'll wait to see if a walkthrough comes out,if not I'll pass on it.

Are there subtitles in this game (for both in-game dialogue and cut-scene dialogue)?

Dave

There are no Subtitles in the game or an option for them, at least I never saw it. Your questions might be better answered my emailing Jeff Williams himself. He is loving the attention that DarkStar is getting and is very approachable. Email him HERE

Jerryst

I may be wrong but I don't think that there will be a walkthrough here as this is an Indie game and the developer has offered a gude on his web site for the game. Am I right MaG?

Thanks, GreyFuss,

I will write to the game's creator.

I don't see a guide posted on the developer's site. Can you post the URL (I probably missed it)?

Here ya go Dave

DarkStar Official Guide

Thanks Greyfuss!

Ana

What I do Sheriff???

Being a helpful grue.

Ana

Thanks, GreyFuss.

Stop it...I am a very mean Grue.....I really am



I just finished DarkStar, well at least the good ending, I will go back at go through the others. The game is Awesome in my prejudiced opinion. Prejudice because this is one of my favorite types of adventure games. First Person, Solo Exploration, Sci Fi. & Full Motion Video.

Shuffle together the likes of...

Dark Side of the Moon
Rama
Mission Critical

And sprinkle it with the likes of...

Symbiocom
The Dig
The Arrival
Cracking the Conspiracy
Majestic: Alien Encounter

Then throw in some great FMV cut scenes and some cheese that only the Mystery Science Theater team can pull off and you have DarkStar This is not an interactive movie like some that have been made in the past were the player pretty much sits back and has little to do. This is a full fledged Adventure Game with exploration, discovery, problem solving and inventory. I had a great time saving humanity. Jeff I hope you are working on the sequel right now :-)

When is it on the shelfs in U.S. ?

Or is it now ?

Dunn

Its not on shelves Dunn Tawkin, you can only get the physical copy from the developer himself HERE DarkStar

How long is the estimated gameplay (in hours)? How many endings are there supposed to be in this game?

Greyfuss:

Thanks for the link

Trans-action complete.

Just itchin to play this game

Vids look really good.

Dunn

Way to go Dunn Tawkin

I didn't keep serious track of my time saving humanity but I would estimate that I spent between 20 and 30 hours enjoying the game.

The little bit I was able to play I LOVED- I'm a FMV junkie and was thrilled to immediately purchase this game. Unfortunately I also became immediately stuck- and with no walkthrough yet I'm just biding my time and hoping to get back to the game soon!

Hang in there Challis3 I have been chatting with Jeff Williams (the fantastic creator) and he may just show up here to answer any questions you may have.


For those of you interested in reading a review of DarkStar check THIS one out.

Thanks for the link from me, too, GreyFuss. I have now placed my order !!
[Just have to hope my machine is good enough to play the game ]

This is what comes of using Mags walkthroughs like a crutch!!!

Gotta love that crutch !!

Mad

Does your computer meet these specs?

PC System Requirements:
Operating System: Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7
Processor: 2 Ghz Intel or equivalent
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 14 GB
DirectX 9 Compatible video and sound card

Yes .... I think it does

Am I safe then ??

Well those are the specs listed for the game on the DarkStar web site so it looks as if the odds are in your favor

Thanks, GreyFuss

Thanks very much for the invitation, I'm Jeff Williams, creator of DARKSTAR and really appreciate the nice things said here, and think there are some great questions being asked. I'm happy to answer anything you rabid gamers want to know.

Hello and welcome to GameBoomers! I've been visiting your website for years.

to GameBoomers DarkStar.

Ana

Yes, please forgive me for the incredibly long gestation period, but I indeed was the bottleneck. I hope the wait was worth it!

It must be exciting to finally get it released. Are you working on the sequel now?

Ana

I am not good at reading the stats on my computer...duh...I would like to order Darkstar as I love the game play idea. Played games similar to this style some years ago...is there anyway to get some help on my stats to see if I can play this game? Thank you.

A couple of questions, if that's okay:

Which character was the most fun to write and why?

What was it like working with Peter Graves?

Darkstar, does the video in the game and i guess normal gameplay scale well to 24" tft monitors at a res of 1920x1080p?

I dont like pixelated video fmv gfx so if it is low res like other fmv games then i dont think i will get this.

Linda, the folks in Glitches would be happy to help you. Please post there.

Ana

Thank you.

We are just beginning production on a Platinum International Version with additional gameplay, subtitles for at least five languages, and more bonus material.

Darkstar is very high resolution and sizes itself to fill your screen. You won't see pixelated gameplay. Watch the trailers. If you like the way they look, the gameplay is EXACTLY the same.

We are very excited to have begun our release schedule, but there is much more to come. We are only now getting bigger distribution contracts finalized to reach more DARKSTAR fans. But I wanted to get this out to our core fan base this year, and I'm glad we did.

(sorry my answers are so far from the questions in this blog line! The "release" question above was at BrownEyedTigre.

@ Becky: SIMON was the most fun to write. His character was much smaller in the beginning, prior to casting Frank Conniff. His performance was so funny and added so much, I went back and wrote in about 10x more stuff and called him back into the studio to cut the additional material. Eventually the added stuff lead to creating a whole hidden level of the ship to explore, and rounded out and solidified the whole DARKSTAR vibe...this weird mix of retro scifi, new scifi, adventure, horror, and dark humor.

(also @ Becky)
Peter Graves was such a pleasure to work with, I've dealt with Hollywood at all levels and never know what to expect. He came in totally prepared and sat down with me so he could fully understand what I wanted out of him, he could tell from the script that is was not a typical "read". Indeed, I visualized the narration as a character in and of itself, one that would comfort, taunt, explain, and actually feel sorry for you a bit when you bit it. Peter spent a lot of time with me getting his parts down, and was more accessible as a person than many "less famous" folks I've worked with. We kept in touch a little bit after he cut his parts, and was just a regular guy. A lot of people don't know his real last name is Arness, indeed the brother of Gunsmoke star James Arness. Peter was a really tall guy, 6'4" I think, and he was energetic and just a strapping guy. He smiled easily, was no prima donna, and took every job as seriously as if he was in a Billy Wilder movie. Despite his distaste in what was done by MST3K riffing some of his older Sci-Fi movies, he recognized DARKSTAR was a completely different project and did not hold it against me. And I didn't bring it up! When I heard he'd passed so suddenly, I was really shocked, I just didn't see it coming. He was what you call a working actor, he saw it as a job, and he just did what he did and did it better than most. He was fielding new jobs when he died, and he just seemed invincible to me as the bulletproof Jim Phelps of Mission: Impossible. It hit me hard when I got word, especially because I felt robbed of the chance to show him what I achieved after so many years of work after those seminal sessions in that Santa Monica studio on the corner of Arizona and 7th Street. On top of it all, he's a dying breed of that original round of Hollywood cool guys that I loved so much as a kid glued to that BW television growing up, the one with only two or three channels and just three hours of prime-time a night. He was the real article, and I miss him.

Thanks for your response.

Graves sounds like quite a man! I admired his work on Mission: Impossible -- it's wonderful to know what he was like apart from the role.

And I'm now looking forward to meeting Simon.

The lead actor who you play i still have trouble seeing him in anything decent after seeing him in Sunset Beach, the crazy melodrama US sitcom. Still i guess it was written to be really BAD. Wonder how he did in this game if he was cheesy like in Sunset Beach or actually pulled off a decent acting in the game.

Anyone else see Sunset Beach and seen him in it and thought the same and got worried about the game cos of him in it?

Darkstar i have heard it defaults to 1024x786. Is that the best it can do as that is very low res. I hope the game does have resolution options and can do 1920x1020p (without upscaling as upscaling video is horrible on large modern widescreen tfts). I know what you said but lookin at some comments from elsewhere i doubt the comment you made in some respect.

For an extra 10 bucks you can order the game guide from them. It's a downloadable PDF. The first one wasn't printer friendly so they released a second version which is, for those who prefer an ink and paper guide book.

as far as interactive movie type games...Tex Murphy and Gabriel Knight were awesome.....I am into Darkstar just a little ways now, but it seems to be more along the lines of Myst type...or 7th guest as opposed to inventory based dialogue based etc...meaning its more puzzles to open doors etc.....the game looks great but i get bored very fast of this type...i know i have just started it and hope it takes more along the vein i mentioned as far as the tex type style......or if anyone can let me know?....thanx

i didnt like myst and if u think its like myst then [blip] i probs wont like it. Being alone, 360 pan view i might have been able to deal with i guess but no dialogue based or inventory based puzzles. [blip]..

Skeeter -- constructive criticism is helpful if you've played the game. If you haven't played the game, this sort of speculation is counter productive.

I was posting a response to the comments above mine that he was explaining the game was like. So i posted how i felt to Hamers post and felt it wasn't a game i thought it was and that it was a shame. So everything i said was very valid if Hamer is to believed in playing it already then my comments were valid in a response post.

Also i used no profanity so not sure why my post was edited. If you think words like "d a m n" are profanity then wow... Here in the UK they are very common everyone says it even kids and we dont think it is profanity.

Hi Skeeter --

Here is dictionary.com's definition of profanity. We try to keep away from speech that might offend -- as the moderator with a medieval outlook, I agree I'm strict. That doesn't change the definition, though.

Frankly, from what I've seen in the past, your comments are frequently negative -- not just with this game, but with other games too. It's one thing to comment negatively on a game you've played. It's another to comment negatively on a game you haven't played, but are only speculating about, based on someone else's comments.

At GameBoomers, we try to show good examples. Since it is commonly considered that that word used in a certain context is a profanity - we do not use it here.

Was this just released?
There are already used copies on Amazon for like $6.00!
caz

Not on my amazon. Are you sure you looking at DarkStar The Interactive Movie?

There is a "Darkstar II" listed on Amazon.

Curious.
I was looking at Darkstar 2 whatever that was.

Darkstar is a neat name if you are making a Sci-Fi Movie/Game etc - Actually - there was Movie Darkstar - around 1970's I believe.

Anyway - This looks like a terrific game - FMV should really make a comeback (Yoomurjak's Ring i.e. - great !).

Can't wait to get a copy.

Hi Everyone,
Has anyone heard any "rumors" about Xmas sale pricing for this game? A friend mentioned this to me and cannot find where she read it. Would be fab if true.

THere is nothing on their website or FaceBook page to indicate this.

Ana

Does anyone know much about the game's creator? From the game's website, it appears that this is the first game from the developer. But the game has been in development for years. Did the developer leave to make another game and then come back to finish this game?

Hopefully Darkstar himself can answer that question. He might drop by again.

There's an interesting interview with the Darkstar [J. Allen (Jeff) Williams] here at Adventure Classic Gaming.

Becky, thanks for the link. I missed this one.

It is a very long interview. I am most surprised by how the developer managed to hire the MST3K crew to do the movie. I wonder if there would be one day a Blue-Ray release of this game that would allow inclusion of film-quality videos instead of compressed videos. It sounds like the developer had to squeeze down the sizes of the FMVs to fit them onto the disc.

Does anyone know the minimum specs for this game please? The specs listed on the site look really high just wondering what it would run on even if its slow going. Thanks

ritchiesbabe, it is posted earlier in this thread.

Don't think my brothers specs are up to the 2ghz processor shame as he thought it looked like a really good game.