QUERN - Undying Thoughts

WOW, just out of the blue I got an email about this game beeing OUT

I barely remember the first time I read about this game and now it's here

Since I'm a "Myst" kind of gamer I really thirst for games like this.

Steam link to Quern

Quern Game site

So all you "Myst" lovers out there, here is a game right up your alley

Thanks Lagavulin! Interesting they haven't released a press release yet.

Enjoy the game!

Oh My!!!

Did you see that Trailer...Wow, Thank you for the heads up Lagavulin

WOW, fellow Boomers,
That trailer looks so awesome. I went to the Steam store and checked it out. Unfortunately for ME, it requires 8 gigs of ram,but my computer has only 6, so I have to let this one go. Too bad because I'm a real MYSTAHOLIC. Had the same problem with "Obduction", which I couldn't purchase, either. at least "The Eyes Of Ara" is working well for me, although some of the puzzles are extremely difficult.
HAPPY GAMING!
Sandy

Couple hours into this game and so far I can say...FAN-tastic. Myst fans rejoice.

I think I am well past the mid point. This game is gigantic and so amazing. The quality makes me think that the best way to describe it is what Obduction could of been in an alternate universe.

This game is just amazing, definitely my most enjoyable game of the year. My viewers played along with me, and we turned this solo adventure into a co-op experience... we are having so much fun.
Obduction can't even compared to this game... Graphics, sound, music, puzzles, all top notch, and woven together beautifully into this masterpiece. I can't recommend this highly enough...

Sandy - 8 GB Ram is recommended, but minimum says 3.

Thanks, Oldbroad
I must have missed the 3 gig minimum spec.
Sandy

So, are you going to try it or not take the chance?

I backed this game on Kickstarter and have not got any notification that it is available. I did purchased the level that gives you a boxed version, but usually that also gets you a download too.

I received emails from both Kickstarter and Zadbox on 11/28. the Zadbox went into my junk mail. Maybe check that date?

I checked into my Kickstarter account - someone from California went in and changed my password the beginning of December.I notified them. Not sure what to do now.

Oh dear. How do you know that someone from California changed your password? Did you get an email? So you are locked out of Kickstarter now since you don't have the password?

False alarm, sorted it out. Still do not know why I did not get notification about Quern, though.

Oldbroad, I WILL buy this game, but ONLY if a good walkthrough can be found.
Sandy

Gotcha Sanford. Good luck!

I have just finished Quern and I have to say this game is fantastic. Best game of the year and the best to come out in many years IMO and it was all created and developed by four young men whos average age is 24. Remarkable workmanship, quality of play, beauty and the integrated conundrums and puzzles rival the big developers who have tons more experience. Two main characters that have the professional voice acting that we all love in our games and they were cast perfectly. I know you will agree when you here the name of one voice actor...none other than Kate Walker herself, Sharon Mann. The other actor Caleb Merrick voice was perfect. There is not a lot of talking but with these two voices it just improved on an already great experience. I am pretty tough on rating games and rarely ever give any game an A but Quern is a solid A in my book. I would have given it an A+ which I have never given, if it weren't for one puzzle in the game. I had well over 30 hours of great game play. If you are a lover of First Person Adventures and especially the likes of the Myst series then run out, don't walk, and get Quern you won't be disappointed. One thing I would like to note for you is make sure your computer meets at least the minimum requirements but my recommendation is for it to be higher than the minimum. I don't think this game will play well on Laptops.

Thank you for the review. I am so excited to have this game to look forward to, though I may not be able to play it until I get a new computer. As it stands, I am getting a DVD, not a download, so I have to wait until I get the game delivered.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it so much Greyfuss!

Ana

Thanks Greyfuss.

Is it available any other way than with Steam?

Cheers, barbarosso

Here is what one of the developers said in the Steam Forum when asked the question of releasing on GOG...

https://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/quern_undying_thoughts

Sadly, GoG turns down the majority of requests with some lame excuse or the other. I hear from many developers time and again that they have been turned away even though the game has positive reviews. I don't really understand it.

That is puzzling, Ana.

That does seem strange... GOG is so popular and so easy to use, I'd think they would want to get some of these really good games.

That would be disappointing especially for this best kept secret game that wasn't talked much about before release and a shame for those who prefer not to use Steam. Wonder if these young developers could be persuaded to also sell a limited amount of extra DVD's like the one Colpet is getting from the KIckstarter campaign, that would be nice. Or they could check into their own digital distribution on the games web site especially if these young fellows continue on with more games which is certainly my hope.

I've almost stopped buying from GOG for just this reason.
If they can't stock the games I'm interested in, they can have 80% off sales until they're blue in the face and I still won't buy anything.

And unfortunately a lot of new releases at Humble are Steam-only (like Nelly Cootalot).
So I end up never buying or playing the game.

I hope the developers of Quern contact Fireflower games, which sells DRM-free, client-free versions of games -- for example, Demetrios and Perils of Man, which don't seem to be available anywhere else.

33



Status of DRM free release




Posted by Zadbox Entertainment (Creator)






From an email:


Hello guys,

In the last few weeks we received quite a few questions about how and when the DRM free release is going to be handled. As many of you suggested, it’s all going to be done through GOG. We are already in contact with the guys at GOG and it shouldn’t take much longer for everything to be sorted. We will let you know once it’s ready.

Please be aware, that the Steam version is also DRM free. All you need to do is to download Quern through Steam then you can copy the game’s folder wherever you want.You can even uninstall Steam afterwards.

Thank you for your patience,
Zadbox

Thanks Oldbroad for that info, very encouraging for those not yet able to play this wonderful game. I have selfish reasons for hoping more will come on board with Quern as maybe with success, there will come more games, fingers crossed. Do you know if the possible GOG release is only for the Kickstarter backers or for retail?

I do not know but assumed it would be on GOG for all. You know what they say about assuming though

Just wanted to let everyone know that this game is now available here on GOG. It is also on sale until April 10th.

Thanks, Marian!

#1 Game of the Last 5 years at least, for me. Might also be helpful if those interested read this as well as the other Minimum requirements for this gem of a game...


Happy Birthday Miss Marion

Thank you, GreyFuss.

I only have a 2GB GeForce GTX 770 guess I need to upgrade my card if I want to play this!

Don't be too sure.
You meet the minimum requirements listed at ***Game Debate***

The difference between the GTX 770 and the recommended GTX 950 card is "Too close to call" according to GPU Boss.
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-950-vs-GeForce-GTX-770

Thank Jenny100, I will test my computer with your link

" This system has no obvious bottleneck for this game"

may have to give it a try. thanks

I had to upgrade my card as well. Went to a Gforce 1050 4G. Amazon had 1 for $149 It was worth EVERY PENNY!! This game is wonderful. If you're a MYST fan you will love it & if you're not it may turn you into one. HIGHLY RECOMEND THIS GAME!!

Thank you, Marian !!

is this mouse driven or keyboard?

Hi, you don't need to post twice about this - we will see your question. I deleted your other post so as to keep the forum tidy. Feel free to ask other Quern questions here.

According to the Steam forum, the default for the game is mouse and keyboard. If there is another way to play the game, hopefully one of our Quern players will be able to fill you in.

For the most part all you need is a Mouse that is Programmable. Program one of your mouses buttons for the W Key. Then you just need to guide your travels with the mouse movement and use your programmed button to move forward. I would have never played Quern if I couldn't move in this manner and had to use the Keyboard only. But be sure to make note of the System Requirements as this game is very demanding. I would recommend even higher than the minimum requirements.

Thanks so much for that information, GreyFuss.

Do what GreyFuss says, and in my view this is the best way to walk around in these environments. Right mouse moves, left mouse interacts.
Many games will let you do that in the options, otherwise you can use mouse software.

How do you program the mouse?

Thank you,

Mr. Bill

You probably need to start by purchasing a programmable mouse that has software that allows you to map the W key on the keyboard to a mouse button. Exact instructions will vary with the mouse you purchased and the software it uses, but you can Google the phrase:
*** how to program mouse button ***
to get an idea of what's involved.


If by "mouse driven" you mean "point-and-click," you can't make Quern have point-and-click movement. If you are zoomed in on a puzzle, you may be able to click to interact with the puzzles, but movement between locations requires constantly holding down a mouse button or keyboard key while aiming with the mouse.

If you are satisfied by a system that is "mouse controlled" but not "point-and-click" and simply substitutes holding down a mouse button for holding down the "W" key, then yes you can do that. The game may not offer the option, but you may be able to remap a mouse button to the "W" key if you have mouse software that offers that option.

I have only used Logitech Mice since playing on computers and I believe that most of the ones they sell now have the "SetPoint" software included for programability or you should be able to download it from their web site.

Looks like you can get SetPoint software here
http://support.logitech.com/en_us/software/setpoint

(Of course you'll also need the compatible Logitech mouse.)

Thanks Jenny100, downloaded.

Well, I am slowly making progress through the game. "Slowly" being the operative word

I am finding it really picky about the order in which things should be done and consequently have already had to replay several parts .... making my progress even slower

The only good thing about that is that DUE to my constantly having to retrace my steps in every area (so as to do things in an accepted order) I am getting VERY familiar with landmarks and am not getting lost quite as much .... till the next new area opens up of course

Mad -what happens in the game to let you know you didn't do something in the right order?

I've had this downloaded for a while not but keep passing on it for other things.

I am not sure I understand what you mean by "picky about the order in which things should be done" Mad Nor do I understand why you had to replay several parts. This game is straight forward and is exploratory and in your exploration you discover things that must be done and further exploration will give you clues to do that, no different than any other Adventure Game. I saw nothing in the game that if you didn't follow a certain order you would have had to replay any parts. Now if you are talking about how to solve a certain puzzle, conundrum or problem then of course the puzzle has to be solved the correct way to proceed but certainly not having to replay any areas. IMHO, this game was made perfect in every way.

Well, oldbroad, here is an example :-

I found a lens.
So later, when I discovered somewhere that I could fit it, I went ahead and fitted it.
But afterwards I couldn't do what I thought should be able to do. Nor was I allowed to remove the lens.

After bad frustration set in, I went to a walkthrough and looked at that particular section for a hint.
But all I could find was that I appeared to have used the lens before I should have done.
So then I had to re-play a chunk of game in order to be able to fit the lens at the right time.
Once I did that, I was able to carry on.

Nothing happened in the game to TELL me I hadn't done things in the correct order, though. I just couldn't proceed

EDIT :
You posted whilst I was composing my reply GreyFuss. Sorry !!

I am not a fan of that kind of pickiness Mad! I tend to always do things out of order!

I put the Lens in early too Mad but it was just left there until such time that I figured out what I was supposed to do with it, I don't think any replay is necessary just more exploration.

What further exploration, GreyFuss ??

I have just looked at that part of the walkthrough again and as far as I can see there was nothing else for me to "find" or "find out".

Maybe you would be kind enough to post over on the Hints Board and tell me how I could have proceeded - with the lens in place too early

EDIT :

"I am not a fan of that kind of pickiness Mad! I tend to always do things out of order!"

Hehehe !! Me, too, BrownEyedTigre

Hm. Okay. Thanks Mad and GreyFuss. Maybe it's time to stop looking at the icon on my desktop and start playing the game to see how it goes for me.

I'm going to throw my 2 cents in here. I am REALLY enjoying this game being the BIG MYST fan I am. I am thru the MINE & now in the MECHANICS & I am a bit stuck but I have been stuck several times before but only had to get help from a walkthrough fir THE CAVE puzzle. I don't think I had to do anything in any order. The game lets you progress as you solve the conundrum at hand. It's not a ez game but not as hard as MYST...IMHO. There are clues to solve every puzzle. Some obvious, some subtle & some a bit cryptic but they're out there. LOVING THIS GAME!!

Thanks for your input Scotty!

Yes, thank you from me, too, Scotty ....
And good luck to you, oldbroad, if you have a go with Quern.
You persevere so well it's probably going to be right up your street !!

Whilst being a long time Adventure game player myself, I am not and never have been a "Myst" type game fanatic but will give one a whirl now and then

And this is one of those "now and then" times

You are more courageous than I am, Mad - I am terrible at Myst-like games! They make me feel like I belong in the Home for the Utterly Clueless.

Oh, believe me, Marian. When it comes to Myst style games, I'm a long term resident in the "Home for the Utterly Clueless"

But I would so like to accomplish completion of a second Myst style game as the only one I have EVER managed to get right to the end of was Myst Exile

But I acknowledge I'll probably need a little help now and then to do it

EDIT :

Something else I've noticed about this game is that it doesn't always retain the save I make immediately after solving a puzzle. When I use the save, it puts me back to where I am about to solve the puzzle.
This has happened twice now and I don't like it !!

Well I was utterly clueless when I first played Myst but back then, I was utterly clueless about any game I attempted. I ended up eventually playing the game by using a walkthrough but I think I learned something about game playing anyway. I did much better with the rest of the Myst games but I think they were all easier too. I've never replayed any of them (yet).

I'm quite sure that both of you, Marian and Mad, are not nearly as clueless as you say!

I've made quite a bit of progress today but I certainly AM "clueless" with this type of game a lot of the time, oldbroad. Mainly because I constantly get lost if I am in a vast area

Mad, are you Loading your last Save or just using the Continue?

Hi GreyFuss

Both were times when I had saved right after solving a puzzle.
[Then I'd closed the game and switched off my computer.]

When I came back at a later time, I chose to "load" that last save.

However, both times the game loaded to immediately before the puzzle had been solved.

Since then I haven't saved immediately after solving a puzzle. I've moved away from the puzzle area and then saved - and all has been OK.

So I will continue to do that !!

EDIT :
Made another chunk of progress now !! Yippee !!

Got through another chunk or two now but this game certainly frazzles my brain at times. So much so that often I have to save and quit before it's too late and I turn nto a ....

As the years have gone by, I have become more sensitive to dizziness/nausea if there is any head-bob or 'floating camera' as you move. Has anyone experienced that?

Jenny, have you played it? You've often said that you have the same issue.

I get sea-sick and Migraines from that SirDave. You aren't alone.

Ana

I bought Quern -- because there aren't many 1st person puzzle games being made (unless you count casual games, which tend to be too easy and have too many pop-ups).

I haven't installed it yet though. Maybe tomorrow.
I've watched parts of YouTube playthroughs of Quern, and I've yet to find one that didn't give me nausea. Whether I can play Quern depends a lot on whether the game's controls allow you to move slowly and smoothly -- moreso than any YouTube player felt was necessary.

I have problems with nausea with most first person FPS-style movement.
Bobbing makes it worse.

Widescreen monitors make it worse. It doesn't help to run a game in 4:3 aspect ratio on a widescreen monitor, probably because the black bars at the sides are the same plane as the picture that's making me sick, where with a 4:3 CRT monitor seeing around the sides of the monitor helps.

Games that didn't bother me on a 4:3 CRT monitor, like Journeyman Project 3, bother me on a widescreen monitor, even with a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Kheops games with panning that never bothered me on a 4:3 CRT monitor will bother me on a widescreen monitor.

If the camera is far enough off the ground and pulled back far enough, as in
the "3rd person"/"follow cam" mode in Uru: Complete Chronicles, I don't get
motion sick (except in those few locations that are in close quarters, when
the camera zooms in).

Some people claim they are helped by adjusting Field of View. But in my case, whenever adjusting Field of View starts making things look unnatural, it makes nausea worse.

It isn't just 1st person games. I will also get motion sick in 3rd person games where the camera moves around uncontrollably (usually only happens in 3D games, and not 2D or 2.5D games).

Some older games are "converted" to widescreen by zooming in and chopping off the top and bottom of the original picture, and for that reason the "updated" versions will give me nausea even though the original version did not.

Jenny, it's a dirty trick on both of us. I've read a number of posts from people getting dizzy from Quern. If I were king, I would decree that all AGs have to offer a point and click option.

I was going to buy it off GOG, but I'm not sure that the computer I want to use will run it. The given minimum specs required are so high, but I've sometimes found in the past that the actual required specs are not as high as those listed. My computer has a Core 2 Duo 2.53 ghz CPU with 4g memory and a dedicated ATI Radeon HD 4570 GPU. I'm wondering if anyone here got Quern running respectably on a computer with specs lower than those listed.

I've ranted on this before, but I don't understand why a game like Riven could have the wonderful graphics it had and yet, you could run it on a fairly low-powered PC. Yes, I know that present day AGs use 3D graphics and movement, but still the specs required now mean that one has to have a computer with specs for AGs comparable to those for far more GPU-intensive action/war games. It just seems unnecessary and is limiting the number of buyers. I would also add that there are some pretty sophisticated games (3D action with great graphics) that run on relatively hardware limited iPads.

I don't think it will run on that computer -- certainly not well. Both the video card and the processor are slower than what is listed for Quern, and they also ask for 8 GB of RAM.
***Quern listed requirements at game-debate***
***Radeon HD 7770 vs HD 4570 at GPUBoss***
Even if Quern does somehow run on that computer, the trouble with running a game with 3D movement on a computer with less than the minimum listed requirements is that the picture chugs and jerks and movement isn't smooth. The jerky movement is worse for people that get motion sickness.

You'll probably enjoy a replay of Riven more anyway.

Fortunately I don't suffer from this type of nausea myself but for anyone who does, attempting to play Quern could certainly cause them problems

A friend has suggested taking a travel sickness pill 20 minutes before playing the game. I haven't tried myself yet, but if someone wants to give it a try and report back?

I have never tried it, but fwiw: The tricky part of this has always been that the drugs (to this point anyway) have to cross the blood-brain barrier and thus, tend to cause varying amounts of sedation plus atropine-like side effects (dry mouth etc.)

Currently, drugs that help motion sickness with less sedation:

Cinnarizine (Stugeron) may be the most effective with least sedation, but isn't available in the US.
Dimenhydrinate (Dramamine, Gravol, Driminate)
Meclizine (Bonine, Bonamine, Antivert, Postafen, and Sea Legs)
Cyclizine ( Marezine, Bonine For Kids, Cyclivert)



Actually, I'm on a mission to finally complete all the Rhem games, a subject that I think is dear to your heart! And I still have backlog of unplayed true point and clickers.

If I could count on being able to play these newer Myst-like games without nausea, I'd go right out and get a suitab

I'm not really a fan of motion sickness pills. I actually don't do well with most meds. I have heard some have been helped by it, though.

Same here. There are always side effects, and the only medications that actually work to reduce nausea from simulated 3D movement in games also knock me out so much I want nothing more than a nap. Not a desirable result when your original intention was to play a game.


Well you're all set then.
Do you still have those old laptops to play on?

Yup, the whole mess of them: Win98, WinXP, Win7, various shapes and sizes.

I have the same issues with the drugs. One thing is sure: they don't help with puzzle-solving!

SNAP !! SirDave

Although my machines are PC's and not Laptops

And I had a "home made" Win95 one, too, until a few years ago when it sadly died on me

[Don't bother with drugs at all however, unless they are for life threatening conditions.]

I started Eyes of Ara some time ago, but ran out of playing time. I'd like to finish that before trying Quern.

Eyes of Ara is 3D, but is point-and-click, so as long as I pan slowly and look away from the screen during transitions I can cope with it.

I have that game in my "unplayed" stack, Jenny100

Do you like it

I'd forgotten what Eyes of Ara was like. There is some point-and-click, but mostly it seems to be click-and-drag or grab-and-drag, which is awkward. To turn around you sometimes have to grab-and-drag 3 or 4 times. In some areas you can put your cursor at the edge of the screen and it will pan, but in other areas it won't. It's easy to miss things because they can be above or below the viewing area, and it's such a pain to pan up and down.

Puzzles seem OK but I'm having object disappear. I collected a glowing blue ball that looked important, which was kept on a separate inventory list you see on the pause screen. The glowing blue ball is gone now. I don't know when it disappeared. It was 1 of 2, but now I have 0 of 2. I don't know if it's important to finishing the game, but why bother having the player collect those things if they're just going to disappear like that?

Oh, dear. Another game with weird navigation and disappearing inventory items as well
I can see it not shooting up to the top of my stack then

Quern navigation can be quite awkward for me because I use a very old fashioned mouse and it's really NOT suitable

I don't think those particular disappearing items are necessary to finish the game, but it's still annoying to have them disappear after the game makes such a fuss over you finding them -- like having the blue ball hover at the top of the screen for several seconds. Then it's gone when you enter the next game area, maybe before.

I don't know what Quern navigation is like yet, but I think click-and-drag is a pain in the butte. I keep trying to tap the arrow keys or W/S out of habit to pan incrementally up or down, which would work in most 3D games. But no, you have to go through the rigmarole of click-and-grab-and-pull-down. Such a lot of fuss for something that should be so simple. I'd prefer to be able to switch between central-cursor-panning and a still screen you can move the mouse around, the way you could in Myst: Exile.

The puzzles are mostly fine, and I like the idea of exploring a castle, but I don't like the interface.

I played "Eyes of ARA" and liked it right up until the end. I was playing over Halloween and there suddenly appeared all kinds of clever and witty Halloween decorations which were a really fun bonus. However, my computer was a bit shy of necessities and therefor gameplay was often a fight. Worse, when I got to the end I discovered I had failed to find two of the various items I was collecting and couldn't actually finish the last bit. Worse, there was no way to learn what exactly I had NOT found and where I had not found it. So I quit. The gameplay problem was mine, but it was never made clear until the end that I had to find all the items nor was it clear how many there were. Beautiful and huge game,but I was crushed at the end.

Jenny - I can't actually remember what the blue balls are for but inventory items do change depending on what section of the game you are in. If you go back to a prior section, things that were there before will be there again.

I also did not have everything at the end so there was something(s) I was not able to access. I did not like that.

I don't think the blue balls were a problem. I found more.
At first I thought the yellow balls that went into regular inventory were a problem when they disappeared, but I found more of those too.

Apparently the things that went into the 2nd inventory, like figurines, coins, blue balls, paintings, and photos are used to open an extra room near the end. I'm missing a lot of those. There's a room near the end where they've been collected, and a doorway in that room that I don't think opens until you find everything. I'm also missing some gargoyle eyes on the arched door upstairs. I assume I need them all to get into that room.

I seem to be missing a couple of wheel-like items necessary to finish.
I thought I had at least one of them, but it disappeared when I went into another area.
I'll have to go back and search.

I found a Guide at Steam Forums.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=727315958
It has item lists, so maybe it will help me find some of the items I'm missing.

EDIT --

Found a few more objects. I think one of the photographs didn't register as picked up.

Found another written walkthrough here
http://www.evermynd.com/walkthroughs/eyesofara.html

I was very excited today to see that the developers of Quern are making a new game called Dimhaven Enigmas. No release date yet but I already put it on the wishlist!

Oldbroad...thank you so much for this announcement...I had no idea and I am excited too as Quern was one of my most favorite plays. Hope they aren't too early in the development as I am selfish and want to play now

Dimhaven Enigmas

This is good to hear oldbroad. Quern was one of our favorites. Lengthy game with very good integrated puzzles and nice story. Will definately keep both eyes on this one. I am afraid its gonna be awhile. "Dimhaven is in early development." Thanks for the link GreyFuss. Like you we are ready to play it

Thank you oldbroad