Anyone seen the Alone in the Dark 5 tech demo?

Frag Maniac · Post by **Frag Maniac** » 19 Feb 2008, 20:35

This looks like a pretty cool game and is the most intricate and seamless in character interaction I've yet to see: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/30714.html

Word is it will be on PC too.

funch · Post by **funch** » 20 Feb 2008, 01:09

Whoa thats well done.

Post by **g00seberry** » 20 Feb 2008, 02:05

Talk about sticky tape fetish.

Doesn't look too bad, but I can't help thinking that you'll never realistically use all those possible combinations. There'll be certain parts of the game where it's just required or heavily hinted at to use a certain mixture of items.

Post by **Abram** » 20 Feb 2008, 02:35

Was that a vibrator he picked up off the table?

Anyway it looks neat. I really enjoy exploiting dynamic physics in games.
As long as teh devs can forsee things and prevent those odd bugs.

Though that demo looked like it was on a console...
But i see it's bound for PC as well. Yay.

infernus · Post by **infernus** » 20 Feb 2008, 03:11

Small rant while I wait for it to buffer the HD version.

Why can't they pull your birthday from your account? Or at least hold a cookie with it? Really annoying entering it for every movie.

edit: wow, sticky tape fetish indeed. It looks pretty damn cool though. Piqued my interest.

packerfan · Post by **packerfan** » 20 Feb 2008, 04:32

If i have a computer that can run it by the time a demo comes out i will have to try that

I love how you could accomplish any given task in a number of ways.

Metal note, when the zombie apocalypse comes, grab some tape.

DanielTC · Post by **DanielTC** » 20 Feb 2008, 04:45

Whoaaaa, that was pretty sick. It'll be cool to play some games that you still kill stuff but is not just aiming a gun and shooting.

If i have a computer that can run it by the time a demo comes out i will have to try that

I love how you could accomplish any given task in a number of ways.

Metal note, when the zombie apocalypse comes, grab some tape.

You should get it tattooed somewhere on your body . . . a memento, just in case. Like if they eat your brains, you can at least retaliate.

Frag Maniac · Post by **Frag Maniac** » 20 Feb 2008, 13:24

Yeah, I agree the sticky tape thing was overdone and less believable than say a tube of gooy glue. You might end up gluing your jacket shut if you spill it though! LOL I just hope the PC version isn't a poorly made console port. With Atari backing it you have to wonder.

The HD developer interview trailer I saw further detailed some things along with some stuff I read about it. Apparently you can intricately position things like boards in your hands so as to reach out with it and fish things out of a pool of water.

Some things are heavily scripted though, like an escape scene where you have to drive a car exceedingly fast before the street and surrounding buildings cave in.

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 20 Feb 2008, 14:07

Hehe.

The "McGuyver" syndrome!

(The ability to make anything, from a leak-fix to a man-portable-nuclear-missile-delivery-system out of nothing more than a roll of duct tape, some loo roll and the odd twig lying around.)

:lol:

DaFox · Post by **DaFox** » 20 Feb 2008, 14:14

Hehe.

The "McGuyver" syndrome!

(The ability to make anything, from a leak-fix to a man-portable-nuclear-missile-delivery-system out of nothing more than a roll of duct tape, some loo roll and the odd twig lying around.)

:lol:

oh man, I was just talking to my friend about chemistry in games, This game looks like the first big step.

Cant wait for it to evolve to the point where we get a true macgyver game :)

DaFox · Post by **DaFox** » 27 Feb 2008, 18:20

http://kotaku.com/361260/more-alone-in-the-dark-tech-in-action

I am in LOVE with this game.

Best Physics and chemistry in a game thus far?

Frag Maniac · Post by **Frag Maniac** » 27 Feb 2008, 20:08

Thanks for that Da Fox, haven't seen that one. I've been really hammered by a nasty cold the last few days so I haven't been checking. The more I look at the awesome graphics, physics and interaction this game offers the more I wonder why they didn't pursue a bigger publisher than Atari. Maybe Atari is improving though and vowing to support higher qulaity, better polished games.

neoWidescreen · Post by **neoWidescreen** » 05 Mar 2008, 09:22

Thanks for posting this. Very impressive gameplay, but i bet the game will be REALLY short (8-10hrs). That's gonna take a lot of beta testing

Frag Maniac · Post by **Frag Maniac** » 05 Mar 2008, 23:16

Actually 8-10 hrs is about the average length modern shooter anymore.

Post by **The_cranky_hermit** » 06 Mar 2008, 01:14

Best Physics and chemistry in a game thus far?

Physics, maybe. Chemistry, no. I didn't see anything "chemistry"-related in the videos that wasn't already done in Ultima Worlds of Adventure: The Savage Empire.

Also, technology is nice and everything, but gameplay's more important. And these videos are really nothing more than tech demos. I'd be far more interested in seeing videos of technology being applied to actual gameplay.

Frag Maniac · Post by **Frag Maniac** » 09 Mar 2008, 04:21

In a survive in the dark horror game, everything they've shown could be considered part of the gameplay, even if it's just the method you choose to light your path. What I like about what they've shown so far is it doesn't just focus on eye candy and gimicks. It has good graphics and lighting and shadow effects, but they are just things that make it more immersive, rather than the whole focus. The intricate ways you can interact and some of the unique elements like real time and graphically realistic inventory access are refreshing to see.

Post by **The_cranky_hermit** » 09 Mar 2008, 05:38

No, they really haven't shown any concrete examples of gameplay. All they've shown is what you *can* do. They haven't shown any examples of real game situations in which you might decide you want to do that.

And where did the phrase "survive in the dark horror game" come from?

Tanuki · Post by **Tanuki** » 09 Mar 2008, 06:28

No, they really haven't shown any concrete examples of gameplay. All they've shown is what you *can* do. They haven't shown any examples of real game situations in which you might decide you want to do that.

I heard that when you play Fable 2 the game will create a real-world woman named Lisa who will then have sex with you.

Or have sex with someone else if that is your thing.

Frag Maniac · Post by **Frag Maniac** » 09 Mar 2008, 06:52

No, they really haven't shown any concrete examples of gameplay. All they've shown is what you *can* do. They haven't shown any examples of real game situations in which you might decide you want to do that.

And where did the phrase "survive in the dark horror game" come from?

I don't know what you've seen, but they have shown and talked about various ways of navigating through the map AND dealing with enemies. If you don't think that's part of the gameplay I don't know what else to tell you because it is. Also, AitD has always been a survive in the dark game, the very name itself kinda makes that obvious. :roll:

If you're skeptical about games until you play them for yourself, I can understand that. I'm not one to trust trailers so much that I'm willing to preorder or pay full price at release. Still though compared to most tech demos these are just as revealing if not more so than others. It's not like they're wasting our time showing them to us.

Post by **The_cranky_hermit** » 10 Mar 2008, 01:29

they have shown and talked about various ways of navigating through the map AND dealing with enemies.

Again, those are just things you *can* do. Everything you see is basically a glorified lab environment where they show off features of the engine in a controlled environment. Gameplay doesn't happen in a lab environment that looks like a level. Gameplay happens in an actual level.

This is an example of gameplay footage. Gordon Freeman isn't just going "ok, now I'm going to show you ways that sticky tape can be handy." When he does something, it looks like it's because he's trying to play the game - not simply because the demo agenda calls for showing off the neato physics at 1 minutes and 33 seconds.

But when Carnby shoots a light, it's not because that would help him gameplay-wise; it's merely because the interactive lighting effects are item #1 on the demo agenda. No other reason.

the very name itself kinda makes that obvious

The name doesn't tell me where you got the word "survive" from. I suspect you got it from "survival horror," the term Capcom used to brand their series of AitD ripoffs, and unconsciously mixed it up with "alone in the dark," giving the portmanteau "survive in the dark" which I'm pretty sure has never been known to be a type of game.

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