Rarefoil

Wow, this is the very first Game Dungeon where I've fully played through the game before! (not counting Sonic Heroes, because c'mon that's too easy) I first learned of this game via Yahtzee and Gabriel's LP of it (where they were a LOT LESS KIND to it than Ross), and I think if anything stuck out to me during it, was the music. Not necessarily in the "wow its so good way" more so in a "I think I want to learn more" way. This, and idle curiousity probably, led to me buying it on GOG (which included the soundtrack). And then buying the US CD on eBay impulsively. So, I have a lot of things to I want to say. Some of probably said in YouTube comments already, but hey, here its more easily seen. 1. The Music. Ross, I think you kinda made a mistake picking the MT-32 as the music device here. See, while Normality does support it, when I did some poking around I found it to be pretty unoptimized. The instruments it picks are pretty good and I wouldn't say it sounds bad, but as you heard, there are obviously glitches that occur, there's weird sound balancing, and most if not all songs actually have notes that are completely outside the MT-32's range; you literally have to change what MIDI channels the MT-32 uses to hear them. I will hold this game up as an example of a game that supports both General MIDI and the MT-32 where the MT-32 was obviously nearing the end of its life and got the short end. In my opinion, the best music option would probably be a Roland Sound Canvas 55, but no one to my knowledge has done any recordings of it. And in case anyone's wondering, the GOG OST uses the AdLib version that's converted from the MIDI. I was actually planning on doing a full General MIDI recording of the soundtrack and providing the recorded MIDI files from DOSBox (to maybe use with a RSC-55 in the future), and also doing a MT-32 recording with adjusted recorded MIDI files to try and get it to its best spot. With a forum post here after all was said and done. But, that was yet another project that I put on the back burner. Maybe after I wrap up my Gex music work. Or maybe someone else can do it before me. Also, just for the record even Ross's MT-32's notes in this video sounded very off, or at least different even compared to what I hear using MUNT with Normality. That could just be down to me sticking to DOSBox and him using a 98 VM. (Also for the record (again), I'm not sure a Windows mode exists for this game. My US manual does mention that its "preset to run in two different modes" but it could just be referring to running it with Win95 in the background? Or in a window? I have no clue) 2. US vs UK The reason why I'm even saying "US version" is because when this game was brought over from the UK, it got a completely new dub for the US, where famously Kent was voiced by Corey Feldman. The GOG version is the original UK dub, which created some confusion and disppointment for fans of the US dub. Hence me buying the US version... tho immediately after I learned that there is an fan-made tool that will mod the GOG version to have the US dub and it even adds some quality of life additions. Oops. https://github.com/Twombs/Normality-Voices-Selection Admittedly, I only played with the US voices because a) I had heard Yahtzee and Gab play the UK dub and wanted to make my playthrough as different as possible, b) Corey's performance was so over the top and stupidly 90s I found it kinda amusing, and c) I already had the US CD shipped to my house, might as well make the most of it. Definitely very much down to personal opinion which one someone would prefer these days. Also apparently, if you buy this game on Zoom, you get the option of both voices. https://www.zoom-platform.com/product/normality 3. Multiple Paths (this is definitely mentioned in the YouTube comments already) My impression of the gameplay was actually that it was slightly above average for 90s adventure games, and that's probably because puzzles have multiple solutions. You don't have to use the screwdriver to free the mouse, the Sharkpoon also does that. And the scissors on the carpet. You don't actually have to throw shit on the technician, you can also just grab a clumb of dirt from outside. Or, take an plastic card and scrap the lump of beans off your wall and throw that. And if foggy memory serves, there might be an example in the sewers which may avoid the guitar getting trashed one time less (like one area is optional) but don't quote me on that. In addition, it has a major branching path: you don't have to get caught and sent to the brainwashing jail. That only happens if you destroy all the evidence against you; if even one piece of evidence is left, they can still charge you and they don't figure out who you really are. You then go to a different section of the prision where you're interviewed on TV and have to avoid surveillance. I went with that option since the Yahtzee LP went with the brainwashing jail option. Now, of course I said slightly above average. There are still times I had to use a guide and there was still plenty of "dagnabit" moments. I just give it credit for not requiring me to scrap the beans off the wall and for letting me just grab some dirt off the ground. Refreshingly straightforward. 4. Q&A. This is all off the top of my head, but I think I can answer some of the questions Ross had concerning the plot. "Why does hosing down the machinary with a fire exthinguisher let me ride the conveyer belt?" I think its implied that it clogs up/deactivates the functions that would have killed you otherwise riding on the conveyer belt? To be honest, I could just be making that off the top of my head and they don't actually say that. "Are the fake people next to Heather cutouts or dead bodies?" Cutouts. Either you can go to that room later in the game (though you have no need to) or you can move around in that room by doing some debug teleportation codes to see that. "Why did the bouncer run away when you showed him the rat?" He mentions in the conversation with him he's very afraid of rats. "Why did getting all the mind control gizmos destroy the brainwashing jail?" Something about it overloading the jail and causing an eternal feedback loop, since that jail is where the thoughts the gizmos take pass through, and the gizmos were absorbing the thoughts in that jail? Honestly that could be another thing the game just doesn't say and I'm just coming up with a theory. "Why did the guards run out of the hallway when you turned off the lights?" They're afraid of the dark. "What happens when the thoughts go into the Mood Magnet?" I believe the thoughts that are considered deviant are locked away for future reference and archiving, to determine what the deviant thoughts exactly are and why they happen (I believe its said that they use people like Kent to find new deviant thoughts), while the "normal" thoughts are either deleted or sent back. That's what I'm assuming from Saul's statement of "stores it for later inspection". ...Okay, despite how it looks, I'm not trying to defend this story. I put the gameplay slightly above average for your typical adventure game, but I put the story below average. Great Opportunities missed, there's still stuff that really could have gone into more detail, and the overal execution of basically everything could have been done so much better with better characterization and more thought. I just had answers so I said them. And since I'm determined to share everything I know about this game in one fell swoop, for one last tibit, the FMV cutscenes were animated via motion-capture (if you couldn't tell) and gained some fame at the time for doing so at the time, being featured on a UK TV show Bad Influence.

"If you play on Normal and get used to the controls, the game is actually easy" Yeah, I think these guys suffered a classic case of Developer Blindness. "I know exactly what to do in all these scenarios and every single nuance of this game since I literally programmed it and know how it functions, therefore, as far as we can see, this game is easy"

On the "Wishing this came out in the 90s" award, yeah, this probably wouldn't have passed Nintendo's censorship guidelines... before 1992. After the ESRB, Nintedo was like "yeah, Mortal Kombat 2, you can be uncensored, it doesn't matter anymore." So there definitely could be a solid chance for Yuppie Psycho in say, 1994 or 5. Of course, there's still a solid chance that Nintendo would still squirm in their seat at the thought of this game being on their system, at least at the time; there's evidence today where Nintendo (and Sony) can still just veto a game's content from coming onto their platforms. Which is where Sega comes in to the rescue, baby. I could see them being perfectly okay with the content and greenlighting a Genesis release. "But Rarefoil, I'm one of those heathens that hates the Genesis's sound chip, even when its used correctly!" Fair enough, even I think this game's soundtrack would suffer being on that chip; it would be asking a lot for the mood and atmosphere this music gives to be perfectly translated to FM Synth. Which is where the Sega CD comes in, baby. Not only would there be no compromises on the amount of content due to cart space, but we'll also get uncompromised CD audio. We would probably need to go with at least 2 CDs, though. ...Of course, the Genesis's color palette might still be a challange to work around, so screw it, why not a Sega Saturn release? We should definitely have no content issues, Sega allowed softcore porn on the thing in Japan. And we can also used compressed audio files to get near CD-quality sound if we don't feel like going through MIDI. And at that point, yeah, we'll probably just end up doing a PlayStation 1 version, which will stand the most chance of being released internationally and could easily join the ranks of really expensive PS1 horror games in 2025. ...No, I don't know why this is what I ended up focusing on instead of literally anything else about this game. Though its probably just because of my love for video game history and speculative video game history.

Whoops, forgot to include one of the comments Raymond replied to.

Also, anecdotally, I remember another place that Raymond Larabie made another post somewhere discussing Quarentine. I think it was at MobyGames, but I can't find where it was. I recall him mentioning a cheat code to make the taxi customers nude and giving a shout-out to Hard Rock Cab, the JP PS1 version.

I'm back with more. Since I got no answer to my past question on if the Dev replies should be included, I have concluded that it doesn't matter and I might as well. And Ross has been alluding to a Game Dungeon follow-up for a bit, so I figure this was now or possibly never. First off, here's the Christian Boutin reply that he later deleted. Lost media here folks. And for good measure, here's later replies he did: I think the main takeaway here is that Christen is pretty chill and cool. And here's Raymond Larabie: (older screenshots mixed in because either the original comment got deleted or has no profile pic now, or some other reason) (this one may have been a reply to an additional comment? I dunno) (I feel you could use this as a valid excuse to cheat the timers in this game) ...Honestly, there's a solid chance he could come back and offer some replies in the future. Lastly, here's that clipped Harry Buster comment from before, in full glory. Not sure this counts as a dev comment, but bizarrojerry has a lot of knowledge. Now, there's 26 Game Dungeons since Harry Buster that could have dev comments, but I might have to bow out, at least for now. I mean I'm super behind on Game Dungeon as it is. Hopefully, Ross or anyone else can get some enjoyment/use from any of all this.

Man... when I say I'll do something and not do it, its whatever, I recognize that I didn't screw things up massively, I'm just one guy. Even though I didn't follow through on reporting the Crew to the FCC or the DGCCRF with the copy I bought even though I said I would, I recognize I wasn't gonna effect the FCC's silence on this nor make the DGCCRF act a single day faster. I still feel a tad guilty about it, and I still might one day do it for whatever reason, but I was just a single drop that wasn't missed. But when a massive corporation says they'll do something and then not do it... that is so so SO much worse and frustrating. It almost makes whatever sympathizes they have for the campaign meaningless. You had so much power to actually do something about this thing you claim to care about, and yet you chose not to. Are you actually on our side? Or are you just calling up anyone with a pulse? Can't ignore the possibility. Is there a way I can send a formal compliant to GOG or Heineken? Even with all I've said, I'll still take their word for it that they care, but I really want to say to them how disappointed I am in their actions. I am far more likely to be cordial and polite to them then any mail I send to a politician asking them to do something. Anyway, I'm surprised that you didn't mention the update on the two guys from California's lawsuit against Ubisoft and Ubisoft's response. I guess it would just be relaying the news, but it still feels odd not to mention it and give your thoughts.

Hey, I noticed today that there aren't any subtitles on this video yet. Are those coming soon? I would also prioritize getting subtitles in multiple languages.

Personally, whenever I see a scantily-clad women in an fantasy game like this, I go, "okay, so where's the speedos and loincloths and and thongs and precisely cut armor to show off pecs and abs for the guys?" I mean, why not? Might as well keep it consistent.

I think the reason people are comparing Galaxy to Steam is because the way they use Steam is basically as a hub to access, manage, and control all the gaming they ever do on a PC, all in one convenient hub. And people DO find it convenient, I feel that's just been proven empirically. ...Of course, to counter this, you already have an convenient hub to access everything gaming-wise on your PC - it's called Windows. That's one of the primary reasons Windows became a thing in the first place - a hub to access and manage all your programs without dealing with DOS. Maybe the proliferation of all these gaming launcher apps more so speaks to the Windows UI and structure being just so unwieldly and unoptimal that using such programs is an upgrade over doing it only through Windows. For the record, I try to mainly buy through GOG when I do digital as well, and also have never used Galaxy and just stuck to the individual files. Still, my PC is an unorganized mess, so hoping into a game is arguably quicker on Steam for me than trying to find the shortcut or going to the file in Windows Explorer. But I feel like I can do better, and maybe I can avoid succumbing to Galaxy if I just clean things up. Anyway, those are just my random thoughts. To try to go back to The Crew, a thought I've also had: does Ross's survey include used sales or even Steam code sales from third-party sites? Or is it just people who bought new or bought digital directly, because those will pack the most punch? I'm actually thinking of buying The Crew perhaps soon via one of those methods, for if nothing else, IF the crack does emerge one day, I'll be able to take advantage of it.

If there's any such internet gaming person to contact regarding this, I think Stephanie Sterling could be a good shot. She actually promoted the "Games as a Service is Fraud" video when it first got published, very much on Ross's side concerning this issue, and when dealing with that Digital Homicide guy, she actually talked to and paid a REAL lawyer. Granted, she did said it was pretty expensive, but the experience at least could be invaluable. Or not. Who knows. In other news, on that Steam Discussion board Ross showed, someone actually found a German gaming website article that discussed the video, and outlined what Ross's intentions and instructions were. https://www.play3.de/2024/01/23/the-crew-eine-rechtliche-grauzone-abschaltung-der-server-koennte-klage-nach-sich-ziehen/ ...Maybe someone should add German subtitles to the video?

Beat me to it, good on you. I was taking way too long to do so. And I never would have made it look this nice. There are some stuff I want to add to this though. First off, Revenant got a Dev comment too (under the Part 2 video), Ben Cooley: And there's an additional part to Christian Boutin's comment, in a reply to himself: I also have some misc. comments that are pretty closely related to the concept of the devs replying, but not close enough to really want to add the pictures. But I'll mention them anyway. * There's a dev (Michael Pohoreski) on Need for Speed 1 (PSX version) in the comments of Test Drive 3, since the same team that made NfS1 made Test Drive 1 and 2... but they didn't say they worked on Test Drive 3. * Someone in the Helious comments section claims to be Sean Puckett's child. She will not confirm nor deny Sean Puckett being an alien clone. * Lastly two people claim they got in touch with the devs of CarnEvil. They seemed to really liked their work on the game and at least one expressed wanting to do a sequel or a remake, but the game has a lot of legal issues wrapped up in it. Genuine question: should any replies from the devs in their own comment thread be added to this? Raymond Larabie has talked a LOT in his thread about the game and its development, and honestly its a treasure trove of information. But at the same time, it's not exactly a response to the Game Dungeon or anything Ross said, they're replies to other people. BUT, on the other hand, if the Cyril Cyberpunk interview is anything to go by, Ross loves hearing about the kind of stuff Raymond's talking about. So, maybe it could go in the Quarantine forum topic? Or is fine being added here and there are no rules? Christian Boutin also replied to two other people in his comment thread (one of them he later deleted), and both of them I find amusing, but I have the same question for those parts. That's all I got for now, will check in later if I can summon up the will to add anything more.

Okay, I didn't know that Ross said "try again", but I haven't watched all of them, not even close. So enormous thank you for that, it's nice to know that officially you can try again, even if it's probably self-evident that you can. My original question, however, was not even close to that scenario. Basically, what I was asking was if it was appropriate, in the same reddit thread, to first ask a question, delete the post with the question for whatever reason (but mainly because the original got downvoted), and then ask the same question in the same reddit thread but maybe phrased better, with the word fat trimmed (which works under the assumption that was the reason for the downvoting). I mean, as demonstrated by my first post here, I can mess up communicating in text. I mean, now that I know that trying again is completely official, I won't even bother doing that and just ask it again next time. But I was not doing the scenario you suggested, that would definitely be subterfuge. I'm basically just overly worried that anything else I could do looks like subterfuge.

I guess I might as well ask another question: is it also socially acceptable in terms of these Videochat Questions to ask the same question across multiple months, if the previous times it didn't get enough votes to be considered? Maybe wording it better so that your point is better communicated? I mean, after the 5th time you should obviously go "it's not happening, time to retire this question" but what about just 2 or 3 times? *And I guess to be more specific, when I say "socially accetable" I more mean "will I look annoying?"

I more meant is it proper social edicate. Like will I look rude or look flaky or look like I'm trying to slip something by someone?