doctorfrog on 27/7/2006 at 09:20
NOTE: Initial post refers to a tech demo. Penumbra: Overture is now a full-fledged game for sale by some talented independent developers! Get it (
http://www.penumbra-overture.com/) here.
(http://frictionalgames.com/?q=penumbra) Penumbra - (
http://www.download.com/Penumbra/3000-7504_4-10557049.html?tag=lst-0-2) Download
Scary like Doom 3, physics like Half Life 2.* Priced like neither of them.
These guys cooked up their own 3D engine and made a horror game for it, and a damn good one at that. I mean you get these
guys on a thousand forums like this one, that go "Hay guys, lets get togethr and make a Theif 4 lolzor!!onehundredandeleven!" And then there's these fuckin'
dudes that go on and actually
do it.
(
http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/718/718272p1.html) This article has more lowdown than I can give you at this point. What I can tell you is that those cute elements from other current games are integrated, including darkness-fear, a flashlight that will die on you faster than you can sing your preferred country's national anthem, nifty shifty realtime shadows, and things that at least appear to make unique noise based on what is smacking into them. According to the article above, there are also a number of puzzles that are based on the physics model the engine employs.
Me, I'm a sucker for atmosphere more than anything, and this game has it in spades. Spades with, like, blood and bits of brain on them. So far in my five minute excursion. Ahem. It takes place in an underground bunker in the middle of Greenland. So be prepared for rust, blood, and concrete textures, and the odd swinging naked light bulb. (I haven't found one yet, but I'm positive at least one is out there.)
Works a bit choppy but decent enough at 1024x768 on my 1.6ghz Athlon and Radeon 8500/9100.
Do yourself a favor and do
not download this from GameSpy's link, as it takes you to that horror of a fileserver, FilePlanet. The true homepage up top has links to other, better mirrors.
Found via GameSpy (lucky me, I visit there for the first time in two years and I find this gem).
*I don't think there's a gravity gun, sorry.
henke on 27/7/2006 at 09:48
Their site seems to be down at the moment. How big is the download? And what kind of enemies are in it?
Sluggs on 27/7/2006 at 10:54
Downloading now...
156.8 mb
Scots Taffer on 27/7/2006 at 12:23
I'm downloading it now, I'll give it a whirl. It's free, why not?
Xenith on 27/7/2006 at 12:33
unfortunately for me, it's killing my machine :( it works choppy. I have to put it down on min graph 640x480 res and it's still kinda slow. it's playable that way, but I can't make out any kind of text from the notes - unreadable.:(
Jeshibu on 27/7/2006 at 12:42
I enjoyed what I played of it, but they'll have to fix the savegame system before I play any further.
If you get to the matrass againt the corridor wall, try to complete the game in one go, because next time that area loads, the thing won't fucking move at all (which is only annoying, but can be fixed). The thing is, some of these critical things just refuse to move after loading.
Oh, and the enemies I've encountered so far were just smelly big bats or something.
Sluggs on 27/7/2006 at 12:45
Quote Posted by Xenith
unfortunately for me, it's killing my machine :(
Yes, it's very choppy! I'll try it again next week, when i'll have a better card. \o/
Xenith on 27/7/2006 at 12:52
Quote:
Yes, it's very choppy! I'll try it again next week, when i'll have a better card.
you lucky, lucky, lucky taffer you:)
Scots Taffer on 27/7/2006 at 13:16
It runs as smooth as silk on my machine and is quite nice. Sure it doesn't have the same polish as Source or Doom III but for what it is and what it does, it's beyond impressive. I can't say there's too much atmosphere though, it's a little too quiet and there's not a lot around other than pipes and boxes. I've wandered around the first part and got the power back up, but I'm stumped beyond that - there's a broken panel, another locked panel door, a keycard door and the two bits of broken key. I didn't spend very long trying to figure out what to do though... it's late. I need to get to bed.
Sluggs on 27/7/2006 at 14:33
Actually, it's alot better now! :D
I had forgot that i was using my Geforce 5700, and not my Geforce 6200! :o
I just swapped cards back over and it's much better. The 6200 has issues with transparency in Thief, and since i'm working on some FMs, i had to use the 5700, which doesn't have transparency issuses! :rolleyes:
