Mystery GOG countdown (now general GOG discussion)

[baelthazar]

Facebook Clue: Where history overlaps with the present time.

Intriguing.  As the kid who becomes the Avatar, do you actually go back in time when you go to Britannia?

Ultima 2 had time travel along different moon gates.

Ultima 4 had the karma system.

So the two clues sorta fit.

Really, I swear ToEE had the reformat bug too... and I also remember how much the game sucked. Particularly how I couldn't kill the first monsters in the dungeon due to poor pathfinding and brutal difficulty.

[Suitably Ironic Moniker]

Looking through a list on Atari's site of all known bugs for ToEE, I don't see any mention of the "reformat" problem. PoR2 was the culprit for that one. I always enjoyed ToEE for what it was, which was a fun and strategic dungeon crawl. It seems like some people were expecting the next Baldur's Gate, but everything I had read prior to release pointed at it being more limited in scope and I wasn't disappointed.

As ofr the announcement, I have all of the Ultimas on cd-rom, but I would love to get a crack at the rest of Origin's catalogue.

[Daehawk]

Time in the Ultimas does sorta involve time travel. See for every year in the real game world something like 100 or 50 pass in the Ultima lands. So in like Ultima 7 200 years had passed or some such. yet people were still alive there. Shrug.

[CeeKay]

Time in the Ultimas does sorta involve time travel. See for every year in the real game world something like 100 or 50 pass in the Ultima lands. So in like Ultima 7 200 years had passed or some such. yet people were still alive there. Shrug.

time moves more quicker in Britannia than it does the real world, but the ones who don't die from old age aren't from Britannia originally.

[Bullwinkle]

Aren't you a modern day kid in Ultima IV, and the red face calls out from the computer to call you to Brittania (which is medieval in its setting)?

[Kevin Grey]

Aren't you a modern day kid in Ultima IV, and the red face calls out from the computer to call you to Brittania (which is medieval in its setting)?

Red Face is Ultima 7.  But, yes, in the Ultima games you are being called into the fantasy world of Brittania.  However I don't think it's ever indicated that Brittania is historical.  It's more akin to being a modern kid and being sucked into Tolkein's world or something. 

[hepcat]

unexcelled...excel...spreadsheets....game based entirely on spreadsheets...

IT'S MASTER OF ORION 3!

[CeeKay]

unexcelled...excel...spreadsheets....game based entirely on spreadsheets...

IT'S MASTER OF ORION 3!

so the guys at GOG are just going to show up and crap on our keyboards then?

[Huw the Poo]

There was another clue posted, something about two different characters that complement each other well.  Consensus on the GOG forum is still EA or Activision.

[CeeKay]

There was another clue posted, something about two different characters that complement each other well.  Consensus on the GOG forum is still EA or Activision.

the Avatar and the Guardian complimented each other.....

[stimpy]

They are two different characters, but they complement each other beautifully.

[Farscry]

Really, I swear ToEE had the reformat bug too... and I also remember how much the game sucked. Particularly how I couldn't kill the first monsters in the dungeon due to poor pathfinding and brutal difficulty.

Pathfinding? Why would you have trouble with pathfinding, when you could literally plan out almost every step your characters took in combat?

The degree of fine control over your party in TOEE during combat was one of the best things about the game compared to previous D&D pc games of that general style.

[Huw the Poo]

Next clue:

A messenger is not named for a soldier, but precedes one.

[EddieA]

Next clue:

A messenger is not named for a soldier, but precedes one.

Messenger = Mercury
Soldier = Mars

Mercury + Mars = M&M's - They got the M&M's game license!

[jersoc]

OMG DOOM ONE

[CeeKay]

off of Facebook:

Clueing you in. Within the confines of Ohio.

and then:

Or let's take it a step farther: Ohio's secret place.

[jersoc]

having been to ohio, i'm sticking with doom one.

[CeeKay]

and there is an Arcanum Ohio.  I swear, if it's Troika this will be the worse countdown since Lucarts revealing Lucidity.

[Huw the Poo]

Yeah, according to some of the GOG forum guys, Arcanum, Ohio is nicknamed "Ohio's secret place" too.  However, people have been guessing at Arcanum for ages now and the GOG staffers have been keeping a very close eye on everything.  To be strongly hinting at Arcanum, now, must either be another misdirection or Arcanum is simply a small part of the larger reveal.

My head is hurting from trying to follow it all.  I'm just going to sit back and wait for the announcement.  I have an alarm set on my phone and everything!

[Daehawk]

NOLF?

[CeeKay]

NOLF?

NOLF2 was the one with the trailer park level set in Ohio.

and it was published by Sierra.

who also published Arcanum.

I'm thinking Bael is right about it being the Sierra catalog.

[EddieA]

The first line of Arcanum, OH's web site is "Welcome to the village community of Arcanum Ohio, a secret place", so that must be what that clue is referring to.

[Zero]

and there is an Arcanum Ohio.  I swear, if it's Troika this will be the worse countdown since Lucarts revealing Lucidity.

This is going to be a big let down....all the tension and build up, to poof...not much

[Razgon]

I think its an XBLA X-wing vs Tie fighter with updated graphics and 256 players online games....

[hepcat]

having been to ohio, i'm sticking with doom one.

 

[baelthazar]

The first line of Arcanum, OH's web site is "Welcome to the village community of Arcanum Ohio, a secret place", so that must be what that clue is referring to.

Well this is starting to look teh suck. I have Arcanum already, and I'm not a huge fan of it. The other Troika games are "meh" (and Fallout is already available).

BUT, and this is my hope... maybe it will be Sierra in general.

Something we missed - Ultima II WAS published by Sierra On-Line. Ultima II also has time travel (where history meets the present day).

Of course the two characters that compliment each other could be D&D (and thus ToEE, which, I must have totally forgotten and so mixed up with Pools of Radiance that I can't even differentiate the two).

I just can't believe that Arcanum would require a countdown when Fallout did not. It HAS to be bigger...

SoM

[Huw the Poo]

I just can't believe that Arcanum would require a countdown when Fallout did not. It HAS to be bigger...

Yeah, it will be bigger.  Some of the smart money on the GOG forum is on Sierra.  It's probably not EA/Activision because the GOG staffers claim it's something that hasn't been guessed often.

[Farscry]

I think its an XBLA X-wing vs Tie fighter with updated graphics and 256 players online games....

Don't tempt me, Frodo!

[EddieA]

I think there's a very good chance it's Sierra.  Their games were removed from Gametap earlier this year, and someone at NeoGAF said the "messenger and soldier" clue could refer to Gabriel Knight.  There's no way they'd do a countdown just for Arcanum, and several of the clues don't fit that game.

[Huw the Poo]

12 hours and counting!  I hope it isn't a busy day in work tomorrow...

[baelthazar]

It IS Sierra then! I didn't get the messenger and soldier clue, but that makes perfect sense. Gabriel is the messenger of God and Knight is obviously a soldier.

I think people cracked it then!

But I'm not sure the "Expect the Unexcelled" part. Sure, Ultima 1 and 2 were Sierra, but that seems out of place.

And the Return to Karmic Awareness? Perhaps a "Quest" for "Glory?" Loads of Sierra adventures used a "karma" like system, but I'm not sure.

Also not sure about the two characters clue. How does that relate to Sierra.

The only major problem with this is that they ALREADY have Sierra games on GoG. Lords of the Realm and Lords of Magic, most notably. I would love to see games like Birthright, and the Zeus series. I'm always game for easy to install and play Quest for Glory - my copy of the collection requires herculean effort to get the QfG IV to play.

SoM

[Huw the Poo]

The only major problem with this is that they ALREADY have Sierra games on GoG.

It could be that they've quietly acquired the rights to publish all (or as much as practical) of Sierra's catalogue, which is huge and would certainly justify the countdown.  From looking at the GOG staffers' reactions to all the guessing over the last few days, at this point I think they're just being deliberately vague with their clues and comments.  I think that unless it is Sierra, the big surprise really will be a surprise to most people.  It's worth reviewing the enormo-thread on the GOG forum though, because unless the staff are messing with us, some people have already guessed it.

11 hours, 20 minutes to go!

[Daehawk]

Maybe now we can get a working copy of Soft Porn.

[morlac]

But I'm not sure the "Expect the Unexcelled" part. Sure, Ultima 1 and 2 were Sierra, but that seems out of place.

Not sure why but I keep coming back to Space Quest for the 'Expect the Unexcelled' hint.

[Laner]

I just can't believe that Arcanum would require a countdown when Fallout did not.

Weren't Fallout 1 & 2 "launch titles"?

I don't think it's Arcanum either... I'm just sayin'...

[baelthazar]

Well... according to CNet... it IS Arcanum, and Gabriel Knight. But it is BETTER than that, because it will be a long set of Activision games! Now... does this mean anything else, who knows? They are still being rather cryptic on the forums, despite the "scooped" news. They say it was "all part of the plan."

Bael

[Huw the Poo]

Yeah, from what I've managed to gather since getting out of bed 40 minutes ago, it seems that GOG deliberately fed the news to CNET.  Why would they do that so close to their own deadline, if they weren't holding something back?  I'm still excited about the countdown and I plan to be there in three hours to watch their server crash.

[EddieA]

It is indeed Activision.  Only Arcanum and Gabriel Knight have been revealed so far, with more coming throughout February.

[Bullwinkle]

Love Gabriel Knight, but yawn.

[Dan_Theman]

Activision does have a good stock of games, but I don't kno how many they still possess that would hold up to the test of time.  Here are a few I'm hoping for:

Starfleet Command series
Starfleet Bridge Commander
Mechwarrior 2 (doesn't currently run on 64-bit)