Tips for first-timers?

[Semi-Happy Partygoer]

I've never played any of the GK games but have always wanted to, and I might try to make time for Sins of the Fathers soon. For those intimately familiar with it, is there anything specific I should be aware of before starting? Any DOSBox quirks or setting issues I should look out for? Also, can the game be made unwinnable?

[Rath Darkblade]

I'll leave the DOSBox quirks/technical issues to those who know of them - I, personally, am not.

There are only a couple of things you can do to make the game unwinnable, but they only happen towards day 10 (i.e. the final day of the game):

1. You can - potentially - make the game unwinnable by entering the Voodoo Hounfour in New Orleans without leaving Mosley the proper items to find you and enter after you. You can always return to the entrance and leave them - but if you go into Grace's room and you haven't left the items for Mosely, you may as well restore.

2. You can also make the game unwinnable by not picking up the disguises before you enter Grace's room. You need 2 masks and 2 robes. If you don't have those before you enter Grace's room, you may as well restore.

(Of course, you can still die in that situation if you do something stupid - but if you don't have the items mentioned above, then you're screwed no matter what you do).

As for GK2 and GK3, I don't believe there's any way to make them unwinnable. There are still ways to die, though. (After all, this is a Sierra game!)

As for your last question - i.e. "Is there anything specific I should be aware of before starting?" - well ... this is a very broad question. What do you mean, exactly? I can tell you that you play Gabriel Knight, a self-centred wannabe writer who owns an antiquarian bookstore in New Orleans. The bookstore is called St George's Books. You are trying to write a horror mystery, but you are experiencing writer's block. This is because every night, you relive the same nightmare, over and over.

Your (unpaid) assistant is a young, attractive, Japanese-American lady called Grace Nakimura, and... that's all I can say about her. She'll tell you more in the game!

Sorry, but anything more I say about the game will be a spoiler...

[Semi-Happy Partygoer]

Thanks for the advice.

By specific, I largely meant the two questions I asked afterwards (DOSBox issues or making the game unwinnable). Or, in general, just any quirks that may set it apart from other Sierra titles. I'll be perusing the GOG manual scan as well.

[Tawmis]

Thanks for the advice.

By specific, I largely meant the two questions I asked afterwards (DOSBox issues or making the game unwinnable). Or, in general, just any quirks that may set it apart from other Sierra titles. I'll be perusing the GOG manual scan as well.

Treat it like every Sierra game. Talk to EVERYONE. Look at EVERYTHING. Doing this should give you all the things (including clues) to get the most out of it. I am sure, since Rath named some - that there are ways to make the game unwinnable - but I've played GK1 (especially) more than several times and always managed to complete it.

[BBP]

It's one of the finest games around, you cannot get stuck until the final chapter (and by then it's very clear that you're in the danger zone and the game strongly implies there is something missing). Game runs well in DOSBox unless you use an outdated computer like yours truly.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the game! I'm sure many of us wish we could play the GKs again for the first time.

[Rath Darkblade]

BBP is right! I remember GK1 for the first time and being impressed by it, and being scared by Dr John's snake attacking me and the zombies in the mound. I also remember playing and re-playing the hounfour scenes, just to see what would happen if I did something stupid.

Yes, please let us know your thoughts on the game.

By the way - are you considering the original or the more recent remake? The remake is, clearly, more expensive and a larger download, but it also looks nicer (obviously) and adds some more puzzles (although, largely, it's the same game).

What do the rest of you think on the "original-vs-remake" question? Curious Rath is Curious...

[Semi-Happy Partygoer]

I'll be playing the original, when I make time to get to it (which hopefully will be soon). And saving your game just to try something stupid is half the fun! God, the number of times as a kid that I had Laura Bow walk out into the street to get run over...I lost count

I don't mind video game remakes that much, especially if it's done in the "retro" style to help introduce modern gamers to 3rd person point-and-click interfaces. I think it's wonderful that there are titles from that era which can still spawn interest, so anything to keep their legacy alive is good in my books.

I'd love to see more IPs wind up in the hands of those willing to do something with them. Much more preferable than companies who hoard the rights, preventing others from helping to preserve interest, yet refuse to do anything with the property themselves.