SHP Forums

While we won't actually start the playthrough until September, I thought we could all use the time to acquire the game, to set it up and to make sure it runs smoothly on our brand-new, ultramodern machines. So, without further ado, I present you SHP first community playthrough, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers.



Where can I get the game?

If you don't already own Sins of the Fathers (shame on you!), there are many places where you can grab a copy. If you don't mind digital downloads, you can buy it from Gog.com. However, if you are old-fashioned and like your games to come in big fancy boxes, you can acquire a copy from Amazon or search for it on eBay.

How can I install the game?

Well, the answer to this question should be pretty straight-forward. Why, use one the Mighty Collector's installers! You can find it here and, trust me, it works like a charm. With it, you should be able to install the game and run it flawlessly. Should you encounter some problems, though, I'm sure Collector will be glad to help you sort them out.

Is there anything else I should do before starting the playthrough?

No, nothing else. However, if you'd like, you can find yourself a copy of Jane Jensen's novelization of the first game (unlike the second novel, it's pretty to easy to get it, both on eBay and Amazon). It adds many fascinating little details to Gabriel's world and it could be an interesting read before or during the playthrough. Sierra also published a wonderful hint book for the game but it's incredibly rare, at least to my knowledge. If you find an opportunity to get it, though, don't think twice. While not rich and detailed as the hint books for the other two games, it will be a wonderful addition to your GK collection.

So, that's it! Let's install the game!

So how does this community play-through work? I was under the impression that community play-throughs are streamed online so everyone can talk about the game while one person plays.

No, that's not it. Here, we all play the game and comment on it while we play. For example, we could say that in the first week of September we will play GK1 Day One. A week is fairly long and accomodates the needs of those who have only an hour or so a day to dedicate to playing. Whenever you finish the chapter, you come here and post your thoughts and so do the other players. I also plan to enrich the playthrough with excerpts from Jane's first novel and the Sins of the Fathers hint book.

Indeed. Kind of like a book reading club. We did this to the entire Sierra adventure catalogue at IA and it was fantastic. I dropped out early because I just got too busy but it was a fantastic idea. Didn't know about this. Looking forward to it!

Ah, okay. All these "Let's Plays" must be ruining me. But all right - I'm in. I'll be finishing up my current game shortly anyway.

So... a day a week? If I recall, Some of the days in GK1 are over very quickly.

If we wanted to go really hardcore, we could play the game according to it's own time length where we do a day-a-day. But nah - we'll do it your way.

My GF is most of the way through Day 2 right now. She's met Malia Gedde and Magentia Moonbeam but has a few things left to do. Really a great game, not sure whether I like #1 or #2 the best.

One weird thing I've noticed using the DOSBox installer from this site. When playing the game, the little poems that appear at the bottom of the screen during each "Day" intro do NOT appear unless you have text turned on. Is this normal? I don't recall ever playing the game with text on, but I always remember those quotes appearing at the start of each day.

jujigatame wrote:One weird thing I've noticed using the DOSBox installer from this site. When playing the game, the little poems that appear at the bottom of the screen during each "Day" intro do NOT appear unless you have text turned on. Is this normal? I don't recall ever playing the game with text on, but I always remember those quotes appearing at the start of each day.

That is an aspect of the game itself. It will start a new game with the subtitles turned on by default.

Datadog wrote:If we wanted to go really hardcore, we could play the game according to it's own time length where we do a day-a-day. But nah - we'll do it your way.

Understood that you are being facetious, but we also want time to discuss the game up to the point of game play.

I've personally never beaten Gabriel Knight. I watched my dad and cousin play it when I was a kid. Seems like a great time for a playthrough, assuming I can find the time.

I'm sure we can vary the start time some to give everyone that wants join a chance to get in it, both to arrange time and to get the game up and running. I'll try to help anyone that is having trouble getting the game going, but as walkthrough director, this is Andrea's puppy.

Well the important thing is to share our opinions on the game as we play it. However, if you have to start playing right now, for fear that, come September, you may not have the time, feel free to do so. Just hold your thoughts until we all start

Thursday, I'll go away with my boyfriend for a few days but, as soon as I come back, I'll post the info about Day 1.

Collector wrote:

jujigatame wrote:One weird thing I've noticed using the DOSBox installer from this site. When playing the game, the little poems that appear at the bottom of the screen during each "Day" intro do NOT appear unless you have text turned on. Is this normal? I don't recall ever playing the game with text on, but I always remember those quotes appearing at the start of each day.

That is an aspect of the game itself. It will start a new game with the subtitles turned on by default.

Is that really how the game was originally written? It doesn't really make sense since there's no voiceover for the intro poems. I could swear I always played with voice only (no text) but always saw the intro texts anyway.

Also, while we're at it, is there any reason why the in-game movement is kind of slow in DOSBox? I've played many other Sierra titles using your installers, and none of the games of GK1's era had this sort of slowdown in movement. It seems to happen when there are multiple sprites moving onscreen at once, as if the processor just can't handle it. Maybe I should just try jacking the cycles up a bit or try another configuration change? My PC is fairly new, obviously using emulation changes things a lot but it's funny that Dragon Age runs smoother on my PC than GK1.

Is anyone else getting crackling type pops while people are talking in the game?

dotkel50 wrote:Is anyone else getting crackling type pops while people are talking in the game?

Yes I've been experiencing that as well, although it's minor enough where I was just ignoring it.