Runaway: A Road Adventure

[Rath Darkblade]

Has anyone here played Runaway: A Road Adventure or the sequel? *smile* I have both and, I must say, they're very good as far as recent forays go in the adventure game market. The games market in general has been saturated with rubbish for quite some time now, but I thought that those two really deserve a thumbs up. The graphics are a little cartoonish, but not overly so; think of Monkey Island, but a little more grown-up. There's plenty of good humour, too, which - again - is reminiscent of Monkey Island.

The original game was developed in Spain in 2001 and was very big in France, Holland, and Germany - apparently the adventure game genre is still very much alive on the Continent - and from there it was exported to the UK and USA. The second game was developed in 2007, and ended with a cliffhanger, which I thought was a little unfair, but I definitely enjoyed the ride... The third game, which would resolve the cliffhanger (oh, I hope... *crosses fingers*) is apparently due to be released in 2009. This is one game that I am definitely looking forward to! *smile*

If you want more details, I'm sure Wikipedia can tell you a lot more than I can, and I wouldn't want to C&P the whole article on it here anyway. *grin*

So if you haven't seen it yet, try it out. If any computer games shops still have the original, it would probably be in the bargain bins so it wouldn't cost too much. I found it in EB for about $10, and snapped it up - so it shouldn't cost much more than that if you happen to find this little under-hyped gem.

[Jennifer]

I picked up the second one for $8 a while ago, but I haven't even thought about playing yet because I want to play the original first. I'm not willing to pay the premium prices around here though, so it may be a wait.

[DeadPoolX]

I've played it and while the story wasn't terrible, many of the puzzles employed were horrendous. There was no logic in them at all and quite often I found myself having to perform ridiculous things, none of which would work in a real life setting (which this game is in).

I haven't tried the sequel, but then again, I have no urge to do so. I didn't like the first game enough to purchase the second one and I've heard it might have StarForce in it.

[Collector]

I've heard it might have StarForce in it.

You can always get a "NoCD" patched EXE to protect your PC, but that means that the company selling a game with StarForce is still making money. I prefer to boycott such companies. In most cases a simple CD check is sufficient for copy protection. Either scheme is easy to break and both are as effective in preventing pirating. The main difference is a CD check will not break the PC of a legitimate customer.

[DeadPoolX]

I've heard it might have StarForce in it.

You can always get a "NoCD" patched EXE to protect your PC, but that means that the company selling a game with StarForce is still making money. I prefer to boycott such companies. In most cases a simple CD check is sufficient for copy protection. Either scheme is easy to break and both are as effective in preventing pirating. The main difference is a CD check will not break the PC of a legitimate customer.

What really surprises me is that some companies feel Adventure Games are enough of a risk to warrant such measures. Compared to almost every other genre out there -- with the possible exception of Mecha and Flight Sims -- the Adventure Game has become a rare sight.

[Collector]

Certainly on this side of the globe. They do seem to have a higher prominence in Europe, but even there, not to the degree of some of the action /RPGs here.

BTW, DPX, where does your avatar come from?

[Rath Darkblade]

I've played it and while the story wasn't terrible, many of the puzzles employed were horrendous. There was no logic in them at all and quite often I found myself having to perform ridiculous things, none of which would work in a real life setting (which this game is in).

I haven't tried the sequel, but then again, I have no urge to do so. I didn't like the first game enough to purchase the second one and I've heard it might have StarForce in it.

What is StarForce? *puzzled*

I thought the ridiculous things you had to do were actually sometimes amusing in their silliness. It was obvious that the game didn't take itself too seriously. I mean, using lipstick as ammunition for an airplane elephant graveyard? *ROFL*

[Collector]

What is StarForce? *puzzled*

http://www.glop.org/starforce/

[DeadPoolX]

.BTW, DPX, where does your avatar come from?

From an old online program I use to run back in the early 90s. It was called The Sierra Network (TSN) and when Sierra sold it to AT&T, the name was changed to The ImagiNation Network (INN) instead.

Eventually, the entire thing was bought by AOL and they shut it down. That was a bit disappointing, since I had been on TSN/INN from the very beginning.

You could make graphical avatars for yourself (such as I did here) from within the program and you could have 10 characters. The online world of TSN/INN was designed to be somewhat cartoony and whimsical (the main screen changed its look depending on what season it was) and everything had a "small town" feel to it. For instance, if you wished to send e-mail, you'd click on the post office.

TSN/INN added new "lands" as time went on, such as SierraLand (designed to look like a theme park and your avatars were all children), MedievaLand (all avatars were fashioned in a D&D-type theme and this area consisted of an early multiplayer RPG called The Shadows of Yserbius and later on, The Fates of Twinion) and finally, an adult-only area called LarryLand, which was renamed CasinoLand when AT&T took over (all avatars were adults and you could gamble and perform risque actions). There was supposed to be an area called The Arena added as well, but it never happened.

While TSN/INN was fun, it had some major drawbacks. With the exception of LarryLand/CasinoLand, the entire network was supposed to be "kid-friendly" so you could get in trouble with the SysOps for variation reasons. TSN/INN also used a typical payment scheme for the time, in which you were allotted a small amount of "free" hours that you paid monthly for, after which you'd be charged heavily on a per hour basis. You couldn't send e-mail outside of the network (stamps were an extra cost too) and posting boards had very limited space. You could also choose any name you wanted -- even if someone else already had it, since individuals weren't identified by their name, but their mailbox number. This led to people impersonating others (especially since you could write in someone else's mailbox).

I thought the ridiculous things you had to do were actually sometimes amusing in their silliness. It was obvious that the game didn't take itself too seriously. I mean, using lipstick as ammunition for an airplane elephant graveyard? *ROFL*

It's things like that which turned me off. I realize it's supposed to be silly to some degree, but at times it was simply stupid. One of my major pet peeves is when a game -- any genre, not just Adventure -- uses completely illogical means to get its point across. Unfortunately, the Adventure genre is massively guilty of this.

[Jules]

TSN came as a demo on our old Tandy and we'd always play around with the face maker. Ahh memories.

[DeadPoolX]

TSN came as a demo on our old Tandy and we'd always play around with the face maker. Ahh memories.

I originally got it as a demo as well and found it in Aces of the Pacific, a WWII Flight Sim from Dynamix.

[Rath Darkblade]

What is StarForce? *puzzled*

http://www.glop.org/starforce/

AGH! *has a heart attack* I have a feeling that my computer just might have either this or some other problem... my DVD-ROM drive has been behaving very strangely for some weeks now. When I press the DVD-eject button, the drive sometimes refuses to open; this happens several times in a row, and then it finally opens (although there's never a CD/DVD in the drive when it does this; if there is a CD/DVD in the drive, it always ejects without trouble).

Then again, this computer I'm using is nearly 4 years old now, so maybe it's just time for a new DVD-drive, and I'm just being healthily paranoid... *shrug*

Can I check whether I have this StarForce driver (or some other similar driver), and if so, how? *blush*

[Collector]

Try this.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmmm. I think it may actually just be an old drive causing me all this trouble... after all, it's already nearly 4 years old. Maybe I just need a replacement drive... *shrug* Oh well.