The Chosen - Now Available

Hmmm … I never got too far in my early preview copy, not far enough to write a preview. It seemed reasonably decent but not overwhelmingly great - but that was *early* … I'll have to check it out now.

i'm looking forward to getting back to it this evening. i'm on the 3rd level and the swamp is beautiful. the areas are seemless and you really feel like you are in whatever your locale you are not like a little diorama like many iso games, and one of my biggest problems with the nwn's. i can't image playing the game as a pure melee character though as the game seems far more geared toward range combat than most action rpgs. the day and night cycles are quite immersive as well as the weather effects. its not just certain level based either but changes by some pattern i'm not yet aware of as there is no in game time 'moniter'. the shrubery that rustles as you or others go through it is a nice touch too…and it makes for good hiding for the lupines who are much stronger at night.

I just posted a potential malware with the free trial and no one is concerned?

Hrms, from my experience AVG isnt bad but its one of the most prone to false positives that I've seen…So Im guessing people assumed it was that or simply missed your message.

Although whatever the case may be, its worth looking into it,.if its truly some malware/adware whatever although it wouldnt be the first company to do that it would be more than enough for me to boycott them . Nobody likes that type of business practice.. But then again it might just be a false positive as well..I suppose I'll poke around and see if I can find more about this.

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
I just posted a potential malware with the free trial and no one is concerned?

When I hear of AVG conflicting with a game I think … yawn, yet again … heck, I have helped people on the Dungeon Lords boards with that for quite a while …

The voiceovers…. worst I've ever heard I'm afraid.

good thing there's not to many of them. but in their defense this game was made by 7 or 8 people. at least their grammar is good, possibly even better than mine

Originally Posted by ToddMcF2002
The voiceovers…. worst I've ever heard I'm afraid.

I'm always hesitant to say 'worst ever' … but they aren't good

Yeah, worst ever is hard to beat, but these are forgettable at best—but as curiously says, after the first section you don't hear much voicing—maybe once an hour or so, which is a blessing.

Originally Posted by txa1265
When I hear of AVG conflicting with a game I think … yawn, yet again … heck, I have helped people on the Dungeon Lords boards with that for quite a while …

Thanks, this is the first it ever happened to me with AVG. I'm not seeing any other site report a problem, but then, it just came out and its not too popular a game (yet?).

But if false positives are a problem with AVG is it like crying wolf then? What happens if a real problem occurs?

And as for finding problems with Dungeon Lord's, is it giving the message "bad game detected. do you wish to keep installing?"

Downloaded the trial and gave it a go. Nice looking game, the town at the start is extremely atmospheric, and I quite like the setting. The sound and music works nicely as well. The mouse-only controls are irritating, as is the fixed angle camera. The zoom doesn't help much at all seeing as the angle of view cannot be altered. I kept wanting to swing the camera down and look at things in an over-the-shoulder third person perspective.
The angle in essence isn't that bad, but seeing as I was playing the Hunter character, I really wanted to see what was coming sooner than the fixed angle allows for, and with the graphics being so nice I wanted to be in closer, which I think would've made it a lot more immersive and engaging, even though it's just an action hack and slasher.
But the controls did kill it for me, the repeated clicking on a target to shoot it just annoyed the heck out of me, I hate that style of combat control as I just end up running my character all over the place which is silly.

And the voice acting is grim indeed. The NPCs aren't too terrible, those ones are passable (this still isn't as bad as the Seal Of Evil voice acting!). But the narrator deserves particular mention - he actually sounds like a parody, and makes me think of this guy.

Gallifrey, that IS the guy, I'm sure. He gets more cryptic and in love with himself as you go along—again, fortunately, he isn't around too much.
BTW, have you messed around with the camera options? I'm using mousescroll at the screen edges and it's not too bad. Holding down shift while you shoot will keep your char stationery. I'm playing the mage, so I had the same issues til I changed the camera. You can also use the mousewheel to rotate instead of zoom, if you want. It is awkward sometimes though no matter what you do..still I'm having fun with it. It's getting a bit harder in the second act.

gallifrey the camera angle isn't fixed. try using the wasd. it actually has the most free camera i can think of. also the mouse scrool is used for zooming in and out. it takes a bit to get use to and every time i load it up i have to remember the logistics of it all but i love being able to see the action from any angle and with the ease of the spacebar as pause its rather fun. haven't had a chance to play since wed but hopefully this weekend i can have a good go at it. i'm not sure how much the trial lets you play, but

and speaking of crying wolf. every time i hear those words i think of this jam by the amazing lisa germano.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IxgZlYQFng

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
But if false positives are a problem with AVG is it like crying wolf then? What happens if a real problem occurs?

I dunno … I use Norton and never have an issue but always seem to hear about AVG borking games.

hey gallifrey is that the guy from kids in the hall?

also i'm a dumkov. mousewheel does the same as a and d it spins the camera on a horizontal plane. its q and e that do the zooming. also the x key is handy if you get in a pinch and get cluttered as it quickly zooms out to the default iso angle but keeps it at whatever bearing you were facing. and yes the shift key is highly useful as well. so have all those keys easily accesible with the left hand makes things quite nice, and being as you can pull up the skills, inventory, and spells with the mouse you can keep your right hand entirely on the mouse forever. personaly i've found a mid zoom level with an oblique iso view (about 30 degrees) to be the most balanced as you can see nearly all that is in front of you but still see what's going around you as well.

Yep, that's Kevin McDonald as Simon from Kids In The Hall!

I was wondering what you were talking about regarding the any angle view.. All I can get is zoom levels and rotation, but the angle of view (top-ish down) doesn't change. That view is fine for party control games but for one character, it just annoys me.
Maybe I'll give it another go, but the trial is only for one hour, so I don't know if that's one hour time played or one hour from point of activation regardless of actual time played. If it's the latter I won't be able to give it another go. I'll check.

Tried the demo, and it was awful.

Average graphics with subpar animations, beyond horrible voice acting, obviously weak skill trees with very few paths and very few exciting skills. To me, the core of any hack and slash game like this is the diversity and depth of the characters, as well as the overall feel of the game. Both were tremendously underwhelming aspects of the demo, so I don't think this is for me.

Ok, gave it another go and liked it better. I didn't realise that the camera was that adjustable, so the better angles definitely help a lot.

I just finished up the zombie killing, and I have to say, that once I got a gun it was a lot more entertaining to be running around blasting zombies in a run-down foggy village at night with a shotgun!

I wrote a short preview of the game a year ago, if anyone's interested: http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=266546

I had high hopes for Frater / The Chosen, but unfortunately the full version turned out to be a bit too repetitive.

Originally Posted by txa1265
I dunno … I use Norton and never have an issue but always seem to hear about AVG borking games.

I stopped using Norton's ever since it ate my hard drive. See the Free Programs thread in the tech forums if it ever does to you and you need to get it back.

Also, Norton's and McAfees being so popular get into legal issues with companies that are semi-legit and they plug their holes. You'll sometimes find mal-ware being ignored with an explanation on their website concerning it. Usually its over "pc-anywhere/vnc" type applications that take advantage of a security hole in Windows. Fortunately, MS tends to fill it shortly after its made known.

Originally Posted by Gallifrey
Yep, that's Kevin McDonald as Simon from Kids In The Hall!

That guy is hilarious. He did a number of cartoon voices in Canada too. He's one of the few comedians that didn't get old on that show.

I might check it out just to hear his voice.