Realms of the Haunting now available at GOG.

Cam said:

I think I know why it is relatively unknown. It was marketed as a cheap FPS (FPS were very big back then, as it was around the days of Doom. Everyone was churning out shooters of some description and the market share of such things was perceived as enormous) whereas it was an action/adventure in the vein of System Shock (albeit in a Gothic Horror way). As a result the shooter fans who bought RotH didn't get what they wanted and the action/adventure fans weren't aware that it existed. I actually e-mailed the Dev's about this as RotH was such a great game it made me sad to see it doing badly over such a mistake/misrepresentation, and they acknowledged I was probably on the right track in my analysis but it was out of their hands (publisher decision, as usual).

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I could not agree more. I was playing Unreal (not UT '99) back then and saw RotH on the shelf at Hastings; picked it up and haven't regretted it to this day. I didn't finish back then but I imagine I will this go-around. Very cool story, much attention to detail, etc etc.

JDR13 said:

For me, the controls were the worst thing about RotH. It didn't take me long to get accustomed to the visuals, but I never really felt comfortable with the way it handled, especially in combat.

Atmosphere was great though, and it had some really good puzzles as well, especially towards the end of the game. It was a worthwhile experience for me, despite not having any nostalgic memories of playing it in the past.

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Indeed. The graphics; I was over that in a few shakes. Controls? Not so much. They are horrible. Strafe would solve a large portion of my complaint.

I'm a huge shooter fan, was even more so back then, but I had never even heard of RotH when I ran into the demo which was on a magazine cover disk. Popped it in, installed, started to play - and still sat transfixed in front of my monitor hours later after I had finished the demo.
First thing I did the next day was run to the nearest e-store and buy a copy. And man, it was a treat.

The effect was similar when I decided to finally have a look at the game hubby had received for his birthday and never even unpacked. It had stood on his shelf for months ... 'twas a game called 'Thief' . I was addicted the moment I had started to play.

RotH I probably finished 50ish percent of and I don't remember why I never pushed on.

Thief, ugh, I have to hang my head in shame there. I went on a marathon on that game the very first play through. Made it all the way to the end hell/chaos level and didn't ever finish that one level to complete the game. I still very much regret that. I know "everybody" bagged and hated on the undead levels but I can vividly recall the joy/terror (how's that work???) from playing the over-run / decayed city and the cathedral especially. Could never get into Thief II because it just wasn't the same to me. Good, good memories of Thief.

I need to resolve myself to finish RotH this time around, think I'll keep a notebook proper for it just in case I get pulled away on work for an extended period of time so I can get back up to speed quickly. Does anybody have a guess at how many hours, roughly, a play through of RotH is?

Then I'll see if I have better luck with Thief. I hear there is a high res texture pack out for it and that if you bind it to one CPU you can play it on modern Windows.

Cthulhufan said:

I need to resolve myself to finish RotH this time around, think I'll keep a notebook proper for it just in case I get pulled away on work for an extended period of time so I can get back up to speed quickly. Does anybody have a guess at how many hours, roughly, a play through of RotH is?

Then I'll see if I have better luck with Thief. I hear there is a high res texture pack out for it and that if you bind it to one CPU you can play it on modern Windows.

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I played through RotH in about a week, but I couldn't say exactly how many hours it took. I also used one of the many on-line walkthoughs to help me in certain spots.

Here's a great forum for discussion about the Thief games, and tips on running them on modern systems. http://www.ttlg.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=65

For RotH, a working person's week with a walkthrough is realistic IMO, though having played it before will definitely speed up things. Especially in the latter, puzzle-heavier part of the game - you might finish it in three evenings if you know exactly what to do, and how to do it.
Sheesh, I still remember thinking I was about done when I had reached the clock room . But finishing that just meant finishing the biggest part of Heled, and then level travelling started ...


I loved the second Thief game even more than the first ... that one I bought for myself shortly after I had finished hubby's game (yes, it had been standing on his shelf THAT long). The Children of Karras are among my favorite hostile mobs of all times.
I think I replayed T2 for the last time when I still had Vista, but I think I checked it under Win7. T3 isn't compatible with 64 bit Win7, but T2 was IIRC.

You must stop! I already have a huge backlog of games, but this is too tempting now.

Also it's making me want to revisit Undying. Another great horror first person game.

skavenhorde said:

You must stop! I already have a huge backlog of games, but this is too tempting now.

Also it's making me want to revisit Undying. Another great horror first person game.

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NOOOOOO! Undying is yet another *awesome* game that I want to see on GoG. Yet another fantastic game and it's lovecraftian too! Stop talking (puts fingers in ears) "La La La La La, I can't hear you!".

Ah, Undying. The only real spiritual successor of RotH ... replayed it only recently. Undying's Oneiros and RotH's Tower = long lost twins. And both games had nice story twists. And a great atmosphere. Though I still think that RotH's undead cyborgs > Undying's werewolves .

Hrm, multiquote not working; manual it is then

JDR13 said:

I played through RotH in about a week, but I couldn't say exactly how many hours it took. I also used one of the many on-line walkthoughs to help me in certain spots.

Here's a great forum for discussion about the Thief games, and tips on running them on modern systems. http://www.ttlg.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=65

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That's Pimp, thank you very much. I had many issues last time I tried to give Thief a go on Windows 7.

Jaz said:

I loved the second Thief game even more than the first … that one I bought for myself shortly after I had finished hubby's game (yes, it had been standing on his shelf THAT long). The Children of Karras are among my favorite hostile mobs of all times.
I think I replayed T2 for the last time when I still had Vista, but I think I checked it under Win7. T3 isn't compatible with 64 bit Win7, but T2 was IIRC.

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Alright, now, I'm not looking down on anybody that enjoyed Thief II as they, obviously, got something right. To my knowledge it is the Apex of "First Person Sneaker". I'm just totally a geek about ruined cities / buildings over-run with the undead So I liked the first one better.

Jaz said:

Ah, Undying. The only real spiritual successor of RotH … replayed it only recently. Undying's Oneiros and RotH's Tower = long lost twins. And both games had nice story twists. And a great atmosphere. Though I still think that RotH's undead cyborgs > Undying's werewolves .

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Yep. I got stuck on Lizbeth's level and couldn't find the way back to the house to save my life. Right after I found a very well hidden power up too; it was in an old busted up house and you could hear the thing "pulsing" but couldn't see it, you had to jump down the chimney to get it. I've been looking to purchase this game for some time as I only have a warez copy but I'll be hanged if I'll spend $80 US FRN on the thing…. Please, GoG, release this

This is good stuff, folks, I hope somebody somewhere is paying attention; these are games worth playing.

--James

Cthulhufan, do you have an Ebay account?

I just checked, and there's copies galore of Undying on Ebay. Here's a UK vendor selling new copies for $7.99 + $3.99 shipping. It's a budget version (DVD case, no manual) but who cares?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CLIVE-BARKE...0421?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item5d269de4a5

Alright then. I do not have a pay pal account but i *did* manage tor find it on Amazon marketplace for $13.00 US FRN.

Now I'm legal ;-D