Deep Shadows - Fixed: Size of the Moon @ RPS

The title refers to Rock, Paper, Shotgun's predilection for clever headlines - in this case, a piece about Deep Shadows and a line from the first patch for Boiling Point. This is actually a short, preview-ish article on White Gold and Precursors, along with a few memories from Boiling Point. It doesn't really say much about the upcoming games but I found it an entertaining read:

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while, because it just tickles me pink. If you were paying attention to PC gaming in 2005 then you’ll probably remember Deep Shadows’ spectacularly open-ended FPS, Boiling Point. It remains one of my favourite games of all time, partly because it was an astonishingly ambitious game of the kind I can’t seem to get enough of, and partly because it it was an accidental surrealist masterpiece of outlandish bugs and terrible production. Few games were as weirdly broken as Boiling Point, and there were plenty of commentators who came away with wry smiles and unhappy brains as a result.

It’s worth remembering, before we continue, that Boiling Point’s first patch had one of the most interesting bug lists of all time:
- fixed: the snake wasn’t able to bite you while you were crawling;
- fixed: size of the moon;
- fixed: posters in bar vanish as you turn away from them;
- fixed: dog does not cast shadows;
- fixed: a metal clanking sound plays, if the user’s character stabs the curtains;
- fixed: jaguar floats across screen at treetop level;
- fixed: npc die on contact with grenades, and not from the actual explosion

More information.

Oh yes, I still remember laughing out loud when reading the change list back then. As I recall I stopped playing this game waiting for the uber-patch which didn't materialize. I may be wrong but I have got the impression that White Gold actually is a polished BP.

I don't recall reading that … it is definitely the sort of thing I would have posted about somewhere … with all the more serious bugs that the game had early on, we got fixes for floating jaguars?

I found the last patch of BP to be reasonably stable, if not polished, and definitely worth playing if the game-style is to your liking (I really liked the game). I did find that turning down graphics options a good bit, even more than your rig should need, added tremendously to its stability. And there are some good tips for tweaking the game on some of the BP forums. I don't remember there being many (any?) bugs that significantly detracted from my immersion, although a few "features" certainly did.

If you have already bought BP and not played it or find it in the bargain bin, I'd suggest it's worth a play while you wait for White Gold.

I didn't finish it - found some things too hard and got frustrated with the whole civilian population trying to kill me but I really liked the atmosphere and what they were trying to achieve. Definitely on board for both White Gold and Precursors.

I couldn't stick with Boiling Point. I tried starting it a few times but it just doesn't make for a fun game. Looking forward to the next game though.