• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure |OT| Under a Mean Overseer Memorandum Directive

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
Beat the first act. So far it's absolutely fantastic. Turned out far better then Broken Age so far.
 

d1rtn4p

Member
Only about an hour in thus far, but it's amazing all-around. Feels just like playing an old Tex Murphy game brought into the modern age.
 
Played for about two hours and loved what I've seen so far. Had to stop because I was getting nauseous. Demo did the same thing to me but it was much better after I increased the field of view (I've played countless FP games throughout my life and this is maybe the second game doing this to me, weird). Anyway, I think the increased FOV gives the graphics a slightly odd look (as if seeing through a large lens) so I gave the default settings another shot; no go.

Looking forward to playing more once my headache passes. This game is just oozing with love and my initial play session has been pure bliss.

PS: Regarding the lack of gamepad support, I installed Joy To Key and after some tinkering was able to configure a pretty neat control scheme with my X360 controller.
 

astonish

Member
So whats the deal with the 2K video, should I do widescreen + 1080p + 120hz or downsample from something higher. I suppose neither framerate nor resolution are super important for the appeal of this game either way.
 

bender

What time is it?
Beat the first act. So far it's absolutely fantastic. Turned out far better then Broken Age so far.

That's good news. Broken Age is my favorite game this year which is saying a lot as I've never really enjoyed a previous Double Fine game.
 

SnowTeeth

Banned
I managed to clean up some jaggies by using the following Nvidia Inspector settings (running at 1920x1080 on a GTX 570):

- Update the Antialiasing compatibility value to 0x004000C1

- Update Antialiasing - Mode ​ to Override any application setting

- Update Antilaliasing - Setting to 16xQ [16x CSAA (8 color + 8 cv samples)]

- Update Antialiasing - Transparancy Supersampling to 8x Sparse Grid Supersampling​

- Update Texture filtering - LOD Bias to -3.0000

- Update Texture filtering - Negative LOD bias to Allow

KkzlX8W.jpg

ZX5QZjP.jpg
 

jrcbandit

Member
Played for an hour and loving it. Classic Tex with a modern touch. Glad that they gave a FOV slider, wish all games did this. Is there 5.1 sound in the game because it seems to only be coming out 2 of my speakers?

It is a little premature since I haven't played that far into the game, but from what I've seen this is the first Kickstarter game I've gotten that I've been truly satisfied with.
 
Still haven't gotten a Steam key or any other way to download the game.

Edit: Nevermind, just remember I used a different e-mail address for this.
 
So whats the deal with the 2K video, should I do widescreen + 1080p + 120hz or downsample from something higher. I suppose neither framerate nor resolution are super important for the appeal of this game either way.

I really don't know what the native 2K resolution is, I wish they would list that somewhere. But I play the game at 2560 × 1440 downsampled and it eliminates the majority of the jaggies in the FP segments on my 1080p monitor, and generally I think it looks very good for the video quality too. The default FOV seems to be 50, which is quite bad, 80 seems to be good for me.
 

Bebpo

Banned
Seems pretty solid but I hate, hate, haaaaaaate the way dialogue choices come up in this during cutscenes. I have no idea what the boxes mean half the time and you have to remember what the previous choices were and which is the new choice after picking one since they move around. Man, just total fuck up of an interface. Also don't enjoy the cutscenes being continually interrupted for the choices.

(Note, last Tex Murphy game I played was Under a Killing Moon, so maybe this how dialogues in Overseer worked?)

The first person movement around is pretty smooth and nice though.
 
I have no idea what the boxes mean half the time and you have to remember what the previous choices were and which is the new choice after picking one since they move around.

Not sure I understand that complaint. Personally I just choose whichever option seems most appropriate or to my liking given the context, whether or not that option is new doesn't seem particularly important to me.
 

Tain

Member
aaaah whatever, I decided to just jump in with this game and revisit the older ones if I like this.

I dunno if this will help you but Danganronpa is REALLY LONG. ~20+ hours? I suppose the The Tex Murphy games aren't short either.

I figured that would be the case, VLR was pretty damn long too.
 
Warning to the folks intending to play the older games after Tesla Effect; there are all kinds of small spoilers and at least one huuuuge spoiler in the form of flashback videos played when you click random objects in Tex's apartment and throughout Chandler avenue.

If you never played The Pandora Directive, definitely do not click on the green object behind Rook's pawn shop.
 

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
Played about 30 minutes earlier and loved it. Would kill for Gamepad support though.

I seriously doubt that we're getting game pad support. The developer never answers the question when asked, and they just deleted the topic on their Steam forums where people were asking about support.
 

Gorger

Member

Bebpo

Banned
13 people worked in the development team, and the game had a ~$650.000 Kickstarter budget.

Anyway, the hipster reviewers have woken up:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/05/07/tesla-effect-a-tex-murphy-adventure-review

The complaint seems to be that it's too Tex Murphy-like. The game should have had a "indie" tag on it, would be a immediate 10/10.

Seems like a review for someone never really a fan of the older games.

however

Unlike other games with similar mechanics, Tesla Effect doesn’t allow players to preview the lines they’re selecting. Rather, dialogue options are given vague titles like “Shock and Ohhhhh” and “Brightside.” It usually felt like I was choosing blindly and that, therefore, my input was meaningless,

This is exactly what I was talking about and what I really, really did not like from my initial impression starting this tonight. Everything else = great. But this just seemed like a terrible way to approach dialogue choices, especially in an adventure game which is dialogue-based in the first place.

When it says "Shock and Ohhhh" and "Danger, Stranger" and stuff like that I have no idea what it means in context of the conversation and what is going to come out of Tex's mouth if I pick that. Maybe it's not the reaction I wanted, which is annoying. While I prefer just seeing the line I'm choosing, I'm even ok with an abbreviated version (aka, emotion) it's just that the ones given are really odd and hard to understand where they're going half the time.
 

SnowTeeth

Banned
This is exactly what I was talking about and what I really, really did not like from my initial impression starting this tonight. Everything else = great. But this just seemed like a terrible way to approach dialogue choices, especially in an adventure game which is dialogue-based in the first place.

When it says "Shock and Ohhhh" and "Danger, Stranger" and stuff like that I have no idea what it means in context of the conversation and what is going to come out of Tex's mouth if I pick that. Maybe it's not the reaction I wanted, which is annoying. While I prefer just seeing the line I'm choosing, I'm even ok with an abbreviated version (aka, emotion) it's just that the ones given are really odd and hard to understand where they're going half the time.


I recall feeling the same way when I played the original Tex games (UAKM and PD) which had similarly vague descriptions when selecting dialog. I think the trick is to try and get inside Tex's head and think the way he thinks. Once I started doing that it started to make more sense. Playing the older games helps in that regard,
 
I recall feeling the same way when I played the original Tex games (UAKM and PD) which had similarly vague descriptions when selecting dialog. I think the trick is to try and get inside Tex's head and think the way he thinks. Once I started doing that it started to make more sense. Playing the older games helps in that regard,

Yeah, there's a learning curve but I feel like I've gotten a grasp of the descriptions for the most part. The trick for me is to focus on the game's sense of humor. Most of the options are basically a jokey way to describe how Tex is about to behave.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
Seems like a review for someone never really a fan of the older games.

however



This is exactly what I was talking about and what I really, really did not like from my initial impression starting this tonight. Everything else = great. But this just seemed like a terrible way to approach dialogue choices, especially in an adventure game which is dialogue-based in the first place.

When it says "Shock and Ohhhh" and "Danger, Stranger" and stuff like that I have no idea what it means in context of the conversation and what is going to come out of Tex's mouth if I pick that. Maybe it's not the reaction I wanted, which is annoying. While I prefer just seeing the line I'm choosing, I'm even ok with an abbreviated version (aka, emotion) it's just that the ones given are really odd and hard to understand where they're going half the time.

It was the same way in the older games as well. You never actually chose Tex's words, just his thought patterns. Haven't played tesla yet, but I am playing pandora now off steam and it's not much of an issue associating what tex will say based on the descriptor. I really dig it a lot, so many jokes are tied into the descriptors and the outcome, but occasionally twists occur that lead your expectations astray. It's part of the fun.

But yes if you are OCD about ensuring the outcome alas mass effect by having more obvious transliterations in dialogue options, then it may frustrate. I'd also argue that is entirely not the point and you really need to let go of that when dealing with the murph.
 
It's been way too long since the last Tex Murphy game!

How's the music?

Love the atmospheric, ambient menu track as well as the intro cinematic track.

I do have a gripe... the track that plays in your apartment continues to play throughout all of Chandler avenue, except inside some shops where radio/background noise is heard. Then that same track carries on to the new location that pops up on Day 2. I hope variety picks up eventually...
 

Bebpo

Banned
It was the same way in the older games as well. You never actually chose Tex's words, just his thought patterns. Haven't played tesla yet, but I am playing pandora now off steam and it's not much of an issue associating what tex will say based on the descriptor. I really dig it a lot, so many jokes are tied into the descriptors and the outcome, but occasionally twists occur that lead your expectations astray. It's part of the fun.

But yes if you are OCD about ensuring the outcome alas mass effect by having more obvious transliterations in dialogue options, then it may frustrate. I'd also argue that is entirely not the point and you really need to let go of that when dealing with the murph.

Ok, yeah I played UAKM back in the year it original came out and don't remember a single thing about it besides the visuals and Tex. Definitely don't remember the dialogue system at all.

Wondering if maybe I should hold off on playing Tesla and re-play UAKM, PD and Overseer first. I wonder how much of those games Tesla spoils or if I can play Tesla first then go back and play the older games.
 
I wonder how much of those games Tesla spoils or if I can play Tesla first then go back and play the older games.

It bears repeating:

Warning to the folks intending to play the older games after Tesla Effect; there are all kinds of small spoilers and at least one huuuuge spoiler in the form of flashback videos played when you click random objects in Tex's apartment and throughout Chandler avenue.

If you never played The Pandora Directive, definitely do not click on the green object behind Rook's pawn shop.
 

astonish

Member
I really don't know what the native 2K resolution is, I wish they would list that somewhere. But I play the game at 2560 × 1440 downsampled and it eliminates the majority of the jaggies in the FP segments on my 1080p monitor, and generally I think it looks very good for the video quality too. The default FOV seems to be 50, which is quite bad, 80 seems to be good for me.

I actually found it in the official comment of a youtube video. Its 2048 horizontal. So not really that many more pixels than 1920. Since 120hz isn't a big deal for this game I'll probably 1440p + AA downsample (GTX680 here). I'm really only putting in so much thought because I don't have time to actually play the game right now.

Also to your previous post this game totally is using BINK2 for compression.
 

Card Boy

Banned
Game is awesome so far. Any word when the new radio series is ever coming out that was a reward in the Kickstarter?
 
I actually found it in the official comment of a youtube video. Its 2048 horizontal. So not really that many more pixels than 1920. Since 120hz isn't a big deal for this game I'll probably 1440p + AA downsample (GTX680 here). I'm really only putting in so much thought because I don't have time to actually play the game right now.

Also to your previous post this game totally is using BINK2 for compression.

Well at least it's not the old as dirt Bink codecs. Good info too.
 

inm8num2

Member

HowZatOZ

Banned
Haha that IGN review, dated feel as a negative? Who would of thunk it with a Tex Murphy title. Guess it didn't have enough guns.

Really liking it so far, haven't played one of these style of point and clicks since Goosebumps: Escape From Horrorland. The humour is just awesome, really spot on.
 

Geoff9920

Member
Never played the old games, so there are obvious throwbacks that I don't get, but it's a really enjoyable game so far. I picked it up on a whim after seeing Jesse Cox play the demo on youtube. Do the points you earn while playing serve any purpose on the "Gamer" difficulty?
 
So I'm getting popping / crackling audio when moving about in certain areas, especially if I move the cursor outside after clicking on an item during a Tex monologue. Videos, etc are completely fine, and yes. I knows there's intentional crackling during the flashbacks.
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
Never played the old games, so there are obvious throwbacks that I don't get, but it's a really enjoyable game so far. I picked it up on a whim after seeing Jesse Cox play the demo on youtube. Do the points you earn while playing serve any purpose on the "Gamer" difficulty?

It's a score, it serves the same purpose a score serves in most games, bragging rights.
 

Bebpo

Banned
It bears repeating:

Got it. So basically it comes down to "only play Tesla Effect if 1) You're never going to get around to playing Pandora Directive/Overseer or 2) Don't mind having some major plot points spoiled for when you go back and play the older games"

Does Tesla Effect work pretty well standalone? I know it continues straight from Overseer, wondering if you miss a lot by not having played Overseer.
 

Geoff9920

Member
Got it. So basically it comes down to "only play Tesla Effect if 1) You're never going to get around to playing Pandora Directive/Overseer or 2) Don't mind having some major plot points spoiled for when you go back and play the older games"

Does Tesla Effect work pretty well standalone? I know it continues straight from Overseer, wondering if you miss a lot by not having played Overseer.
As someone who didn't play any of the previous games, I haven't had any difficulty keeping up. I'm on Day 3 and there has only been one obviously spoiler heavy flashback to a previous game. They do a good job of giving you just enough information that even if you didn't play the previous games you can get the basic gist of what's going on. At least so far that is.
 

inm8num2

Member
From the IGN review:

I can only recall three instances where I actually faced a potentially story-altering decision. The whole setup really made me appreciate the elegance and subtlety of similar mechanics in games like The Walking Dead.

Ouch, that one's going to sting for classic adventure fans.
 
From the IGN review:



Ouch, that one's going to sting for classic adventure fans.

I think it allows for different experiences when replaying because you don't know the exact context. I'm fine with it and I didn't really think twice about it in both this and Walking Dead. They did a fantastic job both keeping the game similar to its roots and modernizing it. Fair enough of an argument if some people are really that concerned with knowing the specifics of a line of dialogue. The way they did it keeps it from being a story written by the developers, if that makes sense, rather than as it's being played.
 

mclem

Member
From the IGN review:

I can only recall three instances where I actually faced a potentially story-altering decision. The whole setup really made me appreciate the elegance and subtlety of similar mechanics in games like The Walking Dead.

Ouch, that one's going to sting for classic adventure fans.

This whole review makes me appreciate the elegance and subtlety of a sledgehammer to the nuts.
 

inm8num2

Member
I think it allows for different experiences when replaying because you don't know the exact context. I'm fine with it and I didn't really think twice about it in both this and Walking Dead. They did a fantastic job both keeping the game similar to its roots and modernizing it. Fair enough of an argument if some people are really that concerned with knowing the specifics of a line of dialogue. The way they did it keeps it from being a story written by the developers, if that makes sense, rather than as it's being played.

Yea, I like the vague dialogue descriptions, too, as they fit the internal logic and humor of Tex's mind.

It's funny, though - haven't played yet but it seems BFG has done well to balance the old school and the new school, and this review shows how difficult that can be. To someone whose idea of adventure game mechanics/dialogue/story is seemingly based more on something like TWD, Tex's features will feel outdated.

This whole review makes me appreciate the elegance and subtlety of a sledgehammer to the nuts.

That hurt just reading it. :p
 

Tizoc

Member
Finished Day 1. This being my first FMV and Tex Murphy game...I'm enjoying it, although the live action scenes don't mesh well with some of the CGI.

My laptop is 1920x1080, would turning on 2K video cause any problems?
 
Finished Day 1. This being my first FMV and Tex Murphy game...I'm enjoying it, although the live action scenes don't mesh well with some of the CGI.

My laptop is 1920x1080, would turning on 2K video cause any problems?

You'll get black bars but no real problems.
 
Top Bottom