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Is there any chance of this game getting cleaned up like they did for Wing Commander 4? It deserves it!
I don't know what was done with WC4, but I think that pretty much depends on 2 things:
1) What is the best quality footage that someone has still lying around? If the released game is all that remains then I don't think anybody will try to clean it up.
2) Does Activision (current rights holder) see any chance for profit in financing and releasing a HD version of a FMV installment of a game series that is (half-)forgotten by the mainstream? If not, are they willing to give a license for doing this to someone willing to do this cheap enough so it is feasable for that other company?
Good points. I am just hopeful for it. There are so few really good FMV point and click games and with GK4 seeming more and more possible in the future, it would be great to see GK2 get a cleanup.

Wing Commander 4 had about the same quality footage until a little while ago. The new version's video sequence are now dvd quality. One would think the same could be done for GK2.

The series, and most of the older point and click games, have been forgotten about by the mainstream, but with the rise of indie games just growing stronger I think games like GK and Phantasmagoria can reach the new generation of adventure gamers, if they were properly restored and marketed. I think that many of the point and click games, especially horror based ones, owe a lot to the GK series. Then again, that's just me being hopeful.
Oh I did not know they updated the video quality for WC4.
But I don't think that GOG remastered it, it was probably from the DVD re-release of WC4 that came out around 2002 or so.

There is probably a audience for re-releases of FMV adventures, I think the iPhone and PC remastered versions of the Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective games did rather. But let's see if Activision wants to do this or let somebody else do it.

I'd like to have something like that at least for GK2 and Phantasmagoria 2, the first one of that series can stay in the closet if you ask me.
Post edited April 11, 2013 by Gabelvampir
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Gabelvampir: I'd like to have something like that at least for GK2 and Phantasmagoria 2, the first one of that series can stay in the closet if you ask me.
Whoa... not to get off topic here but you prefer part 2 of Phantasmagoria to part 1??
Stuff happened at least in Phantasmagoria 2. To me it is like a cheesy SciFi horror movie. It is mediocre at the best time by movie or game standards, but it least it is entertaining.
I find Phantasmagoria 1 too boring to play, and after reading in the HG101 review that there is a whole chapter dedicated to buying drainage cleaner, I'm not sure how many tedious stuff one has to endure before getting to the more interesting parts of the game.
Just my opinion, some day I'll try to play Phantasmagoria 1 further for sure.
Post edited April 12, 2013 by Gabelvampir
GOG is using the DVD version of Wing Commander 4.

Other games that GOG offers the DVD versions for are Journeyman Project 3, and Zork: Grand Inquisitor I think.
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Gabelvampir: Stuff happened at least in Phantasmagoria 2. To me it is like a cheesy SciFi horror movie. It is mediocre at the best time by movie or game standards, but it least it is entertaining.
I find Phantasmagoria 1 too boring to play, and after reading in the HG101 review that there is a whole chapter dedicated to buying drainage cleaner, I'm not sure how many tedious stuff one has to endure before getting to the more interesting parts of the game.
Just my opinion, some day I'll try to play Phantasmagoria 1 further for sure.
I hear ya, you should give it a try again someday though. There is more to the game the initial impression. There are a lot of little things that happen throughout the chapters that build a tone. Paintings slowly change, Don's use of Absinthe adds to his insanity. You can even miss a few good bits of gore if you don't seek it out. Even if the tone is pretty campy and sometimes downright corny, it was at least there. I think the actress playing Adriana is quite good and I feel more attached to her than I did playing as Curtis in part 2.

Curtis's story was just so bizarre. I definitely like part 2 for different reasons... like the same reasons I watch "Troll 2" or "The Room". He has a pet rat that he is strangely in love with (imo). He puts pepper on his ice cream, he gets his belly button pierced, There is one puzzle in the game and it crashe my system upon completing it and I had to watch the ending on youtube heh. But I'm glad I played it, it was great to see Harriet in a small role in the asylum. She is the only returning character.

I don't mean to rant on about this. I respect your opinions, I just wanted to know why you would prefer part 2. Spoony also does a great LP of both games. By the way, I'm playing "The Cat Woman' now and it's damn good!
Yeah I'm planning to do, but there are so much other classic Adventure games (some FMV) that I have not played yet, at least to completion. As a kid I mostly played LucasArts Adventures because they were translated into German. There were some games that came with our first PC in 1992 from a colleague of my father, namely Space Quest IV, Leisure Suit Larry III and King's Quest V. The first two I finally played through in the summer of 2004 or 5 on that same PC, but unfortunately that is dead now and I still did not get around to complete KQ V, but I started playing it again a few months ago. I really like the art of the old Sierra games, but death and the puzzle design make it a bit hard for me to get into them, sometimes.
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Gabelvampir: Stuff happened at least in Phantasmagoria 2. To me it is like a cheesy SciFi horror movie. It is mediocre at the best time by movie or game standards, but it least it is entertaining.
I find Phantasmagoria 1 too boring to play, and after reading in the HG101 review that there is a whole chapter dedicated to buying drainage cleaner, I'm not sure how many tedious stuff one has to endure before getting to the more interesting parts of the game.
Just my opinion, some day I'll try to play Phantasmagoria 1 further for sure.
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scottvalline: I hear ya, you should give it a try again someday though. There is more to the game the initial impression. There are a lot of little things that happen throughout the chapters that build a tone. Paintings slowly change, Don's use of Absinthe adds to his insanity. You can even miss a few good bits of gore if you don't seek it out. Even if the tone is pretty campy and sometimes downright corny, it was at least there. I think the actress playing Adriana is quite good and I feel more attached to her than I did playing as Curtis in part 2.

Curtis's story was just so bizarre. I definitely like part 2 for different reasons... like the same reasons I watch "Troll 2" or "The Room". He has a pet rat that he is strangely in love with (imo). He puts pepper on his ice cream, he gets his belly button pierced, There is one puzzle in the game and it crashe my system upon completing it and I had to watch the ending on youtube heh. But I'm glad I played it, it was great to see Harriet in a small role in the asylum. She is the only returning character.

I don't mean to rant on about this. I respect your opinions, I just wanted to know why you would prefer part 2. Spoony also does a great LP of both games. By the way, I'm playing "The Cat Woman' now and it's damn good!
If by "great LP," you mean "Spoony rants and rails like an idiot over the most interesting bits, completely ruining the experience," then by all means, I agree. I enjoy Spoony for the most part, but Phantasmagoria 2 seems to be worth experiencing on its own, without endlessly annoying quips running full steam ahead over the plot.

That said, I have seen footage on Youtube of a supposed "DVD quality" HD version of GK2, but I've been so far unsuccessful in finding out just how on earth the uploader managed to achieve that level of quality with the FMVs. Honestly, they look incredible. There is, of course, the unfortunate side effect of highlighting with pixel-perfect detail just how bad the green-screen work actually is, but there's no denying the massive benefit of watching the actors do their thing without all the blockiness or interlacing.

GK2 is a brilliant game, and proper high-definition FMV would only make it that much better.
Yeah, maybe "great" wasn't the right word. I did play Phantasmagoria 2 before seeing the spoony vid and I just wasn't impressed by the game. I guess it comes down to personal preference, and I don't mean to bash someone for liking it, it's just not for me.

With the recent news of GK1 getting a remake I assume if it's successful, they will remake the trilogy. That's just my opinion and I'm open to whatever they come up with, but I would really like to see a cleaned up version, if that was possible, instead of a remake.

When it comes down to it, I'm glad Jane is back to making games.