Suggestions and Ideas

[Emon]

Then you would notice the immense lag, that comes when the CPU is decoding resource files and loading them up to the RAM.

It would be a non-issue with multi-core systems, and if the engine was designed right to begin with, shouldn't take that much recoding. Geometry data for a game like Penumbra is rather small, it's textures and maybe sounds that take a long time to load, which could easily be offloaded onto another CPU core.

However it would be just easier to make the loading zones much larger. You could still have "safety" points like the heavy doors, but don't have them as often. Making them more like the bulkheads in System Shock 2 would be good.

I think it would benefit the developers to study Thief I, Thief II and System Shock 2 for ideas for the next two episodes. Those games epitomize the horror and sneaker FPS genres.

One thing that I like about Shock 2 is that it actually has well done respawning of enemies. Enemies will respawn in areas after you've been gone a while, it always keeps the player on their toes. Not a full force of enemies, just one or two at random. You shouldn't be able to sprint about most areas in these types of games without fear.

The worst thing about Penumbra is the combat. It's not bad, and I know it's mostly an adventure game, but it could really be better. The simple swings tweak is a start, but the swings should behave more like the sword combat in Thief. Swinging with the crosshair to the left of the enemy swings the weapon to the right, and the crosshair to the right of the enemy swings to the left, etc.

Also, throwing objects to do damage is nearly impossible. I like the idea of controlling things with the mouse, but it's just not practical to try to kill a dog with a heavy rock or a barrel. One solution would be this: you pick up an object, then press and hold another button (say mouse 2) to hoist the object above your head. When you let go, your person chucks the object towards the target. The longer you hold mouse 2, the farther and harder the throw.

[Rowedekhelicon]

I like the way this man thinks. B)

[Yuhaney]

Hunter would be great add to the next Episodes!

[Serious_Kriss]

Good evening wherever you may be, across the nation or around the world!
ehm... few things.

Word of encouragement
*Good puzzels, very intuitive,well balanced, unlike in SF:Tunguska where to get a picture frome polaroid you had to repair a bicycle, fish out a key from a fishtank glue a cellphone to a cat and so on. (ridiculousness of that game just keeps coming back to me ;D)
**So scary i almost s%@# my pants.
***Overall very creepy and atmospheric gameplay one of the best so far two thumbs waaaay UP ! (remember the room with UV lights?, simple and creepy as hell !)

Complaints ,grievances and suggestions.
*You can't kill the dog with dynamite? Noble is probably out of his grave by now ;] also i put two gas barrels and ignite them with dynamite that didn't work too(it smashed me thought)... imho that's a bit strange to say the least.
*No guns.
*Enemies should have a diverse and random waypoints. I need to feel their musty breath on my skin all the time.
*Remember the cutscene-images in "Fear"?.The main character
should go crazy after spending many days in those mines, images of weird-shaped and deformed faces blending in texture of the wall or into the darkness, that would be nice ;D
*The game is too bright ! (at brightness-1.0 i didn't use any flares and i could go without the flashlight too, afterall we're deep underground.)
*Work on AI. (I can jump onto the crate and kill all the dogs in sight).
*Dont make weird monsters ! (dogs are ok they're real !) Play tricks on mind like for instance: show for a split second a shadow of a creature,
*Remember the "X-files:Ice" where the little parasite attacked the person making him mad and vicious? I suggest these type of monsters insted of big sluggish 10meter wide totally unreal earthworms. You could smash them with your shoes,(again no guns !)

IMHO the game deserve 9.5 out of 10. Keep up the good work.
Ps.Sorry for the essay.

[Linux.Blue]

As for F.E.A.R., what person goes crazy? The one from the start, the person you're after? Pextel or whatever? There is some character in this that is crazy.

and too bright? your gamma must have been up a bit on the monitor and/or display setting. I had to increase it up to 1.4 or 1.6 to see it bright enough without needing a flashlight.

[Yuhaney]

I don't know, maybe this have been said many times already, but I'd really like to see some outside world!

Or some inside frozen places like Lake Utuqaq.

[Yuhaney]

New idea: Just wondering that there are places where Philip says something. There comes typing in the screen, like: "Is there still something down here?", or something like that.

Why there is only text, but no sound that speaks them?
It would make it more realistic, if someone speaks them.
'Cause there was Philips voice in the Intro but not in the real game then?

I suggest that there is speach in those places and then Subtitles!

[blakker]

Minor spoilers!

Great game, but there was some story based flaws and a gameplay issue:
- First, the most annoying: the frozen hand at the lake. First i tried to hit it with my hammer - nothing. Okay, lets try the pickaxe, that should do it - still nothing. I screwed around like ten minutes, then i got bored a looked up the solution the gamefaqs: i SAW the hand off from the joint, then when it drops it releases the crowbar. What the duck, it doesnt make any sense.
- Secondly the morse code. Yeah, i looked up the solution at the internet - i dont have the morse abc in my head - however, if i would be trapped down there i would be fucked without the luxury of the internet. The point is, it would be a good idea hiding somewhere a translation chart or something - this is a radio station after all.
- And about the chemicals: the most things you listed are powder or gas, not liquid.

I'm looking forward to Ep 2, if it'll be better, then it would be an awesome game.

[mangrove]

Spoilers of course--


blakker,

You can decipher the morse code in game. The store room where you get the spark plug, also contains a safety manual showing the entire morse code.

Not sure what you mean about the chemicals? They all seemed to be powder to me, this was obvious when you mixed them near the end.

[blakker]

Spoilers, etc.


Hm, you got me with the morse code - my bad then.
And about the chemicals: they look kinda powderish when you mix them, but in the inventory they look like liquids to me.