The Discworld series

[Leplaya]

We had a topic for Terry's the watch, so I figured it would be best if there was a topic regarding on his well known series Discworld. How many of you have read the books or played any of the games? I do know that there were only three of them. I only played half of Discworld 1(stopped it seeing that Scummvm crashed whenever I tired to load it) and I'm currently going through the second game.

I just finished reading Mort and got a huge kick out of it. So are there any Discworld fans on here?

[Woodsyblue]

Funnily enough the only book I've read of the series is Mort. I quite enjoyed it but every time I think about trying to take the series on I get scared off my just how many books their are

When I get into a series I like to read them all and right now I just don't have time to get through Discworld. I did enjoy the game, don't know which one I played though. I didn't realise there were three

[Leplaya]

The 3rd game is called Discworld Noir. It isn't based off of anything from the stories, just an original screenplay for the game. Aren't the Discworld rights somewhat in limbo seeing that there aren't any other Discworld games?

[rubygloommel]

I've played all three games - I think I probably like the 2nd one best, gotta love those cartoony graphics! I've read a few books; The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Mort, Reaper Man, Unseen Academicals, Moving Pictures, maybe a couple more but I can't remember which ones. Normally I go for ones with characters I know i.e. Rincewind or Death but Unseen Academicals is actually my favourite one

[JedExodus]

The onyl one I haven't finished is the first one. And isn't there a text parser one or did I imagine that?

Anyway, for all their flaws I love them very much

[joek86]

I love the games, and have read quite a few of the books, though I mostly stick to the Rincewind stories as he is my favorite character.

[nOmArch]

Got all the books, all the mappes, all the games, even the text adventure. Gotta love good ol' Terry

My favourite is Interesting Times, although any Watch or Witches book would do in a pinch

[Darkblader]

Only read 7 novels but not played any of the games. is Discworld Noir bad? I heard it was due to how the game looked.

[rubygloommel]

Originally Posted by Darkblader

Only read 7 novels but not played any of the games. is Discworld Noir bad? I heard it was due to how the game looked.

The graphics weren't great and it's a bit glitchy, but it's well worth it for the humour - try looking at youtube videos to get an idea of what it looks like, but keep in mind it's an old game (although not pixel-old)

[Darkblader]

Did it get mixed reviews? Also, Disney's Mort is canned due to not getting the rights

[Davies]

I own all three games...

Discworld - I had the PSOne version originally and got to around the 1/3rd mark only to discover that my second hand disc had a nasty scratch on it, causing me to be forced to give up. Years later I got the PC version through dubious methods (can you blame me after wasting my money on a legit copy) but I've yet to play it.

I'm probably going to plunge in sometime this year via ScummVM. Anyway, from what I played I thought it was good fun but I'll reserve judgment until I've payed the whole game.

Discworld 2 - I found a copy at the charity shop I was working in at the time (CD case with no box or manual) so I snapped it up before any customers could get their hands on it (which is one of the fringe benefits of working in a charity shop). I played through the whole thing without the use of a walkthrough and whilst I found the graphics to be beautiful, the story and characters to be charming; the puzzles were completely infuriating.

Seriously, play this game for the first time, without a FAQ guide like I did and you're liable to go insane. Having said that the feeling of accomplishment when you do solve a puzzle after hours or days of trying is immense (or at least until you realise that you've just spent hours or days wasting your life).

Discworld Noir - Again, this turned up in a donation to the charity shop. I've never got it to work under Vista and according to the Internet; I'm not alone. I can only imagine that that was the reason it was donated in the first place. Still, I'll hang on to it in the hope that a fan might release a patch.

So in summary that's my experience with the Discworld videogames; 50% frustrating gameplay and 50% technical headaches. Pretty good, I'd recommend them!

[Alcoremortis]

@Davies: I'm not sure about this, but I seem to remember that SCUMMVM works with the Discworld series. I can't remember if Discworld Noir was on the the list, but you could always check it out.

[Molokov]

I'm a huge fan. Have all the books, almost all of the spinoff products (Mapps, Science Of, Folkore Of, Games, Calendars, Diaries, DVDs, CDs, a few minatures.... and more) and this weekend I'm travelling to Sydney for the 3rd Australian Discworld Convention (my fourth overall - 3 in Australia, 1 in the UK).

I've submitted a question about future computer games to be asked during Terry's interview session (assuming I don't get the chance to talk to him directly myself - after all there'll be 400 people there wanting to chat) so next week I might have some news for you about the /possibility/ of future Discworld Computer games, assuming a deal can be reached between Terry and a developer.

[Davies]

Originally Posted by Alcoremortis

@Davies: I'm not sure about this, but I seem to remember that SCUMMVM works with the Discworld series. I can't remember if Discworld Noir was on the the list, but you could always check it out.

I have the first two loaded into ScummVM (along with every other compatible game, excluding some of the kids titles) but unfortunately Noir is not compatible due to it using a complex semi-3D engine, it's the same reason that EFMI and Grim Fandango aren't supported. Maybe in a 2045 release of ScummVM...

[KuroShiro]

Originally Posted by Woodsyblue

Funnily enough the only book I've read of the series is Mort. I quite enjoyed it but every time I think about trying to take the series on I get scared off my just how many books their are

When I get into a series I like to read them all and right now I just don't have time to get through Discworld. I did enjoy the game, don't know which one I played though. I didn't realise there were three

There's really no reason to be put off by the huge number of books into the series, mostly because they are pretty neatly broken up into smaller sub-series, which mostly have 3-5 books in each and can be read together. Reading all of Discworld is a pretty large endeavor -- though the books themselves aren't that long -- but getting through the books about each of the characters is a bit less daunting.

There are some which are a bit more 'standalone', such as "Small Gods" or "Moving Pictures", but most of the books fall under either The Wizards, The Witches, Death, Rincewind, The Watch, or more recently Moist von Lipwig.

[corruptbiggins]

I'm gonna have to borrow my brother's copy of Unseen Academicals as it's the only one I've not read yet (not counting the young adult series). Hell, that's why I bought him the book for his birthday at the end of last year!

[Alcoremortis]

Originally Posted by Davies

I have the first two loaded into ScummVM (along with every other compatible game, excluding some of the kids titles) but unfortunately Noir is not compatible due to it using a complex semi-3D engine, it's the same reason that EFMI and Grim Fandango aren't supported. Maybe in a 2045 release of ScummVM...

Didn't know it was 3D. If I remember correctly, there was supposed to be another program, developed by the same people, that would work for 3D engines. Can't for the life of me remember what it was called though, only that it was about halfway finished two years ago.

Probably still halfway finished.

And yes, that was incredibly vague. That's gonna bug me for the rest of the week.

[corruptbiggins]

Originally Posted by Alcoremortis

Didn't know it was 3D. If I remember correctly, there was supposed to be another program, developed by the same people, that would work for 3D engines. Can't for the life of me remember what it was called though, only that it was about halfway finished two years ago.

Probably still halfway finished.

And yes, that was incredibly vague. That's gonna bug me for the rest of the week.

I know Residual is being worked on for Grim Fandango (& eventually Escape from Monkey Island) and I think another team is working on using that for Discworld Noir.

[Alcoremortis]

Originally Posted by corruptbiggins

I know Residual is being worked on for Grim Fandango (& eventually Escape from Monkey Island) and I think another team is working on using that for Discworld Noir.

Yes! That's the one I was thinking of! Now I won't have to wonder about that for the next week or so.

Though for some reason, I thought it was something to do with resurrection.

So they're still not finished, huh?

[corruptbiggins]

Originally Posted by Alcoremortis

So they're still not finished, huh?

I can't find much current info about it - either they're being very quiet with it or it's in a state of limbo. Most stuff I've read about it comes from 2009 (which is when it started I believe). But then I think development of Residual for Grim Fandango has stalled since then as well. In short I wouldn't expect anything any time soon.