Penny Arcade Releases Episodic PC Game

CyDharttha writes "Greenhouse Interactive on Wednesday released a RPG titled 'On the Rain-slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One.' The title is available on Linux, Mac, and Windows platforms, as well as XBox Live Arcade. A quick look at the game shows it promises the same great humor frequently displayed at Penny Arcade, and with the help of Hothead Games, intriguing graphics, sound, dialog and game play. Demo and purchase is available online now."

Re:And yes, it runs on Linux...

[Talonius]

Not just Linux; it runs on 64 bit Linux. Friend of mine ran it on Ubuntu 64 bit with no issues. (Well, other than he now wants a fruit fucker of his own. Whyfor? Er, I can guess, but I didn't ask..)

The demo entertained me.

[cowscows]

I played through the demo last night, and was reasonably well entertained. The artwork is very well stylized in a way that reminds you of the comic, and I think it works pretty well. The art style works really well with the type of mood that they're trying to create in the game, and the narration worked well too.

Combat in the game is a strange mix of turn-based and sort of real-time clicking, it was different from anything I've played before but I don't have that much experience with those sorts of games. The demo didn't have enough combat for me to become comfortable with the combat system, so I can't give a complete opinion, but it seems like it works well enough.

If you've read penny arcade over the years, the notion of a character that you created (and which most likely you identify as yourself for the purpose of the game) interacting with characters that you've been watching for years is pretty neat.

I'll probably buy the game after next week when I'm done with a crunch at work. It's certainly worth at least downloading the demo. I don't think it's the type of game that will appeal to everyone just because of the gameplay, but for what it is it appears to be carefully crafted and generally high quality. Certainly not a cheap cash-in of their PA brand or anything like that.

Played the demo, bought game.

[MarcoG42]

I'm a big fan of PA, and aside from the page hits, and occasional ad click, I really haven't had much of a chance to support them. I'm not big enough of a gamer to roll out wearing shirts with D20 or WoW references on them. I probably would have bought this game even if it were merely mediocre, but it's actually very entertaining. I just bought the full version, and won't be able to play it until I get home, but there were several laugh out loud moments in the demo, which is seems very promising to me.

I'm also very, very pleased with their decision to fully support Linux. There were a few hiccups to start off, but after changing some basic settings in the in-game menu the game ran smoothly. Their forums offer support for every OS and the HotHead staff, for the time being, seem to be on the ball with answering support questions. I give PA two thumbs up and three cheers for their efforts. I will definitely be purchasing the next installments, no questions asked.

XBLA edition

[sgt.greywar]

I downloaded the game on XBLA and am thoroughly impressed. This is the quality level thaat XBLA needs more of!

Re:Linux + Sound = BAD!

[MarcoG42]

Yeah, I had some sound stuttering problems and freezing. I enabled hardware acceleration for sound in the in-game menu and the problems disappeared. Ubuntu 8.04/AMD64, here. Realtek onboard audio, but not sure which drivers it's using.

Re:The demo entertained me.

[Narpak]

Great fun, if a bit too short. Personally I would have wished for more complex gameplay when it came to clues (like in Discworld Noir if anyone have tried that). Looking for clues and combining them in various ways to advance the case. Of course that's just me. However, if the developers see a steady inflow of cash from this game and upcoming episodes then it stands to reason that the amount of content should increase (one would hope). Especially seeing as they now have an existing engine/platform for witch to great new modules.

That being said I found the game witty and highly entertaining; with very few drawbacks. Though on notable drawback for me was the fact that each time you traveled to Pelican Bay you got to hear the same piece of music; and that got annoying fairly quick.

Re:And yes, it runs on Linux...

[iMaple]

Here is the link to the comic

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/1999/19990305h.jpg [penny-arcade.com]

Innovative

[Avatar8]

I find it fascinating that an online comic can bridge the gap to a game. Keeping the game episodic and using the original artwork keeps the comic feel.

I haven't followed PA consistently, so I don't have much of an opinion on their content. An online comic I think that would translate well to a game is Girl Genius (http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/index.php). Heck, I think that whole universe would translate well to a MMO, though the female characters wouldn't be able to see the ground or run without toppling over. :-)

If this process is easily mass produced, I could see past and current comic books becoming games.

Re:And yes, it runs on Linux...

[MBGMorden]

From what I noticed the XBLA arcade version is unlocked through the XBLA store, not through a key-code, so I think it would be exception where it is activated separately from the computer versions.

I played the demo on the 360 last night, and decided I'd purchase it, but I'm still not sure for which platform. I think I'll probably go with the 360 in the end though.

Re:And yes, it runs on Linux...

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't thank them, thank GarageGames. They developed the game using Torque, which is set up to be instantly ported to any of those platforms regardless of which one it was developed on.