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Originally released only in Japan for the 3DO, Doctor Hauzer could easily be described as a rip-off of 'Alone in the Dark' (especially when you consider the other, more well known title from the developer was 'Overblood' which was mostly sci-fi Resident Evil....but a bit poo poo). In reality though, it may share some superficial similarities to AitD it's actually very much it's own streamlined experience. The story revolves around Adam, a jerk reporter who hangs out with an anti-social archaeologist and writes what I assume are amazing articles about the doctor being a massive poo poo heel. But one day the ol' doc goes missing and it's up to Adam to find out what happened to his golden goose (which fits cause geese are dicks). To find Hauzer though, we first must navigate his home of horrors and face the many tribulations that lay within it's walls. Thankfully with the availability of emulation and the fact that the game was recently fan translated, you too can experience this game for yourself if you wish. The translation is available here: http://3do.cdinteractive.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=3720 Also, some of you might notice that the text goes by a bit quick and I apologize for that, but to get the game running at a suitable speed pretty much requires the internal CPU to be run at a bit higher rate and thus some text might go by fairly quickly. Thankfully it's not too much of a detriment to the experience but I figured I'd put that out there. discworld is all I read fucked around with this message at 07:36 on May 5, 2017 |
# ? Apr 20, 2017 08:29 |
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# ? May 3, 2024 00:09 |
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Bad link. here's the correct one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94GxugtU_2Q
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# ? Apr 20, 2017 12:01 |
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That opening music sounds less menacing and more “Uh oh, what spooooky things await our hero in the mad scientist’s lab?” Or mansion I suppose in this case.
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# ? Apr 20, 2017 14:44 |
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Edvarius posted:That opening music sounds less menacing and more “Uh oh, what spooooky things await our hero in the mad scientist’s lab?” Or mansion I suppose in this case. Reminds me strongly of Beetlejuice. Similar tempo/progression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaCYL04Kd8g
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# ? Apr 20, 2017 15:27 |
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Horrible Lurkbeast posted:Bad link. Edvarius posted:That opening music sounds less menacing and more “Uh oh, what spooooky things await our hero in the mad scientist’s lab?” Or mansion I suppose in this case. But yeah, overall the soundtrack is more whimsical than outright scary, which kinda makes me question what kind of mood they were aiming for. discworld is all I read fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Apr 20, 2017 |
# ? Apr 20, 2017 16:27 |
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That whole mansion seems like such a pain in the rear end to live in, even in its better days.
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# ? Apr 21, 2017 03:09 |
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Perfect place to end the first episode.
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# ? Apr 21, 2017 05:52 |
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I love how he just tosses the door knocker when it breaks.
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# ? Apr 21, 2017 21:18 |
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IShallRiseAgain posted:I love how he just tosses the door knocker when it breaks. discworld is all I read fucked around with this message at 22:57 on Apr 21, 2017 |
# ? Apr 21, 2017 22:35 |
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That first death just screams of the old repetitive style of game design. Of course nowadays we think it's bad to not have any indicator where items are located, but back then we wouldn't understand why you wouldn't click on every possible object.
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# ? Apr 21, 2017 23:10 |
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Honestly, aside from the aesthetics, I'm getting more of a Shadowgate vibe than an Alone in the Dark one, what with the traps as opposed to specific enemies and all, though that may just be because I'm more familiar with the former--I actually played it as opposed to only watching LPs of the latter.
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# ? Apr 22, 2017 06:39 |
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As we delve deeper into Doctor Hauzer's hauzer, the puzzles get even more nefarious and the plot finally starts to come together....a little bit. Slightly mixed up Judeo-Christian theology rears it's head as we slowly start to understand that maybe Hauzer wasn't such a bad guy. Minor spoiler though: Doctor Hauzer is still a massive nutter and rear end in a top hat Also I had an idea for a stinger at the start of an update to show off some previous deaths but after making the first one, I think that ran a bit too long. Still I decided to include it as a lil bonus: Doctor Hauzer Bonus 1: Previously on... discworld is all I read fucked around with this message at 16:29 on Apr 24, 2017 |
# ? Apr 24, 2017 08:39 |
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I'm glad at least one game figured out that 3d jumping puzzles are not fun.
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# ? Apr 24, 2017 16:49 |
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All the puzzle pieces are falling into place and the true terror of Doctor Hauzer is coming to light. But is he a simple madman luring people into a death trap laden house or is he slowly gaining immortality via human sacrifice? discworld is all I read fucked around with this message at 22:03 on May 1, 2017 |
# ? May 1, 2017 07:43 |
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There are some really nice and expressive faces in this game. I'm kinda surprised we are coming up on the end so quickly though, but then again most of the gameplay time would be figuring out how to avoid all the deaths.
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# ? May 1, 2017 18:20 |
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short or no this is an interesting slice of gaming history here
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# ? May 1, 2017 18:31 |
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Hel posted:I'm kinda surprised we are coming up on the end so quickly though, but then again most of the gameplay time would be figuring out how to avoid all the deaths. I'm both surprised and not surprised that the game's almost over. On one hand, I understand the older gameplay design mentality behind the constant deaths. I mean, I could picture a younger me spending hours in the first couple rooms, feeling that the clicking on random objects is a challenge rather than tedium. But, I'm also expecting a Resident Evil 1 style act change, where we go from the mansion to an entirely new, maybe even disjointed, setting.
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# ? May 1, 2017 18:47 |
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^^^^^^^ There is definitely going to be a sudden and strange locale change, but we won't be able to enjoy it for long. It's indeed a very strange stop gap between Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil (which I think came out a year or two after this). And really makes you look at Overblood as less of rip-off of Resident Evil and more of a successor to Doctor Hauzer (especially keeping in mind their small innovations like multiple camera angles in that game as well). I was actually thinking that maybe I'd do an updated version of Overblood next since Psycho Serum's LP hasn't really aged well. Or maybe seeing if I could make J.B. Harold Murder Club interesting to watch. Who knows? But what I do know is that I found one article that was trying to say that Doctor Hauzer is 'cell-shaded' and I feel like that isn't really correct in the least. discworld is all I read fucked around with this message at 19:05 on May 1, 2017 |
# ? May 1, 2017 18:59 |
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discworld is all I read posted:J.B. Harold Murder Club OMG. I still have the bluest of balls from when Arthur Wolfe streamed this and the game got stuck in a seemingly unwinnable state. And Overblood was the only LP I ever guest commentated on (even though if memory serves, Psych didn't use that track in the final video, which was the right decision to be honest) RIP Pipo So if Dr Hauzer doesn't want anyone to get thru his house alive, why did he leave all these clues/puzzles/keys for someone to find. Surely he doesn't need all the clues to get around the hell house he built? edit: I'm an idiot, it was the Overblood 2 LP I sort of commentated on coleman francis fucked around with this message at 01:17 on May 2, 2017 |
# ? May 2, 2017 01:04 |
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Since we are pretty much at the end of the game, it kinda struck me to see just how quickly I could make it through the game...and it's a lot quicker than even I thought. And hell, it even allowed me to find out at least one thing that I wasn't even aware of before (though it's really only a small animation). Let's Play Doctor Hauzer: Bonus 2- AGDQ Edition coleman francis posted:OMG. I still have the bluest of balls from when Arthur Wolfe streamed this and the game got stuck in a seemingly unwinnable state. But in regards to all the keys and notes, I can only assume that was more meant for Doctor Hauzer only. It's just instead of being a key ring to get on his personage, he decided instead to spread the keys around the house. And in doing so, he's kinda laid out a rather simple means for us to make our way around. All in all though, it's a bit tough to figure out something interesting to show off that hasn't been done to death. I mean there's been quite a few people out there that have played Overblood and just ripped it apart for it's easily noticed flaws, but there is some good to the game lying underneath and I'd like to do an LP that showed that part of the game off. Or maybe I could finish up that Dreamweb LP...cause I know there were a total of two people wanting to see the ending to that.
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# ? May 2, 2017 08:03 |
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discworld is all I read posted:Or maybe I could finish up that Dreamweb LP...cause I know there were a total of two people wanting to see the ending to that. Me and who else? No, but seriously if you can make an LP showing off the good/ neat/ interesting parts of Overblood I'd be really interested
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# ? May 2, 2017 12:00 |
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discworld is all I read posted:But what I do know is that I found one article that was trying to say that Doctor Hauzer is 'cell-shaded' and I feel like that isn't really correct in the least. It isn't. The game doesn't appear to have a lighting engine at all. Instead of having light on the protagonists face, some parts are just textured to be in shadow. Same for the rest of the game - nothing appears to be actually lit, instead some parts are just textured to be darker. It does sort of create a "cell-shaded" effect, but in proper cell-shading, things are lit, it's just that the way the light is applied is done in discrete steps and not as a gradient.
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# ? May 2, 2017 18:54 |
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discworld is all I read posted:Since we are pretty much at the end of the game, it kinda struck me to see just how quickly I could make it through the game...and it's a lot quicker than even I thought. And hell, it even allowed me to find out at least one thing that I wasn't even aware of before (though it's really only a small animation). you jest but this would absolutely fit into the awful games block at a gdq and you've got good stuff to say to fill the run though you'd need the physical original
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# ? May 2, 2017 21:53 |
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I'm sure the final boss would eliminate my world record run sadly....and yeah, there is an ending boss. Hopefully I can maybe get the final video up by Friday.
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# ? May 2, 2017 22:12 |
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So ummmmm yeah...that apparently happened and I think we won? Sure! Why not? In the end, can we say this game was good? Eh...in the end it felt more like a tech demo for some ideas they thought were interesting and then they lightly put a story around it. Now were the aspects of a game that they were trying to demo good? Definitely. For the time, this game was not only user friendly, but it had a pretty natural flow, graphic design (like you didn't have to question what you were looking at or make bizarre guesses to solve puzzles), and it introduced some super helpful aspects to general game play (such as the multiple camera angles and never putting the player into an unwinnable situation). In the end though, it was a bit bare bones and the resolution of the story was pretty rushed and didn't really leave the player with any good explanation for what was going on. I mean if this was some setup for more games then I guess it could be interesting (like finding out there were more portals to getting to the Tree of Life and others had found those gates and not hosed up like Hauzer), but nope, this is the end of Adam's journey. discworld is all I read fucked around with this message at 07:43 on May 5, 2017 |
# ? May 5, 2017 07:38 |
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What would've happened if you had jumped down there without the dynamite, or without the photo? Sounds like that would've been unwinnable.
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# ? May 5, 2017 10:00 |
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BenRGamer posted:What would've happened if you had jumped down there without the dynamite, or without the photo?
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# ? May 5, 2017 16:28 |
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When you mentioned a boss fight I didn't expect Bullet Hell, & honestly except for the boss I would probably say it seems like a good game for the time. I'm really glad you showed it off so well since I would never have heard of it otherwise, thanks.
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# ? May 5, 2017 17:07 |
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Where's the cherub? Was it all in Hauzer's head!?
marshmallow creep fucked around with this message at 17:40 on May 5, 2017 |
# ? May 5, 2017 17:38 |
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marshmallow creep posted:Where's the cherub? Was it all in Hauzer's head!? I mean, some vagueness to a story can be fine or maybe drawing your own conclusions but a lot of what was going on was just assuming that the mad ramblings of Hauzer were correct. A part of me wishes that in the end we just found his corpse down in the dig site with his diary entry saying that his efforts just weren't enough and that it was all in his head. But instead we get pelted with fireballs, throw a picture into his mouth and that causes him to blow up....for reasons.
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# ? May 5, 2017 18:11 |
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Thanks for the short but sweet LP. How much were 3d0 games back in the day? Even though if I had played this as a kid it would have blown my mind and I would be defending it to this day, its length seems kinda crummy. Wonder why it was never ported to anything else.
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# ? May 6, 2017 02:15 |
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Short and disappointing, but I'm glad you showed it off. Despite it's shortcomings, it's hard to view this game as "bad"; more like an early yet earnest step. Also, I found that Hauzer face-monolith legitimately creepy.
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# ? May 6, 2017 02:58 |
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# ? May 3, 2024 00:09 |
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coleman francis posted:Thanks for the short but sweet LP. Mr. Highway posted:Short and disappointing, but I'm glad you showed it off. Despite it's shortcomings, it's hard to view this game as "bad"; more like an early yet earnest step. Also, I found that Hauzer face-monolith legitimately creepy.
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# ? May 6, 2017 03:33 |