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Ken, do you remember this game at all? I remember I was so pumped about this game because I entered myself in Sierra’s “be a beta-tester” program and was actually selected. I was curious to know if anyone here remembers that one. If so, did you play it and also what did you think about it.
P.S. My “beta tester” stardom attempt was a failure. I could not get the install program to work on my machine, and after a few unsuccessful attempts at solving the problem through a Sierra contact, my services were no longer sought after. I’m an optimist…I would like to believe that my perseverence had become a nuisance 🙂
P.S.2 My thoughts on the game were that it was not fun. To me, great games cause players to care about the protagonist. You relate to that character…you are that character. RAMA offered none of this. Although, I must admit, I stopped playing after a couple of hours and never revisited it. Maybe I didn’t give it enough time.
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(re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?) I have negative memories of Rama. It was a total mess.
It was an experiment to see if Dynamix could do an adventure game. We had a famous author on the project (whose name I forget) and even got Arthur C Clarke’s participation. Dynamix was awesome, Arthur C Clarke is certainly awesome, and the author (whose name I’ve forgotten) was awesome, the art was awesome, and Sierra’s adventure game technology was awesome — but, roll it all together, and what do you get – a disaster.
Why?
It’s been so many years. that I don’t remember what all went wrong. My recollection is that the project was horribly over budget, and that there were creative issues. Also, there were issues associated with taking a book author and putting them to work in an interactive medium.
Rama was beautiful. It’s worth finding a hint book, and playing it through just to see the graphics. Perhaps I should have kept the team together and had them keep polishing the play until we had a great game. Vision is always better when you look backwards. At the time all I remember thinking was: I NEED to get this shipping, and stop the spending.
-Ken W -
(re: re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?)
Oh goodie. I somehow managed to acquire two copies of this game (actually there’s no somehow about it — it happened because I can’t keep myself from buying Sierra games if I see them cheap…) Haven’t played it yet. Can’t wait, what with that glowing endorsement. 🙂
Is it that the puzzles are too hard? Or that the gameplay itself was just kind of awkward?
I’m sure I’ll play it at some point, but it’s certainly not at the top of my list.
🙂 emily
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(re: re: re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?)
crap…i just went searching for the box to try and refresh my memory of the story line for this game but can’t find it. i do have the cd case here. unfortunately, the back cover talks about “The Betrayal of Antara” (that’s one I never played)
but yeah, the fact that Arthur C. Clarke was a part of this project helped to make me believe this would be a true classic. hmmmm…the cover has the name Gentry Lee on it. that must be the great author you spoke of.
i have heard of authors having trouble making the transition from book writing to game writing. this seems like it may have been the case here as well.
i don’t ever remember the puzzles being hard. what i remember is just wandering aimlessly on the surface of this alien planet looking for artifacts. i could not derive a purpose for my character other then, “hey, here’s another cool thing to look at”. i had not emotional connection to myself (the main character) nor any of the other characters (there were few).
i think you 2 have convinced me to try this again. this time (being much older and hopefully more wise ..ha!), i will try to keep an open mind. emily, would you mind letting me know when you get started? i would be interested in getting your thoughts of this one.
did you ever get to meet Arthur C. Clarke?
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(re: re: re: re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?) My development team did go to Sri Lanka to meet Clarke, and film some footage with him.
You are right … Gentry Lee was the writer. A wonderful person – seriously. Charming. I may be being unfair to the game. It HAS been a long time. My opinion tends to be adversely impacted when something ships late, goes over budget, doesn’t hit it’s revenue projection, or gets poor reviews. My memory isn’t perfect, but I think I remember it being guilty of several of these sins.
-Ken W -
(re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?)
Well, now I’m curious. I may load it up to see what it’s like. If it runs without massive tweaking, I’ll try it.
Interesting, this “wandering aimlessly” sounds a bit like Myst. The copyright on this game is 1996, so it’s newer than Myst… but I wonder if Sierra was purposely trying out the first-person style? Was this the first Sierra game that came out with a first person perspective?
(I thought Lighthouse may have been the first first person game Sierra did… that one is also copyright 1996.)
-emily
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(re: re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?)
ok, not to beat this RAMA thing into the dirt, but i went out and “googled” for other peoples impressions of the game and i must say that 80-90% of the posting indicate that people really liked the game. i will definitely have to give this one another shot.
i also wanted to say that there were 3 Arthur C. Clarke RAMA books that players would recommend reading before playing the game. just a suggestion.
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(re: re: re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?)
Ran into two problems trying to install on XP. First, I clicked setup.exe, heard the fanfare (didn’t see anything), and then the app hung. This happened to me before with GK2. I haven’t found anyone else who’s had this problem but I know it’s due to some kind of conflict between my computer and a specific file that’s part of the install program. From my GK2 experience I knew how to work around it (if anyone else has this problem, email me and I can tell you what to do).
Okay, then I installed (didn’t install DirectX when prompted!) and tried to launch the game. I got a script error that looked a lot like the script error I got when I tried to run Phantasmagoria II on XP. I tried a few things (changed screen resolution, used compatibility mode) but didn’t put a lot of effort into trying to get it up.
I have a Win98 machine that I’m sure RAMA will run on. I will try it at some point. I need to get a switch box so I can swap between my two computers without it being such a hassle (they share the same monitor). Maybe after I pay off my Christmas bills…
-emily
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(re: re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?)
Rama wasn’t Sierra’s first adventure game with a 1st person perspective. That distinction goes to Man Hunter NY, I believe, although that also used 3rd person views at times.
I found Rama a good game, despite the “wandering aimlessly” at times. Got stuck at a certain point, but maybe I should try again.
BTW, the game included the Rama 2 novel, which was great as well.
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(re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?)
These were games that Sierra released when I was about 15-16 years old, when I didn’t have my own computer, and the family computer was one my Dad brought home from work, so it wasn’t fast enough to play these games. I was always interested to see what games from this era are like… including Phantasmagoria, Gabriel Knight 2, Rama, Lighthouse, Shivers, etc. I played Phantasmagoria a couple years ago, but have never played any of the others. These adventure games (for Sierra was developing quite a line of other products / games too at this time) generally seemed to fall into 2 categories – the live action games, and the 3D-rendered “Myst”-like games. Of course, the live action games also used 3D-rendered elements.
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(re: re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?)
YOU HAVEN’T PLAYED GK2?!
that’s just tragic. it’s the very best game sierra ever did, IMO.
i haven’t played most of the games released around this time because i was in college, not all games were released for mac (which was what i had), and my mac was generally too slow for the ones that were ported. i did play phantasmagoria, and i played GK2 but it was so slow i had to wait to finish it so i could play on my dad’s (slightly newer) mac. i ordered lighthouse and had to send it back because it wouldn’t run on my machine. (just picked up a copy for the PC last week… it’s been a long wait!)
-emily
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(re: re: re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?)
ok, i tried to install RAMA on my 2K machine last night and the install worked fine…no problems. when i tried running the game; however, i got the same scripting error that you are seeing on XP. i tried a couple of things to see if i could get it to run, but to no avail. i found the following site on the web that explains how to get RAMA running on XP. maybe this can help you. i will try these same steps and see if it works for 2K.
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(re: re: re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?)
I know this is off topic, but I’m curious as to where in the world Emily is finding all these old games? I always check the bargain bin at the bookstores and software stores around here. It’s been so long since I’ve seen any Sierra games for sale that I don’t recall the last time I’ve seen one…
GeoffP
PS – thought I’d mention that this is my first post here! 🙂
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(re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?) I know this is off topic, but I’m curious as to where in the world Emily is finding all these old games? I always check the bargain bin at the bookstores and software stores around here. It’s been so long since I’ve seen any Sierra games for sale that I don’t recall the last time I’ve seen one…
LOL, I mentioned sort of the same thing a while ago too. I always look in stores around my area, and don’t find much either. In an unusual bit of luck, I did find GK3 the other day, no box – but the manual + comic in reasonably good condition and the 3 CDs. Even more incredible – I found a bundle of old Sierra hintbooks, some sealed, at a computer shop. But that’s only 2 things within years. -
(re: re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?)
ha ha. I have had an unusual run of luck lately. I could give away my secrets, but then I might have to kill you… oh what the hell, it’s Christmas. 🙂
I get most of my old games from Goodwill. I live and work in the bay area in California. So, I’m near silicon valley (and lots of techie people who like games), and there are a lot of people with high disposible income (or at least, there used to be!) Also EA has headquarters nearby, so there are EA employees and former employees living in the area. At some point, these people clean out their closets or garages and donate the stuff they don’t want. I know of at least 6 Goodwill stores in the area (I have a 15-mile commute to and from work, and most of these stores are between home and work) and I just hit them regularly. Usually the games I find are only in jewel cases and the manuals aren’t always there, so they’re not ideal for collectors. They’re also used, but I don’t care about that. Sometimes I strike out, it’s hit or miss. Sometimes I have very good luck and wind up with something in a box. A few weeks ago I got Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon, complete in the box, for I think $3. I’ve also gotten a couple of old Sierra games in boxes. One store in particular has been very good for finding games in boxes — I don’t know if the same person keeps donating them, or what.
I hope no one who lives in my area reads this…
🙂 emily
ps Ken – if you’re ever planning on cleaning out your garage, let me know so I can come up to Seattle and troll the thrift shops!!
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(re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?)
I live in San Francisco. The job market sucks here like it does everywhere else.
Check the site below for job listings. They have LA listings too.
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(re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?)
I actually bought the game when it was relatively new (shocking, I know…) It wasn’t that bad a game actually. The music and graphics were so wonderful that in certain areas I just stared at the scenery. Plus the actors cast in the roles were PERFECT, though seeing the young black woman (I forgot all the names), the old white guy and the 40 ish one with the beard and realizing that in the book she sleeps with both of them makes you shudder. Some of it was really annoying, ESPECIALLY the part where you are doing math puzzles to get up higher levels in a building, and some of them require calculus level math skills to do right, forcing me to use a walkthrough as I can’t even do Algebra. Arthur C. Clarke talking to you was a nice touch, but then later on when you die more often and you have to listen to the same speech over and over to 10 minutes, you just wish the robot would stab him.
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(re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?) There were 4 Rama books
Rendezvous with Rama
Rama 2
The Garden of Rama
Rama RevealedI got the game when it first came out. I was about 8 and enjoyed it a lot because of it’s sci fi setting.
And Ken, if it makes you feel any better about the game, PC Gamer (USA) gave the game a 92% which is an awesome rating.
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(re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?) It is actually rather accurate. Of course, the book has a linear story consisting of primarily exploration, very little action. The game gives you a lot of freedom to explore and has loads of puzzles to make it interesting, but the story develops in pretty much the same way as it does in the book.
It would have to be pretty accurate, since the game shipped with the book in the game box. Anything wildly inaccurate would be very noticeable that way. -
(re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?) Does anyone know if the novel was included with all copies of the game, or was it just a limited edition promotional thing?
On a side note, I notice some on-line retailers are still carrying the game, e.g. CDAccess who sells it at $14.95 without the box and $19.95 with the box.
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(re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?)
Hi to all,
In fact, I purchased Rama three years ago, since I adored playing adventure games with my friends each saturday night 🙂 I fell in love with both parts of Shivers and when I saw this Sierra title in the store – bought it immediately.
Unfortunately, I didn’t like this game very much. Maybe the problem was that I have just played Shives 2 which was absolutely incredible. I really found annoying the Math puzzles. Also, there were many places that had to put some plates in order to get access to the cities (or something like that) and these plates were always different… I didn’t enjoy that. I did not get until the end – it was really hard at some points and there were some ridiculous puzzles.
However, I have the game next to me now and may give it another chance 🙂
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(re: re: re: RAMA: Do any of you remember that one?)
The music is embeded in the sound file (RESOURCE.SFX.) You can hear what is in it with The Game Audio Player:
http://bim.km.ru/gap/view.asp?id={039D5BBB-8B77-4930-8859-1C48806E663C}
You will have to wade through all of the sound effects to hear the music, though.
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