Pass the word

rms

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.17
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Wed, 17 Jun 2026 06:48:36 -0600, "rms" <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> said
this thing:

Pass the word

But which one?

The 1992 original?
The 2001 reboot (sometimes subtitled "The New Nightmare")?
The 2008 re-reboot (it had neat fire effects!)
The 2015 re-re-reboot (sometimes subtitled "Illumination", it was the multiplayer game)
The 2024 re-re-re-reboot?

I'm guessing you mean the last. The 1992 game is very rough around the
edges, and despite earning its place as a classic (and helping to
create the action-horror genre long before "Resident Evil" popularized
it), I can't imagine many modern gamers enjoying the experience. It's
just too dated.

The 2001 game was a fairly generic RE clone, albeit leaning more
heavily into the adventure game aspects. I wouldn't call it a bad
game, but it didn't really stand out in any way.

The 2008 game was a mess. Its fire effects were revolutionary, and it
had some interesting ideas (like seeing all the items of your
inventory hanging on your coat) but it was buggy and didn't have a
satisfying gameplay loop.

The 2015 game betrayed its title by having you play with others. It's
"ALONE in the Dark", developers, not "Doing Stuff With Others In the
Dark".

But I've a lot of heard good things (and a few bad things) about the
2024 game. I've actually installed it a few times intending to play
it, but got distracted by something shinier before that actually
happened. I may need to give it a chance finally.





--- PyGate Linux v1.5.17
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

There's a separate short Prologue, run that first for a taste https://store.steampowered.com/app/1938800/Alone_in_the_Dark_Prologue/

rms

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.17
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, 17 Jun 2026 06:48:36 -0600, "rms" <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> said
this thing:

Pass the word

But which one?

The 1992 original?

Original DOS demo was cool on my IBM PS/2 model 30 286 10 Mhz PC when I was a teen. :)
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--- PyGate Linux v1.5.17
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Wed, 17 Jun 2026 20:33:29 -0000 (UTC), ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) said
this thing:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, 17 Jun 2026 06:48:36 -0600, "rms" <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> said
this thing:

Pass the word

But which one?

The 1992 original?

Original DOS demo was cool on my IBM PS/2 model 30 286 10 Mhz PC when I was a teen. :)

I have to admit, I wasn't that impressed when I first saw it. But
that's probably because I saw it some years after its release (I think
in response to the 1994 release of "Ecstatica", which was a fairly
obvious clone of "Alone in the Dark", except it was set in a medieval
setting and used elipsoids rather than triangles for its 3D objects).
AITD already looked dated in comparison, especially with regards to
its jerky animation and freakish polygonal models (not that "Ecstatic"
was much better; early 3D models were horrific). The tank controls
didn't help much either (it's still the thing I hate the most about
the genre).

It also didn't help that AITD hid its Lovecraftian horrors several
hours into the game. That, more than anything, made me appreciate the
1992 game.

I later came to appreciate what "Alone in the Dark" was doing, both mechanically and technologically, but my initial impressions were
anything but favorable. Instead, I turned to games like "Shadow of the
Comet" and "Prisoner of Ice" to feed my Lovecraftian needs (both more traditional point-n-click adventure games) and didn't really think
about the games until "Resident Evil" revitalized the action/horror
genre and got all the credit for doing so ;-)





--- PyGate Linux v1.5.17
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)