The actors were actually students at the University of Iowa. I actually enjoyed my time working on this project. I played Dr. Thornfield, the retiring director of the hospital, who was "passing the torch" to the younger doctor. I'm glad that you, on balance, enjoyed the game.
The maze is pretty hard if you're just trying to get through it. I tried the old trick of hugging the left wall and walking until you see the exit, but that was taking too long. Later on, I took some graph paper and just mapped it out as I went along, then eventually found my way out from that. Then I realized that in the foyer, there is a small framed photograph of the map. It looks like someone's pixelated head.
I was the lead environment artist on the game (James Bateman, as credited in the intro). I really appreciate your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the game :) To answer some of your questions (as best I can, from recollection): The girl in Tad's cell was (I *think*) scripted to point at the puzzle on the floor he needs to solve, but the framing cut her pointing at it out of the shot. The puzzles are demonically hard by design. We figured people would find puzzles like the ones in the original too easy nowadays as the puzzle game market is so saturated, and the puzzles they used have been recreated so many times in other games. We wanted to create the same level of challenge, but for a modern audience. The woman who heckles Tad is Stauf's wife (the woman in white). The maze is easy if you notice some subtle hints... XD
Well done on the game, really impressed! Thank you to you and the team for another great sequel. I wanted to contribute to the kickstarter back in '14 but was messaged back that it was no longer accepting donations. Anyways hope there is another sequel to come!
@@rahminbuckman6090 Sorry, completely missed your reply! I'm glad you enjoyed it, it was very much a passion project for us :) Yeah, we eventually closed the Kickstarter once we were funded as we we realized that after a point, the stretch goals on offer weren't going to be practical or even fun for the player XD Attic Door are still around, but currently no sequel to T13D is on the cards, but we do have other projects in the works. Can't promise anything, but if Trilobyte remain as friendly, helpful and willing to work with us as they were on this game, you never know! :)
I ended up giving up on the game pretty early on tbh. Unskippable cutscenes, incomprehensible puzzles, incoherent story structure (I mean heck the opening minutes are Tad died in the house immediately followed by showing us that he actually didn't he just kinda.. ran off after a random amount of time and then ended up in an asylum somehow) I tried to give it a lot of slack because it was a fangame, but the problems kept mounting up and up. Fortunately if you want to scratch the 7th hour itch the VR remake is ACTUALLY pretty solid and fresh
Great review. I thought the ‘sound’ of the music was captured wonderfully, but the ‘feel’ of the music was missed hard. It’s missing that sense of foreboding and intrigue that the 7th guest soundtrack nailed so well. If this makes any sense at all, in the 7th guest the mansion felt alive with the music playing and that you were not alone wherever you were, in the 13th doll it felt like you were in an empty abandoned house with a radio playing the song of that room. Maybe that’s what they were going for? My last gripe was the acting. Sure, it was never meant to be great, but at least in T7G the actors and voice overs were at least attempting to put you in a setting that captured the moment. All the acting and voice overs in 13th doll seemed so ham fisted and wildly out of place for the tone of the series. Anyway, I’m still glad this game exists and they did a magnificent job on it as a fan made game for fans by fans.
If anything, they captured the sound and tone of the 11th hour more than T7G. I think the latter could have had me more immersed. Just one mans, humble, opinion here.
Note: The ghost DOES show Tad something. She becomes an Orange ball that drops to the floor, which becomes the word puzzle. There were some corrections to audio released recently as well.
Was it 2015? Could've sworn this project was 2010 at the earliest...before it got any funding...I have vague memories of visiting a fan site that followed it and some T7G forums.
The project initially started back in 2004. It stagnated from around 2006-2014, but really took off again in 2015 with a fresh burst of enthusiasm to get the job done.
I followed this kickstarter for a lonnnnnnnng time. After constant delays and lack of updates, I really didn't think it would ever come out. I'm just happy to see it actually was completed and released. I have yet to play it, but I actually like the dated graphics and tacky green screen effects. It definitely nails the look of the original. Does this game have any creepy moments? The 7th guest was responsible for my fear of the dark as a kid. Going back to it, it probably wouldn't be quite as impactful, but it still had it's creepy moments. The pot of soup coming alive, the clown, the maze in the pantry, the girl turning into a baby with the creepy music, the portrait of Stauf coming alive and trying to attack you, the whole doll room was creepy. I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but hopefully this game has a few unnerving moments.
Great review! Very well formulated and narrated, and I do agree with pretty much everything you said. I think my biggest gripe with the game for me so far is the sheer _amount_ of FMV. While it does indeed capture the tone and feel of The 7th Guest, with its somewhat lackluster acting and shoddy green screen compositing - which I love, by the way - it does tend to drag on for quite a bit, far outstaying its welcome in a lot of cases (except for everything Stauf, obviously). Whereas in The 7th Guest the acting parts were fairly sparingly used in between the puzzles, here it tends to take center stage - no pun intended - and the fact that you can't skip them just adds insult to injury in that regard. Also I'm not the biggest fan of the music. It's quite competently made from a compositional point of view, but it rarely captures the sort of ominous, mysterious haunted house vibe that The 7th Guest did with its use of violins, bells and organs. A lot of the time it just feels off, like it belongs to another room, puzzle or - in some cases - a different game altogether. I hope they can patch up the sound mixing somewhere down the line, at the time of writing it's still all over the place. Apart from that I'm very much enjoying it, the puzzles are for the most part pretty good - especially the ones you don't have to go through all the hints to understand what you're supposed to do. I just started playing as the doctor along with my sister who, like me, grew up playing The 7th Guest. It really felt like old times as we were walking through the mansion trying to figure out the puzzles together, which I guess is a testament to how well they actually got the overall feel down.
I really enjoyed this game. Whilst it is, as you say in your review, very janky (sound volume inconsistencies, mismatched subtitles, missing audio and numerous graphical glitches - including a floating chair at one point in my playthrough and no, it wasn't floating due to spooky happenings), I felt that it ultimately transcended being a mere fan game, instead feeling like a true canonical sequel to The 7th Guest; it captures the tone, style of gameplay, FMV sequences and general presentation perfectly. My only real complaint, aside from the aforementioned jankiness, would be that the puzzles were far too difficult for my tastes (and I say that as a seasoned adventure gamer), resulting in me having to resort to a walkthrough for around 75% of the puzzles, which is far from an ideal way to experience a game. Overall though, this is a magnificent achievement and the developers should be extremely proud of what they've accomplished.
100% agree! Like I said in my review, I'm just glad something like this exists, especially in a gaming landscape that is largely releasing titles within the same few genres.
No cutscene skipping? Pass. That is the number one thing I look for that makes or breaks a game for me. Cutscenes need a skip. If they don't have one, the game is automatically trash.
The actors were actually students at the University of Iowa. I actually enjoyed my time working on this project. I played Dr. Thornfield, the retiring director of the hospital, who was "passing the torch" to the younger doctor. I'm glad that you, on balance, enjoyed the game.
The maze is pretty hard if you're just trying to get through it. I tried the old trick of hugging the left wall and walking until you see the exit, but that was taking too long. Later on, I took some graph paper and just mapped it out as I went along, then eventually found my way out from that. Then I realized that in the foyer, there is a small framed photograph of the map. It looks like someone's pixelated head.
I was the lead environment artist on the game (James Bateman, as credited in the intro). I really appreciate your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the game :)
To answer some of your questions (as best I can, from recollection):
The girl in Tad's cell was (I *think*) scripted to point at the puzzle on the floor he needs to solve, but the framing cut her pointing at it out of the shot.
The puzzles are demonically hard by design. We figured people would find puzzles like the ones in the original too easy nowadays as the puzzle game market is so saturated, and the puzzles they used have been recreated so many times in other games. We wanted to create the same level of challenge, but for a modern audience.
The woman who heckles Tad is Stauf's wife (the woman in white).
The maze is easy if you notice some subtle hints... XD
Well done on the game, really impressed! Thank you to you and the team for another great sequel. I wanted to contribute to the kickstarter back in '14 but was messaged back that it was no longer accepting donations. Anyways hope there is another sequel to come!
@@rahminbuckman6090 Sorry, completely missed your reply! I'm glad you enjoyed it, it was very much a passion project for us :)
Yeah, we eventually closed the Kickstarter once we were funded as we we realized that after a point, the stretch goals on offer weren't going to be practical or even fun for the player XD
Attic Door are still around, but currently no sequel to T13D is on the cards, but we do have other projects in the works. Can't promise anything, but if Trilobyte remain as friendly, helpful and willing to work with us as they were on this game, you never know! :)
I ended up giving up on the game pretty early on tbh. Unskippable cutscenes, incomprehensible puzzles, incoherent story structure (I mean heck the opening minutes are Tad died in the house immediately followed by showing us that he actually didn't he just kinda.. ran off after a random amount of time and then ended up in an asylum somehow)
I tried to give it a lot of slack because it was a fangame, but the problems kept mounting up and up.
Fortunately if you want to scratch the 7th hour itch the VR remake is ACTUALLY pretty solid and fresh
Great review. I thought the ‘sound’ of the music was captured wonderfully, but the ‘feel’ of the music was missed hard. It’s missing that sense of foreboding and intrigue that the 7th guest soundtrack nailed so well. If this makes any sense at all, in the 7th guest the mansion felt alive with the music playing and that you were not alone wherever you were, in the 13th doll it felt like you were in an empty abandoned house with a radio playing the song of that room. Maybe that’s what they were going for?
My last gripe was the acting. Sure, it was never meant to be great, but at least in T7G the actors and voice overs were at least attempting to put you in a setting that captured the moment. All the acting and voice overs in 13th doll seemed so ham fisted and wildly out of place for the tone of the series.
Anyway, I’m still glad this game exists and they did a magnificent job on it as a fan made game for fans by fans.
If anything, they captured the sound and tone of the 11th hour more than T7G. I think the latter could have had me more immersed.
Just one mans, humble, opinion here.
Note: The ghost DOES show Tad something. She becomes an Orange ball that drops to the floor, which becomes the word puzzle.
There were some corrections to audio released recently as well.
Christopher Weitzel you are correct, but if you pick the doctor you don’t see the puzzle so I just thought it was funny when I picked the doctor.
Was it 2015? Could've sworn this project was 2010 at the earliest...before it got any funding...I have vague memories of visiting a fan site that followed it and some T7G forums.
The project initially started back in 2004. It stagnated from around 2006-2014, but really took off again in 2015 with a fresh burst of enthusiasm to get the job done.
I followed this kickstarter for a lonnnnnnnng time. After constant delays and lack of updates, I really didn't think it would ever come out. I'm just happy to see it actually was completed and released. I have yet to play it, but I actually like the dated graphics and tacky green screen effects. It definitely nails the look of the original.
Does this game have any creepy moments? The 7th guest was responsible for my fear of the dark as a kid. Going back to it, it probably wouldn't be quite as impactful, but it still had it's creepy moments. The pot of soup coming alive, the clown, the maze in the pantry, the girl turning into a baby with the creepy music, the portrait of Stauf coming alive and trying to attack you, the whole doll room was creepy. I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but hopefully this game has a few unnerving moments.
Great review! Very well formulated and narrated, and I do agree with pretty much everything you said. I think my biggest gripe with the game for me so far is the sheer _amount_ of FMV. While it does indeed capture the tone and feel of The 7th Guest, with its somewhat lackluster acting and shoddy green screen compositing - which I love, by the way - it does tend to drag on for quite a bit, far outstaying its welcome in a lot of cases (except for everything Stauf, obviously). Whereas in The 7th Guest the acting parts were fairly sparingly used in between the puzzles, here it tends to take center stage - no pun intended - and the fact that you can't skip them just adds insult to injury in that regard.
Also I'm not the biggest fan of the music. It's quite competently made from a compositional point of view, but it rarely captures the sort of ominous, mysterious haunted house vibe that The 7th Guest did with its use of violins, bells and organs. A lot of the time it just feels off, like it belongs to another room, puzzle or - in some cases - a different game altogether. I hope they can patch up the sound mixing somewhere down the line, at the time of writing it's still all over the place.
Apart from that I'm very much enjoying it, the puzzles are for the most part pretty good - especially the ones you don't have to go through all the hints to understand what you're supposed to do. I just started playing as the doctor along with my sister who, like me, grew up playing The 7th Guest. It really felt like old times as we were walking through the mansion trying to figure out the puzzles together, which I guess is a testament to how well they actually got the overall feel down.
Thanks for your comments Ole, I hope you enjoy the rest of your playthrough!
I really enjoyed this game. Whilst it is, as you say in your review, very janky (sound volume inconsistencies, mismatched subtitles, missing audio and numerous graphical glitches - including a floating chair at one point in my playthrough and no, it wasn't floating due to spooky happenings), I felt that it ultimately transcended being a mere fan game, instead feeling like a true canonical sequel to The 7th Guest; it captures the tone, style of gameplay, FMV sequences and general presentation perfectly.
My only real complaint, aside from the aforementioned jankiness, would be that the puzzles were far too difficult for my tastes (and I say that as a seasoned adventure gamer), resulting in me having to resort to a walkthrough for around 75% of the puzzles, which is far from an ideal way to experience a game. Overall though, this is a magnificent achievement and the developers should be extremely proud of what they've accomplished.
100% agree! Like I said in my review, I'm just glad something like this exists, especially in a gaming landscape that is largely releasing titles within the same few genres.
@@FilmpulseNet Try Quern, if you like Myst. I totally loved it. Playing 7th Guest at the moment, Steam version.
It's also funny that the maze was what made you give up. That was easily the worst part of the 7th guest.
The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour plots did make much of any sense
No cutscene skipping? Pass. That is the number one thing I look for that makes or breaks a game for me. Cutscenes need a skip. If they don't have one, the game is automatically trash.