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NEC TG-16/TE/TurboDuo => TG-16/TE/TurboDuo Discussion => Topic started by: Black Tiger on June 06, 2006, 06:16:37 PM
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Yes, its true. Night Creatures can be finished and yes I really have done it before and now I have the proof:
http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/nce2.avi
Now, most people who played a few minutes of this masterpiece of un-masterpieceness and then threw it in the garbage probably thought that it was the worst game ever made.
But only after mastering the game, can you truly appreciate how bad it is in ways you don't get to fully experience in the first few minutes of the game. For example, all the controls, including item usuage and menu navigating only work anywhere from 25% - 75% of the time(literally).
If it wasn't so close to a good game and full of real potential, it wouldn't be able to achieve such a high level of failure.
Seriously, if it was barely a demo, who would care? But its so close to being a worthy next-gen Simon's Curse that even if only the broken gameplay and linear path(only one correct way through the game, deviate once and its game over, even though its setup to be non-linear) were fixed, it would be good.
Although the rest of the game could stand to be cleaned up too.
And contrary to folk lore, the game doesn't only have one bgm track, it actually has 3 and the final piece is actually pretty long.
I made a bunch of notes along the way and will be updating my walkthrough with details on how to deal with several specific glitches/challenging spots.
And I'll have the entire game on dvd soon(if I can shrink it well enough, I'll youtube the whole thing).
And finally, yes it is true, I love this game. Even if Keranu is the only one who can understand why. The challenge of beating an impossible game is rewarding enough for me, but the game has a unique charm that has kept it one of my favorite Duo games, along side all of the quality titles.
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Awesome, totally downloading and watching the video. I was just talking about this game with someone online the other night.
By the way, I've been checking out your site these past weeks, I totally dig it.
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I was soooo freaking disappointed in this game when I first got it back in the day. Like you said, it had so much potential and failed so miserably.
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I was soooo freaking disappointed in this game when I first got it back in the day. Like you said, it had so much potential and failed so miserably.
Same here.
I'm glad you, Black_Tiger (and others) feel that this really could have been a neat game. And you know, some folks don't dig the character designs, but I like most of them. And, more generally, I don't think the graphics / settings / aesthetics of the game are as bad as some folks make them out to be. I rather like them.
I agree with Black_Tiger's assessment of Night Creatures, and I can't wait to see the video, by the way :)
I've beaten this game -- BUT, I followed the FAQ (Keranu, which TurboBoard member made that FAQ?) and it was only a few years ago. In fact, it was when I first got back into the TG-16. I couldn't believe folks were keeping TG-16 alive and writing FAQS for games like Night Creatures! Of all games! I mention this only because it is pretty funny that Night Creatures is partially responsible for re-entrance into Turbo Fandom.
Back in the day, I made it 2/3 to 3/4 into the game (though I didn't know it at the time, since I had no yardstick to measure progress). I finally lost interest when less-masochistic games caught my eye.
I still don't know how to pronounce "Hecate"... you'd think I'd have looked it up by now. But, nope...
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(Keranu, which TurboBoard member made that FAQ?)
RuninRuder.
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When I submitted my FAQ/walkthrough to GameFAQs several years ago, it was the only one for Night Creatures and was later followed by another FAQ from someone else, which eventually disappeared.
I put a video of the complete game up on youtube, but it was recompressed into something ugly. I'm going to see what I can dig up on what youtube does to files to see if I can get a better quality video up there before trying again.
In the meantime, I'm just about finished experimenting with different divx settings for the full video which I'll have up on my own site very soon.
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Cool. Is it just me, or do the bosses in the last level, actually use a good pseudo-transparent effect, or are they just flickering, & on the video maybe it looks like a better effect? Transparent effects are difficult on the Turbo, with Shapeshifter, probably having done the best in this regard. But it looks like Night Creatures did a perfect job as well.
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Cool. Is it just me, or do the bosses in the last level, actually use a good pseudo-transparent effect, or are they just flickering, & on the video maybe it looks like a better effect? Transparent effects are difficult on the Turbo, with Shapeshifter, probably having done the best in this regard. But it looks like Night Creatures did a perfect job as well.
Night Creatures uses a poor flicker effect and yes, the video blends it in nicely.
The nicest flickering transparency I can think of for PCE/TG, that I've seen, is probably the bg's in Vasteel fights.
With 30(ish)fps video, flicker effects will never get captured properly. Hopefully 60fps(or better?) videos will become standard soon enough.
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Haha, I just watched the video finally (I had it saved on my desktop for days and kept forgetting to watch it). What a wasted ending, eh? I love how the music didn't change at all even after you beat the final boss and it went into the ending, making you think that the game might not be over just yet. For some strange reason though, I kind of totally dig that ending at the same time. :?
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Alright, I've got video of the complete game divided into two parts, to make it easuer for people to download.
You can get each video from my homepage:
http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/
Or directly at:
http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/nightcreatures1.avi
http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/nightcreatures2.avi
Now, I also put these on youtube and although the picture quality isn't completely terrible, the audio is out of sync. So I recommended just downloading the higher quality clips that I'm hosting.
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Never did conquer it, but I always thought it was pretty cool.
Allthough VERY frustrating!
TurboSage
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had to post this.
After watching the whole run through, I found it funny that Glen Kirk's name came up in the credits as Lead Programmer.
http://www.metaplay.com/bios.htm
appears he works for this company Metaplay he's even gone on to work on better things after Night Creatures. Funny how they spelled TurboGraphix wrong on his BIO..
LOL
TurboSage
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Haha, good link find. I always love seeing stuff like that.
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Turbo_Sage and Black_Tiger: Bravo! :)
I still haven't watched the video (I'm on my mac), but I will watch it soon :)
Keranu: Runin! That's right! I liked the stuff he and "Dark Fact" wrote. I never did figure out who Dark Fact was (it wasn't Sig, was it?)
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Haha, Runin was Dark Fact, man :lol: . I always loved his writting as well; his Ys Book I & II review was one of the best reviews I have ever read :) .
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Haha, Runin was Dark Fact, man :lol: . I always loved his writting as well; his Ys Book I & II review was one of the best reviews I have ever read :) .
Holy crap, that's too funny. Man, at least I like what the dude wrote in forums and his reviews. Too funny. I could never keep the names straight.
Here's another one I just figured out (I think). retroborg (here) is none other than the infamous ST. DRAGON. That sneaky bastard!
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Hehe, I was always well aware of Retroborg hiding himself as ST DRAGON. And the first time I saw the name ST DRAGON on a message board, I immediately thought of retroborg since retroborg had told me on multiple occasions that he was a big fan of the St Dragon game. After reading ST DRAGON's posts, I totally knew it was retroborg, so I PMed ST DRAGON on the Famiconsumer boards asking if he was retroborg and needless to say, he PMed me back -- surprised -- claiming he was :) . I love retroborg, I talk to him on MSN a lot at night.
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Hehe, I was always well aware of Retroborg hiding himself as ST DRAGON. And the first time I saw the name ST DRAGON on a message board, I immediately thought of retroborg since retroborg had told me on multiple occasions that he was a big fan of the St Dragon game. After reading ST DRAGON's posts, I totally knew it was retroborg, so I PMed ST DRAGON on the Famiconsumer boards asking if he was retroborg and needless to say, he PMed me back -- surprised -- claiming he was :) . I love retroborg, I talk to him on MSN a lot at night.
:) I only put the two together because I was skimming through Famiconsumer (I haven't been there in ages) and I happened to see.... IDENTICAL THREADS (the Macross II thread).
I have to say that I've enjoyed retroborg more than ST. DRAGON. I knew you were friendly with each other, and that you, of all people, would know the truth :)
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Of course I would know the truth :) .
By the way, Steve, Famiconsumer is shutting down on July 5th, 2006 :( .
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Of course I would know the truth :) .
By the way, Steve, Famiconsumer is shutting down on July 5th, 2006 :( .
Wow. Will there be a replacement or is it just ending and folks are parting ways? Wow.
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I think Nick will make the replacement, but I am not sure how the whole situation has been working out. However, we at LaZer Dorks are workign on a message board to add to the site and it could be the home of the old Turbo Board if the others want, but we are mainly making it for our more inside friends ;) .
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I thought I heard my name! What's up, punks.
Marc (Masters) and I love to both revere and mock Night Creatures. We had so much to say about it that we had to blurt it all out in one nice big package of nonsense, and it ended up being a FAQ.
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I thought I heard my name! What's up, punks.
Marc (Masters) and I love to both revere and mock Night Creatures. We had so much to say about it that we had to blurt it all out in one nice big package of nonsense, and it ended up being a FAQ.
Ahh, so Masters helped you with that? I don't know if you caught it in one of my prior posts, but my re-entry into the TG-16 universe was partly due to that FAQ! No joke. :)