It's a fine game, but it's over with very quickly. Where's the rest of it?

@32, Corylea: It sounds to me like you need to adjust your monitor. As you say, the game 'expects' your monitor to be well-adjusted: in particular, you need to make sure that dark areas have enough contrast. On most monitors, that means having the Brightness set high enough that the darker tones don't all display as 'black.' This is true of most HOGs, as game designers love hiding things on or in shadowy parts of the scenes!

downloaded and setup at 1:30 pm...just went to play...DID NOT REGISTER like It stated???? help


...........................Moderator Comment..........................

Hi Joeanne, sorry its to late to sort now. I've been asleep for most of last night and this morning following my daughters show. I find it hard to do anything since my accident. going out to the shops will incapacitate me for days afterwards.

I can't understand why it didn't register because the whole process is automated. Unless your security software blocked the registration process?

I'm sure we will see this game again in the future. You can get it free from MyPlayCity (MPC) 24/7. Of course you have to be careful not to forget to uncheck the boxes each time you play, otherwise you'll end up with an extra toolbar and even your home page changed. These can easily be rectified, but are still annoyances. At least you'll get to play the game through if you install the MPC version:

http://www.myplaycity.com/alabama_smith/


If you aren't familiar with MPC games you'll find that when you close the game down, it will open your browser to MPC's home page. This isn't malware, it's easy to get rid of just by closing the browser. The usefulness comes in that MPC are getting new games on a weekly basis, so it would give you an opportunity to find new games. They have over 600 decent casual arcade games available, all for free.

I've had a very quick go at this one, and - apart from the slightly annoying blinking eyes - I reckon it's a good'un. It has a story, it isn't impossible to work out the puzzles, and the music is bearable so far.

Graphics are good, quite clear, and for an old duffer like me the Casual mode is friendly and helpful. I might even play it again one day on the Expert level - if I get through this one first . . .

Yes - another good time-waster from GGOTD. Thanks very much to all concerned!

(Oh, and to Whiterabbit - I bet your daughter was absolutely stunning. Well done!)


............................Moderator Comment.............................

Thanks Basilica. Yes she was. I'd post a photo, but photography was banned at the show; even back stage. (Partly because a lot of the girls were in various stages of undress due to frequent costume changes. My wife helped with the changes, as a male I wasn't allowed backstage - quite rightly so)

Dear WhiterabbitUK,

What your need to track down your intermittent electrics problem is a non-contact voltage sensor. These are often called "voltage sniffers."

I've worked with electrics for more than 30 years and can tell you this is the best way. My 25+-year-old detector still easily picks up the HV neighborhood feed that inputs to transformers at each home. It picks this up 15 to 20 meters away from the line, so it works at ground level.

If that line is ok, then use it to check the 220-240 V feed from the transformer to your home. If that shows a reading while all of your lights are out, then the problem is probably the service meter, the main breaker, or a loose or corroded wire at one of the terminals of the meter or circuit breaker box.

Search term "voltage sniffer." Hope this helps!


...........................Moderator comment........................

Thanks for the suggestion Joe. will check it out. (Amazon and ebay) :)

Installed and plays well on Windows 7 64-bit. I've only gotten as far as the ancient well in Pompeii. This is a simple, "basic" game as others have mentioned. There is a nice mix of mini games, hidden objects and "what do I do now?" components. In "casual" mode, the hints restore quickly and I have used at least one on each level. Game play is relaxing and enjoyable, though occasionally objects are too dark to be found/used easily.

Do I think I would purchase it? Probably not. That's not really a reaction to the game itself, but mostly because others have mentioned how short it is and I don't see any re-play value. Games I purchase need to be more than a "once through" for me.

Nice freebie, appreciated as always... especially on a cold, snowy Sunday afternoon.

Thank you WR and Alawar for a fun diversion.




...........................Moderator Comment........................

Thank you for your feedback Lucky Kitty. I only write up the reviews and make suggestions. The hgiveaway team are responsible for getting the games. :)

Downloaded fine on Win 7. Only played for a short time but looks like fun. Thank you for the HOG.

I played the game from beginning to end. Since "House of 1000 Doors: Family Secrets" was made by Alawar and is one of my favorite games of this type, I had high expectations. "Alabama Smith in Escape From Pompeii" was a reasonable little game, but it's strictly average, not the gem that "House of 1000 Doors: Family Secrets" was. I don't know if "Alabama Smith in Escape From Pompeii" is still under development or is intended to be a more rudimentary game or what, but it felt far less polished and far less user-friendly than the other game.

The idea of switching between the past and the present in order to accomplish things that couldn't be accomplished in a single time is a really good one, but it didn't seem to be implemented all that well. The puzzles required to assemble the amulet were more interesting than the ones the player gets after getting access to both the present and the past. Really? There's something backwards there. Also, this interesting game mechanic doesn't kick in until halfway through the game, which seems like rather a waste of an interesting game mechanic.

Specific problems I found:
1. On the slide that we're supposed to project onto the blackboard, the number was so dim that I misread the first digit as a "1," instead of the "4" it was supposed to be. I went back to look at the slide four times, because the number I had input kept not working, and yet the number on the slide LOOKED like the number I had input. I had to put my face an inch from my monitor and squint in order to see that the first digit was a "4." This needs to be bigger or clearer or brighter or something.

2. In the puzzle where we were supposed to divide the pictures into two groups, some of the pictures were so small that I couldn't tell what they were. This felt like a similar problem to #1, as if the game I was seeing was smaller or dimmer than it was supposed to be.

3. In the same vein, during the "set history right by finding all the differences between the two pictures" scenes, there were a lot of times when I couldn't find any more differences, so I clicked on a hint. I clicked where the hint told me to, and that worked, but even when I clicked on the place the hint told me to, I couldn't see any difference after clicking, even though the game told me that whatever I'd just done had worked.

I am middle-aged -- 54 -- but I wear glasses, and I don't have any difficulty seeing any other games. This game needs to be bigger or brighter or something, so squinting isn't part of the gameplay. :-)

In general, I think this game has potential, but it doesn't seem quite ready yet.




...........................Moderator Comment........................

Thank you for your excellent feedback Corylea. Sorry it's taken me till after the giveaway was over to moderate. I was exhausted after yesterdays show.

i'm going to try another download. i usually have no problems but parts of the game are blank. I have a black screen and just boxes that show a few objects. at first I thought it was the way the scene was supposed to be but, after finding an object, it opened in a blank box. very strange. this even happened on one scene that was complete the last time it opened.

I had closed the game and decided to try opening it again, from the shortcut I created and, voila', scenes are displaying normally. If this happens to anyone else. I hope the 'fix' is as easy and reopening the game too.
thanks for all the great games!



...........................Moderator Comment........................

Thank you for your feedback Barbara. Strange graphic glitches. Maybe try updating your graphic drivers to the latest version? :)

A quick follow-up: using a Hint DOES NOT affect your Bonus (sorry, my mistake!).

Also, it seems that the Music Volume setting returns to default when you close and open the game: annoying! Each time, I have to go into Options, then take the Music Volume WAY down. My only real black mark overall.

Finally, Chapter 3 is good fun and a little more challenging than the previous chapters; and I'm looking forward to finishing the game soon.


.............................Moderator comment..........................

Thanks CAD. :)

Not a fan of hogs as you know, Wabbit, but I got a question for Cad. Are you the Cad Delworth who write the manual back in 1997 for the pinball game Pro Pinball Timeshock!? Just curious?

Thanks Alawar and GGOTD for the game. I am playing it..Thank God it has a walk through. :)

Dear Wabbit..I hope you enjoyed your daughter's dancing. Girl's need that...builds character, poise and confidence.



...........................Moderator Comment........................

Hi Delenn, yes I throughly enjoyed the show. It was the best one so far. she's been going to dance classes since she was 3 years old, starting with Ballet, then adding Tap and Modern Dance. The shows cost a fortune in costumes. Each show costs us around $600 in outfits, most of which are only used once or at the most twice. It's quite a professional outfit, with girls winning dance scholarships to various establishments throughout the UK. My daughter isn't that dedicated, but loves the shows. She has three dance classes every week on top of gymnastics and music lessons and of course Girl guides. :) She was brilliant this year. She used to use the costumes after the shows to dress up in with her friends. She must have over 40 different outfits stored in her wardrobes many of which could be adapted for parties.

You are right about building character, poise and confidence.

As I wirte this, I'm about to go into chapter 3, which I guess is the final part? It took me about 90 minutes of play to get here. And thank goodness for Steven's tip about the clay puzzle!

So, what do I make of Escape from Pompeii? Well, it's certainly not as deep as a game like, say, Mystery of Mortlake Mansion; but although the puzzles often intially seem a tad random, even the clay puzzle that Steven referred to in his review has a sort of logic about it, given what happens to the object you make.

It does seem that you can skip over the interludes during a chapter by clicking the bubble, but the cut scenes at the start of each chapter are, as others have mentioned, pretty much automated and you can't speed them up either by clicking or by pressing Enter or space. That said, they are not unendurably long and for me at least, are a welcome breather from the HOG and puzzle action. :) They do seem a little 'cheap and crude' compared to some other HOG/puzzle/adventure games, but again, not really a big deal.

It seems that wrong moves or clicks reduce the bonus bar temporarily, as does using a Hint, so no doubt that will affect your points score, but I'm currently playing on Casual level so that really doesn't matter to me.

Would I pay for this game? For the very reasonable $7 asked, I'd say 'maybe.' It's not hugely taxing on Casual level, with almost everything showing a tooltip/label when you move the pointer over it, and I won't have time today to try the 'hard' level so it's hard to say whether that extra difficulty would persuade me to pay.

But as a GGOTD, thanks to the project and to Alwar for giving us this lovely little gift today: I'm very much enjoying it!


...........................Moderator Comment........................

Thank you for your excellent feedback Cad. :)

Nice HOG. Installed easily on Windows 7 64 bit. I haven't played through very far as I have work to do today but I will. The only suggestion I have so far is to let the player advance more quickly past the text when they click on the screen. There is a 'skip' button but I wanted to read stuff this first time through and I obviously read faster than the developers expected as there was quite a lag between when I clicked on the screen and when the text advanced. I would also be tempted to make the views of the people static instead of just animating them by blinking the eyes.

Thanks and Happy New Years to all.


..........................Moderator Comment.........................

Happy New Year to you too lonnih. :)

Cute game. Worked with no glitches on Win 7. Kind of short but a nice break from reality when playing in casual mode. I liked the storyline. I didn't read very carefully though so I thought Alabama was a girl up until a good ways through the game. Oops. ;)


........................Moderator comment.....................

I thought so too. :)

This is a nice game but the narrative parts need to move a little faster or enable click to change the slides. That seemed to work at times but not in every narrative.

I was able to install it on Vista HP without a problem. Since I have Norton Internet Security on this computer, I made sure that I temporarily disabled its anti-virus while I did the install, since I've had problems in the past with the GGAOTD installer wrapper and NIS. I made sure the game installed into C:Program Files under its own name, and then just added a link to it in my Start Menu > Programs > Games directory.

This is a well-designed and smooth playing game. The first segment is a narrative which sets up the story. You can't click through the conversation to make it go faster - you can only click to skip it - but the conversation scenes advance rather quickly for this type of game (I've played games where the reading speed seems to be set for a 6-year old's capabilities - agony!) so it's not too onerous. The first actual game scene in the library has a lot of hand-holding but that's just to give you an understanding of the mechanics of the game. The second scene in the classroom is much less obvious in its direction. You are given a set of tasks that you have to accomplish in each scene. After the classroom scene, you are given a choice of whether you want to remain in casual game difficulty mode, or play a harder version in which you aren't told exactly which items have to be found in a scene and you earn higher points for the items you do find. You can later change the difficulty level if you want.

The puzzles that I've come across so far have been relatively easy; some of the hidden items to find have been very small (which I actually like). So far, this seems to be an adventure game, rather than a junk-pile type hidden object/adventure game. I have a number of Alawar games in my inventory and they've all been well-made and fun to play and this one seems to be no exception. There is also a sequel to this game available: "Alabama Smith in the Quest of Fate".

I am enjoying it, so thanks very much GGAOTD!

Informational hint for game playing: In certain scenes you can turn electrical items and lights on and off, as needed.


...............................Moderator comment........................

Thank you for your feedback DTS

Installed fine on Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. While I do like HOG's, I'm not particularly fond of this one, so far. It's kind of frustrating when it takes a long time to figure out what you're looking for, after clicking on practically everything. Maybe with some dedicated time, it might 'come' to me and it won't be as frustrating (dense). I do need the occasional change from the usual match3's I've come so addicted to, so I defintely won't write this one off yet. Thanks GGOTD and Alawar.

I have installed it on win 7 64. No problems.
I have enjoyed playing this game, but I have already finished it. It is too short.
what I miss in this game that I have no idea how far i am in the game. Some kind of timeline would be appreciated.
Regards, V.B.

As always I am in for a hidden objects game - download and installation went fine and I started to play to see if it works - which it does. Love the plot and look forward to move on playing.

Thank you very much for another pleasure!

Hope this site helps you power issue
http://www.thecircuitdetective.com/index.htm
http://www.thecircuitdetective.com/tree.htm
http://www.thecircuitdetective.com/sitemap.htm

I have no connection with the web site.


.......................Moderator comment....................

Thank you for the links Calvin. The site looks well thought out. Will check it out properly tomorrow. Already bookmarked. :)

I don't normally like this sort of game but I really enjoyed it the story line and the graphics. It is worth downloading to try it.

Downloaded to my 'games' folder, unzipped and installed but couldn't find the game in my folder. re-installed creating a folder that I named 'Alabama Smith'. Then I found it but also found the original activation that had been named by default 'Game_AlabamaSmithEP'. Don't understand why 'Game_' should have been part of the name. I have lots of games in my folder and always look for them alphabetically. So I was looking for 'Alawar', Alabama, and even Pompeii. It never occured to me to look for 'game' inside my 'games' folder.

I was surprised to see that my name was already in the player box. Then when I clicked 'play' I realized that it was familiar. I had apparently played a trial of it at some point and it put me into Chapter 4! Well, I guess that gives me head start. I din't have the link for the walkthrough before so now maybe I can actually finish the game!!

.......................Moderator Comment..........................

Thank you for your feedback Montana Grandmom, Your previous saves were probably kept in the My Games section of your My Documents folder, or within one of the hidden folders or even the registry. Glad you find the walkthrough useful. :)

Good enjoyable game, puzzles are at the right difficulty to make it interesting, but not so difficult as to make the game unplayable.

Thanks.

Ok Win 8 x64 Pro. Side borders in full screen but no damage to game.
Two modes helps, just did casual and while not HOG fan the hints do help so far to get the nagging 'last one' so common. Very satisfying unfolding story. So far usual set of puzzles; anxious to see what freshness they came up with for long in tooth genre. Thanks guys.
Oh installed to D drive, created own shortcut. Plays quickly.

Fun game that started up in full screen opposed to the half screen I normally get when starting up alawar games on my widescreen HD tv (meaning the start up screen is normally pushed to the most left side of my screen leaving the other half black)
some puzzles are good brainteasers while others are plain easy, playing casual gives you a good idea of the game while it not being to difficult. More hardcore gamers will prolly choose for expert mode which can be a challenge but is of course more satistying.

one of the better alawars I have seen so far, thanks ggotd and alawar (and since this is my first visit this new year I wish all the visitors of GGOTD a great, healthy and safe 2013 and this of course I wish also to our friend and main reviewer Stephen aka WhiterabbitUK, have a great year oh hopping one :) )


.......................Moderator comment....................

Thank you mv ;-)

Downloaded and installed fine, made a short cut to the folder. Game itself is very basic, graphics are so-so. Very short gme, finished this in just under an hour, however I play these all the time so it wasn't difficult even on expert mode. Over all a fairly decent game, I give it a 3 out of 5 simply because of graphics and the length. Good way to kill an hour.

Whiterabbit..I always 'bother' to read your reviews and find them helpful. HO games are my favorite. I can't get enough of them. Thanks to you, the Giveaway team and the suppliers of these games. I am grateful to all of you.


...........................Moderator Comment........................

Thank you Betty. :)

I have Windows Home 64, and had no problems downloading or installing the game. All I had to do after installation was to create a desktop shortcut. I really love hidden object games, so I was really looking forward to playing, and I was not disappointed. You can pick between "Expert" or "Casual" playing, and I decided to accept the "Expert" challenge. I'm glad I did. If I had chose casual playing, where you have the option to skip any in-between puzzle that gets too difficult or frustrating to solve(and there are a few of those), I would have missed out on the final pleasure of solving them. The general story line was interesting, although simplistic. The initial graphics are very basic with minimal animations and colors. And as a previous reviewer mentioned, the story line seemed to drag, with the skipping the entire narrative being the only opt out option. And actually, some of the story was not only interesting, but somewhat necessary to playing the game. It would have been nicer and much more interesting if the inital narration could have been done by voice overs. As for the rest of the graphics throughout the game, the drawing and animations were very well done, and the colors were crisp and vivid. The music was simple and somewhat repetative, but it kept things going. For every level of the game, you are given a list of tasks, and it's up to you to figure out what you need in the room you are in to accomplish the task. You will find objects laying around, and can click on them to place in your inventory. What I think I especially enjoyed about this game was that it really encourages you to think about what you are doing and what you need. For instance(Slight Spoiler Alert), you have an empty bowl in a room with a sprinkler system. What do you neeed to do, and what objects do you need, to fill up your bowl? Once you have the "Amulet", which allows you to go back and forth in time, for me, that just heightened the interest and playablity of this game. I liked the idea of going back to Pompeii in order to find an object or solve a puzzle in the present time, and vice-versa. Very interesting. I could go on and on, but in the end, if you enjoy finding hidden objects, solving puzzles, and a general challenge, this is the game for you. Scoring wise, I would give it:
8- general playability
8- graphics
7- music
Thanks GOTD, White Rabbit, and Alawar for this super enjoyable game. It took about 6 hours to finish, but I loved it!


............................Moderator Comment...................


Thank you for your feedback :)

....................Moderator Comment.....................


I'll be out for the next several hours at my daughters show. I'll endevour to moderate once I return.

Regards

W.R.

Installed A-OK on Vista Hm Prem., X64. Played a bit, it works.
Thanks WR & GGOTD & Alawar!
G!:)

I love hidden object games. Alawar does have better ones than this. But not a bad one all together. The graphics are a bit dated, but the story line is good. Worth the download and a few hours of fun.

Whiterabbit, does your electric enter the house from underground or overhead lines?

Is it everything or just some things that go out?

If overhead and just some things, look to see if one of the wires is loose, that is often the most common reason for power outages like that.

Otherwise, call an electrician, because electric and gas are the 2 things you should not mess with if you don't know how to fix them. Both will kill you if you do something wrong.

I have a home remodeling business, so I know about these things.

.......................Moderator comment..........................

Hi Joe, thanks for your advise; it's okay though. :) I was trained originally as an electromechanical engineer and am okay with electrics; unfortunately present UK legislation doesn't recognise my qualifications which are 35 years out of date now. I retrained after going to university as a mature student, and never kept up with retraining so wouldn't legally be able to fix the problem, besides I've forgotten most of what I knew back then; thhankfully I'm still aware of the dangers etc.

I'm just trying to fault find. If I could pinpoint the problem, it should cost less to fix.

I downloaded this game on Windows 8 and had no problems at all, and even have it installed to play from the Start page or the Desktop. I was a little disappointed in the graphics, which seem to be very basic and definitely a let down for a game from Alawars. However, I love HOG's, and have enjoyed what I have played so far. The only other negative thing about this game, for me, was the fact that when you come to a conversation section you cannot just read it, click anywhere on the screen and have the conversation move on. It seems like you have to either SKIP the whole thing, or wait the amount of time allotted before the screen changes. Of course, this could just be my computer, and I have not had a chance to try it on another one yet. This will definitely be a game that I will use in my classroom in two different ways. First of all, HOG's are great for ESE children because they have to process how to complete a task, but since they are playing a game they do not become as easily frustrated, plus I have found that this type of game can also be one that my students will try to earn points to play as a reward. Overall this game is a win-win-win for me. Thank you very much GGOTD team, and White Rabbit, for continuing to find great computer software that is entertaining for both my students and myself!!!!!!!!!

STORM


.............................Moderator comment..........................

Thank you for your feedback STORM, much appreciated.

Definitely going to try this out. Will see how the day goes to write an opinion but there's a review on Gamezebo and the game gets 4/5 there. The puzzles, that reviewer say are difficult and might require some dexterity, but that just one opinion. :)

Thanks for the game and to Mr. WhiteRabbit for all the screenshots. Have a great day fellow gamers!


...........................Moderator Comment....................


You are right Dana, its always good to get opinions from several sources. Pity I didn't have time to review this game fully. From what I've played so far I think its a worthwhile download. I'm not as much into playing HOG's as i used to be , but so far I've enjoyed playing this one. :)

OK, so I forgot it's the number of prisoners, followed by guards and cells. Now it works just fine. Just to add to the system information - a graphics processor (Intel 3100) with no memory of its' own (up to 384MB RAM shared with system) is just fine, so it should probably work on most computers.




...............................Moderator Comment.........................


:-)

The game works on XP SP3 without technical problems. The only problem I have is with the circular safe lock shown in the right side of the first picture below SCORING. I understand I'm supposed to enter number 63, but don't know how. Neither placing every wheel at 63 nor repeating the Roman LXIII sequence (50 10 3) either way works. Will try the walkthrough link. If nothing works this game is unplayable.

thanks

i vote +1 but i don't download this games,
i have a great lot of this same game (offer by gaotd, Alawar Entertainment and other ).

Sacha

I didn't have time to write a review of my own for today's game, it's been manic this weekend with my daughter dancing in an adaptation of Sleeping Beauty, so we've been stretched to the limit with time availability, plus I've been having major power issues with the electrics cutting out all the time. (Will probably need to call an engineer in if I can't find the source of the short soon -'ve been going dark for 3 days now)..... So have used some screen captures that I took from the initial stages of the game, used some from the internet (my inages have a wide screen capture with black side borders) and have copied the Gamezebo review. I do hoppe the review is sufficient for those who bother to read it. I hope you have all stuck to your New Year resolutions? ;-)




Alabama Smith in Escape from Pompeii:





In Brief:

A Hidden Object game with time travelling elements, a story and excellent graphics. Mini games and two modes of play included. :)

Installation:


Alabama Smith in Escape from Pompeii downloads to a 71.6 MB zip file that unpacks to a read me and a wrapped setup activation file (the orange colored file with the key symbol), plus there's a setup file with security (setup.gcd) that's protected from being hacked. This file may case some security software to alert the user to a possible malware attack, but it will be a false positive. The game giveaway team check all game giveaways for malware using several well known anti -malware suites. There has never been a game giveaway infected with malware since the project started back in Dec 2006. The installed game is 73.3MB in size.



C:\Games\Game_AlabamaSmithEP\AlabamaSmithEP







No desktop shortcut or start menu/programs shortcut are installed, so make sure you make a note of where the game is being installed to so that you can create one for yourself. Once installed you can delete the giveaway setup files.



I've only tested the game on Win 7 this time around, Anyone running Win 8, Vista or XP, please confirm whether this game works Thanks.

Introduction:

Alabama Smith is young, dashing and intelligent. He's also a brilliant student of archeology, so when his professor needs to find an artifact that allows its bearer to travel through time, he turns to our whip-smart hero for help. Join Alabama and the professor's daughter, Anastasia, as they travel to modern Pompeii in a mind-bending seek-and-find adventure unlike any you've played before!

At first, you'll help Alabama search for the artifact, and then you'll step into the role of Anastasia as she races to save her new friend from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Travel back and forth in time to solve elaborate puzzles and prepare for shocking twists and turns in this story of double-crosses and intrigue. Photorealistic visuals and atmospheric audio make this already captivating adventure all the more compelling!

Reference accessed HERE Jan 5th 2013






The Game:



A good story helps move a point and click adventure forward, letting gamers rely on their own intelligence to decide what to do next. In Alabama Smith in Escape from Pompeii, however, even the most experienced gamers will hit dead spots that require multiple hints. Some puzzles are satisfying, but overall gameplay can be frustrating owing to a story that jumps between too many instructions and none at all.

Alabama Smith starts out with two interesting characters and a good idea: a way to give additional guidance in an adventure. Alabama is a twentysomething college student. The school sends him on a summer course to Europe where he meets the daughter of an archaeologist and they set off on a quest for a mysterious amulet.

In a typical adventure game, the many details are what keep players involved while deciding what to do next in a nonlinear game. Alabama Smith throws all of that overboard, and substitutes a task list that literally tells you what to do next, even it doesn’t make sense. For example, at a dig in Pompeii you'll see an empty oven, a dig site, and a shadowed arch. Your instinct is to decide between exploring the dig or the arch. However, the game tells you immediately to make a fire in the oven. Your next task is to “moisten clay.”

Finally, you are led to clay molds, and as soon as you put them in your inventory, the moist clay you already created automatically jumps into the molds, and you have a mini statue ready to be baked in the already built fire. There is no story reason for doing any of this, and nothing to figure out on your own except the interim steps of how to build the fire and moisten the clay.

Similarly, as you move your cursor most items have a text label. This does eliminate some unnecessary clicking. Sometimes reading the label solves the puzzle instantly.

At other times, though, you just don’t have enough information. At least twice players have to enter a combination/ password. It’s not clear there is an interim step that must be completed elsewhere first. However, unlike most adventures, Alabama Smith will literally let players make dozens of failed attempts and never tell them that they just can’t succeed where they are. The only clue will be that there’s still something on the task list. But since you often get multiple tasks, you never know when it matters. They should have limited the number of tries (to three, perhaps), then shut down the lock to force players to consider other tasks.

Other situations are impossible to solve logically. In one scene, you need to carry ashes from one spot to another. On the ground is a large metal helmet. Logic would indicate that’s what you’re supposed to try. However, it turns out that instead you’re supposed to use time travel and go to a different year, just to pick up a bowl. The only way to figure this out is to use a hint, which will indicate the time travel button. You will jump back and forth 4 or 5 times to solve a single puzzle, with no story logic to drive the decisions.

Most of the puzzles are quite easy, on the level of “find the key on the shelf and put it in the locked drawer.” Some of them are complex, but not necessarily logical. Two require significant physical dexterity, and may be too hard for those with hand movement issues.

Experienced gamers will be able to complete the game in three or four hours. Novices may give up altogether because of the extreme variation in difficulty from one task to another.

On the plus side, the game offers two modes, casual and expert. The casual introduces a Find Items list like a hidden object game. This is an interesting approach. In casual mode you also get more hints and can skip mini-games. You can even switch modes between scenes.

One puzzle, the fresco, is exactly what an adventure puzzle should be: long, complex, logical, and thematic. We wish the whole game had been more like that.



Reference accessed HERE Jan 5th 2013

You'll find a walkthrough of the game HERE





System Requirements:


Windows 2000/ XP/ Vista/ 7

CPU: 800 Mhz

System RAM: 512 Mb

Hard drive space: 72 Mb

gRAM 32 MB

3D graphics card

DirectX version: 7.0 or higher





Video:

You’ll find videos of game play HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE (French)
and HERE.




Music:

You can change the music by swapping the music files via the following path. You will need to rename each file and convert them to the .ogg format:


C:\Games\Game_AlabamaSmithEP\Music

Conclusion:


Overall a decent hidden object game with a story line that wasn't too confusing. :) I would recommend trying this game. It was well executed though I'd liked to have seen better animations. This should keep you occupied for quite a few hours today.





Scoring


Gameplay – 8
Graphics – 8
Audio – 8
Re-playability – 7
Originality – 7

Total = 7.6

Problems:

If you are posting late in the day I would also suggest posting in the main giveaway forums in the game discussion section. If you’ve installed the game but it won’t work for some reason, it should still be registered, so someone may be able to help at another time. Unfortunately if your problem is actually installing it then once the giveaway period is over there’s nothing that can be done until the game is given away again (though that isn’t guaranteed. It’s always worth checking out the free games sites as sometimes the games we get here are also available for free from them. Todays game is available from MyPlayCity HERE

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Games, Games, and yet more Games plus Download, Installation & Game play Problemsl>:



If you have any problems installing or getting to work today's game please go HERE for help.


If you're looking for something other than today's game check the didimatic site via THIS link for some brilliant deals.

There are several other deals available from Steam as well as many more from Gamersgate, Gamestop, Greenman Gaming and GOG; all of which you can find via the Didimatic site, which I've linked to above (apart from Greenman gaming.

Steam's Christmas sale is still on at the moment with all of thje best deals repeated until Monday.

The usual monthly free game from Alawars game box is still Finding Doggy. (You need to install the free Gamebox from Alawar to access the free games, which for newcomers change approximately every month). If that's not enough, check out the Game Discussion forums HERE for details of other games either free or on deals such as the Indie Game bundles or the four day sales at IndieGameStand. The latest game is actually two games Flatspace I & II. You can get both games for $1 or if you pay more than the average, which at the moment stands at less than $1.80 you can get extras added on. Usually these games come as a DRM free setup file plus sometimes you'll get Desura and/or Steam codes as well.




Check out the Game discussion forums HERE for details of any Indie Game Bundles that are still live.


You'll find more hidden Object games for free over at MyPlayCity, Gametop and FreeGamePick but please be aware that these sites may add toolbars and home page hijacks to your web browser, but these can be avoided by un-checking the appropriate boxes during installation. Also when you close any of their games down, your browser is opened and directed to the sites home page. This is innocuous so don’t worry. Closing the page ends any connection and nothing is downloaded.

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A Request for helpl>:

Developers rely on good feedback to improve their games. If you download this game please take some time once you’ve played it a while to leave some constructive feedback either positive or negative. The more constructive feedback we get, the more likely developers are going to give more games away. The giveaway site already has a very good standing with the search engines. Developers want their products out there on the WWW, this site has the potential to do that. The game giveaway project gives away on average between 9 to 17 thousand downloads for each game depending upon what genre and how obscure the game is. That’s a lot of homes these games are being downloaded into and a lot of 'potential' cash that’s being lost by the developers. If we get better games because of better feedback, the community are likely to continue to benefit from the generosity of the developers. Satisfied community members are then more likely to visit the home sites of those developers and purchase games that they may not have bothered with before they discovered the developer via the game giveaway site, thus giving the developers more incentives to give away even more decent games.

Please leave some feedback once you’ve checked the game out. It can be positive or negative, but please explain what your reasons were for the feedback you post. You could also leave suggestions for improving the game, for example, this game could do with more block types for the levels editor, add more power-ups, describing the ones you think would be suitable, add some mini games (which seem all the rage in some arcade games now) or enable the user to be able to change the in game music easily.

Thank you in advance to all those who take the time to post a constructive comment.

Regards

Whiterabbit aka Stephen

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