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Westwood's Blade Runner is an all-time classic in danger of being forgotten

P

Phediuk

Member
I associate this game in my head with the adventure game "Ripper" that came out around the same time. I'm not sure which of my memories are from which game.
 
K

kris.

Banned
This is on GOG, right? I played Lands of Lore 2 way back when I was like 8 and it had a Blade Runner trailer attached to it and I remember thinking it was the coolest goddamn thing I'd ever seen but was a lil kid and didn't have the means to get it.
 
T

tuxfool

Banned
Mercurio said:
GOG please.
Click to expand...

The game, much like Blade Runner in general suffers from being in a licensing minefield. Also all the original assets of the game have since been lost, so a GoG release would be shoehorning the old binaries into modern systems.
 
ComputerBlue

ComputerBlue

Member
I remember wanting to buy this game some years back, looked all over the place, couldn't find it. No wonder it's forgotten.
 
R

RS4-

Member
I wish I kept my game instead of...trading it back into EB lol. I think I got stuck rather early in the game, somewhere around the time you do the CSI image enhancement thing :(
 
M

MisterCTwo

Member
One of my all-time favorite adventure games. I remember playing through it 2 or 3 times and each time being disappointed it had to end. It's a classic for sure.
 
KainXVIII

KainXVIII

Member
tuxfool said:
The game, much like Blade Runner in general suffers from being in a licensing minefield. Also all the original assets of the game have since been lost, so a GoG release would be shoehorning the old binaries into modern systems.
Click to expand...
Like they always do.
 
N30RYU

N30RYU

Member
Never got to see Rachel in my multiple play troughts... she was Rendered on the back cover... so I asumed she was in.
 
N

nOoblet16

Member
A question, why don't they just make the IP unrestricted for old games like these that are not available anywhere, have their entire source files are lost (how does that happen btw?) as well as studio and publishers now defunct? Cause that way atleast someone can upload the game and make it legally available to everyone.
 
G

Grettir_the_Swole

Member
I love this game. It deserves all the hype it can get. I installed a Win 95 Plus (USB support, yo!) VM on my computer just so I could play my physical copy of the game. It's a shame its rising popularity is turning original standalone copies into scalper bait.

Yohane said:
Can you play it on modern systems? (with Wine or something similar)
Click to expand...

I had to install a VM as a method of last resort. DOS games don't play well on Windows 10.

nOoblet16 said:
A question, why don't they just make the IP unrestricted for old games like these that are not available anywhere, have their entire source files are lost (how does that happen btw?).
Click to expand...

IIRC in an interview with one of the lead directors, the original files were physically lost when switching over to new computers. There was also an IP dispute early on as well. Common issue in early game development before remote storage became commonplace.
 
T

tuxfool

Banned
nOoblet16 said:
A question, why don't they just make the IP unrestricted for old games like these that are not available anywhere, have their entire source files are lost (how does that happen btw?) as well as studio and publishers now defunct?
Click to expand...

Why?

Because copyright law is mostly a load of BS. There is the concept of Abandonware, but that is very much an untested grey area.
 
smudge

smudge

Member
I also have this boxed somewhere, might be in my mums attic or something. I should have a look next time i'm there. Would be fun to play again. I remember the Voight-Kampff tests being real good fun.
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Shake Appeal said:
As the article mentions, people can't remaster it or put it up for sale because the source code has been lost.
Click to expand...

Well, the game as it currently exists could be made available, but there are a couple of legal wrinkles there:

1) Ownership of the game is split between EA and The Blade Runner Partnership, so the two would have to agree on a revenue split, and
2) EA would probably have to relicence the IP and no mega-publisher would do that just for a re-release
 
Acidote

Acidote

Member
Took the chance to clean the dust.

wegBhUS.jpg
Click to expand...
 
R

rudger

Member
Is there any reason not to just buy this off eBay if interested? Doesn’t seem expensive for how supposedly rare it is
 
X

Xater

Member
The game is a real gem. Got it day 1 back then. Westwood making a Blade Runner adventure was just a no brainer. I'm really sad I no longer have it around.
 
tkscz

tkscz

Member
Anywhere I can get the game then? Sounds like fun and I missed a lot of PC games from back in the day.
 
D

DominusLeges

Member
So long as I draw breath neither this game or any other Westwood Studios game will be forgotten. One of the most underrated development studios ever in my opinion.
 
C

Crispy75

Member
The really sad thing is that the voxel models shipped with the game were massively simplified from the originals. If the source data had been preserved (terabytes of it!), it could be truly remastered and look fantastic.
 
S

Shadow Ranger

Member
Remember this coming with my PC on a dvd. Spent a lot of time on this. Getting stuck. Forgot where but I think I ended up with a bad ending or just gave up. Did like what I played though.
 
C

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
I got this when I was about 12 or 13 and actually played this before seeing the movie. It's one of the only old school big pc boxes I have. After playing it I even thought the game was better than the movie because of the multiple endings and variations throughout the game. I was floored by it and replayed it a couple of times. It was one of the first point and click adventures I played and I still consider it one of the best.

We should get a revamped version of this but we're probably never going to and that's a shame. Good thing that the new movie makes it get more attention though.
 
S

Sloane

Banned
Fantastic game. Awful that the source code was lost, apparently they even could have re-rendered everything in much higher resolution otherwise for a remaster or whatever.
 
R

Rymuth

Member
It's a bonafide hidden gem.

Blew my mind at the narrative branches it possessed. At the time, my young mind couldn't wrap itself around how many paths you could take. Hell, you could pull out your gun at any time during the conversation and blast away.
 
D

DoctorFling

Member
Is this on GOG? After being thoroughly disappointed with the new film I want some more classic Blade Runner stuff in my life
 
KLoWn

KLoWn

Member
I honestly thought it was better than the movie, which I've given 3-4 chances during the years in hope that it would grow on me, it didn't.

The atmosphere in the game is superb.
 
S

storafötter

Member
One of the most breathtaking experiences with a point and click adventure. Oozes with so much atmosphere. First Blader Runner experience, so much better than the film.
 
S

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
Man, I loved this game. Super immersive.

I remember the first night my friend got it: we settled in for a long one and progressively worked our way through it. Got stuck a few times, but eventually got to the end. My mate's mum came in asking whether I had been to bed. That's when I realised my mate had ages ago and it was early morning. :D
 
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