As someone who still has the original floppies for Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (or IJatFoA, it’s easier that way), I thought I’d give the Steam version a whirl. I picked it up (along with The Last Crusade) probably when it was on sale as part of a bundle.
My initial thoughts are: “what have they done to the music?”, “since when did the characters have voices?” and “this is a lot simpler than what I remember playing as a 7 year old”.
The last one probably doesn’t need any explanation, and the first one can probably be explained away as a sound hardware / software upgrade. Even if the MIDI (or equivalent) sequence used to generate music doesn’t change – which it may well have for this “updated PC version” – differences in hardware can lead to very distinctive sounds being produced. A nifty illustration is provided by Lazy Game Reviews’ video “The Evoluion of PC Sounds Devices”, with The Secret of monkey Island providing the source material:
Also, the voices. The voices! Actually, I’m not too keen on them. The tones are pretty flat (particularly the voice of Indy), and as petty as it sounds, the low sampling rate is very noticeable.
I also had some issues with alt-tabbing out and then not being able to use any menus or indeed do any keyboard interaction beyond alt-f4. Seems like the buttons get stuck ‘on’ if you alt-tab out. Two ways to avoid it – mouse out and click elsewhere, or hit alt/ctrl/tab when you get back in to ‘clear’ their pressed-ness. I use this elsewhere for things with dodgy input detection.
A list of controls would also be handy. So here’s one:
(F1): Save / Load / Play / Quit
([ or ]): Sound effect volume up or down.
(Keypad + or -):Text speed increase or decrease.
(I):Switch your inventory to see how many IQ (Indy Quotient) points you have.
(ctrl + T): This command lets you toggle Voices only, Text only, and both at once.
(right click top bar / alt + enter):Lets you toggle full screen on.
(alt + enter):Lets you go back to windowed mode.
(F and num lock):F turns keyboard fighting on, dunno if num lock is still required, but back in the old game, it had to be off to fight too.
(Keybad numbers):Used for fighting, middle keys are blocks, the keys facing your opponent punches, and the far away keys let you back off. Back off 3 times or retreat.
(Zero number key):Sucker punch, knocks out everyone except the Prison Guard and Strong Man.
Thanks to Tarrock on the Steam forums.
Incidentally if you follow that link, the tip to save is a good one, especially if you are going for the full 1000 IQ (Indy Quotient) points. Yes, that’s one thousand! Save anywhere there is more than one solution to a problem, and save at the choice of paths. Once a problem is solved, you permanently gain the IQ points for your total, so you can solve a puzzle one way, then instantly load and solve it another way to get more IQ points. Big time-saver for completionists!
Anyway, regardless of the minor imperfections it’s still a good old game. I would recommend buying it next time it comes on sale for close to 1 of whatever your local currency is.
I remember getting this game when it first came out on cd-rom. I’m so glad its been rereleased on steam, it really saves me some dosbox hassles. The only thing I have to mention is as far as voices are concerned, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis always has voice for the characters and while they might seem a little off it wouldn’t be the same for me without them.
Isakiel, I think I’m remembering the version that came on 3 or 5 floppies. I have a bag with that, Sam and Max and Day of the Tentacle… somewhere. I know what you mean when you say the little things sound off. Monkey Island has never been quite right for me since I originally played it. Nostalgia’s a funny thing!