there wasn't so much bad stuff done in the 90s anyway... has always seemed like a myth to me. e.g. gabriel knight 2 or phantasmagoria were awesome, the cut scenes in e.g. command & conquer were great as well... i never got why people didn't like it.
Thanks Disthron.I will definitely give it a try.I'd love to play this game again.It was awesome.It took me ages to complete though last time-so much to do in it.Thanks for making it available on here for all of us to see.
@Disthron This game is a abomination its unmercyful and unforgiveing and is satickly evil beyond human comprehantion how can you even begin to state this game is some sort good that is absurd its puzzle are absolutly non senseitcal and it is plaguqed with horribled voice acting and what not. please justitfie your reason for defending such a abmonination apound humanity.
@enclavebrandon3 Wow. Where did THIS come from? It's a hard game, I'll grant you that. Games from this era were harder. Two of my other faves are the System Shock games, and they're unforgiving too. Doesn't make them bad games. And while the voice acting isn't amazing, it's Oscar-worthy compared to most games from this era. I don't know what you mean by "satickly evil". Hey man, if you don't like the game that's totally cool. That doesn't mean NOBODY could possibly like it. Calm down :)
@enclavebrandon3 Out of curiosity I just watched a little. And while he makes an occasional funny comment, some random guy sarcastically bashing the game isn't going to change my mind. Again, dude, you and he are free to hate the game. But it really sounds like neither of you play that many older games and are comparing them to modern titles.
@drummond13 I played various old games such as grim fandago and starcraft i also played fallout 1 and 2 also plantescape torum. It comes down to prefence i just thought the plot in this game was really not developed so well and that made it convoluted i mean at the begining alef never gave me any knowledge as what is occure nor what is my goal everything is very illustive and you can only know whats going on by sheer luck. the only plauseable way to get things done is by unitentionaly stumbleing
@enclavebrandon3 Actually, you just have to pay attention. Alf tells you that you have to find the tower, and you can find out what that is through the notes and diary entrys. Like I said, I never had much trouble with the beggining of the game, it wasn't untill the puzzle sectoins in hell that really gave me trouble. And I really liked the story.
@enclavebrandon3 I'm not sure where you get unmerciful from. Sure you have to be carful but after I figured that out I thought the game had a good dificulty curve. The Puzzles are not non-sensicle, I figured them out just fine back before I had internet. Some were a bit of a pain in the ass but that's the nature of puzzles.
The voice acting is friggen awsome for a game that old, what the hell are you talking about?
@Jenema2 Did you try going into the inverntory menue and then back out again? That works for me sometimes. Also, try maximising dos at the Dos prompt instead of after you have already started the game. Otherwise you could try just playing it in a bigger window. I had to do that during the play through becouse my capture software would get choppy if I tryed to capture at full screen.
@ivantheterrible60 Who? Also, it's kind of been one of my all time favorite games since around 1996. So yea, if someone else did a playthrough bad mouthing it I'd just think they were wrong.
@ivantheterrible60 Whent and watched some of his videos, they were ok. He mostly just makes cracks about the old technology and stuff that ALMOST EVERY GAME EVER MADE dose. Like the thing about the lava in the early videos. You can make anything sound stupid if you try hard enought.
If you wont to know why it's one of the best games you've never played. Watch more of my playthrough.
@Disthron if you ever buy or if you have a ps2 please check out Okami, its a beautiful japanese game with a special drawing function in the gameplay. Its story is huge (over atleast 50hours) and its my favourite ps2 game. Im sure you would like it =)
Nobody cares about your heart feelings. I wanted to see the intro and I got annoyed by your overdrived voice. Next time specify you will be talking all the video.
no more space on previous post... just to finish... pretty funny comments, keep it up dude, and... well... sorry to post on this dead video... I mean... 2 years ago... oh well... I want to see more of your commented playthroughs =]
DUDE, altough I also like "shoot-everything-that-moves-and-press-big-red-buttons" games... I REALLY appreciate this kind of game... really liked watching you play it(not finished yet though)... the best 3d is the real life ones so they didn't need to worry about rendering the characters and stuff... which actually got a better looking then several gamees I've played... thanks for showing me this awesome game... unfortunatelly I don't think I'll find it on the shelfs anymore... xD
Thought i'd comment on the first video rather than on some random one...
This was greatly appreciated to see this classic game again. I still rate it as one of the best of all time - with a fantastic plot, graphics (for the time), wealth of weapons, puzzles and settings.
Dude. Full motion video isn't what you think it is. FMV is computer generated or live action cutscenes that are played in between gameplay in a game. What you're trying to say is live action cutscenes. This game used live action cutscenes, and it's live action cutscenes that have the stigma you speak of. A FMV is what you still see today in games like Final Fantasy 13 where it switches to a pre-rendered video. Also like in FF7, things like the intro train scene. That's full motion video.
@TheRoomy Ok, live action and pre-rendered are technically both full motion video. However, when people talk about FMV games, at least in my experience anyway, what they mean is live action full motion video. If there talking about the video in Final Fantacy 7 or something else, they will usually just refer to it as a cut scene.
I can't even tell you how much this game scared me when I was a kid playing this at age 11. It would both startle you suddenly and make you feel real fear to the enemies like you were horrible weaker than they are, and they could destroy you. But the game wasn't even like that. You could kill them like in any other FPS, but it would make you feel like you're being overwhelmed.
I think if they didn't do the live action cuts, it would've been much more popular. Also if it used 3d models.
@TheRoomy I totally agree about the atmosphere. It wasn't just cheap jump scares but actually made you feel uneasy. It's only been recently that games have been able to do that to to me again.
About the live action videos. It might have been more popular back in the day but I don't think it would have aged as well. Remember this was back in 1996. 3D in games was still very primitive and most shooters, including quake, were little more than Doom in a different setting.
@AdeyAdey , I also still have my huge box. I remember I had never heard of this game until I saw it on the shelf and it was the box art and screen shots that sold me on it. I remember becouse it was the first game I'd ever bought myself, cost me $75, it was worth every penny.
this is my all time favourite game. bought it sometime in the 90's.. wud still play it start to finish... ROTH is in my memories forever! I feel at home in that house....
I know about this game! I bought it back in 2000. I ended up getting frustrated and uninstalled it. It started out ok but got a bit silly later on. To me the Tex Murphy series were the best FMV games back in the 90's.
I mean the actual gameplay. I just didn't like how it became more of a shoot em up with lame creatures. That put me off the whole suspenseful story aspect.
Although, the graphics and the FMV sequences were quite good!
Ok, but witch part, do you remember? I've always thought this was more of an adventure game with some shooting put in for a little spice. Becoues the FPS aspect is really understated, at least to me anyway. I think if you went into this expecting Doom or Quake you'd be very disappointed.
I had a demo version of this game in 1997/98 or so - it came with PC World magazine!! I was terrified and obsessed with the game in equal measure (as a 12-year-old). The annoying thing is, the demo only went as far as the third part! I've always wanted to own it!
Hopefully will find one somewhere, someday. Thanks for posting this, good memories!
Well, if you still wont to get it you can buy it second hand from a few places on the net. Just try buy realms of the haunting in google and you should find something.
I remember around the time the original Unrealtournament (99) was out I was heavily Into level design and got chatting to a guy trying to remake ROTH using the Unreal engine. I dont think anything became of It as I've tried searching and havent come up with anything. I had the chance to help out on the project to but was busy mapping with another team. At the time I knew I was probably making a mistake saying no. To late now.
Did you know the game back then? Anyway, it's a sad fact that most fan projects go under for one reason or another. life gets in the way, people loose interest. Can you use video in the unreal engine?
I only knew the game througth playing like yourself thats all. Single player MODS are hard work, I've unfortunatly never worked on one properly just multiplayer like most people, dm,ctf. As for video In the Unreal engine the newer one supports I believe but not the original but I dont see why a coder couldent add this support as so many other features have been new renderers, proper physics etc.
Wonder if you played Wing Commander 3 and 4. I consider these games as an example of FMV done right. The Myst series could count, especially the fourth (the actors just blends so perfectly with the pre-calculated environment it feels like they're really in that world).
Yes, I have Wing Commander 3 and 4. I could never compleat those ether. I was never that grate at the flying. I got to the last mission on WC3 but I had to destroy these tanks that were on the ground and I couldn't find them.
I couldn't agree with you more about how underrated this game is. I'll bet Gremlin Interactive were so pissed that their game didn't get more of a mention. Here in Australia, the game even got a rave review from the most popular games magazine at the time, Hyper, and even THAT wasn't enough to get it in the limelight.
Definetly should have done alot better than It did but It does seem to be the way some times, probably a big name game took all the attention away at the time. The original Thief and also System Shock and even System Shock 2 didnt sale as well as they should have and are also equally great games.
Thats the only way I can describe seeing this underrated classic again. In life you will play alot of good an bad games but every once In a while one will just grab you and drag you In leaving you with lasting memories. I didnt play ROTH I lived It. I was Adam Randal and the highest compliment I can pay this game Is how emmerssed I was. So few games ever manage this and Roth should be up there with the System Shocks, Deus Ex, Half Life, Unreal and Thiefs of our world.
This game is tied 1st 2nd and third place in my top ten. Tied with Final Fantasy VII and Operation Flashpoint. I'd probably put Operation Flashpoint 3rd, then either Final Fantasy VII or this. I hardly remember it, because I played it when I was 4, which is why I'm still trying to play it. Got Linux, just need DOSBox working. It seems like every year, I remmeber, and try again. I can't get Windows 95/98
There are versions for Linux, but my dad messed it up. He set it up, and there's no admin, and no password recovery. I've tried everything. I'll find a way though
So.... you can't get into the admin of your computer to install new programs?
Can you create new files, extract files from a zip file and are programs you use allowed to save/create new files on your hard drive? If so you should be able to use DOSBox as it dose not require installation. And when you "install" things inside of DOSBox they aren't really being installed like they are within your normal operating system.
i remember hearing of this game but when i came to buy it i got told as in most of these fmv games that some are really bad and the cover and back of game didnt look like it was going to be a good game now i see it i would love to get a copy of it as i never got a chance to have a go at it
Hi Sabertooth, This game is one of my all time favorites and if you look around a bit you can find copys for sale on the net. They seem to go for around $15. I think it's worth it.
Thats exactly why I thought this was the most underated game in FPS history. It was just so different, especially compared to today's games, that it deserved applause.
I really wished this game got an OpenGL frontend, so we can enjoy it with higher resolutions on modern Operating Systems.
Thanks for this BTW. Its great to enjoy the beauty without the pain of setting it up on the PC again.
this game is a classic PC game. Its very creepy walking around in that big house alone, and knowing your only company is the monsters lurking around every corner . Thanks for posting this video, its so cool to see people on Youtube still remember and favorite this game
this is the first game I ever had on pc, I was too young to complete it then I was still figuring out how to use the keyboard etc, but this game has eteched itself on my soul, what a brilliantly scary game. The story line was fantastic and it really dragged you in. Remember the baby crying on the stereogram thing? the scariest thing I have heard in my life I kid you not. Thanks for posting this!
Thanks, I think one of the scariest moments for me in the game was when you go into this room to get a key, the hart beat sound starts up and then as you take it that hart shoppes and you hear that creepy echoy child giggling and then two monsters apere behind you.
I don't rightly remember when I had RotH but, I know I had a Win95 Pentium 133Mhz 16MB of RAM computer and I believe it was top of the line stuff lol. and yea, my friends probably laughing at me :(
WOw , as i saw the intro i thought i know this one and then boom! I have played the demo over and over again as i was a child! This was one of the best demos i played and i wished i could afford the full version! The atmosphere was so scary...
Spot on review Man. This definately should be up there with System Shock, and I love that game series. I played this through at least 10 times over the years, and even though the entire game is great, I will say that I thought the ending was a bit of a cop-out.
Can this run on modern systems, and if not how much tweaking does Dosbox need before it will work? Just cycle setting?
I have to say I agree about the ending but it's not like the ending in Fallout 3. That was a total cop-out. Still loved FT3 though. I prefer to think that the bit in the sole stone chamber is what happened.
I used the most recent Dos Box that is out. It didn't take much tweaking at all in fact. The hardest thing was figuring out the sound settings so that it wouldn't skip but that didn't take much. I'd say that if you know how to use basic DosBox then you should be fine.
The textures, just like you said, were so rich in details and the lightning was unbelievable. After many years of searching the "holy grail" and despite the version from the underdogs and torrents someone gave me an original copy of the game and this was like 5 years ago. I took a day off from my job and I played it non stop. This is by far one the best games I've ever played. I would rate it but there are not enough stars on the board so 1000/5 stars!!! Thank you so much!!!
It's one of my all time favorites as well. I'm really sorry that it just does not get the attention that it deserves. I remember seeing it's review squeezed into the corner of one page of a magazine. There were like 6 other short reviews on the same page. Yet it was still a good review. And you'd be hard pressed to find any review of RotH that was negative.
Anyway, thanks for your comment. It's always good to see a fan of this grate game.
I played a demo of this game back in '96, before it's release in 97. It was on only one CD and took me like 25 min to install it and was way to big at that time -400 MB. I was so blown away by the graphics and level design. The game demo was in PC Software magazine (I still have it somewhere) and it had like 3 pages of presentation in it, the level design, make-up, lots of screenshots and the most important - ARTWORKS, seen throughout the game.
Wow, I would love to get a scan of that article if you still have it. In the making of video that came with my version it has some pics of the artwork and production but it's very short and the video is quite grainy. Give me a PM if your interested and I'll send you an e-mail address.
Recently dug the original ROTH game box out of the loft and loaded it up, as when I first played it years ago, by chapter 3 I was on point of giving up - too scary and kept missing stuff. These vids are brilliant, just what I need to keep me going. Thanks for taking the trouble to (apparently) document the whole game from a player's perspective with voice over too. Excellent!
Hay, thanks for the comment. I'm glad my videos helped you. ^_^
I didn't really set out to make a walk through though I guess you could use it that way since I make a point to explore the hole game, not just rush through it as fast as I can.
Actually there are a couple of places you can still buy it over the net. In the description in prt 13 I have links to where you can get them.
The FMV is really integral to this game. It wasn't just an afterthought like in most games of the time. Fore instance there are several times in the game where you converse with charecters in the FMV and if the videos aren't there then you can't get that info.
I used to play this game as a little kid together with my dad.But it seems much easier now specialy the boss at the end,back then it took me ages to kill him. But the thing i remember the most is when u tried to open a locked door and it would say "stuck,won't budge" sometimes i still use that frase. And the end was a bit disapointing, anyway like you said it's a shame almost no one knows about this great game.
Well, I'm pretty shore I was playing it on easy. I used the US exe that allowed me to change the key bindings. It also had a difficulty setting but the text on it was screwed up.
I picked up this game myself from an internet auction some years ago. Great one. The programmer Anthony Crowther is best know for making Captive and its sequel. I really enjoy good FMV games myself. For example I have the Journeyman Project trilogy, and the more recent Wing Commander, Tex Murphy and Zork games.
I remember my friend having this game and we couldn't get past the second chapter because it was so damn hard (not to mention scary). Would you know if this game had any secret codes? Ie God mode, all guns, etc.?
Great game, nice LP. Probably the best horror adventure that has ever been created for the pc. Yes even better than AITD. Only SH1 can claim that it's superior.
Something that may help many that try to play the game for the first time: Holding down both mouse keys enables mouse look, so you can play the game with nowadays usual WASD+mouse controlling scheme. Also If you press H you will see some additional useful keys+functions.
Also, Disthron would you mind telling me your dosbox settings?
Shore, but mostly it was messing around with the sound system in the installing of the game to get the sound to work properly.
I'm not really an expert at DosBox. I mounted my old school game directory to the dossbox c: drive and used my Daemon tools virtual drive for the CD drive. So I could just use the CD images. My original CD's have gotten a bit iffy over the years.
Any way, I'll have to check my specific settings and get back to you.
I think the main reason people don't use full motion video anymore is that it's considered "old." Even FMV sequences are being replaced by fully in game cut scenes. Kind of how epic, long point-and-click games are being replaced by really short 3d ones, and the adventure genre as a whole is dying...
Thanks for doing these videos. Oh, if only I could get ROTH to work on my newer systems... maybe i'll try downloading DosBox again.
Fully in game cut scenes have been around for ages. Pretty much all of the classic adventure games had them. As for FMV seeming old, personally I loved the FMV in C&C3 and it was nice to see some in DVD quality. One of my friends thinks it's just too expensive. But with the budgets of some games these days that doesn't sound right to me.
Well, yeah, I do remember ingame cut scenes from some old adventure games like Tomb Raider 1, 2, 3... I guess the rest don't qualify as being that old :P
Most games do have FMV sequences still, but often limited only to the game's intro animation and finale animation. I've heard that FMV sequences are usually outsourced to animation companies... don't know how true that is though.
hey, great work. I watched some of your episodes and you are doing very well. Okay, I would play a little faster, but it is very interesting seeing all the possibilities that are there. I think, if that game would be made today, it would make a huge impact.. They screwed it in the public relations that time.
@Moonlightroller10 Yea, I load it up every couple of years or so.
Disthron 5 months ago
there wasn't so much bad stuff done in the 90s anyway... has always seemed like a myth to me. e.g. gabriel knight 2 or phantasmagoria were awesome, the cut scenes in e.g. command & conquer were great as well... i never got why people didn't like it.
notthere83 7 months ago
Oh man this brings back memories dude - I got so far in this game, but didn't it have like 4 discs?
valebatz 7 months ago
@valebatz Indeed it did.
Disthron 7 months ago
Thanks Disthron.I will definitely give it a try.I'd love to play this game again.It was awesome.It took me ages to complete though last time-so much to do in it.Thanks for making it available on here for all of us to see.
allancedar 8 months ago
I have thus game and I agree it's awesome but as I have windows 7 I can't play it any more:-(
allancedar 8 months ago
@allancedar Try using an emulater, like DOS Box.
Disthron 8 months ago 2
@Disthron This game is a abomination its unmercyful and unforgiveing and is satickly evil beyond human comprehantion how can you even begin to state this game is some sort good that is absurd its puzzle are absolutly non senseitcal and it is plaguqed with horribled voice acting and what not. please justitfie your reason for defending such a abmonination apound humanity.
enclavebrandon3 6 months ago
@enclavebrandon3 Wow. Where did THIS come from? It's a hard game, I'll grant you that. Games from this era were harder. Two of my other faves are the System Shock games, and they're unforgiving too. Doesn't make them bad games. And while the voice acting isn't amazing, it's Oscar-worthy compared to most games from this era. I don't know what you mean by "satickly evil". Hey man, if you don't like the game that's totally cool. That doesn't mean NOBODY could possibly like it. Calm down :)
drummond13 6 months ago
@drummond13 I don't know what he means by "satickly evil" ether but thanks for the support. ^_^
Disthron 6 months ago
@drummond13 watch josephfvstalins lp of it
enclavebrandon3 6 months ago
@enclavebrandon3 Out of curiosity I just watched a little. And while he makes an occasional funny comment, some random guy sarcastically bashing the game isn't going to change my mind. Again, dude, you and he are free to hate the game. But it really sounds like neither of you play that many older games and are comparing them to modern titles.
drummond13 6 months ago
@drummond13 I played various old games such as grim fandago and starcraft i also played fallout 1 and 2 also plantescape torum. It comes down to prefence i just thought the plot in this game was really not developed so well and that made it convoluted i mean at the begining alef never gave me any knowledge as what is occure nor what is my goal everything is very illustive and you can only know whats going on by sheer luck. the only plauseable way to get things done is by unitentionaly stumbleing
enclavebrandon3 6 months ago
@enclavebrandon3 Actually, you just have to pay attention. Alf tells you that you have to find the tower, and you can find out what that is through the notes and diary entrys. Like I said, I never had much trouble with the beggining of the game, it wasn't untill the puzzle sectoins in hell that really gave me trouble. And I really liked the story.
Disthron 6 months ago
@drummond13 upond it by random its only till later on in the game your mission becomes clear.
enclavebrandon3 6 months ago
@enclavebrandon3 I'm not sure where you get unmerciful from. Sure you have to be carful but after I figured that out I thought the game had a good dificulty curve. The Puzzles are not non-sensicle, I figured them out just fine back before I had internet. Some were a bit of a pain in the ass but that's the nature of puzzles.
The voice acting is friggen awsome for a game that old, what the hell are you talking about?
Disthron 6 months ago
@Disthron watch josephfvstalins lp of it
enclavebrandon3 6 months ago
@allancedar If you don't already know, it's available at GOG.com for a few dollars. Playing it on Windows 7 as I type this :)
drummond13 7 months ago in playlist Realms of the Haunting
Comment removed
enclavebrandon3 6 months ago
i loved this game it was awesome it was so atmospheric
darkonedbc 10 months ago
Not an FMV game!!!!
EuroHEV 10 months ago
If they still did games with live scenes it would be interesting I think especially considering how far technology has come.
AmaraTenou31 11 months ago
can someone help? when i run this in DosBOX And make it full screen the textures go all pink and stuff! any solution?
Jenema2 11 months ago
@Jenema2 Did you try going into the inverntory menue and then back out again? That works for me sometimes. Also, try maximising dos at the Dos prompt instead of after you have already started the game. Otherwise you could try just playing it in a bigger window. I had to do that during the play through becouse my capture software would get choppy if I tryed to capture at full screen.
Disthron 11 months ago
@Disthron Tnx! it totally worked!
Jenema2 11 months ago
@Jenema2 Awsome, enjoy the game. ^_^
Disthron 11 months ago
how is this a good game. watchi stalins lp and see for yourself
ivantheterrible60 11 months ago
@ivantheterrible60 Who? Also, it's kind of been one of my all time favorite games since around 1996. So yea, if someone else did a playthrough bad mouthing it I'd just think they were wrong.
Disthron 11 months ago
@ivantheterrible60 Whent and watched some of his videos, they were ok. He mostly just makes cracks about the old technology and stuff that ALMOST EVERY GAME EVER MADE dose. Like the thing about the lava in the early videos. You can make anything sound stupid if you try hard enought.
If you wont to know why it's one of the best games you've never played. Watch more of my playthrough.
Disthron 11 months ago
Man this was such a great game. Such memories.
Draeka 1 year ago
Great video. I haven't played the game but hopefully I'll check it out soon,
Gorguruga 1 year ago
@Gorguruga Cool, I'm hoping Good old Games will pick it up.
Disthron 1 year ago
@Disthron I bought a copy off amazon for 4$ last week
icelord89 1 year ago
@icelord89 That's grate but I think it would reach a greater audeance if Good Games picked it up.
Disthron 1 year ago
@Disthron if you ever buy or if you have a ps2 please check out Okami, its a beautiful japanese game with a special drawing function in the gameplay. Its story is huge (over atleast 50hours) and its my favourite ps2 game. Im sure you would like it =)
samsta10000 1 year ago
Nobody cares about your heart feelings. I wanted to see the intro and I got annoyed by your overdrived voice. Next time specify you will be talking all the video.
RaykoDrg 1 year ago
@RaykoDrg If you don't like my videos you don't have to watch them, you can find the opening movie else where.
Disthron 1 year ago
@RaykoDrg i do care about your feelings dude don't listen to him lol =))
mertingo13 1 year ago
I played this game back in 1997 or 98. one of the best game on PC.
UKMAN23 1 year ago
WHY TO INTERUPT THE OPENINIG? YAK
xydoit 1 year ago
lol me never heard of it but it looks cool
lou0kang 1 year ago
no more space on previous post... just to finish... pretty funny comments, keep it up dude, and... well... sorry to post on this dead video... I mean... 2 years ago... oh well... I want to see more of your commented playthroughs =]
shawlock 1 year ago
@shawlock No problem, I'd really like to do some more play throughs but I'm so busy these days.
Disthron 1 year ago
DUDE, altough I also like "shoot-everything-that-moves-and-press-big-red-buttons" games... I REALLY appreciate this kind of game... really liked watching you play it(not finished yet though)... the best 3d is the real life ones so they didn't need to worry about rendering the characters and stuff... which actually got a better looking then several gamees I've played... thanks for showing me this awesome game... unfortunatelly I don't think I'll find it on the shelfs anymore... xD
shawlock 1 year ago
Thought i'd comment on the first video rather than on some random one...
This was greatly appreciated to see this classic game again. I still rate it as one of the best of all time - with a fantastic plot, graphics (for the time), wealth of weapons, puzzles and settings.
fhdk9348j 1 year ago
@fhdk9348j Yea, it's kind of sad that hardly anyone knows about it.
Disthron 1 year ago
i have this game special edition :-)
AnthH99 1 year ago
@AnthH99 Yea, me too! It has a cool making of video that the regular addition dose not have. ^_^
Disthron 1 year ago
True mate, in a big box :D
AnthH99 1 year ago
Dude. Full motion video isn't what you think it is. FMV is computer generated or live action cutscenes that are played in between gameplay in a game. What you're trying to say is live action cutscenes. This game used live action cutscenes, and it's live action cutscenes that have the stigma you speak of. A FMV is what you still see today in games like Final Fantasy 13 where it switches to a pre-rendered video. Also like in FF7, things like the intro train scene. That's full motion video.
TheRoomy 1 year ago
@TheRoomy Ok, live action and pre-rendered are technically both full motion video. However, when people talk about FMV games, at least in my experience anyway, what they mean is live action full motion video. If there talking about the video in Final Fantacy 7 or something else, they will usually just refer to it as a cut scene.
Disthron 1 year ago
I can't even tell you how much this game scared me when I was a kid playing this at age 11. It would both startle you suddenly and make you feel real fear to the enemies like you were horrible weaker than they are, and they could destroy you. But the game wasn't even like that. You could kill them like in any other FPS, but it would make you feel like you're being overwhelmed.
I think if they didn't do the live action cuts, it would've been much more popular. Also if it used 3d models.
TheRoomy 1 year ago
@TheRoomy I totally agree about the atmosphere. It wasn't just cheap jump scares but actually made you feel uneasy. It's only been recently that games have been able to do that to to me again.
About the live action videos. It might have been more popular back in the day but I don't think it would have aged as well. Remember this was back in 1996. 3D in games was still very primitive and most shooters, including quake, were little more than Doom in a different setting.
Disthron 1 year ago
God DAMN this game used to scare the LIFE out of me as a kid. I still have this in its original huge PC boxing. :)
AdeyAdey 1 year ago
@AdeyAdey , I also still have my huge box. I remember I had never heard of this game until I saw it on the shelf and it was the box art and screen shots that sold me on it. I remember becouse it was the first game I'd ever bought myself, cost me $75, it was worth every penny.
Disthron 1 year ago
this is my all time favourite game. bought it sometime in the 90's.. wud still play it start to finish... ROTH is in my memories forever! I feel at home in that house....
anirvanroy84 2 years ago
I know about this game! I bought it back in 2000. I ended up getting frustrated and uninstalled it. It started out ok but got a bit silly later on. To me the Tex Murphy series were the best FMV games back in the 90's.
ufuckfacesonofabitch 2 years ago
When did you think it got silly? I mean Adam always was a bit of a smart ass but I wouldn't have counted that.
Disthron 2 years ago
I mean the actual gameplay. I just didn't like how it became more of a shoot em up with lame creatures. That put me off the whole suspenseful story aspect.
Although, the graphics and the FMV sequences were quite good!
ufuckfacesonofabitch 2 years ago
Ok, but witch part, do you remember? I've always thought this was more of an adventure game with some shooting put in for a little spice. Becoues the FPS aspect is really understated, at least to me anyway. I think if you went into this expecting Doom or Quake you'd be very disappointed.
Disthron 2 years ago
I've still got it at home! I might give it another go now that I got DOSBox up and running.
ufuckfacesonofabitch 2 years ago
I hope you enjoy it, it really is an unsung classic, one of my all time favourite games.
Disthron 2 years ago
still got my copy.... agreed, one of the best games i've ever played.... wish i could get it working reliably under vista, even vdmsound seems buggy
JunkMaster83 2 years ago
Did you try DOSbox? I find most things work with that. Though it is a little harder to use.
Disthron 2 years ago
I had a demo version of this game in 1997/98 or so - it came with PC World magazine!! I was terrified and obsessed with the game in equal measure (as a 12-year-old). The annoying thing is, the demo only went as far as the third part! I've always wanted to own it!
Hopefully will find one somewhere, someday. Thanks for posting this, good memories!
aidan16586 2 years ago
Well, if you still wont to get it you can buy it second hand from a few places on the net. Just try buy realms of the haunting in google and you should find something.
I'm glad I re-ignited fond memories. ^_^
Disthron 2 years ago
I remember around the time the original Unrealtournament (99) was out I was heavily Into level design and got chatting to a guy trying to remake ROTH using the Unreal engine. I dont think anything became of It as I've tried searching and havent come up with anything. I had the chance to help out on the project to but was busy mapping with another team. At the time I knew I was probably making a mistake saying no. To late now.
robertwilliamparker 2 years ago
Did you know the game back then? Anyway, it's a sad fact that most fan projects go under for one reason or another. life gets in the way, people loose interest. Can you use video in the unreal engine?
Anyway, how did the other project fair?
Disthron 2 years ago
I only knew the game througth playing like yourself thats all. Single player MODS are hard work, I've unfortunatly never worked on one properly just multiplayer like most people, dm,ctf. As for video In the Unreal engine the newer one supports I believe but not the original but I dont see why a coder couldent add this support as so many other features have been new renderers, proper physics etc.
robertwilliamparker 2 years ago
This game is bloody great.
Iamgaunt 2 years ago
Wonder if you played Wing Commander 3 and 4. I consider these games as an example of FMV done right. The Myst series could count, especially the fourth (the actors just blends so perfectly with the pre-calculated environment it feels like they're really in that world).
POLE7645 2 years ago
Yes, I have Wing Commander 3 and 4. I could never compleat those ether. I was never that grate at the flying. I got to the last mission on WC3 but I had to destroy these tanks that were on the ground and I couldn't find them.
Disthron 2 years ago
I couldn't agree with you more about how underrated this game is. I'll bet Gremlin Interactive were so pissed that their game didn't get more of a mention. Here in Australia, the game even got a rave review from the most popular games magazine at the time, Hyper, and even THAT wasn't enough to get it in the limelight.
A truly forgotten classic.
halidefox 2 years ago
Definetly should have done alot better than It did but It does seem to be the way some times, probably a big name game took all the attention away at the time. The original Thief and also System Shock and even System Shock 2 didnt sale as well as they should have and are also equally great games.
robertwilliamparker 2 years ago
Thanks for the playthrougth Disthron.
robertwilliamparker 2 years ago
Thanks for watching.
Disthron 2 years ago
Bitter sweet.
Thats the only way I can describe seeing this underrated classic again. In life you will play alot of good an bad games but every once In a while one will just grab you and drag you In leaving you with lasting memories. I didnt play ROTH I lived It. I was Adam Randal and the highest compliment I can pay this game Is how emmerssed I was. So few games ever manage this and Roth should be up there with the System Shocks, Deus Ex, Half Life, Unreal and Thiefs of our world.
.
robertwilliamparker 2 years ago
This game is tied 1st 2nd and third place in my top ten. Tied with Final Fantasy VII and Operation Flashpoint. I'd probably put Operation Flashpoint 3rd, then either Final Fantasy VII or this. I hardly remember it, because I played it when I was 4, which is why I'm still trying to play it. Got Linux, just need DOSBox working. It seems like every year, I remmeber, and try again. I can't get Windows 95/98
aklm0462 2 years ago
Well DOSBox is freeware. It's also very popular there most be a linux version shurly.
Disthron 2 years ago
There are versions for Linux, but my dad messed it up. He set it up, and there's no admin, and no password recovery. I've tried everything. I'll find a way though
aklm0462 2 years ago
So.... you can't get into the admin of your computer to install new programs?
Can you create new files, extract files from a zip file and are programs you use allowed to save/create new files on your hard drive? If so you should be able to use DOSBox as it dose not require installation. And when you "install" things inside of DOSBox they aren't really being installed like they are within your normal operating system.
Disthron 2 years ago
I can extract zip files, so it should work. I just got my Windows XP repaired, so I should be fine. Thanks anyway.
aklm0462 2 years ago
i remember hearing of this game but when i came to buy it i got told as in most of these fmv games that some are really bad and the cover and back of game didnt look like it was going to be a good game now i see it i would love to get a copy of it as i never got a chance to have a go at it
Sabertoothtiger2000 2 years ago
Hi Sabertooth, This game is one of my all time favorites and if you look around a bit you can find copys for sale on the net. They seem to go for around $15. I think it's worth it.
Disthron 2 years ago
I'm glad you liked the game, although I'd say it's probably more of an adventure FPS than an RPG. Just my opinion.
Disthron 2 years ago
Thats exactly why I thought this was the most underated game in FPS history. It was just so different, especially compared to today's games, that it deserved applause.
I really wished this game got an OpenGL frontend, so we can enjoy it with higher resolutions on modern Operating Systems.
Thanks for this BTW. Its great to enjoy the beauty without the pain of setting it up on the PC again.
psychogod 2 years ago
this game is a classic PC game. Its very creepy walking around in that big house alone, and knowing your only company is the monsters lurking around every corner . Thanks for posting this video, its so cool to see people on Youtube still remember and favorite this game
23446 2 years ago
this is the first game I ever had on pc, I was too young to complete it then I was still figuring out how to use the keyboard etc, but this game has eteched itself on my soul, what a brilliantly scary game. The story line was fantastic and it really dragged you in. Remember the baby crying on the stereogram thing? the scariest thing I have heard in my life I kid you not. Thanks for posting this!
SubjectToConditions 2 years ago 2
Thanks, I think one of the scariest moments for me in the game was when you go into this room to get a key, the hart beat sound starts up and then as you take it that hart shoppes and you hear that creepy echoy child giggling and then two monsters apere behind you.
It scared the hell out of me.
Disthron 2 years ago
Now I'm really regretting that I traded my RotH for Quake2 my friend had...
I really miss this game :(
falkonmkx 2 years ago
So was this back when Quake 2 cam out? Personally I think your friend got the better end of the deal. XD
Disthron 2 years ago
I don't rightly remember when I had RotH but, I know I had a Win95 Pentium 133Mhz 16MB of RAM computer and I believe it was top of the line stuff lol. and yea, my friends probably laughing at me :(
falkonmkx 2 years ago
WOw , as i saw the intro i thought i know this one and then boom! I have played the demo over and over again as i was a child! This was one of the best demos i played and i wished i could afford the full version! The atmosphere was so scary...
Pomeseus 3 years ago
Same here, I played the demo over and over. Wish I had played the full thing back then.
funk192 3 years ago
Spot on review Man. This definately should be up there with System Shock, and I love that game series. I played this through at least 10 times over the years, and even though the entire game is great, I will say that I thought the ending was a bit of a cop-out.
Can this run on modern systems, and if not how much tweaking does Dosbox need before it will work? Just cycle setting?
eva02soul 3 years ago
I have to say I agree about the ending but it's not like the ending in Fallout 3. That was a total cop-out. Still loved FT3 though. I prefer to think that the bit in the sole stone chamber is what happened.
I used the most recent Dos Box that is out. It didn't take much tweaking at all in fact. The hardest thing was figuring out the sound settings so that it wouldn't skip but that didn't take much. I'd say that if you know how to use basic DosBox then you should be fine.
Disthron 3 years ago
Disthron I sent you a PM, about the game magazine.
richardhalo 3 years ago
Awesomeness!
Disthron 3 years ago
The textures, just like you said, were so rich in details and the lightning was unbelievable. After many years of searching the "holy grail" and despite the version from the underdogs and torrents someone gave me an original copy of the game and this was like 5 years ago. I took a day off from my job and I played it non stop. This is by far one the best games I've ever played. I would rate it but there are not enough stars on the board so 1000/5 stars!!! Thank you so much!!!
richardhalo 3 years ago
It's one of my all time favorites as well. I'm really sorry that it just does not get the attention that it deserves. I remember seeing it's review squeezed into the corner of one page of a magazine. There were like 6 other short reviews on the same page. Yet it was still a good review. And you'd be hard pressed to find any review of RotH that was negative.
Anyway, thanks for your comment. It's always good to see a fan of this grate game.
Disthron 3 years ago
I played a demo of this game back in '96, before it's release in 97. It was on only one CD and took me like 25 min to install it and was way to big at that time -400 MB. I was so blown away by the graphics and level design. The game demo was in PC Software magazine (I still have it somewhere) and it had like 3 pages of presentation in it, the level design, make-up, lots of screenshots and the most important - ARTWORKS, seen throughout the game.
richardhalo 3 years ago
Wow, I would love to get a scan of that article if you still have it. In the making of video that came with my version it has some pics of the artwork and production but it's very short and the video is quite grainy. Give me a PM if your interested and I'll send you an e-mail address.
Disthron 3 years ago
I have it but I haven't manage to make it work!
richardhalo 3 years ago
I used DOS Box, the DOS emulator but it took me a while to get it working just right too.
Disthron 3 years ago
superb :P i am trying to find this game for ages :S any torrent with the full version somewhere??? thanks Disthron for the voyeur pleasure :)
htmlsam 3 years ago
Recently dug the original ROTH game box out of the loft and loaded it up, as when I first played it years ago, by chapter 3 I was on point of giving up - too scary and kept missing stuff. These vids are brilliant, just what I need to keep me going. Thanks for taking the trouble to (apparently) document the whole game from a player's perspective with voice over too. Excellent!
WhensLeeDale 3 years ago
Hay, thanks for the comment. I'm glad my videos helped you. ^_^
I didn't really set out to make a walk through though I guess you could use it that way since I make a point to explore the hole game, not just rush through it as fast as I can.
Disthron 3 years ago
Lookin forward to the rest of them. Looks awesome.
Also, I agree, the cutscenes in this game look great for FMV.
classclown9897 3 years ago
great thanks for this Videos. Saw all the 44 videos with a great pleasure
daermmuazuaya 3 years ago
Hi, I'm glad you liked it. ^_^
Disthron 3 years ago
i think the things you say about FMV in the ending are quite interesting, and probably a good explanation for the "nasty stigma" attached to it.
Gonna have to find some .iso files with this game or something. Doubt i'll ever manage to find an actual original copy of it anywhere.
sethshazam 3 years ago
Actually there are a couple of places you can still buy it over the net. In the description in prt 13 I have links to where you can get them.
The FMV is really integral to this game. It wasn't just an afterthought like in most games of the time. Fore instance there are several times in the game where you converse with charecters in the FMV and if the videos aren't there then you can't get that info.
Disthron 3 years ago
thanks i'll check out pt. 13
sethshazam 3 years ago
I used to play this game as a little kid together with my dad.But it seems much easier now specialy the boss at the end,back then it took me ages to kill him. But the thing i remember the most is when u tried to open a locked door and it would say "stuck,won't budge" sometimes i still use that frase. And the end was a bit disapointing, anyway like you said it's a shame almost no one knows about this great game.
woebel 3 years ago
Well, I'm pretty shore I was playing it on easy. I used the US exe that allowed me to change the key bindings. It also had a difficulty setting but the text on it was screwed up.
Disthron 3 years ago
I picked up this game myself from an internet auction some years ago. Great one. The programmer Anthony Crowther is best know for making Captive and its sequel. I really enjoy good FMV games myself. For example I have the Journeyman Project trilogy, and the more recent Wing Commander, Tex Murphy and Zork games.
Crowley9 3 years ago
The priest looks a bit like Tom Savini. LOL
I remember my friend having this game and we couldn't get past the second chapter because it was so damn hard (not to mention scary). Would you know if this game had any secret codes? Ie God mode, all guns, etc.?
CharlesXavier 3 years ago
As fare as I know, there is nun. Sorry. ^_^
Disthron 3 years ago
Glad someone finally posted this. I never did finish this game...though I thought it was excellent.
I also had a habit of playing it by myself in the dark and it scared the crap out of me. But give me a break...I played this when I was 14 :D
sm753 3 years ago
Command and Conquer as I recall had some excellent FMVs back in the day :)
sm753 3 years ago
i love it, stil have it, wont work.
Salesman666 3 years ago
Great game, nice LP. Probably the best horror adventure that has ever been created for the pc. Yes even better than AITD. Only SH1 can claim that it's superior.
Something that may help many that try to play the game for the first time: Holding down both mouse keys enables mouse look, so you can play the game with nowadays usual WASD+mouse controlling scheme. Also If you press H you will see some additional useful keys+functions.
Also, Disthron would you mind telling me your dosbox settings?
idoru2099 3 years ago
Shore, but mostly it was messing around with the sound system in the installing of the game to get the sound to work properly.
I'm not really an expert at DosBox. I mounted my old school game directory to the dossbox c: drive and used my Daemon tools virtual drive for the CD drive. So I could just use the CD images. My original CD's have gotten a bit iffy over the years.
Any way, I'll have to check my specific settings and get back to you.
Disthron 3 years ago
I think the main reason people don't use full motion video anymore is that it's considered "old." Even FMV sequences are being replaced by fully in game cut scenes. Kind of how epic, long point-and-click games are being replaced by really short 3d ones, and the adventure genre as a whole is dying...
Thanks for doing these videos. Oh, if only I could get ROTH to work on my newer systems... maybe i'll try downloading DosBox again.
CKtheFat 3 years ago
Fully in game cut scenes have been around for ages. Pretty much all of the classic adventure games had them. As for FMV seeming old, personally I loved the FMV in C&C3 and it was nice to see some in DVD quality. One of my friends thinks it's just too expensive. But with the budgets of some games these days that doesn't sound right to me.
Disthron 3 years ago
Well, yeah, I do remember ingame cut scenes from some old adventure games like Tomb Raider 1, 2, 3... I guess the rest don't qualify as being that old :P
Most games do have FMV sequences still, but often limited only to the game's intro animation and finale animation. I've heard that FMV sequences are usually outsourced to animation companies... don't know how true that is though.
CKtheFat 3 years ago
well, I know it's inaccurate but when I say FMV I mean with some form of live action. Like in Command and Conquer and RotH.
Disthron 3 years ago
Oh--when I say FMV I refer to pre-rendered animations, usually without live action.
CKtheFat 3 years ago
hey, great work. I watched some of your episodes and you are doing very well. Okay, I would play a little faster, but it is very interesting seeing all the possibilities that are there. I think, if that game would be made today, it would make a huge impact.. They screwed it in the public relations that time.
thodin26 3 years ago
They really did, I haven't read one bad review of it. But hardly any one knows about it.
Disthron 3 years ago
aha so your doing one to. cool. 2nd best game ever (sorry but I FUCKING LOVE the longest journey)
Athrix255 3 years ago
I dunno, I liked this one better. But Longest Journey comes in at second.
CKtheFat 3 years ago
This game is may favourite do you upload more parts?
Ania0990 3 years ago
yes
Disthron 3 years ago
i remember playing the demo 1996 on my pentium 120 mhz. i was blown away from the sound effects and the level art creating such an cool atmosphere.
marcywood 3 years ago
I still had my 486 back in the day. and it actually ran pretty well on that as well.
Disthron 3 years ago
I remember playing it in, what, 2003/2004? And I was blown away even then. The atmosphere in like none other indeed.
CKtheFat 3 years ago