Thanks for the heads up on the controls. I was on the fence as to purchase or not but based on your info I think I will pass on this one.

:: makes quick note to ensure that Stonewall Penitentiary has user-configurable keys for movement ::

I was looking to buy this game not to sure now after reading this .There is nothing more agravating as keep going over the same scenes and not being able to move around in confort .How much easier point click and it all works out to the same thing .Is nt life hard enough

Thanks CB31 - Stonewall Penitentiary is on my wish list ...

JennyP
I've seen a few games like that, it does seem like they are trying to make it very difficult for you. I dont know if its because the a,s,d and w keys are for left handed people but it is very hard in some games. I do remember having to use the arrow keys and the mouse at the same time in one game. I used my right hand for the mouse and my left hand for the arrow keys. I preffer to use the mouse only.

Can't you change the controls?

You can change them in the demo - I just rechecked - I hate WASD and always change them to the arrow keys.

It's in "options/controls/change key mapping"

You can change all of the keys to whatever you want in there - there are sections for "movement", "actions", and "misc".

You can change them, but if you move from the WASD keys I think you actually make the game more difficult. You need your left shift key, the tab key etc. which are all right by your WASD keys.

I hate using those shift & tab keys as I never know which one is which - I'll go & change movement to the arrow keys & try to do the quicksave thingy.

For anyone who's interested. I thought I'd try again, just for the heck of it. I managed to kill two dogs at once! I found if you squeeze yourself into a corner, they can't sneak around you and it worked. I am now trying to act fast enough to break the planks before the rock crushes me. Such Fun!

Unlike most people, I don't mind saying, "I told you so." I warned everybody about this game a couple of months ago in the Gameboomers Reviews section. It's gone and forgotten around here.

I have no problem with this layout as long as the controls respond as they should.
Also it appears that this game belongs in the Darkside forums. However I may be wrong.

JohnBoy....I agree on the DarkSide forum...
There is killing in this game ...

I'm not sure I understand you. Did you have a review of Penumbra over in the Reviews forum?

It's still there Jenny. You can read it HERE.

Ana

FYI:

Since this is one of those more action than adventure game - the next question here will entail moving it to the RPG forum.

Thanks, guys.
Okay - we will move this game to the Darkside now.

Laurette,

I'm playing the game on the easy setting. How do you kill the dogs? I hit the dang dog with the hammer, it went down, I thought I killed it but it got up!

Yes, I wrote about it in the Gameboomers Review section a while ago. When I said, "It's gone and forgotten around here." I didn't mean that my posts were gone but that the game has been happily removed from my computer.

I had a feeling this topic would eventually make its way over here.
I had read back when you wrote that Randwill, and especially enjoyed this part: "And the controls, keyboard + mouse (what? no foot pedal?), are no fun either. The game advises you to turn down the lights when playing and that would be great, but then, how the heck can I see the keyboard?"

I'm not having any problems with the controls. My problems with the game is the no save feature, very dark and I have it set to "easy" which I thought would bypass a lot of the beasties. The ones I'm coming across so far, I CAN'T kill, they go down but get back up.

I do believe you're right TLC - at least I was unable to kill that first dog. Hiding until a beastie departs or smacking it and then running seem to be only viable alternatives on several occasions.
Easy just means the baddies take longer to kill you - it doesn't affect the number unfortunately.

TLC: I got into a corner (as I mentioned) and used the pickax. I had tried killing them before standing out in the open and I'd always get killed. They do get up, but after two or three hits, they die. Yay!

Also, regarding the "no save" feature, if you go to My Computer, choose the My Documents and then the Penumbra Folder, Episode 1, and the config. file (you have to open it with Notebook), you can change the "no quicksave" from false to true. Then press F4 to quicksave and F5 to quickload. (I hope I don't have those in reverse). Hope this helps.

These post remind me of when we were all talking about and fighting with the controls of Indigo Prophesy. That game was really hard to get used to. I never did finish the game but hope to try again someday.
Anyway I cant wait for my game to get here. Dying to see what it's all about. I do remember reading a review at a major gaming site that gave the game good marks. Especially for atmosphere. Supposedly real spooky.
BTY where are the gremlins? I cant seem to find them.
I am able to use these cause I remembered the code.

Laurette,

Thank you. Where is the pickax? All I have to use as a weapon is the hammer. Thanks for the info on changing the config file.

It's found in Part 3 of the linked walkthrough. Good luck!

http://faqs.ign.com/articles/779/779480p1.html#03