Part 22: Intermission 2. A look at the release history

Doubles because I was bored.

Intermission 2

-A tragedy in three acts-

Today I want to shed some light into the different versions of this game and it's release history. As I said in the Op, the initial release was in 2004 and it received very mixed receptions. This was really surprising as the signs for this game were pretty good, and the expectations were high.
The initial release suffered heavily from bugs. Most drastic was the extremely poor performance on a wide range of user systems. The game clearly was neither optimized nor tested for technical compatibility. Some users just flat out couldn't play the product if they had a certain graphic card. Also it had Starforce copy protection, which added it's own part of fuckery.
On top of that, it was clear that the game was not finished as cut content was pretty obvious. As an example, the first release had the driving talent "Helicopters", which was patched out along the way. Still the majority of reviews praised the meat of the game, though combat was a consistent low point, and ratings where between 70-80%. But some other reviews really ripped into the game, even going so far as to give out a "no buy" warning, till the developers would deliver patches.

The fuckton of "Halp, game is shit!" threads on their own forums were also marvelous.



I am unable to determine what lead them to release the game in such a state, but it's likely that outside pressure played a role. It's always like that with video games.
From the Interviews during the development phase, one can discern that SSE had the luxury of not having to get publishers, or other people into their boat early on. No outside money, meant also full control for them.
I can't say what changed before the release. Maybe they couldn't fully fund it alone anymore, or entered a publishing deal and had to meet the deadline. Whatever it was, the decision to release the game like that was the sole cause of it's demise.
But I also have to give them a break, because a couple days after the release the first patches came rolling around. Then again, real fixing took some time, as in months, and this is cancer for games. Only serious genre-nerds will stay with such a product, while the average gamer will rage a moment and then forget about it. Or tell everyone and their grandmother that the game is shit.
The later releases, in 05 and 06, were mostly a compilation of the patches, spiced up with more content and a rework of the graphics and models. The "Reloaded" version I am using, is pretty much what the game should have been from the start, minus some cut features.
People who had the initial release could upgrade to the "Reloaded" version with two big ass patch files, so that is at least some kind of customer service. But you just can't sustain interest in a game this way. Maybe if you have a masterpiece at your hands, but The Fall just isn't one.

Now you might ask yourself, how can a company stay in business with all this shit?
Ultimately they didn't, but the correct answer is "Just release the game a bazillion times, and then some more". Below are the different cover arts I was able to dig up. They seem to be from Germany, Russia and Poland. But I am pretty sure that other countries in Europe saw releases too. Also you can add another truckload of game magazine insert releases into the mix. And some low budget/bargain-bin releases.






As a tidbit, some polish guy made a game guide and sold it on the internet. One can only guess how licensed this was.

I like the Blade runner theme though.

-The holy Grail-

Yes this game has one. Fallout had "Van Buren" and Wasteland had "Meantime" or those mysterious files for a sequel on somebody's HD at the time.

For "The Fall" it's the official English version. Yeah you read that right.
SSE always said they would translate it and look for American and Asian publishers. But it never came to be. I can only assume that this is because of the games fucked up initial release, or because publishers thought the genre was not profitable enough. Legal shenanigans might also be a culprit.
There were always rumors that the English text-translation was done and popped up somewhere in Asia. But you know how reliable internet posts are.

In 2008 however, a user reported that he picked up an English version from a bargain bin in Taiwan. Sounds legit right?
Other users quickly pointed out that it's probably a rip, cobbled together with the fan translation. But the Op supplied a link to a distributor and mentioned that his game had no voice acting but that the intro sequence had subtitles and that the translation was well done. He also offered to provide pictures of the box art, but nobody picked up on that.
The English patch I use has no subs, and it's the only one I know of. So I would have to assume that an English version came out in Taiwan, for whatever reason.
Adding subs to a rip of an obscure game would be crazy, even for the Asian pirate industry.


For the sake of completeness have the link, but it's from 2010 and a Google translation from Chinese. I really don't know what to make of this, or if it still can be purchased.
I don't even know anymore..

I dug really deep, but my own internet sleuth powers could only locate a cracked release that was translated into basic Chinese.

That logo is from the cracker group.

And here we finish this week's lesson, please have your reports on my desk by never.
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I also have some slightly good news, as the plans for my first real bonus thingy are green. I only have to figure out a good format.

Expect the next update somewhere along the weekend. Probably.
I can not give an exact date, as there will be a festival in my city. And I favor being a drunken asshole over doing Lp's.