Game-related ramblings.

Tag: Fresh3D

Revisiting Adelpha: Outcast 1.1

As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

A few months ago, I posted the news that Outcast: Second Contact — a high-resolution remaster of the 1999 game Outcast — had been released. This was exciting news, since the original Outcast was the subject of one of my first ever History Lessons posts; a game I played for the first time in 2009 and absolutely loved. Before trying the new version, however, I wanted to revisit the original, this time taking advantage of the 1.1 update that developers Appeal / Fresh3D released in 2014, which allows for modern resolutions (the original’s awkward 512×384 is difficult to display on today’s monitors), improved performance, and fixes issues relating to processor speed. It is, in theory, the ultimate way to play the original game, and I’m planning to directly compare it to the Second Contact remaster.

Outcast 1.1 Released

Longtime readers of this blog will know that I am a huge fan of Outcast. It was the subject of one of my earliest History Lessons posts, and when the original developers started a Kickstarter campaign to create an HD remake of the game, I posted about it with excitement. Sadly, that campaign did not succeed, but they didn’t give up on the game. In the meantime they’ve been quietly working on an updated version of the original game, adding support for multi-threading, resolutions up to 1920×1080, and native gamepad support. This updated version has just released on Steam (the first time the game has ever been available there) and GOG (as a free update).

Original Outcast Developers Pitching An HD Remake On Kickstarter

Long-time readers of this blog may remember that one of the earliest History Lessons posts I wrote was about Outcast. Originally released in 1999, I didn’t play Outcast until shortly before I started this blog (2011, I think), but it was still one of the best games I played that year. In fact, it is one of the best I’ve ever played. It’s a beautiful, wonderful game.

It is, however, getting old. Processor speed issues made it difficult for me to run it, although these have been fixed in the version for sale on GOG. But it also runs in a very low resolution which some graphics cards and monitors no longer support, and the controls feel clunky in comparison to modern games. Fortunately, many of the original developers managed to buy back the IP (that’s “intellectual property“, for those who may not know) for Outcast, and they’re now pitching a full high-definition remake of the game on Kickstarter. They’ve made about a quarter of their goal of $600,000 with 26 days left at the time of writing.

They even quote me in their pitch video! Not from here, but from my user review of Outcast over at GOG. Still, it’s pretty cool. But I’m not just posting this because they quoted me, I’m posting this because I’d quite like this Kickstarter to succeed. The hope is that it will be the first step towards a full-fledged sequel to Outcast. Which is something we all want, even if you don’t know it yet.

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén