A real challenge - Looking for a very rare demo...

Chaotic Harmony · Post by **Chaotic Harmony** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 3:37 pm

Anyone remember the old PC adventure game from 1995 "I have no mouth and I must scream"? It's become something of a cult favorite now that enough time has passed to make it's flaws seem quaint.

This is the problem - I'm not looking for the game (that itself has become hard enough to find). I'm looking for the very rare demo of the game that appeared on issue 29 of PC Format in the UK, that featured a significant variation of Ellen's scenario with a very different ending. It's impossible to find with just web seaching, so I'm hoping that somebody else out there happens to have it. Bit of a long shot, but worth a try...

Thanks!

Drejj · Post by **Drejj** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 11:39 pm

Well, I have A demo, but is from the issue 45 of OKPC. I'll play it to be sure this is what you are looking for, just let me know exactly how I can tell this is the one.

PS: In the readme.txt file, there is a disclaimer at the bottom that says
"This Demo was created from a BETA version (..)", so it's bound to be somewhat different from the final game and/or the final demo (if any).

Chaotic Harmony · Post by **Chaotic Harmony** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 1:54 pm

Yes! That's almost certainly the same thing!

If it's Ellen's scenario (a varient of it anyway), then it's what I'm looking for.

Are you able to host it anywhere?

Thanks a million...

Post by **emmzee** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 8:21 pm

If you want to send the file, you can always use a free service like:

http://www.dropload.com/

or

http://www.yousendit.com/

Good luck

Drejj · Post by **Drejj** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 10:57 pm

Yep, It's Ellen's scenario. Is there another demo? Couldn't find it anywhere, I even tried checking the old CyberDreams web page (using arhive.org).
What's the difference between this demo and the game?

Thanks emmzee! I'll try to upload it in one of those sites.
However, I'm changing my ISP right now, so I don't have broad band at the moment -I'm stuck with 56k until a few days-. I suppose I'll be able to upload it sometime in the weekend.

Chaotic Harmony · Post by **Chaotic Harmony** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 10:58 am

Thanks so much for this!

You can send the file to blinkthedarkness at hotmail dot com, and I'll host it somewhere for the world to see.

I'm a bit of a nerd about this particular game, so I thought I'd put together a dedicated fan site since everybody else is too scared too (Harlan Ellison is famously quite litigous - whoops, I'll probably get sued for saying that). The demo of the game is kind of a rarity since it's so different from the final version.

In the demo, while all the rooms appear in the final version, practicially all the text is different, the puzzles are different, the rooms link together differently and the music is completely different. Even without that, the non-interactive demo which summerises the premise of the game is itself worth the install.

Kudos for finding it. I'm almost certain that it's not on the web anywhere, and chances are that it was only in a handful of magazines... I don't think there's any other demo, but I could be wrong.

dr_st · Post by **dr_st** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 5:17 pm

So is it gonna be up somewhere? I'd love to get it myself.

Drejj · Post by **Drejj** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 7:34 pm

It`s no wonder it`s so hard to find. The demo wasn`t even in the official web site, when it was new! http://web.archive.org/web/199611012138 ... mouth.html

Well.. after all, 80mb was a lot to download back then.
The site didn´t even had a rolling demo or decent screenshots..

Chaotic Harmony · Post by **Chaotic Harmony** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 4:47 pm

Eventually I'll make that fan site for this game, with a discussion forum and everything (and I'll be sure to post here when it's ready), but until then, here's the demo, for everyone to download. Thanks again Drejj, for finding it!

[edit: I've removed the link since it's been put up somewhere else now. You can find it by going to the fansite mentioned in one of the posts after this one.]

(You'll need winrar to open it (rarlab.com), and VDMsound to play it if you're in windows XP.)

dr_st · Post by **dr_st** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 5:23 pm

Thank you very very much!

My little sister is crazy about this game. She played the full version many times and I thought she'd love a different scenario. And I wasn't wrong too, she's playing it right now on the other computer.

Once again thanks!

mart · Post by **mart** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 2:36 pm

Nice that demo!
There are in fact extensive fan pages for the game at
www.game-nostalgia.com,
but this site doesn't include the demo.

mart · Post by **mart** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 2:44 pm

oops, that should be

www.game-nostalgia.com

of course.

Btw, few know you can still buy the game: check out his site:

http://harlanellison.com/home.htm

Chaotic Harmony · Post by **Chaotic Harmony** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 3:03 pm

That fan site is incredible. Much more comprehensive than anything I could have put together (Harlan's introduction to the solution guide is particularly cool!)

Well, whatever. I won't be putting together that fan site now, but I'm happy that my efforts are partally responsible for the demo's revival at least...

I'm going back to check that site out again! Oh wow - a making of!

DOS Games Discussion

A real challenge - Looking for a very rare demo...

A real challenge - Looking for a very rare demo...

"I have no mouth (...)" demo