Talk:The 7th Guest

Foolish reference

The opening paragraph has a broken link to "Fool's Quest", which it describes as a puzzle game. Is this a mistaken reference to The Fool's Errand?

Probably. Even if not, the description of that game makes it work too. I changed it. Thanks for that catch. :-) — Frecklefoot | Talk 22:04, Mar 24, 2005 (UTC)

Reference to The Thirteenth Guest (1932)?

I've read no mention of this, but are the title and some of the plot elements for this game a homage to this movie http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023583/ ? The party years after a horrible event and guest invited back to be killed seems coincidental enough but the title makes me think there has to be some connection. 68.3.218.35 (talk) 07:07, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Stauf

A toy maker named Stauf? Might be a reference to the Teddybear-Maker Steiff (see Margarete Steiff). (clem 10:03, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC))

I always associated his name with staph bacteria, which is both infectious and highly dangerous. It would fit with the sick and dying children, anyway.--Zequist 29 June 2005 21:20 (UTC)

You know, it's not mere coincidence that being the puzzle lover he is, his name is an anagram for something a bit more sinister... Coolgamer June 29, 2005 21:44 (UTC)

I think we should mention that his name is an anagram for "Faust" and link to the Faust article. It is very obvious and relevant. It doesn't look like anyone's edited this in a while so I'll check back soon and do it if no one else has. Ocoufnoc 10:01, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

TLC

TLC was not only released on DVD, I have the (4?) PC Windows CD version right here. (clem 10:05, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC))

Thanks, I checked it out and you're right. I made the change. — Frecklefoot | Talk 19:25, Apr 29, 2005 (UTC)

it now says it was "released on DVD instead", so the fact that there was a CDROM version has vanished again (clem 12:03, 7 October 2005 (UTC))

Sequel

Unfortunately the sequel had trouble overcoming some technical hurdles and was late to market. Despite this, it was received somewhat favorably. ... I have to call bunk on that one. Based on my research for the Trilobyte article, the game was very much disliked by most. The fact that it was made in DOS when Windows 95 was already out, the inane riddles and anagrams, and other factors made the 11th hour sell below projected figures. --Coolgamer June 29, 2005 18:54 (UTC)

Since this is a wiki, you're free to change it. — Frecklefoot | Talk June 29, 2005 20:24 (UTC)

Yes, but i'd rather get a group consensus before changing the article, just to be on the safe side. Coolgamer June 29, 2005 20:34 (UTC)

Okay, good call. If the article says it didn't sell well, I'd trust it. But I remember when it came out, everyone at my game development company was all excited about it. Well, the demo at least. — Frecklefoot | Talk June 29, 2005 20:52 (UTC)

Heck, I liked it. (Back before my Pentium burned... computer's too fast too play it now.) However, it was a pain to get it working with DOS. The sound drivers were a major hassle and tended to stutter if not JUST right. If only it was remade for Windows... and the riddles DID get irritating. Coolgamer June 29, 2005 20:58 (UTC)

My friends and I were all excited about 11th Hour, until we started playing it. I didn't have any trouble getting it working on my system (funnily enough), I just didn't like it. And this is coming from someone who devours puzzles and puzzle games of all kinds (The Incredible Machine got me through high school). So yeah, if you want to change how that reads, I'm certainly not going to argue.--Zequist 29 June 2005 21:40 (UTC)

MobyGames reports that it was ported for Windows. — Frecklefoot | Talk June 29, 2005 21:05 (UTC)

That's an error... the game box states for windows, when it's actually for DOS. I know, I have the box at home. Picked up the game from a discount store thinking it would run fine on my old Windows 98 Pentium. Wrong... customers were right to be mad. Coolgamer June 29, 2005 21:07 (UTC)

It /was/ ported for '95. I have the box here in my hands. The title of the game, in fact, is "the 7th Guest For Windows 95" (big letters across the front of the box.) Quote from the back of the box: "Experience the game about the supernatural that's become an international phenomenon. Now available for Windows 95!" Followed by "THIS AWARD-WINNING GAME FEATURES: Complete Windows 95 and DOS compatibility. etc, etc."

It was re-packaged so people would know the difference between the DOS version and the updated version. You just have an older version that you got from a discount store. (not surprising.) I don't know what the distribution of the updated version was. (how many units made/sold)

Oh, and for what it's worth, the game /was/ popular and well-received. Nearly "blockbuster", in fact. The problems with a generally 'popular' view grew slowly when it didn't meet high expectations of a revolutionary step in the experience and then it ended up being very evolutionary, and sales rolled off. This is a pretty common pattern in games/movies/music/tv/etc. Also, the number of complaints about running on current hardware have to be taken proportionally. Yeah, it had a lot of returns and support calls, but not many games sold that many copies in those days. So even after returns, it still sold a large volume for the day. It didn't make any millionaires though, since the cost of development had gone way over, taking years longer to make than originally scheduled for.

Opening Movie Quoted

I don't like how the opening movie is quoted, but the article doesn't make that clear. Under the description, after the poem, the paragraph talks like it was written by a wikipedia, when a majority of that text comes straight from the game. Could someone find out what is a quote from the game's intro and mark it with quotes and a source? I don't have access to the game anymore. --Quasipalm 19:00, 4 August 2005 (UTC)

The text there is actually a mixture of original text and speech from the opening movie. I'd have to figure out how to get the game running again in order to tell exactly which sentences are copied. -- Myria 05:59, 18 September 2005 (UTC)

I've edited the poem slightly, because that's not how it is in my game and I think I have the version that's most easily available at the moment. Unless it's a UK/US thing?

The Sentence

Should we bother putting that infamous vowel-less sentence into the article: "Shy gypsy, slyly spryly tryst by my crypt"? -- Myria 06:01, 18 September 2005 (UTC)

I think that would be a great addition. It's a perfect example of the game just being too damn hard. --Quasipalm 23:20, 18 September 2005 (UTC)

I don't think that would be fair to place in the article because it is a solution to one of the puzzles. I don't think it's fair to place game hints like that in an informational article especially if the reader hasn't played or completed the game yet.

That's what we have spoiler alerts for. --Quasipalm 02:04, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Audio Track Length

I just listened to the audio track on the second disc. Its length is only 27 minutes and 24 seconds, not "over an hour long" as the article states under the "The Music of T7G" section. So, is the information incorrect or did I miss something? -- M.S.T.O.P. 23:05, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Your info matches what I remember when I ripped the track to my computer many years ago. That person might be confusing it with The Fat Man's released soundtrack for the game, which I'll be adding info about shortly. In fact, I'll probably be adding quite a bit to the Music section of this article. No guarantees; I'm fairly new to this. Faceless007 00:06, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

The birth of a company

Shouldn't this section be mostly contained in the actual Trilobyte page rather than this page which just concerns this single game (series)?

Also, on a related note, the last line: "A third 7th Guest game was on the drawing board, but very little of it was worked on before the company went under." seems to imply that soon after 11h (or due to 11h) Trilobyte "went under" and that Trilobyte had actually worked on a sequel at that point, which are not facts, really, at all. The company saw it's greatest period of growth and expansion following 11h (which, in the end, was more of the reason for going under than any shortcomings of 11h) and Trilobyte worked on more than a few more games over the next 3-4 years, though none of those internal projects were another t7g sequel. ("Clandestiny", "Uncle Henry's Playhouse", "TLC", "Baja 1000 Racing", "Extreme Warfare", but no t7g3.)

Release dates

Does anyone know the exact release dates for this game, the article says that it predates MYST. Yumpizza 15:41, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

I know pretty close to the exact release dates for this game, and I've put what I know on this article know. GameInnovation gives us a release date of April of 1993 for the DOS version of the game, while MobyGames gives us the release date for all of the other versions. However, it says that the CD-i version was released in 1993, but I have to call "BS" on this since I own a copy of the game and its copyrighted 1994. --Brahman 02:40, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Also, as an addendum to this comment, this game does, in fact, predate Myst since it was released in April of 1993 and Myst was released on September 24, 1993 (according to MobyGames). --Brahman 02:45, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Alternate Ending

I've read that the game has an alternate ending for when you use the hint book to solve most of the puzzles. Has anybody ever seen it, and if so, please tell me what it is? 67.172.204.135 21:29, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

I've read the same thing, but I haven't been able to find any supporting evidence anywhere. So today I played through the whole game, using the hint book to solve every single puzzle (except the maze and window puzzles which don't allow you access to the library). And I still got the regular ending. 76.111.6.198 23:47, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Development information

I'm curious why nothing has been written about the development of the game. Detailed information is in the article "Haunted Glory: The Rise and Fall of Trilobyte", which we link to. It's really interesting stuff, even to non-nerds. — Frecklefoot | Talk 15:50, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

Spoiler for "The 11th Hour"

I think it's inappropriate for the article to spoil elements of The 7th Guest's sequel, "The 11th Hour (computer game)". I'm aware that there is a spoiler warning already but that means that there are spoilers for THIS GAME (The 7th Guest), unless otherwise noted. If someone has played The 7th Guest and decides to read this article, part of the surprise of The 11th Hour is spoiled without warning. Joe45 17:23, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:T7Gcoffins.jpg

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BetacommandBot 04:50, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:7thGuestLabPuzzle.JPG

Image:7thGuestLabPuzzle.JPG is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 20:36, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Themes

The themes section seems to be chock full of original research and speculation. I could be wrong (not being an expert on this game) but I don't think so. Lots42 (talk) 20:47, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, OR and speculation need to be removed. — Frecklefσσt | Talk 12:01, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Correction to article...

For players who need help or simply cannot solve a particular puzzle, there is a hint book in the library of the house. The first two times the book is consulted about a puzzle, the book gives clues about how to solve the puzzle; on the third time, the book simply completes the puzzle for the player so that the player can proceed through the game. Although the game's manual states that there may be consequences for using the hint book, the hint book can be used without penalty for all but the final puzzle.

As an owner of the original issues of both 7th Guest and 11th Hour, I can tell you that this does not apply to the original issue of T7G. There was no hint book in the original DOS issue, making some of the puzzles (particularly "Infection") quite difficult. The hint book feature was indeed present in the first incarnation of 11th (and in the manner described above), and possibly was added to T7G for the Windows reissue. The most the original T7G offered was a cheat ("open house") that enabled you to visit puzzles out-of-turn—if memory serves, it was the same thing you received as an award for completing the game.

It might also be mentioned that in 11th, using the hint book did indeed come with a penalty. By using the hint book to complete a puzzle, you did not get to see the cinematics that accompanied a completion. By routinely skipping puzzles, you missed out on a considerable amount of plot advancement. So in fact, the manual was quite right to state that there were "consequences"...

Since I don't hold an account at Wikipedia, I'll let a regular take care of such corrections.

98.211.44.211 (talk) 05:58, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

You got some of the guests' deaths wrong

Dutton dies when he's stabbed. In the sequence where he kneels and suffers on his room after grabbing the suitcase, it's not clear what is happening to him, but there's no clue about the wounds opening. My guess is that he's been infected by Stauf with a virus or bacteria, because he starts to rub his arms frantically. We can't be sure of the chronological sequence of the video clips, but it's more likely that he dies from several stabs in his chest, than somehow coming back to life and die in his room. I think it's a hallucination, like the one Heine has about becoming a baby.

Burden's death isn't shown very clearly, but the skeleton in the bathtub in 11th hour hints she died in the bathtub sequence in 7th guest. I don't know where you got that about meltin into a pool of green slime or whatever, hehehe... She only gets a deformed face, and Hamilton mentions it's just an illusion... an illusion... an illusion...

Hamilton doesn't snap Edward's neck, he smashes his head on the coffin behind him... I don't think someone can snap anybody's neck like that.

Ego realises he's Tad when he's looking at the mirror, not when he's watching the final video sequence.

I don't want to make so many changes to this page without letting you know, so I'll wait for your response

1993, not 1992

See The Rise and Fall of Trilobyte, Page 8[1]:

On April 27, 1994, Devine told the company over e-mail that "Today is the one year anniversary of the launch of The 7th Guest, the game they said was impossible to do."

Release date was thus 1993-04-27.—Graf Bobby (talk) 21:53, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

That's interesting, because the game box actually says 1992 on it! Thanks for clearing that up. I was the one who actually changed this article and all of the articles linking to this one to 1992. Tubularfigurine (talk) 01:37, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

I got the box here, definitly 1992. Devine was mistaken. Multiple sources state 1992 as well. 98.198.83.12 (talk) 02:23, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

There is no way it was 1992, just because the copyright notice states so doesn't mean it was. See the ensuing edit war on Wikipedia for Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, which features a 1988 copyright date but 1989 release. The Rise and Fall of Trilobyte details the history extensively from multiple sources, including the "return to CES" in 1993 with a "fully fledged demo". If someone has an *actual* source for 1992 that isn't user-contributed (IMDb and Mobygames? Really?) that beats the in depth Gamespot feature, I'd like to see it. Evilgrug (talk) 05:25, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

See also USENET post written on Apr 28 1993 indicating the game has been released and that Apr 27 1994 was indeed the 1 year anniversary. Or the April 1993 issue of Compute! covering the 'upcoming 7th Guest' being a highlight of the Jan 1993 CES. Or what Google News shows up when searching for 1992-1993 articles. Do people really think the creators of the game can get the year wrong? Evilgrug (talk) 05:47, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

reception

I think adding a reception section would be nice.--Megaman en m (talk) 16:12, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Unsourced material

The following is unsourced information:

• The creators came up with the idea for the game after watching an episode of Twin Peaks in an airport bar. The initial idea was to create a game based on the show.
• Although released for DOS first, it was later ported for Windows. The versions are not identical, however, since the Windows version had several changes made to some puzzles, making them easier. The CD-i version also differed from the DOS and Windows versions; one difference was the elimination of a word puzzle in the kitchen pantry that was present in the other versions.
• A second sequel was planned and partially developed, but was canceled before completion. Footage and ideas from this sequel were reused and ultimately became the DVD interactive movie Tender Loving Care, starring John Hurt.
• The antagonist's last name, "Stauf", is an anagram for "Faust", representing the Faustian deal Mr. Stauf made when he committed an evil deed and rose to great fame and fortune in exchange.
• Copies of The 7th Guest make frequent appearances throughout its sequel. A CD jewel case of T7G is one of the necessary treasure-hunt items; several large T7G boxes are visible in various states of decay on shelves throughout the mansion; and the character Samantha is seen playing the actual game, although in this particular case, the game is functioning within The 11th Hour as footage from a series of security cameras Samantha is using to keep an eye on the Stauf mansion.
• It was reported that Nintendo paid $1 million to Virgin Interactive for exclusive CD-ROM console rights to the game for its ill-fated CD add-on for the SNES. Because the add-on was never released, it is rumored that Nintendo only paid in order to prevent its then rival, Sega, from releasing the game for the Sega Mega-CD Mega Drive add-on.

While this is interesting, we can't use it unless you provide a source. Also, none of this is really trivia, as trivia by its definition is "unimportant information" - it therefore shouldn't be in a trivia section but instead the information should be incorporated into the main article. - Tbsdy lives (talk) 08:21, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

Story and Cast sections need to be completely rewritten

The Story and Character articles are absolutely terrible at the moment! The opening narrative being copied in its entirety, assumptions for character backgrounds that are never shown in the game, descriptions of deaths which don't even occur (Banging someones head against a coffin? Really?), and frankly it all comes across as pages of fan speculation. Anyone brave enough to briefly summarise those sections to make them more suitable for Wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.96.239.42 (talk) 07:21, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

Puzzle Types

Should this have a list of the different types of puzzles you have to solve in the game? Most of them are based on classic puzzles, like the ones that involve moving chess pieces. Coupdeforce (talk) 06:50, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

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Source

• https://web.archive.org/web/20150304182705/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-7th-guest-a-condemned-classic/1100-6419968/
• https://web.archive.org/web/20070509103224/http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/pc/history_horror_pt1/p4_01.html
• https://archive.org/details/Pcmania09/page/n11
• https://archive.org/details/Game_Players_PC_Entertainment_Vol.6_Issue_4_July1993_U/page/n83/mode/2up