Neo-noir Video Games Codexery

Discworld Noir

A noir parody adventure set in Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

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Discworld Noir is a point-and-click adventure game set in Terry Pratchett's Discworld universe, featuring an original story not derived from any novel.[1] The player controls Lewton, the Discworld's first private investigator, in a parody of hardboiled fiction and film noir.[2][3]

Making and release

Perfect Entertainment developed Discworld Noir for Windows 95 and Windows 98, with GT Interactive as publisher due to their strong US presence.[4] The game uses pre-rendered 3D models because real-time 3D was unfeasible for the period, while backgrounds remained 2D.[5] Brydon, who voiced Lewton, took a "grueling" week to complete his lines.[6] The PlayStation version compresses sound and videos to fit on one disc, unlike the PC's three discs.[7]

The final script for the game was authored by Chris Bateman, and it was his initial effort writing for a video game; Terry Pratchett subsequently edited that script.[8] Four performers—Rob Brydon, Kate Robbins, Robert Llewelyn, and Nigel Planer—handled the majority of the voice work.[6] The game's musical score was composed by Paul Weir, who researched most of the noir films that served as inspiration for the title.[6] Perfect Entertainment ceased operations after the PC version launched, but later re-emerged briefly under the name "Teeny Weeny Games" to create a PlayStation port.[7]

Because GT Interactive shut down, the title saw no release beyond Europe.[9]

What the cited sources add

Houston gave the story an A+ and an overall grade of A-, recommending the game to fans of detective adventures.[10] Guenther praised the sound effects, music, and voice acting as "first-rate," but noted a "broken-record-skipping" effect that worsened as the game progressed.[11] Chris Bateman stated in an interview that he read about 75% of the Discworld novels before working on Noir, but wanted to create an entirely new plot drawing from film noir influences like The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca.[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Discworld Noir" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Discworld Noir", Dennis Publishing Ltd., August 1999, p. 80–81 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Discworld Noir" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Walker, "Retrospective: Discworld Noir", Eurogamer, 11 September 2011; Cobbett, "The best adventure games on PC", PC Gamer, 3 June 2016; Nettelbeck, "Discworld Noir", July 1999, p. 102–105; Croft, "Discworld Noir Preview", GameSpot UK, 10 March 1999; Cobbett, "The best adventure games on PC", PC Gamer, 3 June 2016 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Discworld Noir" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mądrzak, "Top 10 Zawód: Detektyw", gry.wp.pl, November 2019; "Discworld Noir", Dennis Publishing Ltd., August 1999, p. 80–81; "Discworld Noir", Dennis Publishing Ltd., August 1999, p. 80–81; Barrick, "Discworld Noir Review", GameSpot UK, 30 July 1999 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Discworld Noir" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Welcome to Discworld!", EMAP Images, September 1993, p. 14; "Interview with Perfect Entertainment", Coming Soon Magazine, 15 September 1996; Kalata, "Discworld", Hardcore Gaming 101, 10 April 2010, p. 2; Bronstring, "Interviews - Discworld Noir", Adventure Gamer, 20 April 1999 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Discworld Noir" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bronstring, "Interviews - Discworld Noir", Adventure Gamer, 20 April 1999; Croft, "Discworld Noir Preview", GameSpot UK, 10 March 1999; Bronstring, "Interviews - Discworld Noir", Adventure Gamer, 20 April 1999; Walker, "Retrospective: Discworld Noir", Eurogamer, 11 September 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Discworld Noir" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Discworld Noir Manual", GT Interactive, 1999, p. 29–30; Bronstring, "Chris Bateman on Discworld Noir", Adventure Gamers, 7 February 2003; "Discworld Noir Manual", GT Interactive, 1999, p. 29–30; Bateman, "My Words in Other Voices", Only a Game, 26 March 2008; Bateman, "My Words in Other Voices", Only a Game, 26 March 2008; Bronstring, "Interviews - Discworld Noir", Adventure Gamer, 20 April 1999; Bronstring, "Chris Bateman on Discworld Noir", Adventure Gamers, 7 February 2003; Bronstring, "Interviews - Discworld Noir", Adventure Gamer, en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Discworld Noir" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kalata, "Discworld", Hardcore Gaming 101, 10 April 2010, p. 2 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Discworld Noir" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Terry Pratchett Interview", GameSpot UK, 1999; Bronstring, "Chris Bateman on Discworld Noir", Adventure Gamers, 7 February 2003; Bateman, "My Words in Other Voices", Only a Game, 26 March 2008; "Terry Pratchett Interview", GameSpot UK, 1999; Bronstring, "Chris Bateman on Discworld Noir", Adventure Gamers, 7 February 2003 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Discworld Noir" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kalata, "Discworld", Hardcore Gaming 101, 10 April 2010, p. 2; "Chris Bateman on Discworld Noir", 7 February 2003 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Houston, "Review: Discworld Noir", Just Adventure. facts only, no text reused. justadventure.com
  11. Guenther, "Review: Discworld Noir", Just Adventure. facts only, no text reused. justadventure.com
  12. Bronstring, "Chris Bateman on Discworld Noir", Adventure Gamers, 7 February 2003. facts only, no text reused. adventuregamers.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Discworld Noir (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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