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+--- Thread: Did you play Black Dahlia when it was released? (/showthread.php?tid=373)
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Did you play Black Dahlia when it was released? - Space Quest Historian - 11-12-2025
I'm working on a big project about the 1998 FMV game Black Dahlia. In addition to doing my usual "Fair & Balanced" bullshit video where I just rant about the game, I've also been doing interviews with the cast and crew for a "making of" mini-documentary, as well as cutting together a 4 hour movie of all the FMV scenes.
I'm hoping to also get some soundbites from people who actually bought and played the game when it was released. I'm sure the game has fans out there somewhere, even though it wasn't terribly popular upon its release, and I would be very keen to hear from people who played it and still have fond memories of it.
I want to bring Black Dahlia back in a big way. If you want to be part of this multi-tiered deep-dive retrospective and if you have valuable insights to offer as a fan of the game, then please let me know. I'm especially looking for people who want to be interviewed for the mini-documentary I'm putting together to flesh out the perspective of those who actually played it back in the day.
RE: Did you play Black Dahlia when it was released? - Beau - 11-12-2025
Hey there. I freakin love Black Dahlia. I did NOT play it when it was released; I think I played it around 2004 or so. Then I played it again a few years later. I don't know if I have any valuable insights, especially since it's been almost 20 years since I played it, but if you want to ask me any questions, go for it.
RE: Did you play Black Dahlia when it was released? - Space Quest Historian - 11-12-2025
(11-12-2025, 03:57 AM)Beau Wrote: Hey there. I freakin love Black Dahlia. I did NOT play it when it was released; I think I played it around 2004 or so. Then I played it again a few years later. I don't know if I have any valuable insights, especially since it's been almost 20 years since I played it, but if you want to ask me any questions, go for it.
If you'd like to be in the documentary, hit me up at contact@spacequesthistorian.com. I'll send you a link to the 4 hr movie cut so you can refresh your memory.
RE: Did you play Black Dahlia when it was released? - Legerdemancy - 11-12-2025
I just find it interesting that the game is still compatible with contemporary systems like Windows 11 by using a system hooker like DxWnd! But at the exact same time, Black Dahlia implemented the mouse cursor using an unusual method according to this specific comment:
https://sourceforge.net/p/dxwnd/discussion/general/thread/e1f647a2e8/#5947
If you are interviewing programmers, then you could possibly ask them about these cursor details as an interesting question, perhaps?
Note 1: I'm not the kind of person to use things like DxWnd, so fair warning, I always prefer native APIs.
Note 2: I haven't ever played the game after watching the YAR video where you mentioned what the "BEST" ending is.
Note 3: Nevertheless, I'm very much looking forward to you publishing that 4 hour+ epic video of yours!
RE: Did you play Black Dahlia when it was released? - sjmpoo - 11-15-2025
I played it upon release, absolutely loved it, and still have the big box in storage somewhere. But I've never played it since, and don't really remember anything beyond it being a fairly interesting mystery game that suddenly evolved into an awesome mix of horror and Indiana Jones type adventure. I don't think my thick Norwegian accent would do well for a sound-bite though :-D
But I'm really looking forward to your video. I think this is one of those old games that should get more attention. Unlike the weird Rednex one you recently covered.
RE: Did you play Black Dahlia when it was released? - Legerdemancy - 11-17-2025
Because this is going to be presented in a documentary format, I feel it's pertinent to dispel a common misconception regarding Black Dahlia. Most people will think it was the first adventure game to feature 8 discs, especially since the U.K box has a marketing sticker emblazoned on it proudly stating "8 CD-ROM Extravaganza".
However, did you know what the first adventure game to have 8 discs actually was? Surprisingly, It was the 1997 release of Phantasmagoria for the Sega Saturn. It took even more than the original seven discs included in the DOS/Windows edition.
Bonus trivia about Black Dahlia, there's quite a few Easter eggs hidden in the game that require using the shift key:
https://mysterymanor.net/EasterEggs/eastereggsBlackDahlia.htm
RE: Did you play Black Dahlia when it was released? - Legerdemancy - 11-18-2025
I've been doing some more research since my previous post. According to the initial press release on the official Black Dahlia website, it was originally scheduled for a September 1997 launch. Which seems a logical marketing strategy to make the most of the upcoming holiday season. It got delayed 5 months until late February 1998! Even if they had somehow miraculously managed to get it on store shelves by September, Black Dahlia would still not have been the first 8-disc adventure game because of the August 1997 release of Phantasmagoria for Sega Saturn.
The most bizarre thing I came across was that a seance was conducted -- yes, you did in fact read that correctly -- with some of the Black Dahlia crew and specific trade journalists participating. All of this happened at a hotel during the E3 expo of June 1997.
https://web.archive.org/web/19980416011016/http://www.bdahlia.com/seance_t.html
Lastly, there are still some archived interviews that may be of interest to you on the Black Dahlia website. Including the production coordinator, lead compositor, design artist, script writer, lead programmer, sound designer and marketing design director. I hope all of this helps!
https://web.archive.org/web/19980416010930/http://www.bdahlia.com/procoor_t.html
https://web.archive.org/web/19980416010937/http://www.bdahlia.com/borrasso_t.html
https://web.archive.org/web/19980416010944/http://www.bdahlia.com/white_t.html
https://web.archive.org/web/19980416010950/http://www.bdahlia.com/freeman_t.html
https://web.archive.org/web/19980416010957/http://www.bdahlia.com/brown_t.html
https://web.archive.org/web/19980416011004/http://www.bdahlia.com/goodis_t.html
https://web.archive.org/web/19980416011010/http://www.bdahlia.com/rollinger_t.html
Sources for the release dates mentioned:
https://web.archive.org/web/19980416011048/http://www.bdahlia.com:80/newsflash_t.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20001204021700/http://www.ogr.com/news/news0298.html
https://segaretro.org/Phantasm
RE: Did you play Black Dahlia when it was released? - Jen - 11-18-2025
I played Black Dahlia when it was released. I really can’t be of any help to you because I don’t remember anything about it except for the incessant disc-swapping. I used to really hate that back in the day, especially when I accidentally went to a location on another disc and then had to swap discs twice just to go back one step. Oodles of CDs was never a valid selling point to me.
RE: Did you play Black Dahlia when it was released? - Legerdemancy - 11-18-2025
(11-18-2025, 07:31 PM)Jen Wrote: I don’t remember anything about it except for the incessant disc-swapping. I used to really hate that back in the day
Around this time period there were two different adventure games that got DVD-ROM releases as a solution to avoid disc-swapping altogether. They were Zork: Grand Inquisitor and Dark Side of the Moon. It's absolutely astounding that Black Dahlia didn't follow suit and release its own DVD-ROM edition.
(11-18-2025, 07:31 PM)Jen Wrote: Oodles of CDs was never a valid selling point to me.
In the best case scenario it means more in-game content. But unfortunately it usually ends up being shorthand marketing nonsense for "bigger is better".
RE: Did you play Black Dahlia when it was released? - Jen - 11-18-2025
I remember there were some, too, where you would install the whole game onto your hard disk from the CDs and just have to leave disc one in for validation on startup. That was much better, but also HD space was at much more of a premium in those days, and sometimes I had to clear out a bunch of other crap to make enough room for the game. Ah, the good old days…
Anyway, sorry, SQH, I didn’t mean to derail your topic. Black Dahlia, you say. I grew up in L.A., and the Black Dahlia murder still came up in the news from time to time.