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Welcome!! Welcome people to Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon playthrough!!

The night is still young and there are plenty of things to be done!! Help your friends!! Have a whiskey!! Explore new worlds, creatures and timelines!! Talk with the dogs!! And finally have tons of laughs (that, I absolutely guarantee)!! But first of all, we will have a little educational lesson about the bar (funny thing, some of us just came here from another Bar. A Space one…Seems 1st person humorous sci-fi is on these days. Guess after CCS we will choose Zork:GI :P ), the owner, your friends, you, and of course the creators.
Calahan’s Crosstime Saloon was released in 1997 from Legend and it was designed by Josh Mandel. Rumor says that Josh will come by for a drink with us before the night goes. The game is based on the well-known novels written by Spider Robinson.
The bar is run by Mike Callahan. The regulars are welcoming and willing to listen to any visitor’s problems, no matter how strange, but do not snoop if a visitor is unwilling to share. Strange and unusual events and visitors turn up with frequency in the stories. Regulars at Callahan’s include a talking dog, an android with superhuman abilities. several extraterrestrials and time travelers, an ethical vampire, a couple of Irish mythological beings, and an obscenity-spewing parrot though you won’t meet all of them in the game. The stories make heavy use of puns. Irish whiskeys are the preferred beverage, with Tullamore Dew and Bushmills mentioned in nearly every collection of shorts or novel that references the saloon. The stories make an obvious homage to Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague de Camp’s Tales from Gavagan’s Bar and Arthur C. Clarke’s Tales from the White Hart.

Jake Stonebender: That’s you!! A folk musician that is a regular in Callahan’s for over the last years. A good hearted fellow, always ready to help his friends in time of need. A deep secret lies within his heart…

Mike Callahan: The owner of the bar (though actually it is his wife who really owns the bar. Mike just runs it. But let’s be polite now, shall we?...). He welcomes all patrons and is ready to listen any visitor’s problems.

Sam “The Doc” Webster: Jake’s best friend. A master of puns and perhaps Callahan’s oldest regular. Works at Smithtown General Downtown. He hates chocolate, but likes to organize special night games and contests in Callahan’s.

Mickey Finn: A humanoid alien android with supreme powers. He was once sent to destroy Earth, but the patrons freed him from his masters and helped him to save Earth instead. He later married Mike Callahan’s daughter.

Fast Eddie: The bar’s piano player. Remember: Whatever happens, don’t shoot the pianist. He is doing his best.

Noah Gonzalez: A sergeant in the police force, he works on the bomb squad.

Pyotr: A well-mannered, gentlemanly, lovesick vampire, previously Callahan’s designated driver who tragically became addicted to alcohol.

Ralph Von Wau Wau: A mutant talking German Shepherd. Also a skilled ventriloquist.

Josie Bauer: She works for a special police unit called the Time Cops. She is legally permitted to travel through time.

Al Phee: A whimpering little smear of slim…..Erhmm sorry. A legitimate and respected salesman was what I wanted to say.

Dtzllchhh: An alien from a race previoiusly unknown to Earth. His English need improvement.

And many more! But before we start: Who is in (meaning: confirms he has CCS and runs it smoothly)?
And more important: Are there still any technical problems?
The game runs perfectly well with Dosbox 074 in my Windows 7 64-bit. Strangely enough, when I tried the so called CCS windows installer the game, while installed fine, couldn’t play (just appeared a black screen instead of the bar. Could hear the fuss from the bar though. Now I know how it is to be blindfold in one of Doc’s practical jokes…).
If there is need, I will post the command lines (mount, etc).
Also, don’t forget! There is a 1.01 patch for Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon that perhaps you would like to check. It is supposed to stop some sudden “freezes” in the game (though I didn’t remember to meet any) plus some other minor improvements. The patch is easily found on the internet. I also have it in my possesion for whoever wants it and can’t find it. Mind you, the patch doesn’t recognise old saves (meaning that after you install the patch, the game doesn’t recognize the pre-patched saves).

About the playthrough, I was thinking of giving 14 days on each chapter (Pyotr’s will be the first. The “quest” is given by Callahan after the contest.). Remember: Try everything with everything!! There are unique responses and funny quotes for almost all combinations. This is the greatest fun in the game (and the reason I give that much time/chapter.)

EDIT: People!! Don’t get discouraged from the contest at the beggining!! Yes, It is hard, especially for us non-natives, but the theme is easy and we are here to solve it together!! :) After all there are only just two contests like this in the entire game (this and another one).

EDIT 2: Did I mention how enthusiastic I am to lead a playthrough in one of my favourite games? I am!! A lot!! :]

EDIT 3: Pin the thread please. :)

EDIT 4: All participants are asked to remain on-topic in their posts here, use spoiler tags when necessary and generally join with a kind-heart spirit.

Advie - 30 January 2013 05:21 AM

guys what with bars and saloons ?

Just an inside joke based on the fact that the previous community playthrough was TSB and now is CCS.

If no technical problems (or delivery delays) are mentioned until 3/2, then we can start playing CCS, first with the contest and then Pyotr’s story.

Ready to go. Running Dosbox in Windows 7.
This will finally be the time I get past that first puzzle.