[Origami]

Eddie warns Roger he shouldn’t leave his door open with so much money laying around. But there is no money laying around, it’s all safely tucked away in the closed briefcase.

It could've been an assumption made by Eddie based on the fact that Roger carries so much cash around. Which he gives to Roger to pay off his debt.

[seagul]

The garbage bin in Eddies room contains

Spoiler:

a confidental letter from Roberta to Roger: how can it possibly end in Eddies room? Perhaps Eddie is spying on Roger?

Knowing this, the sentence uttered by Eddi can have a different meaning.

[zobraks]

Originally Posted by Fien

Eddie warns Roger he shouldn’t leave his door open with so much money laying around. But there is no money laying around, it’s all safely tucked away in the closed briefcase.

Originally Posted by Origami

It could've been an assumption made by Eddie based on the fact that Roger carries so much cash around. Which he gives to Roger to pay off his debt.

Exactly. In second chapter (toilet) we learn that ANY amount of cash can be considered as "large amount of money" in the San Francisco water front community , let alone a month's rent for a lousy apartment. On the other hand Eddie points at Roger's baggage while talking about "a lot of money" - does he have the X-ray vision ?

Originally Posted by seagul

The garbage bin in Eddies room contains

Spoiler:

a confidental letter from Roberta to Roger: how can it possibly end in Eddies room? Perhaps Eddie is spying on Roger?

Knowing this, the sentence uttered by Eddi can have a different meaning.

Nice observation. But, since there is an object you can find both in Eddie's "roach-infested hovel" and Roger's "luxury apartment" , we can also assume that Roger had visited Eddie's room before (Roger was spying on Eddie? ) and threw the letter into the garbage can.

How can we be sure? Where is that Vinny Carella when one needs him?

P.S.

Originally Posted by seagul

Knowing this, the sentence uttered by Eddie can have a different meaning.

What sentence? You mean Eddie had read the letter (the one in the garbage can) and therefore assumed Roger had a lot of money? It may be so, but it still doesn't explain why Eddie pointed at Roger's suitcase.

P.P.S. Come to think of it, Roger indeed might have visited Eddie's room - it's one of the best places in the world to study roaches in their natural habitat .

[Fien]

I said he was wrong and argued that Eddie's room must be observed as a single location (not 200 locations/screens) in which you have to solve more puzzles than in a single chapter of an average adventure game.

Oh yes, I completely agree with you, each room is actually one big “screen”.That’s where the overviews come in. I’m not sure I have seen all of those 260 subscreens.

BTW, what do you think "bad mojo" in the title means: a bad spell Roger is under or literally a bad amulet that brought him a misfortune (blessing in disguise?) of turning into a cockroach?

I confess I hadn’t thought about it. But since you brought it up, I’d say both.

The bridge from the Bad Mojo intro (going over the Townsend St.) is NOT Golden Gate

Aha. Thanks for the pics and all the details about actors and music. You really know a lot about this game!

Originally Posted by Origami

It could've been an assumption made by Eddie based on the fact that Roger carries so much cash around. Which he gives to Roger to pay off his debt.

I find that hard to believe. As Zobraks said, Eddie points to the table with the suitcase. No money there, just the passport and ticket. The briefcase is on the desk. And if he was talking about the rent which comes out of Roger’s pocket, Eddie would not have used the words “have laying around” but “carry around” or something.

Come on, Ori, share your opinions of BM with us. I’m curious how a first-time player experiences it. And where has Pollo disappeared to... It so long ago for me, although I do remember feeling frustrated because I was sure I should find a way down from that place high up near the gasburner. During my second playthrough I put two and two together: hey, it’s just an overview of what is to come, the burning cigarette, the rat, even the exposed wires. There’s no overview of Eddie’s part of the room, I guess the FMV cut scenes serve a s a kind of map. I also remember being confused, not knowing what to do because I had missed important clues. I had hardly noticed the eye symbols.and didn’t realize you had to stand on them.

About the letter in the garbage can. That’s a good point, seagul. I always assumed it was natural for Eddie and Roger to share the same trash can. But in that case, what's it doing in Eddie's hovel.

Nice observation. But, since there is an object you can find both in Eddie's "roach-infested hovel" and Roger's "luxury apartment" , we can also assume that Roger had visited Eddie's room before (Roger was spying on Eddie? ) and threw the letter into the garbage can.

Zobraks, I have no idea what object that is.

[PolloDiablo]

I'm still here, no worries Just haven't played much because I was busy with work and visiting jazz concerts. Have traversed the Cockroach Corral after much frustration with pushing dead body parts around. Found my way through the garbage can but not much further. Hope to play more tonight or tomorrow, but please do carry on without me if I don't manage to reach the toilet in time. I'll catch up over the weeked for sure.

[zobraks]

Originally Posted by Fien

Thanks for the pics and all the details about actors and music.

You're welcome!

Originally Posted by Fien

You really know a lot about this game!

Thank you Fien. I prepared thoroughly for the first BM playthrough I was leading and I read a lot about the game. The Bad Mojo Redux Chat (here at Adventure Gamers) helped me a lot - it is a veritable golden mine of BM trivia and facts.

Originally Posted by Fien

Come on, Ori, share your opinions of BM with us. I’m curious how a first-time player experiences it.

Who's Ori? I would also like to hear more from the "first timers" (they also may drop interesting remarks and ask thought-provoking questions). I'm very glad about the input of the veterans .

Originally Posted by Fien

It so long ago for me, although I do remember... I had hardly noticed the eye symbols and didn’t realize you had to stand on them.

I remember having a hard time finding a way down the leg of the gas burner, but I had no trouble finding the "LucasArts symbol" (did you notice how similar these symbols are?)


since you must step on it in order to pass the gas burner/water heater.

I vividly remember that I was mesmerized with Bad Mojo from the start and that I couldn't stop playing it. I went all the way to the fourth chapter (in one go!). I must have been playing it a whole day through or something like that.
I also remember being killed by everything that could kill me...

Spoiler:

... flames, poison (powder, solid, tapes), rat, spider, paint in the can under the wires, cat.

Originally Posted by Fien

... that place high up near the gasburner. ... serve as a kind of map.

I said (in the CIG) it is important to climb up the protruding objects ("lookouts"). There are (at least) seven of those in the first stage and they don't cover all of the terrain. Here they are:

S P O I L E R!

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by Fien

I always assumed it was natural for Eddie and Roger to share the same trash can. But in that case, what's it doing in Eddie's hovel.

Don't know, but Eddie's room looks like the right place for keeping the garbage can in .

Originally Posted by zobraks

... there is an object you can find both in Eddie's "roach-infested hovel" and Roger's "luxury apartment"

Originally Posted by Fien

Zobraks, I have no idea what object that is.

I'll give you a clue: it's a kind of container and the stuff in it kills you slowly but surely (no, it isn't a roach poison, it kills humans). And it's of a quite aptly named brand.

Originally Posted by PolloDiablo

I'm still here, ... please do carry on without me if I don't manage to reach the toilet in time. I'll catch up over the weeked for sure.

Take your time, PD. We're going at slow pace and chapter two is very short so you'll be able to catch up with the rest of the roach intrusion (pack? herd? gang? ... ).

[Fien]

Originally Posted by zobraks

I remember having a hard time finding a way down the leg of the gas burner, but I had no trouble finding the "LucasArts symbol" (did you notice how similar these symbols are?) since you must step on it in order to pass the gas burner/water heater.

Yes, you can't avoid stepping on it, but that's exactly the reason I didn't realise the link between the symbol and the messages from other creatures. I vaguely wondered what kind of symbol it was, and when I came across the big gas burner in the next screen I concluded the icon stood for "fire". Call me crazy, but it does look a little like fire!

I said (in the CIG) it is important to climb up the protruding objects ("lookouts"). There are (at least) seven of those in the first stage and they don't cover all of the terrain. Here they are:

Those are helpful lookouts but only the first is a real overview of what is to come. If I remember correctly the overviews in the game have only 1 exit, like the one of the kitchen.

I'll give you a clue: it's a kind of container and the stuff in it kills you slowly but surely (no, it isn't a roach poison, it kills humans). And it's of a quite aptly named brand.

It still doesn't ring a bell, but that's good, it'll give me something new to look for when we get to Roger's room.

[zobraks]

Originally Posted by Fien

Call me crazy, but it does look a little like fire!

Well, yes, indeed, but it also looked mystical to me. Which is not unusual - I tend to look for the hidden meaning of things around .

Originally Posted by Fien

Those are helpful lookouts but only the first is a real overview of what is to come.

The view from the front of Eddie's bed also shows some interesting/worth visiting stuff .

Originally Posted by Fien

It still doesn't ring a bell, but that's good, it'll give me something new to look for when we get to Roger's room.

If you want more hints, look in this spoiler:

Spoiler:

The stuff in those containers had been in a focus of the public interest in your country recently. And in mine too - since 11th of this month.

[seagul]

I nearly finished Eddys room.
And the more i play the more i love this game.

Originally Posted by zobraks

P.S. What sentence? You mean Eddie had read the letter (the one in the garbage can) and therefore assumed Roger had a lot of money? It may be so, but it still doesn't explain why Eddie pointed at Roger's suitcase.

I mean the sentence of Eddie about Roger shouldn’t leave his door open with so much money laying around.
I thought Eddie has a key to the room and is spying on Rogers. The suitcase must have been in the room before it was packed. Who knows what was in it. The money? Eddie may have seen the content. But this is only speculation.

Originally Posted by zobraks

BTW, what do you think "bad mojo" in the title means: a bad spell Roger is under or literally a bad amulet that brought him a misfortune (blessing in disguise?) of turning into a cockroach?

Roger himself talks about his bad mojo. But i believe it is, as you say, blessing in disguise.
As i remember the story

Spoiler:

the amulett belongs to his mother. She is giving him directions throughout the whole game. The prolog shows her once beloved husband Eddie as an old desperate man and her son deperate, agressiv and whining. What a letdown!
In the first scene both men are self-referred, moody and agressiv. What kind of relation they have, father and son? Only a big mojo can bring a change. It's mother who has to save the day for both. Roger says it is a long detour into the night of his soul. Sometime things have to get really bad to get better.

Did someone see what happend after the mother was declared dead after childbirth? There was a sparkeling in the air.

[Origami]

Come on, Ori, share your opinions of BM with us. I’m curious how a first-time player experiences it

Only if you like me again.

[Fien]

Originally Posted by Origami

Only if you like me again.

You are such a sweet boy, I wish you were my grandson, and if you were you would be my favorite grandson, the best of the lot.



Happy now?

Dear God, the things I have to do just to hear your opinion of BM.

PS: Where is Diego? He's a first-time player too.

[Origami]

^Hmm...the wet kisses were a bit too much.

Okay, I'll post my thoughts some time soon. Right now it's late and I have college tomorrow early. *sigh*

[zobraks]

Originally Posted by Fien

Come on, Ori, ...

Originally Posted by Origami

Only if you like me again.

Originally Posted by Fien

You are such a sweet boy, I wish you were my grandson, and if you were you would be my favorite grandson, the best of the lot.

Happy now?

Originally Posted by Origami

Okay, I'll post my thoughts some time soon.

Spoiler:

Awww... There's nothing so touching as a family reunion . I bet Angelina made you reconcile (The Curse of Bad Mojo? ).

Originally Posted by Fien

Dear God, the things I have to do just to hear your opinion of BM.

You can say that again .
BTW, I'm too old to be your son, let alone grandson, but perhaps you can marry me so I can inherit that huge adventure games collection you have . If you don't mind being my second wife, that is.

Originally Posted by Fien

PS: Where is Diego? He's a first-time player too.

He's the eternal first-time player of Bad Mojo. *sigh*
Don't count on Diego, when it comes to playthroughs (at least the ones I'm in charge of) he's as reliable as a willow wedge (as we say here in Moesia ). He did the same thing in the first BM playthrough ( all mouth in the beginning and nowhere to be seen afterwards ). Now (for a change) he has a good reason not to take part in this crawlthrough - he owes a heap of (tiny tiney) adventure games reviews at a certain place - but I'm afraid that's not why he's not around. The real reason is (most probably) this:

Originally Posted by diego

I'm currently playing Still Life 2

Or this:



It took them five years to make that game and now that we started this nice little playthrough - here it is.

[Sughly]

Oh noes! I didn't see this playthrough!! And I've been dieing to play this game. Ah well. Probably would have struggled to keep up what with work at the moment. One day I'll come back and play through from this though...

[zobraks]

Originally Posted by Sughly

Oh noes! I didn't see this playthrough!! And I've been dieing to play this game... One day I'll come back...

Hey! Come back here!!!!

First of all I find it difficult to believe you didn't notice this crawlthrough coming and starting, but we'll put that aside for the time being.

Bad Mojo is a very short, not too difficult but wonderful game you shouldn't miss and we need the "first-timers" to boot. Play it when you can (I'm sure you can squeeze in an hour of playing BM a day) and I promise you won't regret it (if you like weird stuff , that is). We just started, we go at slow pace, so you'll have plenty of time to catch up .

[seagul]

Sughly, please step by!
We haven't finished chapter 1!

[diego]

Originally Posted by zobraks

Don't count on Diego, when it comes to playthroughs

Hold your horses - it's not over until the fat lady Eddie sings! (or at least - dances).

Since i've already finished Chapter 1 before, i knew it i would catch up with you so i was indeed playing Still Life 2 (playing? try loading, crashing and bugging). Anyway, since i finally found who the killer is, i could get my cockroach running in full speed.

i finished 1st chapter - it took me a litle longer to remember to

Spoiler:

turn on the radio

and after that it was all a piece of cake, or should i say -

Spoiler:

a can of beer

Let's start with the infamous intro sequence - i gotta ask - isn't it funny that EVERY single person who runs with the money always wants to go to - Mexico? I mean, haven't the police, after all those movies, finally learned that they are ALWAYS going to Mexico? Regarding Eddie's remark on money "laying around", that could be couple of things:

- Eddie is an above average clever person, and concluded it after Roger's nervous behaviour and the fact that he handed him pile of cash just like that (he probably always had to "remind" Roger couple of times in past before actually getting paid).

- or there could be an element of "assumption", so it's on player to conclude that Eddie have more info than what is show, or even, if you want to let your imagination - it's all in Roger's head. Maybe Eddie indeed came to get the rent money, but the part with the "laying cash" is just what's going on in Roger's head due to his anxiousness. There was something else i think Eddie said before bursting into cheesy evil laugh.

Now, let's neatpick a little. It is obvious that authors carefully created world as it is from cockroach's eyes, which means no inventory, no dialogs, map... and that's exactly why the game is original, but i would like if there were one big "lookout screen" which you can call at any time, for each of the room which would cover the whole room and similar to this



it wouldn't spoil too much, as you would only have clues at what direction are certain things. or at least, if player could "call" for small lookout screens anytime after checking them without a need to go back to them, which could also give you some general view of the room. Maybe it's a bad idea since Bad Mojo is a unique experience that is mysterious because you have no clue of the surroundings as a cockroach.

some other minor quirks are clumsiness in pushing objects, and lack of subtitles in movies that are important in order to know what's expected of you.

Besides that, Bad Mojo looks fresh even now, because there wasn't anything similar. What strikes me, beside an obvious and original idea of controlling the cockroach, are detailed background facts that we stumble upon during our progress, like newspapers etc. Puzzles in first chapter are logical and not too tedious. I said before also, even if i agree to some extent that there could be some running back and forth involved and that there are plenty of separate screens, i still wouldn't want a puzzle on each of them, because Bad Mojo didn't aspire to be some sort of game that we know today as Samorost or Machinarium, but more close to the roots.

So, it's incredible how you got every element of a classic adventure even in this awkard gameplay:

Inventory and puzzles - your ability to push things
Dialogs - cutscenes
and even pixel hunting - looking for tight marks where you travel to next screen

[zobraks]

Originally Posted by diego

Hold your horses - it's not over until the fat lady Eddie sings! (or at least - dances).

I'm glad you (finally!) took part in the crawlthrough, even if (one of) your motive(s) is to prove I'm wrong . Добро дошао!

Originally Posted by diego

... isn't it funny that EVERY single person who runs with the money always wants to go to - Mexico? I mean, haven't the police, after all those movies, finally learned that they are ALWAYS going to Mexico?

If I'm ever going to embezzle a large sum of money I'll run to Montenegro! It's much cheaper and not so far away as Mexico, not to mention the (same) language.

Originally Posted by diego

... i would like if there were one big "lookout screen" which you can call at any time, for each of the room which would cover the whole room... Maybe it's a bad idea since Bad Mojo is a unique experience that is mysterious because you have no clue of the surroundings as a cockroach.

Exactly. I guess an average cockroach seldom has the idea how the whole of its environment looks like.
A map of some kind would be useful, but it would spoil a lot of things too. You can make that map in your head actually, and that's what we all do - sooner or later we learn/know precisely where everything in a room is. Those who can't remember that can always draw some kind of a map (I did it the first time I played Bad Mojo as I almost always do when I play adventure games - I have a lot of notebooks and sheets of paper with maps, drawings and various notes made while playing AGs).

Originally Posted by diego

some other minor quirks are clumsiness in pushing objects, and lack of subtitles in movies that are important in order to know what's expected of you.

It takes some time to learn the basic moves of a cockroach, but if I (who really hate action in adventure games) was able to do that then anyone can do so.
As for subtitles, I believe we all agree(d) that it's better to have them optionally in a game: those who don't need them don't have to use them. I always find subtitles useful.


To all players:

Don't forget that since 17:00 CET (8:00 forum time) we started the second part of our crawlthrough. Feel free to enter the toilet of Eddie's bar! You can stay there until Friday, November 26th at 17:00 CET.

[PolloDiablo]

Managed to get into the toilet and onto the floor.

My thoughts:
It's a truly unique, very different experience to have no inventory, no dialogue and no way of figuring out what to do except by trial and error. Apart from the times I just can't seem to get the pushing right and die because the stuff doesn't end up where I wanted it, I am enjoying myself. I think the developers did a great job giving us a radically different viewpoint. Never knew being a cockroach was such a dangerous job... how come there are so many of them

I am eager to return to the game. I do have one question about what I think is a puzzle I didn't solve in the first chapter.

Spoiler:

There's some fuses that sparkle when you walk across them, and three of the four dials above them change when you do so, but I haven't noticed any effect. Did I miss something?

[zobraks]

Originally Posted by PolloDiablo

Managed to get into the toilet and onto the floor.

Great job! Keep crawling.

Originally Posted by PolloDiablo

I do have one question about what I think is a puzzle I didn't solve in the first chapter.

Spoiler:

There's some fuses that sparkle when you walk across them, and three of the four dials above them change when you do so, but I haven't noticed any effect. Did I miss something?

Spoiler:

Yes you did, but it's OK - you don't have to solve the fuses puzzle until the very end of the game (and the end is not near yet).
Moreover, it would be easier for you to solve the fuses puzzle after visiting more rooms of Eddie's bar. The more rooms you visit the easier it would be .