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Old 10-07-2011, 11:54 PM   #81
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Oh snap! I'm done with part 4.
Spoiler:
Tex got ambushed and received an injection!
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Old 10-08-2011, 01:39 AM   #82
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What is Tex short for, exactly? Strange I've played almost all the Tex Murphy games and I still don't know that
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Old 10-08-2011, 06:08 AM   #83
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Tex stands for Texas, Oscar. Whether that means anything or they just liked the sound of it, who knows.
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Old 10-08-2011, 09:46 AM   #84
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A few notes on the first part of this section (before going to the post-office):

I really enjoyed the part of the lodge, with the game of cat and mouse with Slade. However, the interface feels particularly clunky when you have to hide fast --- thankfully, the game gives you plenty of time.

Slade's hit list has a lot of interesting information. In Mean Streets, about halfway through the game, you met an accountant from Gideon Enterprises names Arnold Dweeb, who sold you a long list of people who had received money from the company. That list gave numerous new leads and provided momentum for most of the second half of the game. In Overseer, Dweeb was removed, but the idea of a list of names providing several new leads was retained --- in the form of Slade's hit list.

Let's discuss the list in detail now.

Spoiler:
First, for reference's sake, the list itself:
1. Rona Morgan
2. Val Davis
3. Bosworth Clark
4. Carl Linsky
5. Sylvia Linsky
6. Greg Call
7. Samuel Q. Jones
8. Larry Hammond
9. J. Saint Gideon
10. Tex Murphy

Several remarks:

1) We know Morgan, Davis, Clark and Linsky were on the secret project. Based on their bio (from the AID), Call, Jones and Hammond probably were as well. We know there are at least 7 passcards; are these 7 people the whole team?

2) Morgan, Davis, Clark and Linsky are dead, and so is Jones according to the AID. In his phone call, Slade mentioned he had just taken care of #6 (Call). Is Hammond the last surviving member of the group? Let's hope we can find him before Slade does, it would be nice to get some answers for a change.

3) Let's look at everyone's speciality: electrical engineering (Morgan), biology (Davis), satellites (Clark), neuroscience (Linsky), security systems (Call), political/military analysis (Jones), computer programming (Hammond). What the hell were these people working on together???

4) What about John Klaus, the guy in that photo with Linsky? He's a top scientist, so we might have expected him to be part of the project, but he's not on the hit list. How does he fit into all this?

5) Why is Sylvia in there? Clark had a wife and 5 children, Jones had a family ---but they're not on the list, so why is Sylvia? Is it just because she's suspicious of her father's death, or is there something she's not telling us?

6) And what about J. Saint Gideon? Whatever his role in this, I guess he's not the one paying Slade to kill all these scientists. But he probably knows more than he's told us...
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Old 10-09-2011, 07:29 PM   #85
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Alright, trailing a bit, just finished part 3.. It seems to me at this point that Gideon is going to be the crux around whom the whole game revolves. I suspect going forward we'll see more clues in the form of different links to Gideon Enterprises which will ultimately flesh out the whole story.

Why did Gideon start his company? How did it get so big? Was there someone we don't know who was actually responsible for Gideon's growth?

I suspect J Saint Gideon has a dual role here.. hes not everything he seems to be.

I'm at Slade's lodge now. Either I'm missing replacing some item, or I'm hiding at the wrong place because he keeps finding me :/
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Old 10-09-2011, 08:27 PM   #86
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Oh well looks like that was a bug.

Spoiler:
I managed to get the hit list without moving the pillow. I moved it and put it back and it let me go though
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Old 10-09-2011, 10:39 PM   #87
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I'm just past the post office cutscene. I'm getting the feeling that the whole Law & Order thing is a red herring. Its far too obvious as a villain. Gideon looks suspicious to me.

Who is Slade working for? Right now it seems to be the Law & Order party. His mission seems to be to terminate everyone with knowledge of the project. But why? So far the characters seem to be neatly divided into the pro-Law & Order and anti-Law & Order factions. Wanda Peck, Gideon, the mutants all seem to be against, while Schimming, Carl Linsky are all pro.
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Old 10-09-2011, 11:03 PM   #88
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About St Gideon (from the perspective of a person playing for the first time):
He is of course the primary suspect of mine for the following reasons:
- he seems so nice and helpful. In Tex Murphy adventure games, Tex is accustomed to bribe, threaten or beg to interview people he meets. They are reluctant to share what they know and annoyed by questions. St Gideon is a sharp contradiction to that which makes me extremely suspicious
- he claims to be a chess master and so far it seems as I am looking for a King who sets all the pieces of the game...
- Michael York is sort of too good an actor to waste him on some consultant who helps Tex in making progress in the game once in a while
- he seems to be a victim and totally innocent -> nothing points to his guilt more

Also, my game also stopped working during the weekend. I made backup of saved games and reinstalled the game - I could not get it to work any other way.

On Law and Order:
This is really funny, to hear all those references to LO party - there is a real Law and Order party in Poland. Quite humorous, so many things they have in common
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Old 10-10-2011, 09:00 AM   #89
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Back on track. I'm done with part 4. And looks like the story has just taken the first twist

I just played ahead a little bit and

Spoiler:
Wow!! the action is really heating up!


Anyway getting back to this part

Spoiler:
It seems pretty clear now that there are two factions

Law and Order vs STG... STG people working on something that probably threatens L&O. So L&O have sent Slade out to knock them off.

The mystery guy right now seems to be Klaus. Why has Robert Knott asked for a file on him? Is he the head of the anti-STG group?

But what of Carl Linsky? He was on the project with STG, but is seen with Klaus. And Linsky was the one who hired Sonny Fletcher to take out Rona Morgan and Val Davis. Maybe Knott will have more answers
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Old 10-10-2011, 09:03 AM   #90
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KasiaD View Post
- he seems to be a victim and totally innocent -> nothing points to his guilt more
Exactly! He seems far too nice and helpful

More questions:

Spoiler:
If Tex was knocked out, how does he know that he got an injection.

Why didnt the people who wanted him dead, just kill him right there

Last edited by Siddhi; 10-10-2011 at 09:06 AM. Reason: more questions...
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Old 10-10-2011, 09:04 PM   #91
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I liked the part in the Law and Order party building, apart from that annoying puzzle where you have to count the letters (in very little time if you're playing in Gamer mode and want to get full points).

I hope everyone found the picture of Sylvia (with another wig!) and Schimming in Knott's office. Make sure to phone Schimming and ask him about it...


Anyway, we're now moving on to section 5. This section ends when you discover the location of Greg Call's secret lab. We'll move on to the next section on Sunday.

Note: There's a particularly stupid "puzzle" in this section. If you get completely desperate for a lead near the end of the section, you should
Spoiler:
revisit the Fresno office and see if anything has changed.
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Old 10-11-2011, 02:03 AM   #92
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I'm playing along, but trying not to say anything about the plot since I know where it's all going. Reading everyone's speculations is fun, though .

We're now on the part of the game where I remember vividly being stuck for days. We didn't have the internet at home in 1998, so when my brother and I were completely stumped we had to wait until I could go to the library and check a walk-through. (Ahhh, those were the days.) Anyway, if you find yourself at a total loss, the spoiler text in the post above will give you some guidance. More complaining about this from me in the spoiler text.

Spoiler:
I had no trouble this time, of course, since I remembered the mail delivery to the Fresno office after having so much frustration with it the first time around. I know that Tex gives you a hint when you find the electricity bill there on your first visit, but there's so much gameplay between then and when you have to pick up the letter! Second most frustrating part of the game for me.
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Old 10-12-2011, 10:11 PM   #93
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Clint Howard = win.
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Old 10-15-2011, 11:59 AM   #94
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Boom.

So that was Robert Knott. And his cabin. Oh well.

I found the shootout in the cabin a bit weird. It's supposed to be this very tense action scene, but then it's full of farcical moments, such as Tex reading his rulebook while being shot at, or the ridiculous thing with the blow-up doll. Once again, weird. At least we're starting to get answers: we know what it is that these people are willing to kill for.

On the other hand, the scene with Tex, Chelsee and Sylvia after the cabin was great. It was a nice bittersweet scene, well written and convincingly acted, and the interplay between past and present was cleverly done. Also, for the first time in the game, you could actually feel some sort of chemistry between Tex and Sylvia --- though, obviously, it's not a tenth of what's there between Tex and Chelsee.

The idea of making you revisit all locations at random to find the Braille book, and then one more time to find out who knows about NEXUS, was pretty sloppy design. But I can live with it. There should be tonnes of answers in Greg Call's secret lab.
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Old 10-16-2011, 06:11 AM   #95
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Let's begin section 6. This section ends when Tex receives a message from Jorge Valdez.
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Old 10-18-2011, 10:00 AM   #96
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The guy playing Jorge Valdez should have been nominated for the equivalent of a gaming Oscar.
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Old 10-18-2011, 10:56 PM   #97
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Quote:
Originally Posted by inm8#2 View Post
The guy playing Jorge Valdez should have been nominated for the equivalent of a gaming Oscar.
A Razzie award would be more like it.


(Spoilers for the Nexus lab, though not the big reveals.)

I enjoyed visiting Greg Call's lab. Answers aplenty! But I'll keep those for a later post. First, a few random comments. One thing that really struck me about the lab was how chock-full of Easter eggs it was: the Links LS mug, Intel merging with Frito to corner the chip market, Bill Gates's grandson, the guy facing 13 and a half counts of manslaughter (do we even want to know more about that?), the label on the Kamikaze implant warning that it has "only been tested on desperate college students seeking spending money"... and of course a cameo by writer and co-designer Aaron Conners as Greg Call. There are little jokes and Easter eggs everywhere in the game, but the concentration was particularly high here.

I had horrible memories of the "maze". But this time I just got it right in a couple of minutes, without running out of time or power. In my previous playthroughs, I tried to work out the way before going in, and ended up getting confused and running out of time. This time, I just dived in and moved at random until I stumbled upon the implant. I guess that "When in doubt, just move at random as fast as you can" should be my new motto!

Cracking Greg Call's password has always been one of my favourite puzzles in the game. It's not particularly difficult, or even clever, but I'm a sucker for coded messages.


Another thing that struck me is the final step in the long uncheesification of mutants in the Tex Murphy games. Contrast Larry Hammond in Mean Streets and Martian Memorandum:
with his new look in Overseer:
There's a lot of make-up, obviously, but it's not ridiculous; that last shot of him as he leaves the lab actually has a certain flair. Likewise, Greg Call looks like someone who could be in the X-Men movies and, despite all the bad acting, Jorge Valdez looks pretty snazzy, pustules and all.

That was really a strong trend in the evolution of the Tex Murphy games. In the first two games, the idea of having mutants was mostly an excuse to do all sorts of crazy, ridiculous stuff:
Under a Killing Moon mostly followed in the same vein. But as the games started taking themselves more seriously, it feels like the silly-looking mutants couldn't be accommodated anymore: it's one thing to have humour in your story, but reducing some of your key characters to complete jokes is probably not a good idea. And so The Pandora Directive has almost no mutants, and, in Overseer where they were an integral part of the story, they went through a complete make-over to appear weird and possibly disturbing, but not so ridiculous that one look would prevent you from taking those characters seriously.

Possibly this is also a reflection of the evolution of the general taste of our culture. We still have tonnes of, say, super-hero movies, but their looks have had to be completely re-invented, because the spandex suits of the 70s, and all the associated visual and narrative style, seem so cheesy to us now that we wouldn't even be able to take those stories and characters seriously. It's possible that the evolution of the looks of the mutants in the Tex Murphy games also reflects that evolution in taste.
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Old 10-19-2011, 08:07 PM   #98
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Sorry, I'm trailing again

Hopefully will catch up this weekend
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Old 10-24-2011, 12:10 AM   #99
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Bump because Jim Slade says so!

How is everyone doing? I guess if we go by the 5 days per section trend, we should be in the middle of part 7 out of 8 right now. So, the last part of the game begins on Wednesday the 26th?

Right now I've just finished exploring
Spoiler:
Gideon's house and have found myself locked in a cell on Alcatraz.


I imagine the last part of the playthrough begins with Tex in a cell?

Been a great game so far. I'm a sucker for the Bay Area settings. The story has gotten more interesting, and although it seemed obvious who was pulling all the strings from the beginning, it's been a fun ride delving into all the mystery of Linsky's death. I've also enjoyed Tex's quips at various points of exploration.
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Old 10-25-2011, 07:29 AM   #100
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Kurufinwe warned us he wasn't going to post long and thoughtful posts... and then he went and did just that. Great job! I will post my thoughts tonight or tomorrow, when I've had time to read all the contributions.
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