[fov]

Okay... what a weird game.

I really enjoyed it, actually. I went into it knowing there wouldn't be much interactivity, and I love FMV. It was refreshing to have some of that risque stuff in a game. But, I didn't like how it ended and I didn't like how

Spoiler:

Michael got all nutso

And that I wasn't able to prevent this from happening.

I understand there are multiple endings but they're all dark. I don't feel like replaying right now but probably will eventually. But I'm curious if there are any endings where

Spoiler:

Michael doesn't "unravel"

And any that could be considered "happy"?

I looked online but coudn't find any websites that talk about the different possible endings.

-emily

ps In the ending I got

Spoiler:

Michael whapped Kathryn over the head with a sledgehammer as she was about to show Allison the doll with its head cracked. Then Allison and Michael were in Jody's room, with Allison holding Kathryn as if Kathryn were Jody -- I couldn't tell if Kathryn was dead or not.

[Titan]

fov, I replayed TLC several times answering the TAT psychological test divergently trying to achieve different events during the course of play and different endings. I don't think the TAT answers are relevant in any way to achieving variability.

I did get 2 different endings that were controlled by the answers one gives to the first set of questions (the exit poll) at the end of each episode. If you answer negatively about the psychiatric nurse and positively about the husband you get a different result from the opposite answers. I did not get a difference in ending when I tried this positive/negative to the wife however.

I will answer obliquely here about your spcific spoiler questions: (a) no, that particular person is hopelessly unraveled at all times, (b) no, not really. However, one of the endings I got I liked very much while the other I didn't. It was a matter of taste, er ... or maybe lust.

[fov]

Thanks. I suppose I could get to the endings rather quickly if I just took the TAT tests, did no exploration, and clicked through the cutscenes that didn't seem any different than the ones I'd seen before. (I'm assuming the diaries and articles and things don't change based on your answers?)

I think I answered positively about the husband and negatively about the nurse... but I'm not entirely sure. There were a lot of questions!

-emily

[Skinny Minnie]

Hi Emily!

I got the ending where:

Spoiler:

Michael did hit the nurse with the sledgehammer as she was coming down the stairs, but he killed her and then buried her in his yard. I think somehow the Doctor came over, wondering where the nurse had disappeared to, and found out Michael killed her. Michael's wife (can't remember her name because I played it back when it came out) went back into her coma-like state and was taken away to a mental hospital, and I think Michael went into the slammer. It went something like that anyway. I heard there's an ending where the two girls remain together as a couple, but I'm not sure if Michael dies in that one or even if that one is true. Maybe that's titan's favorite one, ha ha!

[fov]

hrm... I only read the beginning of your spoiler so as not to spoil too much -- seems our endings started off the same way but didn't end up the same. Interesting. I wonder if it's random or if it has to do with the answers on the TATs.

I'm pretty sure now that in the ending I got,

Spoiler:

Kathryn isn't dead at the end

-emily

[Titan]

Minnie, you nailed the ending I liked, the one you have heard about. I never got the ending you described as the one you experienced. I'm going to have to try for that one the next time I play this game. The other ending I got was the one fov described.

This thread has proven to me that there are indeed 3 different endings. I had before believed there were only two.

[Skinny Minnie]

LOL titan!

I just *knew* that certain ending was the one you liked!

I've never played the game again because it was just too darned depressing, really, and all those questions started getting to me by the end. I'm not much of a retreader anyway, though....

[Skinny Minnie]

Oh yeah, and I've heard there are actually more than three endings-- either four or six-- but I can't remember exactly. Maybe somebody else knows.

[fov]

I read an interview at JustAdventure that said there were seven endings.

There are supposedly seven different endings to TLC (though I personally have only viewed five of them). Is there a key point or decision in the gameplay that triggers the different endings? If one has already completed the game, what can he/she do to see the different endings short of replaying the entire game?

Rob: There are indeed seven endings. But four are "main" endings with the rest being variations.

[putting the rest of this in a spoiler tag, although it doesn't give away the endings themselves, just references the scenarios]

Spoiler:

Five involve the death of one of the characters. Of those, three are by murder, two by accident. One ending has a character ending up as a vegetable. One has the murder of another character.

Interview goes on to say this about how you get the different endings:

There is no one key point or decision that affects the outcome. The controlling logic is highly complex and somewhat fuzzy. It is complex enough to be rather unpredictable itself. In that way it is organic. As with chaos, there is structured randomness. So there is no walkthrough for this game. With the DVD Video version, there are codes available which you can use to get different versions.

Full interview here

It sounds to me like we've identified two distinct endings, and one variation on one of those endings. I'd definitely like to try for the others but it's a little daunting to think you have to go through the entire thing, and even then have no guarantee of seeing one you haven't seen yet...

-emily

[fov]

I started replaying and this time am answering all the questions in favor of the nurse and not in favor of Michael. I have already noticed two scenes that were a little different

Spoiler:

The scene where she takes off her shirt by the window, and the scene where Michael goes upstairs after he's asked to stop mowing the lawn

I'm also answering the TAT questions differently (answering the opposite of how I feel, which is probably the opposite of what I said the first time) and I noticed that I'm getting some questions I didn't get before. I wonder if it's due to my answers or if it's just random...

-emily

[Erwin_Br]

Do you play the DVD version Emily?

--Erwin

[fov]

No, it's the CD version. I couldn't get the DVD version working because I don't have a hardware decoder (apparently).

Why?

-emily

[Erwin_Br]

Originally Posted by fov

No, it's the CD version. I couldn't get the DVD version working because I don't have a hardware decoder (apparently).

Why?

-emily

You probably need a software DVD player, like PowerDVD, which contains the decoder stuff. You can't even play a DVD in Windows Media Player without an installed software DVD player on your PC.

The software usually comes with your DVD player, or you'll have to buy it. But there are a few freeware players as well, such as this one: http://www.cliprex.com/

--Erwin

[fov]

But I can play DVDs on my computer. (PowerDVD actually came installed on my machine, that's what I use to watch movies.) The only problems I've ever had playing DVD-ROMs were with this game and with Overseer, and from what I gathered they were the same kind of problem (that my DVD player does not have a hardware/MPEG decoder).

I had acquired the CD version as part of the same trade, so I just ran that and have traded the DVD version away. Same with Overseer -- I had the CD version that came bundled with the DVD version, so I just installed that instead.

Out of curiosity, other than better graphics, is there any difference between the two versions of TLC?

-emily

EDIT: I think there are two DVD versions of TLC -- the DVD-ROM and the DVD video (that plays on your TV). I had the DVD-ROM version. I didn't try it on the DVD player on the TV but I don't think the version I had was meant to be played that way.

[Erwin_Br]

Originally Posted by fov

But I can play DVDs on my computer. (PowerDVD actually came installed on my machine, that's what I use to watch movies.) The only problems I've ever had playing DVD-ROMs were with this game and with Overseer, and from what I gathered they were the same kind of problem (that my DVD player does not have a hardware/MPEG decoder).

I had acquired the CD version as part of the same trade, so I just ran that and have traded the DVD version away. Same with Overseer -- I had the CD version that came bundled with the DVD version, so I just installed that instead.

Out of curiosity, other than better graphics, is there any difference between the two versions of TLC?

-emily

EDIT: I think there are two DVD versions of TLC -- the DVD-ROM and the DVD video (that plays on your TV). I had the DVD-ROM version. I didn't try it on the DVD player on the TV but I don't think the version I had was meant to be played that way.

Well, I have a DVD version which plays both on my PC and on my DVD player connected to the TV.

Beside the better graphics, I believe the save-game system is different between the two versions. The DVD works with some kind of code system. You get a code, and have to enter it when you want to load the game. I don't know for sure, but I think the CD-Rom version can save games like a normal game, right?

--Erwin

[fov]

ackk, maybe I should have tried the DVD version in the TV before I agreed to trade it. (I actually still have it, but it's all wrapped up ready to ship). I only tried playing it by launching from the Start menu. I did not try launching PowerDVD and running it that way. Oh well.

You don't have to save at all with the CD version -- when you stop playing, it bookmarks your game at that point and starts up there when you next start playing.

You can also go back and watch video scenes again during the game. My only complaint is that once you've finished the game, your only option is to watch the whole movie in order -- so if I want to compare a scene how it was the first time, with one I've just seen the second time around, I have to run the whole movie and click through to the scene I want, then after I've seen it, click through the rest of the movie (swapping CDs as I go).

-emily

[squee]

This page is in german, but has all the endings:

http://www.scatsite.de/int/tlc/tlc.htm

[Priscillamgo]

Hi Guys!
I looked on google about the game and found you talking about it, here.
So, I'm very curious about the game but there is a problem with my game.
When you play, does it appear some sord of menu, to save, quit?
Mine doesn't, so I tried to play twice, and it always begin all over again.
Does it save automatically?

Thanx!!

Priscilla