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No new postsCommunity Playthrough #28: Gray Matter
I did that, and have the camera but Sam said “I’ll wait for the evening”.
Then you are fine she won’t actually do anything in the gym before the next chapter.
Hmm - 96% total completion?
Most if not all of those last 4% are cutscenes, so there is most likely just something somewhere that you haven’t clicked on.
Have the cutscene with Dr. Styles at the house or the cutscene with the “lambs club” triggered yet, if not try going to these place and see if the scenes trigger. If that doesn’t help, revisit every location and make sure to click on every bloody hotspot, and see if that can get the cutscenes to trigger.
BTW: Just finished chapter 5, much better than chapter 3, but I will write more about it later.
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
Ahh… it was just that I needed to go back to the house and witness the “Houdini” scene 
31% already in the 5th chapter. But kinda stuck. I’ll rest and write about the 4th chapter in a little while.
Recently finished: Four Last Things 4/5, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 5/5, Chains of Satinav 3,95/5, A Vampyre Story 88, Sam Peters 3/5, Broken Sword 1 4,5/5, Broken Sword 2 4,3/5, Broken Sword 3 85, Broken Sword 5 81, Gray Matter 4/5\nCurrently playing: Broken Sword 4, Keepsake (Let\‘s Play), Callahan\‘s Crosstime Saloon (post-Community Playthrough)\nLooking forward to: A Playwright’s Tale
I would disagree Iznogood that he is not a real scientist.
That wasn’t quite what I said, well I did use those words, but not in that context and with that meaning. What I meant, as I also pointed out in both this and the previous post, is that Sam very clearly represent the “Sceptics” and Styles equally clearly represent the “Believers” in the debate about paranormal elements. It is in this role as a “Believer” he scolds Sam and not as a scientist, whether or not he besides this role is a real scientist, is a subject I haven’t touched at all - at least not yet 
Also as you can read from the post by WitchOfDoubt, “Rationalist bias” is really a oxymoron at least in the context (none-Cartesian) it is used, and not something a scientist would say. As WitchOfDoubt also pointed out, this is most likely just a case of poor wording from JJ’s side, but the self-contradiction of the words, at least for me, stood out like a sore thumb and annoyed me greatly.
As a neuro-biologist he is studying the power of the brain
Neurobiology is about studying the way the brain and nervous system works, not about studying the power of the brain. The studies he are performing are only ever so slightly connected to his training as a neurobiologist and a scientist, instead he has crossed over into the realm of pseudo-science - There now I have touched the subject
The official reason for his studies of the students, not his private experiment in the tank and with the RNG, is of course legitimate science, and his reason for conducting them might even have be the official reason, but the rest is pure pseudo-science. Now as WitchOfDoubt once again pointed out, there is many good reasons for this, and it doesn’t necessarily contradict with being a scientist, and it might even be a fairly good portrait of a scientist it these circumstances.
But the game itself isn’t about science nor does it contain any scientific elements at all - Not that it needs them to be a good game, I’m just saying that this is really “just” a ghost story, a cleaver one with some very clear archetypes and good characterization, but still nothing more and nothing less than a ghost story.
Edit: Not that I was implying you were reading more into the story chrissie, or that everything above was aimed at you. It is just my thoughts on the game and the subject.
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
I would disagree Iznogood that he is not a real scientist.
That wasn’t quite what I said, well I did use those words, but not in that context and with that meaning. What I meant, as I also pointed out in both this and the previous post, is that Sam very clearly represent the “Sceptics” and Styles equally clearly represent the “Believers” in the debate about paranormal elements. It is in this role as a “Believer” he scolds Sam and not as a scientist, whether or not he besides this role is a real scientist, is a subject I haven’t touched at all - at least not yet
Sorry Izno, you’re describing David as a ‘Believer’ & Sam as a ‘Sceptic’ - I don’t agree that it’s as cut & dried as that!. I think David IS a scientist & studying the power of the human brain using the innocent ‘virtual exercising’ plan to find out more to ultimately find a way of linking himself to Laura so okay maybe he is a believer in that sense. As said before Sam is a magician & knows there are many ways to create an illusion so perhaps in that sense she is a sceptic.
Also as you can read from the post by WitchOfDoubt, “Rationalist bias” is really a oxymoron at least in the context (none-Cartesian) it is used, and not something a scientist would say. As WitchOfDoubt also pointed out, this is most likely just a case of poor wording from JJ’s side, but the self-contradiction of the words, at least for me, stood out like a sore thumb and annoyed me greatly.
I don’t care for deeper analysis of terminology that’s already obvious - the contradiction comes from Sam assuming that the events could be caused by a helicopter or dye in her capacity as a magician - it has no basis & David just wants facts - that’s all there is to it.
Neurobiology is about studying the way the brain and nervous system works, not about studying the power of the brain. The studies he are performing are only ever so slightly connected to his training as a neurobiologist and a scientist, instead he has crossed over into the realm of pseudo-science - There now I have touched the subject
But as a neuro-biologist HE IS studying the power of the brain - he’s trying to find whether ‘virtual’ passive exercise in the brain has any effect on the body!
But the game itself isn’t about science nor does it contain any scientific elements at all - Not that it needs them to be a good game, I’m just saying that this is really “just” a ghost story, a cleaver one with some very clear archetypes and good characterization, but still nothing more and nothing less than a ghost story.
Sorry Izno, I disagree - maybe it is a ghost story but Laura does contact David. From perhaps a non-scientific point of view David’s friend as I said before does state that in theory a soul can be separated from the body & make limited contact.
Edit: Not that I was implying you were reading more into the story chrissie, or that everything above was aimed at you. It is just my thoughts on the game and the subject.
I’ve enjoyed reading your thoughts Izno - just posting mine too! 
Sorry Izno, you’re describing David as a ‘Believer’ & Sam as a ‘Skepic’ - I don’t agree that it’s as cut & dried as that!.
There is of course much more to the characters then that, otherwise it wouldn’t be a very good game or story, but it is imo one of the main themes of the game, and the very reason why JJ chose to have the two main characters be respectively a magician and a scientist.
But as a neuro-biologist HE IS studying the power of the brain - he’s trying to find whether ‘virtual’ passive exercise in the brain has any effect on the body!
That is not what I would call the power of the brain. The brain is connected to and controls the rest of the body through the nervous system, that imagining that you are exercising should influence the rest of your body and perhaps even to some degree act as a replacement for actual exercise, doesn’t demonstrate the power of the brain any more than picking your nose, having a heartbeat or breathing does, only how the brain interacts with the rest of the body.
Telekinetic or telepathic powers or even a consciousness that exists outside of the body on the other hand, that is what I would describe as the power of the brain, and it is of course these things that Styles is really interested in. But this is also pure pseudo-science without any evidence or plausible explanations of how it should be possible, and the quantum-mechanic explanation he gives to mask it as something scientific, is of course pure gibberish.
Now if you wish to call the first “the power of the brain” then fine, but be aware that it is very different in nature from the latter. It also wasn’t how I interpreted you comment.
Sorry Izno, I disagree - maybe it is a ghost story but Laura does contact David.
Which is exactly what makes it a ghost story.
From perhaps a non-scientific point of view David’s friend as I said before does state that in theory a soul can be separated from the body & make limited contact.
Whenever I sit around the camp-fire telling ghost stories, I always start by saying “This is a true story” or this “Happened to a friend of mine” or something similar, this is no different. It wouldn’t be much of a ghost story if JJ didn’t at least try to make it plausible and add some explanation of how it could happen. The actual explanation of course doesn’t really matter as it is just a part of the fiction, just like “This is a true story” is part of the fiction when I tell ghost stories.
One thing I however have always wondered about, is whether Jane Jensen actually believes in supernatural elements herself, or if she just likes to make stories about the supernatural? One does not necessarily follow the other, but she usually does it so convincing that it is hard to imagine that she doesn’t believe there is at least something to it.
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
4th chapter sums up nicely everything we witnessed before, making the game to start to feel a little bit like “Agatha Christie” mystery along the way - snooping around the university, and connecting all the dots to the “experiment list” felt like a revelation, one of a Poirot or Holmes.
The game does a good job at one thing I’ve always loved about adventure games - that feeling when, after your hard work, you’re presented with a new location. There’s no huge number of screens, but whether it’s just a simple room at the Uni, or a completely new location on a map, Gray Matter nurses that “old school” agenda that a player should be “awarded” somehow. I don’t need the progress bar to “know” I’m on the right track - after entering the secret office or discovering the new location from the letter I’ve found the big grin is already on my face (especially when they’re breathtaking like this one). And even though some of you said there’re no “official” chapter “transitions”, the cutscene is always there to bring the additional reward.
The puzzles do hang a bit in this chapter, and is mostly exploring back and forth that counts this time (thus, “triggers” are almost surely to be hiding in the places you haven’t visited for a while). Some nice scenes with an extra music which is not THAT theme 
were in the city in front of the magic shop when bumping on Harvey, or the ending “ballot” scene.
Some random “excerpts” from my “Print-screen album”: 
Falcao, working as a pool cleaner while not being able to attend the World Cup. (why is it that the pool cleaners are always bulky, Hispanic type of men? )
Bastich would like this.
So THAT’S how you hold a bunny!
“The six musketeers”!
Dr. David “American Psycho” Styles
Recently finished: Four Last Things 4/5, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 5/5, Chains of Satinav 3,95/5, A Vampyre Story 88, Sam Peters 3/5, Broken Sword 1 4,5/5, Broken Sword 2 4,3/5, Broken Sword 3 85, Broken Sword 5 81, Gray Matter 4/5\nCurrently playing: Broken Sword 4, Keepsake (Let\‘s Play), Callahan\‘s Crosstime Saloon (post-Community Playthrough)\nLooking forward to: A Playwright’s Tale
Hehe…
Recently finished: Four Last Things 4/5, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 5/5, Chains of Satinav 3,95/5, A Vampyre Story 88, Sam Peters 3/5, Broken Sword 1 4,5/5, Broken Sword 2 4,3/5, Broken Sword 3 85, Broken Sword 5 81, Gray Matter 4/5\nCurrently playing: Broken Sword 4, Keepsake (Let\‘s Play), Callahan\‘s Crosstime Saloon (post-Community Playthrough)\nLooking forward to: A Playwright’s Tale
I think David IS a scientist & studying the power of the human brain using the innocent ‘virtual exercising’ plan to find out more to ultimately find a way of linking himself to Laura so okay maybe he is a believer in that sense.
But the game itself isn’t about science nor does it contain any scientific elements at all - Not that it needs them to be a good game, I’m just saying that this is really “just” a ghost story, a cleaver one with some very clear archetypes and good characterization, but still nothing more and nothing less than a ghost story.
I’d put my stance on this story somewhere between these two positions. There’s a slight sprinkling of real science in there, though not in the obvious places. The quantum mechanics stuff is, of course, absolutely bonkers… but Jane Jensen also seems to have read about neurobiology and grabbed some neat tidbits.
In an interview, if I recall correctly, Jane Jensen said she had read books by Oliver Sacks on consciousness. Signs of that peek through into the final game. Styles may have suffered a brain injury, and perception really is a tricky thing. There’s a remarkable plot twist that hinges purely on this problem, without any supernatural aspect at all. I won’t spoil it here.
(The most remarkable thing about this plot twist is, depending on who you ask, it may or may not even be seen - it’s handled with deft ambiguity. Some players never notice it!)
But is the question to ask here really “is it science?”
GM isn’t a science fiction story, but it does share an important element of classic science fiction: it uses “what-if” situations to explore an idea, a situation, a way people react to the world. When David Styles locks himself in an isolation tank, it doesn’t make much sense as a science experiment, but it makes excellent sense as a metaphor.
Consider, by way of comparison, the scenes in the Frankenstein movies where the doctor shocks the creature alive with lightning. By the time Shelley’s novel became a movie, there was no way anyone would really think you could do that; an idea that was dubious in Shelley’s time, even with recent experiments in galvanism, was absolutely ridiculous by the 20th century. But the scene wasn’t ABOUT the practicalities of science. It was about a person seizing power from the sky and using it to do the impossible.
In this sense, Styles’s experiments are exactly right for the story. He’s locking himself away in a tin can, inside a locked room, inside an isolated house, trying desperately to get hold of anything that evokes his dead wife. He’s piecing together his memories and refusing to come to peace with them. He’s driving himself slowly crazy.
And that… seems to me like one way an isolated person might struggle with grief.
It’s not just the metaphors that work, though. Even when the science was off, I appreciated that JJ made the effort to dig up some nice diagrams here and there, and use data as a basis for puzzles, and did address some of the objections. (Characters do point out why Styles is stretching credibility with some of his ideas.) The ways in which GM tangentially touches real science at the edges added a lot to the experience for me. It added some shades of gray to the story, at least for a while. But what really resonates for me is that Styles seems like a person.
The game does a good job at one thing I’ve always loved about adventure games - that feeling when, after your hard work, you’re presented with a new location. There’s no huge number of screens, but whether it’s just a simple room at the Uni, or a completely new location on a map, Gray Matter nurses that “old school” agenda that a player should be “awarded” somehow. I don’t need the progress bar to “know” I’m on the right track - after entering the secret office or discovering the new location from the letter I’ve found the big grin is already on my face (especially when they’re breathtaking like this one). And even though some of you said there’re no “official” chapter “transitions”, the cutscene is always there to bring the additional reward.
Yes, I have to agree, this game does do a good job with this - solve some puzzles, get to explore more locations, see new places.
And for me, I actually liked many of the cut scenes, they are different from what you normally get in an adventure game.
Anyway - I’ve started chapter 5 - it appears to be a short chapter and I should have it done soon.
I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.
Man, so much reading and playing to catch up to!
And, I’m sure you can recognize another name where you underlinded “Roberta” and “Williams”
One thing I however have always wondered about, is whether Jane Jensen actually believes in supernatural elements herself, or if she just likes to make stories about the supernatural? One does not necessarily follow the other, but she usually does it so convincing that it is hard to imagine that she doesn’t believe there is at least something to it.
I think she did discuss that in an interview at some point during or after the recent Kickstarter, but I’m afraid I don’t remember what she said 
I might be totally wrong, but I think she was somewhere along the lines of “having had some kind of supernatural-ish experience(s) but not being like a full-on ‘ghosts are real!’” type of person. You know, a sceptic for both ends, so to say.
(But as I said I might be remembering it all wrong.)
I think she did talk about having been, or having talked about going (maybe on their honeymoon? Or maybe not), to some hotel in England that is supposed to be the most haunted house or something like that. Sorry my memory is so unclear on that
I don’t need the progress bar to “know” I’m on the right track
You know, on my first playthrough I didn’t like the progress bar because I don’t want to know how far along the game I am! It takes away from the suspension, knowing something like that (kind of a spoiler without spoiling anything). On the second playthrough, of course, it doesn’t matter anymore because I know it anyways. Now it’s kinda useful in case one is stuck…
Falcao, working as a pool cleaner while not being able to attend the World Cup.
Hehe…
Lets not forget we can also find this guy on the nameplates:
Apart from Jane Jensen herself of course, as already mentioned by UPtimist.
Any more?
I think she did discuss that in an interview at some point during or after the recent Kickstarter, but I’m afraid I don’t remember what she said
(But as I said I might be remembering it all wrong.)
Thanks - I will try to see if I can find that interview.
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
Any more?
Recently finished: Four Last Things 4/5, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 5/5, Chains of Satinav 3,95/5, A Vampyre Story 88, Sam Peters 3/5, Broken Sword 1 4,5/5, Broken Sword 2 4,3/5, Broken Sword 3 85, Broken Sword 5 81, Gray Matter 4/5\nCurrently playing: Broken Sword 4, Keepsake (Let\‘s Play), Callahan\‘s Crosstime Saloon (post-Community Playthrough)\nLooking forward to: A Playwright’s Tale
Any more?
And how could I forget:
Edit: just found 4 more, it seem like every single name on the name plates is base on some kind of celebrity or fictional character.
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
There’s Claude Vorilhon, Ken Malik and John Doe for starters.
Life is what it is.
Coincidence of course, but Harvey is Edna’s stuffed rabbit (The Breakout) and Dr. Kinderman is a psychiatrist treating cuddly toys in an amazingly good freeware game. http://www.parapluesch.de/whiskystore/test.htm
Oh yeah, I’ve completely forgot about Wonderland! Isn’t it one of the most iconic cover arts ever?
I have that poster on my wall in the upstairs hallway.
Butter my buns and call me a biscuit! - Agent A
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