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  • Locked thread
Leinadi
Sep 14, 2009
I somewhat agree with the above. If one is looking for choices in games, I think one only has to look to something like Obsidian's own New Vegas to see how something more expansive.

But I think where Alpha Protocol really shines is how you can sort of "weave through" the conversations in such a natural way. It's a cinematic game that reacts quite a lot to what you've done and chosen, and it still manages to tie together the acting and writing to make the story work.

I sort of view AP as the most succesful attempt to make the cinematic style games as reactive and player-involved as possible. There are a few big choices in the game to make to be sure but the star to me is how it all weaves together the little threads and manages to make it something that is still coherent.

Just little touches like where Thorton and Leland is discussing a mission involving civilians. Leland provokes Thorton, saying that "ooh Mike, you care so much about civilians" seeing as I had not killed any civvies on the missions. I make Thorton bluff it, saying that he really doesn't care at all. Only to have Leland reference an earlier mission I had done where I'd also not harmed any civilians.

These are very small things in the grand scheme of things but it makes all the difference in the world for the player to customize his own story rather than just sitting and having the story told to him (which usually happens in cinematic games, aside from a few choices).

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gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy

Leinadi posted:

Just little touches like where Thorton and Leland is discussing a mission involving civilians. Leland provokes Thorton, saying that "ooh Mike, you care so much about civilians" seeing as I had not killed any civvies on the missions. I make Thorton bluff it, saying that he really doesn't care at all. Only to have Leland reference an earlier mission I had done where I'd also not harmed any civilians.

These are very small things in the grand scheme of things but it makes all the difference in the world for the player to customize his own story rather than just sitting and having the story told to him (which usually happens in cinematic games, aside from a few choices).

For me, one of the most poignant parts of the game was when Leland asks Mike why he joined Alpha Protocol, and then plays back to you what you said to Westridge at the very beginning of the game.

It really gave me a sense of ownership, especially when I couldn't recall correctly and got it "wrong", that this plot was entirely of my own doing, and not the writer's.

Farecoal
Oct 15, 2011

There he go
So, um, I have a technical issue with trying to start the game. It just refuses to launch. It'll attempt to load for a second or two, then the program appears on the task bar, then after a few more seconds a pop-up appears saying "Alpha Protocol has stopped working". I've tried reinstalling the game, trying both unpatched and patched, and trying to launch it through the launcher and the .exe file, but the result is the same. This is with a NA disc copy, Windows 7.

Scorchy
Jul 15, 2006

Smug Statement: Elementary, my dear meatbag.
Are you running it in administrator mode? Try deleting the Documents/Alpha Protocol folder. Also, just check if you have the right patch, there's two different ones for the US download and the disc version.

Quantum of Phallus
Dec 27, 2010

So I'm nearly finished Taiwan and have only to finish the Boss fight in Russia, is there much left after you finish the 3 main hub worlds?
I wanna get stuck into Skyrim soon but I really wanna finish this first, it's brilliant.

An Ounce of Gold
Jul 13, 2001

by Fluffdaddy

Leinadi posted:

...
Just little touches like where Thorton and Leland is discussing a mission involving civilians. Leland provokes Thorton, saying that "ooh Mike, you care so much about civilians" seeing as I had not killed any civvies on the missions. I make Thorton bluff it, saying that he really doesn't care at all. Only to have Leland reference an earlier mission I had done where I'd also not harmed any civilians.

These are very small things in the grand scheme of things but it makes all the difference in the world for the player...

This. This is the main reason that I like AP. What other game is so reactive to what you are doing in the game? The previous guy was comparing this to its peers. What peers does Alpha Protocol even have? I don't remember too many games in my 31 years that actually constantly react to the choices you've made in the game. It's even better the second play through when you make completly different choices which makes the story evolve differently from before.

Seriously, what other games do that? I'm not being sarcastic here; I'd love to play more games like AP and the only other one that I can think of off the top of my head that has reactive references throughout the game based on your actions (and no where near this extent) is the first Deus Ex. Bastion has an on going narrative structure which is cool but things don't change. Going all the way back to maniac mansion you can beat that game several ways depending on your team but it's not reactive like AP. Yeah I don't know really what to even compare AP to.

Quantum of Phallus posted:

So I'm nearly finished Taiwan and have only to finish the Boss fight in Russia, is there much left after you finish the 3 main hub worlds?
I wanna get stuck into Skyrim soon but I really wanna finish this first, it's brilliant.

Nope, after the main hubs you will be heading towards the climatic ending! Have fun, and then play it again so you can do this :psyduck:

An Ounce of Gold fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Dec 5, 2011

Quantum of Phallus
Dec 27, 2010

SymfonyMan posted:

Nope, after the main hubs you will be heading towards the climatic ending! Have fun, and then play it again so you can do this :psyduck:

Great thanks! I'm actually looking forward to another play-through after Skyrim.

Farecoal
Oct 15, 2011

There he go

Scorchy posted:

Are you running it in administrator mode? Try deleting the Documents/Alpha Protocol folder. Also, just check if you have the right patch, there's two different ones for the US download and the disc version.

It worked with a different patch :hawaaaafap:

Agreed
Dec 30, 2003

The price of meat has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down

Bought this for a pittance during the Steam sale, so worth it. This game is absolutely fantastic, I can't believe it was so critically polarizing. How many games are in this, it's amazingly well done. Nice work, Obsidian, I completely forgive you for Dungeon Siege III (and the DLC, which I purchased out of a sense of duty at full price - okay, okay, it's a pretty good hack and slash game, but you and I both know you could have done better, Obsidian). We'll have to talk about the South Park RPG when it comes out, though. Long talk.

This is what I was expecting out of Deus Ex: HR. I can't finish Deus Ex now because this is basically what that should have been. Which is disappointing, I mean, I liked DE:HR up until the second visit to the Chinese locale, but Alpha Protocol is the poo poo.

The only thing I don't like about this game is the minigame for computer hacking. The mouse is mega unresponsive compared to the WASD, what were they thinking... EMP ahoy. Locks and alarm minigames are fun and add to the tension, the computer one is awful with mouse and keyboard and there's nothing else about the game that I'd rather use a gamepad for, really.

Agreed fucked around with this message at 06:10 on Dec 6, 2011

Astfgl
Aug 31, 2001

Agreed posted:

The only thing I don't like about this game is the minigame for computer hacking. The mouse is mega unresponsive compared to the WASD, what were they thinking... EMP ahoy. Locks and alarm minigames are fun and add to the tension, the computer one is awful with mouse and keyboard and there's nothing else about the game that I'd rather use a gamepad for, really.

Your best option is to just wait for your Veteran playthrough (you DID start with Recruit, right?) and then you'll have so many skillpoints you can put them in the hacking tree. It gives you more time and easier sequences to locate. EMPs are viable, but they're like a grand a pop and depending on how you play the game, you can easily be strapped for cash for the entire thing.

Agreed
Dec 30, 2003

The price of meat has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down

Astfgl posted:

Your best option is to just wait for your Veteran playthrough (you DID start with Recruit, right?) and then you'll have so many skillpoints you can put them in the hacking tree. It gives you more time and easier sequences to locate. EMPs are viable, but they're like a grand a pop and depending on how you play the game, you can easily be strapped for cash for the entire thing.

Yeah... The thing is, I loving hate that minigame, so after a few very frustrating "oh, great, the goddamned computer minigame screwed up my perfect run" I got a trainer and now I might be a little bit wealthier than you're supposed to be. :ohdear: I still go around picking up everything, but I've got plenty of EMP. gently caress that minigame.

But yes, recruit for the first playthrough - wasn't that recommended against before? I don't see the problem, it's fun. This game is awesome. Wish it had a save system, understand why it doesn't but I don't like losing a lot of progress like it's a PS1 game if my wife needs something and I haven't hit the next checkpoint. And being unable to save in the safe house, what the hell.

Astfgl
Aug 31, 2001

If you're only planning on playing the game once (which, really, if that's the plan then you should pick another game) then I guess go with one of the builds during character creation. But if you're going to play it multiple times, you may as well unlock veteran ASAP so you can mess around with all the abilities.

Also, money doesn't really break the game because the stuff you can buy with it never gives you a tremendous advantage. You can deck yourself out to make life easier on yourself, but you will never steamroll through the game solely because you're rich.

Agreed
Dec 30, 2003

The price of meat has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down

That's what I figured - it's such a cool, conventional RPG in so many ways. You can kinda see the areas where if this were P&P, you'd be making a check. That probably frustrated the hell out of people who didn't want this, but this is baller as hell in my opinion. E.g. "what the, why can't I shoot this rear end in a top hat with my pistol, he's right there and if I even move an inch the reticule takes forever, argh" would be a perfectly reasonable reaction if you were looking for Deus Ex HR... But if you're looking for something more like System Shock 2 but with a spy twist and lots of choice, this is the perfect game.

I intend to play through at least a few times. This first run is Recruit on Normal, next will be one of the premade backgrounds on Hard, and from there on in Veteran on Hard. And I'll be cheating my money up on every one of them, because screw the computer minigame. It hasn't made it appreciably easier on me so far, except that I don't have to do that headache inducing hacking. I like the other minigames just fine, so I pack several EMP and that solves the one thing I don't like about it.

ToxicFrog
Apr 26, 2008


Agreed posted:

That's what I figured - it's such a cool, conventional RPG in so many ways. You can kinda see the areas where if this were P&P, you'd be making a check. That probably frustrated the hell out of people who didn't want this, but this is baller as hell in my opinion. E.g. "what the, why can't I shoot this rear end in a top hat with my pistol, he's right there and if I even move an inch the reticule takes forever, argh" would be a perfectly reasonable reaction if you were looking for Deus Ex HR... But if you're looking for something more like System Shock 2 but with a spy twist and lots of choice, this is the perfect game.

That's an interesting comparison, actually, because what struck me about the skill system and combat mechanics is that they're straight out of the original Deus Ex. I pretty much think as AP as what you'd get if you built DX but focused all of the talent on the conversations rather than the level design.

Crappy Jack
Nov 21, 2005

We got some serious shit to discuss.

Agreed posted:

That's what I figured - it's such a cool, conventional RPG in so many ways. You can kinda see the areas where if this were P&P, you'd be making a check. That probably frustrated the hell out of people who didn't want this, but this is baller as hell in my opinion. E.g. "what the, why can't I shoot this rear end in a top hat with my pistol, he's right there and if I even move an inch the reticule takes forever, argh" would be a perfectly reasonable reaction if you were looking for Deus Ex HR... But if you're looking for something more like System Shock 2 but with a spy twist and lots of choice, this is the perfect game.

I intend to play through at least a few times. This first run is Recruit on Normal, next will be one of the premade backgrounds on Hard, and from there on in Veteran on Hard. And I'll be cheating my money up on every one of them, because screw the computer minigame. It hasn't made it appreciably easier on me so far, except that I don't have to do that headache inducing hacking. I like the other minigames just fine, so I pack several EMP and that solves the one thing I don't like about it.

As a tip from an old hat, I'd recommend against playing on hard more than once. It doesn't just affect combat difficulty, but also minigame difficulty; about midway through a Hard playthrough, you'll start encountering things like having five seconds to unlock five locks; the minigames become literally impossible if you don't have the reflexes of a machine. However, it's doable if you make your hard playthrough a gives-no-fucks shotgun rear end in a top hat who kicks down doors and shoots people in the face.

Agreed
Dec 30, 2003

The price of meat has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down

Crappy Jack posted:

As a tip from an old hat, I'd recommend against playing on hard more than once. It doesn't just affect combat difficulty, but also minigame difficulty; about midway through a Hard playthrough, you'll start encountering things like having five seconds to unlock five locks; the minigames become literally impossible if you don't have the reflexes of a machine. However, it's doable if you make your hard playthrough a gives-no-fucks shotgun rear end in a top hat who kicks down doors and shoots people in the face.

That's on the list, but if it's going to make minigames that I -do- enjoy less fun, might just stick to normal. I can usually get even complex locks and keypads quickly, but not that quickly.

No missing content if I play on Normal, though? I just want to be sure I get to enjoy the polysemous gameplay experience everyone with a clue raves about the game presenting, so long as it's not a content issue I really don't care too much if IT COULD HAVE BEEN HARDER, you know what I mean. I like my shooters on their hardest difficulty and RAGE on anything below Nightmare isn't nearly as fun - but this is the polar opposite of RAGE, it is not a shooter, I'm after the gameplay and the story. If that can be had on Normal and not make me feel like I suck at being a spy, cool.

Apart from Recruit and Veteran, do the other backgrounds have anything to do with a playthrough's path? If not, it'll just be Vet from here on in, I'm putting in my work getting the Recruit's job done.

(This game is so much fun. Just want to reiterate that, this game is one type of damned near perfect, so long as you know what to expect gameplay wise going in, if anyone is somehow still on the fence about it, buy it if you like RPGs and Burn Notice/Archer/spy movies/good games).

Crappy Jack
Nov 21, 2005

We got some serious shit to discuss.

Agreed posted:

That's on the list, but if it's going to make minigames that I -do- enjoy less fun, might just stick to normal. I can usually get even complex locks and keypads quickly, but not that quickly.

No missing content if I play on Normal, though? I just want to be sure I get to enjoy the polysemous gameplay experience everyone with a clue raves about the game presenting, so long as it's not a content issue I really don't care too much if IT COULD HAVE BEEN HARDER, you know what I mean. I like my shooters on their hardest difficulty and RAGE on anything below Nightmare isn't nearly as fun - but this is the polar opposite of RAGE, it is not a shooter, I'm after the gameplay and the story. If that can be had on Normal and not make me feel like I suck at being a spy, cool.

Apart from Recruit and Veteran, do the other backgrounds have anything to do with a playthrough's path? If not, it'll just be Vet from here on in, I'm putting in my work getting the Recruit's job done.

(This game is so much fun. Just want to reiterate that, this game is one type of damned near perfect, so long as you know what to expect gameplay wise going in, if anyone is somehow still on the fence about it, buy it if you like RPGs and Burn Notice/Archer/spy movies/good games).

No missing content whatsoever based on difficulty. Really, the main reason to play Hard is to get the achievement. And yeah, it's less about making the game more intense and more about just making stuff more difficult. Plus it does things like making it so that scoring a perfect headshot on a guy will often result in not killing him; it makes a silent takedown with anything but melee attacks impossible, so stealth playthroughs are that much more impossible. I mean, the real meat of the gameplay is in the story and that sort of stuff, and that's not affected by difficulty. And yeah, once you have Vet, there's not really any reason to not use it, unless you like the challenge of a few less skill points or the rush of roleplaying; a few characters will make references to your chosen career path, but aside from that, not many huge things that you can't also get through being a Vet.

Agreed
Dec 30, 2003

The price of meat has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down

Thanks for the responses, I can't wait to play all the way through and then do it again for something completely different. And then again. When does that start to taper off, out of curiosity? At what point have you beaten Alpha Protocol to the satisfaction of having achieved all the intel and knowing the various relationships hidden info? And what's the most time-spent-effective way of doing multiple playthroughs? Switch up the mission order, make different decisions, treat somebody you befriended last time as an rear end in a top hat, or...?

Spankydoodle
Jun 15, 2002

I'm having trouble beating Brayko on my first playthrough of this game. I picked Recruit on Hard.

I understand that the generally accepted strategy when he snorts the coke and jumps off the stage is to run away from him until he tires and shoot him at that point. However I can only run for a short time before he catches up to me and hits me with a knife attack. The first attack drops your Endurance to zero and you take a lot of damage. I've tried using mines, syringes, and the health pack on the wall but it's hard to survive long enough to kill him.

I'm going to try using the stage to kite him as described in the OP, but are there any other alternatives?

Spankydoodle fucked around with this message at 04:48 on Dec 8, 2011

Scorchy
Jul 15, 2006

Smug Statement: Elementary, my dear meatbag.

Spankydoodle posted:

I'm having trouble beating Brayko on my first playthrough of this game. I picked Recruit on Hard.

I understand that the generally accepted strategy when he snorts the coke and jumps off the stage is to run away from him until he tires and shoot him at that point. However I can only run for a short time before he catches up to me and hits me with a knife attack. The first attack drops your Endurance to zero and you take a lot of damage. I've tried using mines, syringes, and the health pack on the wall but it's hard to survive long enough to kill him.

Any suggestions?

Are you using the sprint button? You should be at around the same speed as him.

Also try doing a lap around onto the stage itself (there's a med pack there) and then jump off the front ledge.

Crappy Jack
Nov 21, 2005

We got some serious shit to discuss.

Agreed posted:

Thanks for the responses, I can't wait to play all the way through and then do it again for something completely different. And then again. When does that start to taper off, out of curiosity? At what point have you beaten Alpha Protocol to the satisfaction of having achieved all the intel and knowing the various relationships hidden info? And what's the most time-spent-effective way of doing multiple playthroughs? Switch up the mission order, make different decisions, treat somebody you befriended last time as an rear end in a top hat, or...?

Your results may vary, but I've played it at least ten times, no joke, and I've seen different stuff every time. And I know there's stuff that I still haven't uncovered. Instead of gaming the system that way, though, what I recommend is coming up with a version of Mike Thorton; figure out the kind of stuff you want to do on a playthrough ("I want to kill anyone who betrays me, ignore all the romances, be best buddies with Heck") and then come up with a personality for Thorton that lines up with that idea ("Mostly aggressive with some suave thrown in when I'm being a dick"). That way you're having fun playing a character during the conversations and seeing where they go instead of fast forwarding through them. Even just taking different stances with characters can have wildly different repercussions that you're not expecting.

In Training
Jun 28, 2008

I've played through the game five times and there are still some encounters I wish to see, specifically Marburg killing Parker. There's always something new to find, especially if you haven't played the game in a while.

I mean, I haven't played it in a few months now and with break coming up I'll probably give it another playthrough just for the hell of it, because I know that it will be completely enjoyable.

Agreed
Dec 30, 2003

The price of meat has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down

Crappy Jack posted:

Your results may vary, but I've played it at least ten times, no joke, and I've seen different stuff every time. And I know there's stuff that I still haven't uncovered. Instead of gaming the system that way, though, what I recommend is coming up with a version of Mike Thorton; figure out the kind of stuff you want to do on a playthrough ("I want to kill anyone who betrays me, ignore all the romances, be best buddies with Heck") and then come up with a personality for Thorton that lines up with that idea ("Mostly aggressive with some suave thrown in when I'm being a dick"). That way you're having fun playing a character during the conversations and seeing where they go instead of fast forwarding through them. Even just taking different stances with characters can have wildly different repercussions that you're not expecting.

This sounds like a more rewarding experience. The dialog in the game is great - well, for the most part. I'm not totally digging his relationship with women, but writing interactions with "romantic potential" is something studios in general just aren't great at. Seems to range from embarrassing wish-fulfillment to pretty cloying bad dialog in most games with that element. At least there's the option to keep it professional and not come off as a creeper... most of the time. Otherwise, startlingly good writing, PS:T quality storytelling, and a hell of a fun game. I'm just a little crunched for free time... How long does a play-through take, generally? I've got other games I'm going to want to play, but this is one where I'm so interested in the basic concept that I really want to experience what it's got to offer in an organic way.

It's sort of in contrast to another great Obsidian game, Fallout: New Vegas, where because I have zero interest in playing a Caesar's Legion supporter run I only want to play it through one time (currently about 70 hours into that play through, and thanks to mods, still not close to the cap, still haven't done the DLC, just trying to do everything and enjoy what the vast desert has to offer). I want to experience all the content, but since it's all out there to experience in one game for the most part, and the evil dude path is still pretty shallow/incomplete compared to the alternative, good guy all the way. Maybe that can mean a little more than just "NCR all the way," you dig it; but experiencing that doesn't require two playthroughs, just a reload at a certain point and a few different choices. But this is clearly a game where the same studio had a ton of freedom and set out to basically say "if you're not replaying this game, you're doing it wrong" (which seems like it has to account for some of the lovely reviews; what were they wanting from it going in that it so failed to deliver for them? Did they give it a chance? I dunno, feels like it got extremely short shrift even from critics I've trusted to give decent reviews in the past). "Gaming" the system of the game would probably cut into enjoyment. I just don't know if I've got time for ten runs if they aren't pretty remarkably different including the later ones, you know what I mean?

Agreed fucked around with this message at 05:06 on Dec 8, 2011

Mockyn
Oct 27, 2010
I finally finished this game yesterday after buying it when it was $2 on Steam a while back and not playing it for a while.

Amazing. I just loved everything about it, the dialogue system and the end of mission text the most. And of course the way everyone reacts and changes depending on how you handled a mission and what actions you took or didn't take. More games need to be like this.

I'm definitely going to play through this again at some point as there is so much more to experience and discover. I played a stealth guy who chain shotted everyone to death (which, by the way, is a horribly broken but hilarious way to take down bosses - chain shot, brilliance, chain shot). Most of the time things didn't go to plan as I kept alerting guards or setting off alarms which went against my stealthy approach, but whatever, it made for some interesting pieces of dialogue afterwards. I think for my next playthrough I'm going to do a 'shoot first, ask later' assault rifle or shotgun guy. I tended to do a lot of talking with my stealth guy so I want to know what happens if I just murder everyone instead.

Sharks Dont Sleep
Mar 4, 2009

In pairing luxury automobiles with large predatory felines we have achieved reality ahead of schedule.
Have the QR codes on his scrubs been addressed? I spent 45 min loving around trying to decipher them to no avail.

Agreed
Dec 30, 2003

The price of meat has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down

Stealth tranq'ing every enemy I can, wait, you mean I could have conversations with some of these dudes?

Low-level gripe, I am meticulous in my "not killing anyone ever" recruit role, I don't accept this "X was killed in the firefight" bullshit. I'm not intending to shoot first/ask questions later it just kind of works out that way and drat it, my killed persons count is zero - so why do mission debriefings occasionally refer to a certain character as killed when really I just tranquilized them in the face? Their disposable minions get medical bills, but I killed them except you know not in a way that's reflected on my stats sheet? :colbert:

Role Play McMurphy
Jul 15, 2010

Sharks Dont Sleep posted:

Have the QR codes on his scrubs been addressed? I spent 45 min loving around trying to decipher them to no avail.

Yeah I don't think they're valid, I tried them as well.

In Training
Jun 28, 2008

Agreed posted:

Stealth tranq'ing every enemy I can, wait, you mean I could have conversations with some of these dudes?

Low-level gripe, I am meticulous in my "not killing anyone ever" recruit role, I don't accept this "X was killed in the firefight" bullshit. I'm not intending to shoot first/ask questions later it just kind of works out that way and drat it, my killed persons count is zero - so why do mission debriefings occasionally refer to a certain character as killed when really I just tranquilized them in the face? Their disposable minions get medical bills, but I killed them except you know not in a way that's reflected on my stats sheet? :colbert:

If its an enemy disposed using an "Execute" command then it wouldn't show up in your stats but will be mentioned. If that's what you mean?

Also wrt New Vegas, I've only ever sided with Caesar's Legion. Think it would be pretty boring otherwise.

Hank Morgan
Jun 17, 2007

Light Along the Inverse Curve.

In Training posted:

I've played through the game five times and there are still some encounters I wish to see, specifically Marburg killing Parker. There's always something new to find, especially if you haven't played the game in a while.


In case you don't know how to trigger this here my guide to getting that to happen

Hank Morgan posted:

Here's the guide that I posted in the last thread
Some spoilers ahead.

To turn Marburg on Parker. You need pretty full dossiers on both characters. Getting all of Marburgs dossiers is pretty easy but there are a couple of Parker dossiers that are easy to miss.
I just did this recently so here a guide to doing it.

Parker's dossiers


Do the stealth orientation and the extra stealth challenge to get the first two.
Mina will send you an email complaining about Darcy. Take the aggressive reply to this and she will apologise and she will offer to send you intel on Parker, Darcy or Westbridge. This is easily missed so be careful.
Another email from Mina when Westbridge is on the firing range again a choice of one of Parker,Darcy or Westbridge.
On the villa mission buy the intel that reveals the secret tunnel in the garden. Right at the end of the mission you will gain access to this. You will find both a Parker and a Marburg dossier in there. Check your map when in the garden.
His final dossier is found right before you contact him but it isn't needed for turning Marburg as the conversation that triggers this event has already happened.


Marburg's dossiers

Automatically at the start of Rome.
Email automatically sent some time following the gelatto shop mission
Second floor of the CIA listening post. I think it is behind a blackboard in the right hand room as you go up the stairs. Easy to miss.
An intel buy before the Cafe meeting.
In the secret tunnel in the villa alongside the other Parker dossier.
In the museum right where you make the choice on whether to save Madison or disarm the bomb. There are two doors in front of you. The dossier is behind one of them.
In one of the rooms in the greybox but as with the final Parker dossier you will have already turned Marburg at this stage.


Triggering it all

After starting the final mission you will be taken away for execution and you will meet with Marburg. If you have done everything right you will get a special dialog option titled Deus Vult. Pick this and sit back and watch the results.


To turn Parker on Marburg you need to find out Madison's relationship to Parker.
You will need the full dossier on Madison as follows

Automatically when she is first mentioned.
Intel buy at some stage before meeting her.
In Marburgs villa. In the room with the piano right after finding your equipment it is located next to a couch.
In the Roman ruins right next to the communications array.
Immediately after sleeping with her the relationship will be revealed automatically in dialog.

I think you need a positive relationship with this character.

Triggering this

Choose to disarm the bombs in the museum so Marburg will kill Madison
Contact Parker in the final mission and reveal what Marburg did. I think this will overwrite the deus vult option if you have already taken that one.

CommissarMega
Nov 18, 2008

THUNDERDOME LOSER
Just as an aside, you don't have to let Marburg kill Madison, just clue Parker in to what happened in Rome.

Hank Morgan
Jun 17, 2007

Light Along the Inverse Curve.

CommissarMega posted:

Just as an aside, you don't have to let Marburg kill Madison, just clue Parker in to what happened in Rome.

Really? I'll have to try it sometime. Does he react any differently?

Lord Lambeth
Dec 7, 2011


First playthrough here. I'm on that mission where you escort that russian dude outside of the embassy. Thorton keeps going into laggy seizures when he goes outside, making it impossible to kill anything. Rather frustrating but other than that this game is a blast.

Android Blues
Nov 22, 2008

Ashley J. Williams posted:

First playthrough here. I'm on that mission where you escort that russian dude outside of the embassy. Thorton keeps going into laggy seizures when he goes outside, making it impossible to kill anything. Rather frustrating but other than that this game is a blast.

It's possible you neglected to take the Professional response in one of the Greybox conversations and as such never got your epilepsy pills from Westridge. A full restart is probably required to avoid instant game over at the start of an upcoming boss fight!

Agreed
Dec 30, 2003

The price of meat has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down

In Training posted:

If its an enemy disposed using an "Execute" command then it wouldn't show up in your stats but will be mentioned. If that's what you mean?

Also wrt New Vegas, I've only ever sided with Caesar's Legion. Think it would be pretty boring otherwise.

Never executed anyone, but I do shoot a lot of people who happen to be mission objectives right in the head before trying to alert them to my presence. With tranqs, but still.

In Training
Jun 28, 2008

Agreed posted:

Never executed anyone, but I do shoot a lot of people who happen to be mission objectives right in the head before trying to alert them to my presence. With tranqs, but still.

Even if its point blank tranqs to the face, it should register as non-lethal. Odd.

Agreed
Dec 30, 2003

The price of meat has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down

In Training posted:

Even if its point blank tranqs to the face, it should register as non-lethal. Odd.

My stats reflect zero people killed, though plenty of medical bills. But in the mission flavor text it will sometimes say that the target of the mission was "killed" in the firefight or something like that. E.g on the yacht, I just tranq'd whatshisface immediately and later chain shot tranq'd Sis, then spared her because this Michael Thornton doesn't kill people, that's for crap spies! First one reported in the mission text as attacked me and killed, technically inaccurate since he really ought to just have a serious headache and some nausea. For clear gameplay reasons the kill/spare choice was accurately reflected.

Basically it seems like no matter how you go into combat with someone, if it ends with you standing and them not, the flavor text will report it as killed at the mission's end. I even have Nasri's glass eye, what the gently caress, I just tranq'd him!.

Maybe it's the "going into combat" part. But shooting people who don't know you're there with tranquilizer darts rules why would I want to talk to that guy!

Jokymi
Jan 31, 2003

Sweet Sassy Molassy
The glass eye is actually from Shaheed's lieutenant, Nasri's trophy is his barret (which you get for either killing or capturing him). The glass eye only shows up in the Moscow safehouse for some reason, which I always found odd.

Josef bugman
Nov 17, 2011

Pictured: Poster prepares to celebrate Holy Communion (probablY)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund
I found that Alpha Protocol was the first game in which I started my "don't kill anyone" thing in RPG's if it's actually possible. Did the same in Human Revolution too. The game is just so much more fun if you try not to activly harm anyone, sure it's more tricky and you need to rely on what is basically "magic invisi-powers" for some of it.

I really really wish that they were planning on making a sequel for this game. There are just so many opportunities, not just with Thornton but I really wanted to learn more about G-22, they were like proto-illumanati and I wanted to help them out.

That said I didn't mind Dragon Age 2, it's just something that Bioware should learn from.

Josef bugman fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Dec 8, 2011

Quantum of Phallus
Dec 27, 2010

Android Blues posted:

It's possible you neglected to take the Professional response in one of the Greybox conversations and as such never got your epilepsy pills from Westridge.!

Holy poo poo, is this for real?

This game. :drat:

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Lord Lambeth
Dec 7, 2011


Android Blues posted:

It's possible you neglected to take the Professional response in one of the Greybox conversations and as such never got your epilepsy pills from Westridge. A full restart is probably required to avoid instant game over at the start of an upcoming boss fight!

Aggresive tone:

"You loving with me you homestuck fanboy?"

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