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 What's this game all about? It's a LucasArt's graphic adventure game, in fact it's the second game they released using the SCUMM engine (Maniac Mansion was the first.) It's the old standard point 'n' click affair but the dialogue is pretty minimal, there isn't even a talk button. The game was originally released in 1988 but it was set in the then future of 1997. It tells the story of our protagonist Zachary McKracken, a journalist for the National Inquisitor (pretty much the games version of the National Enquirer.) A lot of the game revolves around a wide array of paranormal and supernatural themes. It's possible and easy to be in a position to run into a brick wall. The FM Towns version does away with the copy protection which was featured in previous releases. If you got that wrong then you couldn't travel abroad, which meant you couldn't complete the game. There's a legit copy somewhere in my parents loft, complete with manual. If I remember I might rummage around and try to dig it out. Travelling costs money which is a finite resource in this game, once it's gone you can't travel which means you can't complete the game. I will be consulting a walkthrough to minimise costs and I've only completed this game once around about ten years ago. Let's face it, with previous LP's it's pretty apparent that my memory is poo poo. What's this LP all about? I'll be using the FM-Towns version of the game via ScummVM. The FM-Towns version is distinctly different from the original. The whole game was remastered with a higher resolution, 256 colours and with a remastered soundtrack. Apart from the intro video this is going to be SSLP, due to the minimal dialogue I'll be adding my own through the thoughts of Zak. It means reducing several images into a couple of sentences. The FM-Towns version also included the soundtrack, I'll upload them to tin deck for listening when they appear in the game. This is my first SSLP so I'm going to push for at least one update a week. Soundtrack:   Updates: The Beginning Intro video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHCg3AeWQSs   I need my cashcard, where is it? I should start packing for this trip. I'll start with my pet fish. I'll see if there's anything interesting in this drawer. My cashcard! I'll just pick it up and I'll be on my way. Ah crap! It's now out of reach, I'll come back for it. Hmm, this wallpaper has come loose and I'm going to need something to draw a map with. It's going to piss off the landlord but I need paper. Let's go through to the lounge.  This place is a mess, what was I doing last night? I'll just put this cushion back in place. Now where's the remote? Ah ha!  Well that was certainly eye opening. Let's see what's in the kitchen. Under the sink is a box of crayons, well crayon, it only contained the yellow one. I wonder if there's anything in the fridge, I better have breakfast before I head out. An egg and no pan. I'll take it with me and grab something to eat while I'm out. I better take the mail box key with me too. No mail but I see a bakery next door. I wonder if it's open.  Well that was certainly something, let's get out of here. Urgh, the phone company. I may as well face the music. This looks pretty cool! There's no pen around here so I'll just use this yellow crayon and then hand it to the clerk. Okay maybe not then. Ah crap! My cashcard! I wonder what's underneath these floor boards. I saw a knife in the kitchen, hopefully it can pry them open.  At least I have my cashcard again, I should be more careful in future. Right now I have $12,250. I better check the bus timetable, I don't want to be late for this flight. Sigh! I guess I have more time to explore, I wonder if Lou has anything new to sell.  I wonder if this game is any good. Unfortunately Lou doesn't have any copies to sell. This guy will buy pretty much anything. Apart from Sushi. A few hundred dollars later and I've bought some pretty neat stuff. Those nose glasses look very familiar. This butter knife is useless now, I wonder if Lou will give me a few bucks for it. Well that was unexpected, now I'm 1,500 bucks richer! Which reminds me, my telephone bill needs sorting out. I wonder if this disguise will work. I'll just go behind the counter and pretend that I'm a staff member. My day is getting better and better! The bus driver is still asleep, I should check out the red door next to Lou's. This is the address of that woman on the news who is looking for artifacts. The door is locked so I'll see what's further down the street. The wire cutters might be more useful here. This place has been closed ever since the owner lost the keys. I'll return the sign if he ever finds them again. This stale bread is pretty useless, maybe it will be more useful as crumbs.  I should draw the map that I dreamt of last night before I forget. I'm pretty sure that I've done everything that I need to do here, all I need to do is wake up the bus driver.
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Jan 14, 2015 11:21
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| # ? May 11, 2024 08:45 |
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Some of those gifs (particularly the newsreader) go a bit too fast to read.
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Jan 14, 2015 15:04
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 Another of my favorite Lucasarts games from the ol' C64 era. Everything seemed so out-there futuristic back in 1988, what with those crazy cashcards and giant TVs, and yet here we are.I have the copy protection and hint book from the Classic Adventures version if you can't find yours. I'm pretty sure my original C64 versions are at my folks' house, too. 
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Jan 14, 2015 15:46
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I love this game, but gently caress the mazes.
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Jan 14, 2015 20:07
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Tiggum posted:Some of those gifs (particularly the newsreader) go a bit too fast to read. Thank you for the feedback. These gifs are at game speed but I'll slow them down for the future. The television segment throws a lot of information at you in very quick succession which seems inconsequential at first. Hirayuki posted:
I have it for the Atari ST, I never completed it back in the day as walkthrough's in the late 80's\early 90's were pretty non-existant. It was either paying out for a cheat\walkthrough book, hoping it would turn up in a magazine or  [s]pirate discs[/u] (Good luck printing out a hundred pages on a dot matrix.) I do vaguely remember phoning up LucasArt's once for a solution to a puzzle, but I can't remember which game it was.kjetting posted:I love this game, but gently caress the mazes. gently caress the mazes indeed. But thank gently caress for those who endured them to make walkthrough's so it's less painful for others.
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Jan 14, 2015 23:41
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Can you put a black border around the screen? Some of the white text just blends into the forum background. Also it seems a little weird to fake paying your bill, it seems like you've got plenty of money. Or is this one of those "dead man walking" scenarios the kids today are on about?
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Jan 15, 2015 19:08
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Glazius posted:Can you put a black border around the screen? Some of the white text just blends into the forum background. I will in future. There's a lot of locations in the game and they all cost money to get too. There's an abundance if you know what you're doing, but if you're flying around on hunches then the money gets whittled down pretty quickly. Once it's gone it's gone and it's effectively game over. You can pay it off if you want too, but for the purposes of this LP I thought I'd show off alternative ways to do things.
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Jan 15, 2015 23:52
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| # ? May 11, 2024 08:45 |
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Glazius posted:Can you put a black border around the screen?
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Jan 16, 2015 02:59
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