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Kangra posted:It's fairly obvious. You start a fire in the store that causes 'smoke damage' to the mask, and then you convince Walker to give you a discount. To start the fire, you need to get a cigarette, of course. That's done by talking to the teenager in the park, who wants you to buy him a pack of cigarettes. You do this, but in addition to taking his money, you also have to steal one cigarette out of the pack before giving it to him. Then you can start the fire in Walker's shop. However, first you have to disable the smoke detector, or else Walker puts out the fire. (Actually, you don't disable the smoke detector, you steal the fire extinguisher; the detector goes off anyway). To steal the fire extinguisher, first talk to Walker about snakes, then get the fake rubber snake that Grace keeps in her desk and scare him with it. Y'know, the sad thing is that I can't tell if this is the real answer or not. For a game done by a Sierra veteran, it makes perfect sense to me!
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Apr 28, 2021 14:23
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Longer break than usual but we're back with EPISODE 7: REVENGE OF THE HOROSCOPE! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InZCRuT8IV4
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May 8, 2021 00:43
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drat astrologers, always tryin’ to kill my buzz. 
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May 8, 2021 01:04
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There is something fun about that latter.
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May 9, 2021 01:37
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Two episodes in short order! We punch out to Germany in this one! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-inF_DSy2Ko
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May 9, 2021 02:59
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You had an actual German guy on the phone, and you didn't ask him about the Schattenjager! He even used the term at least twice in conversation! I'm disappointed. Though from context, I assume it translates to "witch hunter" since we know "jager" is "hunter" and the journal specifically called Gunther a witch hunter. It probably had points attached to it though.
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May 9, 2021 15:14
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Schatten is "shadow", actually, as I believe there are more opportunities to learn. But it is a good question for Wolfgang at that point. He doesn't know much about New Orleans or what's going on there, but of course, everyone tries to answer whatever Gabriel asks them, no matter how farfetched. A couple of interesting things about this part of the game: It is entirely possible to miss your opportunity in Mosely's office after sending the beignet guy to the police station. If you leave and return, Frick is back at the desk and full of beignet, and the vendor will never return. You're not screwed, though... Frick will nod off at his desk, and you just need to sneak through while his head's down. It's one of the most ridiculous things in the game by far, and the novelization skipped the beignet puzzle entirely. The alternate solution that it uses was also migrated to the remake. I never knew you could write such a short message on the tomb. My friends and I always copied the form of the original "DJCONCLAVETONIGHTBRING" note, which was easy because you just copy most of the note and then fill in the name you need. But Sierra games tended to be pretty good about recognizing solutions that are close enough. I don't know when Gabriel ever saw "sekey madoule" spelled out, though. Also, since it's too late for it to be of any use, I'm pretty sure you can just use the phone book page while you're using the phone to have it on screen so you don't need to memorize the number. You can't do the same thing with Wolfgang's number, but if you have that selected, it will be in the top bar and you can just about read the number from that.
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May 9, 2021 16:20
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OneWingedDevil posted:You had an actual German guy on the phone, and you didn't ask him about the Schattenjager! He even used the term at least twice in conversation! I'm disappointed. It translates pretty straight as "Shadow Hunter", which was actually the original working title of the game (Gabriel Knight: Shadow Hunter)...I'm guessing they may have switched because "Sins of the Father" is less of a giveaway. Also we'll be getting into a lot more than just witches in our tenure as Schattenjäger  Early title screen mock-up courtesy of The Cutting Room Floor: 
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May 9, 2021 21:37
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Nidoking posted:Also, since it's too late for it to be of any use, I'm pretty sure you can just use the phone book page while you're using the phone to have it on screen so you don't need to memorize the number. You can't do the same thing with Wolfgang's number, but if you have that selected, it will be in the top bar and you can just about read the number from that. Just tried that--the game tells me that "its customary to pick it up, first" (the phone), and you can't access the inventory while dialing. You could, however, have Wolfgang's number up as the active inventory item and read it from the top of the screen as you dial.
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May 9, 2021 21:45
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Nidoking posted:It is entirely possible to miss your opportunity in Mosely's office after sending the beignet guy to the police station. If you leave and return, Frick is back at the desk and full of beignet, and the vendor will never return. You're not screwed, though... Frick will nod off at his desk, and you just need to sneak through while his head's down. It's one of the most ridiculous things in the game by far, and the novelization skipped the beignet puzzle entirely. The alternate solution that it uses was also migrated to the remake. That’s pretty fantastic. This game really is a lot more fair than other Sierra games.
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May 9, 2021 21:50
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Dewgy posted:That’s pretty fantastic. This game really is a lot more fair than other Sierra games. Yep--given my incompetence in attempting to maneuver Gabriel through the gate and to Mosley's office, I thought I might have to show that part off
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May 9, 2021 22:19
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Into part 9: Getting into the endgame, and also hitting our first death of the LP! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idKahDf3lho
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May 16, 2021 04:08
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Part 10! We wrap up the whole thing with a neat little bow, and dramatically increase the death count 'cause of Sierra bullshit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOVZkrdUzAk
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May 16, 2021 19:58
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All’s well that ends well! Except that really didn’t end well for just about anyone involved, but hey whatever. I’m actually pretty curious since we didn’t talk about this in depth, but are there any ways to die that we missed? Those mummies seemed like the first lethal thing we came across, and it’s surprising how late in the game they were. If that’s the first time you can die, a no-save run of this thing has got to be a gigantic pain in the rear end to attempt.
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May 16, 2021 21:50
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You can be strangled to death by the snake in the museum, definitely, and there are a few ways to die at the ritual site if you haven't prepared properly or give the wrong names for the Loa. But for the most part, there are no early fail states, and the game won't move from day to day until you've fulfilled a list of events, many of which may not be obvious at the time. I think it's possible to skip past some of the mummy puzzles if you set the speed way up. I remember finding out about the vine thing years later and being very surprised (in fact, I'm pretty sure I read about it in the novelization and was surprised to discover that it worked in the game), because my method for getting through that room was to return to the previous room once the mummies had started moving, then charging through at full speed. Gabriel knocking down the mummy just seemed like a shoulder charge. There is also an alternate ending if you don't try to save Malia at the end. And popping back a bit, I think all of the names in the Ritter library are puns of at least some type. I didn't get the first one until watching your video, but Loel Caley is clearly a pun on "locally". Anyway, the point is that Wolfgang's theme is one of those pieces of music that have been stuck in my head since I first heard them, and then I'd go through a period where I'd forget where I heard them and be obsessed with tracking them down. I don't remember quite how it sounded the first time, but on my old PC with its no-frills Sound Blaster, it had a haunting quality that I don't think any of the more accurate versions manage to capture. A lot of soundtracks I heard first on that computer sound weird to me now, but this track really stands out. Pardon me dumping a bunch of links, but I spent time searching for the Sound Blaster version, didn't find it, and want to make something of my results. Roland sound font - This was the brand of sound card you got if you wanted to hear games the way the developers wanted them heard. Sound Blaster AWE32 - Closer to what I remember, but you can still tell that there are actual different instruments in there. Gravis Ultrasound - This is the closest I was able to find. I think they tried to make up for the lack of variance by increasing the volume, but there are still too many distinct sounds. Chiptune - This one's an artificial rendering that I just thought was neat.
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May 17, 2021 00:46
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Dewgy posted:All’s well that ends well! Except that really didn’t end well for just about anyone involved, but hey whatever. Yes--I mentioned it when we encountered it, but you can die when the snake attacks you in the Voodoo Museum, if you don't know how to solve the puzzle. You can also die at the meeting on St. John's Eve if you show up without the bracelet, the snake tattoo, or the mask. Also, if you don't answer Dr. John's questions correctly. As we already demonstrated, the mummies will kill you, also encountering Dr. John undisguised will get you killed, as we already experienced. Malia/Tetelo will kill you if you're not fast enough at the endgame. There are also a few "Dead Man Walking" scenarios that I didn't get ourselves into. If you don't pass a message onto Dr. John to bring the Sekey Module, you won't be able to find the St. John's Eve rave in the swamp--I don't think that directly hits a game over, but you have no way of navigating and will have to restore. Also, not leaving the staff and the tracking bug in the confessional bench will doom you once you get in the hanfour I think those are all the "death" scenarios here. The game is relatively forgiving in that sense, especially given its a Sierra title!
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May 17, 2021 00:53
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As far as I'm concerned GK1 is the best adventure game Sierra ever made, and I might actually consider it the greatest adventure game ever (it changes depending on the day, but it's never lower than top 3). But man, it's got some stuff that's really become uncomfortable for me as I've gotten older. Like the fact that the only two practitioners of voodoo who aren't bad guys are the only two practitioners of voodoo who are white. And there's definite undertones of "spooky black people with their gangs and their pagan religions." And I don't think it's intentional, I think it's just a product of Sierra and Jane Jenson writing in a time and medium where consciousness wasn't exactly widespread. But it's something that stands out to me today, and dampens my enthusiasm for what's otherwise an excellent game.
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May 18, 2021 14:34
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Yeah, there are plenty of YIKES things going on with Sierra. Remember that they let Darryl Gates lead a game because they felt he got an unfair reputation from the LA riots.
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May 20, 2021 17:38
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So, we've concluded GK1, and now....it's time for the  INTERACTIVE MOVIE portion of the proceedings! I'll admit...I have a soft spot for old FMV games like this. Dewgy and I have already played through The 7th Guest and Wing Commander IV, both at my suggestion. Hell I still have my copy of Wing Commander IV from 1996, complete in box, in all its 6-CD glory! The games in this vein HAVE NOT aged well, for the most part. They are an even bigger pain in the rear end to get to cooperate on modern hardware, even with things like DOSBox, old windows OS emulation, and ScummVM (which is what we're running TBW:AGKM through). For example, in our first hour here, the game crashes twice. The mid-'90s were definitely a weird and experimental time when it comes to how games were made. While they are....kinda bad now, this was the cutting edge back then (with titles like The 7th Guest have huge influence over the sales of CDs and CD drives back then). So, enjoy as much as you can--I know I'm going to be complaining about a few things as we go! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ5PwtHkqs0
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May 22, 2021 01:20
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Ah, the FMV era was fun times. And by fun, I mean games were already spilling way over what a single CD could hold, and FMV, even at small sizes and poor quality, ate that space rapidly. Phantasmagoria was particularly notorious, at least in my mind, for being seven discs long with almost no unique content on some of those discs because the common FMVs seemed to fill most of the available space. This game minimized the common elements pretty effectively, so you get a lot more substance per disc, but the need to switch discs between chapters could be annoying. At least this game is linear - some games split their content by area, like Riven, so you were constantly swapping discs as you moved around. As long as the game could boot into any disc, you could just load your saved game and only swap discs when you went to the next chapter. Just hope you never needed to reload in an earlier chapter. The wooden quality of the acting is a common complaint in a lot of the FMV games, but I'm pretty sure that was an intentional decision. The thing you need to understand is that, in contrast to earlier games, where variations in dialogue just meant changing the text and sometimes recording a few alternate voice lines, which digitized into nice, small sizes, alternate takes of dialogue in FMV games meant a completely different filmed clip, which in turn meant another lot of video stuffed into the disc. Sprites and dialogue, even voiced, don't convey as much obvious emotion as live action, so most of them fit into whatever context regardless of at what point in the game you talk to a character. Repeating the same line, even several plot points later, is just expected. The FMV games wanted to feel more true to life, so you'll notice that in most games, they don't let you repeat conversations where it wouldn't make sense in real life. However, most of the dialogue, while intended to be heard in a certain order, could potentially be viewed in any order the player chooses. Aside from certain dialogue options that are only activated at specific points in the plot, there's little guarantee that the player will have viewed any particular line before any other. The relationships between characters can change dramatically based on specific conversations, and depending on what the game demands, that character may still have important information to convey that could technically be completely unrelated to their mood relative to the plot. In other words, the player could be asking to borrow that pen either before or after asking whether the character would be willing to perform some humiliating task. If the studio isn't willing to film two takes of the line, then they need one that would work on either side of that independent interaction. All that said, you've probably noticed how carefully Gabriel, in particular, tends to return objects to exactly where they were when he's done with them. Obviously, this is so that they don't have to account for different possible placements of that item when rendering the non-FMV scenes, and equally, so they don't have to film alternate takes of any FMV scenes with those items in other locations. You may notice strategic angles in some scenes to avoid having specific items on camera, just to get around that limitation for items that might or might not be present in those scenes. (The most notable example that comes to mind is a set of dialogue in Phantasmagoria 2, where a character who isn't speaking in those lines may or may not have left before you see those clips, so the camera angles are particularly tight to the characters who are known to be present.) The same applies to dialogue clips, except that the objects in this case are the actors and their apparent moods. Everything needs to begin and end in the same neutral position and tone, so the clips can be viewed in any order without it standing out too much that you've done something out of an intended order. Maintaining that neutrality throughout the scene helps keep things uniform so that, again, viewing the clips in a different order doesn't break the flow too much. The end result is actors who are generally pretty proficient at emoting having to deliver very tone-neutral performances, which feel really unnatural.
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May 22, 2021 17:32
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I think some of it comes down to just weird direction too. A lot of these games were made by people with a love of film, but not exactly skilled directors. (See: Chris Roberts. ) The random camera mugging though feels kind of unique to this one. It’s charming in a hilarious B-movie kind of way, but it’ll never not stand out to me when Gabriel goes through seventeen emotions in two seconds, then follows it up by saying literally nothing.
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May 23, 2021 02:38
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I do remember reading somewhere about some of the random things the actors would do while posing for the idle animations. Apparently, some of them made it into the game as rare Easter eggs, but I don't know where any of them would be. Other than that, I don't remember anything in this game feeling out of place in the FMV genre as a whole.
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May 23, 2021 02:51
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Yvershek posted:Yeah, there are plenty of YIKES things going on with Sierra. Remember that they let Darryl Gates lead a game because they felt he got an unfair reputation from the LA riots. Huh. I didn't know that bit. Welp.
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May 23, 2021 14:00
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They had to throw in the Fraktur (old-fashioned print typeface) but at least they left out German cursive (Kurrent) which is quite tough to decipher. Also I guess the Berlin Wall never fell in this world, since it's 1993 and the envelope still said 'West Germany' on it. Or maybe Gabriel just isn't aware of the reunification. Here's another quick-and-dirty translation of the article, as best as I could read it. It kind of feels like it was translated from an English-first version of it, so this is less literal from the German. Some of the words are odd or maybe just hard to read. Spoilered because it might contain information we haven't learned yet. Free State of Bavaria News, 17 March 1994 posted:KILLER WOLVES FROM ZOO STILL AT LARGE *Prince-Regent Square. My speculation based on this is that Gabriel could be the foreign source of help, since I thought I saw Det. Leber among the crowd at the house. Also, I was wondering if this place was real, and Munich’s zoo really is in Thalkirchen, but it has a much cooler name: https://www.hellabrunn.de/en/ (apparently known for being one of the first zoos to be set up with habitat zones as opposed to just putting animals on display wherever).
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May 26, 2021 18:27
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Kangra posted:They had to throw in the Fraktur (old-fashioned print typeface) but at least they left out German cursive (Kurrent) which is quite tough to decipher. Also I guess the Berlin Wall never fell in this world, since it's 1993 and the envelope still said 'West Germany' on it. Or maybe Gabriel just isn't aware of the reunification. Thanks for throwing that translation up there! My German has rusted to the point of nigh-uselessness, so there was no way I was gonna get that out. Also, I guess I didn't mention it, but I knew about the West Germany thing. I had been trying to figure out why the heck they were still using "West Germany" for everything, even though it's 1995 (according to the lawyer's letter), or 1994 (according to the newspaper). That's another thing--the year isn't consistent in this game--unless the wolves escaping from the zoo is a year old, but Klingmann says they've only been missing 2 months, so somebody screwed that up, too.
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May 30, 2021 03:41
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Professor Duck posted:Also, I guess I didn't mention it, but I knew about the West Germany thing. I had been trying to figure out why the heck they were still using "West Germany" for everything, even though it's 1995 (according to the lawyer's letter), or 1994 (according to the newspaper). That's another thing--the year isn't consistent in this game--unless the wolves escaping from the zoo is a year old, but Klingmann says they've only been missing 2 months, so somebody screwed that up, too. Europe uses weird time zones.
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May 30, 2021 04:46
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Nidoking posted:Europe uses weird time zones. Clearly We're into part 2! More "plot"! More inexplicable crashes! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOGKlonHG9c
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May 31, 2021 03:06
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Fun Fact: The customer who talks to Grace at the beginning of Chapter 2 is played by Royce Herron. Better know as Ms. Appleby in the first few seasons of Power Rangers. I actaully had the chance to talk to her about the role at a convention and she told how it was actually more expensive for them to fly her out to do that bit then to get someone local.
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May 31, 2021 04:02
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Wow, Gabriel is so embarrassing, it's hard to watch.
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May 31, 2021 20:29
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I could swear there's a fast way to cross screens like Marienplatz. Either you right-click while the character is walking to zip to the far end, or in that screen in particular, I think there's a different arrow at the top or bottom of the edge that takes you straight to the opposite side. I imagine Gabriel didn't want to show Doktor Klingmann's hunting license to Ubergrau because attorney-client privilege probably doesn't cover questions like "Why are you in possession of another man's hunting license?"
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May 31, 2021 22:34
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Hel posted:Wow, Gabriel is so embarrassing, it's hard to watch. The acting in this game is pure RiffTrax tier across the board, it’s pretty impressive. I briefly wondered why only the first game in the series got a remake a few years ago, and... well, now I know why.
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May 31, 2021 22:36
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Dewgy posted:The acting in this game is pure RiffTrax tier across the board, it’s pretty impressive. I briefly wondered why only the first game in the series got a remake a few years ago, and... well, now I know why. Well, I don't think anyone wants to re-experience FMV hell, for one...but just about anything would be an improvement over the acting here. At least WC IV had....y'know.....actors. Anyway, onto episode 3! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm2G1_0ZraY
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Jun 1, 2021 21:41
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Professor Duck posted:Well, I don't think anyone wants to re-experience FMV hell, for one...but just about anything would be an improvement over the acting here. At least WC IV had....y'know.....actors. Counterpoint: WC IV had the muppet costume. I don’t think this game does. Though now that I think about it, we haven’t seen the werewolf yet…
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Jun 1, 2021 23:13
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I choose to believe it's a coincidence that I spent the hours leading up to this video marathoning a bunch of Lock Picking Lawyer videos. I don't even watch the channel regularly or anything. I just clicked a few of them on a whim. As for the acting... even when I was too young to understand what it was they were yelling about, I could tell that particular scene was cheesy even for an FMV game. I have no idea why they decided to assassinate Grace's character so much in this game, but it's a big departure from the way she reacted to Malia in the first game.
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Jun 1, 2021 23:45
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Nidoking posted:I have no idea why they decided to assassinate Grace's character so much in this game, but it's a big departure from the way she reacted to Malia in the first game.
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Jun 2, 2021 16:39
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Well, sure, but I took it that she was upset in the first game as well, and she targeted her anger at the appropriate people. We've gone from "Gabriel is a lout! I mean, he's out," to "The existence of this secret passage that was clearly built into the castle centuries ago PROVES that infidelity is happening and that makes you a horrible person!" I mean, does she think the workers built that staircase in the past few years? I'm not saying she doesn't have any reason for lashing out the way she does, but it's not a GOOD reason, and I don't like what it says about her that she'd intentionally violate Gerde's privacy, find no actual evidence of anything wrong, get caught in the act, and consider that a good time to try to turn the tables.
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Jun 2, 2021 18:48
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Nidoking posted:Well, sure, but I took it that she was upset in the first game as well, and she targeted her anger at the appropriate people. We've gone from "Gabriel is a lout! I mean, he's out," to "The existence of this secret passage that was clearly built into the castle centuries ago PROVES that infidelity is happening and that makes you a horrible person!" I mean, does she think the workers built that staircase in the past few years? I'm not saying she doesn't have any reason for lashing out the way she does, but it's not a GOOD reason, and I don't like what it says about her that she'd intentionally violate Gerde's privacy, find no actual evidence of anything wrong, get caught in the act, and consider that a good time to try to turn the tables. On the other hand, although I do agree with you that her reasoning in this game isn't good, I don't think that really says anything particularly negative about her. She's in a bad mood because of a legitimate grievance and she's expressing her anger - privately, in her own imagination - until she actually finds herself caught doing the wrong thing, at which point she becomes extremely defensive. That's not ideal, obviously, but it's pretty relatable.
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Jun 2, 2021 19:29
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The relationship between Gabriel and Grace was pretty much the prototypical sitcom relationship of its time. The man being openly creepy and the woman being disgusted (but not enough to create any actual distance between them) was how you knew two fictional characters were effectively in a relationship and just didn't acknowledge it, because that's not how stories worked back then. The implication seemed to be that Grace put up with the sexual harassment because there was mutual attraction, and she just didn't make any moves on Gabriel because that's not what fictional women did. As best I understood it, she felt like Malia was getting between herself and Gabriel, but she just huffed about it and warned him that she seemed like bad news. And they WERE sleeping together. Can you imagine Sins of the Fathers Grace yelling at Malia if they bumped into each other in the back room of the bookstore? She'd probably just shrug and say "Whatever. You're each other's problems, not mine." I don't even think the idea of Grace having given up her future for Gabriel is new to this game. Didn't she talk about how her parents wanted her to go to a prestigious university instead of whatever it was she was doing? And we know she wasn't getting paid back then. At least at this point, Gabriel can afford to pay her for minding the bookstore. I guess the conversation they had when Gabriel went to Rittersburg and Grace didn't go with him might be illuminating, but surely, there must have been some understanding between them at that point?
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Jun 2, 2021 22:02
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Nidoking posted:I could swear there's a fast way to cross screens like Marienplatz. Either you right-click while the character is walking to zip to the far end, or in that screen in particular, I think there's a different arrow at the top or bottom of the edge that takes you straight to the opposite side. On the Steam version there's a special double arrow icon if you hover near the top left/right corners that jumps you to the other side. I'm not sure if it was in the original version though.
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Jun 4, 2021 20:20
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whitehelm posted:On the Steam version there's a special double arrow icon if you hover near the top left/right corners that jumps you to the other side. I'm not sure if it was in the original version though. It most certainly isn't in this (the GOG) version Y'all get to experience it the "right" way
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Jun 4, 2021 22:23
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