Game 32: Neuromancer - Virtual Judgement

Tricky Journal Entry 2: “Today seems to be a day for fetching items that already belong to me. I collected my deck from Shin’s Pawn Shop, and then picked up my Cryptology skill chip from Shiva at Gentleman Loser. I’ve still got a few errands to run before the day is out, and will try to increase my skills and warez since people keep warning me that something weird is going on in cyberspace. Thankfully I’ve managed to get my hands on ten thousand credits from some guy called General Armitage, but who knows whether his requirements of me in return will be of a similar value or much, much more. I better go...there’s still much to do!”

 

Why would the lawbot come? What exactly have I done wrong?

I’m really happy to see that I have a lot of companions for this game, not just because that makes the whole experience more interesting, but also because I’m pretty sure I’m going to need some help at some point. I thank all of you that are commenting for using ROT13, but can I please ask you to encrypt more of your messages when they include hints or spoilers. I’m not suggesting I’ve been able to take much from them, but I can’t help reading them and my brain automatically tries to make something out of them (I wouldn't be a very good adventure gamer if it didn't). There was one particular comment that I simply had to follow up on though, and that was Ilmari’s suggestion that I’d missed an opportunity to gain lots of credits right at the start of the game. I considered whether Ilmari’s comment should be labelled a spoiler and punished, but thought it shouldn't if I had indeed missed something important in the opening scene. Knowing how critical funds were going to be in the game, I started again (I hadn’t exactly got very far to begin with) and searched for this missed opportunity. I eventually found it too, after reading the posts on the bulletin board that I previously thought were merely advertising.

 

I guess I'm just used to deleting hordes of spam emails every day. I thought I was a good judge!

Someone called Armitage was looking for a few “good cowboys” that were seeking adventure. You could earn instant money by answering the message with your BAMA id. At the time I hadn’t realised I could actually send a message myself, but now I did. I got my BAMA id from the First Orbital Bank of Switzerland screen, and then sent it to “Armitage”. I then chose to view my received messages and found a new one waiting for me from Armitage. “Thanks for your response to my ad. The amount of $10000 has been deposited to your bank account. Please meet me, General Armitage, in the street directly outside the Matrix Restaurant as soon as possible.” 10000 credits!!! That should keep me going for a while! I downloaded the money, taking my starting total to $12006 (less the $46 I paid Ratz). With that done, I was now ready to leave Chatsubo and venture out into the city. As soon as I left the building, I noticed it was now locked, with a sign informing potential customers of its closure due to public safety issues. It was time to go exploring!

 

Well that sure is a heck of a lot more cash than I would have had otherwise!

The first location I entered was the Body Shop. Here I discovered human organs on display, waiting to be refrigerated. A man in a green coat stood nearby, described as having “a permanent smile where his lips have been removed”. His name was Chin and he asked me whether I would “like to sell a body part”!!! One of the messages on the bulletin board had mentioned selling a lung for cash, but I hadn’t really thought I might be able to do it. When I looked through my dialogue options, I pretty much just had the choice to sell or buy organs, including those that I might have already sold previously. I agreed to sell a body part, just to see what would happen, and a list appeared displaying the current most in demand parts. My heart would get me $6000, my eyes $5000, my lungs $3000, my stomach $1500 and so on, right down to my appendix which would only get me $3. I had no idea how I could possibly survive without any of my major organs, but decided it was too early to find out. I declined, and Chin told me to come back if I changed my mind. “We’re offering great deals!”

 

This reminds me of Blade Runner, although I'm not certain whether there was any influence either way

The next location I visited was Donut World. Inside was an SEA cop at a table eating donuts who immediately told me I wasn’t welcome. “Hey! We don’t allow your kind in Donut World, hamsterheard.” I wondered what exactly he meant by “your kind”, so I responded with “I came in for a donut. Is there some law against that?” It turned out that there was! “This is a donut shop, citizen. Only cops are allowed in donut shops.” The majority of other dialogue options I had only seemed likely to rile the cop up (e.g. “Drop dead, flatfoot”), so I chose to say “Am I ever going to get a break in this game?” just to see what would happen. He merely told me to get out, so I did. Making my way to the right of screen, I came to another shop named Larry’s Rentals. The store contained “walls lined with slivers of microsoft, spikes of colored silicon mounted on cardboard”, and owner Larry Moe. I didn’t yet know what the microsofts purpose was, but I knew how they were installed since Larry had “a dozen microsofts protruding from the carbon socket behind his left ear”.

 

They finally managed to do it!

Larry asked me if I was interested in buying any “softs”, but then strangely told me he didn’t have any right now. So what the hell are all the chips on the wall for? Also rather odd was that I could tell Larry that I was “looking for the Panther Moderns”, even though I had no idea who or what that was. When I did so I was told that “the Moderns don’t like networking with strangers”. I then asked whether that included “wealthy strangers”, to which Larry responded with “How much would you pay for a meeting with the Moderns?” I had no clue how much I should try, but my options were $100, $200 or $300. I thought I’d try $300, since I was very likely going to have to play through this section again later and could try a lower amount then. Larry agreed, and demanded the cash upfront! As soon as I gave it to him I discovered how harsh Neuromancer was going to be. “What a rube! You really think I’m going to let you just walk in there? But thanks for the donation, man.” Well at least now I knew not to try bribing Larry again!

 

Using all your own product on yourself isn't good business buddy!

There seemed nothing else to do in Larry’s Rentals, so I moved onto the next location. On entering I figured I was in an establishment that offers adult services. “An attractive woman named Akiko is waiting for you here beside a massage table.” She greeted me and asked “what services may I perform for you today?” My dialogue options included “I’m sure I’ll think of something”, “Uh, excuse me, I’m just passing through”, and “I wanna buy some info, babe.” I had no idea what would happen here (I highly doubted I was about to witness Akiko performing sexual acts), so I saved my game before answering. I chose “I’m sure I’ll think of something”, and was immediately confronted by a lawbot! Apparently even the mere suggestion of sex is against the law, and before I knew it I was standing in a “Justice booth” where a Compu-Judge on a large screen was preparing to dish out justice for my actions. “You have been charged with a serious crime, citizen. I will be your Judge.” A lawyer appeared on a separate screen on the left wall offering me his services for my defense. “You need me. Only 250 credits. In advance.”

 

Well, um, now that you mention it...

I had the option to pay the lawyer’s fee, to claim that I couldn’t afford it, to defend myself, or to simply shout my disgust. I chose to accept the fee, at which point the Compu-Judge asked how the defendant pleads. My lawyer piped up with “Guilty, your Honor. Defendant requests the death penalty for his crime.” Huh!!!! It seemed to me that no-one can be trusted in this game! While I voiced my distress, the lawyer merely responded with “Trust me. I know what I’m doing.” I was then found guilty, but charged $500 rather than given the death penalty, and sent on my way. I don’t yet know if choosing any other options might let me get off with a lesser fine, but I felt like I was going to get plenty of opportunities to experiment later on. At this point I restored my game and when Akiko asked me what she could do for me, this time I responded with “I wanna but some info, babe”. I got so some too, but it cost me $20. “Here’s a hot tip. The Panther Modern link code is CHAOS. The password is MAINLINE. They can help you.” There’s that Panther Modern group again! I added the link code to my spreadsheet, along with all the other codes I had no idea what to do with.

 

Help me do what? Does anyone talk straight around here?

Sadly, as soon as Akiko gave me the information, the lawbot appeared again and I was once again facing justice. This time I tried defending myself, but the results were the same, with the humorous addition of the lawyer mocking my failure. It appears I get charged $500 and released no matter what I choose, or so I can tell so far. Just as in Mean Streets, I was now wondering why I couldn’t just restore my game and never pay Akiko for the info now that I already knew it!  As long as I was able to use the link code and password without actually having received it, then why wouldn’t I just save the $520 it cost me to get it? I also wondered what would happen if I went back to Akiko now and asked for more information. The answer is that she gave me more info: “The banking center is on the Freeside orbital colony, but the link number for the Bank of Zurich is BOZOBANK.” As expected, I was once again collected by the lawbot too, but this time I simply restored my game back to prior to asking Akiko anything. I had no idea how many times I could get information out of her, nor did I know how many times I could go through the court proceedings reasonably unscathed, but I decided to move on for now.

 

There's nothing like being mocked when you've just been found guilty.

The next store I entered was Shin’s Pawn Shop. I knew from Ratz that Shin had been looking for me, wanting me to collect my deck from him. Shin had also left a message on the bulletin board telling me to pick it up or he’d have to sell it. The shop was filled with weapons, jewellery and other “junk that nobody wants”. I accessed my inventory, clicked on the pawn ticket, and then selected Give Item. I was then given some dialogue options, including “Why are you in such a rush to give me my deck back?” and “Okay. Give me the deck. I can’t operate without one.” I was very interested to know why Shin wanted me to get the deck so badly, so I asked. “Your deck scare away good customer. No more favour.” I had no idea why my deck might scare away customers, or why I might have left it with Shin to begin with, but obviously I needed it. Interestingly, when I tried to get it, Shin told me I needed to pay $100 and give him the ticket first. I no longer had the ticket though as I’d already given it to him! Thankfully he gave me my deck anyway, making me wonder what use the ticket had in the first place.

 

Is my deck really that ugly?!

I thanked Shin for looking after my deck, only to have him throw me out and slam the door on me. I noticed I could no longer get into the pawn shop, so that must be all that I’m required to do there, at least for now. Wandering along the street, I next entered the appropriately named Cheap Hotel. Ratz had also mentioned that I needed to find a way to pay my bill at the hotel or risk being forced to sell my body parts. The description informed me that my room is “number 92, three meters long with an oval hatch at the end”, but before I could try to go there, the management kicked me out due to the aforementioned unpayed bill. They could’ve let me pay it! I guessed I was supposed to find a way to do it from outside the hotel, so continued my exploration of Chiba City. Further south I came to the oddly named Gentleman Loser, which appeared to be a restaurant. There was only one customer there, which was a woman named Shiva. One of my bulletin board messages had told me to see Shiva, with Anonymous Bosch informing me that he’d left my Cryptology skill chip with her. She called out to me as soon as I entered the restaurant: “Hey, geek! C’mere! I got something’ for ya!”

 

How am I supposed to fix up the bill if you won't even let me in?!

I joked with Shiva that whatever she had better not be contagious, and she responded with “Anonymous was here earlier. If you’re a friend of his, you know what I’ve got for you.” One of my dialogue options was “Ah! You must be referring to the...........” I chose this option and typed “skill chip” into the empty space. “Yeah. You must be Tricky. I got your chip here for ya. I also have Hardware Repair for sale for $1000.” I really didn’t know whether I should be saving up my credits at this stage of the game or buying stuff, but I chose to buy the Hardware Repair chip anyway. I now had $10860, a UXB deck, a Cryptology skill chip and a Hardware Repair skill chip. I decided to spend some time seeing whether I could figure out how to use all this stuff. It also seemed an ideal time to read through the manual, now that I have a basic understanding of the game’s mechanics and at least some of the terminology. I feel like I’m going to be in for the long haul on this one, but I’m not yet sure whether that’s a good or a bad thing.

 

Shiva really knows how to make a good first impression

Session Time: 0 hours 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hours 00 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: I've written a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!

Game 32: Neuromancer - Learning the Ropes

Tricky Journal Entry 1: “Rather oddly, I woke up in Chatsubo today, face down in my dinner. It could have been worse though I guess. I could have eaten it, dying in agony like those other poor unfortunate souls. I really need my deck! I feel naked without it. I’m heading out now to collect it from Shin. I might just drop in at Gentleman Loser on the way. Apparently Shiva has a couple of things for me there too.”

 

The game has full mouse control, and I can click on options (such as New or Load) with the cursor.

It was just yesterday that I was commenting about how I wanted to keep up the same level of detail in my posts that I’ve had for the past ten or so games, despite Mean Streets taking over a month to get through and producing close to 30000 words out of me in the process (that’s half a short novel!). Well, my first hour long session has made me question just how long I can uphold that. There’s a LOT of dialogue in this game, and that first hour of play produced no less than 237 screenshots! Thank goodness for Lars-Erik’s screenshot solution (which works perfectly by the way), otherwise I wouldn’t have got anywhere at all. So, while I will do what I normally do here, I’ll be summarising much more than I have been to keep things moving, attempting not to skip anything that might become important later. That being said, this first post covers nothing more than the interface, initial mechanics, and the opening room of the game. There’s a lot of stuff that needs to be learnt (and explained to the readers) before a player can wander out into Chiba City. Let’s begin…

 

The first sign that the game won't be following the book. I can choose my name!

Neuromancer began in a way not many adventure games do. It asked me what my name was! The Trickster wouldn’t fit, so in true Australian style I shortened it to Tricky. A click later and I was looking at my new self standing in the middle of a bar called Chatsubo. I’d just woken up “face-down in a plate of synth-spaghetti”, and Ratz (that’s the guy behind the bar with one prosthetic arm) was demanding 46 credits for the non-eaten food. I immediately noticed that I only had $6, so I was already in an interesting predicament. I hadn’t read the manual at this point, so before I did anything I was going to have to spend some time checking out the interface. There were six main buttons on the left hand side, with the first one bringing up an inventory. All I had to begin with was a pawn ticket and the aforementioned credits. Clicking on either of the items brought up a secondary menu where I could “Operate Item”, “Discard Item”, “Give Item” or “Exit”. The second button was labelled PAX, and clicking it gave me access to the “Public Access System”. I now know that I can only access PAX when there is one situated in my current room (there’s one on the back wall of Chatsubo).

 

"You can see Chiba sky through the window, the color of television tuned to a dead channel." It appears some of the descriptions are straight from the book.

I was given three words or phrases and asked to enter the correct verification code. This was obviously a piracy control, and I believe the game was originally shipped with a code-wheel that players had to refer to whenever they accessed a PAX terminal. Since I’d chosen to run a cracked version of the game, I simply pressed enter and was allowed access. I had four options available to me: 1. First Time PAX User Info. 2. Access Banking Interlink. 3. Night City News 4. Bulletin Board. The user info was really just a hilariously complicated policy for terminal use that managed to include multitudes of unnecessary acronyms such as MPPILC (Multi-Phased Public Information Library Core) and WHOOPEE (World Holographic Organizational Obligation for Electronic Eavesdropping). None of it meant anything, so I moved onto option 2. Here I could download or upload credits, and also view a transaction record, similar to a standard ATM. I could see that I had $2000 in my account, so I chose to take out $500. That should cover the spaghetti with plenty left over, and I didn’t yet know whether there was any danger in carrying large sums of cash around Chiba City (the game is based in Japan in the year 2058). Viewing my transaction log revealed that I’d downloaded another $131 already today, and had been fined $1000 for something or other.

 

Let's hope I don't have to sell a kidney or a lung to get more credits

I moved onto the Night City News, where I could read two major articles along with the “News in Brief”. The first article described how 87 fatalities had been caused by the synth-spaghetti at a bar named Chatsubo when combined with more than three glasses of beer. The combination creates an explosive chemical which ignites in victim’s stomachs! Well, I was feeling pretty glad that I’d only slept in my spaghetti and apparently not eaten any. The second article talked about a “well-known logic gate crasher” named Jonathan E, who had gone missing. There was speculation that he’d been killed in cyberspace by “black ice”, an illegal form of base protection. I’ll take that as a warning that spending time in cyberspace isn’t without danger. The News in Brief contained a bunch of silly articles, including farm animals that kidnapped a UFO for a joyride, and a man that ate his own head in Donut World. The last article seemed a bit more serious though, discussing the son of the “Prez of Fuji Electric” who has gone missing. Whether or not that will play a role later in the game or not, I can’t say.

 

87 fatalaties before they did something about it!

Finally there was the bulletin board, where I discovered four messages to the general population, one to Ratz the barman, and seven messages waiting for me! The four messages to the general public were not worthy of discussion, being credits for the game, in-game ads, and a message explaining why there are no messages in the system prior to 11/14/58 (lightning strike). The eight messages for me were clearly very important, so I’ll relate my findings here. 1. Matt Shaw advised me to get my hands on good software from the BBS’s, which he said I would need to figure out what’s going on. He also told me to upgrade my Comlink warez and my equipment so that I could reach better bases and to find “us” in cyberspace as soon as I had enough cash. I didn’t know what much of this was talking about, but assumed I would soon enough. He finished by saying: “We need your help bad, but I can’t talk about it here. Don’t want to start a panic, you know what I mean?” This sounds like the beginning of the plot, so I assume Matt Shaw plays a role down the track. 2. FFargo sent me a message to remind me that I owed him $2000.3. Shin sent me a message telling me that I better pick up my deck at his pawn shop or he’ll have to sell it.

 

It looks like email doesn't really progress in the next 45 years.

4. Crazy Edo asked me where his caviar was, which he’d apparently committed to trade some software for. 5. Matt Shaw sent another message containing some “comlink numbers to get you started”. The link codes were CHEAPO for Cheap Hotel, REGFELLOW for the Regular Fellows, CONSUMEREV for Consumer Review, ASANOCOMP for Asano Computing, and WORLDCHESS for the World Chess Confederation. I had no idea what to do with these at this stage, but Matt thought they would keep me busy  until I could “afford a cyberspace-capable deck”. 6. Anonymous Bosch messaged me to tell me that he’d dropped off my Cryptology skill chip (that he’d borrowed from me six months ago) with someone named Shiva at a place called Gentleman Loser. 7. Emp. Norton warned me that “something weird’s going on in cyberspace” and that I should “sharpen my skills and keep your head down.” 8. The same Emp. Norton told me that Shiva (the person at the Gentleman Loser) also has a Matrix Restaurant guest pass for me and that we should meet there and talk. The last remaining message was from Red Snake to Ratz and said: “Read about your problem in the Night City News. Did you forget to pay off the Health Department this month? I can fix it. Talk to me.” Clearly there were a lot of dodgy things going on in the Chiba City underground, and no doubt I was going to get caught up in them shortly.

 

Everyone wants to reach the better bases. Um...what's at the better bases?

I noticed I could also Send a Message on the bulletin board, but since I had nothing to say to anyone, I exited the PAX. Continuing my exploration of the interface, I found that the third main icon allowed me to speak to someone in the room (Ratz in this instance). I was a little confused by the interface here as clicking the left mouse button or pressing the space bar moved through dialogue options without actually saying anything, but I eventually figured out that pressing the right mouse button or the enter key selected the current option onscreen. For example, I could say any of the following things to Ratz in relation to the $46 I owed him for the food: 1. “How about if I owe it to you? You can trust me.” 2. “I’m ready for desert. Have you got any pudding for me to sleep in?” 3. “I’d like to sleep on it some more, if that’s okay with you, Ratz.” 4. “Sorry Ratz. I can’t afford it. Want me to give it back?” None of those options seemed very good to me, particularly as I did now have the cash, but I selected option 1 (by pressing enter) to see what would happen. Ratz’s response was: “Pay up, cyberscum. Use the PAX if you need money.” I figured that was probably to right thing to do, so I went to my inventory, selected my credits, and gave 46 of them to Ratz. “Thanks, friend artiste. Shin came by, but he didn’t want to interrupt your beauty sleep. He still has your deck.”

 

I won't be giving tips in a joint like this

I talked to Ratz a bit longer, discovering that my deck that Shin had was a Yamamitsu UXB, and that one of Lonny Zone’s girls was looking for me. Finally, he told me that I “better find a way to pay your bill at Cheap Hotel, or they’ll start asking you to sell your body parts.” Wow! Neuromancer was throwing a lot of information at me before I’d even taken a step. Talk about throwing the player into the deep end! I was already starting to notice the RPG qualities of the game, although without any sort of journal to record my “quests” or “clues”, I was going to have to use another spreadsheet. Speaking of RPGs, the fourth button in the interface was for skills, although I apparently had none at this stage. The fifth button would normally give me access to my ROM Construct, but since I didn’t have one, did nothing for the moment. The sixth and final main button allowed me to save my game (and to restore if I wanted to), so I took the opportunity. Only having four save slots was pretty damn scary, particularly as readers have already mentioned that Neuromancer contains lots of dead ends. I’m going to have to use these slots wisely!

 

4 save game slots!!! Ouch!!! (yes, I realise I could cheat, but where's the fun in that)

The four other smaller icons in the interface merely changed what was displayed in the white panel above them. In order, they displayed the date (currently 11/17/58), the time (currently 01:59), my credit total (currently $460) and my constitution level (currently 2000). I’ve noticed while writing this post that the days are ticking away fairly rapidly, but I have no idea whether anything I need to achieve is time based. That pretty much wraps up everything I need to say about the interface, at least initially. I guess I should also state that my first impressions from a technology point of view are not very good. I’m sure you can tell from the screenshots that the graphics are pretty average, but you wouldn’t be aware of how grating the PC speaker quality music is. It sounds pretty awful, so thankfully it isn’t constant (it does randomly kick in for another run through every now and then). The game has very little sound otherwise, so I imagine I’ll be listening to my own music while playing. I also have concerns about the movement, as there seems to be no way to stop my character from moving in a direction once I start. If I start walking to the right, I can’t press right again to make him stop. I have to change direction or purposely walk into something. Using the mouse is fine for the icons, but makes moving around next to impossible, so I’m going to attempt to memorize the icon key shortcuts and leave the mouse out of it entirely. I’m pretty sure something will actually happen in my next post, so stay tuned!

 

Just so you know there IS something outside of the first room

Session Time: 0 hours 20 minutes
Total Time: 0 hours 20 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: I've written a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!

Game 32: Neuromancer - Introduction

Neuromancer: Well this should be interesting!

I like science fiction. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that I love science fiction! Many of my favourite movies sit in the genre on some level, and I’m generally attracted to games that do too. It’s therefore quite strange that I really haven’t read very many science fiction books. The truth is that I’ve not been a massive reader over the course of my life, reading on average only about five or six books a year. That’s definitely increased with my recent discovery of audiobooks, but I’m still only getting through about a book a month. I guess I’m just a sucker for epic fantasy series like George Martin’s Game of Thrones and Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, and given how many books tend to make up those series and how long each part usually is, it’s no surprise that I haven’t had much time for anything else. You might be wondering why I’m crapping on about books instead of games. The answer is that the 32nd game on the playlist is based on a book by the same name, William Gibson’s Neuromancer, and it’s a book I’ve never read. I’d heard the name numerous times, but didn’t realise how well regarded it is until I started researching today.

With its whites, pinks and blues, Neuromancer was just screaming for a CGA release!

Neuromancer (the book) was released in 1984, and is generally considered a seminal work in the cyberpunk genre. It was the first book to win the science fiction “triple crown”, meaning it cleaned up the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award. It was actually Gibson’s first published novel, and follows a computer hacker named Henry Dorsett Case. After being caught stealing from his employer, Case’s central nervous system was damaged (I assume purposely), leaving him unable to access the global computer network (which strangely enough was called the Matrix). Needless to say he regains his ability to access the network through an underground organisation in exchange for his hacking services. That’s about as far as I was willing to read about the novel, just in case the game closely follows the plot, but from what I can tell it’s only “loosely” based on it. Interestingly, it was American psychologist and writer Timothy Leary, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs and for being labelled “the most dangerous man in America” by President Richard Nixon, that held the gaming rights to the novel (there’s also a simulation game named Timothy Leary’s Mind Mirror if you want to check it out). He took the game idea to Interplay around 1987, where producers Brian Fargo and Troy P. Worrell agreed to make it.

Timothy Leary: A very happy guy, and no wonder too!

You may recognise the name Brian Fargo, particularly if you’re also following the RPG exploits of Chet over at the CRPG Addict. Brian helped design all three games in The Bard’s Tale series (taking over as director for the third one), as well as playing a major role in the design of the classic Wasteland. He also designed three early adventure games (interactive fiction with graphics), with the first two being The Demon’s Forge (1981) and Borrowed Time (1985), and the third one Tass Times in Tonetown (1986). Long time readers will know that I played TTiT back in January last year (it was game 8 on the playlist). It was a very quirky game that I quite enjoyed, but had to rate it harshly due to some technical deficiencies and numerous dead ends. Troy Worrell also worked on that game as a programmer and directed Wasteland alongside Fargo, meaning the two of them had quite a history by the time Neuromancer landed on their desks.

Wasteland: Well if they made that game, then Neuromancer should be good...right?

Given the success of Wasteland, it’s not surprising that Fargo and Worrell invited members of the same team back to make Neuromancer. Michael A. Stackpole (a science fiction and fantasy writer) and Bruce J. Balfour came onboard to design the game along with Fargo, while Troy A. Miles took on all programming duties. Also from Wasteland was Charles Weidmann III, who was tasked with creating the graphics and artwork in an attempt to bring Gibson’s world to life. Finally, all sound and music was to be looked after by industry veteran David Warhol (Tass Times in Tonetown, Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken). Speaking of music, the soundtrack for the game is based on a song by Devo named Some Things Never Change. This track appeared on the 1988 album Total Devo, but instrumental only versions appeared on all versions of Neuromancer (apart form the C-64 version which apparently sampled the real song in the intro). Ilmari has already mentioned that the theme music is annoying and repetitive, so it appears we can blame Devo for that, at least in part.

At least Devo's distinctive style didn't rub off on the general population

I really don’t know what to expect when it comes to gameplay, although I do know that Neuromancer is described repeatedly in the manual as a role playing game that involves gaining skills by “implanting chips directly into your brain jack”. Just how much adventure game elements there are is yet to be seen. The manual covers a lot of ground (it’s quite daunting really), so I’ll read it whilst playing rather than prior. I’m under the impression that gameplay is split between traditional adventure sequences and cyberspace, although I have no idea how that plays out. I guess it’s time to find out, and I’ve found a DOS copy and got it working in DOSBox. It looks like I’m going to face the same screenshot issues that made Mean Streets take so long to get through, so this time I’m going to try out Lars-Erik’s suggestion that should allow me to use the ALT-F5 function without it acting as an ENTER. Well, I’m off to jack in (as opposed to jack off), and will report my initial findings soon enough. Who’s joining me?!

Neuromancer: "A cyberpunk role playing adventure"...apparently

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There's a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no CAPs will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. As this is an introduction post, it's an opportunity for readers to bet 10 CAPs (only if they already have them) that I won't be able to solve a puzzle unassisted (see below for an example). If you get it right I will reward you with 110 CAPs in return (it's going to keep going up until someone beats me)! It's also your chance to predict what the final rating will be for the game. Voters can predict whatever score they want, regardless of whether someone else has already chosen it. All correct (or nearest) votes will go into a draw.

Example Bet:

V xabj V’z nfyrrc, ohg pnaabg jnxr

V zhfg erznva sbe guvf ynaq’f fnxr

Vg’f nyy tbar jebat, V qba’g xabj jul

Ohg V zhfg svk vg, ng yrnfg V’yy gel!

Anzr gur tnzr sbe 20 PNCf.

Extra Note: Once again, Lars-Erik will gift the next readily available game on the list to the reader that correctly predicts what score I will give this game. So, if you predict the right score (or are closest), you will get 10 CAPs and a copy of Space Quest 1, 2 & 3 from GOG! How awesome is that!? Good luck!

Game 31: Mean Streets - Final Rating

Mean Streets was unlike any other game I've played so far for the blog, and it's for this reason more than any other that I'm not really sure what score it might end up with. I have a feeling that it will suffer the same way the Manhunter series does, being a clearly flawed yet still entertaining game. I imagine the technical advancements might push it a little higher though, so let's see whether that turns out to be the case.

Puzzles and Solvability
It’s not going to be very clear cut when rating categories for Mean Streets, as the game has contrasting sequences. The puzzles in the game can be split between finding the information you need through questioning leads, and searching for items you need through more traditional third person perspective investigations. I enjoyed both sequences, but it’s not difficult to pick them apart. The questioning sections follow a very strict format. Ask a lead about a topic. If they give you a new name or nav code, then write it down. If they’re unwilling to answer, then try bribing or threatening them. Repeat until you run out of relevant questions. That’s pretty much all there is to it.

Even failed threats usually mean you can just walk back in and try something else

The more classic adventure game sections also rely very heavily on trial and error. Move to each section of a room and use the look, get, move, open, on / off nd taste actions on each item. Continue until there are no more items left, then move on to another part of the room. What makes it even more simplistic is that 90% of “puzzles” are solved using items found within the same room, and the player has no ability to “use” any of the items they pick up. If you have the right item, it will be used at the right time, and often the player is not even informed. All of this makes the game sound very simplistic, repetitive and boring, but somehow it’s not (well, it’s not boring anyway)! I’m not even sure I can explain why, but I guess it has to do with the unfolding story, the wacky characters, the smatterings of humour, and an indescribable X factor. I can’t deny that the puzzles are pretty average though, so I have to do the right thing here.
Rating: 4

Combinations are generally hidden within arms reach of safes, which is disappointingly unchallenging

Interface and Inventory
Let’s start with the flying sequences. There really isn’t any other category to discuss this in, so I’ll deal with it here. The truth is that flying the speeder is initially a little daunting (for those of us unaccustomed to simulators anyway), but in the end it’s really quite intuitive and simplistic (there’s that word again). After a few dodgy flights, I found myself getting from one location to another (and landing) without much thought for controls. The problem is that it’s utterly, mind-numbingly boring!  The scenery is almost non-existent, and it generally involves getting yourself to an appropriately high altitude (so you don’t run into things), pointing the speeder in the right direction, pushing the throttle to the max, and then sitting back and waiting for literally minutes. In the end I decided to save my sanity and use the autopilot, and spent the time doing some other task such as looking for new music to listen to or starting the next Adventure Gamer post. From an interface point of view, there’s no problem, but I’m punishing this category for the existence of the speeder sections in the first place.

 I rarely saw this screen as I was off doing something else

The questioning sections are straight forward and the interface really can’t get in the way. The same can be said for the shooting sections, although once again they are repetitive and boring. That leaves the room investigation sections of the game, which is where the real adventuring was to be had. The interface for these parts of the game is actually pretty clunky too. I could generally do what I needed to do, but it didn’t always feel intuitive (having to press the down key to make the cursor move to the right hurt my brain) and while not having a USE action didn’t stop me from achieving my goals, it made the game far more basic than it would have been otherwise. This is where we get to my biggest issue though, which is the inability to access the inventory when not in the speeder. This was very annoying, particularly as there were quite a few times where picking up a container while in a room meant I couldn’t see what was in it until I departed the room. I had to remember to try opening everything before I picked it up or it was too late. An example of this was Big Jim Slade’s hit list, which wasn’t available to view once I’d picked up the binder. Even ignoring that issue, the inventory itself wasn’t particularly user friendly, so I can’t be very generous here either!
Rating: 4

Picking up the binder removes the hit list as an option to look at, but there's no sign that one is contained within the other

Story and Setting
As is likely obvious when reading the gameplay posts for the game, Mean Streets’ story is revealed bit by bit, with lead’s answers and notes found in rooms gradually giving the player enough information to piece together what’s really going on. Putting it all together was nowhere near as difficult as it was in the almost indecipherable Manhunter 2, but it still required being thorough and trying to understand character’s motives to progress. Some people seem to have an issue with the amount of red herrings that delayed this progress, but I personally think they added a nice realistic touch, and would likely have had a more positive effect if it wasn’t for the amount of time it took to travel to useless locations.

They're not always as obvious as this one mind you

The downside for this category is that the player is repeatedly given the same information over and over again by multitudes of leads, meaning you’re basically sifting through the same stuff hunting for something new to act on. The plot is also often contrived and corny, but it wasn’t always clear whether that was intentional or not (it certainly was in some instances but I can’t give it the benefit of the doubt all the way through). Finally, I should point out that I broke the story flow on a couple of occasions, visiting leads in an order the game wasn’t expecting. I guess the static answers given by each lead (regardless of what you already know or where you’ve gone previously) is the reason why the designers were forced to be so repetitive, making things much more linear than they initially appear. Overall, the story kept me coming back, but the implementation of it was far from perfect.
Rating: 5

It's also pretty obvious who the target audience for Mean Streets (and adventure games in general back in the 80s) was.

Sound and Graphics
Mean Steets is renowned for pushing the boundaries of technology for its time. The sound quality is reasonably high, with recorded effects and a few instances a voice. There’s not much of it though, with only occasional effects and one repeating music piece that’s at first quite catchy but tiresome after a while. The graphics are also quite advanced and the introduction of quasi-video and real life actors was a bit of a surprise for a game released in the eighties. As mentioned earlier, the outside world is also reasonably impressive for the time, but shouldn’t really be there to begin with. The room sequences are quite detailed and attractive, despite being mostly labs, but the animation quality isn’t the best. Watching Tex walk around the room is like watching a one-legged penguin trying to prove they're not inebriated. He doesn’t look the least bit comfortable, and it doesn’t resemble his fast walk towards enemies in the side on shooting sequences in the slightest. I won’t be too harsh here though as overall the game looks and sounds pretty damn good.
Rating: 6

It's not a big thing, but it also annoyed me that items I'd already picked up still appeared in the room (the metal pole leaning against the wall in this instance)

Environment and Atmosphere
Mean Streets was highly influenced by Blade Runner, yet the actual world doesn’t feel like it in the slightest. Flying my speeder around should remind me of it, but the colour scheme and the lack of any other life whatsoever mars the affect. I guess it’s too much to ask for other vehicles to be flying around, but that sure would have made things less boring. The backdrops to the questioning sections are much more convincing, bringing the San Francisco landmarks to life in a way Manhunter 2 couldn’t achieve. For the most part I felt like a detective, having to deal with many of the things a real detective would have to do. One cool feature that helped on this front was being able to call on my secretary Vanessa and my informant Lee Chin whenever I needed to find someone. As mentioned earlier, I feel the dead ends are also a plus rather than an annoying negative, and I didn’t mind them at all. The atmosphere is certainly strange, which is mostly due to the futuristic setting containing many things we now consider to be retro, as well as the oddball characters (the two-headed Larry, the obese Delores, the one-eyed Ron) and humour. It all adds up to a unique and surprising experience, despite the repetition in the gameplay elements.
Rating: 6

Their purpose was very limited, but I still really liked having Vanessa and Lee Chin just a video call away

Dialogue and Acting
There’s more dialogue in Mean Streets than any other game on the playlist so far. That’s probably a sign of things to come, so I may have to alter my posting approach if I don’t want to get bogged down for a month at a time. Given the volume and how important dialogue is in the game, it’s testament to the writers that it remains interesting for the most part. This was achieved by giving each of the characters distinctive personalities and quirks, and by injecting heaps of humour into the mix. I was consistently surprised by how funny the game was, and the completely unnecessary yet rewarding details that were incorporated make the whole thing more satisfying than it would have been otherwise. We’re not quite at the point where I can actually consider acting as part of this category, since the real life actors are really just made up of repeating, cartoonish frames. It certainly beats static images, but shouldn’t be judged the way future FMV games in the series no doubt will be. In the end I think this category is one of the game’s strengths, despite the repetition of information that occurs as a result of the game mechanics.
Rating: 6

All the characters have their own wants and fears, and the images reflect their emotional state adequately

So that's 4 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 6 + 6 which equals 31 divided by 60 equals 51.6666, which is 52 when rounded up. I'm happy to see that Mean Streets has cracked the 50 mark despite having many aspects that deserve criticism. Since I personally took a lot of enjoyment out of the experience (probably more than some of the higher rated games), I'm also going to add another mark to the score.

Did anyone out there predict 53? Hmmm....yes! In fact, we have another tie on our hands between TBD and Alfred n the Fettuc. It's time for a draw to see who wins the first Space Quest Collection (containing Space Quest 1, 2 and 3!) I'm off to the Random Number Generator. If the result is odd, then TBD wins. If it's even, then Alfred n the Fettuc wins. And the number is...4! Congratulations Alfred n the Fettuc, the prize is yours. I've got your email address, so I'll send it across. Now, what the hell is Neuromancer all about!?

100 CAPs for Lars-Erik
•    Sponsor Award - 20 CAPs - For sponsoring the blog with free games
•    What’s Your Story Award – 20 CAPs – For answering the What’s Your Story questionnaire
•    Legend Award – 20 CAPs – For playing the game with me and finishing it without assistance
•    Sleep Deficiency Award – 10 CAPs – For correcting my Earthrise category error
•    Technical Assistance Award – 10 CAPs – For finding a solution to my screenshot issues
•    Kickstarter Award – 10 CAPs – For announcing a new adventure game on Kickstarter
•    Bad News Award – 5 CAPs – For informing me that I was going to have to put up with DOSBox again
•    Genius Award – 5 CAPs – For doing the obvious when I hadn’t even thought of it (checking reviews for release dates)

60 CAPs for Deimar
•    Mistress of the Dark Award – 30 CAPs – For solving my Elvira riddle, even if I didn’t realise it
•    Legend Award – 20 CAPs – For playing the game with me and finishing it without assistance
•    Mistress of the Dark Award (The Sequel) – 5 CAPs – For reminding me to include Elvira on the playlist
•    Attempted Help Award – 5 CAPs – For trying to help me with my screenshot issue

55 CAPs for Laukku
•    Death Gate Award – 30 CAPs – For solving my Death Gate riddle
•    Bloody Helpful Award – 10 CAPs – For alerting me to the fact I could check game files for release dates
•    Police Quest 2...no...1 Award – 10 CAPs – For alerting me to my complete stuff-up
•    Attempted Technical Assistance Award – 5 CAPs – For trying to help me with my screenshot issue

45 CAPs for Ilmari
•    Legend Award – 20 CAPs – For playing the game with me and finishing it without assistance
•    Bug Alert Award – 10 CAPs – For alerting me of potential item disappearance bugs
•    Les Manley Appreciation Award – 5 CAPs – For reminding me to include Les Manley on the playlist
•    Serious / Silly Evaluation Award – 5 CAPs – For categorising the playlist into Canageek’s language
•    Schimming Correction Award – 5 CAPs – For correcting my error...twice

30 CAPs for Canageek
•    Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For commenting about an adventure game sale on GOG
•    Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For commenting about an adventure game sale on Steam
•    Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For commenting about an adventure game sale on Steam
•    Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For commenting about an adventure game sale on Steam
•    Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For commenting about an adventure game sale on Steam
•    Serenity Denialist Award – 5 CAPs – For denying the existence of Serenity, for personal reasons

20 CAPs for Aperama
•    Legend Award – 20 CAPs – For playing the game with me and finishing it without assistance

20 CAPs for Reiko
•    What’s Your Story Award – 20 CAPs – For answering the What’s Your Story questionnaire

20 CAPs for Jarikith
•    True Companion Award – 5 CAPs – For informing me that Deimar had answered my riddle
•    Another Monkey Island Award – 5 CAPs – For posting about a Ron Gilbert rant
•    Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For commenting about an adventure game sale on Steam
•    Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For commenting about an adventure game sale on Steam

15 CAPs for TBD
•    Tex...Lower Award – 10 CAPs – For informing me of what Sylvia really said at the end
•    Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For commenting about an adventure game sale on GOG

10 CAPs for mpx
•    Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For commenting about an adventure game sale on GOG
•    Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For commenting about an adventure game sale on Steam

5 CAPS for boukensha
•    Non-Prediction Award – 5 CAPs – For not predicting I would need assistance

5 CAPs for Zenic Reverie
•    Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For commenting about an adventure game sale on GOG

5 CAPs for Corey Cole
•    Physics Beatdown Award – 5 CAPs – For telling me to stop my whinging over flight speeds of 1340 km/hr

5 CAPs for Draconus
•    Granny Smith Award – 5 CAPs – For starting the war to end all wars

5 CAPS for Josh
•    Kentucky Fried Movie Award – 5 CAPs – For picking the reference to Big Jim Slade

Game 31: Mean Streets - Won!

Tex Murphy Journal Entry 11: “I’m not going to waste too much time writing in this journal. Why would I when Sylvia waits for me in the bedroom! Things didn’t go exactly to plan today, but the end result couldn’t have been better. After getting the nav code for the MTC computer facility out of Bazil Mallory, and witnessing the deaths of Robert Knott and Big Jim Slade en route, I was taken captive by J. Saint Gideon as soon as I arrived. It was a great challenge, but I eventually figured out a way to escape, found the computer room, and set the Overlord project system to self-destruct. Sylvia got her million dollars and I got her, making us one very happy couple! Now, I have some…business to attend to.”

 

Yeah, well we'll see about that!

Well it took a total of sixteen and a half hours play time and no less than eleven gameplay posts, but I’ve completed Mean Streets. I think it’s safe to say that my tendency for thoroughness and the time it took to manually take 860 screenshots added at least two, probably three hours to the play time. My last post ended with me getting a solid lead that would likely lead me to the secret MTC computer facility, but I still had some detective work to do before I could follow it up. I now had a nav code for Melba Wiedbush, Stanford Demille, Harry Rice and even Robert Knott, but I was going to have to pay Sonny Fletcher a visit to find the one I really needed. Chief Security Officer and Law and Order Vice President, Bazil Mallory. It was he that could tell me where the facility was! Unsurprisingly, Sonny wasn’t willing to talk to me about Bazil, but $700 changed his mind: “Ya, I know where you can find him. He’s at NC 2713.”

 

Haha...I knew you'd talk! There's not much money can't buy.

Ignoring my excitement about finishing the game, I decided to visit each of the remaining nav codes by taking the shortest routes possible. That meant Melba Wiedbush’s home was my first stop, but it turned out to be a short one. Tex quickly realised Melba was “a complete airhead”, and apart from telling me that the mutants are “contaminating the water supply and that they’re bad dance partners”, offered nothing of value. My next location was Stanford Demille’s house, who turned out to be Law and Order’s corporate attorney. He made it clear that he wasn’t to be messed with! “Let me assure you that if you continue to invade and harass my client, with the wild and unfounded accusations, you’ll find yourself, your agency, and your client, though I do not know who would hire such a dirty, low life, blood sucking, private detective such as yourself, in court. Am I making myself clear?” Apparently he was, despite using way too many commas in one sentence, as Tex departed quickly with no further questions! The next lead on the list was Bazil Mallory, and after another standard shootout, I found myself face to face with him.

 

Melba: A dead end in more than one way

Bazil was completely unwilling to help me, but answered all of my questions after I threatened to punch his lights out. In the end he only had one useful thing to tell me: “MTC has a secret laboratory located on Alcatraz (NC 4550). We are developing a Mind Control Device which will help us rule the world!” So that’s two games in a row where the game’s climax begins on Alcatraz! What are the chances? It seemed very clear that the secret lab was where I needed to go, but I wanted to tie up the last remaining loose ends that I had. The first one I crossed off the list was Harry Rice, whom had appeared on Big Jim Slade’s hit list. This lead turned out to be another dead end though, as Harry had clearly suspected he was in trouble and left town. That left Robert Knott, the boss of Law and Order, who I really hadn’t expected to find at home. I fought my way past his goons and was indeed given the opportunity to question who I’d assumed would be behind project Overlord (although I did have a feeling that J. Saint Gideon was somehow involved after a few comments leads had recently made).

 

Another fan of Melba it seems!

I began questioning Knott about various things, but he wasn’t giving me much. I then asked him about J. Saint Gideon, to which he answered: “Gideon? Ask me about Gideon Enterprises, if you want to know the whole story. Then you’ll know who the real Mr. Big is!” I obliged, and was stunned when the sound of a gunshot spat out of my speakers. A shocked Knott now had a bullet hole in his forehead! Wow, I hadn’t expected that! It seemed that someone didn’t want me to find out what was really going on. I restored my game and asked different questions, but the result was always the same. Knott would be shot and killed after a few questions or even after the first one if I asked about certain topics. Therefore, with no other locations to check out, I made my way to the secret computer facility at NC 4550. I saved my game outside the building, and then unexpectedly received a fax from an unknown source: “If you’re looking for Big Jim Slade, you’ll find him at NC 4921. Come alone or there’s no meeting!”

 

Missed opportunity! It could have said: "he locates the trouble and shoots it."

I had a decision to make! Should I fly over to face Slade, or enter the facility to try to reach the computer system? It seemed pretty likely to me that I wasn’t going to be leaving the facility without completing my task, so probably wouldn’t get a chance later to see what Slade had to say for himself. For all I knew I’d get some required information out of him or even an item? Thankfully, Slade’s location wasn’t too far from the facility, but as soon as I exited my speeder, I found myself in a shootout. Once I’d fought my way through it, it quickly became apparent that the last guy I shot happened to be Big Jim Slade himself! “Slade stands in front of me with 6 of my slugs in him. He’s bleeding heavily, but he’s still got a smirk on his face. I notice he’s smoking a Camel cigarette. I walk up to him slowly, keeping my gun aimed at his heart. Looking at him makes me wonder when I last received a rabies vaccination.” I began asking Slade questions, but as well as offering me nothing I didn’t already know, he kept dying on me after only four of five questions. Eventually I decided the scene was only there for closure, and made my way back to the facility.

 

Big Jim Slade: Smiling right to the end!

“As I step out of my speeder, two Law & Order thugs jump out of the shadows. One of them slams the butt of his weapon against my head, and turns out my lights.” Well that wasn’t a very good start to my awesome triumph! When I woke up, there was a silhouette of a man in front of me, and a voice spoke the words: “Welcome Mr. Murphy. You were expected! I’m afraid I’ve been playing a game of chess with you. I knew someone would try to stop us from purifying this sick society, and I needed the passcards and passwords to make sure that didn’t happen. I ordered Knott and Slade to kill the scientists when their work on Project Overlord was done, and gather up the passcards. They didn’t have much luck finding them. I used you as a pawn to locate the cards for me. Now that I have them, nothing can stop Overlord from being implemented. We’ve planted microchips in key officials throughout business and government and they’re under our control. They, in turn, will control the population. We’ll rid society of all undesirables and purify the human race, and I’ll control mankind’s destiny.”

 

Oh yes, there will be blood!

I already figured the man in front of me was J. Saint Gideon, but his mention of chess made me sure of it. When I’d visited his mansion I’d found him sitting in front of a chess game. As is typical of any story involving the capture of the protagonist, Gideon decided he wouldn’t kill me. “Perhaps there could be a place for such a resourceful individual in my new Order...under my control of course. I’ll store you in a safe place until I decide what to do with you.” I was then taken to “an old, musty boiler room” that must once have provided all the heating on Alcatraz when it was a prison. I was going to have to find a way out of there, but there didn’t appear to be a time limit. I began by checking out the huge furnace at the back of the room, where I was able to interact with a sprinkler head, a furnace door, a door opener, a temperature gauge, and the furnace itself. I wasn’t able to reach the sprinkler head or open the furnace door, so I tried using the door opener. “You open the blast furnace from this close and the intense heat burns you to a crisp...game over.” Oh...shit...time to restore!

 

Now that's a serious furnace!

I went straight back to the furnace for my second attempt, but wasn’t able to do anything with the temperature gauge or the furnace either. I moved down to the boxes and found that looking at them revealed some piping and flanges, neither of which I was able to interact with. I had a bit more success at the table in the centre of the room, where I found a note reading: “Furnace safety instructions: 1) Use remote control panel to open furnace door when in operation. 2) Never leave furnace door open for extended periods; this constitutes a serious fire hazard.” So there was a way to open the furnace door that wouldn’t fry me! The only other item I found on the table was an apple core, but there was a floor grate next to it that I tried opening. To my surprise, Tex used the power drill I’d collected in the Law and Order office to remove the grating from the floor, but the resulting six inch hole was far too small to crawl through. With that part of the room explored, I walked over to the control panel in the bottom right corner. The panel had a switch labelled “Open / Close”, causing me to assume that it was the way to remotely open the furnace door. It was, but once again it didn’t end well!

 

 Um...get hole in the floor...ah...taste hole in the floor...no?

 

Even opening the furnace door remotely resulted in my death as the noxious fumes overwhelmed me. I restored again, and made my way over to the computer system on the right side of the room. There I found a panel and a view screen, so I tried opening the panel. It was locked, and I didn’t have the key, and looking at the view screen merely told me that it displayed the efficiency of the heating system. I wasn’t having much success at this point, but I made my way to the vent on the back wall to the right of the furnace, where I also discovered another panel. I tried to open the panel, but was told that I didn’t have the right tools to open it. Hmmm...that was concerning! Was I supposed to have collected a tool somewhere else in the game that would open the panel? I continued on, hoping that wasn’t the case, and found that I could open the vent with the slot screwdriver I’d found in Cal Davis’ apartment. Unfortunately, this opened up a shaft that was once again way too small to climb through!

 

Can you give me an idea what the right tools might be?

What was I missing here? I realised there was a section to the left of the furnace that I might be able to explore, and there I found a switch, a vent, and the door that separated me from the outside world. The switch was supposed to open the door, but unsurprisingly it was broken. I wasn’t able to interact with the door itself, so I tried opening the vent, hoping that this one would reveal a hole big enough for me to escape through. I was able to open it using the Phillips screwdriver I’d found in Ron Morgan’s cabin, and while the revealed 24 inch shaft looked promising, it soon narrowed into an unpassable 12 inches. What the hell? I’d explored the whole room and opened up three separate vents and gratings, but wasn’t able to get out. Doing anything with the furnace killed me, and the only things I hadn’t been able to do was open the panel on the computer system and the one on the back wall. It appeared to me that I needed whatever it was that would open that panel on the back wall, but where had I missed it! I considered visiting every location in the game that I could investigate and comb it for the missing tool, but before I set out on such a time consuming effort, I thought I would try exploring the room over again.

 

Oh you big tease you!

I’m thankful that I did, because this time I discovered that I could get a key by "moving" the boxes and an adjustable wrench by "opening" them. This might seem like a big oversight, but it was actually quite tricky. Once "looking" at the boxes had revealed the piping and the flanges, I’d not even considered that I would be able to move them or open them. I guess I’d thought looking at them had shown me what was in them in the first instance. Anyway, I took the adjustable wrench over to the panel on the back wall and removed it. There was some fire info inside that stated: “In case of fire, the thermally-activated control system will engage, turning on the sprinkler system and enabling automatic emergency fire fighting systems.” That didn’t really help me, so I went over the other panel and opened it with the key. Inside was a small box, within which I found an atmospheric purification mask! This was the solution I was after, and I now assumed that I would be able to open the furnace door while being unaffected by the noxious fumes.

 

So there was a key in the boxes. Is this like a quantum mechanics type of thing?

This assumption was correct, and flicking the switch caused the furnace door to open without killing me. Shortly afterwards the sprinkler system kicked in and a large robot entered the room. It very quickly rolled over to the furnace and switched it off, then left, leaving me to ponder what I might be supposed to do. I opened the furnace again and tried positioning myself close to the robot in the hope that I would be able to interact with it, but that idea fell flat. I then noticed that the robot briefly sat beneath a portion of the shower spray, and I then figured out I could make the robot pretty much sit still by continually opening the furnace door as soon as the robot closed it. Surely the idea was to keep the robot under the shower of water for a period of time until it malfunctioned! After keeping it there for about a minute, I gave up on that idea too. Long story short, after wracking my brain for ages, I eventually just tried flicking the switch then walking past the robot and out the door before it could leave and close it. I made it on my second attempt! So all I’d really needed to do to get out of the furnace room was get the key from the box, get the mask from the panel, turn on the furnace, and walk out! It’s strange, but I don’t appear to have been the only player that didn’t try what was actually pretty obvious, instead making the “puzzle” much more difficult than it really was.

 

I was very upset that future robots appear to be waterproof

At this point I was given a description of Tex fighting his way to the computer room, which was “a converted cell block filled with electronic equipment”. There was a large control panel and display screen, and the eight passcards that had been taken from me were very nicely just sitting on the table. Apparently “Mr. Big wanted them checked for authenticity”. Ignoring this far too fortunate to be true turn of events, I pressed the big red button labelled DESTRUCT, and four laser cannons dropped down from the ceiling and pointed at my head. I was given 60 seconds to insert all eight cards into the computer system and then enter the passwords. This was pretty straightforward, as I had all the passwords listed in my excel spreadsheet next to their respective colours. While I was typing them in, J. Saint Gideon appeared on the screen, begging me not to destroy his life’s work. He even promised to make me his partner if I stopped, but I finished the job and witnessed a satellite exploding in Earth’s orbit. With the satellite destroyed, Law and Order would no longer be able to control the people!

 

Gideon's life'S work is not to be underestimated. What is he, about 100?

A newspaper article was displayed onscreen with the headline “TEX SAVES WORLD”, and I was then told that the FED’s captured Gideon as he tried to flee. There was apparently a big parade in my honor, and President Michael J. Fox invited me to the White House as his special guest. Even better, I was given a private screening of Back to the Future 17! As good as all of this was, I was then told that Tex was feeling a bit down since Sylvia had been upset by his initial suspicions that she’d killed her father for the insurance money. He went to her house to apologise, topping it off by asking whether there was anything that he could do to make it up to her. A sultry looking Sylvia appeared onscreen to suggestively say “Yes, you can take me for a ride.” Mean Streets finished with Tex and Sylvia flying into the sunset, and I audibly heard the words “Oh Sylvia!” “Oh Tex...more!” “Oh Sylvia!” A rather corny way for the game to finish, but it’s all well in line with the intentionally cliché and silly occurrences that pervaded throughout. So there you have it! Mean Streets is done! Final rating will be up in the next couple of days, and I'm really not sure what to expect.

 

It was very satisfying to watch the satellite explode into a thousand pieces.

 

 

Why I thought you'd never ask! (Damn, Tex has done well for himself!)

 

 

The proverbial sunset wasn't merely proverbial in this instance!

Session Time: 2 hours 00 minutes
Total Time: 16 hours 30 minutes