Friday 31 May 2013

Game 32: Neuromancer - Packing Gaijin

Tricky Journal Entry 4: "I finally got myself a new deck! OK, so it's not an Ono-Sendai. It's not even cyberspace capable! It's a Moriyama Gaijin that at least will allow me to double the amount of warez I can install. Just as well too, as I've found quite a few people around town that have either skill chips or software for sale, including Julius Deane and Finn at Metro Holographix. If only I knew what I might need to counter the weirdness that is apparently going on in cyberpsace. Of course, that's not going to be an issue if I can't figure out how to make some easy cash around here and get jack myself in."


There are plenty of stores and establishments to visit in Neuromancer

Before I kick off this post, I should mention that I restarted the game on resumption, quickly replaying through all the things of note that I’d achieved so far. The main difference this time around was that I had no real need to access the majority of the bases (since I'd either gained nothing from them or had already recorded the data I needed in my spreadsheet), and therefore saved quite a bit of time and money. I also gained second level access to Cheap Hotel this time around, and I was able to wipe my entire bill without paying a cent, just as I’d hoped. This meant that I’d pulled together a pretty large sum of cash by the time I reached the point I finished my last session at ($11210 to be precise), despite having once again purchased a $1000 Hardware Repair chip from Shiva. Before I went looking for places to spend it, I wanted to check out the final couple of bases I knew about using my critically panned UBX deck. I also wanted to try out the Scout 1.0 skill now that Ilmari had informed me how to use it. It turns out that once I’m in a base, I can access my software by pulling up my inventory. This wasn’t made particularly obvious in the manual, and I hadn’t even considered trying it. Perhaps I would have stumbled across it by accident at some point, but in all likelihood I would have gone on and become frustrated once I really needed to use my software when in bases or cyberspace.


Thank you Ilmari! I'd started to think it just wasn't possible.

I began my next session by accessing each of the bases I’d already visited to see just how many access levels they had, finding that Cheap Hotel, Regular Fellows and Consumer Review all had 2, while Asano Computing and World Chess Confederation had 3. That meant that the only base I’d accessed all levels on was Cheap Hotel. With my Scouting done, I tried to access the Panther Modern base, for which Akiko the masseuse had given me the password. My attempt failed with an “Incompatible link” error! The same thing happened when I tried to get into the Bank of Zurich (which once again Akiko had told me about) and also for the Psychologist service. It seemed that Comlink 1.0 had its limitations! I’d been worried that this post was going to end up like the last one, taken up by text-filled images of base visits, but it turned out I was free to continue my exploration of Chiba. The first thing I wanted to do was go back to Cheap Hotel now that I’d paid off my bill. I wasn’t kicked out this time, and as soon as I arrived I was informed that “Your room service order is delivered to you.” There was no-one around to talk to, so I decided to access the PAX to see if there were any new messages on the bulletin board. There was!


Through some sort of telekinesis apparently

Anonymous Bosch, the person that had sent me a message telling me that Shiva had my cryptology chip, had written again to apologise for missing me at the Gentleman Loser. Their reason was disturbing to say the least, but at least they organised another catchup. “Had to sell my pancreas at the Body Shop to raise some cash. Catch you next time. Maybe at Gridpoint?” I wrote that into my spreadsheet and opened up the Night City News to see what was happening in the world. There was a new article with the headline “VAGRANT PAYS HOTEL BILL”! Apparently the owner of Cheap Hotel had called a news conference to report that “Cowboy Tricky has finally paid his hotel bill”! This not only brought a smile to my face, it also told me that I was not in a static environment where my actions had no influence. It’s always satisfying to feel like an active part of a game world, so I hoped that this little bit of humour wasn’t a one off. That was all the news for the day, so I left the hotel, keen to check out some new locations. It felt like it had been ages since I’d hit the street and wandered around!


It was a slow news day obviously!

I reached a section of the street where there was a door to my left and my right, yet the door to Mass Biolabs to my left was locked. I therefore took the door on the right and found myself in the office of Julius Deane. The description warned me that I got “the impression that Julius has a gun pointed at you under the desk”, so I vowed not to mess with this guy. Julius told me that he dealt “in exotic hardware and information”, so I checked out my dialogue options. I could ask him what he knew about a topic of my choosing, or I could say “My friends tell me that someone is trying to kill me. Heard anything?” This seemed a pretty strange thing to say, since no-one had said anything of the sort to me. I chose it anyway, and Julius responded with “Not always easy to know who your friends are, is it?” I was then able to go one step further: “Maybe the people from Cheap Hotel are after me? I ran up a big bill there.”, to which Julius responded with “Of course, if I did hear something, I might not be able to tell you. Biz being what it is, you understand.” No, I didn’t understand quite frankly, but I had a think about what I might be able to ask the guy about.


Julius is a mysterious character, but not as mysterious as the things I said to him

Since he’d told me that he dealt in exotic hardware and information, they seemed like good topics to ask him about. When questioned about hardware, he told me he only had one thing on offer right now, which was a gas mask for $300. I was cashed up, so I bought it. I then asked him about information, but he apparently didn’t know anything about that. I didn’t know what else to do, so I moved on. At the end of the street was the Chiba City Spaceport, where two “JAL shuttles are waiting on the launch pads”. There was a ticket agent offering to sell me tickets too, although I couldn’t help being a tad concerned when I witnessed another craft crash and burn on the runway through the glass windows (another very funny touch!). I was keen to know where I might be able to travel to, so I spoke to the woman at the counter. I had the choice of flying to Freeside for $1000 or to Zion Cluster for $500. I knew that I was going to be spending time in cyberspace in Neuromancer, but I never expected to be travelling into space itself! I decided not to go to either destination until I’d thoroughly checked out Chiba, and left the spaceport.


Well that hardly fills me with confidence!

The next location I entered was one called Metro Holographix. Inside was the owner Finn, who was described as having a head that “looks like it was designed in a wind tunnel”. Finn asked me whether I needed any chips or software, and informed me that he’d “just got some new stuff from those bridge-and-tunnel kids in Jersey”, whatever that meant. My main dialogue options were “Yeah, Finn, I’m looking for some hot softwarez” and “I need a scan, Finn. Then maybe I’ll buy something.” I didn’t know what exactly he would be scanning for, but it seemed to be something I should do. “Scanned when you came in. No implants, no biological. You’re clean.” I assumed he wasn’t looking for skill chips when he’s mentioned implants, as I already had two of those in my socket. I was pretty keen to get some new chips and software, so I asked to see what he had. He had two skill chips for sale, being Icebreaking and Debug for $1000 each, and he had five bits of software for sale, being Decoder, BlowTorch, Drill, Probe and Comlink 1.0, ranging in price from $100 to $1500! There I was thinking I’d collected quite a bit of cash and now I’d need to spend $5500 to get everything Finn was offering me!


It's nice to have lots of things to buy, but not so nice when you don't really know what they do

I should mention at this point that the manual contains a list of skill chips, along with their purpose, but no list of software. It also states clearly that the skill chip list is not exhaustive, so I will no doubt come across some that I’ll have to figure out on my own. I looked up the two that Finn was selling and found that Debug “repairs damaged software in your deck” and Ice Breaking is “used at the beginning of an ICE combat session in cyberspace. The skill applies your previous experience with ICE breaking to locate weaker points in the ICE protection, making it easier to break in.” There’s a whole other section on ICE and ICE Breakers in the manual, but I’ll cover that off when I reach cyberspace. I really had no idea which skill(s) or software(s) would be required in the earlier parts of the game, so was pretty flummoxed about what to do. I ended up deciding to concentrate on “real world” stuff for now, as it looked like it would be a while before I’d need any of the cyberspace stuff. I saved my game, purchased Decoder, BlowTorch, Drill and Probe, and then tried operating them all in the real world. I had to do this in two separate loads, as my UXB deck could only handle five bits of software on it at once. It turned out that all four of the bits of software can only be used in cyberspace, so I restored my game and only purchased the Debug skill chip for now.


Well fancy that! A 1.0 version that's free of bugs!

I implanted and then operated the Debug skill, checking all of my software (Comlink 1.0, Battle Chess 2.0 and Scout 1.0) for bugs. Finding none, I left Metro Holographix and continued to travel east. I soon found myself with three establishments that I could enter, being Crazy Edo’s Used Hardware Emporium, Asano Computing and House of Pong. I entered Crazy Edo’s, mainly because I had the caviar he wanted and was keen to trade it for software. The salesman immediately noticed that I had it in my possession and asked me if I still wanted to trade it. I agreed to do so, and Crazy Edo very helpfully gave me Comlink 2.0! I wondered whether that would allow me to access the bases I’d not been able to earlier in the session, but decided to see what else was available in the store first. Crazy Edo reminded me that his “prices are much better than that pig, Asano, can do”, so I agreed to see his current inventory. Noticeably, none of his used decks were cyberspace-capable, but there were quite a few that I could afford.


Crazy Edo seems to have a fetish for caviar!

I figured there would be no point buying a deck with a RAM of 5, since I was very soon going to install more software than that would allow for. That ruled out the Blue Light Special and the Hiki Gaeru, but there were six other decks on offer that had a RAM of 10 or more. The first of them was the Gaijin, which had a RAM of 10 and was priced at $3600. The next cheapest model was the ZXB, but that was twice as much with the same amount of RAM. If I was going to purchase a new deck, the Gaijin seemed a decent bet, particularly as the Consumer Review base had described the manufacturer (Moriyama) as “very reliable with a solid line of matrix simulators” and “a good buy for the amateur cyberspace enthusiast”. I bought one, despite having no idea whether I should really be saving my cash for a cyberspace-capable deck or not. OK, I now had a better deck, with Comlink 2.0 installed, and I still had $6310 left up my sleeve. I’d have to find a location with a jack to try it out, so I instead moved on to Asano Computing, hoping I didn’t find a better deal there than the one I just accepted!


I certainly won't be touching the ZXB, as it's the followup to the UXB

Asano’s shop had all the latest models, and “gleaming new cyberdecks line the display shelves”. Clearly this was the place to go when I need a top of the line cyberspace-capable deck down the track. I took a look at what was available, and was shocked to find he was selling a deck with a RAM of 10 for only $1000! My shock subsided though when I realised it was the dreaded Blue Light Special that Consumer Review had put on the Flatline list, noting that “the bugs in this system are subtle and may not appear for some time” and that “the Blue Light Special should be considered armed and dangerous”. Feeling better about my purchase, I soon discovered that the Gaijin was priced at $3600 here too, and once again seemed the most cost effective deck for my current needs and cash position. I certainly wan’t going to buy a cyberdeck for a while, as the cheapest one was the Ono-Sendai Cyberspace II at $18000. I left Asano’s and headed for House of Pong, but you’ll have to wait until next post to read about the craziness that occurred there.


I'm going to go across the street, and get you some orange sherbert!

Session Time: 0 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 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!

32 comments:

  1. Only two hours in and four game play posts already! I assume once you start hitting cyberspace your pph (posts per hour) will rapidly decrease though.

    It's fascinating to see how divergent our playthroughs are, I ended up doing a pretty different route than what you've done so far.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Neuromancer appears to be pretty open with many optional elements. I'd actually like to know, if you can finish the game without certain things - say, without using Plorefcnpr-cebtenz (gurer'f ng yrnfg ybg bs zbarl gb or sbhaq, ohg vg jbhyq erdhver pnershy fcraqvat) or without Rnfl Evqre (lbh pbhyqa'g trg Plorerlrf be gur cebtenzf va XTO-onfr).

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    2. Yes, it would be interesting to see, but there's no way I'm playing through it again to find out. Not stopping you though if you want to volunteer. ;)

      V jbhyq guvax gur Plorerlrf ner bcgvbany ng yrnfg, nf sne nf V xabj vg'f bayl na rkcnaqrq qrpx. Nygubhtu V qba'g xabj vs fbzrguvat ryfr jbhyq unccra jvgu gur vfynaq cneg vs lbh unq na rkgreany qrpx vafgrnq.

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    3. No thanks, I've also had my share of Neuromancer for a while: let me see in a couple of years :)

      BTW, what does the book say about how the logging into cyberspace is supposed to happen? Are there some virtual reality glasses or is it more like a direct link to brain?

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    4. Direct link; That was how Chase was crippled, and why Black ICE can kill.

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  2. Well, looks like I've missed quite a bit. Skills from Finn and a gas mask from Julius. I guess I've been asking the wrong questions.

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    1. I definitely can't say at this point that I've been able to play through the game without help. I keep thinking, "I've passed the point you're covering," but keeping running into bits of information I seem to have overlooked.

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    2. When playing along with Trickster on one of the earlier games I had to stop reading his posts until I catched up.

      The problem with Neuromancer is that it har a really steep inital learning curve, but when it finally clicks the rest is far too easy.

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    3. Part of the reason why Neuromancer is a bit difficult to start is that there’s so much information that you are bound to disregard something important as meaningless chitchat or just another advertisement. A general advice in the beginning stages could be that if you appear to be stuck, check out whether you’ve ignored some important message or line of dialogue.

      Anyone have any ideas what the whole ”friends tell me that someone is trying to kill me” -dialogue was all about? Is it some obscure quote from the book?

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    4. In my playthrough I didn't stumble upon any information that would explain that comment either, so I'd guess it just was from the book. The first part of the book moves along because he heard a guy named Wage which he owns money wants him with a hole in the head.

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  3. http://www.gog.com/promo/activision_weekend_promo_310513

    Activision Weekend promo on GOG...

    You can buy lot of Sierra classic Point and Click games for 50 % lower price than usual :)

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  4. And The Night of Rabbit is released on GOG :)

    http://www.gog.com/gamecard/the_night_of_the_rabbit

    What's cool about it:
    It’s a story-driven exploration/adventure from Matthias Kempke, who believes that game design is all about creating new worlds to be explored by players.
    Multi-layered story that starts out light-hearted and funny, but which shifts to a dramatic and thought-provoking tone over the 20 hours of gameplay.
    The animal people who populate the game were originally developed in short stories written by game creator; these stories are included as the in-game bonuses.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The humble weekly deal is lots of adventure games, and some (or all) of the money can go to the EFF or Child's Play.

    Adventure Games:
    The critically acclaimed The Walking Dead (My brother put it as one of the best games he's ever played, and one of the most emotionally moving)

    Back to the Future, The Game

    Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse

    Hector: Badge of Carnage

    Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures

    So 19 episodes of adventure games, plus some others, for under $5 (as of when I'm writing this: Pay what you want, and if you beat the average then you get more games. As a result, the average goes up over time).

    http://www.humblebundle.com/weekly

    As a note: If you are buying this bundle, you can customize how much each publisher, charity and the humble bundle get from your purchase. As my brother has cancer, and greatly benefited from the outlet games gave him when he was at his most sick, I'd appreciate it if you could leave some of that to Child's Play, or even move their percentage up a little bit. Thank you.

    As a note he is doing really well, and is done hospital chemo treatments and is now on a low dose that he can take at home.

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    Replies
    1. Happy to hear your brother's better, I'll keep my fingers crossed that your future will be even more positive.

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  6. Sounds like you're making progress and having fun :)

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  7. The Swapper is on sale on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/231160/

    Also: A NEW KICKSTARTER APPEARS: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1949537745/armikrog?ref=live

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    Replies
    1. I totally missed this post. I've heard great things about Neverhood, so this is good news.

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  8. I think I may have a bug running DOSBox 0.74.

    Nsgre trggvat n ebz, qbrfa'g frrz gb znggre juvpu bar, jurarire V npgvingr vg gur tnzr penfurf gb QBF cebzcg. Vg qbrfa'g frrz yvxr nalbar ryfr unq guvf vffhr, fb vf vg gur tnzr qbjaybnq V unir be guvf irefvba bs QO?

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    Replies
    1. Why on earth was that ROT13ed? I take it force of habit?

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    2. Found another copy of the game, and tried version 0.70 DOSbox, same issue. Maybe it's in my save game. :/

      I'm a bit frustrated again as I can't dhvgr oernx vagb gur arkg nern (guerr uhaqerq vf n ovt whzc), naq V unir n srryvat fbzr nqqvgvbany vasbezngvba sebz gur EBZf jbhyq uryc zr haqrefgnaq jung'f unccravat. Rvgure gung be gur EBZf unir fbzr fxvyyf gb znxr gur tnzr n ovg rnfvre. Nygubhtu, znlor V'z zvffvat fbzrguvat ntnva.

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    3. Read a FAQ... Trickster probably won't have this issue:

      Explanation of the bug: Sbhaq bhg V qvqa'g npghnyyl unir n ebz. Gur oht unccraf vs lbh gel gb npprff gur ebz nsgre lbh unir n pbqr ol npprffvat gur frafr arg onfr, ohg orsber lbh npghnyyl trg gur ebz. Nsgre trggvat bar, V ernyyl jbaqre jung gur ovt qrny vf va gur svefg cynpr - gurl qba'g frrz gb unir zhpu orarsvg.

      Found another bug, qbrfa'g penfu. Vs lbh'er va plorefcnpr naq hfr lbhe pbzyvax gb ragre gur yvax cbeg frpgvba, ohg rkvg bhg orsber ragrevat n yvax (RFP xrl) gur tnzr ab ybatre frrf lbh nf va plore fcnpr. Guvf pnhfrf VPR oernxref naq fhpu abg gb shapgvba.

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    4. This did happen to me once, although I really do think I had the ROM Construct installed at the time. It never happened again, so I didn't worry about it.

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  9. Because it mentions a point in the game that Trickster hasn't reached yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hmmm, the above should be a response to Canageek... oh well.

      I beat the game. It got a LOT easier V ernq gung SND naq gevccrq bire gur snpg gung V jnfa'g hfvat gur vpr oernxre fxvyy ng nyy. Vg frrzf gb znkvzvmr qnzntr sbe rnpu nggnpx, juvpu vf ernyyl urycshy. V jnf fgehttyvat va gur nern arkg gb tevqcbvag hagvy V hfrq gung fxvyy. Naljnl, Gevpxfgre fubhyqa'g unir zhpu vffhr jvgu guvf tnzr. Nqqvat vg nyy hc, vg jnf nobhg fvkgrra gb rvtugrra ubhef fvapr V oyhaqrerq guebhtu zbfg bs vg. Nyfb, V svtherq bhg gur hfr sbe nezbenyy ng gur fnzr gvzr. V gubhtug vg cebgrpgrq vafgrnq bs urnyrq.

      Onetnvavat vf hfryrff. V gevrq vg rireljurer V pbhyq guvax jvgu ab rssrpg. V thrff rirelbar nyernql unf gur fxvyy.

      Vpr oernxre'f hfr vf uneqyl boivbhf. V qvqa'g frr n terng vapernfr be zrffntr rneyl ba vaqvpngvat vg urycrq. V gbbx guvf nf lrg nabgure oht naq arire ybbxrq ng vg ntnva.

      Uneqjner ercnve unf yvzvgrq gb ab hfr. Bayl gvzr V sbhaq vg hfrshy vf vs lbhe HKO oernxf. V'ir arire unq n hfr sbe guvf bapr V ercnverq gur qrpx nsgre trggvat sbe serr sebz Fuva. Vs V cnvq gur 100 naq tnir gur gvpxrg gurer jnf ab arrq gb ercnve vg.

      Fbcuvfgel fbzrubj jenccrq onpx gb n fxvyy bs bar. Guvf znl or eryngrq gb nabgure oht V sbhaq jurer vs lbh vzcynag n fxvyy puvc bs n fxvyy lbh nyernql unir, vg trgf frg gb yriry bar. Vg'f cbffvoyr gur tnzr tvirf lbh guvf fxvyy ng gur raq va pnfr lbh arire tbg vg.

      Rinfvba vf hfryrff. Vg'f cebuvovgviryl rkcrafvir sbe zbfg bs gur tnzr; bapr lbh fgneg xvyyvat nv'f gurl'er cngurgvpnyyl rnfl gung ehaavat njnl vfa'g urycshy.

      Cflpubnanylfvf jnf vagrerfgvat va gur ortvaavat, ohg gura orpbzrf hfryrff. Gur yriry sbhe hctenqr sebz Ghevat gheaf pnhfrf vg gb ab ybatre shapgvba ba nal nv. Yriry bar bayl jbexf ba gur svefg 3 nv'f.

      Mra vf n terng vqrn, naq orsber V sbhaq nyy gur yriry svir hctenqrf V hfrq vg. Bapr yriry svir vf ernpurq rnpu nv tbrf qbja va sbhe be svir uvgf, juvpu qbrfa'g rira trg zr qbja gb lryybj urnygu.

      Pbcgnyx yriry sbhe vf hfryrff. V gubhtug V jnf tbvat gb or noyr gb trg fbzr qvfpbhagf be ebhtu fbzr crbcyr hc nf n fravbe frn ntrag, ohg ab fhpu yhpx.

      Fbzr vgrzf unir ab hfr nf sne nf V pna gryy: tnf znfx naq fnxr. V pna jrne gur znfx, ohg vg qbrfa'g frrz gb qb nalguvat. Fnxr vf pbzcyrgryl jvgubhg zrevg.

      Purff orpbzrf hfryrff nsgre gur svefg gjb jvaf. V rira svaq yriry sbhe fbsgjner nsgre orngvat Zbecul, ohg vg'f abg nyybjrq va gur gbheanzrag. Gung frrzf irel fgenatr. Gurer'f ab jnl gb ernpu znk enax.

      Jung vf jvgu gur fhqqra zbgureybnq bs perqvgf jvgu abguvat gb fcraq vg ba? V qvqa'g rira obgure jvgu gur EBZ va gur raq, juvpu jnf gevccvat zr hc rneyvre. Plorerlrf fbhaqrq fpnel jvgu gur thneq ivehf, fb V qvqa'g tb gb purpx bhg Znnf. Jung jnf jvgu nyy gur hfryrff fbsgjner "vapbzcngvoyr qrpx" zrffntrf? Ner gubfr hfrshy sbe nalguvat? Jul unir gurz?

      Gur tnzr srryf n ovg hasvavfurq. N ybg bs ybfr-raqf naq vzpbzcyrgr fgbelyvarf. V jbhyq unir yvxrq n yvggyr zber vaibyirzrag guebhtubhg gur ragver tnzr.

      Well, this post should be good enough, no need for a full blog post. Ybbxvat onpx ba zl fpber V guvax V thrffrq gb uvtu, bu jryy.

      Delete
    2. Congratulations, I thought you were on the right track the last we heard from you! :)

      It seems you may have found something that I totally overlooked: the VPR oernxre fxvyy...V jnf haqre gur vzcerffvba gung vg jnf n cnffvir gung frg gur qnzntr bs lbhe fbsgjnerm? Nygubhtu jura guvaxvat nobhg vg V'z abg fher jung tnir zr gung vzcerffvba. Va nal pnfr, V jrag guebhtu gur tnzr jvgubhg npgviryl hfvat gur fxvyy, pna nalbar pbasvez rvgure jnl?

      Gur tnf znfx vf hfrq gb trg gur Plorerlrf, vg'f ubj lbh nibvq gur thneq ivehf. Ng yrnfg jr tbg n pbasvezngvba gur gur Plorerlrf nera'g arrqrq gb svavfu gur tnzr.

      OnggyrPurff 4.0 pna or hfrq ba gur Cunagbz N.V. gb nibvq svtugvat uvz. Vs lbh hfr vg ur'yy whfg yrg lbh va vafgrnq nf ur'f n purff snangvp.

      Naq V abgvprq gur fnzr nf lbh; gur shegure lbh tbg va gur tnzr, gur zber "guvf erpbeq vf orvat rqvgrq" be "guvf ragel vf hasvavfurq" zrffntrf lbh trg jura ernqvat negvpyrf ba gur onfrf, gur ynfg cneg bs gur tnzr frrzf ernyyl ehfurq.

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    3. Congratulations on my part also! Now we'll just have to wait for Trickster.

      Onetnvavat-fxvyy: V gubhtug vg nyybjf lbh gb znxr anfgl pbzzragf nobhg Penml Rqb ng Nfnab'f, juvpu jvyy znxr lbh trg fbzr qvfpbhag.

      VPR oernxre fxvyy: V hfrq vg va gur ortvaavat bs rirel onggyr, whfg gb or fher, fb V pnaabg ernyyl pbasvez, ubj vg nssrpgf onggyr.

      Qvq nalbar svaq nal hfr sbe Zvzvpf? Naq jnf V gur bayl bar gnxvat gur ebnq gevc guebhtu Mrba?

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    4. Anu, V jnf noyr gb qb gung jvgubhg gur onetnvavat fxvyy. Qba'g xabj vs lbh tbg orggre cevprf guna zr gubhtu.

      Gurer jnf fbzr uvagf ba bar bs gur onfrf nobhg jung gurl jrer fhccbfrq gb qb jvgu gur zvzvpf, ohg V arire svtherq vg bhg.

      Naq V arire jrag gb Mvba. Fvapr V fghzoyrq hcba Serrfvqr svefg naq nsgre gung arire sbhaq nal arrq gb tb naljurer ryfr bgure guna onpx ubzr V sbetbg gb tb gurer gb gnxr n ybbx.

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    5. "Qvq nalbar svaq nal hfr sbe Zvzvpf? Naq jnf V gur bayl bar gnxvat gur ebnq gevc guebhtu Mrba?"
      Zvzvpf pna or hfrq gb ragre onfrf jvgubhg svtugvat gur VPR. Yriry 1 yrgf lbh vagb nal onfr va nern 0, naq yriry 2 yrgf lbh vagb nal onfr va nern 1. Gur rkprcgvba vf vs gurer'f na NV thneqvat gur onfr, gura vg jba'g jbex. Whfg hfr vg nf na nggnpx ba gur onfr, bcgvba 1 sbe nern 0 naq bcgvba 2 sbe nern 1. Abg ragveryl hfrshy.

      V gbbx gur fvqr gevc guebhtu Mvba, ohg hayrff lbh tb gurer zber guna gjvpr vg qbrfa'g jbex bhg gb nalguvat ohg jnfgrq gvzr(bar gubhfnaq + svir uhaqerq if bar gubhfnaq sbe bar gvpxrg fgenvtug gb serrfvqr). V nfxrq nobhg n ohapu bs gbcvpf, ohg qvqa'g trg nal hfrshy vasbezngvba.

      VPR oernxre znl bayl or hfrshy ng gur ortvaavat; V whfg fgnegrq orvat cnenabvq nobhg hfvat vg orsber rirel nggnpx. Gurer ernyyl jnfa'g rabhtu srrqonpx gb fnl vs gung jnf n tbbq vqrn be abg. V gubhtug vg jnf cnffvir gbb, ohg V fnj n znexrq qvssrerapr orgjrra hfvat vg naq abg. V qba'g xabj ubj lbh tbg cnfg nal bs gur nern 5 onfrf jvgubhg vg. Rira hfvat wnzzvrf, fybj, ivehf, oernxref, wnzzvrf, nezbe, oernxref, ivehf, rgp. (nf bccbfrq gb fybj, ivehf, oernxref, wnzzvrf, juvpu V sbhaq jnf fybjre nsgre trggvat yriry guerr wnzzvrf), V pbhyqa'g oernx guebhtu naq jbhyq syngyvar orsber frrvat erq qnzntr ba gurz.

      Znlor V jnfa'g bcgvzvmvat zl nggnpxf gubhtu, nf V'q nyjnlf zvk gurz hc jvgubhg ercrngvat. Nppbeqvat gb bar snd vg gnxrf n srj nggnpxf orsber gur vpr gnxrf yrff qnzntr sebz n cnegvphyne nggnpx, gura gurve jrnxarff punatrf gb nabgure enaqbz oernxre.

      Tynq gurer'f n hfr sbe gur tnf znfx. Qbrf Plorerlrf qb nalguvat bgure guna yrg lbh unir zber enz? Gurer jnf gung ehzbe bs n fcrpvny qrpx gung jbhyq ghea oynzzb vagb n hfrshy oernxre. Pbhyq vg or gung vg npghnyyl jbexf vs hfvat Plorerlrf?

      Fgvyy pna'g svther nalguvat hfrshy sbe gur fnxr. (Pna'g rira qevax vg.)

      Ynfgyl, gunaxf sbe gur uryc thlf. Vg jbhyq unir gnxra znal zber sehfgengvat ubhef guna V unir gb trg guebhtu guvf bar nybar. V bayl hfrq gjb guvatf sebz gur SND gb trg cnfg zl ynfg zragny oybpx. Gur snpg gung V unqa'g npghnyyl tbggra gur ebz lrg, naq gur hfrshyarff bs npghnyyl hfvat vpr oernxre fxvyy. Pna'g jnvg gb frr ubj Gevpxfgre cebterffrf abj.

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    6. Mvba: "(bar gubhfnaq + svir uhaqerq if bar gubhfnaq sbe bar gvpxrg fgenvtug gb serrfvqr)" V qvqa'g guvax enfgnsnevf punetrq lbh nalguvat vs gurl gbbx lbh gb Serrfvqr, fb vg jnf yvxr svir uhaqerq sbe gur jubyr gevc if. bar gubhfnaq sbe gur fgenvtug ebhgr? Gur bayl cvrpr bs hfrshy vasbezngvba V tbg sebz gur thl jnf gur pbqr gb gur rnfgrea onax inhyg ng Serrfvqr.

      Plorerlrf: Whfg zber enz, be ng yrnfg V pbhyqa'g frr nal bgure qvssrerapr. Gura ntnva, V unq qryrgrq Oynzzb n ybat gvzr ntb, fb V pbhyqa'g ernyyl grfg vg.

      Vagrerfgvat gubhtug: Cebtenz pnyyrq XTO gnxrf lbh qverpgyl gb gur XTO qngnonfr. Pbhyq vg jbex jvgubhg Rnfl Evqre? Gura lbh jbhyq unir npprff gb XTO/Znnf Ovbynof nern jvgubhg Rnfl Evqre.

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    7. Mvba: Gur pbqr zvtug or hfrshy, ohg V arire arrqrq vg. Qbrfa'g sbetrg, 1000 sbe Zhfvpvnafuvc. Hayrff gurer'f nabgure jnl gb trg n serr evqr.

      Plorerlrf: Pbasvezrq vg qbrfa'g uryc jvgu Oynzzb. Znlor gung jnf nabgure cyna gung sryy guebhtu.

      Vagrerfgvat gubhtug: V pna pbasvez XTO jbexf jvgubhg RnflEvqre. Hayrff V unyyhpvangrq gur rkcrevrapr, V unq obgu ng gur fnzr gvzr, naq V guvax V hfrq XTO (va gur zvqqyr bs n svtug ab yrff) orsber V ghearq ba gur evqre.

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  10. Actually the Bargaining skill is useful in one place: Body Parts establishment. It gives a huge discount for re-buying own parts.

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  11. Sorry for popping in years after the fact, but I can explain the "bridge and tunnel kids" line. New York City is connected to New Jersey by both the Holland Tunnel and George Washington Bridge, and NYC residents disparagingly call the people who commute for work via those routes the "bridge and tunnel" crowd.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_and_tunnel

    Great writeup of one of my favorite games!

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