I've been trying to get those items since my last post, and can only find one of them (green security card, from the Nebulon on the second floor of GDC). Completely stuck now.
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D-L-T Sun Nov 10 22:59:22 2013
@ Volden
The list of things which you need to have done to complete the book with the 'best' ending is reasonably massive. Those items are only about half of it...
I would suggest that you concentrate on...
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working out what to do with the Robot's note.
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What does the Robot keep telling you?
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Where have you seen this elsewhere?
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?...taht ekil etiuq nettirw ton ebyaM
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Once you have done that, hopefully you know a bit more about what you need to do.
Unlucky Mon Nov 11 05:56:11 2013
I haven't really progressed any further in Return To G15-275 since my last post either. The spoiler I asked for really didn't help at all
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Since my main fear was that going through the blue and green keycard rooms "properly" involved not losing the keycards, or that there was a producive use of the dispatcher and it wasn't just a convenient exit after getting caught by the security guard.
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So I'll probably just have to wait for the game book to come out and spoil myself that way.
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I assembled the golden watch fully. I got the fake ID and the suit, and have everything I need to ensure a flawless victory against the deathbot in the core. However, I still don't have a way to get past the blender, and I've never had any item that prompts dialog from Mumpus. I have never found a use for the Flame Brooch. I don't get insta-killed by junkies at days end, so I'm assuming I haven't made the gamebook unbeatable, but I'm still out of ideas on how to get further.
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D-L-T Mon Nov 11 06:19:01 2013
@unlucky:
I think you're actually very, very close. You are missing a couple of key pieces of information, one of which can only be discovered using an item you obviously haven't found yet, and the other of which can be discovered somewhere in town...
More information... Spoiler...
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* The Yellow security card, like the blue and green ones, is single use, and one of its possible uses gives you access to the information needed to properly use the flame brooch.
However, as I said, it's single use, and has 3 different possible uses (so unfortunately you'll have to "guess" correctly...).
the yellow security card can be found...
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somewhere on level 1 of the GDC building. You need to make a couple of correct choices to find it. further hint: it's not...
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... in "staff only". So don't waste time trying different prgrams on the viewscreen.
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You'll need to find a use for an item obtained on level 2 of the GDC building in order to make use of the yellow security card.
Also... Don't assemble the golden watch until AFTER you've used the flame brooch (once you discover that). If the watch is assembled before you use the brooch, you won't be able to achieve the "best" ending.
* the dialog with mumpus only has one prerequisite (other than the breathing mask), and it's not an item in your inventory.
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you need to gain information about mumpus by making the correct menu choices at the posh restaurant.
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D-L-T Mon Nov 11 06:31:32 2013
@ unlucky: Oh and one other thing, after you discover how to use the flame brooch...
To achieve the best ending,
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you'll need to have received your "birthday present". If you haven't yet gotten that, then at least that much is not yet done. As far as I can tell...
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to get the best ending, you need to have done five things before the 'final' confrontation with the Tinypus, before you enter the blender room. One of these is talk to mumpus. Another of these is get your birthday present. The other three are all pieces of information discovered in various places...
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One is somewhere in manufacturing. A second is somewhere on level 1 of GDC. The third I discovered at the restaurant, but Some Things Ulysses has said suggests to me that the information I obtained at the restaurant can be gained from elsewhere as well.
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Unlucky Mon Nov 11 09:01:24 2013
Well,
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I found the yellow keycard. I most assuredly would have never found it had I not been pointed in that direction, having already explored there numerous times. I have to say, I was very disappointed. The solution seems to be that I have to visit features of the lounge in a very specific order, and for some reason the character can't feel a keycard under his butt unless he's sitting down immedately after getting a drink of water. There is no logic to the order of these events, other than purposeful malicious design. I can think of a few other similar examples of this.
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That said, I've finished the game book. I'm assuming I didn't get the best ending.
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I'm still not sure what I was supposed to learn from Mumpus that was crucial to finishing the book (Which I'm starting to think I just glossed over rather than failed to trigger; I've tried all meal combinations at the restaurant), nor how having assembled the watch before visiting Firebrand affected anything. What exactly is the difference between the ending I got and the "best" ending? Either way, I don't think I'll bother shooting for it.
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oqfbnQI Mon Nov 11 20:57:50 2013
i hate iti always lose
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you cant win
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D-L-T Mon Nov 11 22:13:19 2013
@oqfbnQI That little star right there proves that it's possible :)
As I've said before, the number of pre-conditions for achieving the best ending is... many.
@Unlucky: You have a number of different options
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to the interaction with Firebrand...
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If you have already assembled the watch before visiting her, you can't give her the watch pieces.
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Also, with regards to sequencing of events making a difference, well, that is a recurring pattern in this series of Ulysses' books.
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e.g. in Contractual Obligation - interacting with the chef to get the palaskian spirits, or the jailer to get the third tile. Or in The Hypertrout where it makes a difference what order you choose conversation options with the mermaid carrying the security card. Or In the Golden Crate, where you need to get the right conversation sequence with the supply bot to discover the existence of the secret research deck... you get my point.
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At this stage in the series, having it make a difference what order you do things in should really not come as a surprise...
As for what the difference is in getting the to "best" ending... Let's see now...
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You and the Tinypus thrash out a few details such as bonuses, a new line of assets devoted to relaxation, and justifying now being the president of the company you were trying to destroy half an hour ago. After that, you are free to go.
Leaving the building the once-polished robot comes up to you. "I am alive!" it says.
"I've been waiting so long to do this," you say. Taking out a maim-blade which you were carrying in anticipation of this moment. You take great pleasure in chopping the robot into sparking pieces. "Now you're not alive!" you say in great satisfaction.
Leaving the smouldering pile of metal and a bemused crowd of onlookers behind, you make your way to the spaceport...
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and
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"That's great!" she says, giving you a hug that makes you melt with delight. "How can I show my gratitude?"
"Well I have a few ideas involving a hot-tub and a fish outfit..."
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lol
Unlucky Tue Nov 12 02:00:34 2013
I'm aware of the conversation puzzles in previous books; But that's an entirely different context.
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Humans, like the ones in real life that you and I are, can have different moods and opinions depending on what is said and when. That makes sense. While the result of saying certain things is unpredictable, it's intuitive that a conversation can go a different way when you start off differently. I had no problem with these.
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The ones in this book, though;
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We're dealing with inanimate objects. Objects which have no business behaving and interacting the way they do. Turning on a facet of water shouldn't cause a keycard to crawl out of the couch to a spot more noticable. Apparently golden pens are completely invisible unless you view them from just the right angle, even if you're specifically looking them after being told where to look. You also can't seem to find the breathing apparatus after diving unless you've sat by the rocks for a bit first. Maybe it has something to do with your eyeballs being a certain temperature, but I doubt it.
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And another separate gripe;
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Apparently it's possible to make the book unwinnable by doing too well at dice rolls. By sheer luck, when I went to the gym to get the suit, my character passed all of the Stamina checks, and my reward was 500 GR, no suit, and an unavoidable junkie death later that night.
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D-L-T Tue Nov 12 04:07:17 2013
you rolled less than ~25 on 10 dice or 12 dice or whatever it is?????
i guess sometimes you can't beat unlucky.
Unlucky Tue Nov 12 05:53:59 2013
12 dice was the final check, and I think my Stamina was 26 at the time. Yes, low odds, but low isn't impossible.
However, I think you also fail to get
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the severed thumb
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if you succeed on the 10 dice check but fail the 12 dice one.
I use this username because I have some weird luck sometimes, not just with these books. Weird isn't necessarily good or bad.
D-L-T Tue Nov 12 06:00:26 2013
The irony is that you don't really need stamina that high in the books. There are very few "must make" stamina checks (literally, only one, if memory serves.)
I didn't know that passing the 10-die check is a sufficient fail condition.
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(I know There's one in The Golden crate, but if you fail that I think you just have an extra combat). And there's one when you meet the death-bot at the end of this book, I think. Not sure what happens if you fail it as I've never failed it... am guessing it is terminal though.
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D-L-T Tue Nov 12 06:03:12 2013
Anyway, you may as well argue that there shouldn't be any combat at all in FF books, since you might get "serially unlucky" and lose to a skill 5 goblin. in a sense it's no different...
Unlucky Tue Nov 12 06:43:46 2013
Honestly? I'm not a fan of the combat either. The reason I always go for skill upgrades when possible is to minimize the chance of getting killed by random chance. But I wasn't going to complain about it because I figure the intention behind it was to create action scenes that the reader can actively participate in. It does lead to some weird results, when you kill something you weren't meant to.
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Killing the giant lizard in The Dead World leads to the scene where the spirit tortoise tells you that you screwed up and need to pick an item and a location to get back on track. If I remember correctly, it has something like 16 skill and 30 stamina, and it was intended that you spent your previous two days obtaining a powerful weapon to kill it with. However, a character brought through from the beginning of the series can have 16 (maybe more) skill too making a victory without a weapon not unfeasible; Meaning you can spend the day disarming the laser instead and make the scene after the fight extremely out of place
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Some guys I know playing through the books on a forum board tried to find a way to finish The Golden Crate without time travelling, and they did it, even though it involved fighting the Death-o-saur at full strength.
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I could be wrong, but I think that the only way to have 16 SKILL in The Dead World is to have brought a character through from the start in the very early days when it was possible to begin Wrong Way Go Back with 12 SKILL.
I'll have to look into the second one, because I don't think that's supposed to happen : the time travelling is referred to in The Hypertrout, so it wouldn't make much sense if you could avoid it.
Ulysses Tue Nov 12 13:14:08 2013
Actually it's true that you can solve the Golden Crate without time travel. I didn't intend this to be the case, but after I wrote the gamebook, I found during play-testing that it was indeed possible. However, it was extremely unlikely so I didn't change anything to prevent that eventuality, and left it in as an Easter egg.
Rest assured the Dead World works as intended.
pi4t Wed Nov 13 11:29:01 2013
Admin: As I've said before, it's possible to have an arbitrarily high skill and stamina in the Wrong Way Go Back series provided you start with WWGB, as you can keep going back in time in PotS when you meet the spider queen as often as you like (barring 'lucky' dice rolls), and each time you go back you can get the stat bonus from the crate again.
I obviously misunderstood you, sorry about that. Yes, you're absolutely right - I've now closed this loophole though.
C-Star Wed Nov 13 14:30:30 2013
The loophole is gone now?
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted...
Negative Mon Dec 2 12:38:03 2013
Well. It was harsh. lol. Will try again.
gamebook_player Tue Dec 3 03:15:06 2013
just wondering, could someone give me some hints on where to go in this game? it just keeps leading me in circles
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I did manage to find my way to the lower levels with the mail package which I found out has another card in it, also found another security card, a flame broach and some forms but now I'm stuck could someone please give me a couple hints on this one?
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no clue what to do next, I've managed to figure out the rest of the books before but this one is just puzzling
D-L-T Tue Dec 3 09:08:05 2013
@gamebook_player just wondering, could someone give me some hints on where to go in this game?
hmmm...
the list of things you need to discover in order to finish this instalment is... epic.
actual hints... hmmm...
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let's start with security cards... Somewhere along the way, you will need to discover 4 differently coloured security cards - red, blue, yellow and green. The red, yellow and green are in themselves essential to completing the book. The blue is not essential, but when you discover it, at the same time you will find a different item which is required to complete the book.
There are eight levels of the GDC building (G-1-2-3-P, research, manufacturing, storage), all of which you will need to visit for various things in order to finish the book. Then of course there is town, where the gardens, the restaurant and the place where you can view data cubes are probably the main places of interest.
As for exactly what you need to do, well, if you find an amber data cube, that will start to help you work it out...
