We finally finish blowing up possibly historic structures and move on to the town, where the grocer is friendly and happy to help us continue our journey. Chump’s assistance here is invaluable, and Blount will just never change.
Part 3-2: “There are limits to curiosity. Spaghetti on the ground? Don’t do it.” Polsy Youtube
I’ll probably get the solo video posted between the holidays, but this is the final bit of our most recent session. In this one, The Splash learns alchemy and discovers how to make a friend. There are no instructions on any of these instruments, but they all involve either pushing a button or setting fire to something. Or trying to distinguish between a mortar and a pestle, which is admittedly one of the most difficult things to do. (Wait until we get to a place with stalactites and stalagmites.) The most important lesson here is not to get too attached to anything that is a baby or cute.
I forgot about the grocer and the street as well as the lycanthropy business happening at this point. The hands doing stuff in a room however has been a vivid memory since I was a kid and I always really liked the idea. I honestly wish more games made use of it.
I thought that with the rise of VR, all games will be like that someday soon.
I totally wanted to release this video around the holidays and that’s why it took so long to get it published. It’s definitely not all the other stuff going on in my life lately. Also, I don’t imagine there will be another opportunity to record until next year, so I wanted to spread out the releases a bit more. So, if you’ve already celebrated your last holiday for the year, I hope it was a good one, and if not, I hope it will be. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to lie awake in bed all night seething in jealousy of those people who can just fall asleep anywhere.
Part 3: Consequences always come back to bite someone Polsy Youtube
While everyone’s talking animations in the CD version are a little alarming, Ooya’s are probably the most personally upsetting to me. I also certainly wasn’t expecting that voice out of the glove!
Are there any “hidden” recipes for the alchemist’s lab, or is it restricted to the recipes in the book and assorted failure results?
I’ve never heard of any hidden recipes, and since there’s one that’s explicitly just for fun (using ingredients you already need for the other potions), I don’t expect that there would be any. I suppose I should try tossing three random things in the mixer just to see what happens, but I don’t remember it being very exciting.
I almost posted, “There’s already a video of this part, did you link the wrong thing?” and then realized this was the solo version and I’m dumb.
After the long holiday break, it’s time to check out what our new buddy Fulbert can do. He’s surprisingly versatile, considering that Chump’s purpose was generally just to be a second character to do stuff while Blount does other stuff. To be fair, Fulbert does a bit of that too, but he’s got unique talents of his own. He’s certainly not the kind of sidekick you can just walk all over.
Part 4-1: “It’s the father of Master Hand from Super Smash Bros! In that case, I’m glad we’re on Normal difficulty.” Polsy Youtube
After another fairly long break, I’ve learned what’s likely been wrong with my vision for the past six months and learned that I have only a week to deal with it and start driving myself to work again. I sure hope the doctors were right. Anyway, it’s time for The Splash to spread her wings and fly. We have to finish making the potion for flight, of course, but how hard can that be?
I’m grateful that only one character can ever use inventory goodies, since that’s one less axis of complexity to worry about, but I’m hard-pressed to say whether or not I’d figure out the specific chain of events required to get that feather.
If you use a Joker here, just how much of the answer do you get? Is it a single step in a puzzle or a more detailed play-by-play?
It’s a complete description of everything you have to do in that screen. The one for this screen would be something like “Put the umbrella over the hole in the roof and talk to the old lady to get the HOT WATER BOTTLE. Ring the doorbell twice to enter the lab. Pour GROWIXIR on the two plant buds, then have Fulbert climb the left plant to get the LETTER. Have Fulbert climb the stem again and use Blount to catch the FLORIANE. Pull the lever, then have Fulbert pull the lever again while Blount is standing on the weight. Have Fulbert climb the right plant, then have him cross the gap to act as a bridge so Blount can get the SHOE SOLE. Drink the SPEEDIXIR. Use the HOT WATER BOTTLE on the egg to hatch a Boucassier, then give it GROWIXIR. Use Fulbert as a bridge to get to the bell and use the DECOY on the bell. Tap the Boucassier on the shoulder, then quickly run down to the street below to catch the FEATHER before it disappears.”
I’ll try to get a proper screenshot of one, but that’s about the size of it.
I’m a little behind on videos, but regarding birds and eggs, I’ve been told that if you don’t collect eggs from your chickens in a timely fashion eventually they’ll try it because, fuck, I don’t know, birds, man.
And then you’ll never get fresh eggs again because they think it’s delicious. And to think, I thought those cooking-with-placenta recipes were ridiculous.
Here’s a capture of the Joker screen for the town screen. Clearly, it doesn’t cover absolutely everything, but it should spell out the answers to any puzzles the player is having trouble with.
That’s a great deal more straightforward than I was expecting for this series! I guess I see why they limited how many times you could use those, given their comprehensive nature, but that still feels like a very artificial boundary given that you can just restart and play back up to your current screen if you run out of jokers at any point. I mean, they already have your (theoretical) money, it’s not like you could ask for a quick Steam refund at the time or anything. Maybe they were banking on people getting so annoyed by the process they’d still shell out for a hint guide or an advice hotline or something.
It’s not as simple as restarting - I had to uninstall the game and then reinstall from the original disks. There was undoubtedly a file somewhere that I could have deleted or edited to reset the jokers, but I didn’t know enough to check. Still, that’s how I did it. Sierra’s hint systems became much friendlier later (see Torin’s Passage for a handy example of the most generous), but then, this was Coktel.
So when I played 2 and 3 as a kid, I don’t know if my father did some coding wizardry, but we never had to reinstall to get Jokers back. We could just load a save prior to it’s use.
That might be the case in 2… I never got the Jokers working in that game to begin with. I just reopened 3 and started a new game, and I’ve only got four Jokers left, having used one to get that screenshot.
These games are immensely silly and full of strangeness, but it’s the little touches I appreciate, like when there’s a special reaction for just barely missing the timing for a puzzle.
Part 4: Faster than a speeding bullet, yet unable to leap small gaps between buildings Polsy Youtube
We’re now distinctly in the second half of the game, and the puzzles are ramping up in difficulty. Things still make sense… for now. But we’re going to have to deal with the security guard who’s been throwing rocks at any airship that gets too close to Foliander (including ours), a giant with cold feet, and dubious fishing equipment. It’s a good thing we have an old friend to help us!
Part 5-1: “Can we give the giant a growth elixir?” Polsy Youtube
