The Big LucasArts Playthrough

[Udvarnoky]

I don't know if they went over this yet, but Dr. Fred's fortune comes from the TV show of Maniac Mansion, which I guess they were paid some sum for their likenesses. It's pretty amazing to me that such a meta reference is canon to the actual game. I have never seen this sitcom though. I imagine it's terrible.

 

I think it's the video game that is cited as as the source of Dr. Fred's fortune -

 

isn't that what the contract you must get him to sign is for - the Maniac Mansion residuals?

 

They do still mention the TV show though, so your point stands.

 

 

I have very vague memories of it being just a normal family and one of them was turned into a fly?

 

While I've probably seen no more of the show than you, I did write an article once that attempted to contextualize it.  Basically the show bible started out as a loose adaptation of the game that was apparently akin to "The Munsters"

 and was not all that promising.  A power-that-be then brought on Eugene Levy of SCTV fame, gave him complete carte blanche to re-invent the show creatively, and in the end the relationship to the game went from tenuous to nonexistent.  At this point the name probably should have been changed and they certainly shouldn't have had a marketing tie-in with the Nintendo game.

[Patrick R]

David Cronenberg appeared on an episode of Maniac Mansion.

[Udvarnoky]

</thread>

[syntheticgerbil]

I think it's the video game that is cited as as the source of Dr. Fred's fortune -

 

isn't that what the contract you must get him to sign is for - the Maniac Mansion residuals?

Oh nevermind, I think you're right.

 

Also what is with that show intro? I was expecting something like The Addams Family. What the fuck?

[Zeusthecat]

I just put a hamster in an ice machine and I have no idea why.

[Roderick]

Ohhhhhh that's the best.

[syntheticgerbil]

The update of all updates!

[SecretAsianMan]

I love how Bernard tells the hamster that sticking him in the freezer is going to help save the world, as if he knows why he's doing it but we as the player likely don't.

[Zeusthecat]

Well now my curiosity is piqued. After playing some more and running around with Laverne I figured I would be able to retrieve the frozen hamster in the future to power the generator that Laverne was able to spot through the window. I can't help but shake the feeling now that there is a little more to it than that.

[Tanukitsune]

Since powering up the generator is her main goal, I can guarantee it won't easy. 

 

Also, don't forget to use certain items like the invisible ink on everyone on every time period for humorous results! I think there was another items you could use on everybody for funny results, but I can't remember which one it is now...

[Zeusthecat]

I've continued to make some more progress in DOTT and am having a blast with this game. Last night was especially productive and I solved a few puzzles that were barring my progress.

 

As Hoagie I figured out that I needed to mess up George Washington's bed and call the maid in so that I could go into the hallway and steal her bar of soap from the maid cart. From there I was able to attempt washing the carriage which caused a thunderstorm and forced Ben Franklin inside. However, I have yet to locate the waterproof item that he asked for. After that, I sent my tentacle diagram to Hoagie and had Betsy Ross turn the American flag into a tentacle outfit which gave Laverne a disguise so she could go through the rest of the future mansion unhindered. 

 

As Bernard I discovered that I could push green tentacle's speaker onto the floor and blast his music to make the fake barf fall off the ceiling. Then, as I was going around squirting disappearing ink on everything, I got to Ed's room and really pissed him off when I squirted his stamp collection. Luckily that resulted in me getting an old stamp which I presume I can send back to Hoagie so he can mail something (and I gave Ed his stamp collection back after the ink disappeared; I felt like such a dick). I also sent Laverne's scalpel to Bernard and used that to pop the clown and get the laughing machine. Finally, I got the crank from the roof and sent that to Laverne so she could get the flag which ended up becoming her tentacle disguise.

 

As Laverne I was able to use the crank to get the flag/disguise which opened up the rest of the mansion. Once that was done I got the name tag from the blue tentacle guy and was able to enroll the mummy guy in the beauty competition by throwing the name tag on him, slapping some roller skates onto his feet, and rolling him down the hallway. Once I spoke to the tentacle judges and saw their judging criteria, I figured out that I needed the spaghetti from Hoagie for the hair portion, the laugh box from Bernard for the laughing portion, and the chattering teeth from Bernard for the smile portion. Unfortunately, the teeth won't stop chattering so I still have to figure out how to get them to stop before I can continue. And I looked for my frozen hamster in the future but the ice box was empty. Where the hell did that frozen hamster go?

 

There now seems to be several concurrent puzzles and I feel like I know what I need to do for most of them. With Bernard I still need to figure out how to get that gum/dime off the floor. I figure the dime will get me the sweater I need from under the fat guy and the gum can be used to keep the teeth from chattering. Not sure about the sweater but Hancock is pretty cold so maybe I will get something by giving him a sweater. Also, I think I need to use the VHS tape to record the footage of Dr. Fred opening the safe so I can learn the combo, then give him some coffee to wake him back up somehow. But to do that I need to distract Edna. Maybe I need to affect that statue in the past to distract her somehow. With Hoagie I still need to get Ben Franklin the waterproof (and cast iron if I remember correctly) item he talked about. Also need to figure out what the fuck is up with that talking horse. With Laverne, I think I need to use the gum on the chattering teeth, win the competition, and send the trophy back to Hoagie so that he can give it to Red as the 'gold' item. I also need to get that cat toy with Hoagie to interact with the future cat for whatever reason. Finally, I think there might be some way to get that shrinking machine in the future and maybe send it back to Bernard so he can shrink himself and use the mousehole to access the suicidal guy's room.

 

There are other things too like the crook breaking into the car, the bird bath outside, and the old stamp I obtained. One or two more discoveries and I think I will see a cascade of solutions.

[mikemariano]

This is a great read. You aren't completely on the right track, but your adventure game logic is flawless.

[SecretAsianMan]

I'm really loving following along as well.  It makes me really glad I'm not standing behind you while you play because I think the urge to simply point out every puzzle solution would be too great in real life.  I'm having a hard enough time not creating a massive spoiler filled post.

[Zeusthecat]

Thanks for the encouraging words guys. I think part of what makes this game's logic fairly straightforward to follow for me is the masterful work they did implementing cartoon logic. I watched ridiculous amounts of Looney Toons, Tom and Jerry, Animaniacs, and other similar shows growing up and all the way through high school and a lot of the solutions in this game fit within that framework very well. It is amazing the sense of nostalgia this game evokes even though I've never played it before.

[Tanukitsune]

Remember that toon logic thread in adventure games I started quite a while ago? I think Zeus' brilliant performance with the game is kinda proving my point. Zeus never played the game before, but was very familiar with "toon logic" so the game was pretty straight forward for him.

 

And you don't get any more "toon logic" than with Day of the Tentacle.

[Zeusthecat]

Can you link that thread? After I finish these games I'd love to read up on the discussion there. If your general point is that being familiar with cartoon logic makes these games easier then I would definitely agree with you. I can think of quite a few puzzles through all of the games I've played so far that ended up being easier to solve because they followed this kind of logic.

[Tanukitsune]

It's here, I only started it when I saw people complained Deponia's puzzles made no sense, when it's really like Monkey Island in a wasteland. I wanted to make sure if anybody who didn't get puzzles was a toon expert or not.

[syntheticgerbil]

Haha, I'm really anxious to see if Zeus stays stuck on that one part that ruined my progress on this game for about two months. I somehow figured the whole game out myself without cheating, but that one "bad" puzzle really annoys me.

[Zeusthecat]

Made some more good progress last night.

 

I was stuck for a bit when I started playing and eventually decided I should start going into rooms and closing doors to see if there was anything on the other side (thanks MI2). Sure enough, I found some keys in the door with the sleeping conventioneer. I looked around for a lock and after I couldn't find one I remembered the thief trying to break into the car outside. So I went out there and gave him the keys since Bernard was already gullible enough to think that was the thief's car and ended up getting his crowbar in exchange. With the crowbar, I was able to pry the dime/gum off the floor and was able to get the sweater from under the sleeping conventioneer by shaking the guy off the bed. Unfortunately I wasn't able to send the sweater back through the toilet but after toiling some more I discovered that I could put it in the dryer. Since I didn't have any quarters to start the dryer I went around to each device that took change and eventually discovered that I could use the crowbar to get a mountain of quarters from the snack machine. I then put every single quarter into the dryer and switched over to Laverne.

 

As Laverne I made several discoveries. First, I grabbed the tiny sweater from the dryer. Then I found that I could use the fork to make the mummy's hair look better. Unfortunately, Harold still seemed to be the favorite and based on my interactions the game seemed to hint to me that I should try to get Harold out of the running. So I started trying to screw with him and before long I discovered that I could put the fake barf on the floor in front of him and trick the tentacle doctor into thinking Harold was sick. With him gone and with the mummy having some sweet hair and an awesome laugh, I just need to figure out how to get the teeth to stop chattering (the gum didn't work). I explored some more and also found that I could use the can opener on the time capsule. I saw that the wine had turned to vinegar and sent that back to Hoagie so he could give it to Red.

 

I didn't really figure anything else out with Hoagie besides giving the vinegar to Red. All I need for the battery now is gold. I tried a few more things and then stopped around this point.

 

So now I'm not sure how to get the teeth to stop chattering. Hopefully I'll get an item I need for it eventually. I'm also not sure where the tiny sweater comes into play. I'm still pretty sure I'll be able to send the shrink ray back to Bernard at some point so I'll either need to use the tiny sweater on him or maybe I need to put it on my freezing hamster (again, where the fuck is that hamster in the future?). I still need to figure out how to distract Edna, either by giving her coffee since she only drinks decaf or by doing something to the statue. I also need to figure out what is up with the talking horse and how I am supposed to interact with the Edison twins in the past. I can't move when I pick up the hammer so there is something I am missing there. Another thing that stands out is the gun cigar lighter that I can't pick up yet. Maybe I need to get the flag gun from the depressed guy, use that to distract the cigar salesman, take the lighter gun, and use that with Hoagie to burn something so Hancock isn't freezing. Also, there's still the cat with the mouse toy and the item Ben Franklin needs.

[Thrik]

I'm just going to interrupt this thread for a moment to mention that I've gotten Grim Fandango working perfectly with 32x anti-aliasing on my laptop, which is connected to my TV via HDMI and I'm using a PS3 pad connected via USB. It actually looks better like this than it ever has on my main PC because the distance and TV scaling seems to hide the low-resolution nature of the game's graphics, and the anti-aliasing (which finally works properly thanks to ResidualVM) takes care of the jaggies.

 

This is — quite simply — sublime. I've spent all damn evening on it and the dialogue is still the sharpest in any game I've ever played. There's more wit in every scene of the game than most writers manage to put together in a career. I am now reminded why I once and continue to consider this the highest point that adventure gaming ever reached.

 

[mikemariano]

I am so jealous, Thrik!  I got to Year Two a few weeks ago and stopped playing, but I should really restart.

[SecretAsianMan]

This really isn't going to spoil anything for you Zeus but I'll still hide this thing about getting the frozen hamster just in case.

 

He's in the freezer.  You just have to do a little pixel hunting and find the spot where it says frozen hamster.

 

Thrik, that sounds awesome.  I've been itching to play Grim again for years but I haven't been able to because of time and technical issues.  I'm super jealous.

[syntheticgerbil]

I was stuck for a bit when I started playing and eventually decided I should start going into rooms and closing doors to see if there was anything on the other side (thanks MI2). Sure enough, I found some keys in the door with the sleeping conventioneer.

Hah, that was quick! That was the fucking part I was stuck on for so long as a kid. Compulsively closing doors behind you when you enter rooms just seems to be a non-puzzle. But yeah, Monkey Island 2 pretty much prepared you for that crappy "puzzle." Which of two liked hiding stuff behind doors? Grossman or Schafer?

[dium]

As a kid I got stuck for a long time looking for the laundry claim in MI2. I've been playing through Fate of Atlantis for the first time recently, and I got stuck for an embarrassing about of time looking for the hot air balloon claim... which I needed to *close* a crate to find. Of course.

[syntheticgerbil]

It's even worse because Day of the Tentacle has at least one door that has a close function on ever screen. By the end of a game, you're pretty much just an asshole who runs around leaving every god damn door open there is. So hiding something behind one of these doors you most likely will never voluntarily close is ridiculous. Maybe if the characters were programmed to automatically close every door behind them like some adventure games it would be different, but I think they would have just been better off throwing the keys in a drawer on the guy's nightstand or something. It's just as much as a non-puzzle but at least it's not infuriating.