Zeusthecat

The Big LucasArts Playthrough

Recommended Posts

Now I am really fucking excited because Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is the next game up. I have heard so many good things about this game from the podcast and from everyone here so I'm really looking forward to starting it. I also remember one or two other people (maybe SecretAsianMan if I remember correctly?) saying that they would play through this one again once I got to it so please let me know if that's the case. Assuming I'm the only first-timer on this game I'll probably start it asap without waiting for others since it will likely take me much longer solving things for the first time.

I assume there are multiple versions of this game out there so which one do you guys recommend for a first playthrough? I have the version from the LucasArts Adventure Pack so that is the version I plan to play unless I hear otherwise, as with the previous games.

Also, now that I am into the "golden era" of LucasArts adventure games I will be going to considerable lengths to solve these without any hints so please be super cautious about putting them into spoiler tags from here on out.

I will certainly join you now that you've caught up to stuff I know. I will warn you about one thing. It's not a story or puzzle spoiler. There is a point early on in Fate of Atlantis where you can choose between 3 different types of play style. The paths are called Wits, Fists, and Team. Wits is more about solving puzzles, Fists has more fights in it (similar to Last Crusade but I think they improved the combat system somewhat), and Team gives you a sidekick. Details and solutions to puzzles will be different depending on which path you pick, but the main storyline is the same. Personally, I like to play the Team path because I think it feels more Indiana Jonesy if I have a partner. You can pick which ever path you think you'd enjoy more (although I suggest avoiding the Fists path because ugh, fighting) but know that your details may be different.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The combat in Indy Fate functions the same but it's been dumbed down considerably.  You can literally win every fight by key mashing.  On top of that, there's a "sucker-punch" key that just knocks the bad guy out in one blow.  At worst the fighting in this game can get tedious, but you don't have to worry about the sort of madness you had to endure in Last Crusade for sure.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the clarification on that sleeping spell Udvarnoky, that makes much more sense and I'm a little dumb. Also, that is an awesome cameo in MI1, thanks for pointing that out, I would have never remembered.

So it looks like I am all set to play Fate of Atlantis and will probably start it on Friday. Thanks for the tips on the branching paths too, I think I will follow SecretAsianMan's recommendation and go with the teammate route when it comes time to make that decision. I agree that that sounds the most Indiana Jonesy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I recommend playing Fate of Atlantis all three ways just for fun, but I'd agree the usual team path felt the most Indy. Wits path is good, definitely "hard mode" but there's less dialogue to be had with others. If I recall you can pretty much switch the manner of completing puzzles early on until you get locked in for a major stretch of the game when Sophia asks you directly.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Now I am really fucking excited because Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is the next game up. I have heard so many good things about this game from the podcast and from everyone here so I'm really looking forward to starting it. I also remember one or two other people (maybe SecretAsianMan if I remember correctly?) saying that they would play through this one again once I got to it so please let me know if that's the case. Assuming I'm the only first-timer on this game I'll probably start it asap without waiting for others since it will likely take me much longer solving things for the first time.

 

I assume there are multiple versions of this game out there so which one do you guys recommend for a first playthrough? I have the version from the LucasArts Adventure Pack so that is the version I plan to play unless I hear otherwise, as with the previous games.

 

Also, now that I am into the "golden era" of LucasArts adventure games I will be going to considerable lengths to solve these without any hints so please be super cautious about putting them into spoiler tags from here on out.

 

 

Gah! I would totally join you if you weren't starting this the DAY that I go out of town for a week with my girlfriend for our anniversary. You will probably be finished by the time I get back. Bummer.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I recommend playing Fate of Atlantis all three ways just for fun, but I'd agree the usual team path felt the most Indy. Wits path is good, definitely "hard mode" but there's less dialogue to be had with others. If I recall you can pretty much switch the manner of completing puzzles early on until you get locked in for a major stretch of the game when Sophia asks you directly.

 

I'd also recommend trying the other paths as well.  I think sticking to the team path for the first playthough is a good idea, but at least play a little of the others.  You should be able to save just before you have to commit to a path.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I concur with the consensus.  The Team path is my favorite, but play the others at some point.  FOA also offers alternate endings, so there's an unusual amount of replay value here for an adventure game.

 

Also, while I admire and encourage your conviction to play the rest of the games without walkthroughs, know that it's not like the games get reliably more sane in this regard as they get newer.  You're definitely past the worst and can finally assume an absence of dead-ends, but you won't find another LEC game as easy as Loom, for example, and I consider the first two Monkey Islands to be a bit more commendable puzzle-wise than a number of later games from the same studio.  The designers involved are as much a factor as the year of release.  The puzzle design of Day of the Tentacle and Sam & Max Hit the Road adhere to two pretty different philosphies, and they both came out around the same time.  Just want to throw that out there - there are definitey stupid puzzles ahead.

 

Also, holy shit you're about to play some great games.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Gah! I would totally join you if you weren't starting this the DAY that I go out of town for a week with my girlfriend for our anniversary. You will probably be finished by the time I get back. Bummer.

 

I doubt I will finish that quickly. I will most likely not be able to play much during the weekdays now that I am back at work. It turns out having a 4 year old and an infant is a lot of work and requires going to bed much earlier than I used to, which means all that video game time I used to have in the evenings is much more restricted for the next few months at least. This run will probably take a few weeks for me and I'm sure you'd be able to quickly catch up to wherever I'm at when you get back.

 

As far as the branching paths go, I will definitely go back and replay this game a couple times to try out all of the paths after I reach the end of my LucasArts backlog (I will probably be replaying a lot of these games with my daughter too so I should get some good mileage out of them). For this first run though it definitely sounds like the Team path is the way to go. And I'll keep in mind that there will be some sub-par puzzle design here and there and try not to let myself get too hung up on it if I get stuck on a crappy puzzle.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I started

 

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

 

So far I am really enjoying this game. The music and voicework are both great and the game is very engaging. I am very excited to see where this game is going to take me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

To Atlantis obviously.

 

This is one of the few Lucasarts adventure games that I have completed only once*, despite liking it a lot. (Except for the final bit which was horrible.) Maybe I should replay it. 

 

*Some I have not played at all, though.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Important Dark Forces Update: Apparently there's an option in the configuration called "Super Shield" that makes you invincible to blaster fire? Weird. Clearly an option for babies. Turned it off, the game became way more fun.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Fate of Atlantis is the best game in the world. Play all the paths.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I managed to make a few hours of progress in Fate of Atlantis over the weekend and things are going smoothly so far.

Starting with the intro, this game pulled me in pretty quickly. I wasn't sure if I was going to like having voicework in an Indiana Jones game but as soon as I started clicking on things those doubts disappeared. I'm not too much of a discerning person when it comes to these types of things but I find the voice acting to be pretty good and I think Indiana Jones' voice sounds just right. I was also pleased at how quickly the story got started in this game. By the end of the intro I had fallen through a bunch of floors, found an old statue, and got in a fight with a Nazi. I would say this is probably the best intro to a LucasArts adventure game I've seen.

After the intro, I found myself outside of a theater where Sophia was giving a presentation. I went around back and was greeted by a big security guard after trying to go through the door. I attempted to talk my way in but he wasn't having any of it so I decided to politely bid him farewell and look around a little bit more. I saw a ladder in that same area and some crates I could interact with so I tried pushing and pulling the crates until I made my way through and was able to climb up the ladder. Once inside and after watching a couple segments of Sophia's presentation, I was able to convince the stagehand to leave by giving him the newspaper I had obtained outside. With him gone, I was able to put the levers into the proper positions and press the button to ruin Sophia's presentation and trigger the next sequence of events.

After talking to Sophia and seeing how Klaus Kerner had ransacked her room, we headed off to Iceland. This was a very brief segment where we simply talked to Heimdall and were instructed to go to The Azores and Tikal to seek out Costa and Sternhart. I decided to make The Azores my first destination and found that Costa wouldn't give me the information I needed until I gave him some kind of artifact. Once I hit that dead end I was off to Tikal.

Once I arrived in Tikal, I was greeted with my first real puzzle solving segment. Getting through the jungle was pretty easy. I ended up using my whip on that jungle creature to get him to run through the exit where the snake dropped down and caused both of them to fall off the cliff, leaving the area open for me to pass through. I then "used" the tree to cross the gap at which point Sophia rejoined me on the other side. I saw a souvenir stand with a kerosene lamp nearby and when I tried to interact with it, Sternhart finally showed up. He wouldn't let me in the temple unless I knew the name of Plato's Lost Dialog and he wouldn't take the archaeology magazine as evidence that I was kind of a big deal so I made an incorrect guess and saw the parrot retort something as we finished talking. I immediately assumed this was some kind of a throwback to one of the Monkey Island 2 puzzles and talked to the parrot until I was able to get him to reveal the name of The Lost Dialog. From there I talked to Sternhart again and was granted access to the temple.

After making my way into the temple and checking out the different items I could interact with, I became stuck for a brief period of time. Getting the kerosene lamp was no problem (just had to have Sophia distract Sternhart so I could run out and grab it) but after using the kerosene on the spiral design I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. My initial thought was that I would need to refill the kerosene lamp, use it in Iceland to thaw the ice around the eel figurine, and place the eel figurine into the spiral design. Of course, that ended up not being the solution and after fooling around for a little bit I realized I could "pick up" the design. From there, I quickly put the design into the animal head and pulled it to open the tomb. At this point, Sternhart took an artifact out of the tomb and took off through a secret passage. Luckily he had left behind the orichalcum bead which was just what I needed.

With the bead in hand, I flew back to The Azores and attempted to give it to Costa. He rejected it so I figured I would head back to Iceland to see if I could give it to Heimdall or use it on the figurine frozen in ice. Once I arrived I found that Heimdall was frozen solid and the figurine was slightly exposed. I used the bead on the figurine which freed it from the ice and finally gave me the item I needed to get Costa to reveal the information on the location of the Lost Dialog.

This brought me to the next puzzle solving segment in the college area where I started. As I explored the different rooms I had access to, I found an old jar of mayonnaise, a dirty rag, an arrowhead, a piece of gum, and a dusty key. I would have found the book much more quickly than I did but the game misdirected me a few times. First, it tricked me into using the old mayonnaise on the totem pole so I could move it and climb up into the next room. Then, it tricked me into using the arrowhead + dirty rag as a screwdriver on the fallen bookshelf. And finally, it tricked me into focusing on the dusty key I had obtained which opened an empty dusty chest. After some more dicking around I finally went back down to the room with the furnace and found that I could stick the gum to my shoes and climb up the chute. I clicked around a little bit in the next room before finding that I could pick up one of the cat figurines. I saw that it was made of wax and decided to try to melt it using the furnace. To my surprise, melting the cat figurine produced the Lost Dialog and the puzzle was solved!

The next sequence of events brought me to Monte Carlo where I stopped playing. Hopefully I can get some more time in over the next few days but chances are I won't be able to do much until this weekend. Great game so far!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The location of the Lost Dialog of Plato in Caswell Hall is randomized, hence the seeming red herrings.  Sometimes it's in that chest, sometimes it's in the attic urn, sometimes the cat and sometimes the overturned bookshelf.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The location of the Lost Dialog of Plato in Caswell Hall is randomized, hence the seeming red herrings.  Sometimes it's in that chest, sometimes it's in the attic urn, sometimes the cat and sometimes the overturned bookshelf.

 

Whoa, didn't expect that! I ended up covering each of those areas anyways and just happened to get to the cat last so I guess it's cool that I had all of my bases covered.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You'll encounter that several times in the game. If it seems like something is useless, it usually just means it wasn't useful this time. That fact combined with the differences in the paths had led me to having a very fragmented memory of the solutions. It's like remembering several alternate timelines simultaneously and they're all valid.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Quick update. I'm still working on getting what I need from Trottier in Monte Carlo and am a little stuck at the moment. He isn't falling for the ghost routine (bedsheet + flashlight) and I don't see any other way to spruce up the costume yet. I also can't seem to guess how many fingers he is holding up when I try to just talk to him with Sophia. That motherfucker. I think I'm gonna head to Algiers now to see what I can do there and see if there is an item there that I need to get through the Trottier segment.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Man, life is crazy busy right now but I did manage to make a decent amount of progress over the weekend.

 

From where I last left off, I was stuck in Monte Carlo with no apparent way to get the disc I needed from Trottier. I had decided to head to Algiers to see if there was something I needed there and after making my way through the market I found myself in a back alley shop that was run by Omar Al-Jabbar. I immediately noticed the mask that was hanging up and when I looked at it, Indy made a comment about how much it looked like the mask on the ghost that Sophia used in her show. I picked it up and spoke with Omar who was kind enough to let me keep the mask since it was scaring away all his customers. After talking to Omar a bit more and making note of the unfinished interactions in Algiers (food vendor, knife thrower, beggar, and hot air balloon guy), I headed back to Monte Carlo to finish the Trottier segment. Sure enough, despite how skeptical and un-trusting Trottier was about everything else, he freaked out and ran out of the hotel room when he saw me in my spruced up ghost outfit, leaving the sunstone on the table. I then headed back to Algiers with the sunstone in hand.

 

Now that I had the sunstone, I decided to go back to Omar to see if I could get some more information out of him. He was finally willing to reveal more information and he was even nice enough to give me a map and send me off with two of his camels. Unfortunately the camels died a mile out of town (which didn't seem to bother Omar all that much) and I was stuck back in the city with no apparent way to get to the dig site shown on the map. I wasn't sure what to do at this point so I talked to Omar some more and he ended up asking me if he could trade something for the mask that I took earlier. I obliged and wound up with a baseball signed by Ron Gilbert. I talked to him a few more times and saw that there were a bunch of random items that I could get in exchange for the item I currently had. Since I didn't have any money I figured it would be a good idea to try to trade the item I had for food from the food vendor. He refused the first couple items but I kept at it until he eventually dropped a hint about his favorite color being red. At that point I was able to specifically ask Omar for red items and finally made a successful trade once I had the red fez.

 

Before giving the food I had just obtained to the beggar, I decided to talk to the knife thrower again. I tried to volunteer for his knife throwing act but he was insistent that any volunteers be female (what a sexist!!!). I tried to convince Sophia to participate but she wouldn't have it. I was able to at least get her to stand near him to observe his technique but she was still against the whole idea. When I realized I wouldn't be able to convince her to volunteer I figured there must be some way to force her or trick her into doing it. So after messing around a little bit more I wondered what would happen if I tried to push her while she was watching the guy. Sure enough, it worked and she unwittingly "volunteered" to have knives thrown at her. Luckily she survived and I got a sweet souvenir knife as a reward. I then continued on to the beggar where I was able to trade the food I had obtained for a hot air balloon ticket. That finally got me into the hot air balloon where I was able to use the souvenir knife to cut the rope that the balloon was tethered to and fly off towards my next destination.

 

I made more progress after that but I have some work to get done right now so I'm going to cut my post short here. This game is turning out to be really fantastic and so far has perfectly nailed the Indiana Jones vibe.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

When I went through Monte Carlo about a week ago, I remembered I did the ghost thing the first time I played it, so I was all ready to do it again.  But I ended up using Madame Sophia to predict terrible misfortune for him and he left me the stone as thanks.  I had never done it that way before.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I told you it was the best game!!!

 

Reading this is so great, please keep updating us!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Before giving the food I had just obtained to the beggar, I decided to talk to the knife thrower again. I tried to volunteer for his knife throwing act but he was insistent that any volunteers be female (what a sexist!!!). I tried to convince Sophia to participate but she wouldn't have it. I was able to at least get her to stand near him to observe his technique but she was still against the whole idea. When I realized I wouldn't be able to convince her to volunteer I figured there must be some way to force her or trick her into doing it. So after messing around a little bit more I wondered what would happen if I tried to push her while she was watching the guy. Sure enough, it worked and she unwittingly "volunteered" to have knives thrown at her. Luckily she survived and I got a sweet souvenir knife as a reward.

Man, what a dick Indy is. Boy would he have had egg on his face if Sophia had a knife thrown in her gut.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Here is part 2 of my progress made over the weekend.

 

Now that I had my sweet new hot air balloon I was free to roam the deserts. It took a bit to get used to the controls but once I had a handle on it I headed south towards a nomad camp. I fucked up the landing a few times but eventually landed close enough to the camp to be able to walk up to a nomad dude standing outside of a tent. After speaking with him about the location on my map I got back in my balloon and headed in the direction he specified. As I made it further south I saw another nomad camp and veered off of my planned course to get some more knowledge dropped on me. After getting directions from the second nomad (on a side note, these nomads were surprisingly civilized and friendly), a nice big red X appeared off to the northeast showing me the exact location of the dig site on my map. So I made my way towards the dig site and as I drew near the dumbest Nazi I've ever seen shot me down and got crushed by my hot air balloon in the process. In the end it all made sense though because it turns out that he was the only Nazi left at the dig site and was stuck with a broken down truck and no puzzle solving skills. Death was his only escape but his rifle was too long for him to point it at himself and pull the trigger. The thought of dying of thirst terrified him and in a last act of desperation he shot down my approaching balloon and stood in it's path so he could finally end his misery.

 

After my forced crash landing I finally headed into the dig site. Sophia saw something of interest on a nearby table but before she had a chance to inspect it the ground caved beneath her and she fell down into a hole. With Sophia trapped, I was forced to head into a darkened mine at the heart of the dig site to see if there was any way to reach her. It was pitch black in there so I had to just slowly move my mouse around until I discovered all of the items in the room. After searching for a little while I ended up finding a curved stick thing, a wooden peg, a jar, and a hose. I also discovered that there was a generator nearby that was out of gas. It seemed immediately obvious that I would need to siphon gas from the broken down truck using the hose and jar so I headed back outside to give it a shot. I was pleased to see that my plan worked and headed back inside to light the place up.

 

With the generator refilled and the lights on I was finally able to explore the rest of the mine. There wasn't much else of interest besides a weird mural that was obscured by some rocks. I pushed and pulled the rocks but they wouldn't budge. There wasn't much else to try so I decided to attempt to pry the rocks loose with that curved stick I had picked up and the rocks finally fell away to reveal the rest of the mural. It looked like there was a perfect spot on the mural to fit the sunstone but Indy indicated that there was nothing to hold it in place. So I inserted the peg I had picked up and was then able to slide the sunstone into place. When I tried to use it I saw that there were various symbols around the edge of the sunstone and that I could rotate it around. I remembered reading something about that in the Lost Dialog so I pulled it out and re-read the passage that explained how to use the sunstone. After aligning it properly and pushing the peg a door opened and Sophia walked out bearing gifts. She had apparently found a distributor cap (I think that's what it was?) and an amber fish on a string (i.e. an oricalchum detector). Luckily, after uncovering the mural, Indy was also clued in to the location of the moonstone. It turns out we needed to head to Crete.

 

Now that the next destination was known, we had to find a way to get back through the desert so we could continue on. I had looked at the broken down vehicle earlier and noted that it needed a distributor cap and a new spark plug so I just needed to find the spark plug and I would be good to go. Luckily, there was that generator and the fact that it was working meant that there must be a functional spark plug I could salvage from it. Sure enough, after turning the generator off I was able to pull out the spark plug and repair the vehicle. From there I was off to Crete.

 

This post got too fucking long again so I'll finish with my progress tomorrow. I will say that I had a lot of fun with the whole hot air balloon and dig site segments. The puzzles were fairly straightforward but it was still very satisfying each time I found out that my thought process was correct.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now