The Big LucasArts Playthrough

[Ben X]

Eh, that's still a bit much to ask just to satisfy my own mild curiosity!

[Zeusthecat]

I made some more progress in Rubacava the other night. My apologies if I am forgetting a few details. It's been a few days and this is the first chance I've had to sit down and write this post.

 

After meandering around the various areas for awhile longer, I eventually made my way back to Manny's casino and tried talking to the sketchy dude sitting at the table again (I had talked to him once before I had gone through the other areas). Since I had talked to the dockmaster at this point and learned which items I needed, I was able to ask the sketchy dude to make me a fake ID, which he agreed to do if I would go get his money back from Maximino. After I agreed, he gave me a VIP pass to get into Maximino's lounge area and I headed out to make my way over there. On the way out, I happened to try talking to Glottis again and saw that I had a new dialog option where I could tell him about the VIP pass I had just obtained. After doing so, he mentioned this "problem" he had and then ran off before I had a chance to ask him about it. So I just shrugged my shoulders and continued on my way.

 

Once I had made it to Maximino's lounge, I saw that Glottis had gotten shit-faced drunk and was going crazy over the cat races. After talking to him and getting nowhere, I explored the area and eventually made my way into the kitchen. Once inside, I saw a big demon dude rolling a keg into a room in the back of the kitchen. After witnessing this, I picked up a suspicious looking turkey baster and then started messing around with the nearby wine keg. Based on what I saw with the demon guy and the fact that I could climb up on a ladder to get to the top of the keg, it seemed apparent that I would somehow need to hide inside the keg so the demon guy would unknowingly roll me into the back where I would hopefully get one step closer to finding the shady dude's money. Unfortunately though, the waiter guy kept coming in and preventing me from emptying the keg or doing anything else useful with it. As I explored my options some more I eventually noticed that if I didn't mess with the keg, the waiter would periodically come into the kitchen and walk into the pantry at a regular interval. After seeing this, I quickly found that I could close the door behind him and use my scythe to bar the door shut. Once I had done this, I saw a scene where Glottis came in and chugged down the rest of the wine, leaving the keg empty. I then re-entered the kitchen, climbed up the ladder, and was able to use my can opener to open the keg and get inside.

 

After the demon guy had taken me back to the keg room and I had regained control, I saw that I had access to a nearby forklift. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the room I could lift up and even though I could drive the forklift into the elevator, there didn't seem to be anything else I could do with it. Since there didn't seem to be anything more I could do in this area with what I had, I figured it was best to move on and come back later.

 

Since I now had that turkey baster, I figured the most obvious place to try to use it would be in the poetry lounge kitchen area. So I headed straight over there and was happy to find that I was indeed able to use the baster to get some of the hookah water out of the sink. Once I had that, I went straight back over to the tattoo parlor to see if I could somehow use the hookah water with the sailor dude's bottle of booze. Luckily, I had discovered the whole "opening the fridge door to mess up the tattoo drill" thing previously, so I was able to finish this puzzle off fairly quickly by repeating that sequence and then spiking his drink while he was distracted. As soon as he took a drink, he then passed out and I was able to grab his ID tags. And I think this is about where I stopped playing.

 

Now that I have those ID tags, my next step will be to skim through each area again to see if those can be used anywhere.

[thorn]

After the demon guy had taken me back to the keg room and I had regained control, I saw that I had access to a nearby forklift. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the room I could lift up and even though I could drive the forklift into the elevator, there didn't seem to be anything else I could do with it. Since there didn't seem to be anything more I could do in this area with what I had, I figured it was best to move on and come back later.

Warning: This is my least favourite puzzle in the game. It's fairly easy to work out what to do, but I always have to attempt it 5-10 times before getting it right.

[Ben X]

I managed it on my first attempt (on my recent playthrough anyway) by

taking my time to line up the forklift into the gap before you start the elevator. Then you just have to start the elevator, hop into the forklift, hold down forward, and it should just pop into the gap with no fuss.

[thorn]

I managed it on my first attempt (on my recent playthrough anyway) by

taking my time to line up the forklift into the gap before you start the elevator. Then you just have to start the elevator, hop into the forklift, hold down forward, and it should just pop into the gap with no fuss.

I always try to do that. Somehow it just never works without me fiddling around multiple times. It's the GrimeE engine's equivalent of pixel-hunting.

[Ben X]

Ah, okay, I must have fluked it!

[Thrik]

Well, it's certainly easier now that modern CPU power doesn't render it impossible.

[thorn]

Well, it's certainly easier now that modern CPU power doesn't render it impossible.

 

I think we're stretching the definition of 'spoiler' here...

How did that bug play out?

[Thrik]

Well, I put it in spoiler tags because it's quite straightforward to determine the puzzle's solution if you know the exact nature of the bug. I guess I didn't describe it in enough detail to provide too much elucidation, but here goes:

 

The speed that the background scrolled past the lift was very heavily determined by CPU speeds, in that the game had no lock on how fast it could scroll; the faster the CPU, the faster the perceived speed of the lift. While this wasn't a problem when the game first came out, within a year or so CPUs had already progressed to the point where there wasn't quite enough time to complete the puzzle — within a few years it'd become laughably impossible. The first official patch rectified the issue, but I believe that it was still susceptible to problems caused by the extremely fast CPUs of the 2010s; ResidualVM further improved the original fix so that it's completely bulletproof and always runs at the correct speed.

[thorn]

Huh. Maybe that's why I was having difficulty with the puzzle. I should download ResidualVM and find where the hell my game disks are to test it.

[bkbroiler]

As long as you played with the game's patch you shouldn't have had a problem.

[Zeusthecat]

Not a whole lot more to post about at this point but I did play some more on Sunday. Unfortunately I had had a few beers and had reached that miserable point where I kept dozing off after every third mouse click. What I do remember though, is that I was able to throw the passed out sailor guy's ID tags onto one of the sprouted bodies that the mortician guy was trying to identify. Nothing happened after I did this so I moved on, assuming some results would come out of this later on. I went back to Maximino's place after this and saw that his lawyer guy was in the main restaurant area going over some paperwork. After I talked to him, he left and I was able to pick up his cigarette case. I had to stop playing at this point though because I just couldn't keep myself awake any longer.

 

I've given some more thought on what I have left to accomplish in Rubacava and I'm still not entirely clear on how to solve the remaining puzzles. First, I still can't quite figure out how I am supposed to impress those guys in the poetry lounge place. When I talk to the 'hep chick' and ask her to lay down some lines, she either repeats what I last said, or recites a poem that I am unable to copy due to the lines I am limited to when I attempt it. I'm guessing that when I figure this out, I will be able to take the book to the worker bees so they can organize or something like that. Then I still need to figure out how to get some kind of metallic object hidden on my body so the metal detector lady will give me a strip search. I also haven't quite figure out the cat race ticket thing but I've started to listen more closely to the race announcer guy so hopefully a clue comes out of that. And finally, I'm still not sure what to do with the forklift. 

[mikemariano]

I kept dozing off after every third mouse click.

 

Wait, you're using the mouse control mod instead of the keyboard tank controls?  How are they?

 

 

First, I still can't quite figure out how I am supposed to impress those guys in the poetry lounge place. When I talk to the 'hep chick' and ask her to lay down some lines, she either repeats what I last said, or recites a poem that I am unable to copy due to the lines I am limited to when I attempt it.

 

Replaying the game recently, this was the only Year 2 puzzle for which I had to consult a walkthrough.

 

It's an inventory puzzle.

[Zeusthecat]

Wait, you're using the mouse control mod instead of the keyboard tank controls?  How are they?

 

DEEEEEERRRRPPP! By mouse click I meant key press. 

[thorn]

Most of the puzzles you mention involve inventory items, and often things that can easily be missed as you walk past them. Have a thorough look around the various areas and make sure you've picked up everything.

[Ben X]

Zeus, do you actually have an objective for working out what cat race ticket to print out? I'm pretty sure as of your last post you don't, so I wouldn't worry about that until you know what it is you're actually trying to achieve.

[Zeusthecat]

Zeus, do you actually have an objective for working out what cat race ticket to print out? I'm pretty sure as of your last post you don't, so I wouldn't worry about that until you know what it is you're actually trying to achieve.

 

I have started paying attention to what the race announcer is saying and I suspect I might get some hints from that. Also, I'm not sure if the day I am on is Kitty Hat Day or not. I don't think it is and if it isn't, then I'm guessing the ticket I print out will be one for the previous Kitty Hat Day and I will somehow be able to glean from the announcer or someone else, which cat won the race on the last Kitty Hat Day. This post sounds really weird.

[Ben X]

But Manny doesn't currently have a reason to print out any specific ticket, right? You're trying to figure out a puzzle that the game hasn't given you yet!

[SecretAsianMan]

You're trying to figure out a puzzle that the game hasn't given you yet!

 

Adventure gaming at it's finest.

[Zeusthecat]

But Manny doesn't currently have a reason to print out any specific ticket, right? You're trying to figure out a puzzle that the game hasn't given you yet!

Thanks for the hint! I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be solvable yet. Now I know.

[Ben X]

Ha ha, this is what Ron Gilbert means when he goes on at Tim about giving the player the key before showing them the lock. I think in this case, it probably would make more sense for the game to have

withheld the ticket printer until Nick's services were needed. Perhaps wait until Benny is arrested, then open up the option for Manny to ask Nick for his services, Nick refuses, Manny can threaten to tell Max about Nick and Lola, Nick laughs and says there's no proof, then that triggers his cigarette case which opens up the whole Lola thread. It's a bit more linear, but at least the player knows why they're doing stuff!

[bkbroiler]

This is only kind of a spoiler, but that kind of thing that Ben is talking about always makes me laugh.

 

In a lot of Schafer adventure games, you only know you need something because the main character is obsessed with it. So like Manny LOOOOVES the metal detector, and there is no clear reason why. But the idea of Manny coming up to talk to Carla and just fixating on the metal detector cracks me up. And it lets you know you should get it for some reason! I'm not sure if that is good or bad game making, but I like it. The same thing happens in Broken Age at one point - I think the mayor of the sandcastle town has something that Vella fixates on.

[Bjorn]

Ha ha, this is what Ron Gilbert means when he goes on at Tim about giving the player the key before showing them the lock. I think in this case, it probably would make more sense for the game to have

withheld the ticket printer until Nick's services were needed. Perhaps wait until Benny is arrested, then open up the option for Manny to ask Nick for his services, Nick refuses, Manny can threaten to tell Max about Nick and Lola, Nick laughs and says there's no proof, then that triggers his cigarette case which opens up the whole Lola thread. It's a bit more linear, but at least the player knows why they're doing stuff!

 

But that ruins the sense that every adventure game character is an obsessive busy body kleptomaniac.  Which in Manny's case feels oddly appropriate. 

[Thrik]

This is only kind of a spoiler, but that kind of thing that Ben is talking about always makes me laugh.

 

In a lot of Schafer adventure games, you only know you need something because the main character is obsessed with it. So like Manny LOOOOVES the metal detector, and there is no clear reason why. But the idea of Manny coming up to talk to Carla and just fixating on the metal detector cracks me up. And it lets you know you should get it for some reason! I'm not sure if that is good or bad game making, but I like it. The same thing happens in Broken Age at one point - I think the mayor of the sandcastle town has something that Vella fixates on.

 

Haha, the whole metal detector sequence is pure brilliance. Manny's normally pretty laid back about everything, so his sudden passion for owning a metal detector is hilarious while also helpful from a gameplay point of view.

[Zeusthecat]

I got through a few more puzzles the other night.

 

After having obtained the cigarette case, I continued going back through previous areas until I had made my way back to the security checkpoint area with Carla. Upon showing her the cigarette case, I went through a few dialog options until I was finally able to trick her into thinking it was a bomb, at which point she threw it in the detonation chamber and cracked the case open. I was able to get a key from the remains of the case and eventually found that I could use it to unlock the door at the lighthouse. After walking through the door, I witnessed a cutscene where Lola had just been shot and was quickly sprouting. She said a few touching things to Manny in her last moments and then disintegrated, leaving behind nothing but a ticket (it has a number on it so maybe it has something to do with the cat race ticket I am supposed to print out?).

 

I wandered around for a little while after this and eventually found myself thinking about that metal detector that I still needed to get from Carla. As I was thinking about how I could get it to detect a metal object on me after I put all my items on the desk, an idea popped into my head. Since that Goldschlager had gold flakes in it, I figured I should be able to drink some of it right before trying to walk through the security checkpoint and then Carla's metal detector would go off on the gold flakes in my skeleton stomach. So I gave it a shot and was pleased to see my plan work as I had hoped. From there, Carla took me to the area behind her desk and proceeded to talk my ear off. I carried the conversation as long as the game would let me but eventually my true intentions were revealed and, in frustration, Carla tossed the metal detector out the window and into the kitty litter below. I ran downstairs to try to fish it out and quickly located it by waving my scythe around until I heard the metal detector go off, at which point I was able to pull it out.

 

I played a little bit more after this and tried to use the metal detector in various places, including the area with the forklift and wine kegs, but wasn't able to make any further progress and stopped playing for the evening. I hope to play a bit more here shortly and my next course of action will be to comb back through various areas to try to figure out how the metal detector and ticket from Lola come into play.