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Dreggon posted:What's the deal with the blink and the no blink? Is it just a volume sensor which will be relevant later or something else? rudatron fucked around with this message at 14:32 on Jul 28, 2014 |
# ? Jul 28, 2014 14:29 |
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# ? Apr 27, 2024 18:29 |
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Dreggon posted:What's the deal with the blink and the no blink? Is it just a volume sensor which will be relevant later or something else? efb.
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# ? Jul 28, 2014 14:58 |
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Updates 32-33 bonus First things first - let's talk about The game does you a bit of a kindness by outright eliminating the warehouse and Hotel Severnaya Zvezda as locations you may waste time at. (Probably a space-saving measure when the game was shipped on several floppy discs?) However, this means you only get to Department 7 after Agabekov departs. At 10:15 (the time you're supposed to meet Savinkov): Didn't you overhear any conversations aboard the Victor Matsnev? Is the game taking mercy on us? How odd. We had an odd option when trying to follow Agebekov: etc..., you return to your hotel a better citizen. Obviously, this means we can't get to the institute. If we wait at the hotel, we get essentially the same game over: Should we refuse to show our I.D to the guards three times (!): There is nothing left to do but lament this failure. We can't actually leave until you've entered the cabinet to talk to your father and got the information from Golubev: If we wait until 11:30, anywhere within the institute: A pity to have failed at this stage. If we wait outside the institute: When we first meet Litvinov, we get the best dialog options: : B-but I am innocent! I obeyed Major Agabekov's instructions to the letter! : Precisely! Conspiring with Agabekov, eh? : Oh! That... alters the situation. I must insist that you leave. Guards! If we merely state that : If you are innocent, you have nothing to fear. : I... realize that, comrade.. Soviet justice is so... exemplary. Once stuck inside Tisulenko's green room, we get one chance to do anything other than answer his questions. He will ask us again in a few minutes: Though he claims : I'm prepared to wait for as long as necessary. He won't actually contact us again. We're stuck there until 11:30, at which point the guards walk in to arrest us. Now, on to: Department 7 is actually one of the few optional locations we can go to, and hosts one of the few optional conversations we can have: : Papers! : Inquiries officer here... A captain Rukov of Department P is here.. I understand... At once. No pass = no way up. If we loiter here instead of outside, we'll miss Agabekov. Golubev and Comrade Disoriented don't have any interesting optional conversations, but Rechetov: : They will be dealt with in the usual manner. : Please, comrade, they are innocent! I alone am guilty of collusion with the reactionary imperialist warmongering counter-revolutionaries. : Which counter-revolutionaries? : They will be cared for. : Yes, comrade. Thank you. Alternataley: : White guards and Bolshevik army? : Comrade Trotsky will chase the English into the sea! : The English? : Bloated plutocrats! Their king is related to the tzar, whose pitiless cossacks continue to plunder mother Russia! : I'm here to help you. : Can you take me to my family? : Where are they? : In the next village. : Village? This is Leningrad! : Maybe we could phone them? : Phone them? But they are innocent! : Get some rest, comrade. : Yes, comrade. Thank you. We went over Tsibulenko's conversations fairly thoroughly, but: : You want to eliminate what you perceive to be the source of your frustration! Why not calm down or a few minutes? If we answer the preliminary questions with the obvious answers, Tsibulenko praises us, with some reservations: : You have so far been honest. What is your name? : Maxim Rukov. : You really believe that! Fascinating. Moving forward a bit: : Do you think art is a significant aspect of culture? : Naturally. : A morbid interest in art. That is a clear symptom of pre-schizophrenia. : I don't know / who cares / no. : I see. An inability to adopt to cultural norms. A clear-cut case of pre-schizophrenia. Have you always been a traitor, Protopopv? : The question is loaded. : A classic paranoid response. : Treason is a relative concept, don't you agree? : Turning the tables on me? Paranoid pre-schizophrenics often resort to that ruse. : I am not a traitor! : Excessive defensiveness is not uncommon in paranoid pre-schizophrenia. Guys, I think Tisbulenko is not entirely unbiased. In fact, he just might fail the Rosenhanov test. : You seem to think I wish to harm you, Protopopv. In fact, I want to help. Will you trust me? : No. I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you! : That answer was at least frank. I am intrigued by this new personality you seem to have developed. Excuse me for a moment or two. We went over most of Tsibulenko's conversation tree in the lab, but we did miss: : Naturally. I was merely testing you, Tsibulenko. : Standard KGB technique, no doubt. Also: : A major is not a superior to a captain?! Come now, comrade. : So you know about such things? Once Tsibulenko is locked in the green room: : Describe all this equipment and its role in your research. : What you see is monitoring equipment. : The reaction is relayed to the amplifier and then to the red light-bulb. This allows me to monitor the effectiveness of the delusions I induce in my subjects. : What do you know about New Birth? : Nothing. I tell you, I know nothing about any New Birth! : Describe your relations with Agabekov. : I was to receive precise details today... But are you are aware, Protopopov disappears. I did not do the work on Protopopov, and have never seen him. : Do you know Savinkov? : I met him once. Agabekov takes orders from him. I know nothing more. : What can you tell me about Litvinov? : A bumbling oaf, I tell you. A party yes-man. He has ulcers. : Who and where is Protopopv? : I don't know who or where he is. I never saw him! Should you unlock the doors before Tsibulenko passes out: : He left the building, comrade captain. : Oh? I have no idea, I'm afraid. As far as I know, there are no particular consequences to this, provided you already got the code-word for Golubev. On the way out of the institute: : Pavlov. ... Your family will be dealt with in the usual manner. : They are innocent, comrade... I mean sir! Only I colluded with the Bolshevik filth! : Bolshevik filth? : What do you imagine will happen to them? : Now that my house has been confiscated by the glorious forces of the White guards, what will my loved ones do? : White guards? : Heroes! Selfless patriots who give their lives to stop the red tide! : Death to Lenin! : Rest easy, comrade. : Comrade?! Yes... thank you. Last but not least, if we head into the room across from ours at the hotel, clicking on the phone will give us: This will become a bit more clear in the next update. Xander77 fucked around with this message at 16:32 on Jul 31, 2014 |
# ? Jul 29, 2014 14:03 |
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Looking around the archives, this is the third abandoned LP I've taken over. Though it just might be the first I'll finish. By your estimates, what percentage of the game have we completed?
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# ? Jul 29, 2014 14:22 |
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Xander77 posted:By your estimates, what percentage of the game have we completed? Depends on how well done the ending is. We're on chapter 4 of 4 so it, but chapter 3 seemed abnormally short and there's still quite a lot to tie up. If there's a satisfying fleshed-out ending, maybe 66%. If the ending is horribly rushed, maybe 80%
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# ? Jul 29, 2014 19:08 |
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Chapter 4 is longer than 3 but shorter than 2
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# ? Jul 29, 2014 21:51 |
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Thanks for continuing this LP. I've just marathoned through it and like a lot of people seem to be I'm fascinated by this game but would find it far too frustrating to play through myself, so glad that we'll see the ending! The additional context is also much appreciated.
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# ? Jul 29, 2014 21:52 |
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The extra context really does help. In red mammoth's absence, I watched a VLP of the game on YouTube and was so confused. They hid on the other side of the boat during the scene where they bring the box on board the boat, so they missed all of that conversation. It certainly is optional, and they did finish the game, but even the VLPer was confused by how much conversation they missed over the course of the game. It really is brutal.
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# ? Jul 30, 2014 17:52 |
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So wait. They abducted a blank? Did they know Doc T hadn't finished yet? I wonder.
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# ? Jul 31, 2014 02:37 |
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[REDACTED] There are a lot of questions. Deathwind fucked around with this message at 20:29 on Jul 31, 2014 |
# ? Jul 31, 2014 09:03 |
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Would you kindly stop that?
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# ? Jul 31, 2014 10:55 |
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Beware the lies of so-called prophets, Comrade!
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# ? Jul 31, 2014 11:54 |
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I just saw this today and I'm really happy it's being continued. My only experience with adventure games has been rubbing objects on one another, so this is something really wonderful.
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# ? Jul 31, 2014 22:08 |
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Adventure games only really started devolving into rubbing you inventory on everything when interfaces started removing verbs, before that there were normally too many options.
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# ? Jul 31, 2014 23:36 |
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Update 33 A run-down part of town. The kind of place that makes you look over your shoulder quite often. A run-down door in a run-down neighborhood. A run-down screw on a run-down knob on a run-down door........ Greenberg's holding his shoulder and looks to be in some pain. : Well, if it ain't ace KGB captain Maxim Rukov! (This is verbatim the conversation you might have with the hotel room phone. The weirdest bug.) : If he wakes up, it won't be in this world! I'm not planning to hang around here much longer with this busted arm. I'm out of action for a day or two. My gun made a lot of noise, so I'll give the militia 10 minutes maximum to get there (sic). If you have questions, make it fast! : What happened here? : I broke in to check this hole out. Then Yakuchev here came in very sneakily and jumped me. I was lucky to be able to get my gun out and shoot the bastard! : What brought you here? : Did you find anything before this character arrived? : Nothing special. I'm just trying to learn what I can about Paymat. : When your country collapses into anarchy, who knows how many blackshirts will crawl out of the woodwork! You're in for some big problems, Rukov. I'm interested in the the international contacts these crazies might have. The world's going to be a dangerous place, believe me. : What are you going to do next? : I was counting on Yakuchev for a lead. : Tough. Looks like you've been struck out. : He might also have been responsible for the death of my parents - and you denied me my vengeance! : That's rough, buddy. : Do the Rogov institute or Protopopov mean anything to you? : Not a thing. : Tsibulenko? : Does "the martyr's fate" ring any bells? : Not for me. : "Beyond the illusion there is falsehood". Head that one before? : Should I have? Sounds like the kind of poetry I wrote when I was a moody kid. : Do you know of a place called "The Motherland"? : "Memory's bible" or "The book of death". Familiar? : What is this garbage, Rukov? Memory's Bible? ... Oh my god, Memory's bible! Pamyat means "memory", right? And what book would ultra-nationalist fascist anti-semitics consider their bible? With some difficulty Greenberg pulls a fat book from beneath his jacket, and hands it to you. Its title is "Mein Kampf". : Adolf Hitler's deranged Nazi philosophy! This book has been translated into Russian. It's full of notes pointing out how Hitler's solutions could be applied to Russia today! Whoever told you that stuff about "Memory's bible" was pointing at Pamyat! Greenberg frowns... then frowns some more... then... : I got it! That "Motherland" thing? This fell out of Mein Kampf when I opened it! The American hands you a bookmark. It carries an advertisement to an art-gallery called "The Motherland" on Great Patriotic War street. : Okay Rukov, I'm out of here. Maybe I'll see you around. I'm not inviting you to come with me because I have to see someone you're not supposed to know about. We examine the apartment: A depressing place to live. Not very clean. The fridge is empty, the bed is unmade. Yakuchev is dead, permanently. You search him, but you find nothing of interest. Judging from Galushkin's apparent age, the photograph was taken some 10 years ago. Right. Keep in mind the other half of a photograph we found some time ago. Time to head to- Yeah. There. A pleasant street. You can see some paintings through the window. : Yes, his work is in the unsullied tradition of our cultural heritage, which survived throughout the godless years of communism! : Please do. I'll be closing the gallery in a few minutes. As the western client moves into another part of the gallery, the manageress turns to you. : I was told you can help me. : Help you with what? : I'm looking for Yakuchev. : Who are you? What do you want with Yakuchev? : I'm KGB. Here's my I.D. : I see. Well, I can't help you, captain. I don't believe I even know this Yakuchev. Is he an artist? : I think you do know him. Where's Protopopov? Her face an inexpressive mask, the manageress goes back to her desk. Mmm, heretical. Maks can't stand to look at these pictures any more. : You admire our religious art? She turns away and, with a brief glance at her watch, sets about admiring the rest of the artwork as fast as she can. : What about- A minute later... The western client calls from the back of the gallery... The manageress, smiling bravely, goes off to answer the question. Maks takes the opportunity to hide in the closet. Maks slips out, turns off the lights, and explores rest of the gallery. Meanwhile, the letter opener is nice and lengthy. All I can say about this puzzle is that you only have so many objects to interact with (unless you get fixated on the paintings). As the letter opener plunges into the martyr's body, you hear a click from the nearby painting, which slides noiselessly to one side. As long as we're here, did anyone take note of the date the game takes place on? I wonder if it's relevant? No reaction. Two familiar figures enter the cell. Savinkov is pointing a pistol at you. : I might have guessed we'd find you here, Rukov. Your tendency to disobey orders has led you into deep trouble this time. The seated comrade is a certain Protopopov. Tomorrow he will appear on television. : Perhaps we could be brief, comrade? : Very well. As you may have gathered, Rukov, the video cassettes were no more than a cover, bait for the corrupt Kusnetsov. Your role was to distract him, and provide enough proof for us to have him executed. Protopopov was the real object of our little exercise. Comrade Volvov and I are both frankly surprised by your abilities. Comrade Galushkin assured us you would be easily controlled. He was obviously mistaken. : Rukov has been lucky, that's all. Have you finished, comrade? : After killing you, I shall find him and discover exactly who he is working for. By the way, I must tell you that switching the contents of the briefcases was a stupid joke. Savinkov's gun points unerringly at your face. : Quite tasteless, rea- Savinkov's gun drops to the floor, followed by its dead owner. Volvov's smoking gun now points at you! : I could of course have eliminated Cut-throat before Savinkov interrogated him, but if I'd been too late, then our dead comrade here would have discovered I was Cut-throat's controller! Listen carefully, Rukov. You have done well. Your activities have managed to panic Savinkov into coming to me. I infiltrated Savinkov and Galushkin's organization some time ago, and I thought I'd succeeded in dissuading them from carrying out this New Birth plan with Protopopov. Clearly, their masters ordered them to go ahead without me. : When Galushkin learned that Yakuchev had kidnapped Protopopov, he put a bullet through his own head. He was probably convinced his plan was about to backfire. Savinkov turned to me. The question is, what shall we do next? : Protopopov must be questioned, comrade major. : Normally I'd agree with you. But think about the situation. : Poor Protopopov represents an enormous menace to the country. Our duty is unfortunately to kill him. Luckily, he is unaware anything that's happening. : Why don't you shoot him? : Because I need to know you have the guts for dirty work. Do your job! : Protopopov won't even know what's happening. Duty is sometimes unpleasant, Rukov, but it is your duty to obey! Yes, their entrance is just that sudden. : Put down that gun, major. We don't want any accidents. : Uncle Vanya! I need an explanation. : I shall explain all this fully a little later. Comrade Volvov has been working for me for some time. He infiltrated the gang of hardliners. Unfortunately, his position didn't allow for much fieldwork, so I arranged for your transfer to Department P. You have done well! Your father would be proud of you. : You should not have exposed yourself, comrade. Now your identity will be known. My own position is compromised. : So I began to feel concern for my nephew's life... : So much the better. I'd have been obliged to eliminate you anyway. I was forced to kill Galushkin. He was an incompetent bumbler, and he was in my way. I tried to talk him out of the Protopopov idea, but he went ahead with it anyway. Then Yakuchev of all people kidnapped Protopopov, and Galushkin naturally fell to pieces. : And now you intend to kill us all. : You were a fool to come here unarmed! : I suggest we come to a reasonable agreement, since you cannot hope to escape. : This is an old trick, comrade. We both know there are no armed men outside. There can be no agreement. You must all die, along with Protopopv. He has become useless, and a liability to my friends. : You're a fool, old man. The forces I represent cannot be stopped. : We shall see if you and your friends can wrest power from the forces of progress! : I'm afraid you won't be alive to see anything, you cripple! Volvov aims casually at Vanya's head... Maks quickly scoops up Savinkov's pistol. Volvov recovers his own gun... : Too late! Our communist heroes have already arrested the president... Tomorrow they'll announce his resignation... for health reasons. Gorbachev's finished... Aah... As Volvov dies, Protopopov suddenly begins to speak. : Comrades! It is with a heavy heart that I speak to you. : I can no longer assume the functions of my office, and I must resign. : Only through communism can we hope to survive! : expect full cooperation and understanding from all citizens. The time has come to root out antisocial elements and enemies of the state! Death to imperialist warmongers! And that's the end of that. Join us next time, for a final update that will hopefully clarify any remaining questions.
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# ? Jul 31, 2014 23:53 |
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Ha. Beautiful. The only way a game like this could end. And what a perfect custom title you've gotten, too!
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 00:38 |
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PleasingFungus posted:
(Though I would be rather partial to Savinkov lusting for innocent blood and cuban cigars). ... If you have any questions that the final update will have to answer, now is the time to ask them. Deathwind, you are given free rein to explain how you think the conspiracy worked out.
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 00:47 |
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Why the sudden ending, do you think? This feels like the 2nd act of a 3 act play.
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 02:34 |
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paragon1 posted:Why the sudden ending, do you think? That's because act 3 would be the coup attempt that took place on August 19th. The Emergency Committee was a very real organization that tried to wrest power from Gorbachev, but they didn't have a fake premier to issue orders in their name. Rukov stopped that from happening, apparently. The coup would wind up collapsing before the end of the month.
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 02:45 |
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Whoa. With that context that's certainly an ending.
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 03:04 |
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They probably made the gorbachev portrait and his dialogue for that part 3, and felt too sad to cut it. There isn't even a door behind the cell. Did everyone but the shellshocked fake Gorbachev just come in behind you?
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 04:32 |
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Where did the dead detective that kicked all this off figure into things, again? Also was Cut-throat any particular person in disguise, or just a dude named Cut-throat?
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 07:38 |
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I have to admit that I figured it was a Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, but not in this sense.
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 09:02 |
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Any questions about the plot that need to be answered in the final update? Also, if the person doing the character would like to update it, I'd certainly include it in the explanation.
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 09:29 |
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Where does Rukov's parents assassination fit into the plot?
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 09:32 |
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My question is, who kidnapped Protopopov from the Rogov Institute? And why? It seems like Pamyat is responsible because they had connections to the Rogov nurse and a link to the art museum where Protopopov was being held. However the only Pamyat member we really know anything about is Yakuchev who seemed to be allies with the KGB Soviet hardliners responsible for bringing Protopopov to the institute in the first place. Also we're told it was 4 men who snatched Protopopov which kind of hints at the KGB guys doing it themselves.... and it doesn't really seem like the needed the Rogov Institute because apparently Protopopov had already been suitably 'programmed' elsewhere. tomanton posted:Where did the dead detective that kicked all this off figure into things, again? KGB hires ex-KGB detective to investigate snuff videotapes. KGB kills detective. KGB sends Rukov to investigate the detective's death to check no KGB secrets could be compromised. Rukov takes over the videotape investigation which leads him to Leningrad where he distracts Kusentsov. Xander77 posted:Any questions about the plot that need to be answered in the final update? Also, if the person doing the character would like to update it, I'd certainly include it in the explanation. I can probably update the character map/chart later today.
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 09:48 |
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Those paintings reminded me of a comic book from roughly the same era as the game. The long-running French comic Spirou et Fantasio has an album first published in 1990 where the heroes become involved in intrigue in late Soviet Moscow. Some highlights:
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 11:28 |
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tomanton posted:Also was Cut-throat any particular person in disguise, or just a dude named Cut-throat? This confused me as well- so Cut-throat was Volvov's lackey who wound up being interrogated and/or killed by Savinkov?
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 13:34 |
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Elite posted:Also we're told it was 4 men who snatched Protopopov which kind of hints at the KGB guys doing it themselves.... and it doesn't really seem like the needed the Rogov Institute because apparently Protopopov had already been suitably 'programmed' elsewhere. They brought Protopopov into the Rogov Institute simply to check on his programming, but then the nurse alerted the Pamyat, the neo-czarist fascist group that owns the gallery, and they stole the fake Gorbachev for their own use. Apparently Rukov's handler was a member of the fascists, but Volvov, the other guy who confronts you, was a double agent and a hard-line communist. From what I can tell, the reason everything gets confusing is because there are no fewer than four factions involved: there's the moderate government represented by Rukov and his uncle, the left-wing communists who brainwashed Protopopov as part of their coup attempt on the government, the right-wing Pamyat whose KGB contacts alerted them to Protopopov and had him kidnapped, and the gangsters who were set by Pamyat to act as a distraction. However, once Protopopov is kidnapped, the communists decide to go ahead without him, leaving Volvov to eliminate the fake Gorbachev and anyone who knows about him.
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 16:40 |
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I really wasn't expecting that to be the end of the game.
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 17:02 |
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The Casualty posted:I really wasn't expecting that to be the end of the game. Kopijeger posted:Those paintings reminded me of a comic book from roughly the same era as the game. The long-running French comic Spirou et Fantasio has an album first published in 1990 where the heroes become involved in intrigue in late Soviet Moscow. Bobbin Threadbare posted:They brought Protopopov into the Rogov Institute simply to check on his programming, but then the nurse alerted the Pamyat, the neo-czarist fascist group that owns the gallery, and they stole the fake Gorbachev for their own use. Apparently Rukov's handler was a member of the fascists, but Volvov, the other guy who confronts you, was a double agent and a hard-line communist. quote:left-wing communists
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 17:18 |
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Xander77 posted:You don't say I know you probably know this, Xander, but just in case there's someone reading who isn't into soviet history, it's not as nonsensical as it seems at first glance. Even during Stalin there were factions. In one famous example, I believe from the first purge, he had those who opposed Lenin's New Economic Policy or NEP shot (that would be the "left wing" of the regime, those in favour of total centralization and no free market at all) and then he had those who favored NEP shot (that would be the "right wing" of the regime, ie. those who were for a very modest economic liberalization). In this case, "left wing communists", even if it's a term I wouldn't use, refers to those who opposed perestroika. I'd have said hard-line communist. But the effect is the same.
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 18:46 |
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Correct. However, the "general party line" was introduced specifically to prevent such fractionism. Which is why the stereotypical dullard apparatchik speak relies heavily on "the party believes" "the people think" "in the interests of [abstract entity] it's best to...". Nothing that would express personal initiative or an opinion that said functionary might have to answer for.
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 19:04 |
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Xander77 posted:Huh. A bit of googling tells me that the artwork for this run of the comic was done by someone who hasn't really worked on anything else. I guess that's just the popular comic style in France and there's where I remember the art style from? Many of their comics do, for example Soda: it was written by the same guy who wrote the above (Tomé), but illustrated by different artists who still have a fairly similar style to Janry. Another page, to illustrate the "creative" use of random Russian words: Kopijeger fucked around with this message at 09:46 on Aug 2, 2014 |
# ? Aug 1, 2014 19:15 |
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Updated character map.
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 23:33 |
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Hmm. Yakuchev is "Yak" rather than "Yaks" (animal or airplane rather than talkity). Cutthroat has an associate link with Kusnetsov, which... probably not. Anyone else spot anything odd?
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# ? Aug 1, 2014 23:58 |
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I find it funny that a department meant to investigate KGB corruption (or am I misremembering that?) ended up mostly dead in a botched coup against the government, mostly at their own hands.
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# ? Aug 2, 2014 00:07 |
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paragon1 posted:I find it funny that a department meant to investigate KGB corruption (or am I misremembering that?) ended up mostly dead in a botched coup against the government, mostly at their own hands. Sounds to me like they did a great job of finding corruption.
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# ? Aug 2, 2014 09:44 |
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So, the in the end the big conspiracy was a power play between Galushkin and Volvov? If so, then what did Paymat want with Protopopov? I mean having a pet Gorby is fun but his programming was pretty specific, or did Yaks figure the whole scheme based on the information from Saneyeva and move to thwart the switch-a-roo? Still the plot gets a 10/10 for being a deeply involved conspiracy that didn't even once involve a Xanatos Gambit.
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# ? Aug 2, 2014 15:19 |
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# ? Apr 27, 2024 18:29 |
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Deathwind posted:Sounds to me like they did a great job of finding corruption. In fact, it was a conspiracy to create a conspiracy to justify their budget, but things got out of hand.
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# ? Aug 2, 2014 15:26 |