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Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010
Also, using the matches on yourself has the same effect as using the pistol.

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Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

Xander77 posted:

Moscow isn't entirely covered in snow regardless of the time of the year.

But even though the game explicitly is set in august (sometime between the 4. and the 19., given that Gorbatsjov is said to be at the Black Sea but the putsch hasn't occurred yet), people still dress like this:


And the meat shop is for some reason labelled "Morozhe oe", presumably a mangled form of "Morozhenoe", the common short form of "morozhenoe moloko" (ice cream, though literally meaning "frozen milk")

Kopijeger fucked around with this message at 08:42 on Oct 3, 2013

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010
Even if Verto still believes that "Kruglov" is a mere private investigator, wouldn't he relocate anyway considering that both you and the American "journalist" escaped and is likely to draw heat on his activities, like tipping off the militia anonymously? Not to mention what would happen when the garbage collectors find the body of that thug - or are we ment to believe that his connections means that he has absolutely nothing to fear from the militia?

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

"Conspijacy" and the Hotel "Hotel".

Incidentally, the putsch against Gorbatsjov began on the 19th.

Kopijeger fucked around with this message at 10:08 on Jan 3, 2014

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

Tevery Best posted:

You mean "Soisriyasu", I believe? :v:

I considered reading it like that, but gave it the benefit of the doubt since the other letters look more like latin ones. Hell, they even avoided using "и" for "N".

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010
Funnily enough, googling "agabekov" returned this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Agabekov

Presumably the developers included the reference because this Agabekov had a connection to France.

Furthermore, where could Rukov possibly stash the equipment right in front of the KGB building and have it remain both secure and unnoticed by the security staff?

Kopijeger fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Jan 22, 2014

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

red mammoth posted:

It looks like there's an air vent on the left side of the screen.

It is the local KGB office. If Rukov can stash his equipment there undisturbed, anyone could plant gear to spy on the building or even a bomb in the same location. The most reasonable solution would probably be to go to the park ahead of time and hide the gear there.

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

red mammoth posted:

That's a pretty good question, actually. It would have been a good idea for Rukov to check out his equipment before the mission started. Maybe it just slipped his mind. He is pretty new to this spy business, after all.

He is former Spetsnaz. Checking his gear before setting out on a mission should be second nature to him.

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010
We don't see the entire apartment, so there might be a piano on one of the other walls. On a different note, there is a joke about our hero still having his books about childhood heroes like Spidercomrade and Tractorcomrade. What kind of books would a boy growing up in the 1970s Soviet Union actually be likely to have read?

Kopijeger fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Jan 26, 2014

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010
From the OP:

quote:

Note that the black-and-white Rukov portrait represents in-character commentary, while the colored Rukov portrait represents in-game dialogue.

Either it is a joke, or red mammoth doesn't know how Russian names work.

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010
How would cocaine get into the Soviet Union? Through trade links with Cuba and Nicaragua, or by some other means?

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

red mammoth posted:

Moscow! You took a wrong turn somewhere, chekist! Next time, bring a warrant.


And another thing: would a "chekist" actually need a warrant in order to search a property? The stereotype of non-democratic regimes is that the security services have the kind of wide-ranging powers that would allow them to barge in almost everywhere they want, but I am curious as to how this would work in real life.

Xander77 posted:

..."niche films".[...]For the longest time none of the above were available to the average USSR citizen - and had they known that such indulgences were there for tourists, it would have (theoretically) only reinforced their beliefs about decadent Western morals.

What exactly are "niche films"? I'm guessing either pornography or popular Hollywood action films. And this "decadent Western morals" thing, was that a popular stereotype? Did the average Soviet citizen actually perceive the "West" as being more decadent than their own country, even taking into account things like the rate of alcohol abuse being much higher than just about anywhere in the "West" and average lifespans being significantly shorter (thus showing that the average health of the general population is worse) in the USSR?

Kopijeger fucked around with this message at 12:14 on Feb 13, 2014

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

Xander77 posted:

It's porn. Sorry if I was a bit too subtle - I kinda assumed that associating the term with women and drugs would tip you off. Popular Hollywood films had (as I noted before) a thriving VHS market, complete with basement-dwelling translators, dubbers and distributors. The average citizen wouldn't require a lot of contacts to get his hands on a Hollywood movie (and a tourist would probably have better things to spend his time and money on).

Seems unlikely that tourists from "bourgeois" countries would bother with porn when they could easily get that stuff at home - if there was a market for them, it seems like it should be among Soviet citizens with better connections than most.


Something I just now noticed:

"Hammer and Sickle street" seems like a joke name (not to mention that they didn't translate other proper names), but it turn out there actually is one in Kharkov:
http://mapia.ua/ru/kharkov/addresses/str-serp-i-molot-47

Kopijeger fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Feb 13, 2014

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

Coolguye posted:

I presume it's completely possible to simply leave the KGB office without looking for the cigar, right? Which means you're totally able to do a full day of dead-man-walking gameplay because Cut-throat is going to kill you for not knowing that in the evening.

It isn't that bad: apparently Rukov can mention that he smelled smoke in the office even though you didn't find the remains in the wastebasket.

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

forkboy84 posted:

Forgot to write about the latest update, oops! Intriguing ending there, with (presumably) Cut-throat's corpse being dragged into your room.

It's not Cut-throat, just some guy with a similar outfit. Note the blue trousers (compared to Cut-throat's grey ones) and the green stripe on the hat.

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010
It might be an inadequate translation from French, but Cut-throat should probably have access to either a PB or a PSS. Though it might be fairly clever way of creating plausible deniability in-universe: Verto had a Nagant because someone like him would have easier access to a widespread weapon issued to railroad workers than to more modern stuff, and Cut-throat has one because using a more modern weapon would out him as a security service agent.

And it's still the 16th of August 1991 in-game.

Kopijeger fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Feb 15, 2014

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

Xander77 posted:

Edit - Also, countries are not "bourgeois" any more than they are proletarian. That's not what those words mean.

I've seen the term used like that in some Soviet material: for example, I once consulted the 1973 edition of Ozhegov's "Slovar' russkogo yazyka". On the very first page the definition of "абсентеизм" included the phrase "в буржуазных странах" (in the 2005 edition in my possession the phrase is absent from the definition). Googling the phrase also turned up this and this. The point is, there was definitely a practice of labelling countries "bourgeois". My usage was intended as an ironic reference to this usage of the term.

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

Xander77 posted:

Yes, the question is whether it's a pun on / reference to "Родина (Мать) Зовет".

Maybe I am missing something, but it seems most likely that the painting references this song.

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010
Another terribly contrived situation: luring Burlatski to the hotel room relies entirely on the hero of our game sounding similar enough to "Viktor" on the phone.

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

Funny how they switched out the digitised photo for a drawing containing local landmarks. The tall spire in the middle is probably intended to be the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The raised drawbridges are considered iconic, but are normally only raised in the small hours, roughly 0130-0500 depending on the actual bridge. Might have been different in Soviet times, though.

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

red mammoth posted:

I'm Otis Z Levitus and I'm selling you guys the right choice in soft drinks for today's market. The fresh American flavor that many hi-profile sport and show-business personalities drink when they're face-to-face with thirst!

Why else? To sample Soviet cuisine? Ha, ha. Lemme tell you about our new line in classic diet colas. They give maximum drinkability without impairing athletic performance or adding on those hard-to-lose pounds. Many rock-stars prefer our product. Try some and you won't WANT to switch back to your current soft drink!

The game reveals its French origins.

quote:

An expensively-dressed westerner, wearing a thick layer of make-up.

Though the art is decidedly low-res, they did succeed in making her look suitably smarmy. Strange that she has no close-up portrait, though.

Kopijeger fucked around with this message at 15:37 on Feb 22, 2014

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

red mammoth posted:

How does the conversation with Levitus reveal the game's Frenchness? Is there a French in-joke or something?

Not as such, it is more that the character seems to be the embodiment of American crassness; ridiculous name, fat, garish and sloppily dressed, delivers an exuberant sales pitch for a crass product. Ever seen "The triplettes of Belleville"?

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010
"Du nimmst mir das wort aus dem mund!" -> You take the word out of my mouth!
"Du bist unkomisch!" -> You are un-comical!
"Nicht so laut. Ich habe einen kater." -> Not so loud. I have a hangover.

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

Xander77 posted:

Do you mean "you're not funny!", or is that the actual translation?

It is a very literal translation meant to convey the stiltedness of the original. I can't claim to be completely fluent in the language, but I'm pretty certain that the line was written by a non-fluent non-native. The idiomatic way to say "You are not funny" would probably be "Du bist nicht lustig".

Kopijeger fucked around with this message at 21:08 on Feb 23, 2014

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

red mammoth posted:

Ask about...Japanese politics
Very good for business.

Not idea if it was intended by the writers, but this statement is ironic, seeing as the game takes place while the Japanese asset price bubble was bursting.

Also:
Iakov Pavlovich! This drunk is threatening me.

From what I have heard, Old Testament names like Jakov or Daniil are usually a sign that the bearer is Jewish. Any truth to that assertion, and if so, is it likely that Soviet Jew would tend bar at a hotel for "capitalist" foreigners?

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

Xander77 posted:

Народ мне простит, но спрошу я невольно: Куда отнести мне Абрама Линкольна?

Haven't heard that one before, but googling led me to this. Charlie Chaplin doesn't fit, but that was probably intentional.

A joke slightly relevant to the plot of the game:

quote:

Звонок по телефону.
-Алло! Общество «Память» слушает.
-Здгавствуйте! Это Рабинович. Скажите, пгавда евреи Россию продали?
-Правда, конечно, морда жидовская! Чего тебе еще?
-Скажите, где я могу получить свою долю?

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010
A CIA agent guns down a KGB operative on the open street from his hotel window - thus risking everything - instead of simply cutting off contact?

Of course, same goes for the code sheet earlier - gunning you down instead of simply not providing you with any information.

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010
I remember that the Pavel Lungin film "Oligarkh" had one such joke. It went something like this:

One New Russian shows his new tie to another:
- See this tie? I paid 3000 dollars for it.
- You got scammed. I saw them offering an identical one for 5000.

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010
Seems that redmammoth haven't posted anything since 14th of april. Maybe he was sent to Wrangel island.

Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010
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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Kopijeger
Feb 14, 2010

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

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