No trolls, star wars or shootouts here. Let's Play Blackout.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > No trolls, star wars or shootouts here. Let's Play Blackout.

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SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

Blackout is a classic surreal noir adventure game, which was published in 1997 to widespread critical acclaim and is considered a milestone of interactive storytelling.

The reason you have never heard of it, is that it was only published in Scandinavia, is entirely in Danish, and disappeared off the face of the earth soon afterwards.

I have managed to track down a copy at a used book sale and will be translating the game to English, so the rest of you can finally see what you missed.

Let's take a look at the box:

You probably didn't understand a word of that, so here is a translation:

Blackout box posted:

Escape your fate � if you can.
Blackout.
Novel and CD-Rom.

Whenever you see some incomprehensible gibberish, simply scroll down for a translation.

What makes Blackout so special? Why not let the back of the box explain:

Blackout box posted:

Black Out.
Escape your fate � if you can!!!
Black Out is the game that will challenge your sanity and explore you subconsciousness.
At the start of the game you have no idea who you are. Slowly you get to know the Black Out city and through that yourself. Through conversations with people and experiences of deja vu, you soon realize that your soul carries dark secrets. Your fate is determined, unless you do something � quickly!
In addition to the unique concept of the game. Black Out plays out in a revolutionary environment. A scale model of the entire city has been constructed, with houses, streetlamps, waterfront district and last but not least, animated dolls.
By communicating with the 60 different characters in more than 30 realistic environments you will achieve a game feeling the like of which you have never before experienced. Because your actions control the game and the preconditions are constantly changing, you will discover new dimensions every time you play Black Out.
An insanely exciting game.
Literally...

In case you thought they were kidding about the model city, here are some pictures:

As the box mentions, the game is accompanied by a novel. Let's take a look:

Blackout posted:

Produced by Deadline Multimedia.

Co-produced by:
Media Investment Club.

With support from:
Stephan Bisse
The Ministry of Culture
The Culture Fond

Published by BMG/IQ Media

Executive Producer: Chris Mottes

Blackout posted:

Foreword
For far too long entertainment on computers has been reserved for gamers, 13 year old kids and computer nerds, and for far too long the "interactive kick" has been based on trolls, star wars and shootouts.
It was with this in mind that I nearly two years ago contacted novelist Michael Valeur and encouraged him to develop a script that would work more with emotions than with adrenaline. Our experience with the medium was quite limited at the time, which forced us into fundamental discussions about the possibilities and impossibilities of the medium.
At first we were excited by the many opportunities and for six months we worked on a script, which was completely discarded. Precisely because the many opportunities made the experience too arbitrary and hence uninteresting. It was as if a guiding hand was missing � a meaning to everything.
The balance between control and free will is razor-sharp, and it took an additional year before the script finally came together, and we together with more than 50 creative people, could finally embark on the adventure that Black Out has been and has become.
Black Out is a mixture of traditions and innovation, and for that reason a novel accompanies the CD-ROM's. You can read the novel first, you can also read it last, you can experience them side-by-side, you can refrain from reading the novel or only read the novel � the choice is unconditionally yours.

Pretentious? Sure, but this isn't your average indie pixel-art game. Featuring a fully voice-acted cast of 60 nightmare-inducing stop-motion animated puppets, acting out a dark surreal noir story about insanity and existential angst, in a detailed scale model of a city that makes Dark City look like Pleasantville, built by 50 creative people, funded by the Danish Ministry of Culture, Blackout is so motherfucking ART it could make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.

As for the question posed by the final paragraph, this LP will be going with option C: Experiencing the game and the novel side-by-side. Throughout the LP, I will post excerpts from the novel, to supplement the videos. I will not be translating the entire thing, but you will get to read a few choice sections.

Without further ado, let's get started:

This was a relatively short update because I want to give the thread an opportunity to participate. Blackout has a lot of plot reactivity and actions can affect the plot in subtle ways. The game is also very open, letting us freely explore the four hub areas of the city right from the start. We can run straight to our doctor for help, or just enjoy ourselves partying at nightclubs and eating Chinese. I should mention that it's quite easy to skip a lot of content, if we simply run between plot triggers, but that's up to you. I'm planning to do a bonus playthrough, to show off some extra stuff, once the main one is done.

The game manual contains maps of the four hubs, with enterable locations marked by red arrows:

The Suburb (where we live):

The Waterfront District:

Uptown:

Downtown:

Where should we go next?

Also, Blackout is notable for tracking the actions and choices of the player in subtle ways. Since I can't pause the LP every time there is a minor choice, I would like to try something else: I would like for you to write a brief description of how you see the personality of our main character. I will do my best to mash together everybody's suggestions and act accordingly.

And now, the novel:

Blackout posted:

"Everything that matters leads a shadow life in angst."
Hanne Methling

No idea who Hanne Methling is. Googling the name leads to a Danish singer/songwriter, who seems way too cheerful to be the author of that quote. There are no hits at all for the quote itself.

Blackout posted:

January 20th
Dear Malene
Well, another six months have passed since the last time we saw each other, but I have had a lot of things on my mind � and it's definitely not because I don't want to... I actually stopped by one afternoon and rang the doorbell, but no one was home...So I left and thought about coming back later. But I didn't get around to it. Moving takes a lot out of you, and the six months before our departure have been spent scraping some cash together and making arrangements. I whored myself out editing weeklies and letter columns for the worst women's magazines on the market... Signe had a lot of connections at those places, so the jobs were easy enough to get... But it was, to say the least, not very exciting work. But here we are. The city is worn-down and unattractive, but it was ~~maybe~~ the right thing to do, ~~even though I haven't really settled in and now I'm settled in...~~ and I'm beginning to notice the small havens in the city.
~~I can't stop thinking about what Jesper would have said about living here. Every morning I think he is here, and~~
So here we are. Jacob is already working at full-steam. He now has a position at the psychiatric ward, which is the foundation of our economy right now... In addition, he is trying to build a network of private patients who need talk therapy. It looks like he is doing well, in this city he will have work to do for a long time, most people here have eyes like glass doors... One of them, who was here yesterday, kept screaming and grabbing his ear, where a microphone had been implanted, which told him to kill his children, �but just to spare them from seeing all the things they are going to see...� He kept arguing with the voice while he was talking to Jacob. But the worst thing is that the entire city feels the same way... As if every

Blackout posted:

~~inhabitant is balancing on a razor-sharp edge.~~ He is already getting started and is using a few of the cases for his research project. In the beginning he had to visit them at their homes, and it sounded like they needed to be committed more than they needed therapy, but I think things are moving in the right direction. At least we have had a lot chain-smoking people with bloodshot eyes drinking our coffee.
We are staying in the nice part of town. There is a large plaza right outside the window. And as you can probably guess, Jacob has seized the best room for his office... ~~The neighbors in our hallway are cautious, and the first thing they asked was �if we had children�, as if that would have been a disaster... But later she~~
But he deserves it. The rest of the apartment is starting to come together, after I had it painted � it's not like I lack for time... Jacob seems distant and is busy � he will probably work his way out of it... I have taken some odd jobs in a bar called �The Mask�, but it doesn't mean poo poo to me... And I'm still thinking about Jesper. It's like he is still everywhere. I miss him so terribly. I miss the old Jacob, I miss the way things used to be...
Well, I am going to stop here, I'm planning to go down to �The Mask� where I have a temp job and invite one of my colleagues for tea. A girl called Sandra I think you would like... �If you want new friends, invite them home for tea�...
I wish you were here. Take care.
Dearest regards from Kathe....

See you next time!

Note: The game is being remastered for tablets, with full English voice acting! See http://nordicgamebits.com/2015/06/19/the-1997-blackout-is-getting-remastered-for-tablets/ for more information.

SimonChris fucked around with this message at 13:10 on Nov 20, 2015

# ? Jul 17, 2015 20:15

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 14:28

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

Updates

Playlist for the jukebox songs at https://open.spotify.com/user/1161134851/playlist/2wlwFRuzKNhb0ULSzXy7NN.

Here is a new excerpt from the novel, dealing with our doctor:

Blackout posted:

Controversial new hire at the psychiatric ward.
The psychiatric ward waves goodbye to an old controversy and welcomes a new employee.
With the hiring of Jacob L�tting, department O can finally close the book on the long controversy concerning the use of talk therapy in the treatment of borderline psychotic patients.
Jacob L�tting has done several years of research on the effects of the new drug Isamarc, which is used concurrently with talk therapy in the treatment of psychiatric patients. Isamarc is just as efficient as many of the existing psychotropic drugs, but the drug is much less sedating, even with long-term treatment. The results so far have been very promising, and the drug has surprisingly been applicable in the treatment of both bipolar and psychotic patients.
�For me, the question is not so much whether talk therapy should be used, but rather how to find the right tools to support the therapy,� says Jacob L�tting.
During his career, Jacob L�tting has focused on the interplay between external and internal disease. In his research, he has focused on reconstituting the mental balance of people who have suffered severe external trauma caused by war, torture or similar experiences. A large proportion of said patients had developed severe personality disorders, and they became the basis for the first tests of Isamarc.
�Isamarc made it possible to establish genuine

Blackout posted:

talk therapy with patients who had previously been impossible to reach, either because the psychosis prevented it, or because drug treatment dulled their minds too much.�
In spite of the positive research results, Dr. L�tting is hesitant to call it a breakthrough. He does go so far as to call the effects of the drug promising, considering the treatment of war veterans and similar cases.
Dr. L�tting intends to incorporate his experiences with Isamarc in his new work at Department O, where he will, concurrently with his research, participate in the day-to-day work at the psychiatric clinic. At the clinic, Dr. L�tting will be able to find patients who can participate in his Isamarc trials, and this will make it possible for him to test the drug on a larger group of patients. Even though the patients haven't been directly exposed to torture, they are still products of a society collectively marked by the war.
�My job at the clinic will be to follow the daily working procedures and in particular deal with the outpatients of the psychiatric clinic, who have long been given low priority, even though they have been one of the most busy fields of work.�
Jacob L�tting has already been working at the ward for about a week, and he will officially join the staff on February 1st.

In this episode, we learn the definition of Art, how to seduce a nurse, and what Judas was thinking before he took his own life.

As promised, the full translation of the poem from the library is posted below. The poem is also available in the game novel, so I've posted a screenshot of the page, to go along with the translation.

Blackout posted:

I drink razor-sharp images
My songs are dead birds
Withered and black in the snow
Like chains that fell in old rooms

I fly with the night wind
Lonely caressing abandoned walls
In houses with weary memories

Freedom is left behind in a pile
Along with yesterday's clothes
I don't know the name
Of what I am holding in my hands

Quivering like exploding flowers
Cascades of ecstatic space
Extended in an undulating nothingness

Pushing me away
Pushing me away

My pupils are dull webs
Above me, the shuffling steps of the moon
Its dull light as sleepless features
on the city's face

Bruised throughout the day
I stand up, wavering
While I piss away my life

http://www.gamestudies.org/0301/walther/

For this weeks reading assignment we have an academic article with a section about Blackout!

http://www.gamestudies.org/0301/walther/ posted:

If a game breaks the illusion � if it fails to indicate its unity through its difference from its other and itself � one is likely to be thrown back into play-mode. Consider, for instance, the Danish adventure game Blackout (1997) in which the user takes on the role of Gabriel who suffers from severe schizophrenia (he has no less than four split personalities) and anamneses. The plot within the game is both traditional, in that it carefully peals off layer after layer of hidden psychologies, and allegorical: the fact that our alter ego (Gabriel) is a schizophrenic can be read as a figural dissemination of what would be the starting point of most computer games: I am and am not the character I am playing. In a similar fashion, Gabriel's anamneses might be interpreted as a kind of meta-fiction that point towards a common game feeling. One has to complete the game in order to "remember" what happened. One must proceed to the end of the line to fully grasp the offspring of the line.

All of this is good, and it surely puts the game on the high side of current industrial tricks. But on one occasion, Blackout � perhaps inadvertently � cuts short the imperative illusion. In a particular scene we are asked by an old fortune-teller to "click" on a symbol on the screen. Abruptly, we are thrown back to square one, unintentionally recollecting the initial hocus-pocus � that we made a contract in order to play, and that we adapted and interacted with the structural complexity in order to game (in the active sense). Therefore, at this point there is a profound focus on play-mode. We are � to use Spencer-Brown�s expression � forced into making a �crossing operation.� The distinction is shattered, the unity is broken.

However, as it happens, rather than treating the represented game world as a detached object within the play environment (i.e. a screen instead of a game element), we can compete against the game. Blackout is organised as a complex series of interchangeable choices and levels of proactive interactions. While we think we are "reading" the machine (meaning its scripted actions), the machine is also "reading" the composition of our choices. But once we get the sense of this (to what extent do our interactions influence the path that the machine is directing us into?), we are able to "foresee" this action pattern and thus play �against� the machine � as if we were given the chance to re-design the map underneath the very landscape we interacted with. This is game-mode, then, and actually on a higher level. We are not just completing the game�s mission; we are also challenging the organisation that frames this mission.

The full translations of the texts in the book are posted below:

Journal entry posted:

I can hear you grinding your teeth, but your lungs are burned away!!!!
I see your hands reaching out, but they are robbed of the desire that could make them hold on to even the slightest shred of life!!
I am the bonfire in the night. A knife that cuts a hole in the sky. A tightrope walker seeing heaven to one side and hell to the other....
And I am staying on the line. And I stomp on your face. I look you straight in the eyes until you have to look away because your pupils melt.
Because your brain sizzles and you smell smoke.
What is louder than the crying of the children - the roar of the fire.
I burn life clean!!!! And eat your ashes!

Letter from mom posted:

Dear Gabriel
I was 27 years old before your father freed me from the miserable life I had been leading. Before he pulled me up.
I was notorious for being the most sadistic whore on the block.
I enjoyed seeing the men squirm.
They reminded me of where I should have kept my own father.... Beneath my heel. I never let your father go all the way either, unless I was dead drunk.
No one promised us that life would be easy. Pain is a fundamental feature. We are born with it, and we die with it.
- Mom

Letter from dad posted:

Gabriel
I worked patiently, formally and without being seen.
I was taught that children should be seen and not heard.
I was taught that if you won't listen, you must feel.
I patiently passed it on.
I think it was the only time I was really awake and could feel - it freed me from own pain every time I struck.
I think we lived the darkness of our intimate life through you.
In the beginning you thought it had to be like that, that the same things happened to the others when their parents dragged them down into the basement.
I ought to say that I was filled with remorse.
But life isn't like that, it is not a question of right and wrong - but merely of what is possible.
It was possible to use you.
It brought me nothing but pleasure.
Dad

The poetry collection that Kathe wanted is "Gypsy Ballads" by Federico Garc�a Lorca and is available at http://www.bpj.org/PDF/V02N1.pdf. The poem we read in the library is "The Faithless Wife", which starts at page 15.

SimonChris fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Nov 21, 2015

# ? Jul 17, 2015 21:40

Ghostwoods: May 9, 2013; Say "Cheese!"

Trippy...

Kathe sounded the nearest to friendly, so should we go see her first? She might be able to give us some information about ourselves / the situation. There's not much to go on so far, except that we either have dreams about being a contract killer, or we actually are a contract killer.

# ? Jul 17, 2015 22:28

Bon Yack: Aug 19, 2010

Been looking forward to this. I own the Swedish version of this game (where the protagonist is voiced by a young Mikael Persbrandt) and it will be cool to see the stuff I missed when I played it through.

Also I vote that we keep exploring Downtown.

# ? Jul 17, 2015 22:47

DumbRodent: Jan 15, 2013; Heart Thumping Field Trip
BIG PANIC?

I can see why this was such a hit. It feels very dreamlike and the oppressive atmosphere is sort of intoxicating. Can't wait to see more of this. As for our character, I think it's safe to assume they're going through a pretty rough time. The strange sounds when sorting through the different jackets and the comic kind of felt like we were recalling and associating memories with those objects- both fond memories and dreadful ones. Feels like we've been stuck in this place for a long time, growing stagnant in a stagnant city, losing sleep and time (Blacking Out, yeah) to the strange, otherworldly nightmares like we saw at the beginning. And now it seems like we're having trouble remembering things.
Also did we just trip and land on our face when trying to sit next to a girl in the theater? Poor goon. :smith:

I think that speaks a lot for our character's self-esteem.

We're sad, we're lonely, we probably barely slept. We're having a rough morning, and the world barely seems to make any sense right now. It's probably too early to get our special drink on at The Mask so I'd say finding and having a chat with Kathe would be a good first move- she seems friendly enough, and human contact might help clear our head a bit.

DumbRodent fucked around with this message at 06:19 on Jul 18, 2015

# ? Jul 17, 2015 23:10

Accordion Man: Nov 7, 2012; Buglord

Yeah, I'm already getting some real forgotten gem vibes from this game already. The atmosphere is already fantastic, stop motion is rad, and its actually really impressive that they made a whole scale model city with stop motion figures that actually move their mouths. It reminds me of The Dream Machine, which is an adventure game that's final episode is in development right now. Its also stop-motion but its not nearly to the scale as this, though DM's team is just made of two guys next to this game's fifty. Overall this game definitely fits right at home with those other multimedia PC adventure games that came out in the 90's that were really creative and strange. Its a shame that this never left Scandinavia, that's probably the main reason its so obscure. I'm definitely following this.

I say our protagonist is a nice guy but he's really struggling with these horrific visions that are slowly eating away at his life and he's trying to understand the cause. I think he should visit Kathe first, she seems like a good supportive friend to help him keep going.

Accordion Man fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Jul 19, 2015

# ? Jul 18, 2015 05:51

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

DumbRodent posted:

Also did we just trip and land on our face when trying to sit next to a girl in the theater? Poor goon. I think that speaks a lot for our character's self-esteem.

I think the seat was broken, so we fell when we tried to sit down

.

So far, the votes favor visiting Kathe, with our personality being "nice, but insecure." Keep the suggestions coming!

# ? Jul 18, 2015 10:58

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

Here is the next episode. As before, I would like the viewers to decide where we should go next and how our character should behave. We still haven't seen most of Downtown, we haven't been to the harbor at all, and there was that atelier in the suburb.

I will post another excerpt from the novel next week.

Edit: Playlist for the jukebox songs at https://open.spotify.com/user/1161134851/playlist/2wlwFRuzKNhb0ULSzXy7NN

SimonChris fucked around with this message at 15:08 on Aug 23, 2015

# ? Jul 19, 2015 16:07

Mraagvpeine: Nov 4, 2014; I won this avatar on a technicality this thick.

It's always interesting to see obscure games. I wonder what this game has to offer.

*sees first video*

... Well, that was a trip and a half. Definitely an art style I haven't seen in a game before. I don't know what to vote for, so I'll just sit back and see where we end up.

# ? Jul 19, 2015 16:24

Accordion Man: Nov 7, 2012; Buglord

Having looked up what else the devs did turns out that they made that lovely Watchmen beat-em-up that caused them to go defunct. What a way to fall.

They also made Total Overdose, which I heard was a good game. You can buy it on GOG.

# ? Jul 19, 2015 17:39

Bon Yack: Aug 19, 2010

I always liked how the tough guys that beat you up in the alley are clearly very old men. The elderly in this town do not approve of the smut youngsters watch at the cinema these days it seems.

Perhaps the next move should be to visit the library. Kathe seems to know us better than we know ourselves at the moment, so her advice might be prudent. I also think we should check out the harbor soon though.

# ? Jul 20, 2015 09:07

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

Here is a new excerpt from the novel, dealing with our doctor:

Blackout posted:

Controversial new hire at the psychiatric ward.
The psychiatric ward waves goodbye to an old controversy and welcomes a new employee.
With the hiring of Jacob L�tting, department O can finally close the book on the long controversy concerning the use of talk therapy in the treatment of borderline psychotic patients.
Jacob L�tting has done several years of research on the effects of the new drug Isamarc, which is used concurrently with talk therapy in the treatment of psychiatric patients. Isamarc is just as efficient as many of the existing psychotropic drugs, but the drug is much less sedating, even with long-term treatment. The results so far have been very promising, and the drug has surprisingly been applicable in the treatment of both bipolar and psychotic patients.
�For me, the question is not so much whether talk therapy should be used, but rather how to find the right tools to support the therapy,� says Jacob L�tting.
During his career, Jacob L�tting has focused on the interplay between external and internal disease. In his research, he has focused on reconstituting the mental balance of people who have suffered severe external trauma caused by war, torture or similar experiences. A large proportion of said patients had developed severe personality disorders, and they became the basis for the first tests of Isamarc.
�Isamarc made it possible to establish genuine

Blackout posted:

talk therapy with patients who had previously been impossible to reach, either because the psychosis prevented it, or because drug treatment dulled their minds too much.�
In spite of the positive research results, Dr. L�tting is hesitant to call it a breakthrough. He does go so far as to call the effects of the drug promising, considering the treatment of war veterans and similar cases.
Dr. L�tting intends to incorporate his experiences with Isamarc in his new work at Department O, where he will, concurrently with his research, participate in the day-to-day work at the psychiatric clinic. At the clinic, Dr. L�tting will be able to find patients who can participate in his Isamarc trials, and this will make it possible for him to test the drug on a larger group of patients. Even though the patients haven't been directly exposed to torture, they are still products of a society collectively marked by the war.
�My job at the clinic will be to follow the daily working procedures and in particular deal with the outpatients of the psychiatric clinic, who have long been given low priority, even though they have been one of the most busy fields of work.�
Jacob L�tting has already been working at the ward for about a week, and he will officially join the staff on February 1st.

# ? Jul 21, 2015 20:09

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

Blackout posted:

I drink razor-sharp images
My songs are dead birds
Withered and black in the snow
Like chains that fell in old rooms

I fly with the night wind
Lonely caressing abandoned walls
In houses with weary memories

Freedom is left behind in a pile
Along with yesterday's clothes
I don't know the name
Of what I am holding in my hands

Quivering like exploding flowers
Cascades of ecstatic space
Extended in an undulating nothingness

Pushing me away
Pushing me away

My pupils are dull webs
Above me, the shuffling steps of the moon
Its dull light as sleepless features
on the city's face

Bruised throughout the day
I stand up, wavering
While I piss away my life

There aren't many options left in the first chapter of the game. We can either explore the harbor or go straight to our doctor, for the therapy we obviously need. What do you think?

# ? Jul 25, 2015 20:36

Bon Yack: Aug 19, 2010

One does not simply walk through the Downtown alley :allears:

There is a lot of content in this game that is very missable, even on multiple playthroughs. I've never seen the back room at the church before, for example. Anyway, if Vicky at New Orleans wanted to see us we should go there before seeing the psychologist.

# ? Jul 25, 2015 22:23

Mraagvpeine: Nov 4, 2014; I won this avatar on a technicality this thick.

I don't think there's anything wrong with a little more exploration.

# ? Jul 25, 2015 22:27

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

Bon Yack posted:

One does not simply walk through the Downtown alley

There is a lot of content in this game that is very missable, even on multiple playthroughs. I've never seen the back room at the church before, for example. Anyway, if Vicky at New Orleans wanted to see us we should go there before seeing the psychologist.

Funny thing about the alley: You are ambushed every time you try to walk through it, unless you walk backwards, in which case nothing happens. I am not sure if this is intentional or if they just forgot a trigger.

Also, I'll second the observation about missable content. I didn't discover that you could actually use the phone in your apartment until I was in the middle of recording the first update, so all the phone conversations were a last-minute addition. After the first playthrough, I'll try to go back and show things we missed, but it's unlikely that I'll be able to show anywhere close to all the content in the game.

# ? Jul 26, 2015 10:26

Accordion Man: Nov 7, 2012; Buglord

This game looks like its all about exploration so we should head to the docks before meeting out psych.

# ? Aug 4, 2015 21:01

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

In this episode, we take a trip to the harbor for a night of carnal debauchery and philosophical monologues.

Next time, we finally receive some therapy and are introduced to the actual plot of the game.

The first chapter of the game is basically free-form exploration, but we are going to start learning more about what's going on soon enough.

SimonChris fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Aug 17, 2015

# ? Aug 4, 2015 22:24

Bon Yack: Aug 19, 2010

So. This was the game that was gifted to me by my parents at the mature age of 7

To be fair it was bundled with some other more kid-friendly games.

Anyway, keep up the good work.

# ? Aug 5, 2015 00:24

wolfman987: Dec 16, 2012

I remember reading something on the game back ago but giving up on it since it's in Danish. I'm liking what I've seen so far and hoping you'll see the lp through. Thanks for doing this.

# ? Aug 13, 2015 17:50

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

wolfman987 posted:

I remember reading something on the game back ago but giving up on it since it's in Danish. I'm liking what I've seen so far and hoping you'll see the lp through. Thanks for doing this.

Thank you for the kind words

. I'll definitely try to see it through, even if there hasn't been as much interest as I'd hoped. I've been pretty busy lately, but I'll try to finish the next update within the next week or so.

# ? Aug 14, 2015 21:09

Mraagvpeine: Nov 4, 2014; I won this avatar on a technicality this thick.

I'm watching; I just didn't have anything to say.

# ? Aug 14, 2015 21:16

thomawesome: Jul 19, 2009

Watched the first episode, and woah, really wish this game got a US release. Definitely will be keeping up with this thread.

# ? Aug 14, 2015 21:50

Accordion Man: Nov 7, 2012; Buglord

I'm still watching and you really should keep on this, there's barely anything on this game on YouTube and the like and its definitely way too interesting to be forgotten.

# ? Aug 14, 2015 22:36

Ghostwoods: May 9, 2013; Say "Cheese!"

Hm, I'd missed that you posted the port video somehow. Things in the game feel strange. Slightly off-kilter. I wonder how much our psychological state is deceiving us? It was certainly a pretty bleak tarot reading. Still, at least it was the 10 of Swords rather than the 7.

# ? Aug 14, 2015 22:41

Bible Ian Black: Jul 16, 2009; I'M THE GUY
WHO SUCKS

PLUS I GOT
DEPRESSION

Oh man I didn't see this thread at all before! I'm gonna bookmark this because I really need to sleep right now but I'm definitely into games that I'd never be able to play, even if I wouldn't want to play them in the first place!

# ? Aug 15, 2015 05:13

Leximancer: Oct 24, 2010

I'm definitely interested in this.

# ? Aug 16, 2015 22:02

Laruzia: Sep 29, 2014

Oh wow! Blackout Let's Play! I remember seeing this game super long time ago on a Finnish game magazine once! This is going to be interesting! The story's already intriguing and I love the atmosphere and style in this game.

# ? Aug 17, 2015 13:25

Thesaya: May 17, 2011; I am a Plant.

This game definitely has that Nordic melancholic feel to it. I wish I had found it back when it first came out, but at the time my brother bought most of our games and he wasn't that interested in the odd ones.
I will be following this.

# ? Aug 17, 2015 21:25

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

In this episode, we finally receive some therapy, conclude the first chapter of the game, and watch another episode of "Birdbrain"! We also find some information about what has been going on.

Now that we are in a new chapter, there is new content in all the city hubs, so it's time to make some decisions again. Where should we go and what should we do? Should we try to find out more about the shady people we are apparently involved with or just try to avoid them? The choice is yours.

# ? Aug 17, 2015 22:01

Ghostwoods: May 9, 2013; Say "Cheese!"

Um. Well.

Birdbrain, in particular, is starting to remind me unpleasantly of Toastboy.

# ? Aug 17, 2015 22:42

Accordion Man: Nov 7, 2012; Buglord

I don't see things ending well for our protagonist. Not like it wouldn't be deserved, because poo poo.

# ? Aug 17, 2015 22:56

Mraagvpeine: Nov 4, 2014; I won this avatar on a technicality this thick.

Will you show off how the other personalities affect the plot?

# ? Aug 18, 2015 01:36

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

Mraagvpeine posted:

Will you show off how the other personalities affect the plot?

I'll try to show off some alternate paths, yes, but not all of them. The problem is that the game doesn't tell you what it's tracking, which makes it hard to figure out what you need to do. I haven't actually seen more than two of the personalities myself.

Also, some of the choices appear to be bugged for me, but I'm not even sure if that might not be intentional. Maybe the game is deliberately overriding my choice because I'm not that kind of person? There are no guides to be found for this game anywhere, so I'm as much in the dark about how much of this works as the rest of you.

http://www.gamestudies.org/0301/walther/

Anyway, for this weeks reading assignment we have an academic article with a section about Blackout!

http://www.gamestudies.org/0301/walther/ posted:

If a game breaks the illusion � if it fails to indicate its unity through its difference from its other and itself � one is likely to be thrown back into play-mode. Consider, for instance, the Danish adventure game Blackout (1997) in which the user takes on the role of Gabriel who suffers from severe schizophrenia (he has no less than four split personalities) and anamneses. The plot within the game is both traditional, in that it carefully peals off layer after layer of hidden psychologies, and allegorical: the fact that our alter ego (Gabriel) is a schizophrenic can be read as a figural dissemination of what would be the starting point of most computer games: I am and am not the character I am playing. In a similar fashion, Gabriel's anamneses might be interpreted as a kind of meta-fiction that point towards a common game feeling. One has to complete the game in order to "remember" what happened. One must proceed to the end of the line to fully grasp the offspring of the line.

All of this is good, and it surely puts the game on the high side of current industrial tricks. But on one occasion, Blackout � perhaps inadvertently � cuts short the imperative illusion. In a particular scene we are asked by an old fortune-teller to "click" on a symbol on the screen. Abruptly, we are thrown back to square one, unintentionally recollecting the initial hocus-pocus � that we made a contract in order to play, and that we adapted and interacted with the structural complexity in order to game (in the active sense). Therefore, at this point there is a profound focus on play-mode. We are � to use Spencer-Brown�s expression � forced into making a �crossing operation.� The distinction is shattered, the unity is broken.

However, as it happens, rather than treating the represented game world as a detached object within the play environment (i.e. a screen instead of a game element), we can compete against the game. Blackout is organised as a complex series of interchangeable choices and levels of proactive interactions. While we think we are "reading" the machine (meaning its scripted actions), the machine is also "reading" the composition of our choices. But once we get the sense of this (to what extent do our interactions influence the path that the machine is directing us into?), we are able to "foresee" this action pattern and thus play �against� the machine � as if we were given the chance to re-design the map underneath the very landscape we interacted with. This is game-mode, then, and actually on a higher level. We are not just completing the game�s mission; we are also challenging the organisation that frames this mission.

# ? Aug 18, 2015 08:17

Thesaya: May 17, 2011; I am a Plant.

As a Swede, I have to say reading English subtitles is really throwing me off. After all, I've grown up with watching Danish shows with Swedish subs. To listen to a language I mostly understand while reading English subs really throws me off. (That isn't any kind of criticism of course, just an observation.)

Speaking of subtitles though, something that irks me slightly is you overuse of quotation marks. They usually go at the start and the end of someone speaking, not on every set of subtitles on the screen. However, I concede that I do not really know if this is the rule for subtitles as well as books, so I might be wrong about it.

Oh, and for the choice I say avoid them for as long as possible. It might lead to more trouble down the line but it seems like what our protagonist would do to me.

# ? Aug 19, 2015 23:55

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

Thesaya posted:

As a Swede, I have to say reading English subtitles is really throwing me off. After all, I've grown up with watching Danish shows with Swedish subs. To listen to a language I mostly understand while reading English subs really throws me off. (That isn't any kind of criticism of course, just an observation.)

Speaking of subtitles though, something that irks me slightly is you overuse of quotation marks. They usually go at the start and the end of someone speaking, not on every set of subtitles on the screen. However, I concede that I do not really know if this is the rule for subtitles as well as books, so I might be wrong about it.

Oh, and for the choice I say avoid them for as long as possible. It might lead to more trouble down the line but it seems like what our protagonist would do to me.

Thanks for the feedback. I use quotation marks to distinguish between dialogue and my own remarks, but I guess the difference is obvious from context anyway. What does everyone else think?

Also, I now have a suggestion to keep a low profile, but still nothing on where to go and what to do. Anyone have any ideas?

# ? Aug 20, 2015 08:27

Thesaya: May 17, 2011; I am a Plant.

SimonChris posted:

Thanks for the feedback. I use quotation marks to distinguish between dialogue and my own remarks, but I guess the difference is obvious from context anyway. What does everyone else think?

Also, I now have a suggestion to keep a low profile, but still nothing on where to go and what to do. Anyone have any ideas?

You could use cursive for distinction, it is what is usually done. Oh, and by the way, great work with the translation! To be honest it's better than some professional subtitling I've seen.

Oh, and let's go to the Waterfront to start with. Chat with the prostitutes a bit perhaps.

# ? Aug 20, 2015 09:39

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

Thesaya posted:

You could use cursive for distinction, it is what is usually done. Oh, and by the way, great work with the translation! To be honest it's better than some professional subtitling I've seen.

Oh, and let's go to the Waterfront to start with. Chat with the prostitutes a bit perhaps.

Do you really think cursive would be less obtrusive than quotation marks? I suppose I could use cursive for my own comments and leave the dialogue as regular text. Thanks for the compliment, anyway

. It takes forever to make these subtitles, so I'm glad it's appreciated.

P.S. In case people have forgotten, Bob, the guy to whom we were apparently supposed to deliver a body, is the the owner of the tattoo parlor.

# ? Aug 20, 2015 10:05

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

I finally managed to identify the songs that play in the bar in Episode 2. It turns out that the artists are mentioned in the credits in the back of the novel.

Two of the songs are available on Spotify, so I've created a playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/user/1161134851/playlist/2wlwFRuzKNhb0ULSzXy7NN

I will be adding to this playlist if more songs are identified later.

The song by "Raputins" is also available on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsgd_64eeLI

The third song is by a band called "Redrum" and is supposedly from a promo CD with the same name. A band with that name does exist, but they seem a big too big to have made music for this game, and their discography does not contain a CD named "Redrum". The credits do not mention the name of the actual song.

The fourth song is by "Yetis on fire", who seem to have been an up-and-coming Danish rock band in the 90's, but I can't find their music anywhere.

I have so far been unable to find any information about the music that plays in the Chinese restaurant.

If anyone would like to help me track down some of these songs, you are more than welcome. Let me know if you find anything

SimonChris fucked around with this message at 15:18 on Aug 23, 2015

# ? Aug 23, 2015 15:03

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 14:28

SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

In this episode, we meet new people and receive our first actual quests.

We now have several lines of inquiry to pursue. As I see it, they boil down to the following options:

1) Deliver the letter to Elisabeth right away.

2) Go talk to Jean down at Bottom Bar.

3) Ignore them both and go explore somewhere else.

4) Do what Jean suggested and take a short walk someplace. Then do 1) or 2).

What do people in the thread consider to be the best course of action?

# ? Sep 1, 2015 19:00

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > No trolls, star wars or shootouts here. Let's Play Blackout.

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