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steinrokkan posted:Is it spoiler if a poster recognizes a thing before the game acknowledges what it is? I think it's more like a testament to its accuracy. It was a plot point, so, yeah it's a spoiler.
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Nov 7, 2013 19:27
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Ensign_Ricky posted:It was a plot point, so, yeah it's a spoiler. Another question, then: How would someone who doesn't know the plot of the game know that something that ANY PERSON WITH THAT KNOWLEDGE FROM REAL LIFE WOULD RECOGNIZE is a spoiler specifically in this game? Or are you just requesting that everybody who hasn't played the game not post in your thread at all?
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Nov 8, 2013 00:32
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Nidoking posted:Another question, then: How would someone who doesn't know the plot of the game know that something that ANY PERSON WITH THAT KNOWLEDGE FROM REAL LIFE WOULD RECOGNIZE is a spoiler specifically in this game? Or are you just requesting that everybody who hasn't played the game not post in your thread at all?  I can't tell if I'm being trolled or not here. Here's a very simple solution though...if you think there's any chance that what you are about to say is a spoiler, USE SPOILER TAGS. Jeez.
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Nov 8, 2013 02:05
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 By that sort of logic anyone who has never played the game before should be saying everything related to the game in spoiler tags. Honestly making such an issue over someone correctly noticing what something is-- when it's obviously something that's supposed to be deduceable if you have knowledge of the subject matter-- just goes to show how completely devalued the term 'spoiler' is. Seriously, the fact that it actually looks like what it turns out to be in the story is a cool thing that shows some good research by the makers, not a spoiler.
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Nov 8, 2013 02:29
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 Ok, we're dropping this before it gets any sillier than it already is.
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Nov 8, 2013 02:58
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Bringing this back around to the game setting itself, the last time I was in New Orleans was several years ago helping to rebuild some houses after Katrina (church mission). While there was no museum run by by Worf, there were plenty of would-be mystics out there like Magenta. But really, culturally I really didn't see it as so different than what I see here in San Antonio or Laredo - instead of the French, we have the Spanish, and instead of voodoo we have curanderas, but both places have the little old women that are crazy and manage to see themselves as both devoutly Catholic and willing to dabble in to occult stuff if it means loving with their neighbors. I liked the puzzles in this game for the most part, but there's one bit that's coming up that I always had a real hard time with as a kid - I'll mention it once we get there.
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Nov 8, 2013 05:14
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Part 10: BACK OFF, GRACE!! Ok, one thing before we get started tonight: Please do not discuss anything about GK2 or GK3 until we actually get into those games. I’m not gonna fly off the handle for previous discussion of it, but let’s deal with one game at a time. Deal? We good? Okay, on with our show for tonight. So what to do, what to do….well, maybe we should check in with Grace. Maybe Great Uncle Wolfgang overnight FedEx’d the package he was sending? Nope, but we can ask her a couple of new things:  “Do you know anything about a secret Voodoo Hounfour?” “In New Orleans?”“I think so.”“No, I don’t, but it sounds dangerous. You’re not going to try to find this Voodoo group yourself, are you?”“Would I do that?”Question answers itself? We can also ask Grace to do research on the veve. “How interesting. What is it?”“It’s a reconstruction of the tracings they’ve found around the murder victims – The ones done in flour and blood.”“Yuck! You shouldn’t carry this kind of thing around. Who knows WHAT these symbols mean!”“Well, wear your ‘evil banishing’ gloves if you want, but check it out for me, would you?”That done, I think it’s time to check out the one location we haven’t seen yet: Napoleon House. HISTORY TIME! Yet another actual landmark of NOLA, the Napoleon House (currently the Napoleon House Bar & Cafe), was supposedly, according to local legend, intended to be a residence for Napoleon after his exile. There was a plot afoot to bring him to Louisiana which fell apart when he kinda died. It’s a National Historical Landmark, and is known for serving a quality Pimm’s Cup. No word if you can get your Pimm’s Cup in a Pimp Cup though.  Unfortunately my Google-fu is weak tonight, so I can’t find a circa 1993 photo to compare the render to. All the pictures I could find, however, indicate a lot more browns in the color scheme than we see here. The bartender, Stonewall King, kind of reminds me of Paul F. Tompkins in design. Over the course of interrogation, he’ll tell us a bit about some of his regulars:  “See those old guys at the chess table? That’s Sam and Markus. They’ve played there every day for twenty years. Sam…the one with the purple jacket? He’s lost every one of those games. It’s not that he’s a bad player! I’ve seen him beat guys twice as good as Markus, but Markus has Sam so psyched out, he loses his nerve every time. By the way, Sam, the chess player? He’s into that Voodoo stuff. He’s always talking about spells and gris gris and stuff.”Also, Gabriel suddenly realizes that there are a loving ton of drummers in New Orleans. Did you?    Ok, that third one is kind of obvious, but overall, this is another hidden plot point. There is a reason there are guys drumming all over the city, and it ain’t loose change. Anyway, trying to talk to Sam gets us nowhere as he’s too busy getting his rear end kicked at his game of chess. He’s also the only black man I’ve ever seen with a stereotypically Jewish sounding voice. So, back to St Georges because I’m waiting for an event to trigger….and we get another stellar Tim Curry accent. Are you ready? I doubt it. You know why? TIM CURRY IS RICKY RICARDO!! I’m sorry, but that was so out of left goddamn field that I was stunned. It…it’s beautiful…..  Anyway, finally the event triggers. Remember him from way way back in Part One? Well, Gabriel needs some cold hard cash to move forward, so I suppose we should hear him out. “How much would you give me for it, Bruno?”“Gabriel, don’t you DARE sell your father’s painting!”“Stay out of this, Grace.”Bruno then offers Gabriel $100 bucks. “Gabriel! A hundred dollars for your father’s painting?!”“Grace, let me deal with this.”And because we need the money, we take it. “GABRIEL!!! I don’t believe you!”“It..it’s just a painting, Grace. There are things I have to do.”And I gotta admit, I’m a little confused by Grace’s outrage here. Did she know Gabriel’s dad or something? Anyway, now off to the Dixieland Drug Store to pick up our croc mask, not to mention our lagniappe, which happens to be the ‘Master Gamblin’ Oil’…which is actually the thing we really need at this point. Oh, and while we’re here… “I found out what cabrit sans cor’ means. How do YOU know about human sacrifice?” “I never said those words, M’sieu’. You must have heard them from someone else.”Yeah, gently caress you too, buddy. Thank god we never have to come back to your lousy fuckin’ shop. Okay, now back to Napoleon House. Nothing new here. So why did I come back here in such a hurry you ask? Because we need to give Sam the Master Gamblin’ Oil. And with that…  Yep, we helped an old guy win at chess. Go us! But why?? What the gently caress was the point of all that? Well, Sam is a jeweler, and we just happen to have a mold of a bracelet, and he did say he owed us one…   And so, with that, we’ll call it a night, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll start getting some answers to the mystery soon….
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Nov 8, 2013 08:56
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quote:“Yuck! You shouldn’t carry this kind of thing around. Who knows WHAT these symbols mean!” Yeah, too bad we don't have some sort of assistant to ask to find out what they mean for us. Grace.
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Nov 8, 2013 10:30
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Wow, Markus is a jerk. He's won every game for twenty years, but Sam wins one and suddenly he's "the biggest butthead"? 
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Nov 8, 2013 17:37
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Just a heads-up the entire trilogy is on sale on GOG this weekend, so if anyone wants to play along now's your chance.
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Nov 9, 2013 01:13
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Apologies for the delay in updates, life is in the way, etc etc. We'll see something Wednesday night at the latest.
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Nov 12, 2013 09:44
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Part 11: Giggity, Giggity, Giggity! Ok, so when we left off last time, Sam was the biggest butthead, and was going to make us a copy of the old lady’s snake bracelet. So where do we go next? Why, the cemetery of course! Because why?  Because this game is about to get sexy. “Malia!” “Mr. Knight! What are you doing here?”“Uh, my family’s tomb is here.”“Mine too.”“I noticed. Subtle.”“Well, Mr. Knight, if there’s nothing else…” (Little handsy, aren’t we there, Gabe?) “Whatever for?”“I can’t stop thinking about you. I’ve been in your thoughts, too. I can see it in your eyes.”“Mr. Knight, you don’t know anything about me. I’m not in a position to get involved…”“I’ve said that a million times myself, but this is different. I think we both know we can’t fight it. <groan> I can’t believe I’m saying this!”“I have so many obligations. My family is very traditional. You wouldn’t understand.”“Hey, I love tradition! I’ve seen Fiddler on the Roof a hundred times!”( Smooooth, Gabriel; You’ve gone from sounding like a stalker to a complete cornball.)“This isn’t a musical, Mr. Knight. We live in different worlds!”“Look, I know you’ve got more money than God. Do you think I care? Do you think that’s why I’m saying this?”“No. I don’t.”“Why don’t you come SEE my world? I have a little book shop, St. George’s on Bourbon…”“I know.” ( )“I’m sorry, but there’s no place for someone like you in my life…Not now, not ever!”With that, Malia runs off. “drat it!”Ok, Gabriel, I hate to break it to you, but, you have exactly zero game with the ladies. I think you had a better chance with Madame Cazanoux than you ever had of making it with-  Ok, I officially know gently caress-all about women.   Yep, Gabriel gets lucky, and in the morning Grace does her best to ignore Gabriel….  Um. The gently caress? Am I hallucinating or do you all see that too? “You’re not speaking to me this morning?”“Don’t be silly. I just have nothing to say.”“Did you find out anything about that pattern I gave you?”“Yeah. I did find something. I checked the micro-fiche at the public library. I found an article about a murder in 1810. The newspaper published part of a pattern found around the body. It looks drat close.”“You’re incredible. All that work…”“Forget it.”“Have it your way.”…And that guy hasn’t moved at all. Um. Okay. “Have you noticed this guy outside the shop?”“Yeah, he gives me the creeps. I wish he’d go away.” I’m right there with you, Grace. So, uh, what’s in the paper today? “I don’t believe this! They’ve closed the case!”“What case?” Oh, Lord. Gee, Grace, I don’t know, maybe the case that’s been absolutely DOMINATING EVERY FACET OF YOUR BOSS’S LIFE FOR THE PAST MONTH OR SO, THAT CASE?! To sum up the rest of their conversation, apparently the cops are saying that the murders were part of an underworld cartel war. Gabriel thinks it’s bullshit, and Grace advises him to talk to Mosely about it.  “Peachy!” Gabriel, some days you can be extremely thick. Anyway, Grace has no messages for Gabriel today, so on to Mosely I guess. But first, I think Sam has something for us. (Naturally, Gabriel does nothing about the creepy guy.  Oh, and if you were wondering why Markus was so pissed off at Sam beating him at chess…   Yyyyeah, I can see being a little pissed about the situation. On to Mosely! Bottom line is that the department is convinced that the local gang was involved in a turfwar with the Chicago mob and used the Voodoo angle to cover it up, with unofficial department policy being “Let the Slime Kill Each Other”. Tee-riffic. Gabriel asks Mosely to get the case reopened, and Mosely responds with the following objectives:  “Prove that there’s a legitimate Voodoo cult in New Orleans, prove that they’re a threat, and get me a lead on the cult.”With that, we’ll wrap it up tonight and NEXT TIME: Legitimate developments as the game heats up!
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Nov 14, 2013 07:56
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Jesus H. That grab is over the "stalker" line and into "is about to pull you into his rape van" territory. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen!
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Nov 14, 2013 08:24
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EphemeralToast posted:
See, although they're just crudely rendered sprites, I do like the animation on Malia here which is clearly of the "Okay, whoa, back off buddy!" variety.
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Nov 14, 2013 08:43
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Hrm, voodoo cult, creepy guy looking in, the case has been closed... Why do I get the distinct feeling poor Gabe is gonna be in for some Fun in the Dwarf-Fortress sense pretty soon?
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Nov 15, 2013 00:08
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Ensign_Ricky posted:See, although they're just crudely rendered sprites, I do like the animation on Malia here which is clearly of the "Okay, whoa, back off buddy!" variety. Now I really hope that Malia has some sinister motivations for getting on Gabriel's good side because the alternative that she just thought that having sex with this man was a good idea is too depressing.
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Nov 15, 2013 03:01
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EphemeralToast posted:Now I really hope that Malia has some sinister motivations for getting on Gabriel's good side because the alternative that she just thought that having sex with this man was a good idea is too depressing. No update tonight, but I will say this much: It's kinda ambiguous. In the end, it might be a little of column A, and a little of column B. I'll let you all decide when we get to some of the reveals.
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Nov 15, 2013 05:40
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The man is a handsome devil, though. I can't help but admire him every time we get to see an interrogation scene, and with Southern Tim Curry speaking, mmm. If only he wouldn't say horrible pickup lines and grab like a creepy stalker! Putting myself into Malia's shoes; if she's just as she presents herself, ie, very wealthy to the point she doesn't have to worry about appearances, then there's no harm in getting a bit of handsome Gabriel. She can squash any rumors and ruin him in a heartbeat. She doesn't need to buy any of his crappy lines to decide maybe she'd like a one-night fling, and it doesn't cost her anything. If she's not how she presents herself - well. Gabriel has flat out told her 1) he's investigating this Voodoo stuff seriously, and 2) he's totally got the hots for her. Having him even more under her thumb via a night of pleasure makes a lot of sense. (And she gets a good time herself.) Basically, chalk me up as thinking Malia isn't dumb at all, and while Gabriel says (and does) stuff that's a total turnoff, he's pretty hot - and Malia herself is powerful enough that she can do as she pleases. It's a flip of the usual gender situation, where the king can have a one-off with the scullery maid, and no one cares because the king can destroy the maid with a snap of the fingers.
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Nov 15, 2013 08:07
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I'm trying to recall in the game so far if there's any woman that Gabriel encounters that he's interested in just a casual fling - when I first played through it my impression was that Gabriel was so smitten with Malia that whatever (limited perhaps) game he had is completely thrown off.
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Nov 16, 2013 01:45
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Part 12: Bye, Crash. Okay, so next I think we better check on  “Mr. Knight. You’re back. Oh goody.”Jesus, did Gabriel just gently caress everyone’s mom in a past life?  “Have you had any luck yet with that veve?”“I’m still working on it, Mr. Knight. When I’m finished, you’ll be the first to know.”Okay, well that was marginally more polite. Now comes the big stumper moment….what the gently caress are we supposed to do now? Because to the best of my knowledge, the game gives you precisely zero hints as to what we’re supposed to do next. So what do we do, you ask?  Well, we’re supposed to go here, the Jackson Square Overlook.  Here we find a variety of those old pay binocular things that were everywhere for awhile, and we need to use the one on the furthest left to see the northeast corner of the park.  Who is that? “That’s Crash. What the hell is he up to with that drummer?”Yeah, Crash, remember him? We met him briefly the other day when Mosely was convinced that he was involved in the Voodoo Murders. He wanders up to the north of the screen, which leads directly to the St. Louis Cathedral, so we head there next.  Yep, there he is…and he don’t look too good. He also won’t talk to Gabriel at first, continuing to deny everything unless we show him the snake bracelet. At that point, he shows Gabriel that he has the same snake tattooed on his chest, and agrees to answer some questions, however he evades or refuses a straight answer…except when he’s asked about the drummer he was talking to, Crash begins to panic.  “Promise you won’t say nothin’ to no one! It’ll get back to ‘em, everything does! Promise me you won’t tell ANYONE you saw me!”“O-kay, but you have to tell me everything I want to know.”“Okay, Okay. I was sending a message, man. They have these Rada drummers posted around the Quarter. They see everything, and they report.”“Report? How?”“The drums, man! It’s some kinda code.”Now, if you think about it, this is kind of ingenious. Hell, bucket drummers across New York could be secretly communicating right this very second  . Anyway, Crash begins giving straight answers on all the subjects he knows about. He confirms that the cult is real, the murders are genuine Voodoo, and he is scared to loving death of them. But the big info shows up when he’s asked about the Voodoo Hounfour at this point:“All right! There’s this underground cartel in New Orleans…a Voodoo cartel. They control everything that happens on the street…I mean EVERYTHING that’s bought or sold. They have their fingers in the legit world too…banks, foreign stuff, you name it. There’s supposed to be this temple…what you said, a hounfour. That’s their headquarters. I heard people say it’s underground, somewhere in the French Quarter…I don’t know where.”“Have you ever been there?”“No, no, I’ve never been in it. I’m nobody. A runner. But I saw them once…out at the lake. They became animals, man…beasts! I remember the eyes!<choke> The eyes!”“…Hey, are you okay?”“The eyes…the eyes…of the snake!”“I think I should go get a doctor! Someone! I need help!”“The eyes of the snake! Damballah!”“What snake? Crash?”And with that, Crash just drops dead instantly. “Oh, God! Poor bastard!”So we’re alone with a fresh corpse in a church. Better rifle through his stuff I suppose.  Ew. Actually, we, uh, need to lift his shirt.  Oh yeah, this, uh, isn’t weird at all. In a church. Anywho, using Gabriel’s artistic talents, we copy down the tattoo. And after that, we just leave Crash’s corpse sitting in a pew, in a church, with his shirt hiked up around his armpits. Classy. Well, after witnessing a mysterious death and molesting a corpse in a house of God, Gabriel wisely decides to call this a loving day, and heads back to St. George’s Books for the night. And then he gets on the phone. “Hello?”“It’s me. I can’t sleep.”“ Me neither.”“Can I….?”“Yes. Come.”Oh, I’m sure he will, Ms. Gedde.  So Gabriel arrives back after Grace opens the shop. And for the record, the creepy loving dude is still there. “Are you OK, Gabriel?”“<yawn> Sure. Great. Why?”“I’m worried about you.”“If I were any better, Grace, I’d be dead. Now what’s up?”“You got another package this morning. Fed Ex, from Germany.”“I was expecting that. Where is it?”“Well…it kind of came open, but I salvaged the contents. There was a letter from your great uncle Wolfgang, and a journal.”“The package just ‘came open’, huh? How’d you like the journal?”"Someone has to look after you. You’re in trouble in case you don’t know it.”“Yeah, you’ve been reading my horoscope again, haven’t you, Grace?”“Just read the journal carefully, Gabriel. PLEASE.”At that point, the store phone rings, with Hartridge on the line. “You did. Wait, slow down…The Agris? Really? You think that’s them? The wheel-within-a-wheel? Ogoun Badagris, huh? Well, that does sound like it. Damballah, the snake? That’s the wavy pattern at the bottom. Okay. The 1791 slave revolt in Santo Domingo? Well why would the veve show up there? Uh-huh. Okay. Okay. Okay. Look, I’ll come over as soon as I can. Okay. Relax, Professor! I’m excited too, but you’re going to give yourself a heart attack! Okay. Thanks. See ya.”“I wish you’d tell me what’s going on. I swear, you’re going to step into a hole you may never get out of.”“Don’t look so worried. No one knows what I’m doing.” I think this guy begs to differ, Gabriel.“I’m perfectly safe, and I’m getting some GREAT stuff for the book. Besides, there’s something about all this. My dreams…”“What ABOUT your dreams?”“…Nothing. I’ll be careful. I promise.”Well, time to check the paper.   “Wonderful.”Well that does it for tonight, stay tuned for more SHOCKING developments when we read the journal, talk to Uncle Wolfgang (who is another amazing character, by the way), and speak with Hartridge about the veve!
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Nov 17, 2013 08:11
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RIP weaselly dude, I have a feeling you'll be joined in your voodoo-inflicted afterlife soon enough. It's kind of amusing that they recorded new "Tell me about voodoo/Voodoo Murders" lines that have more menace and urgency for this scene, but "Do you know anything about snakes?" and such are still the same old lazy Gabriel drawl.
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Nov 17, 2013 08:31
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wow, so uh Gabe just saw an informant die in front of him and he just goes about his day like nothing happened? I mean I suppose it makes sense that you want to keep that on the down-low but you'd think he would at least pretend that maybe he isn't safe anymore. Then again unless there is some payoff later for the dude standing outside his shop, I am getting the feeling that Gabriel Knight is kinda oblivious to.....I guess pretty much everything
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Nov 17, 2013 09:45
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It's kind of neat seeing things foreshadowed that I hadn't caught in my first playthrough years ago. Needless to say, they're subtle things sometimes that I'm referring to, even little flippant lines of dialogue. Also yeah, Uncle Wolfgang's pretty awesome.
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Nov 17, 2013 19:16
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Aces High posted:wow, so uh Gabe just saw an informant die in front of him and he just goes about his day like nothing happened? I mean I suppose it makes sense that you want to keep that on the down-low but you'd think he would at least pretend that maybe he isn't safe anymore. One thing that the game does portray quite well is that for the most part, Gabriel is very self-involved. Aside from his Grandmother and Grace, there is no-one that he won't consider loving over for his own benefit...although there is something late in the game that offers us a third person, but we'll get to that all in good time. As for your latter point, you can try to tell the guy outside the shop to get lost, but he just ignores you and...keeps...staring...into...your...soul... But there will be a payoff later of sorts, never fear there.
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Nov 18, 2013 08:06
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Verbose posted:I seem to recall there used to be a "Gabriel Knight Tour of New Orleans" website where some dude went around to all the locations on the map and saw what matched up. I guess it's gone now.Too bad, although it might have been spoilery. That was my friend and I! He still has the pictures somewhere, so he's looking for them. We didn't get to all the locations, but we did find some areas that could kind of pass as in-game. I am still sad at what's really at the corner of Bourbon and Dumaine. Karupin fucked around with this message at 12:16 on Nov 18, 2013 |
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Nov 18, 2013 12:10
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Part 13: Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?Karupin posted:I am still sad at what's really at the corner of Bourbon and Dumaine. Oh, why’s that? Guess I’ll hit up Google and….oh. Oh dear. Ahem. MOVING ON! Okay, first thing’s first, let’s read the letter Uncle Wolfgang sent: “Dear Gabriel: Please read the enclosed journal carefully. It might help you understand your family’s special obligations and our current predicament. God be with you, Uncle Wolfgang.” Ok, better check out that journal then.   “Poor bastard!”   “Ballsy son-of-a-bitch, wasn’t he?”Yeah, Gabe, the, uh, apple didn’t exactly fall far from the family tree I think.    I think I speak for the entire viewership here Gabe when I say: QUIT loving THE OBVIOUS VILLAIN. I mean, Christ, just before you started sleeping with her, you attended a lecture where you found out her last name is the name of a Voodoo death god you jackass. Ah well, moving on, I suppose we should call Uncle Wolfgang who I’m sure is going to tell you the same loving thing. Except…the game won’t let me.“No, I can’t afford to call Germany again until I figure more of this out!”Hookay, I’ll ride your drat plot railroad I guess. To Hartridge, so we can get the inside skinny on that veve! “Hey, Hartridge, what’s the good word…? Hartridge?” “Oh, God, not again!”Yep, the cult got ‘im. Another protip, Gabe: STOP DISCUSSING STUFF IN FRONT OF A VERY OBVIOUS SPY. Anyway, there’s nothing on his corpse that we can do, so we’re spared more corpse molestation. But we do snag his notes on the veve from his desk:  Clear as mud. And of course, we abandon the crime scene before the cops haul Gabriel’s rear end in for questioning.  However, Gabriel is good enough to do at least that. And we still can’t call Wolfgang. However, what we can do is ask Grace to research Rada drums for us…and considering they’re being used to send coded messages, this is a good plan. Ok, next plan of attack, maybe Dr. John can tell us more about Damballah, Ogoun Badagris, and the rest?  BAD IDEA!!! Luckily, we hit the air conditioning switch, and the shock of the cold air makes the snake take off….and then Dr. John enters.  “Good day, Mr. Knight.”“That thing just tried to KILL me!”“He did? I am sorry. The museum is closed today, you see, and we were not expecting visitors. But, if you will excuse me, Mr. Knight, I must go look for him. He is incredibly valuable.”“You don’t need to ask twice. I’m outta here! By the way, you might want to lock your door next time you’re ‘closed’.”“Not a bad idea. Good-bye, Mr. Knight.”Returning back yet again to St. Georges, Grace immediately notices something wrong with Gabe, saying he looks a little pale green around the gills. “Pale green, you say? Charming.”“What’s that on your face?”“I’m sure you’ll tell me.”“Looks like a sparkly or something. Got it.”“I love it when you pick stuff off my face, Grace.”“Hmph. Well, excuuuuse me.”Grace puts the whatever it is in an ashtray on the desk, which begins the hardest task yet: trying to pick it up. Every time, it’s taken me at least 5 minutes to hit the hotspot with the tweezers. “Looks like the python left me a souvenir. Verrrrrry interesting.”Yep, another scale.  So, yeah, if you didn’t realize it before: Where would the cops go for information on a series of Voodoo-related murders? Why to a local museum where the proprietor is an expert on the subject. An “expert” who sent a researcher to a local nutjob, and told the cops that the Voodoo was completely faked. Dr. John’s a very, very bad Klingon, and a filthy p’takh to boot. Anyway, seeing as Dr. John just tried to kill us with the cult snake, we better go file a complaint with the cops and…  Oh, that’s not good. Anyway, I guess we better show Mosely some evidence. Let’s start with the completed veve. “You know those marks you found around the murder victims? This is a reconstruction of the whole pattern.”“What makes you think this is an accurate reconstruction?”“Well…I ‘borrowed’ the partial patterns from your police file, and did my own tracing of the pattern at Lake Pontchartrain. An architectural artist reconstructed it for me from the partials.”“Really? So this is the pattern, huh? That’s pretty good work, Knight. But that doesn’t prove that this pattern is really connected to Voodoo.”Hah, shows what you know, Mosely. Next, Hartridge’s notes: “Take a look at these notes. They’re from Professor Hartridge at Tulane University.”“Yeah? What about them?”“They confirm that the pattern from the murders is of African origin.”“Really? That’s incredible, isn’t it? Somethin’ like that showin’ up here?”“It’s been ‘here’ for quite some time, so it seems.”“I’m impressed. Okay, you’ve convinced me. The murders were done by a legitimate Voodoo cult.”Okay, Mosely, what do you think of my scales? “I have these two snake scales. One’s from the crime scene at Lake Pontchartrain. The other’s from a snake in the Voodoo Museum on Ursulines and Chartres.”“Is this common? Do they all look alike?”“Not at all. They’re bother constrictor scales, and the coloring is the same. A python’s coloring is quite individualistic.”“A PYTHON?!”“That’s right. Hardly an indigenous snake to Louisiana. Somehow, some way, the Museum’s python was at the scene of the Lake Pontchartrain murder.”And Mosely accepts that as a lead. Nice. Okay, now to prove that they’re a threat. Hey, Mosely, what if I told you that the cult’s been active since the last century? “This is a newspaper clipping about a murder committed in 1810. That murder is an exact match of the Voodoo Murders-right down to the marks around the bodies.”“Hmmm. This does sound like the same M.O. 1810?”“1810. They killed then, they’re killing now. Isn’t that proof that they’re likely to kill again…that they ARE a threat?”“Okay, they’re a threat. Okay, I’ll reopen the case. I hate to admit it, but you’ve done some pretty good detective work here, Knight.”“Well, you know what they say. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” “Well, <ahem>, point taken. Glad I could inspire you. I’ll check around the department, but I have a feeling I’m on my own. In fact, I’d better lock up this office just in case I step on a few toes. Come on.”And thus did Gabriel Knight achieve a subquest successfully! Huzzah! And next time, we may solve another mystery: WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE THIS GUY CALL LONG DISTANCE?!?!?
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Nov 20, 2013 10:04
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Can we link to the prequel comic detailing Gunther's adventures now? (It took me the longest time to figure out that my vague recollections of a story about a pair of voodoo twins - one leading the revolution in Haiti, the other establishing a cult in New Orleans - was actually by Neil Gaiman and not a part of the prequel)
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Nov 20, 2013 10:23
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I remember the tweezers being a real issue when I played through this as a teenager. The snake also killed me a lot. It's not quite the brick wall that a section further on is, but I'll be damned if it didn't drive me nuts.
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Nov 20, 2013 14:36
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Xander77 posted:Can we link to the prequel comic detailing Gunther's adventures now? For those curious, the story is a sidebit in American Gods, and one of the twins is, in fact, Marie Laveau. The other I believe being Dutty Boukman. It's the kind of historical connection that just works TOO well...
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Nov 20, 2013 18:15
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I don't believe that the snake lets go of Gabriel because of cold air (no fan would cool a room THAT quickly!), but because of the knocking sound it makes when it spins. If you turn on that switch during a previous visit to the museum, the snake starts writhing and banging inside the cage, and Dr. John tells you to turn it off.
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Nov 21, 2013 01:01
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Nidoking posted:I don't believe that the snake lets go of Gabriel because of cold air (no fan would cool a room THAT quickly!), but because of the knocking sound it makes when it spins. If you turn on that switch during a previous visit to the museum, the snake starts writhing and banging inside the cage, and Dr. John tells you to turn it off. Right, his explanation is that the snake senses the vibration and goes nuts because it thinks there's a delicious prey animal nearby.
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Nov 21, 2013 03:44
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Xander77 posted:Can we link to the prequel comic detailing Gunther's adventures now? I didn't know there was one, but bring it on! Nidoking posted:I don't believe that the snake lets go of Gabriel because of cold air (no fan would cool a room THAT quickly!), but because of the knocking sound it makes when it spins. If you turn on that switch during a previous visit to the museum, the snake starts writhing and banging inside the cage, and Dr. John tells you to turn it off. Ah, I assumed otherwise, so yeah, that one's on me and I fail at herpetology.  Should have an update tomorrow for you all. In the meantime, I did a little Voodoo research online, and despite it sounding menacing, Damballah is actually a creator Loa, and is a protector of children. Also, he's been merged with St. Patrick and Moses, so he's not exactly a bad guy. Ogoun Badagris is likewise misrepresented by the game. Hartridge calls him a death Loa, but it's more appropriate to call him a Loa of war and battle, and has been merged with...St. George. Yeeeah. Wow, the game kinda screwed the pooch there. I mean, if you want a death god, anyone familiar with James Bond would've pointed you right to Baron Samedi (although he's not actually an evil Loa either, he's just kind of an rear end in a top hat).
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Nov 22, 2013 08:45
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Ensign_Ricky posted:I didn't know there was one, but bring it on! http://sierrahelp.com/Documents/MiscDocuments.html (Search for "Gabriel Knight", as I can't hotlink the pdf)
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Nov 22, 2013 09:03
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Part Fourteen: Outwitting the Cops & Cult So after leaving the department, Gabriel calls it a day, and attempts another booty call, but this one ends in a busy signal. So Gabe hits the hay, and has an expanded version of his recurring nightmare.  So Grace opens up and…   The worst part? It’s still alive. Also, when Gabriel has those nightmares, he must be out because this is what happens next:“What is it? What’s wrong?”“Gabriel?”“I see it, Grace. Hold on. There’s no one in the shop, and I know there’s no one in back. It’s okay.”“Okay? Gabriel, that thing is still barely alive! How could someone DO this?”“With a knife, maybe?”“God, don’t even start. We should call the police.”“No. I’ll take care of it.”“But Gabriel…”“I said I’ll take care of it. Why don’t you go get some coffee. I’ll have it all cleaned up before you get back.”“ They know where you live now.” Grace, I’m pretty sure they already did.“Shhhh. It’s going to be fine. Now go on.”LATER… “Are you sure you don’t want to go home? I could close the shop today.”“No! I’d rather keep busy! I’ll be fine. At least that creepy guy is gone. <shiver> Not that they aren’t still watching. Anyway, speaking of keeping busy…We got that book you ordered in this morning, the one on Rada drums.”“Really? Great!” And apparently the Rada code is fairly well known for there to be a translation guide available. And at that point, someone shoves a note through the letter slot. Surprisingly, it’s not a threat or subpoena, it’s a brass key and a letter from Mosely: quote:
Good man, that Mosely. Dumb as a sack of hammers sometimes though. Okay, today’s news:       “Sure. Why not? It IS St. John’s Eve. They’ll be out tonight, for sure. But where?”An excellent question, Gabe. Maybe NOW you’d like to call your Uncle??? No? WHY THE gently caress NOT, HE OBVIOUSLY KNOWS MORE ABOUT THIS THAN YOU DO YOU loving HALFWIT!!!!! *ahem* Sorry about that. Anyway, let’s go get Mosely’s poo poo. Except when we try to just go on back like we have every other time…  Uh, what? Interrogating Frick just has him deny that there ever was a Mosely at this precinct, or even on the NOPD. That…that’s not good. Now, I’ll spare you all a bit of wandering, trying to figure out what the gently caress we’re supposed to do now, and just say that we’re headed back to Jackson Square. There’s a couple things we can do there now.  See that vendor? He just happens to be selling beignets. In fact, he’s the same guy who was selling them right outside the precinct waaaaaay back at the beginning of the game. Over the course of dialogue, you need to persuade him to return to that area. That done…  I think it’s about time to find out what the cult’s been saying. And let me tell you, interpreting the drum code is a utter pain in the rear end. The drummer likes to pop in random beats that don’t mean anything in order to obfuscate the message, but that’s not going to stop you from flipping through the onscreen translation in order to find code beats that aren’t there. It’s immensely frustrating. But here’s the solution:  So we know the cult is meeting in the swamps tonight. Now, back to the precinct.  Okay. Now we play the waiting game. What waiting game? We need Frick to fall asleep from overdosing on beignets. And with current processor speeds, the window to get in there is loving narrow. One you get into the office though, you feel like a total boss.  So now that we’re here, we need to rifle Mosely’s desk and we are rewarded with a tracking bug and receiver. But what next? Let’s stop by the cemetery again.  The message is different now. However, thanks to that daffy Magentia, we can translate some of the message. So we copy down the new message. Luckily we don’t need Magentia to translate this one.  And I think we can easily guess who the “DJ” and “GK” are in the message, as well as what the missing letters are. And I think it’s time we played some games with “DJ and the Cultists”. Using the brick next to the Laveau tomb allows Gabriel to erase the message that was there and to put up our own message. But what? Well, we need something to put a tracking bug in, because although we know the cult is headed for the swamp, the swamps in Louisiana are goddamned huge. You might as well say “We’re meeting in a wheat field in Saskatchewan”. So how about a “little coffin” that we learned about from Hartridge? So we leave the message “DJ BRING SEKEY MADOULE”. On that note, let’s go visit DJ.  Just after we plant the bug… “I hate to rush you, Mr. Knight, but I am afraid I must close the museum early this evening. This IS St. John’s Eve, and it is getting on towards dusk. I have things I must do.”“I see. No problem. I’ll just…”“Leave. Good-bye, Mr. Knight. May the spirits guard you well tonight.”And with that ominous warning in tow, let’s wrap it up for tonight. Will we have an apocalyptic confrontation at the Voodoo Conclave? (Hint: Sort of, but we’re still far from Game Over yet.)
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Nov 23, 2013 09:27
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"...Remain open to new possibilities. Lucky numbers are 3, 16, and 29."
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Nov 23, 2013 10:24
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Ah yes, the drum code. One of the more memorable and creative puzzles in adventure gaming, but I'll be damned if it didn't stop me dead in my tracks on the first playthrough.
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Nov 23, 2013 11:32
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The drum code isn't so bad - just flip through the book and notice that every meaningful message begins and ends with a triplet of beats. Anything outside those framing beats is just there to make the drumming sound less like a coded message and more natural. It's also possible to get the Rada drum book the previous day - at that time, the drummer only beats the "No Message" pattern every so often. As for getting past Frick, you're meant to do it while he's out buying the beignets. Waiting for him to fall asleep is only necessary if you miss that chance. If you're using DOSBox and events like that are happening too quickly for you, you may want to slow down the emulation with Ctrl-11. (Then again, some timed events can be cheesed if you're running at high enough a speed - your experience may vary.)
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Nov 23, 2013 12:11
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You're totally right about the Loa being misinterpreted here. Though, to be fair they're all kinda assholes all the time. It's one of the more fun aspects of Voudoun. Dhambala is in fact even more than what you say, and is the creator spirit in the religion. It's funny that the title of the film "The Serpent and the Rainbow" sounds so ominous, as it pretty much is akin to saying "Jesus and Mary" or something. Then again, despite a lot of people saying that film is incredibly accurate to voodoo, it really really isn't. The book by anthro-botanist Wade Davis is a really good read meanwhile, of his time spent in Haiti familiarizing himself with the culture while hunting down the secret of zombie creation. (The best part? He found it. For real. )
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Nov 23, 2013 17:59
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Choco1980 posted:The book by anthro-botanist Wade Davis is a really good read meanwhile, of his time spent in Haiti familiarizing himself with the culture while hunting down the secret of zombie creation. (The best part? He found it. For real. ) Not to get too far off on a tangent, but to the best of my knowledge the zombie stuff in that book is rather controversial.
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Nov 23, 2013 19:34
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Not that much. The powder itself is all-natural, with the primary ingredient being doturatoxin, the stuff that makes puffer fish deadly. But on top of that, there's a lot of sociological reasons why it works psychologically on Haitians explicitly. This is a nation where slavery is very much a major part of most family's personal histories. Having that freedom forcibly taken away from you is a very realistic fear. What's most interesting and perhaps controversial is when Davis, far into his investigations, comes to the realization that there's very little true "evil" doings with the Houngans, and that he's been spending this whole time in a society that refuses to publicly talk about social transgressions, and instead attributes the punishments that are doled out to things like chance and maliciousness of wizards. It takes a lot of doing for Davis to learn that a man who is a very publicly known "escaped" zombie had once wronged his brother through real estate, a very serious crime in Haiti.
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Nov 23, 2013 19:58
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