Geospots 3: Going to the Correct Barn

So it turns out that you need to be in the correct barn. You want the barn. I was in the stable. There is no other door out of the stable. You need to be in the barn, which is not the same location.

In the barn, you can find what you need. In the stable, you find the clue to what you need in the barn. There. Solved.

Yes, I was pretty close to the endgame. I followed clues and found my missing person. Then it was a matter of going to the correct locations, which isn't all that difficult to figure out.

The correct location

But I had forgotten that there's just one more puzzle box. I confess that I did need not one but two (blush) hints on how to solve it.

Once that's done, there isn't all that much really to do, except enjoy the final screens which always seem to send us to some lovely night scenes:

The river

A statue that figures in the game

An interesting thing: now Carol needs money. I read through my blog about the earlier games and found that Carol had received a lot of money after her first case that made her financially independent. Now, however, she appears to be living off her detective work.

And that's great! Carol is now more like one of us. Plus, she has fifteen years of experience now!

Well that was really fun. I mostly stayed away from the hint system, but was glad I used it those few times. 

Really, I think this is the best Carol Reed game so far! It had a good story and great locations, and did not spend any time at all in abandoned buildings (well, except for the barn).

So! Adventure on! 

Geospots 2: Caches and Barns

OK, so there just isn't any way out of this barn. 

Actually I've been having enormous fun with the game all day, but I appear to have reached a true dead end in the second barn that I have found in the game.

Yes, I checked the hint system. It says to go out the last door you encounter. Fair enough, except that there is no door. I have checked every screen multiple times, using the space bar and everything.

Of course there is a door and I haven't found it yet, but I've had enough trying for the day. Instead, I'll focus on all the fun I had before my stuckness.

We get to travel through some really nice scenery. I especially enjoyed this gorge!

Don't get lost!

And we find informative signs! 

At last, Bigge is back! And it really is his same voice as in the earlier games. I was incorrect about the voice of the other guy yesterday. Bigge always gives us some kind of mission to do before he'll help us at all, such as letting us into the area, as in this game.

Actually his mission was a bit problematic. Most of it was pretty easy, but the final bit involved chasing down an item that I did have to look up in the hint system. It's a huge area, divided into two parts (the item is not in the part where you need it, naturally). Once I got it though, I was able to solve the puzzle on my own easily enough.

Bigge is back!

Much of the game involves finding these metal tubes. They are the geocache items that often have puzzles on them, as this one does.

Is there a message in it?

Some have messages that send us to the next location, but many are basically red herrings. The missing person is running the geocache game, and a lot of these merely are part of his game, not ours.

As always, we go into people's houses and apartments. This one was especially nice. And there are plenty of detail items that give a real sense of place. I'm doing quite well with finding things and solving puzzles! Got through plenty of puzzles today without looking anything up! That's what makes the game fun, when it isn't easy, but still can be solved.

Yes, go up the stairs!

Nice plate, but just a detail.

Nice kitchen!

I think I have finally figured out why none of the clocks in these games have any hands. The game doesn't know what time we're in the location, or what time it is when we might come back. So the hands are gone. Frankly, I think it would have been a better solution just to take the clocks down. But it does add an element of mystery.

We always have nice scenery, and I'm pretty sure this park with huge chairs was in another game, or at least something similar to it.

Chairs for giants!

I enjoy the museums, and we almost always go to one. This one was medieval, but after that we went to a beer can museum. No, seriously.  There are photographs.

The medieval museum

Beer cans? Seriously?

And of course we are often looking across rivers to views of, I assume, Norrköpping.

Pretty town!

So I left off, outside the barn (not pictured). I will try to find the door tomorrow. I will make a systematic search of each and every screen in the place! 

Actually I think I'm getting pretty close to the endgame, if the locations that are disappearing from my map are any indication. Also, it feels about as long as these games usually are. Plus, we've met at least one villain, maybe more! 

So we'll see if I have to fight a baddie tomorrow!

Assuming I can find him.

Next Entry.

Geospots 1: Finding the Cache

What a fantastic surprise to find that a new Carol Reed game has been released! Of course I went to the MDNA website and bought it immediately.

This time Carol is moping around a bit because she doesn't have any cases to solve. Fortunely her friend Stina has a new hobby that she asks Carol for help with: geocaching! I reveiwed a children's book some years ago that had geocaching as a major activity, so I knew what it was. 

As with all Carol Reed games, we start by finding new places to go and new addresses, which show up on the map used for navigation:

Always a slightly different map for every game

Newly discovered locations appear on the map, and we click on the place names to go there. First we go to a bit of a maze, but Stina does give Carol a map showing where her cache is located. If you, the player, follow the map by looking at it after each move you will not get lost. If you, or for example, me, does not look at the map you will get lost. Look at the map.

Finding the cache leads to a puzzle, which is actually fairly challenging but doable if you just look for clues around the area.

We get to go to such nice places in these games. I would love to live in this house:

It has a pool!

And we always go wandering in nicely forested areas featuring beautiful landscapes. The scenery is a big part of these games.

Pretty, yes?

Don't miss this guy!

As the plot thickens, or rather, as we uncover new locations and new clues, which usually lead to new locations, we always encounter various kinds of puzzle boxes.

This first one was easy to solve, but I haven't yet cracked the second one:

A cinch.

Not a cinch.

I'm doing my best not to look at the hints. Normally they just nudge you in the right direction, but often they send you to somewhere you have missed. I confess that I missed three things, saved by the hints. 

To not miss things you really do have to carefully examine nearly each and every screen. It's really easy to just walk right by something important.

The game won't let you proceed without finding these clues, but it will let you wander around into infinity until you find the elusive hot spots. Hitting the space bar frequently should help, and I have not been doing that.

I think I will do it today! 

I have already met Carol's boyfriend Jonas, who turns up in all the games, and what appears to be the comic relief character, which used to be played by "Bigge." Bigge disappeared in the last game, but the same voice actor is still here for another character.

Jonas always helps

Not Bigge, but the same voice

Judging by how many locations I have on my map, I might be about a third of the way through the game. That's great, because I really want to play for awhile today! 

And hit the spacebar. 

Next Entry.

Dark Fall: Ghost Vigil 11: The End of the Ending

Well that was quite a trek! The endgame is really kinda tough.

I confess that I did watch CJU's latest video (as of this writing--he hasn't finished yet) and saw that I missed the final clue to the order of the lyrics. So, it's a good thing I watched it! I would have had to look it up and I hate to do that. But he left off at the entrance to the underground passages, so I finished ahead of him.

As to my mouse sensitivity, I did try using my controller and it did definitely help, although even that jumped around a bit in certain areas. I actually never knew that you could use a controller in place of a mouse, but it really isn't that different. Because we're just moving one click at a time it doesn't weave all over the place. I didn't need it to get through the miasma, because winning the trials opens that up. I switched to it when the mouse got too out of control, so that made things better.

Now then. The trials.

First, you have to find stuff in all that rubble. Warning: not as straightforward as it seems. Yes, those elusive stones are there, but you kind of can't look for the actual stones. Instead, look for the hand icon, because the stones are quite well camouflaged. I finally found the last one by just getting a flash of the hand icon for about a quarter of a second, and then had to keep sweeping the area until I got it again, and got the cursor to stay put on it long enough to click it.

So, a challenge.

Get the right stone on the right pedestal

I started with the sound puzzle. It's randomized, and you do get good clues, but the problem is that the patterns on the stones are quite difficult to match up to the clues. Once you get that right there is a brief sound clue. After that it's really not that tough, and I love it that it's the same sounds that were in the original Dark Fall: The Journal. (If you have not played that, for heaven's sake, play it! Fantastic game and it costs less than $5.00 these days.)

Then we have the standing stones puzzle. Yeah, the PDF walkthrough says that the clue is in Harwood's study, but we can't get back to Harwood's study, because after we solve that puzzle, the time-travel icon disappears and we're just in the nursery again.

The standing stones, however, aren't that difficult to solve if you just use common sense. Really, it might take a couple of tries, but no more than that.

For the final trial puzzle I really did have to look up the clue, at least. With that I was able to figure it out on my own. 

The Dark Fall Pit!

And then we get into the Dark Fall chamber! There are supposed to be three endings. However, if you have done the Saxton puzzle in the boys' dorm you will get the Saxton ending. That is the one I wanted and I got it, and it was deeply satisfying!

Home!

However, I would like to have won and freed my colleagues and the other souls trapped in the place. Plus, I don't know how to lose. I tried to lose. Nothing happened at all. I might go back and try again, but I'd like to see all three endings if I can.

Well, I will certainly replay the game again all on Steam just for the achievements. This time I won't do the Saxton puzzle and we'll see what I get after that.

And I finished ahead of CJU! Ha!

MAJOR MASSIVE UPDATE: I went back and did what the caretaker told me to do and this time I won! Hey ho! There's a lot more to come when you win! And we do get out:

Escape!

Still haven't lost yet, but CJU just uploaded his final video of the game so we'll see how that works.

I never did hear my name in the game, but I'm now wondering if the names might just be randomly said by Matron (Nanny Noah) as we wander around on the upper level. Never heard my name but I suppose it could be there and I just didn't get it. Well, yet another reason for a second playthrough!
 

I will say that the cursor sensitivity for me was a major problem. CJU hasn't had that problem at all in his videos, and I've looked at several other videos of playthroughs and nobody else has the problem either. So somehow it must be just me. I cannot understand why. I must have something set improperly on my PC, because the problem persisted even with the trackpad. Only the controller helped, and even that wasn't perfect. The problem was in both the Shadow Tor and Steam versions of the game, for me, anyway.

MAJOR DISCOVERY: I solved my cursor sensitivity problem by going into options and turning video quality from high to medium. If only I'd figured that out early on!

But I also went back and replayed to get all of the Steam. achievements. That was fun!

Musings: This really may be the best Darkfall, although game one is quite competitive in that way. This one is newer and far more polished, of course, with greater depth to the story. I absolutely loved it that so many little memories of that game were in this one. I almost wish I had made a list! 

Of course, nobody has to play the original game or any other to fully enjoy this one. It's just that you will get these little fun reminders, especially if you know the games well. I even saw one reference to something in DK2: Lights Out (a little poem). If there was anything from DK3: Lost Souls, I missed it. And of course, there are plenty of references to The Lost Crown. The Saxton ending was perfect, because this game was made mainly to get the financing they needed to finish TLC2: Blackenrock. 

So, a great time with this one! Really took me back to the days when I was just immersed in PnC adventures. This is the kind of game I'm always looking for.

Absolutely loved it! Yay!

Dark Fall: Ghost Vigil 10: Endgame, the Beginning

Aha! I really am at the endgame, and it's going to be fairly intense, I can tell. One good thing: I won't be tempted to watch CJU's video because I'm ahead of him now. Ha.

First, I solved my Bunsen burner problem. I just needed one more item. Got that and did what I needed to do with the Bunsen burner.

Can you get in here? I can!

And that got me past the entrance to the Dark Fall chambers.

Fortunately, there is a map. If there wasn't, I dread trying to navigate this place. I have grabbed quite a number of items from a couple of chambers and then got outta there for now. Going to assess what I have.

Not showing you a picture of the map. Find your own map.

One serious problem: the mouse cursor is again jumping all over the screen in certain areas. I'm going to try unplugging the mouse and just using the trackpad. Maybe that will work. I have a Logitech mouse. Perhaps that's the problem.

I haven't found any clues to the trials, as I did in the original Dark Fall game. Yet. 

But I have found what looks like a throwback to Barrow Hill! Yes! Don't know what these things do yet but I imagine it won't be nice. Still, I'll try, because it appears that you can manipulate them somehow.

Barrow Hill?

Later:   Well I have searched all over the underground areas, except in what I'm sure is the Dark Fall chamber, where the mouse simply appears to be uncontrollable. Switching to the trackpad did not help at all, and the Steam version is every bit as bad as the Shadow Tor version. However, I can take normal screenshots in the Steam Version, so I'll use that one from now on because I know it'll have the latest updates.

Pretty sure this is the Dark Fall chamber. Can't get in.

However, I have managed to create a stepping-stone bridge and have made it to a chamber with five pedestals. I have found three of the patterned stones that go on the pedestals. I went back outside and searched all over the grounds for the last two, and in the greenhouse going back in time, and in the nursery, and in the areas of the house where black mist seeps in.

Nothing. So, the last two stones have to be down there somewhere. I'll just have to do a more systematic search.

Also, yeah, the Barrow Hill standing stones do indeed do something when you touch them--but what order should you touch them in?? And plus, it was nice to see that the game uses one of the sounds from the trials in the original DF game. Nice touch, and so it should! It's apparently the same phenomenon.

However, there are several things I do not yet have. I only have four of the seven numbers that tell me in what order the lyrics are to be recited. (I'm assuming that the game will provide the lyrics to me automatically when I need them.) 

I also can't yet get into that door at the top of the girls' dorm.

Nice book, but the door doesn't open.

So why is that door there? 

I need to try two things next. First, I'm going to plug in my controller and see if that helps my cursor sensitivity problem. Even though I'm terrible with controllers, if the sensitivity goes away it'll be worth it. Second, however I manage to navigate, I'm going to have to do a more systematic search for those last two stones.

So. More to do. Stay tuned.

Next Entry.

Dark Fall: Ghost Vigil 9: Chasing Monsters

I was not at the endgame, but I'm clearly approaching it now! I have made real progress. It turned out that the basement wasn't much (at the time. It is now.) But before going there I decided I'd better clear up any questions or possibilities that I had left.

I have found two more "lyrics" to the symbols, and I have solved the major puzzle in the nursery, back in the eighteenth century. As a result, I have acquired what no doubt will turn out to be a much more effective Jemima doll.

But first, I figured that I'd better use what I found in the old real estate office: the map. Searched for the very well marked area on the map and I found something fairly gruesome, but it gave me an interesting item. I actually already know what to do with it, but clearly, I'm not ready for it yet.

I got another item from the real estate office that I realized would allow me to go into the nursery. Once in the nursery, I found a good item and I knew what to do. The girls had written the procedure. I followed it, and wound up in the very distant past, where Harwood, apparently completely deliberately, unleashed the ancient Dark Fall.

Harwood's Desk 

Lots to find in this room! There's the invitation that Harwood sent to his victims. We hear them arriving as we go through the room:

Accept this at your peril!

Plenty to read, too:

This looks useful

It's a fairly tough puzzle, but I managed to bulldog my way through it and I got the item I need. I think I now have the item I need to trick the Dark Fall, when the time comes.

From there I went back to the washroom near the science lab, and got a hint from CJU's video (yeah, I know I said I wasn't going to do that, but I did. Good thing too because I never would have though of what I needed to do.)

After another hunt for the black smoky things in a really interesting environment (I should have taken a screenshot but I was too engrossed in it), I got another lyric! And I got another lyric from the Shangri-La office. 

Nice! So now I have six of the seven I need. Where to find the last one? I don't think Thomas Harwood would have another because I got one from the Greenhouse, as I recall. I do have one more ID card, but I don't think that person actually died there. 

I have a picture of Ollie, who seems to be the most problematic of the kids. Maybe that'll be it?

Will Ollie want Jemima?

But, I tried something in the Lab with the Bunsen burner. I was able to melt three items together, but couldn't take the result. I backed away and tried it again but I couldn't get the second and third items into the container. Hmmm. A glitch? Or am I just too soon for this puzzle and shouldn't have been able to do it at all yet?

I have been having just a terrible time today with the mouse cursor. In intense scenes it's just almost uncontrollable. It works absolute fine in normal scenes, so it's got to be something in the game. Yet, CJU hasn't run into that problem at all. Is it my mouse somehow? I've tried turning down the sensitivity on my laptop but it had no effect. If it were my mouse, why does it work perfectly well in the normal parts of the game but not in the more intense scenes?

It hasn't been that much of a problem until today. However, I got through it, so despite the difficulty, I will survive (unless the game has other plans . . .)

Later: I did need a hint to progress, but once I got that I zoomed along. I have found the final lyric! I have found and have entered the pink door! I have found something important that Thomas Harding left. I have talked with the caretaker once again, who has given me good advice.

The Pink Door. Important, and I'm in!

Some screenshots from the pantry/kitchen area:

I actually own the cookbook in the upper left corner. It's excellent!

Just a detail?

This looks like a possible clue to something

It seems that as in the first Dark Fall game, there will be trials to pass. No doubt I'll find clues to those. In the first game some of the clues were right there by the trials. I still need to find the entire order for reciting the lyrics.

However, there is still a door at the top of the stairs in the girls' secret room that I can't enter yet, and I still haven't found the clues for the Bunsen burner puzzle which obviously is going to be a major big deal. 

So! More to do tomorrow! Wow!

Next Entry.