Part 2: Don't Say I Didn't Warn You
As some of you may have noted, there are multiple solutions: at least 4, if we count rotation. This is the one I got:
It's just like the (correct) solution gschmidl gave us, but a quarter turn off.
With that done, it's time to do more of that "running like hell" thing we were doing previously.
Another T-intersection. Right again, I guess.
I'm just going to stop going right altogether.
The door on the left won't open, but the tablet with all the symbols on it probably has something to do with that. Let's poke it and see.
The skull dial makes a return! Only instead of many skulls spinning on a wheel, it's just a single, blue skull that spins around in place.
When it's done spinning, the nearby door opens.
Inside is a rounded chamber with a circle of standing stones in the middle. To get to the inside, we have to first make our way around the outside.
Eventually, this leads us to an altar with 12 holes in it, and a symbol engraved for each hole. Because our character is a Very Smart Person, let's click a random symbol.
The
Loading the game and clicking the correct symbol finally gets rid of the annoying stick on our cursor as well as refilling our health. Score! With that over, let's explore the central chamber behind us.
On each stone are pictures of our "friends" outlined with more creepy drawings like the ones on the canyon walls. We are, apparently, a bad enough dude to save them.
...but that requires going and fetching more voodoo sticks. They're this game's version of magic pots, so we gotta catch 'em all. If I have to be subjected to the terrible voice acting, you have to be subjected to my terrible video game jokes.
Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts out. Every time we do this, we have to run all the way through the canyon, and then all the way back out again. The voodoo spirit drawings on the walls shoot at us both ways, but there's a delay before they start firing, so as long as we haul ass through the canyon we won't get hurt.
It's not actually that difficult.
Mom shows up to subject us to some more plot exposition. I still don't know what this "warrior" crap is about, but the know your enemy part is important, so keep it in mind for later.
Back at last. If we wanted, we could now basically go wherever we want in town, but first let's head back to the hotel and finish exploring.
We arrived at this intersection the first time from the left side of this picture (the library, seen last update during my frantic running, is on our right). So you get a rough idea of what the town looks like, we'll take the other path back to the hotel. In short, we're going straight.
This is the first intersection we came to when trying to rush to the canyon. Left of this shot is where we went the first time, right is where we just came from, and straight ahead is the way to the hotel.
It looks like the sign they took that derpy picture in front of is just across the street from the hotel.
...and we're back. Now that you have a rough idea of what things look like, I'll skip most of these shots in the future and just use the map.
Before we head back into the office, let's check out the rest of the hotel. We can only explore two rooms, and they're both pictured here: ours on the left, and some other dude's on the right.
Well, at least Shivers 2 bothers trying to explain why we don't just get the fuck out of here when shit goes south. Slashing our tires, though? That's just rude.
We've already explored everything in our room, so it's time to check out this random other dude's room. I'm sure he won't mind.
It's much like our room, but messier.
The bathroom is still swank and gothic, and we're still a vampire. It all looks the exact same, so there's no need to show it off again.
Despite looking like something we can and should poke at in true adventure game fashion, we can't actually do anything with the camera.
So instead let's go through this guy's wallet.
You know, I was just thinking Shivers didn't have enough male fantasy. I'm glad they fixed that. Now all we're missing is self-insertion.
I don't think "Stewy" was particularly flattering even in the 90's, and that was before Family Guy.
Bah, not even any cash. Let's rifle through his drawers instead.
Empty, just like ours. Man, where are they hiding the cash? ...and the booze? This town isn't any fun.
We'll have to console ourselves with this random crowbar. Yup, that's going in the inventory.
There's something hiding in the trashcan nearby.
I think she was one of the people in the hilariously bad photo found in our suitcase.
I smell ~drama~.
Something tells me "Stewy" liked Cathy better. Tune in next week for our exciting conclusion.
These criminally obvious suitcases cannot actually be opened or inspected. You can, however, wave your fish lens at them, then throw up.
These immaculate beds are the creepiest part of this game. How do they get them so perfect?
There's another radio here, but this one plays nothing but static. Knowing Shivers, the numbers pre-programmed in here will be part of a puzzle later: 101.1, 103.2, 105.7, and 106.6. The number in the picture is what it starts on, but none of the presets are set to that.
Nothing useful on the phone, either.
Well, that's it for this room. We're up one crowbar and three dramas. Let's head back to the office.
As soon as we walk in the phone starts ringing.
I can't get to it in time, so he leaves a message. That was nice of him.
This poster is tacked onto the wall to the left of the counter. Sadly, it's not our favorite crackpot professor, but rather, the local barber.
Ringing the bell brings our old friend back out again, but it's much less vocal this time.
...and we just picked up whatever the hell that was next to it. Let's take a closer look.
Is that... gum? Ew.
...well, I guess we're just going to carry that around with us.
The only other way to go is right.
You got your museum in my desert town! You got your desert town in my museum! Two great tastes that taste great together!
We have $2.50
I don't even know what that is. A fish with a skull for a head? Why would you hang that in a motel lobby?
Nothing interesting on the other side of the box.
...but to the right of that there's a letter that looks to be for "Stewy".
Kachinas are, in several Native American cultures of the US Southwest, spirits or representations of things in everyday life. They are not worshipped as much as respected and called upon, as in ceremonial dances with kachina masks. In modern usage, they are used to instruct on the historical and the spiritual.Gonna guess Darkcloud fits neither, though.
The other side of the counter has a few things of interest. Let's check out those drawers to the bottom-left first.
That reminds me: I think something was conspicuously missing from those two motel rooms...
This town is full of lovely people.
"I'm not sure what that is, but we're taking it with us." -Adventure gamer's motto.
Guys, I don't think a straight razor is actually creepy unless there's some blood on it. C'mon, work with me here.
This letter was sitting on top of the counter. It sounds like our motel manager did a lot more than just giving customers bad looks and vaguely threatening them with a bat.
There's also an answering machine here. Remember those? ...no?
"...ladies that are staying at your motel? Think you can introduce me?"
You can't actually delete messages, which seems kind of strange considering storage limitations, but who am I to judge?
The message that Darkcloud left is on here, too.
The letter from earlier said Pearl's number was 555-6321, not 6331 as we were previously told. Let's try it out.
After the beep, we leave a long message filled with nothing but heavy breathing.
There's a TV on our way out that we skipped over earlier.
...and now Mom is telling us not to watch too much TV or play by the canyon. It's how she shows us she cares.
To make that less confusing, yes, we are actually at the canyon now for some reason. Maybe the TV really does rot our brains.
Back at the motel, the phone rings again as we enter. Here's the answering machine message that I missed earlier.
Since we don't answer, our pal Captain Kachina leaves another silly message.
...okay, let's try that again.
This time with more gum. Ew.
...I hate you so much, Shivers 2.
From now on, at the end of each update I'll post a list of puzzles, notes, and voting information to make everything easier to keep track of.
Puzzles: None this update.
Notes:
Can't get anything from the vending machine.
Which windowsill do we need to look under?
Voting:
Now that we've been slapped upside the head with a clue-by-four, it's time for you guys to vote on where we go next.
We're near the top, at the motel. Locations we've been (the motel and the canyon) are highlighted in yellow. In case you can't see it clearly, here's the list in text form:
Location list:
Bakery
Barber Shop
Burt's Trailer
Cemetery
Community Church
Cyclone Cafe
Gusty's Gas Station
Max's Cave
Mine Entrance
Museum/Library
Pearl's House
Phil's Market
Savings & Loan
Sheriff's Department
Warehouse
The closest places are the gas station and the bakery, but we can go anywhere. Except the places that are locked, I guess, but we can fail to go there and then go somewhere else instead. Voting will close at some unspecified time tomorrow, so I can start working on the next update. Get your votes in early!