Part 12: Epilogue & Credits
It's happening! The last update is here!!!!I hope the wait was worth it. We ultimately wound up with four videos for this update. It's essentially a feature-length feature about using cheat codes on the N64 Shadows Of The Empire. Enjoy!
Alright, let's see what happens in the epilogue. Maybe there will be some mention of our hero, Dash Rendar.
: : :E P I L O G U E: : :
The Emperor is displeased with Vader. Still, the plans to ensnare the Rebel Leaders with the leaked Death Star plans is proceeding exactly as the Emperor has foreseen it, so he doesn't stay angry with Vader for too long. Back on Tatooine, Luke is in Ben's house relaxing before he records his infamous video on Artoo for Jabba. He wonders if it'll work but figures they've got to try anyhow. After all they've been through, how hard will it be to capture one scruffy old pirate?
~fin~
And that's it for the novel. No mention of Dash in the epilogue.
Maybe if we check the comic...
Let's see, Dash?
~fin~
Nope, no Dash. Huh.
Well, that's one way to make sure no one else abuses your ORIGINAL-CHARACTERS-DO-NOT-STEAL in the EU. Makes me wonder if Steve Perry killed off all his creations for that express reason. I mean, Xizor blew up in the skyhook, Guri blew up in the palace, and Dash and Leebo blew up in the Outrider. Brilliant.
With them all dead, I guess there's nothing else for us to do regarding Shadows of the Empire and Black Sun in the EU.
Yup, nothing at all.
There isn't another piece of EU that contains any of these characters.
Haha, just kidding, there's a whole bunch of crap to go through. Notice that we didn't see any of the bodies? All of Perry's creations died in such a way that they could be resurrected at the whim of any other EU writer--
--including Perry himself. Especially Perry himself. Let's head back to the game, which was the only piece of SOTE media that hinted to the survival of any of those characters.
Well whaddaya know! Dash Rendar survived! (And Leebo too!) No mention of this is made in the novel, comic, or soundtrack. This only happens in the game. AND it only happens if you beat the game on Medium or higher. Now, bear in mind, this game is incredibly difficult. I've played it way too much, which means I was able to make it look easy--but believe me: it's hard. That meant most people first beat the game on Easy. (Myself included). When beaten on Easy, the epilogue video ends with Luke and Leia speaking with each other. That meant most people wrongly believed Dash Rendar died! It wasn't until 1998 that the direct sequel, Shadows Of The Empire: Evolution, was released and knowledge of Dash's survival truly became public knowledge.
Until then, it was mostly a myth--much like the man himself.
In fact, places on the internet still question whether or not Dash really survived. From 2002. From 2003. From 2005. From 2012.
Cool! (I guess.)
Anyways, here are the promised cheat videos with shout outs to the posters who made requests. (I wasn't sure on username pronunciations--let me know if I said anything incorrectly!) Stay to the end of video two for a credits and more shout outs! Past the video links are some words about the cheats in the game.
: : :C H E A T S: : :
Most in this game are horribly dull! They also come in two flavours:
1) Challenge Point Cheats - the cheats that are awarded for beating the game while collecting every challenge point. (Difficulty specific)
2) Cheats Proper - the real deal. Activated through specific button combinations or file names. These are the kind that you need the internet for. Or an uncle who works at Nintendo.
Challenge Point Cheats
There are 87 challenge points in all. Collect them all on a specific difficulty to get said unlock. It can be accessed after beating the game by going to the start menu and moving to the newly unlocked GAME SECRETS text option.
Easy - Leebo Scanner - Hold down camera button (Right C) for 5 seconds. Activates top-down holographic view. Great for finding secrets and hidden enemies.
Medium - X-Wing/TIE Fighter - Go to Skyhook level. Hold down camera button (Right C) for 5 seconds to turn into an X-Wing. Repeat to turn into a TIE Fighter. Doing it again will revert to the Outrider, etc.
Hard - Invincibility and all weapons - Hold crouch button (Down C) for invincibility and all weapons.
Jedi - Wampa Buddies - Wampas are friendly to player!
Cheats Proper
There's a bunch of these around the net. I'm not sure that all of them work and most of them just have to do with accessing the PLAY AS x ability that our precious Debug Menu cheat does for us anyway. That or it gives us ANOTHER camera angle. Woo.
In fact, aside from the Debug Menu, they're all pretty lame. But here are some of the more interesting ones:
"R_Testers_ROCK" - Enter this as your name while setting up a New Game. It is case sensitive and the underscores are spaces. While this is active, you will hear the sound of Wampas whenever accessing the game menu.
"_WIPE_ALL_DATA" - Enter this to erase all game data! Saves you precious seconds as you can delete every thing on one go rather than deleting it one by one in the main menu.
"_Credits" - After entering in this name select any level and the credits will play! Uh, hooray? Pretty sure you can also just rename you file this.
"Joe" - Same as the last one, pretty sure you can just rename your file here. Anyway, it lets you skip all flight levels. So, Hoth, Asteroid Field and Skyhook Battle. Those are easily the best parts of the game so I have no idea why you'd want to use this.
"_Wampa__Stompa" - That's two spaces between "Wampa" and "Stompa". This cheat is the bomb. You can enter it on any difficulty, unlike what Nintendo Power once told me (said game had to be on Jedi difficulty--totally not true). Anyways, this cheat is the bomb. Did I already say that? Well it bears repeating. Here is a short list of the things it lets you do:-Teleport around levels
-Skip levels
-Make villains "sleepy"
-Give Dash 50 lives
-Grant invincibility
-Acquire all weapons and jetpack instantly
-Kill Dash
-Turn on/off wall-ghosting
-Alter gravity
-Alter jump strength
-Tweak lighting
-Tweak fog colour
-Turn fog on/off
-
Activate Rainbow Dash Rendar -Access challenge point cheats
-Play as various enemies
However, such a cheat is not so easily accessed. After you input the correct name you also need to perform some controller gymnastics. Enter a level and do this:
While holding down Up C, Left C, Right C, Down C, L, R, Z, and Left D-Pad, tilt the joystick halfway to the left and hold until a sound players. Then tilt the joystick halfway to the right and hold until a sound plays. Repeat to the left. Then the right. Then left one more time.
Congratulations you now have
It's pretty cool. Try it out. If only to see Rainbow Dash Rendar and give crow some vindication for his terrible picture.
And finally, here's the promised death reel:
**Blocked because of Yakkity Sax D:
Alright, last time we did this I pulled the obvious cop-out and had crow and I tie, meaning it was up to the thread to decide who was the better Corellian space pirate.
Is it everyone's favourite carbonite brick, Han Solo, or the galaxy's biggest bullshitter, Dash Rendar?
Dash Rendar - 41%
Han Solo - 59%
I knew Dash would--wait, what?! 87 voters and you all preferred Han!? Really!?! What about Lord and Saviour, Dash? Pfft, preposterous. This vote has been rigged. Well, it's a good thing I took a second poll. Some people were upset that Dash and Han were the only choice. As a result, I added a third choice to the poll: Darth Vader. Though he is neither Corellian nor a space pirate, he did some pretty awesome things throughout Shadows Of The Empire that earned him his spot. Let's see the breakdown:
Dash Rendar - 17%
Han Solo - 10%
FUCK THAT, DARTH VADER - 73%
Aha! I knew it! Dash has beaten Han and--what!?! Darth Vader is neither a Corellian nor a space pirate! Bah.
I still love you, Dash.
So there you have it. Dash ultimately loses!
And with that, we are officially finished with Shadows Of The Empire!
Well, sort of. Stay tuned for more SOTE-related EU nonsense!
