Part 44: Blackwell Deception - Update 3

Let's find out!

Update 3

Yesterday, Rosa and Joey helped the ghost of Ryan to move on. For those keeping count, that's eight ghosts we've helped to their rest so far this series - Alli, the Deacon, Isaac, Mavis, Allen, Frank, the Countess, and now Ryan. However, unlike the previous seven, Ryan left us with a fairly ominous departure message. What could he have meant?

Before I get started though, I'll just show off an image of one of the original HD backgrounds that were scrapped in Deception.



It is only shown if you use the in-game commentary. Gilbert eventually found that the sprites clashed with the backgrounds. Also, the guy who made them could only do them quite large, and they didn't scale down to the 600x400 resolution of AGS that well. In the end, resizing them made them look just as pixellated as any other backgrounds, but since they weren't designed to be pixellated the effect was a bit weak. So after a couple of months Gilbert just scrapped the whole thing and hired a new background artist.

As I mentioned, this background is only shown if you use the in-game commentary. In Deception, commentary is handled differently than in the previous games. In the first three games, if you have commentary turned on, a nifty little animated portrait of Gilbert pops up from time to time giving you some information. In Deception, if you have commentary on, a bunch of hotspots appear on each screen that you can click on, which includes bloopers, information, art assets, etc. It's quite effective, but it does mean your game looks a bit ugly with hotspots all over it if you play with commentary on. Also, Gilbert finally got a high-quality microphone around the time he was doing the voice recordings for Deception, and was apparently so pleased with it that he decided to use that for his portrait. Up to you, I guess, Gilbert!

Since all of the bloopers and the like are included in the commentary, it does mean that Deception is the only Blackwell game not to include any kind of hidden features mode. Of course, since Gilbert plays fast and loose with spoilers in the commentary, it does mean you're going to need to play through the entire game twice if you want to see all of the bonus content.

Boat Escape



Rosa emerges from Nodespace to find a stoic but concerned Joey.

No. Why?
Cause we've increased speed. By, um, a lot. And we're headed straight towards the Jersey shore.

Oh, are you fucking kidding me? Ryan

What! Is that what he meant?
What who meant?
Never mind.



Rosa looks around frantically while Joey tells her to jump overboard.



She quickly checks out the control, but has no idea what they do.

Can you swim?



Ignoring Joey, Rosa continues to try pushing buttons, but nothing is happening. It's almost as though Ryan moving on has locked up the electronics.

She's taking this whole runaway boat thing pretty well. Although her gills are looking a bit greener than normal.

Joey is concerned as well.



There's no other way off this tub.

Heading outside, we see that the boat is moving many times faster than before, with the George Washington bridge whizzing past at a frightening rate.



Rosa quickly climbs down the ladder as the boat lurches and shakes.



It's nice to know we can rely on one panic attack per game from Rosa

You ready?
No.
JUMP!

Deception Theme



Rosa dives overboard, and eventually resurfaces at the New Jersey City dock. With Rosa finally safe, Joey lets himself enjoy the scene much more than he should do

I can't take you anywhere.
Shut up. I'm wet. I'm filthy.



Nothing says "New York" like making fun of New Jersey! Gilbert injecting yet another cultural reference here. Though personally I get more of a kick out of Rosa and Joey dramatically facing opposite directions like they always do

Relax, will you? We saved another one. Score another point for us.
Yeah.



Yeah, we're probably in trouble about that.

The two million bucks, as well.

I thought it was only one million?

We are so not getting paid.
Not one lead cent.



The shot of the slowly dwindling Staten Island lights reflecting off the rippling waters of Raritan Bay is really lovely. The credits roll by quickly as we listen to what is probably my favourite version of the Blackwell theme.

Breaking News



The credits scene transitions neatly into a news bulletin.



Oh geez. We're making headline news now, and not for the right reasons.

Late Night



Rosa turns off the TV, right as her phone starts to ring. Technically the music is quiet here, but I'll link to the music early so you can close the Breaking News theme. This is not actually Rosa's proper theme, which we don't hear until the first time we come back to the apartment, but rather the "world map" theme.

Joey, could you, uh...
Right, right.

Joey quickly scoots off to the side so Rosa can get a decent reception. Apparently she can access the internet fine with Joey nearby, but has poor reception to calls. That... probably doesn't make sense.

Hello?

A voice comes through the phone:

Voice: Hi, is this Rosangela?

Yes, who's this?

Voice: It's been a while. This is Jeremy Sams.

Jeremy? Oh, Jeremy! Yeah.

The name Jeremy Sams is not entirely new to us, though you could easily be forgiven for not remembering it. Way back in the second update of Legacy, when Rosa first received the phone call asking her to cover JoAnn's suicide, her boss at the time mentioned that the usual reporter, Jeremy, was busy covering the strike at city hall. Also...



...Jeremy was listed as the reporter of the article that clues us to the Allen Reiken case at the start of Convergence.

Are you still at the Village Eye?

Jeremy: Oh, God no. I left there a year ago. I work at the City Post, now.

Really? That's a big step up. Congratulations.

Given that, according to that last image, Jeremy was already working for the City Post at the start of Convergence, my guess is Deception is supposed to be set roughly a year later.



Apparently Jeremy wants our help! I'm surprised he even remembers us. It's not like we've been doing any journalism work for the last eighteen months.

Me?

Jeremy: I've come down with the flu or something really bad. I need to follow up on some interviews and the window is closing. Can you help? Come on. You'll be paid. And you can share the byline.

Well, tell me what it is first.

Jeremy either misinterprets Rosa's comments, or just plain ignores them by responding with:

Jeremy: Awesome. Come on over and we'll chat. Thanks a mil, Rosangela.



Joey, as usual, is not that keen to participate in anything that doesn't involve ghost saving, but Rosa reassures him.

I used to work with Jeremy. He's okay. And the extra money won't hurt. The City post is a pretty important paper. Maybe they'll want a spiritual news column?
I doubt it.

Before we get to that, however, let's take some time to check out Rosa's apartment.



Seventy bucks a month and nothing's ever on.

Not much has changed since Convergence. Funnily enough, Rosa comments here that she "finally" got cable TV installed, even though she made exactly the same comment in Convergence. I guess Gilbert just forgot or something.

Rosa and Joey can look at various items around the room... the cooking utensils:

I can't remember the last time I cooked with those. It's getting to the point where I should put the Chinese Takeout place on speed-dial.

The coffee pot...

You never know when you'll need a cup of instant.

The paintjob...

I don't see how anyone can stand this much pink.



They're building another one, but in the meantime it's nice to have a view.

In a nice moment of character development, Rosa's curtains are now fully open. In Convergence they were partially opened, and of course back in Legacy they were closed, with Rosa commenting that she wanted prying eyes to stay OUT. I guess she's a bit more at peace with the world nowadays Of course, keeping up with the trend set in Convergence, Joey admires the temporary view in his trademark reserved fashion.

Not bad.



Rosa still has her African drum...

It, um, doesn't.

...and Joey still doesn't know what it's for

Dunno why she keeps this. She's not exactly musically inclined. Brightens up the place, I suppose.

She still has her living plant, too, and a new one to replace her plastic one...

I've had this one for about ten years now. I suppose it's due for a trim. I got this one a few months ago. It's doing pretty well.
It's gonna take over the room if she's not careful.



And, of course, Rosa's beloved teddy bear is still around

He's 30 years old, but doesn't look a day over 20. I'd better leave him alone. I don't want anything to happen to him.
I'm surprised that thing hasn't collapsed into a pile of moldy fluff by now.

Her book collection is pretty sparse now too.

I sold most of my books after getting my phone. This thing is perfect for reading on the subway.

After nearly two years, Joey still respects Rosa's privacy.

In the interest of domestic harmony, I don't enter her bedroom uninvited.



Rosa has a broken clock. My theory is Gilbert just didn't want to have to animate it, and have it match up with scripted time sequences.

Her pinboard is still up, though she won't use it in Deception.

Just some old articles, bills, and reminders. Nothing important.

Rosa's calendar is also still up, but unlike in Convergence, she doesn't use it anymore either, preferring to use her smartphone to store important reminders.

I haven't changed the month in ages.
It's the calendar. For last April.

Rosa also still has her landline, though in what is becoming a bit of a trend, she prefers her smartphone and refuses to use it.

I probably should get that disconnected. But for some reason, I like having the land-line handy.

In a slightly creepy moment, Rosa has the poster for "Water Under The Bridge" around too.

It's a poster for a movie called "Water under the Bridge."



It was about three college kids who committed suicide.
Dunno why she saves these old articles. She hated working for that rag.

Are we going to start keeping momentos of all the ghosts we save, Rosa? Sure enough, another article is on her wall.

The article is titled "The Rise and Fall of the Meltzer Foundation." I didn't write it, but I did kind of make it happen.

I guess the Meltzer Foundation went out of business. It would have been interesting to read this article, but unfortunately we can't. By checking out all of the references to previous games, we do unlock a "Ghosts of the Past" achievement in Steam, though!

Rosa also still has her computer, but won't use it, once again preferring her smartphone. You're such a damn yuppie Rosa

I don't have time to do any writing. And if I need to use the internet, I've got my phone.

My theory is Gilbert gave the apartment background image from Convergence to his artist for reference, and that artist just reproduced it almost exactly, before Gilbert realised that Rosa doesn't need 90% of this stuff anymore. Though I do totally buy Rosa being a hoarder.



Let's just quickly catch up with Joey before we head over to Jeremy's.

Yeah.
Yech. I think I swallowed about a billion germs in that river.
Next time you take a dip, keep your mouth shut. And just so you know, damaging city property is not a habit you want to get into.
I'll keep that in mind.

Joey is joking around here, but surely we must be in shit for totalling that yacht, right?

Jeremy texted me his address.
Well, let's get going if we're going.

Dialogue with Joey works a little differently in Deception than it did in the previous games. Joey has some stock dialogue for each game "room" (other than those where Rosa can't speak to him because of other people, of course), and this won't update as events warrant, so whatever he says the first time we enter a location is all we're going to get out of him. However, Rosa also has a "talk about current events" option which will prompt the two of them talk about whatever is relevant regardless of where they are. So the current events option will evoke the same dialogue from anywhere. It's quite effective (and functions adequately as a "give me a hint!" generator) but it does mean there will be slightly less dialogue overall since Rosa and Joey won't have separate bits written for multiple locations each time a new event occurs.

If a particular bit of separate dialogue is warranted, an extra option will pop up, but that's rarely used.



Just before heading out, Rosa checks her phone. Our poor yacht owner is not happy with us, but I guess he can't really pin anything on us, so we get off scott free! Hooray!



With Jeremy having called us, Rosa has his number on her phone log. We're able to ring him straight back, but it rings through to his answering machine. I guess he's busy thinking about that case?



Rosa is so in love with her new smartphone that it also serves as the world map in Deception. So far we only have two locations. Awesomely, the icon for Rosa's apartment is Griff, the P.I. Bear The question mark next to Jeremy's name will become a proper icon once we visit. This gimmick is maintained throughout the game to leave a bit of mystery about places we haven't visited yet, as well as acting as a kind of subtle "new" prompt for places we haven't gone yet.



The music goes quiet as Rosa knocks on Jeremy's door. Strange that he would leave the lights off, given he was at home and expecting Rosa to visit... Rosa switches them on.



Joey isn't very impressed with what he sees... but suddenly, almost as if in response to Joey's comment, Jeremy comments "Hm?" from the back room, and comes out to the main room.

Prelude to Tragedy



But it isn't a living, breathing Jeremy Sams that comes out. His ghost phases through the door and floats out to the living room. Jeremy Sams is dead. Although this means nothing to us, the player, Rosa of course knew him from her work, so this is obviously very confronting for her.

Interestingly, Regin borrows the Prelude to Tragedy theme from Convergence for this scene.

Sorry about that. I haven't been feeling well, as I said. Who's your friend?

Rosa is understandably shocked, and her facial expression gives it away immediately.

Is something wrong?

Rosa, not quite sure how to respond, can either ask directly if Jeremy is dead:

Jeremy? Are you dead?
I certainly feel sick enough to be dead. I haven't been able to leave the apartment in two days.

She can more subtly ask him what happened:

Jeremy... what happened to you?
Happened? Nothing happened. I got sick.

Or she can just pretend that nothing is wrong while she watches a ghost bob up and down in front of her.

Jeremy... it's good to see you. You look... great.
Heh. Hardly. I feel like death.

Ooh, that's awkward.

I just caught a nasty bug, or something. Horrible timing. I'm on the verge of something really big. That's why I need your help.
You need our help, alright.

Jeremy obviously wasn't expecting Rosa to come with a friend, and isn't sure what to make of Joey.

Sorry, but who are you?
I'm with her.
This is Joey. He's kind of my...



Hahaha, we can choose. If we go with assistant:

...assistant.
An assistant? Really?
You've definitely come a long way since the Village Eye.
You could say that.

Joey actually seems annoyed that we called him our assistant If we say partner:

...partner.
I see. So you two are...
Er, no! Nothing like that. I mean a writing partner!
Oh. Good. I mean, that's good. Partners are good.

Jeremy is displaying pretty clear signs of interest in Rosa here. I guess maybe he liked her back at the Village Eye?

Finally, if we say friend:

...friend.
And he just tagged along?
Yes. It's kind of his thing.
I... see.

I can see why that would sound a bit strange. Jeremy is a bit weirded out by it, but he moves on quickly.

Well, it's nice to meet you, Joey. I like the hat. Anyway, how 'bout we get down to business?



So now we have a spook on our hands, but not just a normal one. He doesn't seem to realise he's dead, which is normal enough for a ghost, but other than that he seems pretty together, which make him very unusual from what we've seen so far. Join me tomorrow as we start to figure out what Jeremy's deal is!