Part 19: The Cave of Stupid

Midnight surprise update!

Well, it's midnight on my end at least.



The Cave of Stupid

Last time we saved the super secret Shadow city. Because Hayes found and ruined it.

This time we will look for the two scientists, that his soldiers abducted.

Let me show you something before we go into the update. I made a short video to demonstrate the super awesome guns I saved for the final battles. Have a look at it before reading on.

It is in here.

 Not that cool, eh? The laser rifle sounds just like a suppressed gun and there are no lasers at all! Okay, that may be a limit of the engine as there are also no bullets. Also it seems to give her a seizure. At least the Laser Blaster has a cool muzzle animation. I actually forgot a thing about Ivana's weapon. Despite the ammo being called HE, as in "High explosive", it's totally not. There is a tiny bit of splash damage but people have to literally stand next to each other. At least it sounds like a tank cannon. But I decided not to waste her ammo in the next map, so she whipped out the SAW. And then we have Keno...this is not so much about his rifle as about the pose. While it looks goofy as fuck, it's actually correct. The bullpup version of the M82 is held like that. Proof. I just found that to be a funny tidbit as they fucked up so much else in this game. 

Let's do this.

This is a big lie. This is neither a grave, nor a mausoleum. It's just a shelter.


The map is pretty small and there is little to see.



:"GNO people... Seems like I found the right place."


I wish I could mod the announcer voice from Quake into this game.


Compare those white numbers. These soldiers do jack-shit to Seagull's crew.

Have a quick look at their models.

The one with the vest almost looks like a real soldier.

Following the path ahead, leads to more GNO.

But they are not hostile, which means talking.

:"Don't move, Choker! Not another step, or these two get a one way ticket to paradise. And they're the reason you're here, aren't they?"
Oh yeah, the scientists are also around. Also this female soldier is called "Ex". In which universe does this count as a name?

Now, the game gives us several responses here but they all lead to the same outcome. I assume this was cut, along with the whole morality system. So I went with asshole lines.

:"Hmmm... I don't know. Shall I kill you or not?"

:"Are you on too much "Z", or what?! Don't try to draw things out! If you try to play for time, we'll go ahead and massacre the hostages, you got that?"

:"I don't do deals. You're all going to die."
Zero fucks given.


Butch's first blast took Ex out of the fight. That means she has more talk in her.

The AI determined that Butch was the greatest threat and focused on him.

Also it went retarded.

He was not the only one who wanted to punch him. I don't know why, as they had guns&grenades in their pockets.


Welp!

They all die like flies and I check on Ex.

:"I swore I'd fight for Hayes and his plans to the bitter end... Now it looks as if I'm going to fulfill that oath. Damn..."


Alas, poor Yorick!

I take a quick look around and find another suit of M46! That's pretty cool as I've never had five of them before.

On to the scientists.



wat



_{I could draw a better monocle with my dick}

:"I'm deeply indebted to you. These animals committed horrible atrocities in the cave city. And now they've set their sights on the biosphere as well."

:"Who are you?"



:"I was in the "Hidden Cavern". How could the GNO overrun the city so quickly?"



:"Don't worry, the cave is still standing. Many have survived and the town will be rebuilt. I'd rather you told me what the GNO people did to you."



:"And then the sandstorm came. The soldiers knew their way around the area. They brought us to this cave and hid themselves in here. It's a miracle that you found us."

:"I'd really like to know more about the biosphere. How does it work exactly?"



:"For decades we worked to make the eco-system of the biosphere fail-safe. the dome was originally meant to be a model for the Mars settlement. It would have had to stand up to some harsh conditions there."

:"You have actually created a paradise? Can people really live in the biosphere?"



:"Can the system still work after such a long time? After all, no one's looked after it for decades."

:"This depends on whether the biosphere is intact. Parts of the machines may have broken down - although we did include back-up systems in the design. Besides, I don't know what the GNO soldiers have done to the machines."

Now we have a better picture of why the biosphere is so important. While it may not be a MacGuffin that could save the world, it still could form the heart of a new civilization.

:"I'll set off for the biosphere as soon as I can and take a look at the place."


Well, I got two and the GNO got the others. It's really fortunate that the right people survived this long, eh?


You can only talk to either of them. But they have roughly the same lines. Banks is more cultured and snobby, wouldn't expect that from a guy without a monocle.

Okay, we could leave now. But this cave looks a bit odd. There is a lot of stuff around that couldn't have been set up by the GNO. Maybe there is something behind it?


I really doubt that the soldiers brought girders with them. Looks like a last case for inspector Seagull.


The plot thickens.


There is also a dried well back here.


Mystery solved?






You can interact with the skeleton.
:"A Skeleton. And beside it is an old book. Could be a diary. I'll just take it with me."

Let's read that shit.









Aside from all the complaints one can have about this game, the attention to random fluff is neat.

Well, that's it for this map.

_{Fuck the people round here}

Next time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoBFhdeR9PE

Authors Note: This was mercifully short. I'm pretty confident that I can drop the finale this weekend, so hold on to your butts!