Part 42: XLII - S.C.A.N.D.A.L.

And we're back, with all-new raised gamma correction! Turns out that the windowed mode for this game was probably not very well bug-tested (which is probably why you need to force it via launch parameters to get it in the first place), because it causes all sorts of problems, like the gamma correction not working at all. Anyway, we've got sidequests to be doing, because that's what the thread decided we do. They decided unanimously, even, which I think is a first.



Here we are - the hotel opposite the Luckee Star. It's locked, but we have the key.



Nothing happening on the ground floor, so no need to be sneaky just yet...



...but once we go up the stairs, we should start sneaking.



Now, this is where things get tricky, because I completely turned my brain off. The house is filled with enclosed areas, and both Tawni and her boyfriend/fiancee/whatever love walking around the house, meaning there's not a lot of safe zones. The solution that eluded me? Just use Dominate 1 - Command. That would have knocked whomever we used it on out for long enough for this to become very easy. I didn't think of that, so this is very difficult. I already binned one set of footage of failure.



In that run, Tawni was in the dining room here and the guy was on the couch, giving me free reign to blitz the kitchen and place the first webcam. So let's hurry, hug the wall so she doesn't spot us...



...wait, what?



SHIT. Well, I guess that's a reloa-



Whoa, did the guy just try to shoot me? With a pistol no less? ...of course, you realize, this means war.



FUCK YOU.



Oh, now you're going to cower and run? Now that the intruder suddenly whipped out a SPAS, you don't feel so tough anymore, eh?



FUCK YOU TOO. ...well, that was cathartic. Best reload, though. Let's try this again, and let's try not getting busted immediately this time around.



OK, this time, let's actually check the dining room and make sure that there's actually somebody here to dodge. There isn't, which means Tawni's probably in the kitchen again, and the guy is on the couch, creating a dead zone that we can't move through without risking getting caught again.



Good, she's leaving the kitchen and heading towards the back, which means this should open up the kit-



-never mind, she's heading back, abort, abort!



We end up close enough to her for her to notice something's up, sending her into the "alert" state. That means she'll be looking around for us a bit, then give up again. Normally, this isn't a problem. However, given that our only short-term retreat is a tight hallway, things could have gotten rough. Thankfully, she doesn't catch on, and we can try again.



Alright, let's try the kitchen agai-



SHIT, ABORT, ABORT!



Made a quick forward retreat to the back room, turns out that wasn't a great idea either, with the guy just coming out of the bathroom. So what is the smart move at this point?



Make a blitz for the bathroom, of course! At least this gives us an opportunity to place the first camera. Well, maybe he didn't notice us rushin-



NO, HE DID. Right back in the bathroom we go!



This is not Melissa's finest hour. Big badass vampire lady, just got done fighting off things that could just as well have been hellspawn, now stuck scampering around a tiny apartment like it's some sort of comedy show, somehow trying to solve a problem that can't be solved by either talking to it or shooting it. This is mostly uncharted territory.



The guy eventually leaves, allowing us to slap the second camera down in the bedroom - leaves the one in the kitchen, which means we need to somehow find the time when the guy is busy on the couch and Tawni is standing in the dining room. This is easier said than done.



Especially when she heads right back in the kitchen...



...and this asshole is really jumpy with his pistol, meaning that strategic retreats are common.



And he's persistent, too. Pretty much the only place where you can really be safe is behind that blind. And then it's time to wait...



Of course, it doesn't end there. Turns out that with our current stats, we can't sneak past him when he's sitting on the couch, so we need to wait for him to head to the bathroom again.



Eventually, he does. Let's hope that gives us free reign to head to the kitchen...



...it doesn't, but it'll have to do. Her back is turned, so all I've got to do is walk in, place the camera on the right side, then hope like hell she doesn't turn around.



Success! But of course, that wasn't all - now we need to head back to the bedroom and get to the computer to send the signal to Imalia, with the guy still hovering around that area. Well, maybe if we're fast enough...



NOOOOOOPE.



Alright, hiding behind the couch it is. Works for now, but the new problem is that when the guy comes back, he can spot us sitting behind the couch.



But with one well timed push, we can get back to the bedroom and to the computer!



We check on the cameras, punch in the password "cleopatra", run the cam check, and...



Excellent! Now, getting out...



...is surprisingly easy, since all you have to do is wait for the guy to head back to the bathroom and you can just leg it. If they notice you and end up alert, it won't matter since you're faster than they are, even when you're sneaking.



And that's yer lot! Now all we've got to do is head back to the warrens and get our reward.




On the way back, I notice a pair of movie posters hanging in Gary's room, with some developer references - Jason Anderson, Leonard Boyarsky and Tim Cain are the founders of Troika and all three were also main guys on this game, C(had) Moore was the lead character modeler, and Brock Heinz, Jesse Reynolds and Huy Nguyen were programmers. Additionally, did you know that there's some unused files sitting around referring to C. Moore's Coffee interiors, apparently for both Santa Monica and Hollywood? You can see the building on the map for Santa Monica, too - next to Gallery Noir. Now, our quest reward.



...wow, that was fast. Took me like five minutes to get down here. Man, the Internet sure makes information spread faster and faster. I guess the game had some invisible time dilation happen there (since this entire game doesn't exactly take place over the same night and all).



Camera angle! Anyway, we get the option here to decline the cash. Since we now know that the blood of Tawni is on our hands, we could take the high road here and keep our Humanity from dropping even lower.

...nah, fuck that.

I tried to be thorough. Now hand over the cash.
Here... you definitely earned it.
Thanks, rotting queen. See ya.

Four hundred bucks and a humanity loss. Works for me. I'm going to spend so much money, I need every bit I can get. Humanity is overrated, anyway. Now, Imalia said something about it being printed in the papers, and sure enough, there's one laying on the desk in her room. Let's see what kind of dirt we helped uncover...