History VideoGame / TheDig1995

%%* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong

* Starfish Aliens: The Cocytans are as inhuman-looking as possible (a griffin is perhaps the closest reference for their appearance), yet they have their own well-developed language, a long history, rich culture, and impressive technological prowess.

* BittersweetEnding: Depending on the choices you make. The best ending baits the player with this before flipping it over to HappilyEverAfter.

%%* EarnYourBadEnding: To get the worse ending, you need to do something extra.

* MultipleEndings: The game has a few extra scenes in the end depending on whether or not [[spoiler:you choose to revive Maggie with a life crystal]].

* BoxAndStickTrap: A somewhat infamous case, due to its [[ThatOnePuzzle frustrating difficulty]], requires you to catch a scavenging creature so that you can find its nest, by constructing such a trap out of various bones and machine parts that are lying around.

* CallASmeerpARabbit: We have "rats", "turtles", "dogs", "birds", "bats", "spiders". Low even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s it by remarking how the bats on Cocytus have evolved to be just as disgusting as the bats on Earth.

* FreudianTrio: Low, of course, is the leader archetype; Robbins is the id; and Brink is the superego. Played almost perfectly straight until Brink [[spoiler:starts going nuts]].

* HumansAreSpecial: A strong will is apparently the defining trait of humanity. That and they lack the "blind spot" that the Cocytans have in Spacetime Six.

* InformedAbility: Despite being repeatedly mentioned as a former soldier and thus the most physically proficient member of the team, Commander Low is repeatedly bested by [[spoiler:Brink, a scientist and who probably hasn't been in a fight since kindergarten.]] The second time is even more embarrassing, as [[spoiler:Brink]] makes his hostile intent incredibly obvious and had earlier lost a hand.

%%* LoveInterests: Maggie and Low.

** Averted with regards to food, as the humans debate and ultimately decide against trying to eat any of the plant or animal life they encounter. Fortunately (or not), starvation ends up being the least of their worries, although [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the game was originally supposed to have an additional survival mechanic where the player would have to keep searching for food to stay alive]]. The life crystals, on the other hand, are [[JustifiedTrope explicitly stated]] to work on almost any organic -- and some inorganic -- systems.

* PixelHunt: The programmers went out of their way to make the game pretty. They were decidedly lax on making it obvious which parts of the gorgeous landscapes were objects that can be interacted with.

* ScienceIsBad: [[spoiler:The Cocytan scientist is in self-imposed exile for his work, and tries to convince the heroes [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow not to go messing with his inventions.]]]]

%%* StarfishAliens

* TrappedInAnotherWorld: [[CaptainObvious The astronauts]][[spoiler:...and the Cocytans]].

''The Dig'' is a ScienceFiction graphical AdventureGame developed by Creator/LucasArts, released in 1995 and based on an idea originally pitched by Creator/StevenSpielberg. Unlike other wackier adventure games by [=LucasArts=], this one has a much more serious tone, in addition to fitting in the hard category of the MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness.

* InformedAbility: Despite being repeatedly mentioned as a former soldier and thus the most physically proficient member of the team, Commander Low is repeatedly worsted by [[spoiler:Brink, a scientist and who probably hasn't been in a fight since kindergarten.]] The second time is even more embarrassing, as [[spoiler:Brink]] makes his hostile intent incredibly obvious and had earlier lost a hand.

* AlienSky: The planet's two suns and two moons. [[spoiler: One puzzle requires to manipulate the moons' positions to create an eclipse.]]

* BeautifulVoid

* BrokenAesop: [[spoiler: The story clubs you over the head from two different angles with the message, "'''Abolishing death is a bad thing, m'kay?'''"... Then in the final minutes, your new Cocytan friend's idea of a thank-you gift is to bring your two dead friends back to life with no consequences by mucking around in the extra dimensions of time. You ''almost'' carried the baton all the way, game...]]

* CameBackWrong: [[spoiler: Anyone resurrected with the "life crystals", especially Brink]].

* DeadpanSnarker: Low, most of the time, except when his frustration boils over.

-->'''Low:''' [[spoiler:Brink is still dead.]]
-->'''Robbins:''' Thanks for the status report.

* EldritchAbomination: The giant "spiders".

* FishOutOfWater: Guess who?

* GhostPlanet
* GoneHorriblyRight: What happened to the Cocytans.
* GoryDiscretionShot: The camera cuts away right when Low starts to [[spoiler: saw off Brink's [[HandInTheHole trapped wrist]].]]

* HumanPopsicle: Not human but [[spoiler: the Cocytan scientist, when "dead" is kept in stasis in a pyramid under the tomb.]]

* InformedAbility: Despite being repeatedly mentioned as a former soldier and thus the most physically proficient member of the team, Commander Low is repeatedly worsted by [[spoiler: Brink, a scientist and who probably hasn't been in a fight since kindergarten.]] The second time is even more embarrassing, as [[spoiler: Brink]] makes his hostile intent incredibly obvious and had earlier lost a hand.
* InformingTheFourthWall: Former {{Trope Namer}}s
* InsaneEqualsViolent: [[spoiler: In addition to being more violent, Brink becomes a more capable fighter as he becomes more paranoid.]]
* InsufferableGenius: Brink, even before [[spoiler: he goes crazy]].
* IntrepidReporter: Maggie Robbins.

* LoveInterests: Maggie and Low.
* MiniGame: "The Eagle has landed!" Well, at least it justifies the PDA being a PDA, not just a portable videophone.
* MrExposition: [[spoiler:The Cocytan scientist.]]

* NoBiochemicalBarriers: Averted with regards to food, as the humans debate and ultimately decide against trying to eat any of the plant or animal life they encounter. Fortunately (or not), starvation ends up being the least of their worries, although [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the game was originally supposed to have an additional survival mechanic where the player would have to keep searching for food to stay alive]]. The life crystals, on the other hand, are [[JustifiedTrope explicitly stated]] to work on almost any organic -- and some inorganic -- systems.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: They aren't even dead to begin with.]]

* PlotlineDeath: [[spoiler:Brink (twice), later Maggie]].

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: The Cocytan scientist claims that the only way he can atone for his mistakes is for the life crystals to lose effectiveness entirely and for true death to take him.]]

* ScienceIsBad: [[spoiler: The Cocytan scientist is in self-imposed exile for his work, and tries to convince the heroes [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow not to go messing with his inventions.]]]]

* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong

* StarfishAliens

* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens: The Cocytans, of course.

* [[spoiler: TimeTravel: How Brink and Maggie are eventually saved.]]
* TrappedInAnotherWorld: [[CaptainObvious The astronauts]][[spoiler: ...and the Cocytans]].

* WhoWantsToLiveForever

* RecycledSet: Several of the cave locations reuse locations from the caves you wander in the darkness through in ''VideoGame/{{Loom}}'' down to the last ledge and stalagmite, just with a graphical update and in a different order.

* ActorAllusion: [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay "It's the T-1000 model."]]

** Robbins has her moments too, again when feeling stressed.

* CompilationRerelease

* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: There's nearly always some response for using the life crystals on various bones and even electronic equipment, even if it doesn't affect the plot.
* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Brink (twice) and Maggie before their revival.]]

* EarnYourBadEnding: To get the worse ending, you need to do something extra.

** Also played straight with Cocytus' atmosphere, although the humans first use their suits to check if the atmosphere is breathable, concluding that it's "at least as breathable as the air in L.A.". Low also mentions the possibility of airborne infectious agents, but Brink shrugs it off by assuming that they haven't evolved to take advantage of their cellular structures.

'''''The Dig''''' is a ScienceFiction graphical AdventureGame developed by Creator/LucasArts, released in 1995 and based on an idea originally pitched by Creator/StevenSpielberg. Unlike other wackier adventure games by [=LucasArts=], this one has a much more serious tone, in addition to fitting in the hard category of the MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness.

A novelization by Creator/AlanDeanFoster, was included in the box with some releases of the game. If you're getting the game these days, however, it's more likely that you'll be getting the game without a box of any kind, since today it is sold by [=LucasArts=] on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}. (The GOG.com DRM-free version, though, includes the manual.) The game, however, had dialogue written by well-known sf writer Creator/OrsonScottCard.

* AllThereInTheManual: The novelization provides a ''ton'' of background information, to the point where it's required reading to really understand everything that's going on in the game, despite occasional minor inconsistencies. One of the more obvious ones is the name that Brink gives to the planet, "Cocytus", which is never mentioned in the game.

A novelization by Creator/AlanDeanFoster, was included in the box with some releases of the game. However, if you're getting the game these days, it's more likely that you'll be getting the game without a box of any kind, since today it is sold by [=LucasArts=] on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}. (The GoG version, though, would have the manual.) The game, however, had dialogue written by well-known sf writer Creator/OrsonScottCard.

''The Dig'' is a ScienceFiction graphical AdventureGame developed by Creator/LucasArts, released in 1995 and based on an idea originally pitched by Creator/StevenSpielberg. Unlike other wackier adventure games by [=LucasArts=], this one has a much more serious tone, in addition to fitting in the "Hard" category of the MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness.

There is a novelization, written by Creator/AlanDeanFoster, which was included in the box with some releases of the game. However, if you're getting the game these days, it's more likely that you'll be getting the game without a box of any kind, since today it is sold by [=LucasArts=] on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}.

* AlienGeometries: Judging from their architecture and machinery design, the Cocytans are very fond of the 5 Platonic solids; see SinisterGeometry below.

* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: As told in the novelization, "Cocytus" is the deepest circle of Hell in ''TheDivineComedy''.

* BlondGuysAreEvil: Brink (though he's more insane than evil), contrasting with the dark-haired Low.

There is a novelization, written by Creator/AlanDeanFoster, which was included in the box with some releases of the game. However, if you're getting the game these days, it's more likely that you'll be getting the game without a box of any kind, since today it is sold by [=LucasArts=] on {{Steam}}.