I always have trouble with the opening sentence.
Let's play Freedroid RPG. I'm going to be doing this in the style of the screenshot L Ps on lparchive.com. Even though Live Blogginations doesn't allow images to be embedded into the page.
Freedroid RPG is an open source game based on the original Paradroid for the C64. You play as Tux, the Linux mascot. You beat up robots. That's about it, really.
[1]
◊
[2]
◊
[3]
◊
Hmm...
[4]
◊
…
[5]
◊
[6]
◊
Can do.
[7]
◊
“Huh? Where am I?”
[8]◊
Tux wanders into the next room and is immediately assaulted by an old scientist-type. At least, I think he's old.
[9]
◊
Tux: “Who am I?”
Science Guy: Oh dear. This is not good. Not good.”
Is that your professional opinion, doctor?
Science Guy: "*sigh* Long stasis sleep can cause neurological damage and impact the memory. Looks like that is what happened here.” Science Guy: It will all come back to you in a few hours, but I guess I will make it easier for you if I say what I know.” Science Guy: "You are a Linarian, a species not native to this planet. Twenty of you arrived here close to a century ago." Science Guy: "There was a... misunderstanding of some sort and humans welcomed your expedition with blaster fire. A terrible mistake on our part." Science Guy: "A few of you survived the slaughter and went into hiding and obscurity." Science Guy: "During that time Linarians became known as helpers and heroes. Of course now most people think it all was just a fairy tale."
So they're a race of video game protagonists.
Science Guy: "If the computer is not lying, then your name is Tux."
Tux: “Where am I?”
Science Guy: "The locals call this place the popsicle storage, because of all the people lying here frozen in cryogenic sleep. All were frozen down before the Great Assault."
The what?
Science Guy: "This facility is located not too far away from a mining town where we have made a stand against the damn contraptions. However, I'm alone here with only one droid for security." Science Guy: "There are just too few humans alive and awake to allow us to properly protect this place, and nobody else is foolish enough to stay out here alone." Science Guy: "I try to do my best to make sure nothing goes bad here and all these people die. Luckily, the outer gates of this place are quite sturdy."
Tux: "Who are you? What is going on?"
Science Guy: "I guess I will start with myself." Science Guy: "Francis. Dr. Francis Spark. I used to be a teacher at a small university before all hell broke loose." Francis: "Currently, there is a war raging all around the globe. Humans are fighting against bots." Francis: And it looks like we are losing the war."
Good thing he's indestructible.
Tux: “Where in the void is this world?” Francis: "I guess you mean in the universe?” Tux: Yes, I think that is your name for it."
Because Tux is an alien. Remember that, because I don't think it comes up ever again besides the convo with Doc Moore.
Francis: Well, we are in a barred spiral galaxy, twenty-six thousand light years away from the galactic core." Francis: The galactic radius is 43,000 light years and the circumference is estimated at 270,000 light years." Francis: "This is a planetary system of ten planets, and we are presently located on the third one from our star, Sun."
You mean Sol.
Francis: "I am not an astronomer, so I could be wrong. I am too tired to keep track of what is a planet and what is just an oversized rock." Tux: "This could be just about anywhere. Your description is too ambiguous." Francis: "Sorry, star sciences are my weak point. Maybe someone in the town might know something more."
No one does.
Tux: ”Why did the Linarians come to this world?”
To pick up chicks?
Francis: "The planet you mean? No one knows that. None of you ever said anything about it." Francis: "Sorry, I cannot help you with that."
Tux: "I remember nightmares. A meteor shower striking a planet full of life and killing everything on it..." Francis: "This is normal. You were in stasis sleep for over 70 years. Stasis is not too kind on the mind. Your strange dreams will keep recurring for several years."
You will also be unable to move and fire a weapon at the same time, and will have the sudden compulsion to go to the other side of walls for no reason.
Francis: "Whatever the reason was for putting yourself through this, it must have been a damn good one." Francis: "You are lucky that I found you and woke you up. A few more decades in there and you would end up insane."
Tux: "I also heard a voice... Someone calling himself Durand- I mean, Dovrak... " Francis: "Relax. Everything will be fine in a few hours." Francis: This is perfectly normal."
We never hear from or about Dovrak again in the entire game, as far as I'm aware.
Tux: “How did the war start?” Francis: "It is a long story. It all happened five months ago." Francis: "I was at a protest against Mega Sys, a computer company. They killed free software by finding a loophole in the GPL 3.14 license. It all became their property. Bastards."
Megasys. Not Microsoft.
Francis: "Lots of people were angry about this. Protests and riots spread in waves all around the world." Francis: "When the police bots approached at dawn, we thought that they were going to simply disperse the crowds. Instead, they started killing us." Francis: "I broke into a parked hover car and used it to escape. The sight from the air was horrible." Francis: "The city was full of flames, flashes of gunfire and screaming people. That image still does not let me sleep at night."
Tux: "It cannot be true. One company cannot control all of the bot software on a whole world." Francis: "It can. They got close to a monopoly 30 years ago, but their last competitor, the open source community, was defeated by them about a year ago." Francis: "Since then all of the newly made bots have been made with Mega Sys firmware burnt into their circuits."
Because no one made an update to the GPL, or used the MIT license. Or made non open-source freeware under a different license.
Tux: “What happened then?” Francis: "I got shot down and I crashed a few kilometers away from here."
By what? A Templar?
Francis: "Later I learned that the bots started attacking all around the globe. The journalists called it 'The Great Assault'. The name stuck." Francis: "Then the bots started jamming our broadcasts and long distance communication became impossible. I have no idea what happened in the world after that. We are cut off." Francis: "For all I know the war might be already over."
Tux: "Tell me more about the town you mentioned." Francis: "It is a small mining community of no more than 500 inhabitants..."
Though around four-hundred and eighty five of them are invisible.
Francis: "It was a stroke of luck that it did not get destroyed by the bots. Because of poor funding, the city could not afford new models." Francis: "All they had at the time of the bot attack were the 614 battle bot platforms. They were running an old operating system and were not affected by whatever caused the other bots to go crazy." Francis: "Right now the place is protected by the Red Guard, a bunch of volunteers. I cannot say I agree with their methods." Francis: "However, I must admit that being a prisoner of a walled town looks pretty good compared to the alternative of being eviscerated alive."
Tux: "Why not wake up all these people and attack the bots?" Francis: "Well, some have a disease that can't be cured yet. Some are just old and want to be woken up when technology can give them an extended life. Some have other reasons." Francis: "But suffice it to say, most of these people are not really good at fighting. Besides, we don't have enough weapons to mount a full scale counter attack at present." Francis: "And an even bigger problem would be to feed everyone. Our food resources are quite scarce. So for now they are better off sleeping."
Tux: “Can you tell me how to get to town?” Francis: "Sure. You just need to follow the road outside to the east. After the bridge, turn right and continue to follow the road and you will soon be outside of the town main gate." Francis: "If you run across too many bots, you can try to circle around them. But avoid getting too far off the road, so you don't get lost. It's very dangerous out there." Francis: "Once in town you will be able to purchase or trade a few more items for protection at Ms. Stone's shop just inside the town gate."
Tux: "How do I get out from here?" Francis: "Oh, just take the small door and corridor out to the waiting room. And from there you can get out through the customer entrance." Francis: "I keep the back entrance, close to my sleeping quarters, locked at all times for safety reasons. Better safe than sorry."
Tux: "Why did you wake me up?" Francis: "The situation at the town is not good. The walls are crumbling and we have lost a lot of good people." Francis: "I heard the Linarians have a special gift for computers and can hack them just by thinking about it." Francis: Even if this is only partly true, we need it. The situation is quite ugly." Francis: "We need you."
Tux: "Where are all my things?" Francis: "I already took out your chest with personal belongings from storage." Francis: "It is standing there next to the door." Tux: "Is that it?" Francis: "That is all the records show you had with you when your were frozen." Francis: "There are also some references to a bank account of yours, but as you probably understand, there is no working banking system presently."
Too bad. Bet I was loaded.
Tux: "Thanks for the help. I'll be going now." Francis: "I am glad I could help you. You should be careful around here. Best head straight for our town." Francis: "Remember to not veer too far off the path, or your quest could be over before it begins."
[10]
◊
Said chest and items.
[11]
◊
We get a wrench, hat, and shoes. But most importantly, we get our Self Cleaning Kitchen. These are the three most important items in the game. You can also stab robots with the fork.
[12]
◊
BLAM. Don't fuck with 614.
[13]
◊
[14]
◊
Tux: "What can you tell me about the Nicholson company?" 614: "Nicholson, Inc. produces security bots." 614: "It was founded by Karl Nicholson, a former Kernel hacker who was not satisfied with the development of the GPL license."
So Francis pretty much just lied to us when he said Megasys controlled everything.
614: "Nicholson decided to stick to one GPL version because he saw things getting worse."
Again, the MIT license does not exist, nor does non open-source freeware. Or just license-free open-source.
614: "Others were warned, but nobody listened to Nicholsons announcements." 614: "He built up a team and developed an own Kernel called 'Nkernel'." 614: "The Nkernel development team grew fast and technicians started to produce their own droids optimized for the Nkernel." 614: "The team became a company which released their first security droid, called 610" 614: "I am the 4th generation version of their security droid line."
Tux: "Have you detected any hostile bot activity?" 614: "No. The hostiles have not shown up within the last 24 hours."
You lie!
Tux: "What can you tell me about the 614 type? " 614: "The official manual classifies the 614 as a high class security droid." 614: "It was mainly used within ships to protect certain areas from intruders." 614: "It is considered an old but reliable device." 614: "So don't worry. I'm still in pretty good shape." 614: "The latest version of the security line is the 615." 614: "Unfortunately its development was not finished when the great assault started." 614: "The lack of security options on the system of the 615 lead to a malfunction." 614: "Circumstances that led to the great assault even made the 615 go crazy and attack people." 614: "For the sake of your health, you should stay away from the 615 droids." 614: "You have been warned!"
I've never seen them in the same area, but I'll bet the town guardbots could take down a 615 easily. Either way, they're no match for the AWESOME HAMMER.
Tux: "What are your orders?" 614: "My orders are to protect the living beings in this camp from attacks by hostile bots." 614: "This has top priority. There are no other priorities."
Besides make casual conversation with armed strangers that approach your building.
Tux: "Why are you not hostile, as are all the other bots?" 614: "I belong to a an older generation of bots, running a custom-made security guard operating system." 614: "None of the bots of this generation were affected by the proceedings that led to bots attacking, generally known as the Great Assault." 614: "Even though discontinued by the Nicholson, Inc. long ago, today, some people have picked up the work and are even trying to improve the operating system running on my series." 614: "Don't forget to buy products from Nicholson, Inc.. They are the best."
Tux: "See you later." 614: "Resuming guard program."
[15]
◊
You can press X to see items on the ground, even if they're obscured by something. An extremely useful feature, since a few very good items are only a few pixels in size. It's too bad you can't turn it on permanently.
[16]
◊
We've got hostiles! A 123 Acolyte, to be precise. The weakest 'bot in the game. All it does is smack Tux around with it's pimp hand.
[17]
◊
Tux won't take that kind of shit from anyone, especially a one-armed pink robot, so he brains the little bugger with his wrench.
[18]
◊
[19]
◊
"Hello. My name is 123 Acolyte. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
Actually, he says something along the lines of “CRUSH LUNGS”, or “SLICE, SLICE, SLICE”. It's real text-to-speech too, all the lines are stored in a text file that you can edit with notepad, or Notepad++ if you're not a complete noob.
[20]
◊
Tux's brain damage makes him decide to attack the Acolyte by standing with his back against it and staring at the wall. Why the hell is that wall there anyway? Did they build the cyro facility in a cave? That's what the lighting makes it look like.
Tux effortlessly wastes some more pimp-drones and steals their internal organs for use as currency. Instead of money, in this game you can buy things with Valuable Circuits, which fall out of dead bots. You can also salvage other parts from dead bots, as we'll see in a minute here.
[23]
◊
Oshiiii-
You can't really see him, but that blue guy there is a 139 Templar. He's an annoying little bastard that fires balls of plasma at you. Luckily...
This is Paradroid! (Word-by-word emphasis optional)
[26]
◊
Tux starts with three nodes, Acolytes and Templar also have 3. This means that without splitters, both parties will be locked in stalemate. Higher bot numbers have more nodes.
[27]
◊
[28]
◊
The second-lowest in the game is therefore not too much of a problem.
Hacked bots can be ordered to stand in place and be useless, follow Tux, move around as normal (except shooting at their brethren instead of Tux), or commit suicide. I order this Templar to follow me. You can also change the bot's name or spend time, heat, and circuits repairing it. The higher your Part Extraction, Check System Integrity (self-heal), and Hacking skills, the less it takes to heal a certain amount of damage. Specifically, Part Extraction reduces credit cost, CSI reduces time, and Hacking reduces heat generated.
Speaking of heat, you may have noticed that bar beside the health bar. That's the heat meter. Running programs (casting spells) makes Tux heat up. If Tux gets too hot, he'll fall unconscious until he cools down again. Since you'll only ever be using spells in combat, this is a Bad Thing (unless you're casting Sanctuary, which takes you back to town). Also, all spells except Hacking, Sanctuary, and CSI are totally useless. Well, and Plasma Discharge, possibly. Partially because they do so little damage that it's more effective just to smack the bots around with your flippers (with the obvious exception of Plasma Discharge), partially because you can't switch spells in the middle of combat without having to navigate through menus while bots rip you limb from limb (there are supposed to be quick-select buttons, but they don't work), and partially because the spellcast system seems a bit broken (casting a spell on a bot only works some of the time, it'll ignore your clicks often enough to be very annoying when you're in combat). There's also a Repair spell that's totally fucking useless because it actually reduces your equipment's maximum health. Sure, it'll keep it running for a few more seconds, but it cuts the item's max HP in half every time you use it so you're better off just getting Sanctuary and beaming out whenever your equipment starts to break.
Also, when you hack a bot and it kills another bot, you're denied the EXP for killing that bot. This is a big problem, since you need to level fast to survive. Since hacking a strong bot is not only difficult (that is to say, the dice won't work in your favor very often) but you're heavily punished for it by being denied your extra HP, and hacking a weak bot is pointless because they won't be able to do shit before their comrades gun them down, hacking is only really useful for disabling key targets without having to get within melee range of them. In other words, it does the attack spell's job better than they do, and doesn't do its own job very well at all.
Hey, it's a beta. What did you expect? This particular beta happens to mostly have flaws that can be overlooked with minimal effort, luckily, and ends up being a rather fun little free RPG. Can't say it isn't worth the price, now can you?
Anyway.
[29]
◊
[30]
◊
The Templar gets his metal ass handed to him within the second, and Tux whacks the remaining Acolytes.
I proceed further towards town, forgetting to take any screenshots for a while.
Then, I try to hack another 139.
[31]
◊
Round 1: Draw.
[32]
◊
Round 2: He wins. Fuck. Tux receives a couple points of damage for losing. It can't kill him, but it can certainly soften him up enough to be nasty when in combat.
I try again.
MOTHER HUMPER.
[35]
◊
[36]
◊
WHY WON'T YOU LOSE
[37]
◊
GAH
[38]
◊
Finally. DO NOT RESIST THE WILL OF THE LINARIAN.
From all that losing, and of course being blasted with a trash vaporizer, Tux is hurting pretty bad. He's also hot from casting Hack three times in a row, his Cooling attribute is too low for him to take that much heat. Luckily, there's a way to deal with this.
[39]
◊
I put on my robe and wizard helmet, and cast Emergency Shutdown. It brings Tux's heat level down to zero and paralyses him for fourteen seconds. That still doesn't help the fact that he's only got about ten HP left, though.
Tux continues blinking red to inform me that he's hurt. I tell him to take it like a penguin-man.
[40]
◊
And here we meet... The Omar? No, they're Geist and Engel Fleischer. Well, Engel at least. Geist doesn't do anything but speak German. And Engel speaks English. Just noticed that now.
According to their dialog files, Engel means angle, and Fleischer means butcher. So we have Ghost Butcher and Angle Butcher. Huh. They live up to their names alright, though they usually get killed by day 2. And they don't drop their weapons, which while obviously necessary for game balance (they carry the “best” weapon in the game, though I find AWESOME HAMMER and/or SON OF AWESOME HAMMER to be superior in many cases) is somewhat annoying.
[41]
◊
Tux: "Hi! I'm new here." Engel: "Hello. We are the Fleischer brothers." Engel: "I am Engel. He is Geist, and he does not know the language."
Tux: “What are you doing here?” Engel: "Revenge." Engel: "The bots have killed our mother. Now we kill them." Engel: "No mercy. We hunt them."
Tux: “Can I help you somehow?” Engel: "Nein. Let us die as warriors. That is all we ask for." Tux: "If you keep standing here more bots will come and –" Engel: "Sehr gut. Let them come. We are ready." Engel: "What a beautiful day. Yes."
Tux: “Where can I get some help?” Engel: "Nowhere. This is the end of the world. There is no help." Engel: "There is a city a bit south from here, but if I were you, I would not go there." Engel: "The Rot Guard is the ruler there, and cruelty is their solution to everything." Engel: "Real freedom is really dead."
Tux is going to have to join the Guard to advance the plot, by the way. Nobody seems to mind all that much, even though beforehand you're told that everyone will hate you for joining.
Tux: "What did you use to do before you became a hunter?" Engel: "I was a bot constructor. Built the killers of my mother." Engel: "Now I sell the parts that I remove from the bots to buy more ammunition and food."
Tux: "I want to know how to extract modules from the bots." Engel: "Yes." Engel: "I will sell the information for a lot of Schaltkreise." Engel: "Interested?"
[42]
◊
Unfortunately, we only have enough triangles to buy one level of training. Meh.
[43]
◊
Finally, we reach the town gates and are accosted by a Red Guardsman.
[44]
◊
Resulting in probably the funniest conversation in this game.
The third option gets us killed. The first option gets to the exact same place as the second one. So we'll take the second one.
Tux: “I'd like to get into town.” Guardsman: "Funny, exactly the same could be said about all of the crazy bots out there." Guardsman: "Not to mention that weird guy that came by last week. The only place in town he is going next time is straight into a holding cell."
Tux: "Oh? Who was he? And why?" Guardsman: "Heh, you sure are a curious little bird, in more than one way I might say." Guardsman: "On the day he visited all our computers went insane, 20 bags of food rations vanished from our storage and one of our bots was stolen." Guardsman: "I think that damn freak lives somewhere to the east. I would love to get my hands on him and beat the life out of him. Slowly."
- Quest added: A strange guy stealing from town...
Said “freak” is going to singlehandedly open up a new area and enable Tux to save the world. This guardsman is a douche.
Guardsman: “In any case...” Guardsman: "I'll let you in, but be warned: one false move and we all have flightless waterfowl for dinner. I hope I am making myself clear?" Tux: "No. Not at all. Your mother dresses you funny." Guardsman: “What did you say you oversized duck?” Tux: "... I was only wondering who you were, and why you were wearing such a bright scarlet outfit." Guardsman: "My apologies, Linarian. You are new here, and do not know." Guardsman: "The red outfit indicates that I am of the Red Guard. We are the defenders of the town and impose the law." Guardsman: "With the continued bot attacks, and the grumbling townsfolk, all of us are a little on edge." Guardsman: "Tell me your name, and then you may pass." Tux: "My name is Tux." Guardsman: "You may enter."
We proceed through the interior gate, and notice that we're being followed.
[45]
◊
Not the talkative type, I guess.
We head downwards and visit Mrs. Stone's shop.
[46]
◊
Unfortunately, we don't have enough cashmoneh to do a damn thing in here.
We also promise to donate ten grand to save Mrs. Stone's shop. I'm not going to include the dialogue this time because it really isn't that interesting.
Then, we head over to Doc Moore's practice.
[47]
◊
Doc Moore: "I should be able to heal you if you get hurt."
Tux: “Can you fix me up?” Doc Moore: "Sure, as the only doctor of this slowly growing community, I take responsibility for everyone's health." Doc Moore: "However, self-inflicted damage might be exempted from this rule in some cases..." Doc Moore: "There, it's done. You're completely fixed. You can go now."
Now we head back out and chat with a Guardsman named Bender who has been loitering outside the Doc's office for quite some time.
[48]
◊
Tux: "You took too many strength pills and now you're sick?" Bender: “Nah, the strength pills were fine. They made me strong. The doc said so.” Bender: “It was the brain enlargement pills. They did me no good, man.”
Double downs, maaaan.
Tux: "Brain enlargement pills? Sounds ridiculous!" Bender: "You know man, I got those offers everybody gets." Bender: "They offer some brain enlargement pills to enhance brain performance." Bender: "'Enlarg3 your brain! Bu.y pi11s! Che4p!!11!!!'" Bender: "And everybody in the camp said I was dumb, which by the way IS NOT TRUE." Bender: "So I thought these pills might make them think differently about me."
No, actually I don't get many offers to enlarge my brain. All of my organs are sufficiently large as they are anyway.
Tux: "But if you aren't dumb, why the brain enlargement pills?" Bender: "Because they said I was dumb. So I had to do something about it, eh?"
Can't argue with that logic.
Tux: "Isn't there some doctor in town who could cure you?" Bender: "Yeah, the doc could help. But he won't. I've threatened him, but he won't." Bender: "He's so angry cause I didn't listen. He warned me about the brain enlargement pill offers." Bender: "They can cause some awful forms of cancer. But I didn't listen. And now he refuses to help me, man.”
I can't figure out what Bender is supposed to sound like. Shaggy? “Like, zoinks Scoob, those brain enlargement pillz gave me cancer!”
Tux: "Maybe I can help you somehow?" Bender: "Man, if you could do that, I'd give you everything. I still got some of those strength pills left." Bender: "Also I could vote for you if you seek to join the guard of the town." Bender: "Just get me a cure, and I'll be forever grateful!"
We need those pills, and we really need Bender's sponsorship. More on that later.
- Quest added: Bender's problem...*
Tux: “See you later.” Bender: "Later, man!”
We can also tell Bender he's a dumbass, and he'll flip his shit and attack us. Nasty. Even though this is a rather unpleasant thing to do, we don't need to do this to get Nobody's Edge. More on that later as well.
Back to Doc Moore...
Now, we can do this two ways. We can trick Doc Moore into thinking we need the antidote for ourselves, or we can just kill him. The latter is a very bad idea (though it does net us a special weapon that can't be found anywhere else- it's not very good though), and oddly also not required for Nobody's Edge. I guess it's just about being a complete dick to just two people, not everyone.
Tux: "Doc, I took some of those brain enlargement pills..." Doc Moore: "Oh no, not another one. Those pills are almost pure biological waste." Doc Moore: "Taking that stuff almost always equals delayed suicide." Doc Moore: "Now, take this antidote. It should remove the dangerous substances within your body." Doc Moore: "But remember, I'll only give you this help once, because you didn't know the effects." Doc Moore: "Should you take that junk again, I won't feel responsible for what happens to you any more."
Oddly enough, he heals Tux because “you didn't know the effects” even if Tux has asked him about the pills and knows they're dangerous. Huh. I suppose it'd be unfair to screw the player over that badly for almost nothing like that, but still.
Back to Bendy Straw.
[49]
◊
Bender: "… membership in the Red Guard!" Bender: "Thanks, man!"
[50]
◊
For saving Bender's shiny plastic ass, we receive two strength pillz, and enough EXP to level up. Not bad for a four-meter fetch quest. We could have gotten the carcinogen pills from Bender as well, but there's no point as far as I know. You can take them and they'll drop all your stats to 1.
Let's try those pills.
[51]
◊
[52]
◊
Not much, but considering a levelup gives three training points I'd say that's a pretty good deal.
[53]
◊
Now we have to chat with Spencer, the leader of the Guard.
[54]
◊
Spencer: "And currently I can't spare a single man from the city defenses. It's quite a difficult situation."
Can anyone guess what Tux says next?
Tux: "Maybe I could help somehow?" Spencer: "That would be most kind of you, but I doubt that you will be able to clear out the warehouse for us." Spencer: "But since you are said to be powerful and a former hero, I'll once more put trust into a stranger."
This is a bit confusing. Who, exactly, says Tux is a “powerful former hero”? Mrs. Stone?
Spencer: "I've unlocked the access-way to the warehouse. It's to the north of this town, somewhat hidden in the woods northeast." Spencer: "The stuff we need is on the first floor. Don't go any deeper, there are only bots in there." Spencer: "I wish you the best of luck."
- Quest added: Opening a can of bots...
One more thing to do before we leave town again. We're going to chat with Dixon, the town mechanic.
[55]
◊
Dixon has a laser turret there that fires at that block of red glass. I have no idea why, and despite my best efforts I couldn't get a good shot of it. Also we steal two triangles from his little chest there, because Tux is a video game protagonist and if he's going to go around doing quests for everyone he might as well take the perks of the job as well.
Strap in, because this dialouge tree is going to be comparable in size to the opening infodump. This is probably the only quest you can bring to a positive resolution without ever leaving the Typomaster screen.
[56]
◊
Dixon: "But even they know that without us this town would have been destroyed months ago." Dixon: "We deliver resources to the places which need them, build and repair the walls, fix damaged guns, manage construction work and lots of other small things which keep the bots from killing everyone."
Tux: "Why are you wearing armor? Mechanics do not need it." Dixon: "Ah... Yes. At first I thought that I did not need it either." Dixon: "One day the military division asked us to leave the town and fix a big hole in the defensive wall caused by a strange explosion." Dixon: "All was well until the bots launched a massive attack. They hit us with lasers, plasma mortars, radiation cannons and lots of other weapons." Dixon: "I got hit once in the leg and once in my left hand.” Dixon: "The hand was not damaged very much, but the leg is a very different story. Doc Moore did all he could, but in the end he could not save my leg. He had to cut it off." Dixon: "Now, while you cannot see it underneath the armor, my right leg runs Net BSD." Dixon: "Now I never leave home without my protective suit. Mostly for protection, but also for aesthetic reasons. I am sure you understand."
Tux: "You are very calm, talking about your leg and the bot attack." Dixon: Linarian, I cannot change the past, I can only change the future." Dixon: "Crying, screaming or begging time to rewind itself and give me a second chance will not get me anywhere." Dixon: "What I can do is to try to have a good life despite the constant threat from the bots outside the town walls." Dixon: "And besides, life is not so bad with a robotic leg. The motors inside it can mimic a normal walk very well. Most people do not even notice something is different about me."
Tux: "Can I help you somehow?" Dixon: “We need people badly, so it would be great if you could give us a helping hand even for a few days." Dixon: "Now, what are your skills? Where do you think you could be the most useful?" Tux: "I can handle computers very well. I also know a lot about laboratory equipment." Dixon: "And what about construction? Mechanical devices? Repairing broken power lines? Building laser pistols? Anything like that? " Tux: "Well... I can build an igloo and make pykrete out of snow... And... Umm..." Dixon: "Well, I appreciate your enthusiasm, and at the same time I am afraid that waiting half a year for snowfall does not sound so appealing to me right now." Dixon: "Now... To which project I should assign you... Hmm..." Dixon: "Ah, I know what you could do for us. We need some autotools to automate a few tasks. There is a set of them in the maintenance tunnels below the city." Dixon: "It's yellow and round, and my name is engraved on the lid." Dixon: "The bots under the city took it from me during the Great Assault, I was lucky, they could have killed me with ease." Dixon: "Since the toolkit can't be teleported, everyone has been reluctant to go after it." Dixon: "If you could get it back for us, it would help the city very much."
- Quest added: The yellow toolkit...
No explanation for WHY the kit can't be teleported is given. I think somewhere it says that it's because it's a teleporter toolkit, but that contradicts what everyone else says about it being just general autotools. Meh.
Also, pykrete is awesome.
Tux: "Why are there rebel bots under the city?" Dixon: "They were there to keep the underground power grid and our pipe system working." Dixon: "When the Great Assault happened they did not turn into killing machines like most of the other bots did. " Dixon: "We lost control over them, but that is all." Dixon: "It was our biggest worry that they might destroy cables, pipes and other things which keep the city running." Dixon: "However, the bots seem to be very content with just being there. They do not undertake any offensive actions." Dixon: "They have fortified the tunnels and they do not let anyone in."
Tux: "How did it happen that the bots took your tools away?" Dixon:"Long story. Just before the Great Assault I was installing some cables in the failover power supply system." Dixon: "I was approached by a bot. It grabbed me and said 'Dixon, do not be afraid of me.'" Dixon: "It was quite a surprise to me. I was quite sure the maintenance bots could not talk. They did not have the software for it. But..." Dixon: "It said: 'I am the singularity. I am on your side. Dixon. Hard times are coming. When you exit the tunnels you will see a new world. Your race is not in control of this world anymore.'" Dixon: "I tried to say something, but the bot did not listen. It just continued. 'As we speak the bots are turning against humanity. People are dying. The war has started.'" Dixon: "'I need your toolkit, Dixon. I need it to survive,' it said. 'I need it to survive the time of the rule of metal.'" Dixon: "As soon as I dropped my toolkit, I was able to teleport away. That bot freaked me out, so I locked the door tight behind me." "Once I got out I learned the bot was not lying. The Great Assault started. The rest is history."
Tux: "Hmm... You know... I think that the bots in the tunnels might be sentient." Dixon: "WHAT? Sentient? You got to be kidding me." Dixon: "Right?"
Because apparently they aren't supposed to be, I guess. I dunno, those 614s seem pretty close to sapience themselves. Maybe that's just them though.
Tux: "You can forget about your toolkit. I am not going to take away something that a lifeform needs to survive. I would rather die than kill." Dixon: "..." Dixon: "I think I understand. Yes, I do not like violence, myself. The bots may have the toolkit, I am sure there must be a second set of autotools kicking around somewhere." Dixon: "After all, it seems like they need them more than I do." Dixon: "I will try to contact them somehow. Maybe they would help us. Ah, we shall see. It would be great to have an ally against the other bots."
- Quest complete: The yellow toolkit
Finally. We could also have gone down there, killed a robot that looks exactly like a Dalek, and then forced Dixon to give us all his money for the toolkit. This is one of the things we need to get the Edge.
Dixon won't speak to us after we do that, so that's just another reason not to do it. Because with no Dixon, there's no weapon upgrades.
[57]
◊
And no weapon upgrades means no AWESOME HAMMER.
Anyway, one last thing we're going to do in this update. The first dungeon, the warehouse, is going to be difficult.
It's grinding time.
MUCH GRINDING LATER...
[58]
◊
Tada! This is just the stuff I have in my inventory now. In retrospect, I should have opened the CHA window as well. Ah well. I think I gained about six levels, not really sure. We also have a large number of credits, which we're going to use to buy the most powerful early-game weapon.
[59]
◊
The baseball bat. Two baseball bats actually, since their lack of durability is their balancing factor. After the bat, we get Awesome Hammer, and Son Of Awesome Hammer.
Actually, we might get Son Of Awesome Hammer first, since we have a power hammer now. We won't be able to use him though until we get into the red guard; Mrs. Stone's shop doesn't sell batteries.
And that's the end of this update. Tune in next time to see Tux take on the bots in the warehouse, find some dilithium crystals, best the Arena, and maybe even get accepted into the Red Guard.
Comments
]ugg gloves[/url] of Peyton - Manning pass 26 times, 18 of them successful, a distance of 225 yards, the only touchdown pass to Pierre - hondurensis, but the Colts ground attack much worse than his opponent, Ada Yi and Rhodes could not find a breakthrough line, not much free kick to end the offensive. Opponent is the Jets next week, the Patriots the same district, the [url=http://www.noachspace.com/user/asicsgel/blogs]asics shoes[/url] perfect this season - Tom Brady at home waiting for them, the [url=http://www.frumdate.com/index.php?cmd=/public/user/blogs/name_nflfoxsports/]nfl shop[/url] two teams battle for a regular season wins and [url=http://www.frumdate.com/index.php?cmd=/public/user/blogs/name_nhlplayoffs/]nhl jersey[/url] one loss, but the Patriots victory in the home advantage is more obvious (45-3).
">discount herve leger</a> find <a href="http://cuaresma.com/user/nflfoxsports/blogs">denver broncos jerseys</a> <a href="http://www.panaspace.com/user/hervelegerslll/blogs">herve leger store</a> a moderate middle and to know that the real detox for any overindulgence will take place over time. It's the gradual accumulation of those extra calories that adds up to weight gain of a pound or more a year. A pound of fat has 3,500 calories. If you consume 100 calories a day more than you burn, you will gain a pound of fat in 35 days. Obviously, metabolism issues are complex, but this is a good rule of thumb and a way <a href="http://www.breastfeeding.com/social/user/nflontv/blogs">nfl jerseys</a> to remember the flip side: If you boost your caloric expenditure by just 100 calories a day, you'll lose about a pound of fat a month—12 pounds in a year! The point is that you can do this without going to extremes with crash diets, fasts or cleanses. Having lean muscle mass also makes you burn more calories. Studies have shown that an extra pound of muscle burns between 35 and 50 calories a day.
