So yeah, let's keep on blindly playing Space 1889. I'm totally playing this game so you totally don't have to.
This is more of a filler update, 'coz boy, this game has a slow start.
Update 5: New York to San Francisco
You are now leaving the London city limits, have a nice trip!
The world map in this game is funny. As in, you can get from Britain to Egypt on foot. There seem to be only two continents, one that is supposed to roughly correspond to America and the second one, to Eurasia, but they aren't as big as I hoped they would be. The cities on Earth are basically all the same in their design, with the exception of a few unique landmarks. Well, it's not like early top-down cRPGs could boast anything fancy in that regard at all. We'll see if that changes later, when we visit other planets.
Oh, and by the way, Black Cat-chan, I've been browsing readme.com and here's what I found:
You cannot recruit new players as stated on page 15 of the manual. This option was in the original design, but the designers felt that the game would be too easy to solve if you could always add new characters.
See, this game was made even more hardcore.
The small picture in the top left corner of the exploration screen changes depending on the area we're passing through. The one above is supposed to represent a desert. It's nowhere near as diverse as the similar feature in Sentinel Worlds I, though.
Occasionally, as you explore the map, you encounter the same shops you have inside the cities, like a weapon or a pawn shop, but there are also facilities like harbors (pictured above) or ether ports (one per planet, the manual tells us) that are unique to the world map.
At a harbor, we can acquire additional means of transportation, of which there are three: boats, zeppelins, and horses.
Horses make the land travel faster, but well, they are obviously no good if you want to cross the sea. (Note the small horse head icon in Miss Bee's character portrait.) Boats are kind of anti-horses: they let you cross the sea, but not the land.
That's why zeppelins are probably your best bet. When you choose to rent a zeppelin, the harborman asks you just how many days of travel you want to purchase.
And here we are. Looks fancy, doesn't it? It took me a good ten minutes or so to figure out how to
exit the zeppelin exploration mode, though. Turns out you can only do that by returning the zeppelin to a harbor by entering it (or more like bumping into it) -- not every direction does the trick, however...
...but I've noticed that flying over the harbor diagonally from northwest to southeast always works like a charm. Yeah, I know: atrocious interface.
And don't worry about that days of travel thingy: any unspent days get refunded.
There are some animals wandering around the map, depending on the area. In Africa, you mostly get rhinos and lizards. You can even attempt engaging in rhino diplomacy, but get no response.
You can tell we're flying over America when there are Incas everywhere.
Or rather, Cherokee Scouts.
We also encounter an Alchemist's shop. The item selection here sure looks interesting.
SLEEP GAS. An extremely volatile liquid which induces unconsciousness when breathed in gaseous form. Within a few seconds of inhalation, the victim rapidly loses consciousness and will fall into alight sleep which will last one hour after the gas has dissipated. The victim will then awaken without ill effects. This gas can also be used as an improved anesthetic during surgical operations. One ounce of the liquid will vaporize in 10 minutes (or instantly, if sprayed) and fill an area 10 feet square to be effective density. Wt: 1 ounce Price: £1 per ounce.
ANTIBIOTIC. A substance with bactericidal properties that can be ingested by mouth, applied topically, or injected into the body using a hypodermic syringe. Severe infections and fevers can be cured within days using this compound. Wt: 10 doses per ounce. Price: £3 per dose.
WATER-BREATHER. A small device which permits the wearer to extract dissolved oxygen fmm water in a manner similar to a fish’s gills. It is a mask-like contraption which covers the mouth and nose, and enables normal underwater breathing for an indefinite period. The functional portion of the device is differentially permeable and constructed of an artificial cellulose-like material. Wt: 1 lb. Price: £12.
New York, yay.
There are four points of interest to us here: Crystal Palace, U.S. Army HQ, the Bar, and the Inn.
At the Crystal Palace, there are lots of merchants entrusting us with a ton of fetch quests.
All in all, we've been asked to retrieve: bogweed, moabite fire jewels, shell glands, gummy rubber, liftwood,
threepwood, and bhutan spice. Whatever that all is.
Apart from the anonymous merchants, we're also asked to obtain shell glands from some Mercury crabs by Giorgio Polo. (I could barely make out his request at all, arrgh.) I must assume that, since he is a named NPC, giving the shell glands to him is going to be more profitable than to the anonymous merchant who also asked for them.
At the Bar, we listen as Jules the Bartender praises the beauty of the Crystal Palace...
...and meet Otto Strabismus who wants ca. 50 quid for the following piece of information:
Could be an important clue, I guess. The game seems to be slowly getting more interesting. (Right? Right?)
At the Inn, we hand the London Report to Hans Ogleby, as instructed, and he tells us we should pay a visit to one Johanssan in San Fransisco instead and hands us the letters of introduction.
Fair enough.
Another NPC we come across at the Inn is Frank Chadwick, who -- surprise, surprise -- has a fetch quest for us. Again, obtaining bogweed for him should be, I assume, of higher priority than for the anonymous merchants at the Crystal Palace.
And that imposing-looking building is the U.S. Army Headquarters.
:patriot: !
Right, so that Captain Cooper must have some kind of (fetch) quest for us, I believe...
Judging by the moustache, this must be the captain.
"Go gather the bids of the Canal Martian Kaaraahn Kaashneek in Boreo Syrtis League and the Lizard-man Ralax in the Thetis Mountains on Venus. The latest bid for the formula is £12,750. You are welcome to buy the aluminum formula yourself if you wish. See Marcus Rowland, the foreign affairs diplomat."
Teehee, so far our quests are... go gather some
- bids
- bogweed
- shell glands
- Moabite fire jewels
- gummy rubber
- liftwood
- Bhutan spice
Marcus Rowland offers the formula to us, but I think we'd rather keep Captain Cooper's quest in mind. It at least somewhat resembles a diplomatic one.
The second floor of the building houses a doctor's place.
And this is the first skill-increasing quest in the game. Doctor Buembats wants a doctor bag; in exchange for it, he's willing to raise the Medicine skill of one of our characters. It's a good thing we've got exactly what he needs.
We increase Pariah's skill, which now equals 4. So far, so good.
We pillage some chests belonging to the doctor and reach the bedroom.
There's a governess (?) in here.
Oh noes, we're going to wake the children. Alright, we leave.
We leave New York as well and arrive to San Francisco.
We seek out Nathaniel Johanssan and give him the letters of introduction we got from Ogleby.
"Take these maps; they pinpoint various locations where digs are occurring. I've written a note at the bottom of one of the maps. It is critical information that I just uncovered in my research."
Hey, exclusive info! Let's have a look.
Got it.
At the San Francisco Bar, we encounter Claude Brumford, obsessed with revenge:
Sounds totally like a plan!
Hell euuurrrr!
Next time: some action finally!
Glad to be of help, Heinrich, dear.
