Now that that's clear, can I say that I actually felt that CO was a step down in quality from the previous episodes (although The Hypertrout also compared poorly with The Golden Crate, which I think is the best of the series so far). Part of this was because creeping around a palace in the middle of the night leaves few encounters to build comedy on.
As such I welcome any feedback, especially detailed feedback for the subsequent episodes. Episode 6 will probably be about the same quality as CO, but the next two episodes lok like they will be up there again, being in more populus settings.
Jordan Fri Nov 13 01:17:35 2009
Ulysses,
Does the
SPOILER
Dismantled device
END SPOILER
have anything to do with the destruction of the very large robot? Also, the golden tile found in the security office; to whom does it belong? We're supposed to find the three tiles belonging to the chamberlain, royal champion, and royal executioner, so I'm unclear as to whom the security office one belongs. The tile that you consider to be a bad mirror, I presume that that's the one we're supposed to get from the royal champion, but there's no way to retrieve it, and how are we supposed to carry it around, if it's as large as the wall? Sorry for asking too many questions, but I want to beat this game! Talk to you later.
Jordan Fri Nov 13 02:44:22 2009
I made a typo before. The tile as large as the wall is in the study of the chamberlain, not the champion.
Ulysses Fri Nov 13 05:59:52 2009
Jordan:
Dismantled device:
SPOILER
The workbench is just to provide tools, one of which is useful elsewhere as I believe you have discovered.
END SPOILER
Destroying the large robot:
SPOILER
A task like this will require high-powered weaponry. You should already know where to obtain this as it can be found in the course of normal exploration. The only difficulty is gaining access
END SPOILER
Golden tiles:
SPOILER
The tile in the security office belongs to the royal champion (who is also head of security). The tile in the keeping of the Royal Chamberlain is somewhere in his quarters. The Royal Executioner is carrying the third tile on his person. He is in the royal enclosure with the king.
END SPOILER
Jordan Fri Nov 13 06:19:59 2009
So, how do I get past the golden tile resembling a mirror, so that I can search the chamberlain's quarters? And I figured that the high-powered weapon would be the
SPOILER
rocket launcher
END SPOILER
but obviously not?
Jordan Fri Nov 13 07:08:54 2009
Disregard my last message. If the correct ending includes:
SPOILER
The sheepish spanner, and keeping a secret from my ex-and-future girlfriend
END SPOILER
I'm set. But, what is the use in defeating the large robot? I didn't defeat it, and still got the correct ending.
Ulysses Fri Nov 13 11:06:38 2009
Jordan:
Your choice of what to put in a Spolier Box and what to leave out is confounding.
There is only one non-death ending in
SPOILER
Contractual Obligation
END SPOILER
, and that's the successful one.
binki Fri Nov 13 12:20:26 2009
Ulysses:
I am not asking how Executioner killed kings without his controller - perhaps he had a spare one,
SPOILER
But how Crudians managed to replace Executioner himself in final scene, after he a nasty accident during a conversation with player.
END SPOILER
Ulysses Fri Nov 13 13:06:17 2009
Binki:
It's not neccessary for the player to kill the royal executioner. But if they do; when the royal executioner is discovered dead, a new one is appointed. Words to this effect are included in the passage after you have killed the executioner, where you reason that he will soon be replaced.
Aiken Thu Nov 19 19:16:13 2009
I enjoyed CO a lot and did not think it was a step-down in quality from the series. I do agree that the Golden Crate was the best so far, but not every book can be the best. One of the things I liked about CO was that it called to mind various classic FFs, and indeed the finale of the Golden Key (palace champion et al...); it thrust our Arthur Dent like Enseign into the well-established trope of "palace of the evil emperor" with amusing consequences. Difficulty-wise it was a lot easier than the Hyper-trout (fortunately) and somewhat easier than the Golden Crate- probably on a par with Planet of the Spiders. Personally that was fine for me. The premise made me laugh out loud and there was plenty of humor.
If pressed to find some minor quibbles, I would say that the one-location, one-setting, one mission style was less stimulating than the Golden Crate, where several disparate places and times had to be fitted together to complete a surreal jig-saw puzzle. But all in all it's great.
ryan Wed Apr 21 22:52:42 2010
hey, I just heard from my friend who also plays that I'll find some sort of ship later but he wouldn't tell me heh and I find it ironic that a ryan wears a silver belt in house of horror I don't wear silver belts haha
ryan Mon Apr 26 18:30:29 2010
hey ulysses, could you please give me a walkthrough for the golden crate, the hypertrout and contractual obligation? I'm stuck on all three
Ulysses Mon Apr 26 23:03:25 2010
No, but if you tell me where you are stuck I am happy to give you some clues. I would also recommend playing through the episodes in order because this allows you to carry the same character through, building up your SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK. It also allows you to access secret areas and bonuses. Below is some general info about each adventure.
The Golden Crate
SPOILER
tGC is a complex adventure, so it's hard to give you an overview of how it works. But in general what you have to do to win is arrive at the palace on Amorphonon 13 with a suitcase that can be found along the way. The clues I gave you previously will help you find the suitcase. To find the easy path you should get the blaster from the armoury and the electronic strait jacket from the medical bay before leaving the ship. Once on the surface of Amorphonon 13, you need to find the ruins of the other ship. If you don't then you cannot succeed. Other than those clues, I would also say that the episode contains some extremely tough battles that can be avoided entirely if you have the right items with you.
END SPOILER
The Hypertrout
SPOILER
To reach the successful end you need to collect 3 commendations, the last of which is given when you present the fish-king's head to your captain. In this adventure as you explore you will find different things if you explore the tunnels and passages in a different order. So don't always explore in the same way and you may discover more than you have in the past. I thought this adventure would be extremely tricky, but some solved in within days of it being put up, making me very disgruntled.
END SPOILER
Contractual Obligation
SPOILER
CO is all about using objects at the right time and place. Not all objects are useful of course, but most are. You need to use the USE button a lot
END SPOILER
Hope that helps.
Ulysses Tue Apr 27 09:30:15 2010
Typo in the first spoiler box above. It should read as:
The Golden Crate
SPOILER
tGC is a complex adventure, so it's hard to give you an overview of how it works. But in general what you have to do to win is arrive at the palace on Amorphonon 12 (not 13) with a suitcase that can be found along the way. The clues I gave you previously will help you find the suitcase. To find the easy path you should get the blaster from the armoury and the electronic strait jacket from the medical bay before leaving the ship. Once on the surface of Amorphonon 13, you need to find the ruins of the other ship. If you don't then you cannot succeed. Other than those clues, I would also say that the episode contains some extremely tough battles that can be avoided entirely if you have the right items with you.
END SPOILER
ryan Tue Apr 27 14:23:08 2010
okay for CO
SPOILER
I have the mirror, the antique key, the red and blue cards, the blast rod, the mirror, the device, an energy whip, the controler, the spirits and the star which ones do I not need? and what do I do next? I did find out how to get the first tile
END SPOILER
Ulysses Tue Apr 27 23:57:33 2010
Which tile do you have now?
p.s. Use a spoiler box, please.
ryan Wed Apr 28 04:29:33 2010
SPOILER
I have the diamond tile from the chamberlin and I just used the security comp upstairs
END SPOILER
Ulysses Wed Apr 28 10:43:33 2010
The chamberlain doesn't have the diamond tile.
p.s. Please use spoiler boxes when revealing the content of gamebooks
ryan Wed Apr 28 14:27:21 2010
SPOILER
nevermind its the sapphire
END SPOILER
Aiken Wed Apr 28 16:56:16 2010
I'm happy to say I managed to get all the way from the beginning of WWGB to the end of CO without any spoilers, but the Hypertrout in particular took me weeks. I imagine that if you happen to get lucky you could complete it very quickly, but if you choose the wrong path, you can keep on bashing your head into a brick wall without realising that
SPOILER
the order in which you visit places affects what you find there
END SPOILER
.
In a way it may well be harder for a seasoned FF solver than for a newbie- it's structure makes "normal" methods of solving ineffective.
CO on the other hand is not easy but is far less sadistic!