I got around to completing Chapter 4. Sorry if some previous comments have been a little ambiguous. Like when I said "Oh no! How'd the Pfhor get here?" That was a comment made on the fly: what I would have said aloud when first entering the level if anyone were listening. It was adequately explained in the next terminal.
Chapter 4: Legacy
Pfhor FÃ¥r Lamm
The mother of all hulks, huh? *gulp*
Y'know, it's really annoying not having a standard open dialog box. I had two saved games, and coming back to it after some weeks of not playing, there was no way to tell which was more recent. So I had to quit Eternal and pull up ~/Library/Application Support/AlephOne/Saved Games to check their modification dates. The engine should use the OS's standard dialogs if they're available, or else be as functional as a standard dialog.
This level seemed relatively easy, all things considered.
The Incredible Hulk
It's no big deal, but the saved game terminal adjacent to polygon 388 isn't necessary, because there's another one just around the corner adjacent to polygon 302.
It's pretty fun playing chicken with the Hulks, only using the shock staff's primary fire against them.
It was pretty obvious that someone's impersonating Leela. And Hathor would be the obvious choice for who, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be someone else. Oh well, seems there's no choice but to head for the hi-tech garbage barge.
Zero-point modules, eh? The first thing I notice...is that I didn't notice it. I thought the ammo was a bloody scenery object
. The next thing I notice is that it bobs from side to side as I move instead of up and down. I didn't even remember you could do that with this engine. It looks powerful, so I think I'll save it for a juggernaut or similar.
Ah, that must be the Drinniol with the implant. I wasted all my wave motion cannon ammo on him. It was great for taking down the juggernaut, but the Drinniol seems invincible. I ran away from it before wasting even more ammunition.
The bottom half of the landscape for this level is pixellated; it could use some work.
There's an untextured ceiling or wall in one of the outdoor areas. I took a screenshot of it:
[attachment=1620:The_Incr...textured.jpg]
Babylon X
This solid black-and-white stuff doesn't look like a liquid to me. If it's garbage water, go for greenish-brown. It's almost like the alpha image is being used as the normal image.
Hmm. There are a whole bunch of circuitry panels, but I probably shouldn't destroy them since I need the transporter to remain functional so I can get off planet.
...
Or, maybe I should just blast everything that moves, and everything that doesn't move for that matter. T'would have been nice if the exit teleporter lit up when it was working.
I'm kind of expecting the Hulks to stop attacking me sooner or later, as the S'pht do when they have their own Pfhor slave rebellion.
Dread Not
I assume what happened was that the garbage transporter teleported me above the planet, and then Leela or someone else teleported me from there into a station.
...
After getting to Leela's terminal, she confirms that's what happened. She also confirms someone was impersonating her. But who? It apparently wasn't just a trap to let the Incredible Hulk kill me. Whoever impersonated her actually did want me to escape. So it wasn't Hathor, unless she still can't bear to kill me.
Regarding the warning terminal by the trih xeem firing switch, I don't like the writing style. The Jjaro are never that direct, translator or not. It takes away their mystique.
For what it's worth, I found the self-destruct before I found Leela's terminal.
Bug-Eyed In Space
That's a tough level opening. I had to run away and hide in a corner for a while.
You have to run back a long way to get to the 3x shield recharger. I would've moved either the 3x or 2x recharger to the east central part of the map, so you don't have to go through that long, one-way SE path to get to recharge.
Run, Coward!
It wasn't clear to me why Hathor would be destroyed along with the cybernetic junction if she doesn't leave.
I've seen automated defense turrets before (in Rubicon if not elsewhere), but I still thought they were well done, and appropriate for this level. It's interesting to note that they shoot the Pfhor too, so Hathor must want the Pfhor off the ship as well. I'm *very* grateful for the ample shield rechargers.
I seem to have found a secret area in polygon 280, but there's no reward.
When you teleport into space at the end, it seems the floor uses a different space landscape than the walls, destroying the illusion you were creating.
The Ensurance Trap
Perhaps this level's name is why people think the game's name is "Enternal"
Hmm, so I screwed up again. I kind of expected it this time. I just didn't see another way off of Babylon X. I sure hope it wasn't just that I got on that teleporter that shot me out into space!
Wait a minute...there's no extravision in this level. Perhaps this one will be different.
...and I was right. This time it's not a dream.
I'm still not getting this part. A cybernetic junction is a tool, not a weapon or a virtual life support system. I don't see why destroying a junction also destroys any computer intelligence in the vicinity. Confound their plans, yes, but not kill them.
Hmm, I wonder who these cloaked newcomers are. They can't be Wr'kncacnter, or else Leela wouldn't be so worried about the one on Earth.
Some of them attack me, while others don't. The wave motion cannon will kill them, though nothing else seems to work. If I had wasted my WMC ammo earlier, I wouldn't be able to read Hathor's terminal because they'd get me.
Hathor's terminal says "I am become God." Is that a clever (yet not word-for-word) allusion not many will catch, or just a typo?
Once again, one of the tall thin circuitry panels is destroyable. Looks like you'll have to check all iterations of this map.
Hmm, the last terminal says something about going for the kill immediately. I'll have to mull that over...
Dread Not
I guess I'll just self-destruct the ship as soon as I get there.
That doesn't seem to change anything. Well, I could ignore saving the Drinniol and just try to save myself.
Heh. I was going with a pretty basic "here are 4 circuits I didn't get to before, let's bash 'em!" without realizing I was destroying the junction. Okay, now let's see how it was
supposed to work out...
One More Unto Breach...
Ah, good. I was expecting to teleport right back in the thick of it like on Bug-Eyed In Space, but this time we start in a safe position. It also nicely reaffirms that I did in fact take the right path this time, since the last terminal of the last level barely changed.
You do a good job of adding new gameplay to a place we've been before. Sorry if I'm just pointing out obvious things, but I know it's hard to pull off.
What's this, poorly defended Pfhor cyborgs? Hmm. What's also interesting is that I got the success message without killing the cyborgs. Why would the Pfhor have these cyborgs here anyway? They're not necessary for enslaving the Drinniol, and my impression was that Pfhor cyborgs were made expressly for dominating the enslaved, not your run-of-the-mill ship tasks.
Polygon 515, a slim triangle, has a different floor texture which was probably an oversight. It's the same way in Bug-Eyed In Space.
Genie In A Bottle
Hmm. Be careful not to blow the captain to smithereens, so you can collect his control gland intact. A reasonable mission parameter, but that gets me thinking, what if I don't? Could there be another failure branch already? Or will it turn out that ultimately I'll be sent back to this level because I should have destroyed his control gland all along?
"The war is not over whence we have come from." It would sound better if it didn't end in a preposition.
Regarding the last terminal, I was with you up until Leela said that the Jjaro were human. That's the only thing Leela could mean by saying "They are your very own species." It rubs me the wrong way: we certainly don't have the powers the Jjaro have, so what happened to us humans if we're the same species? But I anticipate this will be a major plot point in coming levels, so I doubt it will change.
Floating In The Void
It sounds to me like they're saying to leave them alone. We'll see.
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