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Wander
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Playing without a walkthrough
« on: February 08, 2013, 10:22:17 pm »

I have a bit of a question here. How many people here completed this game without using any outside assistance? I'm asking this, cause I'm the kind of player who prefers to find a solution online whenever I get to a part where I have no idea where I should go to advance. This way the game is not too hard to complete, but I am still just amazed at how much stuff there is to do, a lot of it optional (I assume). I don't know how I would have kept track with all of this if I didn't take the occasional look at a walkthrough.

It all starts relatively simple, but as the game progresses progresses, things get more and more complicated, and if you are not careful, you can easily miss crucial bits of info, which could become very frustrating and waste you lots of time while searching for the right place to go and the right thing to do or whatever. I just wonder what are people's opinions and experiences on this? How did you deal with stuff if you got stuck?
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Death 999
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Re: Playing without a walkthrough
« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2013, 11:44:16 pm »

I did it with a friend on the second try. Would have gotten it the first time if we'd figured out how to add thrusters to the flagship before the death march began. We had zero hints.
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Re: Playing without a walkthrough
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2013, 12:22:57 am »

I would suggest obtaining the original TFB hintbook somehow, rather than reading walkthroughs. I think GOG.com offers a PDF of it along with their SC1/SC2 combo pack (TFB now gets a cut of sales of the GOG package), you can also probably find a copy of it online somewhere.
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Re: Playing without a walkthrough
« Reply #3 on: February 09, 2013, 12:38:50 am »

This was the only game I ever played without a walkthrough, but I don't think I ever beat it that way. I never beat the Syreen quest without reading about it, I think.
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Re: Playing without a walkthrough
« Reply #4 on: February 09, 2013, 07:39:36 pm »

I tried this recently, I wrote down all the information I actually received from conversations and I think the final result was that there are three planets that you really have to search for, Beta Orionis, Zeta Draconis and Delta Crateris (not counting Melnorme info, and maybe I overlooked some sources of information). The rest you are referred to by alien conversation, although I was pretty thorough, I would engage alien species like 15 times to run through the entire conversation trees. There was another situation where you are told that the Androsynth are taken over by the Orz in the vulpeculae system, then I waited for a few minutes there and because of bad luck I didn't find any nearby ships. I think someone could conclude there is nothing there maybe.
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Re: Playing without a walkthrough
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2013, 01:16:25 am »

Beta Orionis

The Arilou mention Beta Orionis if you ask them about the Umgah acting weird.

Zeta Draconis

There are some hints at something in the Draconis constellation (Hayes, Spathi), and the Thraddash will point you to Zeta Draconis in their conversations, IIRC.
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Death 999
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Re: Playing without a walkthrough
« Reply #6 on: February 13, 2013, 03:32:32 pm »

There was another situation where you are told that the Androsynth are taken over by the Orz in the vulpeculae system, then I waited for a few minutes there and because of bad luck I didn't find any nearby ships. I think someone could conclude there is nothing there maybe.

Vulpeculae is a constellation. If you just check one of them and give up, you shouldn't blame the game.
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Fwiffo1234
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Re: Playing without a walkthrough
« Reply #7 on: August 17, 2013, 12:10:10 pm »

And, without a walkthrough, how do you find Delta Lyncis?
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Re: Playing without a walkthrough
« Reply #8 on: August 17, 2013, 02:56:03 pm »

And, without a walkthrough, how do you find Delta Lyncis?

You'll need to have the original star map where the lines between stars in a constellation are drawn. Then you'll see that Lyncis resembles a "long thin creature that has swallowed a huge beast"... And you'll also know that the star is yellow. You'll have three to choose from then.
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Re: Playing without a walkthrough
« Reply #9 on: August 17, 2013, 04:04:38 pm »

The Thraddash can tell you the exact star system of ZEX's beast - though they have so much dialog (and the available dialog changes after certain events) that it's easy to miss! I don't remember if there are other clues besides ZEX's cryptic hint.
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Re: Playing without a walkthrough
« Reply #10 on: August 17, 2013, 05:15:26 pm »

There's just the ZEX hint and the Thraddash mention if you tell them to base their new culture on yours.

One other thing that's worth mentioning: "Linch-Nas-Ploh" sounds distantly similar to "Lyncis", though not similar enough to be enough to solve the puzzle by itself.
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Re: Playing without a walkthrough
« Reply #11 on: August 17, 2013, 05:27:27 pm »

Fwiffo can tell you as well, although you'd probably never see the line.
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Re: Playing without a walkthrough
« Reply #12 on: August 17, 2013, 06:38:14 pm »

I have a bit of a question here. How many people here completed this game without using any outside assistance? I'm asking this, cause I'm the kind of player who prefers to find a solution online whenever I get to a part where I have no idea where I should go to advance. This way the game is not too hard to complete, but I am still just amazed at how much stuff there is to do, a lot of it optional (I assume). I don't know how I would have kept track with all of this if I didn't take the occasional look at a walkthrough.

It all starts relatively simple, but as the game progresses progresses, things get more and more complicated, and if you are not careful, you can easily miss crucial bits of info, which could become very frustrating and waste you lots of time while searching for the right place to go and the right thing to do or whatever. I just wonder what are people's opinions and experiences on this? How did you deal with stuff if you got stuck?

Remember, when this game originally came out, there was no WWW.  In games of that era, it was expected that players would be very meticulous, including brute-force searching every star system if necessary to build up their own references.  I lost my first game (ran out of time), but when I started my second I had detailed notes showing most of the homeworlds, mineral/biological-rich worlds, and other special resources.  The second time through I won handily.
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Mormont
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Re: Playing without a walkthrough
« Reply #13 on: August 17, 2013, 07:53:18 pm »

Since you don't actually need the Shofixti maidens to beat the game, I think it's okay that the hints for the monster's location are either arcane or easy to miss.

The game is definitely beatable without a walkthrough. I didn't the first time, but I was young and had never played anything close to SC2's depth or complexity, so that's more a reflection on my 11-year-old self than the game. I used a walkthrough to beat Zelda:OoT (which came out around the same time first got SC2) too, and that game tells you what to do much more than SC2. Really I used a walkthrough for almost anything that wasn't linear and straightforward at the time.

Most important things have hints from multiple sources. You just have to be vigilant in writing down leads. When SC2 came out, using pen and paper to help with games was not uncommon.

One problem is that the 3DO version's dialog which UQM is based on removed certain hints, such as the location of the Mycon homeworld. I think they've been added back in later versions though.
« Last Edit: August 17, 2013, 08:29:56 pm by Mormont » Logged
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Re: Playing without a walkthrough
« Reply #14 on: August 18, 2013, 01:13:12 am »

And, without a walkthrough, how do you find Delta Lyncis?

You'll need to have the original star map where the lines between stars in a constellation are drawn. Then you'll see that Lyncis resembles a "long thin creature that has swallowed a huge beast"... And you'll also know that the star is yellow. You'll have three to choose from then.
The original starmap is useful for so many other clues that if possible it should be a toggle in-game for the old map (maybe the old spheres of influence should exist until contact is made with new natives).  I know that goes against the spirit of a true-to-original remake, but there have been other usability enhancements... 
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