Tesla Effect - Session 4

Oh what a tangled web we weave when we can't remember a damn thing about the last seven years.

Join us at 9pm ET as we continue Tesla Effect!

[ Watch: TwitchTV ]
[ Talk: Thinstack | Starmen | IRC ]

Tesla Effect - Session 3

Last time, we broke into a doctor's remote seaside villa, where we found his secret lab and his (ex?) wife. Later, we also found a decapitated corpse! Exciting.

Join us tonight at 9pm ET as we continue Tesla Effect!

[ Watch: TwitchTV ]
[ Talk: Thinstack | Starmen | IRC ]

Tesla Effect - Session 2

Tex has suffered amnesia and forgotten the last seven years of his life. According to Louie and Zack, he's been an asshole. According to Clint and Rook, he's been a fantastic customer. There's some new faces on the street, a new police chief, and a dead PI. Mysteries are piling themselves up, and Tex has found himself following several trails at once. Sometimes, a guy just can't catch a break.

Tune in tonight at 9pm ET as we continue Tesla Effect!

[ Watch: TwitchTV ]
[ Talk: Thinstack | Starmen | IRC ]

Tesla Effect

I can't really remember why I became a PI. Maybe because I believed in its code of honor, but even a set of principles can slowly slip from your grasp. Temptations become obsessions, each day innocence fades, and your character weakens.

New San Francisco, 2050 AD. Seven years have passed since that date with Chelsee. Fifteen years have passed since fans were left on that cliffhanger. And Tex can't remember any of it.

I've been very excited for this game since I first heard Chris Jones and Aaron Conners were making games together again. They made a few budget games together (strong in story, light in other areas), and then they finally regained the rights to Tex Murphy. One Kickstarter later, we have Tesla Effect.

I've contained my excitement until now, though — I began this stream with Tex Murphy, and it seems only fitting that I save my initial experience for live broadcast.

So join us tonight at 9pm ET as we begin Tesla Effect!

[ Watch: TwitchTV ]
[ Talk: Thinstack | Starmen | IRC ]

Tex Murphy: Overseer - Session 4

Last time, Tex infiltrated the headquarters of the Law & Order Party, learned that the conspiracy reached even above their presidential candidate (and, indeed, their candidate was squarely in its crosshairs), was injected with a nanomachine whose effects seem similar to what Linsky experienced in his last days, injected himself with a counteragent, met his mysterious informant, and found an encrypted and self-distructing recording of Greg Call, outlining the entire Project OVERLORD. Seeking evidence that could bust the whole thing wide open, Tex returned to the Party headquarters, and discovered the secret lab of Dr. John Klaus, along with even more disturbing information...

Join us tonight at 9pm ET as we continue Tex Murphy: Overseer!

[ Watch: TwitchTV ]
[ Talk: Thinstack | Starmen | IRC ]

Tex Murphy: Overseer - Session 3

We met with the enigmatic philanthropist J. Saint Gideon. Another avid chess enthusiast, he seems eminently likeable...but also just a step away from being a sympathetic supervillain, the kind you almost want to see win. We learned the philosophy that brought him his vast fortune — a crippled veteran, he at first felt his disability completely negated any good he could do in the world...but when he realized the opportunities still open to him, he wanted to share it with everyone who felt like he had. So he began his empire with numerous skilled and talented individuals who had been cast aside by society — the downtrodden, the misfits, the mutants — and all their untapped ability brought Gideon Enterprises to the apex of the business world.

However, Gideon has now been unceremoniously ousted from his own company and replaced by Frank Schimming, a man who would let profits rule the business, and whose anti-mutant politics would see undone all the good achieved during Gideon's rise to success.

How, exactly, this ties into Project Overseer is unclear, but the rabbit hole winds ever deeper...

Tune in tonight at 9pm ET as we continue Tex Murphy: Overseer!

[ Watch: TwitchTV ]
[ Talk: Thinstack | Starmen | IRC ]

Tex Murphy: Overseer - Session 2

A dame walked into my office; her daddy was dead, and she wants to know whodunnit. The police say it's a suicide, but she doesn't buy that. So I started digging. I find out the guy was seeing the lawyer who wrote his will; his daughter is the beneficiary of his life insurance, though she won't see a dime if he did himself in. There's a few people close to him who stood to benefit from his demise, but there were some other pieces that weren't quite adding up...his recent surgery, the mysterious medicine he was taking, the repeated chess allusions, and the name "Overseer" kept popping up. Something big was going on, and this guy was in deep. An old PI who'd been working with him warned me off of this, but I'm not stopping before I see where this rabbit hole leads.

Tune in tonight at 9pm ET as Tex Murphy continues his investigation in Overseer!

[ Watch: TwitchTV ]
[ Talk: Thinstack | Starmen | IRC ]

Tex Murphy: Overseer - FINALLY?!

It's been a long time since we (successfully) played a Tex Murphy game on the stream. If you've been with us for that long, you may recall that this game gave us no end of technical difficulties. We simply could not progress for all the freezing that was happening (much like with Assassin's Creed now), and there were so many cases of the stream video just failing to match up with the game for no discernable reason. But those days seem to be over — I ran a test stream a while back for a full hour, and had zero issues.

So tonight, join Tex for his big date with Chelsee, as he recounts the events of his first big case. Tex Murphy: Overseer begins tonight at 9pm ET.

[ Watch: TwitchTV ]
[ Talk: Thinstack | Starmen | IRC ]

Overseer Failure

Most disappointingly, Tex Murphy: Overseer froze every couple minutes as I was playing, preventing me from getting any appreciable measure of the game played. I fear if some solution is not found, I may have to pass on playing this game on here. That would not make me happy.

But, for the sake of posterity -- mostly to record our introduction of the drinking game, as well as the creation of Brendan's concoction, and our quick playthrough of VVVVVV to fill the time -- the episode is now on YouTube in three parts.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

The Tex Murphy Drinking Game

We're playing this tonight! Here's the rules so you can play along at home:

1. When Tex drinks, you drink.
2. When an item is used in an improbable way, you drink.
3. When the game of chess is referenced, you drink.
4. When the future is surprisingly similar to the 1990's, you drink.
5. When Tex is an idiot with women, you drink.
6. When Tex is knocked out, you finish your drink and pour a new one.

Happy drinking!

Tex Murphy: Overseer: Session 1

Hey, I've been going nonstop since about 6 this morning, and only now have I had the chance to post this reminder!

We start Tex Murphy: Overseer at 7pm -- that's a little less than an hour away -- with a preshow at 6:45pm. And, for once, there will be significant things happening in the preshow, so tune in early and don't miss a thing!

Tex Murphy: Overseer

My father, Carl Linsky, died a week ago. The police think it's suicide; I believe they're wrong. My father wasn't suicidal, and I'll pay you to prove it.

A scant few days after the events of The Pandora Directive, Tex Murphy has another hot date with the girl of his dreams, Chelsee Bando. But before things get too serious, Chelsee has some questions for Tex, leading him to recount — and the player to relive — his first big case, and his introduction to his ex-wife, Sylvia.

Half-sequel, half-remake, the meat of the story retells the events of Mean Streets, hitting all the high points, though some of the details have changed — Det. Steve Clements becoming Det. Eve Clements, for example. With a less-campy feel and a much tighter script (not to mention removing the horrible transportation and the frustrating action sequences), Overseer is a better remake than most games, or even movies, get.

Join Mark, Daniel, Brendan and Mabry for Tex Murphy: Overseer, alternating Saturday nights at 7pm CT, beginning September 8th.

The Pandora Directive: Session 7 now on YouTube

If you missed it live last night, our Pandora Directive finale is now on YouTube!

While the storms thankfully didn't knock out our internet while we were on last night, they did knock it out during my upload. So I just said, "Screw it," and went to bed, which is why you're not getting this until today.

On September 8th, we'll be starting a new game -- Tex Murphy: Overseer. Next week, we're back to Freelancer.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

The Pandora Directive playlist

The Pandora Directive: Session 7

Nearly forgot to make this post! The Pandora Directive continues at 7pm CT, with pregame starting 15 minutes before! Catch it all live on our TwitchTV channel!

The Pandora Directive: Session 6 now on YouTube

Our first session of The Pandora Directive on Mission Street is on YouTube! Lots different in the game this time around. Also, folks ran late, so the pregame ran long, and I screwed up a dialogue tree and forgot to save at all yet, so restarting had to happen. The link to the timestamp for the start of the game proper is in the video description of the first part, and I catch back up to the screw-up point near the end of the first part.

Also, lacking sonicstormer again this week. :(

We return to The Pandora Directive on August 25th. Next week, Freelancer.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

The Pandora Directive playlist

The Pandora Directive: Session 6

It's Saturday again, so it's time for another episode of Throne of Games! Pregame at 6:45pm CT, game at 7 on our TwitchTV channel.

We begin our final run of The Pandora Directive this week, seeking the best ending. A whole lot plays out differently on this path, so watch for the differences!

The Pandora Directive: Session 5 now on YouTube

Session 5 of The Pandora Directive is now on YouTube. We cleared all three unique Boulevard of Broken Dreams endings tonight, which means, when we return to the game in two weeks, we'll be starting a run on Mission Street for the canon ending.

Next week, assuming the game installs and runs fine on my computer (older games can be finicky), Freelancer is, indeed, our pick for next game. Brendan will be writing up the intro post for that, since he's actually played the game before. It'll be a totally blind Let's Play on here, for once.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

The Pandora Directive playlist

The Pandora Directive: Session 5

It's Saturday! That means it's time for another episode of Throne of Games.

We continue our journey down the Boulevard of Broken Dreams in The Pandora Directive tonight. Preshow begins at 6:45pm CT, with the game at 7. Link to our TwitchTV channel is in the upper-right corner there.

The Pandora Directive: Session 4 now on YouTube

Session 4 of The Pandora Directive is now on YouTube, just a few minutes too long to be split into two parts. We played from the beginning of the game to the beginning of Day 5.

We're aiming for the Boulevard of Broken Dreams path this run, and so far, we're on it. The story is unfolding quite differently this time around — Tex is a bit out of character, but it's much more in line with what you'd expect of noir.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

The Pandora Directive playlist

Throne of Games will be taking a break for a few weeks. I have plans for next Saturday night, and I'll be out of town the next two Saturdays. But we'll be back on July 14th with more Bastion, and Tex Murphy will return on July 21st.

The Pandora Directive: Session 3 on YouTube

Session 3 of The Pandora Directive is now on YouTube miraculously somehow in one part in two parts now, because the single file was, for some reason, too lo-res to make out a lot of the text. We played from the beginning of Day 8 through both of the Lombard Street (that is, neutral alignment) endings. I love how goofy-yet-melancholy the second one is.

We return to Tex on the June 16th to tackle the dark, gritty path of The Pandora Directive that is The Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Next week, we begin the New Game+ in Bastion.

Part 1
Part 2

The Pandora Directive playlist

[EDIT] So, it looks like it uploaded rather low-res for some reason...that's no good for something with this much text. Gonna try redoing it in a different way. This will be updated once a better version is up.

[EDIT 2] Wait, maybe I'm just encountering problems with YouTube processing the videos...I guess I'll check back in the morning and see what the deal is.

[EDIT 3] My original suspicion was correct: the single long video was lower-quality for some reason.