The Dig im Playthrough

[Möwe]

Hiermit verfluche ich offiziell mein Handy und das lahme Internet in meiner Urlaubsgegend.

Der ursprüngliche Inhalt dieses Beitrages wurde schon gepostet.

[Inventarius]

Wenn ihr schon mit dem Fazit anfangt, will ich auch.
Zunächst möchte ich sagen, dass mir die Art des Spielens in dem Lets play trotz der Spoilergefahr sehr viel Spaß gemacht hat. Vielleicht erlebt man auch dadurch das Spiel anders, beim nächsten Lets play bin ich auf jeden Fall wieder dabei.

Zum Spiel fallen mir durchaus einige Kritikpunkte ein:
Über die Charaktere sind wir schon hergefallen, das Ende war fürchterlich und die Fragen in einer mytischen Welt waren mal wieder spannender als die Antworten. Kann nicht sagen, dass mir hier andere Ansätze besser gefallen hätten, 2001 hatte ich auch nicht erwartet und 42 konnte auch nicht die Lösung sein, aber für mich besaß auch diese Welt mehr Kraft als noch alles unbekannt war.
Auch ein paar kleinere Logiklöcher glaube ich entdeckt zu haben.
Diese andere Dimension war ja angeblich nur sehr schwer steuerbar, was aber nicht für die Insel galt, die sehr gezielt hin-und herbewegt werden konnte, aber vielleicht habe ich hier auch etwas verpasst.

Wenn ich andere Rezensionen ärgere ich mich sehr über die Urteile, die sich aus den Summen der Einzelteile ergeben.
Für mich ergibt sich die Qualität eines Adventures aus der Qualität seiner Säulen auf denen es steht, die für mich beim Spielen massgeblich sind und letztlich die Atmosphäre des Spiels bestimmen.
Bei The Dig waren das:
Zum einen natürlich die Faszination des Unbekannten. Hierbei würde ich auf jeden Fall auch die Grafik hervorheben wollen. Bilder wie das folgende sehen gemessen an modernen Vorreitern des Genres nicht so gut aus, aber sie funktionierten im Spiel sehr gut und kamen im Kopf wesentlich besser an.



Auf der Suche nach dem Unbekannten kommen natürlich die Rästel ins Spiel, durch die ich mich sehr gut unterhalten fühlte. Das Lichtbrückenrätsel war schrott. Ausrutscher, vergeben. Ein paar mal hatte ich wohl mit Hotspots meine Probleme. Im Nachhinein ist mir auch der Verdacht gekommen, das die Dreckstelle an der Höhle auch erst später aktiv wurde (wie beim Wasserfall), das müsste man noch einaml untersuchen (beim nächsten Spielen). An diesen Stellen lief ich ziemlich lange durch die Gegend, aber weil mir die Welt gut gefiel, wars okay und ich bekam ja auch beides noch raus.
Also, eine faszinierende Welt mit spannenden Rätseln, klingt fast nach einer Lightversion (war da nicht was?) von Myst.
Die schon genannten Schwächen des Spiels richten bei diesen Stärken für mich keinen zu großen Schaden an. Zum Schluss, als die Suche nicht mehr derart im Mittelpunkt stand, verlor das Spiel für mich ein bisschen an Faszination, über das schreckliche Ende habe ich mich zwar in dem Augenblick sehr geärgert, aber im Rückblick hat es kein großes Gewicht bei mir.
Ein paar Worte noch zu den Dialogen. Über weite Strecken störte mich, dass diese keine Bedeutung für das Spiel hatten (nur zur Atmosphäre beitragen). Im letzten Abschnitt hatte ich dann den Eindruck, dass sich das etwas ändert (vielleicht getäuscht). War dann aber auch damit nicht so zufrieden. Man war doch eher für sich auf der Suche in diesem Spiel.
Nachtrag : Habe natürlich vergessen die Musik zu erwähnen, die bestimmt ähnlich wichtig wie der Bilder ist und die Gesamtatmosphäre bestimmt.
Ein Punktefazit kann und möchte ich so nicht abgeben.
Aber The Dig hat sehr viel Spaß gemacht. Habe noch nicht so viele LucasArts Titel gespielt (war mein 3,5er) und bin wahrscheinlich kein LA Fan, ich mag einfach grundsätzlich diese Blödeltitel nicht, auch deshalb war The Dig richtig gut und ich hatte das Gefühl ein sehr modernes Adventure zu spielen.

[Temüjin]

Gutes Resümee, finde ich!

Wenn alle durch sind, würde ich gerne aus diesem Gespräch, so wie es im Buch widergegeben ist, zitieren.

Wäre jetzt nicht ein guter Zeitpunkt dafür? Scheint doch ganz gut zu klappen, mit Deinem Handy...

[Joey]

Könnt ihr mir bitte einen Gefallen tun? *liebkuck*
Bitte postet doch keine so großen Bilder mehr oder postet sie innerhalb eines Spoiler-Tags. Ich muß auf der gesamten Seite jetzt beim Lesen in jeder Zeile hin- und herscrollen. Von dem ganzen Hin und Her wird man ja seekrank.

[edit]
Danke!!! @ Inventarius

[Möwe]

Gutes Resümee, finde ich!

Wenn alle durch sind, würde ich gerne aus diesem Gespräch, so wie es im Buch widergegeben ist, zitieren.

Wäre jetzt nicht ein guter Zeitpunkt dafür? Scheint doch ganz gut zu klappen, mit Deinem Handy...

Morgen abend, wenn ich wieder zu Hause bin.
Aber es kann auch gerne jemand anderes, der das Buch hat, das Gespräch reinstellen. Ich hätte nichts dagegen.

[Temüjin]

Oh, ja, mach ich. Hier, dies kam im Spiel jetzt so nicht für mich rüber:
"Wir haben viele solcher Sonden zu Sonnensystemen mit Planeten geschickt, auf denen wir intelligentes Leben vermuteten.
Es ist sehr einsam in diesem unendlichen Universum. Wir waren voller Begierde auf die Gesellschaft anderer Völker.
Jede Sonde wurde als natürliches Phänomen getarnt, um die Eingeborenen nicht zu erschrecken."
Der Cocytaner fuhr fort:" Nur ein Volk, das weit genug entwickelt ist, um die Anziehungskraft seines Heimatplaneten zu überwinden, würde eines der Boten untersuchen und aktivieren. Sie wurden alle programmiert mit ihren Entdeckern hierher zurückzukehren. Diese Inselgruppe wurde speziell für den Empfang der Fremden geschaffen. Hier sollte es möglich sein, die Vertreter anderer Spezies in einer Umgebung zu treffen, die sie neugierig machen, aber nicht überwältigen wird."
Das erklärt das Museum oder das Planetarium", warf Low ein, nachdem Robbins übersetzt hatte.
Also diese Idee ist ja nun eindeutig von Arthur C. Clarke aus seiner Story zu dem Film "2001- Odyssee...", wo Menschen auf ein Artefakt auf dem Mond treffen, was nach seinem Aufbrechen anfängt, Signale an seine Alien-Erbauer zu senden.

[Möwe]

Manno, erst erklärt ihr mir, dass alle Charaktere bloß Stereotypen sind, dann findet ihr das Ende plump und blöde und jetzt findet ihr auch noch wesentliche Storyelemente abgekupfert.
*schmoll*
Aber ich mag das Spiel trotzdem.
Ich mag auch die Charatere und finde sie nicht flach. Gerade durch die Gespräche undihre Witze erhalten sie für mich Tiefe.
Das Ende mag ich, auch wenn es märchenhaft ist. Wenigstens gibt es EINE vernunftbegabte Spezies im Univerdum - und ihre leichte Orientierungslosigkeit in Spacetime 6 macht sie sehr symphatisch - ich verirre mich auch immer.
Und zu Odyssee im Weltraum: jede Geschichte basiert auf schon erzählten Elementen - es kommt nur darauf an, wie man sie neu zusammen fügt.

[realchris]

the dig versteckt ja die einflüsse durch 2001 nicht. siehe bildmontage erde kristall mond. ersetze kristall durch monolith.

[Möwe]

Hier kommt das Gespräch zwischen Boston, Maggie und dem Erfinder. Da es so lang ist, habe ich es in kleine Kapitelchen unterteilt.
Zur Erklärung vorab:
Im Buch beobachten die Aliens die Aktionen der Menschen auf ihrem Planeten. Ihre Gespräche, Kommentare und Beurteilungen dazu werden immer wieder eingestreut. So auch hier während des Gesprächs.
Boston und Maggie wollen vom Alien vor allem wissen, wo die restlichen Platten sind, denn sie denken, dass sie mit deren Hilfe wieder zur Erde gelangen werden.
Beginn:

The vestigial wings fluttered slightly, and a great sigh came from deep within the massive chest."Very well. I will tell you. I will do my best to keep my words simple and straightforward so that you may be sure to understand. And when I have finished, I would ask that you leave me to my chosen destiny and disturb me no more."
She nodded understandingly. Low was close and anxious.
"Well?"
"It's going to explain some things," she told him. "In return, it wants something from us."
He frowned. "What could it want from us?"
Bright blue eyes stared back at him."Death."

Zum Erfinder selbst:

"Who are you? Not a name. Tell me an individual."
"As I told you, I am called Creator, a designation I did not choose for myself. Builder would have been more appropriate. Designer, Conceptualizer. I should prefer Engineer."
"That's something." Low allowed himself to feel hopeful.
"You've been dead," she observed, unselfconsciously restating the obvious.
"Pleasantly. Soon I will be again, if you will stop interfering. I long ago grew tired of life, the follies attendant upon it and the absurdities to which even the supposedly intelligent are heir."
Low responded. "Tell it we're sorry to have disturbed its ... rest. We respect ist wishes to remain dead and promise not to revive it again. Tell it we both share strong desires. It wants not to live and we very badly want to go home. But we can't do that without help. We didn't ask to be brought here anymore than it asked to be revived."
Robbins nodded and translated. When she'd finished, fathomless alien eyes shifted slightly and came to rest on the Commander.
"Yet you are here. I see that some background is in order.

Warum die Raumschiffe ausgesandt wurden:

"Long ago, this world of—I will use your far simpler nomenclature for it—Cocytus was a strong and vigorous place. We discovered how to bend the material world to our needs, much as you are learning to do." Robbins frowned. "How do you know that? You know nothing of our world."
It turned back to her. "You would not be here now if you were not technologically inclined. Only a technically advancing species would have the ability to reach one of the Messengers."
"Messengers? Is that what you call the asteroid?"
"Patience, little biped.We believed that our society and philosophy had matured along with our technology. We found a way not to exceed the speed of light but to bypass it. I cannot think of a simpler way to put it and I assure you the technical description would be beyond your comprehension."
"That's for sure," she responded. "I can't even program my VCR."
"We chose not to utilize this discovery for personal travel because search times were very long. Integral to the process is a boomerang effect. So while out-search travel times are quite long, returns take comparatively little time. Otherwise you would have aged greatly during your journey.
"We sent out many such probes to systems that harbored planets and that we hoped might also prove home to other intelligences. It is a vast universe in which to be alone and we avidly sought the companionship of other species. Each probe was disguised, camouflaged, as a natural phenomenon so as not to alarm the local inhabitants."
"So as not to alarm, hmmm? Had the opposite effect on us. But if it hadn't, we sure wouldn't have responded as quickly. Go on."
The Cocytan continued. "Only a species sufficiently advanced to leave behind the gravity of ist homeworld would have the capability to investigate and trigger a Messenger. Once activated, each was designed to return here with its discoverers.

Zum Inselkomplex:

This complex of islands was specially designed to serve as a greeting place, where representatives of other species could be met in surroundings that would intrigue but not overwhelm them."
"That explains exhibits like the museum and the planetarium," Low commented when Robbins had translated for him.
She nodded agreement. "Not to mention the language instructor. I see the point. If you're welcoming people from a primitive tribe, it's a lot kinder to introduce them first to a simple village instead of taking them off a plane at Kennedy Airport."
"The map spire. Ask it about the map spire." She complied.
"A means of showing not only our planet, but our immediate stellar vicinity, as well as the relationship between it and the visitor's homeworld."
Low muttered to himself. "Then Earth was in there someplace. Ludger and I just didn't know where to look."
"What?" A confused Maggie tried to make sense of his words.
"Nothing.I'll tell you later. Go on."
"We had acquired vast knowledge," the Cocytan continued, "which we were eager to share with others, if they could be found. All intelligences yearn for the company of others. In a boundless cosmos cognitive thought is a precious commodity, to be nurtured and cultivated wherever encountered. Sparks in a void must perforce stand together against the encroaching darkness. But I speak of times long vanished."
So saying, the Cocytan dropped its head in a gesture that was startlingly humanlike, though whether it meant the same or something completely different, its audience had no way of knowing.

Nochmals zum Erfinder:

"But something happened." Maggie's voice had unconsciously hushed. She was overcome by the Cocytan's scale of time and place. "Some disaster or cataclysm."
The alien raised a hand and gestured with surprisingly delicate fingers. "Say rather, a tragedy. Of our own making. A consequence of our drive to achieve, to surpass, to exceed."
"What happened to everyone else?" she asked. "Yours is the only body we've found preserved."
"'Preserved.'" The Cocytan ran one hand along the edge of the high platform. "None of this was my doing, nor was it by my choice. I knew nothing of it. I wished nothing more than a traditional departure from the realm of the living. I wanted to die. Instead, this was done to me."
As the Cocytan spoke and he waited for Maggie's translation, Low could not help but notice that the flickering lights had increased in both number and intensity. He fancied he heard a voluminous, ghostly moan and had to smile at the strength of his own imagination.
"This is the longest," observed a dozen thought-forms, "that the creator has spoken with any visitors."
"It does not matter," declared sixty-three others. "Nothing will happen. It will end the same as before, and when it is over, these travelers will add their proteins and body fluids to those of their predecessors.
Nothing will have changed."
"Nothing will have changed," lamented a hundred thousand of the forlorn.

Lebenskristalle:

"It happened after the first probes had been sent out to search for intelligent life on other worlds." The Cocytan stared blankly at the ceiling, recalling. "While they were in transit, a significant development occurred in our society. Not a natural calamity, as you propose. We had progressed beyond being subject to the vagaries of climate and geology. Furthermore, we had acquired control over our bodies. Life spans had been extended to the maximum of which our physical forms were capable.
"Yet for many, even this was not enough. As sometimes happens in science, several profound
discoveries in a number of unrelated disciplines took place almost simultaneously.
"First, the life crystals, as you call them, were synthesized. At the time, they were considered to be the ultimate product of high Cocytan technology."
The Creator's expression remained unreadable. While Robbins had learned how to interpret Cocytan speech, she remained woefully ignorant of facial contortions and body language. Not that the Creator was especially expressive anyway.
Low found himself glancing frequently over his shoulder, only to find nothing staring back at him. There were only the elaborately decorated walls and the dancing lights. He forced himself to pay attention to the interview. While he couldn't understand a word of it, it was fascinating to watch Maggie and the Cocytan converse.
"These crystals, what are they?" she asked.
"For one thing, they are not crystals in the usual sense. Their appearance is incidental to their
composition. Internally, they are very uncrystallike. The luminous outer sheath and inner crystalline one mask individual organic mechanisms of incredible complexity. Think of them as tiny but complete hospitals, containing everything that is needed to repair another organic life-form. With the development of the crystals it was no longer necessary for the sick or injured to travel in search of medical care.
Complete treatment could be inserted into their own bodies.
"Each crystal incorporates the ability to diagnose as well as to perform any necessary medical work. Resurrection of the deceased merely constitutes a more difficult but, as you have seen, not impossible repair. It is simply a matter of rearranging and reinvigorating the appropriate molecules."
"It works on humans too," she informed it.
"The crystal's powers of examination are considerable."
"I can see something like that working on the recently deceased," she remarked, "but with someone who's been dead as long as yourself, I'd think the brain patterns would have faded beyond hope of recovery."
"What are you asking it now?" Low demanded to know.
She waved him off. "Just the basics, Boston. Hush now, or I won't be able to understand." Fuming silently at his inability to follow the conversation, the Commander went silent.
"Learning how to preserve the dead," the Cocytan explained, "is a necessary prelude to discovering how to revive them. That includes methods for the preservation of brain patterns. Although it was not my field, I believe it has to do with maintaining certain electrical flows in the absence of normal biological activity.
As you can see, I was given the finest handling of which our biologists and physicists were capable. I was, as I have already mentioned, not consulted in this."
"But you're the only one." Robbins made it a statement, not a question.
"Not at all. The museum spire is full of such exhibits, if only you knew how to activate them. There are many that can be restored to life."
"No, I mean, you're the only Cocytan. The only preserved representative of the dominant species. At least, you're the only one we've found."
Was that a smile? Low wondered as he stared at the alien. Or did the twitch of beak and eyes signify something else entirely?
His thoughts drifted to Brink. "Ask it how long the benign effect of the crystal lasts." She proceeded to translate.
"It varies," the Cocytan explained, "depending on the organism. In your case I could not say. You are warm-blooded and have a closed circulatory system. Beyond that I cannot speculate on the details of your internal anatomy."

Und wieder zum Erfinder:

"You still haven't told us why you were singled out for this special treatment." Robbins's interviewing skills came automatically to the fore. "What makes you so unique?"
The Cocytan lingered a moment before replying. "I had the misfortune to be born brilliant."
"You don't feel honored by all this?"
"Honored?" The alien leaned forward so sharply that for an instant Robbins considered retreating. Instead, she held her ground. In her career she'd faced down all manner of threats and weapons. The feeling she received from the Cocytan was not one of menace or of friendship. Nor was it complete indifference. It ran deeper, and she determined to identify it.
"You said that your people achieved several scientific breakthroughs at the same time." Low spoke through Robbins. "You've discussed the life crystals. What were the other ones?"

Das Auge:

The Cocytan turned to him. "There was a machine. An instrumentality called the Eye. Simple name for something so complex. I did not name it, though I was the one guilty of its evolution."
"So you were more than an engineer." Robbins spoke slowly and carefully to make sure there were no misunderstandings. "You were a scientist as well." She glanced sharply at her companion. "Boston, this one was a scientist as well as an engineer." Low simply nodded and let her get on with the translating.
"Engineering was my love," the Cocytan explained. "Science was my reason for existence. Ultimately, it became the reason for my nonexistence, for that of my friends and relations, for—" The creature broke off and began anew.
"Let me tell you about the machine.
"I did not develop the Eye by myself, of course. No mechanism so complex, so awesome in its capabilities, could be the product of one individual. But I was responsible for the underlying theorems and for much of the basic engineering.
"The concept was then taken up by others, elaborated upon and, eventually, built. It took time. Some called it magic, but of course it was no such thing. It was simply very advanced applied science.
"At the time, I was quite convinced that the mechanism ought to be built. My enthusiasm was shared by a small coterie of fellow researchers. Within what you would call the scientific establishment there was much skepticism, but the proposal was met with an open mind. Give us a concept, a design, my group was told, and it will be fabricated.
"Thus challenged, what else could I do but comply? The necessary schematics were provided." The wing-flaps on the Cocytan's back moved more rapidly. A sign of excitement, Low wondered, or agitation? Or some alien emotion that would remain forever unknown to them?
"In scope the Eye was not as grand as many other projects. We had raised cities that scraped the skies, run tunnels and temples to relaxation beneath the seas, probed the very heart of the planet. We had shrunk intricate machines to the size of cells, whose components consisted of individual atoms. You have encountered one of these yourselves, in the form of the life crystals. The Eye was a greater undertaking than some, less than others. It was simply ... the Eye."
Robbins translated for Low, then asked, "This Eye, what did it do that was so important?"

Spacetime six:

The Cocytan shifted slightly to loosen cramped muscles. "It allowed one to enter another plane of existence, to visit a different dimension. To transcend the limitations of time and space as they are generally known. Passing through the Eye stripped an individual of physical substance, leaving only the state of being behind. Yet all of that individual's original self, including the physical, was compacted and retained within the being that remained, much as one might dehydrate a fruit or vegetable.
"The process was quick, painless and liberating."
"What's it talking about?" Low put an arm around Robbins's shoulder.
"I'm not sure. It's pretty complicated. Just because I understand the words doesn't mean I'm getting all the concepts. I think he's talking about being able to go into another dimension." She sought clarification.
"For purposes of explanation your interpretation will suffice, little traveler. Within this other dimension all physicalities are absent. Belief, emotion, thought alone remain. Passing through the Eye, one becomes a conceptualization of oneself. Ethereal creatures of pure id, without solid form, they still possess the ability to perceive the physical world, though not to interact with it. Solidities are no longer barriers, though the vastness of deep space remains unbridgeable."
Gesturing as it spoke, the Cocytan reminded Low of a prima ballerina. Though massive, it was not without grace.
"It was more than metamorphosis," it continued. "It was the casting off of one existence in exchange for another. In the absence of imperfect physicality, death was reduced to a philosophical concept.
"More and more of my kind chose to experience the transformation. They saw it as elevating themselves to a higher state of being. As thousands instead of dozens began to pass through the Eye, a procedure as simple in appearance as it was intricate in execution, I began to grow more and more concerned. In this I was not alone, but as the originator of the process I believe I was the only one to envision the ultimate consequences."
"You foresaw some danger," Robbins commented softly.

Die Gefahr:

"Danger?What danger could there be in ascending to a higher state of being where one could no longer be killed or even injured? Where physical pain was but a memory and one could theoretically continue to live forever? Perhaps 'exist' forever is a better term, for I am not sure one should call it living.
"I tried to warn those who remained against abandoning the universe in which we had evolved. But when feelings of ecstasy and elation were generated by those who had already passed through, which was the only way they could still communicate with the physical world, the rush through the Eye became a flood.
Everyone wanted entry to the new paradise.
"There was nothing I could do. I, who had been so much praised and honored, became a pariah among my kind. Or worse, I was laughed at. I withdrew into myself, into my own thoughts, as tens of thousands and more lined up to step through.
"As a scientist I have always been suspicious of easy answers. Solutions should be difficult,
time-consuming and painful. The Eye was too facile. In the rush to immortality I felt we as a species were overlooking something vital. As I mentioned, there is existing, and then there is life. I was not certain that discorporeal being was also life.
"Of course, without making the journey myself there was no way I could be certain of my fears."
"Did you?" Robbins asked breathlessly.
"You do not understand. Not one who had passed through expressed any interest in returning.
Satisfaction was absolute.Which only made me more uneasy.
"At that point I felt only one option was left to me. I needed to do something vivid enough to shock those who remained out of their expectant complacency. I had to propound a warning they could not ignore. They needed to be reminded of the beauty of mortality.

Zum Erfinder:

"So I took my own life."
Robbins gaped at the tall figure. Low had to shake her to get a response. "Come on, Maggie. What did it say? Why is it looking like that?"
"It says ... it says that it's a suicide. It was done as a warning to those who hadn't yet made the
transportation through the Eye."
"I left behind," continued the Cocytan, not caring whether the two humans had concluded their conversation or not, "a request. I demanded that my remaining colleagues not use the life crystals to revive me. In this, at least, they complied with my wishes. But unbeknownst to me I was given this elaborate burial, and my remains were preserved instead of being allowed to return to the soil from whence they sprang. How absurd! Perhaps they thought that some day I might wish to be revived so that I could pass through the Eye and join my kindred spirits, as it were. They knew of me, but none knew me."
"But you have been revived since then," Robbins suggested.

Andere Aliens:

"Not by my own kind, nor by any who looked like you. Others have come. Not many."
"Other ships," Low muttered when Robbins had finished translating.
"Some have used the life crystals to revive me. They asked their questions and then they departed, leaving me in peace. None returned, and I know nothing of their fate."
"We can guess," replied Robbins.
"I am the only Cocytan left." The Creator's voice was devoid of self-pity or remorse. "This I know from having spoken with those who have revived me. I am certain that those who placed me here subsequently took their own turns in the line, until the voices of my kind were no longer heard on the surface of this world. They abandoned it to the lower forms. They used a machine to thwart evolution. My machine."
The great head dropped, and this time there was no mistaking the meaning behind the gesture.
For a long time neither human nor Cocytan spoke.

Die anderen Cocytaner:

"They' ve all gone?" Robbins inquired when she could speak again.
"All. Over, through, into: whichever metaphor you prefer will do. Within that other dimension all exist still. I have no reason to believe otherwise. Whether they alsolive I cannot say. That is a designation I reserve for physical existence. They are here now, even as we speak."
"What?" Low's eyes darted in all directions, seeking the unseeable.
"I thought I'd felt something." Robbins turned a slow circle, seeing only walls, ceiling and floor. "I've been feeling it ever since we stepped out of the asteroid-ship. A presence. And not in the metaphysical sense either." Sparks swirled urgently around her, enigmatic and undefined. Again Low spoke through Robbins. "Does it have anything to do with these flashes of light? When they intensify, I could swear that we're being watched."
"You are," the Cocytan told them. "As alien physical intelligences, you constitute a diversion."
"How many?"Low asked.
The Cocytan considered before replying. "I see no reason why all should not be here. Watching, listening, observing,doubtless commenting."
"All?" queried Robbins uncertainly. "How many did you say made the trip through the Eye?"
The Cocytan made a sweeping gesture. "It is not so impossible as it seems. Reduced to pure thought, to a statement of oneself, existence requires very little in the way of actual space. Assuming every transposition was successful, and while I lived I never saw an unsuccessful one, the number would have been approximately three billion."
"Three billion?"Robbins swallowed as points of light swirled about her. "And they're all here now, in this room with us?"

Gedanken der anderen Cocytaner:

"Why should they be somewhere else when they could be here? As I said, you represent an entertaining diversion."
"What's it saying?" Low demanded to know.
She turned to him. "It says that all of the Cocytans who went through the Eye are here now, in this chamber with us.You, me, it, and three billion thought-forms."
Low whistled softly. Once more his gaze flicked about the room. "Funny. Up until now I didn't feel crowded in here."
It was fortunate neither of them was claustrophobic, or remaining in the chamber would have been unbearable. As it was, they felt no pressure, no weight. Only the knowledge pressed heavily on them.
"How do you know this?" Low inquired.
"It is logical, and as a Cocytan I am more attuned to the presence of my own kind than you. I cannot be sure of the number, but it follows. I am sensitive to projections you are incapable of receiving. Not complete, coherent thoughts, mind you, but general sensations. My brethren are here, and yet they are not."

Wieder über den Erfinder:

The Creator started to stand but proved unable to complete the motion. Instead, it sank back down, clearly exhausted.
"What's wrong?" The depth of her concern surprised Robbins.
"It is not good for one who has been long dead to be resurrected. The life-crystal process was
developed so that those who perished accidentally could be rapidly revived. It was never intended to be used on ancient bodies like myself. Nor, as you now know, is this the first time I have been brought back. Under such circumstances the efficacy of the life crystal is marginal. I am past successful rejuvenation and find the whole process tiresome beyond measure.
"Remember that I chose death: It did not choose me. My physical form is so old that even the
preservation processes employed by my misguided but well-intentioned colleagues can no longer sustain ordinary organic functions. The systems are feeble, the organs withered. I am sure that the intention was that should I be revived, I would quickly make the transportation via the Eye. It was never planned that I
live for long in this precarious state."
"Are you in pain?"
Again that maybe-smile."Only mentally."

Die anderen Cocytaner:

"Then why haven't you joined them? Why don't you now?"
"For the same reason I did not do so in the first place," the scientist-engineer explained. "Immortality is an alluring concept, much better dealt with via learned philosophical discourse than actuality. Every time I am revived, I sense greater and greater un-happiness among the transposed. It is just as I feared: They are less than content with their immortal lot."
"The Creator lectures the travelers." The ten million who commented rested unnoticed on Maggie Robbins's left shoulder.
"Will they comprehend?" wondered twenty million others. "And comprehending, will they act?"
"They will not," insisted forty million more from the vicinity of Low's ankles. "Why should they? We didn't."
"Primitiveness is relative," avowed the first. "It is not related to the moment. We have had a thousand years to learn and yet are helpless to affect our own condition."
"Who could have envisioned eternity as boring?" observed fifty million more.
"From all I have been able to glean," the Cocytan told Low and Robbins, "paradise is a particularly dreary place. When one surrenders physicality, one also gives up all the sensations it is heir to. Touch, smell, taste and several other senses I do not think you possess.The ability to perceive electrical fields, for one, and to taste of the infrared. In crossing over, all are surrendered, all are lost forever."
"How do you know all this?" Robbins asked.
"Those sensations I spoke of are present even as we speak. I perceive nothing to contradict that which I have already surmised. Each time I am revived, I sense increasing disenchantment, a desire to trade timeliness for timelessness."
"Then why don't they?" Robbins translated for Low. "Why don't they just come back?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Maggie. It's patently impossible."

Zurückkommen:

"Actually," explained the Cocytan, "it is quite possible. Hypothetically, at least."
Again Robbins translated. Except for the superior smirk,which was entirely her own addition. "See?"
"Okayyy." Low turned to face the Creator. "If it's possible, and muchly desired, then when you're revived, why don't you just amble over to this Eye and throw it into reverse or whatever? Assuming the machinery is still functional, of course."

Nochmals Erfinder:

"As I have told you, my physical form is not capable of leaving this special chamber. Were I to attempt a task as elementary as rising from this platform and walking to the exit, my internal skeleton would simply collapse. My head would sink down between my shoulders to end up somewhere in the region of my pelvic girdle, crushing my internal organs along the way.
"So long as I remain atop this platform and make no attempt to leave, I am constantly bathed in what for lack of a better term I will call an energy field. It is similar to but different from that projected by the life crystals. Did you think that after a thousand years my flesh and blood would remain intact and functional without constant attention?" As an alarmed Low started to back away, it gestured sharply.
"There is no need to flee. The field is site as well as cell specific and cannot affect you." The alien visage contorted. "At this point in time, it barely affects me.
"I cannot reactivate the Eye, much less execute the necessary adjustments. It is possible that the latter were left engaged by those who stepped through last, but I do not know."
"You really think this gateway, or whatever it is, still might be operational?" Low asked through Robbins.
"As I told you, I have no way of knowing. I have not set eyes upon the device myself since I terminated my own existence. A termination, by the way, with which I am still fully comfortable and the interruption of which causes me a great deal of distress."
"We're sorry," Robbins replied, "but we didn't have any choice. We're desperate to find a way back to our own world."
"I understand. You are prey to the ills of the flesh. It must be difficult to be alive and far from one's home. Death alleviates so many petty concerns."
"Not for me," Low declared when Robbins had translated this last for him. "I've got too many questions for which I'd still like to have answers. Now, tell us about this machine."

Das Auge:

Despite its evident fatigue, the scientist-engineer did its best to comply. "Like all devices of advanced Cocytan manufacture, the Eye was designed when not in use to shut itself down and preserve itself against decay. Unless it was tampered with or affected by unforeseen natural forces, it should remain, self-repairing and self-maintaining,awaiting reactivation should it be required. You have already seen how Cocytan machinery can sustain itself, or you would not be here now."
Low nodded. "The interisland transport system, the planetarium and many other devices are still functional."
"My people knew how to build. But they could not devise a mathematical theorem that would lead to contentment. In a delirium of expectation they cast aside everything they had built up to that time. It is a great pity.
"If the Eye could be reactivated, and if it was properly re-programmed prior to the last of my colleagues' transposing themselves, then I feel certain many if not all would return to gladly engage the normal progression of life and death they unwittingly left behind. Among them would be many who could be of assistance to you.
"As for myself, there is nothing more I can do for them. I did too much while I was alive. My punishment is that I am not to be left in peace. And yet, perhaps I may be of assistance to you. Not out of any personal fondness, you understand, for you are nothing to me but an inconvenient interruption, but because your departure would assure my continued rest."
"Help us," Low urged the alien, "and I swear we'll never bother you again." It was an easy promise to make.
"Your desire to return home." The enfeebled scientist engineer strained to remember distant schematics from an even more distant time. "I recall the activation mechanism that was used on the probes. I believe it involved...," and a long string of untranslatable engineering terms followed.
A brief physical description, however, left no doubt as to what the Cocytan was referring to.
"The four plates," Robbins told an expectant Low. "It's describing the four-plate system."
"We have three. Tell it we have three." She did so.
"Then the matter is simple. I would think there would be others here, in this spire. Before it became my resting-place, it was a museum of travel. Search near the entrance. I think you will find what you are looking for."
So saying, it raised its feet from the floor, leaned back, and resumed the traditional Cocytan resting position, prone on its back, winglets outspread to both sides.
"I tire of this new life, as I have tired of all that have gone before. I choose not to think. Leave me now, and if you would respect my intelligence as I have respected yours, do not inflict the pain of consciousness on me again. It is time for me to not be." The slim, magisterial head turned slightly toward them.
"Go now, and I hope you find your way home. My entire species could not."
"We don't know how to thank you." Robbins spoke quickly, conscious of the gravity of the moment. Eyes full of wisdom flickered as the life force began to wane. The voice was an echo of what it had been earlier. "You are not home yet. When you reach your destination, thank me then." Eyes closed, the voice silenced and breathing ceased. Once again, the great scientist-engineer was not.
Robbins wiped at her eyes. "I hope we didn't impose on it too much. I wouldn't like to go away thinking we'd caused it any pain."
"I wouldn't worry about it." Low was firmly prosaic. "It's dead now.Again. That's what it wanted." He turned to look in the direction of the exit. "Now maybe we can get what we want."

[k0SH]

Eindrücke vom letzten Abschnitt:


Kein Einspruch | Gar nicht so wortkarg unser Brinky-Boy | Alien-Klospülung *drück*



Ei was ist denn da? | *Haha* | Ritsch-ratsch -> ab



Weise 1 | Weise 2 | Gar nicht so weise!



Klar *fingerkreuz* | Aaach komm, war doch nur eine Pille! | Ouch..



Ich nehm die Frau | Umtauschrecht? | Letzte Maniküre vor 400 Jahren


Biometrisches Passbild -> fail | DA geht was auf der Rückreise | Schöööööön (der Ami hat´s wieder geschafft)


Danke indeed! | ...


Ich fand und finde das Spiel schön!
Der Soundtrack ist und bleibt der Hammer!

Danke für den gemeinsamen Let´s Play!
Besonderen Dank an die geflügelten Leiter. =D>

Viel zu meckern habe ich an dem Spiel nicht.
Dafür aber viel zu schwärmen.

[axelkothe]

Will mich jetzt auch mal kurz zu Wort melden. Ich habe auch mitgespielt und war von unserer gefiederten Reiseleitung sehr begeistert. Da ich dabei fast immer das Kind auf dem Arm hatte konnte ich mich leider nicht an der Diskussion beteiligen, einhändig schreiben ist kacke Aber Adventure-Spielen geht gut (wenn man nicht gerade WASD benutzten sollte, wie bei Sherlock Holmes, dass ich als zweites Adenture nebenher gespielt habe, wenn das Kind NICHT auf meinem Arm war *g*)

Jedenfalls habe ich gemerkt, dass ich bis auf die Anfangssequenz und zwei drei Kleinigkeiten GAR nichts mehr gewusst habe vom Spiel, das ich damals kurz nach dem Release gespielt hatte (und seitdem nicht wieder). Und ich muss sagen dass das Spiel toll gealtert ist und mir immer noch gut gefällt!

[Möwe]

Wunderschöne Bilder und Kommentare, k0SH.

Ich bin auch endlich durch und musste ein paar Tränchen verdrücken.
JAAAA, ich habe auch bei ET geheult.
Hier noch ein Wesen mit einem besonders blöden Blick:


@ Axel: schön, dass du schon den Nachwuchs an die wichtigen Dinge im Leben heranführst...

[k0SH]

Paar Infohäppchen ausm Hardcoregaming101.net book The Guide to Classic Graphic Adventures

"..until Spielberg brought his ideo to LucasArts in 1989, to eventually be turned into a computer game. It was, however, not released until 1995."

"It went through four designers and three total overhauls..."

"You might recognize his voice [Boston] from Terminator 2,.., since he´s voiced by Robert Patrick"

"Press Ctrl+B and Low will flex his muscled.."

"The trio is rounded out with Ludger Brink, a German archaeologist and geologist."

"But the crystals induce madness, paranoia,.."

"..story parallels The Treasures of Sierra Madre"

"The focus is largely on the look, the feel, and the atmosphere, which almost puts it more in the league of something like Myst."

Spannend sind auch die Infos zu den ersten Versionen von The Dig.
Hätte ein komplett anderes Spiel werden können.

[Möwe]

Keine Ahnung, ob ich das schon gepostet habe: hier findet man Interviews mit den diversen Machern der Spiele: http://dig.mixnmojo.com/museum/interviews.html
Da sind auch einige große Namen dabei, die den Kennern schon im Abspann aufgefallen sein sollten.

Und hier kommt man zur ersten Version von The Dig, ganz unten rechts ist der Link und man muss das angegebene Passwort eingeben:
http://dig.mixnmojo.com/downloads/index.html
Ziemlich passendes Passwort ...

[Friederike]

Hat total Spass gemacht, das Spiel mit euch mal wieder durchzuzocken!

Bei mir waren es bestimmt mehr als 10 Jahre seit dem letzten Spielen, aber das ist ja das Tolle bei diesen alten Playthroughs: Was hat man damals empfunden und wie isses nun?

Vielen Dank an unsere gefiederten Freunde: Ihr habt das wirklich klasse gemacht!!!! [-o< =D>