ferret on 10/11/2002 at 22:08
Hmm, I just thought I'd mention this. I've been kinda keeping it under wraps for about a year now. Basically, when making the game, Ford Schick appears twice at Smugglers: on the second and third visits to Hell's Kitchen. For some bizarre reason, this wasn't included in the final game properly. This is odd, because the game makes more sense if Ford Schick appears at Smuggler's later.
Also in the game as retailed, Smuggler says he will give you a deal on some hardware if you help Schick. You only get it on the first visit though.
Now, how do I know this? All the code, conversations, everything, is in the game. The only thing that isn't done is one trigger set to make Ford appear, and one augmentation upgrade canister which he says he will give you and then doesn't.
Now, the trigger is there, but it's set to expire immediately, meaning that as soon as you leave that level, the game has forgotten that Ford Schick is still alive. Note that this trigger is completely seperate from the trigger to rescue Ford Schick, and rightly so, this allows you to kill Ford on your next meeting with him, and then not see him the third time.
So, how do you get to see Ford there, and hear the conversations? The proper way would be to alter the trigger in 02_NYC_Underground.dx, which is highlighted green in this picture:
(
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~worc1588/trigger.jpg)
The trigger is called "FordSchickRescued"(NOT "FordSchickRescueDone", that one is different). Here is the same thing, but in-game, so you can see more clearly where I am (use showall to show all the neat stuff, god only knows how to rid yourself of them again):
(
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~worc1588/gametrigger.jpg)
Alter it so that the line in this next picture says 9 (or zero for never expiring) instead of -1 (which means "expire at the end of this mission"):
(
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~worc1588/script.jpg)
Note that I've got the Mission 8 script open in the background. As you can see, if this trigger doesn't expire until Mission 9, then Ford Schick will be unhid. The same applies to Mission 4.
After having done this, he should now appear in the later levels provided you rescue him earlier. One thing he will do is give you an augmentation upgrade canister, but he won't actually give one to you... he just says he will. Another thing they never got around to doing, it seems. You can easily copy code from another situation where you are given an augmentation upgrade canister, but I personally never bothered.
So, that's the proper way. It means making alterations to maps, scripts, then playing all the way through the game again. What if you can't be bothered? Well, there is a very much easier way, which any of you reading this could do in less than 5 minutes. Here it is:
------- THE EASY WAY --------
1. Load up DX.
2. Enable cheats
3. At the console: "open 04_nyc_smug"
4. At the console: "legend"
5. Edit flags
6. There are several choices:
a. Do nothing, and Smuggler will not recognise you. You won't get a discount either.
b. Set "FordSchickRescued" to True. He will give you the discount, but you really wouldn't ever get this situation, unless you rescued Ford but never went to see Smuggler.
c. Set "MetSmuggler" to True (*before* talking to him). This is the way you would normally talk to him in this mission. There is no discount.
d. Set "MetSmuggler" and "FordSchickRescued" to True. This will be a slightly different conversation to ever before, with a discount.
7. Now, let's meet Ford Schick! Note that you can summon him on the Smuggler level anywhere, and you don't really need to set those flags. Setting those flags just changes whether the robot fires at you, and what Smuggler says, and one other thing explained later.
8. Simply "summon fordschick" at the console.
9. Do the same in the level 08_nyc_smug
Note: if you want to see Ford Schick right where you are supposed to meet him, what you need do is load up another level (like 04_nyc_street, for example). Then set the two flags, and use the legend menu to travel to the new level. Ford should now be there for you, iirc on the bottom floor on Mission four, on the top floor on Mission eight.
Discussion: why were these left out? they add oodles of sense to the game. Look at all this new knowledge!
1. The underground facility in Hell's Kitchen had something to do with JC's genetic makeup in some way.
2. JC has the plague! All along!
3. JC's systems depend on the plague, he is totally adapted to work with it.
4. Is JC infectious? Did he give it to Tong through that weird machine thing that disabled the killswitch?!?! :D
And further:
Why was this removed from the game? My own opinion is that it wasn't: it was completely accidental. It's a matter of one little number in one little trigger being missing. The augmentation upgrade canister that you don't get given is a little different though; maybe they only added that sort of stuff later, and missed this conversation? Maybe it was a bug that would have been picked up on by the playtesters? I have no idea.
I can't think of any reason why they would want to remove these extra bits and conversations, it adds so much and doesn't conflit with the game in any way.
I hope you are all interested in this, I also hope this hasn't been brought up before and talked to death. ;)
I must also apologise for not bringing this up sooner: I found it either when looking at the prices at Smugglers later, which all divide by 3 to give good numbers (suspiciously), or more likely it was when I was going through every computer and keypad in every level in the editor getting the codes and logins for my little list. I don't recall.
ferret out! :p
