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xyzzysqrlI'm really starting to feel "video-heavy detail-oriented adventure game" may have been the wrong way to go for a playthrough. I'm gonna try this: Fewer screenshots, more summing-up, a little more breezy and less every-detail-oriented. Otherwise we are gonna be at this thing until Christmas and while I love GK2 and consider it my favorite of the series I do NOT want to be writing about one game that long.
SO. Last time, Gabe made Greatface.png at a policeman and got turned away, gathered some wolfy evidence, and stopped by the zoo. Let's pick up there.
Of course I instantly have to include this screen because I'm amused that clicking the "Zoo Verwaltung" sign gets Gabriel to admit: "I don't know what this means, but it's not the exit. Exit is Ausgang. That's one of the few words I DO know." so it seems I have gravely misrepresented our good Mr. Knight. He HAS learned a couple words of German in his time here. I apologize for the character assassination.
One of the other things we can do is try to call on the local wolf population from over the fence.
Gabe starts flapping his arms around and going "HERE WOLF C'MON WOLFY WOLFY HERE WOLF" and ... well, the wolves are having none of that. Eventually he just makes a defeated face. "So it's like THAT, is it?" he sniffs, and stomps off.
I mean I say I want to include less extensive documenting of every moment in the game, but Gabe just got shot down by a zoo animal and I think that's hilarious.
Just as Gabriel's noticing the door to the wolf habitat and wondering how he could get in for a closer look or paw size comparison or something, that dude in the green hat shows up with his cart again, so Gabriel hijacks him for conversation. Happily, he speaks (accented but passable) english, so we are spared more Knight-esqe language mangling.
This is our conversation interface. We no longer get an enormous-ass menu of various topics to ask through (boo, but the video budget would've been enormous) just a bunch of specific things. Let's run down the list and exhaust the topics.
HIMSELF - He introduces himself as Tomas, and in response to Gabe's prodding mentions that he's worked at the zoo for a whole year. Gabriel noticed he was "pretty calm" walking into the kennel, to which Tomas shrugs. The wolves are lazy during the day. Gabe also notices Tomas packs a walkie-talkie. Who usually gives him his orders? Well, the kitchen, the food unit, medical... for VERY important things, Herr Doktor Klingmann HIMSELF will call.
"Doktor Klingmann." Gabriel repeats thoughtfully. So that's our next topic:
DOKTOR KLINGMANN - Dokor Klingmann is the man in charge of the mammal division. "So it's him I oughta talk to about seein' the wolves up close?" Gabe enthuses. Whoa, slow down there pal.
"You can try. But he won't let you." Tomas snickers. Still, Doktor Klingmann's over in the administration area if Gabriel wants to talk to him. Gabe gets a big smile on his face and nods. Oh yeah, he's gonna bug EVERYONE HE CAN on this case.
Before we go, though, Tomas has more topics.
WOLVES - "I tried callin' one over but they weren't too obligin'." Gabe notes. Tomas just rolls his eyes. Some people stand there and try that all day. "So, is there any way I can get in the kennel...?" Gabriel tries, but no, not without authorization, it's not happening. Looks like we've got our first big signposted puzzle: GET IN THERE AND SWIM WITH THE WOLVES.
Finally: MISSING WOLVES - "I suppose you were around when those wolves escaped, eh?" Gabriel smiles.
Tomas gets a look on his face like "Aw shit" and gets defensive. "I don't work NIGHTS, so NO." But it's cool. Gabriel's just curious, not accusing. Tomas relaxes again, and admits that the next day was pretty crazy. Gabe presses further. Doktor Klingmann says the gate was left open after the night feeding... but Tomas thinks maybe not. The gate is heavy, shuts itself. Maybe something was in the way, a rock... but either way? He's just glad it wasn't HIM working that night, because the kid who was...
"PFFFT."
"...Ohhhhhh. Fired?"
"Yes. Fired."
Knight, what did YOU think that gesture meant?
Anyway. The two missing wolves... "Hilda was pretty. White in the chest. Parsival was thicker, bigger in the chest, and darker." Dark what, Gabe wonders. "Dark GRAY. All the wolves here are gray."
Here's that fur we picked up at the farm, for reference. Doesn't look gray to me. Gabe doesn't have any strong feelings on it beyond a desire to get it to an expert. Tomas does not count as an expert, we can't show it to him. ... funny, I'm having flashbacks to snake scales for some reason.
Finally we ask about the wolves killing people and Tomas shakes his head. The wolves... they were young. They liked to play. He can't imagine vicious, brutal killings, not from Hilda or the zoo wolves.
That's all we can get from Tomas, but we now know who to look for so let's escalate this up the chain a bit.
Gabriel knocks on Doktor Klingmann's office door and is invited in, but is pretty clearly NOT someone Klingmann expected to poke their head in the door. He passes over his card and cheerfully introduces himself as an American novelist, looking for "the expert in these parts" to research a book.
Somehow, this works. Novelists of the world, I really envy you and your powers of information gathering. Can you really halt the spin of the planet just to talk to someone for an hour about whatever topic comes to mind?
We can also glance around Klingmann's office, but there isn't much to look at. Dude really likes wolves, judging by the posters. However as the conversation starts, Gabriel makes a REALLY BIG DEAL out of taking out his tape recorder and fiddling with it and putting it on the table like "HEY Y'ALL DON'T MIND ME TAPING THIS DO YA?"
Golly jee jinkies I wonder if that's important. Okay let's run down Klingmann's conversation tree.
HIMSELF - He's an animal behaviorist, and he also gets touchy when Gabriel calls him "Doc". "I realize you AMERICANS aren't much for titles, but people refer to me as Herr Doktor Klingmann here." he sniffs, all touchy-like. He's well known for his wolf research, and he seems actively depressed when talk turns to the wolf escape.
WOLVES - Gabriel turns into a total bimbo for a moment here. "I was talkin' to one of those boys out front, uhhh... Greg?" Klingmann shrugs that off. There's no "Greg" on staff. "Do you mean Tomas?" OHHH OF COURSE IT WAS TOMAS. Pfft. How could Gabe forget? Anyway, could he get in to see the wolves? "No, we don't show our wolves to anyone." Klingmann replies. Gabriel is weirdly perky as he totally gives up. "WELL GUESS THAT'S THAT."
That is not the face of a man who has accepted defeat.
RESEARCH - Klingman rants on for a while about the purity of nature and how much less pure and more muddled humanity is than natural life, particularly wild animals. Gabe interjects, asking if OTHER scientists share those views. Klingmann laughs, then leans in. "Fortunately, I have found OTHERS who do." Which isn't creepy at all.
MISSING WOLVES - Gabriel explains that it makes total sense for him to be asking about this subject, you see, because wolves are MAJOR CHARACTERS in the new novel he's writing.
(My ass, your ass, EVERYONE'S ass they are. We've SEEN your fucking novel. It's ONE PAGE LONG and unless you're changing the main character to Bark Backlash...)
Klingmann knows very little about the case, but is willing to share what he knows. They've been missing about two months...
"Sheesh! That's a long time!" Gabe butts in. "Funny how the police ain't seen hide or hair of 'em..."
"Believe me, your sentiment is shared by the German public." Klingmann sort of deadpans.
Why would the wolves attack humans? Well, wolves ARE predators. And since the zoo wolves were raised among humans... they are not afraid of humans. So does Klingmann think they could be? Unfortunately there are few wild wolves left in Germany. It's highly unlikely to have been wild wolves, but the zoo wolves? Well, it's highly unlikely it could be them either, according to Klingmann. He's as confused as anyone.
The next bit is particularly important and particularly creepy. Gabe asks how a wolf "knows what prey to select", and Klingmann starts in on a speech.
Klingmann: "Have you ever heard of the Language of Death?"
Gabriel has never wanted to hear about anything less in his entire life.
Gabe: "...nnnno?"
Klingmann: "You may have heard that wolves often choose the young, the old, or the sick as prey. Until recently, many thought this was some sort of natural selection going on survival of the fittest. But now, some of us are finding it’s much more complicated than that. We have observed, for example, wolves surround a sick cow.
The creature was helpless, yet she stood up and glared back at her would-be killers. The wolves dispersed."
Klingmann: "Or a healthy bull, who ran off for no reason when he sensed wolves nearby, making himself a target for no apparent reason. Researchers now believe there is a kind of primal language going on. 'I am Death,' the wolf says. 'Are you ready to go?' And the victim, by its actions says 'Yes, I am ready.' Or, 'No, you will not take me now.'"
Gabriel: "...and if the prey doesn't KNOW the language of death?"
Klingmann: "...that is a problem. Particularly for the wolves. They come across domesticated animals who don't know how to play the game. They start slaughtering and have no sense of when to stop. That's why farmers have hunted wolves to extinction in most parts of the world."
Gabriel: "Well. That gives me something to think about."
Okay. We have the material to solve this zoo puzzle. First off, we need privacy. Back to the Huber place. Load the Klingmann tape into slot A. Load a blank tape into slot B. Hit splice.
Welcome to the dialog splicing screen which we will use this once and never again. Using this screen and the recorded dialogue, we can construct a message that'll get us into the zoo wolf exhibit.
...no, we can't make him rant about murder and animal purity, alas. But what we CAN do...
There we go.
Back to the zoo, sneak into Klingmann's office (happily, he appears to have left for lunch), rifle through his desk and his coat for anything interesting...
(...we'll have to see what that paper is later...)
And then play the tape into the walkie talkie on Klingmann's desk. Tomas has a very WTF look on his face.
Klingmann then re-appaers and escorts us out, but that's okay, we've done what we need to. Tomas intercepts us and lets us into the wolf exhibit, tossing them some wolf treats, but he freaks the HELL OUT when Gabriel starts to actually pet one...
...and gets a big handful of fur. This DOES however lead a growly fellow to herd us out of the exhibit.
Yeah I'm no expert, but? No visual match detected.
We really DO need an expert on wolves, though. We're gonna have to hunt one of those down
Next time.
(Today's update spanned from 22:00 to 44:35 of the NintendoComplete Gabriel Knight 2 playthrough. ... that's 22 minutes? I guess that's an improvement.)
SO. Last time, Gabe made Greatface.png at a policeman and got turned away, gathered some wolfy evidence, and stopped by the zoo. Let's pick up there.
Of course I instantly have to include this screen because I'm amused that clicking the "Zoo Verwaltung" sign gets Gabriel to admit: "I don't know what this means, but it's not the exit. Exit is Ausgang. That's one of the few words I DO know." so it seems I have gravely misrepresented our good Mr. Knight. He HAS learned a couple words of German in his time here. I apologize for the character assassination.
One of the other things we can do is try to call on the local wolf population from over the fence.
Gabe starts flapping his arms around and going "HERE WOLF C'MON WOLFY WOLFY HERE WOLF" and ... well, the wolves are having none of that. Eventually he just makes a defeated face. "So it's like THAT, is it?" he sniffs, and stomps off.
I mean I say I want to include less extensive documenting of every moment in the game, but Gabe just got shot down by a zoo animal and I think that's hilarious.
Just as Gabriel's noticing the door to the wolf habitat and wondering how he could get in for a closer look or paw size comparison or something, that dude in the green hat shows up with his cart again, so Gabriel hijacks him for conversation. Happily, he speaks (accented but passable) english, so we are spared more Knight-esqe language mangling.
This is our conversation interface. We no longer get an enormous-ass menu of various topics to ask through (boo, but the video budget would've been enormous) just a bunch of specific things. Let's run down the list and exhaust the topics.
HIMSELF - He introduces himself as Tomas, and in response to Gabe's prodding mentions that he's worked at the zoo for a whole year. Gabriel noticed he was "pretty calm" walking into the kennel, to which Tomas shrugs. The wolves are lazy during the day. Gabe also notices Tomas packs a walkie-talkie. Who usually gives him his orders? Well, the kitchen, the food unit, medical... for VERY important things, Herr Doktor Klingmann HIMSELF will call.
"Doktor Klingmann." Gabriel repeats thoughtfully. So that's our next topic:
DOKTOR KLINGMANN - Dokor Klingmann is the man in charge of the mammal division. "So it's him I oughta talk to about seein' the wolves up close?" Gabe enthuses. Whoa, slow down there pal.
"You can try. But he won't let you." Tomas snickers. Still, Doktor Klingmann's over in the administration area if Gabriel wants to talk to him. Gabe gets a big smile on his face and nods. Oh yeah, he's gonna bug EVERYONE HE CAN on this case.
Before we go, though, Tomas has more topics.
WOLVES - "I tried callin' one over but they weren't too obligin'." Gabe notes. Tomas just rolls his eyes. Some people stand there and try that all day. "So, is there any way I can get in the kennel...?" Gabriel tries, but no, not without authorization, it's not happening. Looks like we've got our first big signposted puzzle: GET IN THERE AND SWIM WITH THE WOLVES.
Finally: MISSING WOLVES - "I suppose you were around when those wolves escaped, eh?" Gabriel smiles.
Tomas gets a look on his face like "Aw shit" and gets defensive. "I don't work NIGHTS, so NO." But it's cool. Gabriel's just curious, not accusing. Tomas relaxes again, and admits that the next day was pretty crazy. Gabe presses further. Doktor Klingmann says the gate was left open after the night feeding... but Tomas thinks maybe not. The gate is heavy, shuts itself. Maybe something was in the way, a rock... but either way? He's just glad it wasn't HIM working that night, because the kid who was...
"PFFFT."
"...Ohhhhhh. Fired?"
"Yes. Fired."
Knight, what did YOU think that gesture meant?
Anyway. The two missing wolves... "Hilda was pretty. White in the chest. Parsival was thicker, bigger in the chest, and darker." Dark what, Gabe wonders. "Dark GRAY. All the wolves here are gray."
Here's that fur we picked up at the farm, for reference. Doesn't look gray to me. Gabe doesn't have any strong feelings on it beyond a desire to get it to an expert. Tomas does not count as an expert, we can't show it to him. ... funny, I'm having flashbacks to snake scales for some reason.
Finally we ask about the wolves killing people and Tomas shakes his head. The wolves... they were young. They liked to play. He can't imagine vicious, brutal killings, not from Hilda or the zoo wolves.
That's all we can get from Tomas, but we now know who to look for so let's escalate this up the chain a bit.
Gabriel knocks on Doktor Klingmann's office door and is invited in, but is pretty clearly NOT someone Klingmann expected to poke their head in the door. He passes over his card and cheerfully introduces himself as an American novelist, looking for "the expert in these parts" to research a book.
Somehow, this works. Novelists of the world, I really envy you and your powers of information gathering. Can you really halt the spin of the planet just to talk to someone for an hour about whatever topic comes to mind?
We can also glance around Klingmann's office, but there isn't much to look at. Dude really likes wolves, judging by the posters. However as the conversation starts, Gabriel makes a REALLY BIG DEAL out of taking out his tape recorder and fiddling with it and putting it on the table like "HEY Y'ALL DON'T MIND ME TAPING THIS DO YA?"
Golly jee jinkies I wonder if that's important. Okay let's run down Klingmann's conversation tree.
HIMSELF - He's an animal behaviorist, and he also gets touchy when Gabriel calls him "Doc". "I realize you AMERICANS aren't much for titles, but people refer to me as Herr Doktor Klingmann here." he sniffs, all touchy-like. He's well known for his wolf research, and he seems actively depressed when talk turns to the wolf escape.
WOLVES - Gabriel turns into a total bimbo for a moment here. "I was talkin' to one of those boys out front, uhhh... Greg?" Klingmann shrugs that off. There's no "Greg" on staff. "Do you mean Tomas?" OHHH OF COURSE IT WAS TOMAS. Pfft. How could Gabe forget? Anyway, could he get in to see the wolves? "No, we don't show our wolves to anyone." Klingmann replies. Gabriel is weirdly perky as he totally gives up. "WELL GUESS THAT'S THAT."
That is not the face of a man who has accepted defeat.
RESEARCH - Klingman rants on for a while about the purity of nature and how much less pure and more muddled humanity is than natural life, particularly wild animals. Gabe interjects, asking if OTHER scientists share those views. Klingmann laughs, then leans in. "Fortunately, I have found OTHERS who do." Which isn't creepy at all.
MISSING WOLVES - Gabriel explains that it makes total sense for him to be asking about this subject, you see, because wolves are MAJOR CHARACTERS in the new novel he's writing.
(My ass, your ass, EVERYONE'S ass they are. We've SEEN your fucking novel. It's ONE PAGE LONG and unless you're changing the main character to Bark Backlash...)
Klingmann knows very little about the case, but is willing to share what he knows. They've been missing about two months...
"Sheesh! That's a long time!" Gabe butts in. "Funny how the police ain't seen hide or hair of 'em..."
"Believe me, your sentiment is shared by the German public." Klingmann sort of deadpans.
Why would the wolves attack humans? Well, wolves ARE predators. And since the zoo wolves were raised among humans... they are not afraid of humans. So does Klingmann think they could be? Unfortunately there are few wild wolves left in Germany. It's highly unlikely to have been wild wolves, but the zoo wolves? Well, it's highly unlikely it could be them either, according to Klingmann. He's as confused as anyone.
The next bit is particularly important and particularly creepy. Gabe asks how a wolf "knows what prey to select", and Klingmann starts in on a speech.
Klingmann: "Have you ever heard of the Language of Death?"
Gabriel has never wanted to hear about anything less in his entire life.
Gabe: "...nnnno?"
Klingmann: "You may have heard that wolves often choose the young, the old, or the sick as prey. Until recently, many thought this was some sort of natural selection going on survival of the fittest. But now, some of us are finding it’s much more complicated than that. We have observed, for example, wolves surround a sick cow.
The creature was helpless, yet she stood up and glared back at her would-be killers. The wolves dispersed."
Klingmann: "Or a healthy bull, who ran off for no reason when he sensed wolves nearby, making himself a target for no apparent reason. Researchers now believe there is a kind of primal language going on. 'I am Death,' the wolf says. 'Are you ready to go?' And the victim, by its actions says 'Yes, I am ready.' Or, 'No, you will not take me now.'"
Gabriel: "...and if the prey doesn't KNOW the language of death?"
Klingmann: "...that is a problem. Particularly for the wolves. They come across domesticated animals who don't know how to play the game. They start slaughtering and have no sense of when to stop. That's why farmers have hunted wolves to extinction in most parts of the world."
Gabriel: "Well. That gives me something to think about."
Okay. We have the material to solve this zoo puzzle. First off, we need privacy. Back to the Huber place. Load the Klingmann tape into slot A. Load a blank tape into slot B. Hit splice.
Welcome to the dialog splicing screen which we will use this once and never again. Using this screen and the recorded dialogue, we can construct a message that'll get us into the zoo wolf exhibit.
...no, we can't make him rant about murder and animal purity, alas. But what we CAN do...
There we go.
Back to the zoo, sneak into Klingmann's office (happily, he appears to have left for lunch), rifle through his desk and his coat for anything interesting...
(...we'll have to see what that paper is later...)
And then play the tape into the walkie talkie on Klingmann's desk. Tomas has a very WTF look on his face.
Klingmann then re-appaers and escorts us out, but that's okay, we've done what we need to. Tomas intercepts us and lets us into the wolf exhibit, tossing them some wolf treats, but he freaks the HELL OUT when Gabriel starts to actually pet one...
...and gets a big handful of fur. This DOES however lead a growly fellow to herd us out of the exhibit.
Yeah I'm no expert, but? No visual match detected.
We really DO need an expert on wolves, though. We're gonna have to hunt one of those down
Next time.
(Today's update spanned from 22:00 to 44:35 of the NintendoComplete Gabriel Knight 2 playthrough. ... that's 22 minutes? I guess that's an improvement.)
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no subject
Date: 2016-09-05 12:04 am (UTC)Also, I completely lost it at your first go at the splicer there.
Also also, I was going to say how almost cartoonishly suspicious Thomas's "So about the missing wolves--" "IT WASN'T ME I'M NOT A WEREWOLF I mean, um, yes, what about them?" reaction seemed to me, but then we got to Herr Doktor Klingmann and my God.
no subject
Date: 2016-09-05 12:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-09-05 12:37 am (UTC)But if you actually do get someone to agree to sit down for the interview part? Then yeah pretty much. My aunt got to talk to coroners and the like for her forensics mysteries and ask so many creepy questions about how exactly one could go about serial killing that she'd probably be on some sort of watch list by now were she not an actual legit successful author.
no subject
Date: 2016-09-05 09:56 pm (UTC)I mean, I get that it wasn't an option you were able to click on in the game, but it would have made things a lot simpler if it was.
Also hella impressed by the 90s text splicer that apparently has fully functional speech-to-text transcription from a cassette tape. In the 90s. :P
no subject
Date: 2016-09-05 10:56 pm (UTC)Good catch though.
no subject
Date: 2016-09-07 03:52 pm (UTC)