Jigsaw: Chasing an attractive stranger through the 20th century

LOL

You flip the pieces back and forth based on the color at the end of a row. Whoever has the most pieces of their color up wins.

So they switch. I see, I see.

Ah, that's what I thought it was but it didn't seem to make sense; it's in a poem, I see.

Happy 31st anniversary of the first use of the Canadarm, everybody!

*cough* Well then. I'm never going to be able to look at the Othello the same way again.

Back to the moon, ladies and gentlemen! Time to go where gnomon has gone before! (I'm so sorry)

Also, I do believe that the gnomon is a Trinity reference, though that was a different kind of gnomon.

Oh, wow. By the way, this is also the image on the Jigsaw cover art that's on IFDB.

This calls for more Sinatra, I think.



The perfect music for a scenic drive.

Go to the moon, drive a NASA rover, pick up mysterious green clods. Best vacation ever.

I had to try at least. It would've been a wonderful addition to our collection. Also, I see what you did there, Graham Nelson! While researching for this particular chapter I've come across some truly dark corners of the internet where strange people in tinfoil hats argue that the moon landings were faked. One of their key pieces of evidence is that the flag looks like it's flying in the breeze, but there's obviously no wind on the moon. Of course, this could be explained by the flag having wires to make it stand up. No point in taking a picture if you can't see those stars and stripes.

Hey, here's an idea, maybe we can get a look at the inside of the Challenger.

Damn you, common sense!

Oh and it's perfectly alright to disturb the past if it's the solution to a puzzle, huh?

Well what do we have here?

We have just the thing to get this open. Time waits for gnomon! (I'm so very sorry)

We found Waldo! Er...what's Waldo?

Admit it. That's the first thing you guys thought of, too.

Unfortunately, Waldo probably looks more like Curiosity than Wall-E.

I feel like I appreciate the great descriptions in this game even more now that we're somewhere as awesome as the moon.

Don't you just love it when you're writing up a post and your browser crashes on you?

*slams head against wall*

That sucks. I'm sorry.

S'okay. Now that I'm done my stupid essay I can actually do stuff again (for about one more evening. Then I have to start on my other essay :D). I'll just re-do the post now. It's been too long since I last updated.

Alright, sorry for being away so long.

So, we've got waldo. We climb back down to the lunar rover and head west, stumbling across...

It really isn't all that impressive-looking.

Eeep. Plutonium 238 is an isotope of Plutonium and extremely radioactive (why the heck isn't our geiger counter going off?). It seems like this is what killed the astronauts in Black's time.

Of course, it would be stupid to just try picking the thing up and walking off with it, but here's what happens if you do.

We're going to have to find some other way of getting it out of here. Hey! Didn't we just find a robot that's made for working in harsh environments? The problem is that we have to program Waldo first, and for that we need to be out of this suit. So back to the Othello it is.

But first, there's something I need to show you guys.

We try going southwest in the rover, but it seems that the real astronauts are over there. We'll have to do this all sneaky-like.

Hmpf. Tortilla Flat isn't even that flat.

Our...what?

Square? Grey? I think we all know what that means. But how to get over there?

White may have a great many talents, but sneaking is evidently not one of them. We won't be getting that jigsaw piece any time soon.

Aaaarrrrghhh. My computer kept crashing on me just when I had a post written up.

Well not this time. We're finally gonna get off the Moon. I mean, the Moon is a wonderful place but we've been here for half of November.

Okay, where were we? Ah, yes, we've got Waldo. Now it's time to head back to the Othello. I cut out the process of actually getting back there for your benefit.

Haha! That's adorable! So it's not just us who embarrasses ourselves sometimes.

We have learned two new things: 1) Black geeks out over robots and 2) Kaldecki was somehow able to get a state-of-the-art robotic rover into the past and onto the Moon. While being dead.

Anyways, Waldo isn't just a cool-looking toy. We actually need him to get that Jigsaw piece. As previously established, White isn't one for sneaking around, especially while wearing a bulky spacesuit. That's why we're gonna use Waldo. Remember those instructions we found?

We're able to pre-program a certain number of movements into Waldo's memory, which are activated when we press the pink button on his head. Now, normally you have to go back and forth from the crater and the lander, fine-tuning the instructions until you get it right. But I'm going to skip all that.

There we go.

Pfff, I see how it is. You just don't want me to take your new toy. Well too bad, I need him.

Goodbyes said, we head back to where we last saw the astronauts.

So what have these guys been doing since we were gone? Actually it seems like they're still discussing the mysterious Orange Soil.

People may not realize this because of the coolness-factor of actually going into space, but astronauts are huge nerds. After all, they need to be exceptional scientists and passionate about their work.

We can't just send Waldo off because the astronauts will see him. We need a distraction. So what's the perfect way to distract a bunch of geology nerds? A rock, of course.

Go Waldo go!

An aside: I adore the ambient chatting that some of the characters get up to in this game. It taps into a certain voyeuristic pleasure I get from listening to other people's conversations.

He got it! (let's fast-forward a bit)

Way to ruin the moment, game.

According to a few sites, a gabbro is a coarse-grained rock with heavier elements (magnesium/iron) in it. This one contains clinopyroxene minerals.

An example of a clinopyroxene mineral would be pigeonite.

Coo.

Hmph. The narrator is obviously inanimate-ist. That's discrimination, sir.

I do hope we can keep him. He's a nice addition to our hoard.

There's still the most important thing left to do; we have to save the astronauts by dealing with that faulty nuclear rod. So let's go back to that scientific station.

The reason the rod is here is to power the nuclear reactor (they seriously couldn't power their stuff with something safer?)

The reactor only opens if you tug on the cable, like so.

But first thing's first, we can't even pick up the rod unless the crack is protected somehow. That's where that foil we got earlier comes in handy.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

The difficulty is that you need something really lightweight, because getting mass into space costs enormously, and you want it to keep working for a pretty long while (like a year), and you don't want any moving parts because that's less reliable, and on the Moon solar power means no power for 14 days in every 28 (and wind power is right out :-)). The article I found says these generators produce 63 watts, which would be the equivalent of about 5 amps from a car battery. A standard small car battery (say 40 Amp hours) would be able to do that for about ten hours total, so to last a year you'd have to bring an awful lot of batteries.

You get some of this in Infocom's Trinity, too, especially at the end; lots of radio conversations there, IIRC. It makes them feel more like people and less like mere components of a puzzle mechanic.

We can't put the rod into the reactor and pull the cable at the same time, so we'll have to use Waldo as our extra pair of hands.

There we go, temporal crisis averted. Now we just have to get back to the Othello.

Hello again, Black.

Now we just wait a few turns and...

Oh, fine. We can't exactly deny Black a little adventure on the Moon when we've been running around and checking out the sights all this time.

So cute.

Oh shut up, Narrator. You ruin everything.

TO THOROUGHLY LOVE THIS THREAD DOWN, SLOW AND SEDUCTIVE LIKE.

But this will do as a bookmark for now as I should probably get back to this essay thing. Dear lord though, THIS GAME. Have mercy.

I love that the game responds to that, though.

It doesn't actually (the line comes at the end of the hugging thing with no space for input) I was just taking some creative license. I'm trying to make White less of a non-character.

So Black has gone off to explore the Moon and we'll be getting back to the Monument via The Land this time. Let's see if there's anything new there.

Nice to know that the creepy faces haven't gone anywhere.

"White deposits" as in strata? Like fossils? Because that's not foul, that's actually pretty cool.

Dammit, game. If you tell me about something, I want to be able to look at it. *sigh* Let's move on.

Heh, I can't believe Black actually returned our sparkler.

Only one more piece to go after we put in the one from the Moon!

The pieces we have yet to complete are Barge, Lady, and this new one. Executive decision, here. We're gonna do the Lady next, then the Barge, then the Wall. Is that okay with everyone?

He really loves you!

Also, as usual, do stuff in whatever order makes sense.

Hee~ I know, right? (man, this is so much better than all of those gross abusive relationships)

Whoa, we've dropped into an interesting time period, alright. We're in London in 1912 and the suffrage movement is going full-swing. WW1 hasn't started yet, and tensions are at an all-time high because the movement is becoming increasingly radical, which has alienated a lot of the more conservative Britons, arguably setting the movement back. Women won't get the vote until 1918 and not until 1928 were women given full suffrage on the same terms as men.

Let's get a good look at the two sides of this little confrontation.

I dunno about you, but I'd bet on the ladies. Let's go down and get a closer look.

That's nice, dear, but why do you have a bomb?!

*facepalm*

Well his heart's in the right place, at least.

And exactly how is a bomb going to do that m'dear?

Hehehehe. C'mon, Soli. Read the thread. You know you want to. ;)

Alrighty, I've derped around enough with the general stuff and am pleasantly sated.
Now for the chocolate, now for the yummy bits~! <3


DARLING, PREPARE TO BE WOOED.

*swoons*

I look forward to hearing what you think of this game.

Sorry, Nebty. I think I'll disappoint. I'm halfway through the first page and well....



I AM CONSUMED WITH LUST.
That's all my brain has been able to process; just variations of this one theme.

Does this lust have a particular object, Soli-chan ?

I was thinking more bird guano...

Flesh-eating birds?

Maybe it's all of those archaeology classes messing with my brain, but whenever I see "deposit" and "mountain" and "bones" I think strata.

Sooo, Soli-chan, how are you liking it?

I have a confession. I have attempted Jigsaw. (Not recently but before the break yanno. You did after all, rec it to me awhile ago~! <3) I GOT LOST. Stop laughing, it was a woefully dismal and pitiful time when I finally realized this game was beyond my skill level. Hence why I'm practically DELIRIOUS WITH GLEE because OMFG NEBTY IS LPING IT. I do not think there are words to quantify the sheer amounts of THIS IS WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF or SWEET MERCIFUL GAMING GODS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SMILING DOWN UPON THIS PEASANT, TWICE OVER.

Oh but to answer your question; idk?!! Like, I'm not sure what to give my heart over to? There's you and then there's Black and White and sexiness of Time Travel and sweet sweet splendor of History and BrokenForumers commenting and I don't...like I can't even begin to decide where to begin?

STAAAAAAHP IT, STAWP TEASING ME OKAY because I am this close to flying into the sun and flailing like a goddamned magikarp and maybe it's the whole not being socially active for two months but dear lord am I especially prone to paroxysms of incoherent do fucking want at this moment. I AM SO CLOSE TO TIPPING INTO THE ABYSS AND THAT IS A MADNESS YOU DO NOT WANT STARING BACK. The world does not need an eldritch!abomination!Soli and though some might argue that there's precious little difference in Broken!Soli-chan I at least know the ley of this line and it is unspeakable how very very evil you are right at this moment.

Double posting because I just finished reading awwww yiiiisssss~!
No, wait. That means no recent updates. FFFFFF- *sobs brokenly*

OH AND YEAH, new OTP that I'm calling Othello because yes, absolutely relevant.

/I miss that game though. Go is too much thinking sometimes @___@

I hope Othello is based more off that game someone mentioned rather than the Shakespeare play...
I really don't want Black to murder White in a jealous rage.

This is a fun LP.
I love time travel.

Othello specifically because as FerdieLance (lud, would you permit me to call you Ferdie or is that too bold?) said, they switch whoever tops.

ETA: And now I'm off to rustle up the game online because feeling nostalgic and board isn't here.

Back to the wonderful world of Jigsaw.

Let's first take a better look at that bomb.

Beloved of terrorists on a budget. Goddammit, Black.

So, our task is to help the suffragist cause by preventing Black from doing something stupid. The simplest way would be to just take the thing away from him.

But of course it's never that simple.

We could try knocking Black out and tossing him through a time window like we did in Russia.

I don't think the game and I are on the same page, here.

White's obviously too socially awkward for an actual confrontation. We'll have to get creative.

Anyways, remember that poster that was rolling around?

Heh. The Suffragettes wrote some pretty great propaganda.

"Christabel" refers to Christabel Pankhurst who was a militant Suffragette leader. Nicknamed the "Queen of the Mob", she was repeatedly jailed by the British Government. This rally has the potential to get very ugly, very fast.

Another animal to sketch! We've got to get it down here, somehow. What do birds like? Food, obviously. Do we have any of that? Well there is that everlasting Madeleine that refuses to be eaten.

And that well-traveled piece of pastry has finally met its end.

Brilliant shipname. Plus, the Othello was an actual ship. And Black named it himself. D'awww.

Hardy pastry bit, geez. They'd probably be good zombie apocalypse rations un.

Also I cannot help but to look on that narrator thinking White was hitting on Black as opposed to smacking him upside the head.
In another situation, maybe. *wistful sigh*

ETA: Credit where credit's due~! Ferdielance's to thank for that. n______n

Now that that's done, let's check out that newspaper.

*sigh* I had to unfold the paper dart (which is actually the Cincinnati Herald) first, because both technically count as a crumpled newspaper. I know I unfolded it earlier in the LP but I previously reloaded and forgot to unfold it again.

And we should know.

Having gotten our sketch and the newspaper, we continue on southeast.

I wonder what he's whistling.

Oooh, good choice.

But there's something else interesting about this Bobby. Check out those handcuffs.

Hmmmm, I think I have an idea of how to stop Black.

Gotcha.

*snrk*

Alright, time to go all the way back to the square.

Oh good, Black's still there. A bit of a distraction while we whip out the cuffs would probably help.

And that's when we've got him.

The day is saved and Black is mad at us. Some things never change.

Just gonna note that you don't actually have to kiss Black to complete the puzzle, but I always do it anyway. :3