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	Message: : : Last time on Tour of Duty , we chose a new way, from the jumble of lava, : platforms, switches, Ticks, etc. that apparently passes for our : subconscious, or at least a place where our masters can communicate with : us on a different level, and actually effect travel between dimensions. : So, what do you do in such a situation? Whatever You Please! The Story of : the name is about as lacking in profundity as that, except that it does : tell us that this was the first Moo level designed by Randy (hmmm, did the : recent forum migration change handling of special characters? I had to : edit out the infinity symbol, en dashes, and cases of ellipsis, which used : to show up okay pasted from Word). Beck’s Odelay came out four months : before Moo, and the track Lord Only Knows features the lyrics “You do : whatever you please, and I’ll do whatever I can.” For this level, whatever : we -can- is possibly a good limitation to impose. : All I can say is thank goodness Randy got the acrobatic path for the insane : out of his system before doing Ne Cede Malis. Oh yes, this level is home : to probably the hardest progression option in the trilogy - the our own : death foretold option. In fact, I think that the fact that we can just : ignore that option and get to the secret end terminal with very little : effort, from the normal end terminal, suggests that it was understood just : how hard it was. It is a good test though - I managed to run through it : fully over the process of a few hundred of those death things ... in : preparation for this writeup, and I present a map with the route (in : purple, starting from the solid circle near the bottom) and required : switches (in pink, with lines for where you shoot from), as well as the : pattern buffer that PS missed, about halfway through the hard way, and : thank goodness for it! : : Actually, I remembered (AIFAOD) and just found the thing about there being a : third path , and would have checked out the movies except that the : download is in a format I don’t want anything to do with anymore, damn : Stuffit. The middle path is kind of just a subset of the high path anyway, : as far as I can see. Its purported speed suggests to me that Cody Miller : might have used it also, but that must be bloody hard to pull off reliably : that far into a speedrun. Also interesting to note the bits about how hard : the level was originally ... I think we got a good deal. : Anyway, as I was saying, we arrive on the level in freefall, and land on a : teleporter. There is little point trying to resist by moving, because, : umm, lava, and high platforms, and the rest ... is darkness. If we fire a : shot we wake up a couple of invisible compilers (dreaming of S’pht) that : we would otherwise probably not see. I found out about them towards the : end of the hard way thanks to that pesky Enforcer falling off his ledge, : but Fusion prevents that, so all is well :). : We actually start the level very close to both its ends, and I guess with the : right weaponry and enough health one could make something of the : situation? But I’ll just take the teleporter - to kind of a random spot on : the map, in fact the only part of it that overlaps another at a different : height, a curiousity given how much of the rest of it involves overlapping : -paths-. There’s another dropoff, but we’re done with teleporters for the : moment. A Fusion Pistol teleports in and we gratefully accept it. : Looking around, we’re on one of those dark platforms a ways above the lava. : Falling in is a bad idea; Randy was not as lenient as Greg will be later : on Eat the Path. This platform is where I started the route on that map; : let’s just have a look at a full-sized embedded version without all that : purple: : There really is a lot of lava here. Quite a different dream from Where are : monsters in dreams, and we can be glad for the lack of invisible S’pht’Kr! : We’re at point A on the map, and if we did wake up those invisible : compilers at the very start, they’re probably shooting at us by now; they : have nice clear paths through the level. In the distance, we see a switch : at point B just begging to be shot at, hence the gift Fusion Pistol for : the vidder, but we probably also have at least an Assault Rifle and maybe : even an Alien Weapon from ES2. There are also areas around the place with : bright red textures, walls of higher platforms that are mainly on the hard : path. : The switch starts up a bunch of lifts around the level, including one right : in front of us, forming much of the hard path. It also opens a corridor : with a pattern buffer nearby, allowing us to continue the easy way, so it : is not an optional switch. For now we’ll drop down on to the ledge above : the lava behind the first lift, and continue on easy. The path is pretty : quiet for a while, and we get to concentrate on keeping our footing. And : then the path ends. : We see a switch in the distance, in fact two switches, and around here we : probably also hear an invisible compiler shooting at us, which triggers : panic and, somehow, the desire to fall in the lava. The first switch, of : the style from the Electric Sheep levels, raises two platforms from the : lava, allowing us to continue. The second switch, more black and white : circuity-looking, starts a platform continuously raising and lowering, and : we have to time a jump across it so as not to fall in the lava, maybe made : harder by invisible compilers on parade. : Around a couple of corners we encounter the first terminal. A continuation of : the subway story that led us to Aie Mak Sicur, and would make no sense if : we had gone straight to Acme Station, with only the knife story to go on. : There really was something intentional with that secret exit’s being the : easiest one to find, but of course it was also unique with the story : terminal leading to the secret (failure) level instead of the hangar : terminal ... whatever (you please). : : : So we caught the metaphorical train (did this stuff feed into the Matrix : sequels?), but just like with our timelines, there are a couple of : differences: In Monsters we didn’t have the keys (keymaster? Again with : the Matrix, and oddly Ghostbusters, which I just happened to watch last : night, had been a very long time!) but we were getting away from the men : in suits; this time we do have the keys, but apparently the men are going : to get us. Various things remain constant, and this story is very clearly : advancing, unlike our timelines, but just like our timelines, these : stories cut off at unexpected times, and we can go back and revisit our : dreams as well, as from ES2 to Monsters, but if we did that as a writeup : we’d never get finished.... : There are more high platforms here, some of them lifts, and at this point, on : either path, we have to hit a high switch on the left wall. This opens a : low passage for the easy path, and a high passage for the hard one. : Through we go to see we’ve also opened a view to where we first jumped : onto the ledge that got us here - a shortcut back to the pattern buffer is : probably its most useful quality. The easy path has us perform a few small : jumps over lava, before setting us on the ledge to the lift to the final : terminal, but we can see there is more to things than that if we look at : the map, and we start to get curiouser . The normal end terminal : continues our story: : : So we made it home - I’m guessing the bicycle was just sitting there rather : than that it was with us on the train. More on the knife, described very : much like the picture in the Monsters terminal, and not really sounding : like a broadsword, but I guess that could just be a link to : Roland/Durandal. : The door opens up, not much drama in the description - did this guy even lock : it? And we’ve got clones outside ... Mr Smith? Actually, now I think of : it, this is starting to sound more like the fate of one of those Pfhor : researchers that leave their diaries in terminals and then find that we : sneak up on them ... over and over whether through pattern buffers, : different timelines, or just the fact that all of us as players are really : just clones. In true Matrix style, I think I just caused a “Whoa”. : So, that has us avoid the inconvenience of seeing the end of the world again, : shooting us straight on to Naw Man He’s Close. There’s also a pattern : buffer here, though, so we’re free to check out other things on the level. : Yet again in the Labyrinthy way, if we just turn around and take a leap of : faith into a narrow little corridor opposite and to the right, we end up : right at the end of the hard path, with just a single jump to the lift to : the secret end terminal. So secret in fact that it is usually hidden : behind a wall, but thankfully can still be used, as can the pattern buffer : by its side. What actually makes these visible? : Anyway, we also have that teleporter where we started close at hand, and for : the full hard way experience, we find ourselves starting back. Instead of : falling down onto the ledge, we climb onto the small lift, and thus begins : the Marathon Circus - where is a trapeze when we need one? As I’ve said : before, I play with auto-run on, and here it is a blessing and a curse. : This whole path is reliant on making very unlikely jumps between : platforms, at different heights, sometimes going up and down, and with the : added bonus of sometimes spawning Enforcers just because it was too easy : otherwise *ahem*. : To get us started, we jump across to a stationary platform just in front of : us, at the peak of our lift’s journey. The third, swift path that I : mentioned skips a lot of this, jumping instead straight to a lift behind : us and quite a way away, but I found that jump really hard to make, and : wanted to be able to describe the full “high path” anyway. The lifts have : different travel lengths, which makes it even harder to coordinate, but I : guess the first run must work? : Our second jump is to another stationary platform, but this one is a bit : further away, and holds the added bonus of three grey Enforcers that spawn : on the ledge below, just past our original pattern buffer. This is one : hell of an annoying aspect, and probably the biggest impediment to running : the hard path exclusively, as it is difficult to not fall off onto the : easy path while trying to find a way to deal with the Enforcers. I guess : backtracking and jumping to the large platform we came from would be a : good way, but it’s a stressful time, and that’s hard to pull off, and : there’s no cover down there! Conveniently I’ve already done the easy path : so have no qualms about jumping down to the ledge and nearby pattern : buffer to handle this. I believe this level has the only instances of : enemies spawning on a path only when we find ourselves somewhere quite : removed from it - can’t think of others at least. As far back as Waterloo : Waterpark (although how far back is that really?) we had shotgun ammo that : would only appear once we had been to the -very- edge of the platform : nearby, but not Pfhor. Some dream.... : Next we have to leap onto a lift at its lowest point - thankfully the bright : red floor makes this easier in the otherwise rather dark conditions. Then : there’s a jump to a platform that is slightly lower than the lift’s : highest point, making it a likely one to fall off the end of when trying : to land on it - auto-run.... After that we come to an overlap with much : later on this route, and we have actually have something to aim for that : has walls on two sides! And yet I still managed to miss it just now on a : final reminder run, and of course that means lava death *sigh*. For all : the hardness of the hard path, they actually saw fit to provide a 1x : recharge canister at this point, which never happened on the easy path! : Also, several of the lifts have fusion batteries on them as a reward, : which is always nice. : I should really refer you back to that map; this is shocking to follow in : text! : : One more jump to a lift and then we can relax for a bit as we get some stairs : to climb, just for a change. Then the platform ends, but we see a switch. : Getting in position to shoot it, we also find more fusion batteries : teleporting in - generous! The switch raises part of the ledge from below, : rendering it impossible to do the easy path from the start. This is also : where those Enforcers spawned, so I guess if one managed to avoid them : before, now would be a good time to kill them, but would it even be : possible to survive that long? On TC of course.... : Next we have to jump to the lift that we could have got to much earlier - : this is a hard one even from here, but it leads to a pattern buffer : reward, so it is well worth the effort :). And then we’re overlooking the : second half of the easy path, the terminal area. The third jump from here : spawns another Enforcer near that terminal, but we’re reasonably well : protected from his shots if we just continue along the high path - we : would still have to hit that switch if we hadn’t cleared the easy path : first. : Curiously the Enforcer finds a way to hit us on the next lift though, one : that is a bit bigger than we’re used to. And then we leap to a high ledge : - another one with a two-wall area! - and see what looks like a smashable : panel across from us, above where we found the 1x recharge canister. : Apparently it is actually a switch though, and it sets a lift moving to : allow us to get over there, although not by any means easily. Reaching the : switch spawns an Enforcer in a window over to the right - thankfully he : can’t shoot due to insufficient height, and just sits their making noise. : Otherwise that would just be mean. Knocking him off the ledge is a poor : plan, because then he can shoot you in the next part, and may well wake up : those invisible compilers from the very start. Fusion seems best for : killing him without having him fall off. : After all that, there’s still time for disappointment, as the leap to where : the Enforcer was requires a run up, and we have to use the whole of the : platform with the switch, including turning during the process. Kind of : like that shotgun ammo at the end of Ne Cede Malis, which required a jump : and then an immediate second, and really, just as useless given how we : could have gotten off the level much more easily! If we make that, then we : fall down to the corridor where we could have joined the hard path the : cheap way *phew*. : The secret final terminal has us back in Hangar 96: : Now the corpses are screaming ... oh great. Was this timeline’s failure more : our fault than that of the previous one? Therein lies the problem. We : still don’t have control - never have. We recognised where we were heading : at the end of Thing What Kicks..., but were powerless to object; powerless : to change it, and were thus pulled out - by something else that recognised : it as a hopeless path? By something that recognised our recognition of : that? What if we could change things? Not as neatly as in Rubicon maybe, : and Naw Man is a pretty bad implementation as we still don’t have a : choice, but the thought is there. : As we are pondering all of this, we find ourselves being whisked through time : again, with the aim of showing us how badly things turned out for this : timeline ... and we find ourselves in a subway station ... in vacuum ... : goddammit!
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