Everything I thought of while Playing TNM

[justanotherfan]

I wrote most of this weeks ago, but played through again a couple times to check it.

I had a revelation. While playing TNM, I found myself! I'm in the Partyzone, drinking a Fourty. That was truly a high, finding that. Thank you. I even got a developer quote. Most excellent of the TNM team.

I did find Jonas, when he was talking in the underground. I liked how that was done, and I'm saying this because it asked me to.

In the game, ChrisTheCynic is far too concise. I'm not kidding either. His responses in-game on any topic are like one paragraph each. I listened to the outtakes folder, and he has the majority of them, so maybe that's why the dialog was made concise ;-). But thanks for that ;-) (just kidding, conversation with Chris is fun. Interesting in-game dialog. This post isn't concise.)

I like the swearing. It's done tastefully, it's not pervasive, and it makes sense in context. Deus Ex had no guts with profanity, despite the whole gosh darn world going to heck and being subjugated by mean jerks with all their murderous world-domination cowploppy. "Oh oops, now I'm on fire."

I love the voodoo. I notice some of the glitches it causes, but it's so worth it. The talking head was a huge surprise, excellent.

I like the fists, and the fisting skill. Deus Ex before had lacked all sexuality. TNM is bringing deusexy back.

I liked the Daikatana blade. I didn't play the game, so I didn't entirely get the joke, but I liked the joke.

The music is excellent. I've been listening to Ahmatron's tracks for years already, so some areas of the city already felt like home.

Don't worry about the audio conversation quality anymore. I saw that was a worry in the postmortem. Virtually all of it is excellent, and must have needed professional equipment. Some guards sound like they're talking through a mask, but some are. So what. Dialog audio quality was done well.

Thanks for making dungeons sort of loop around. Go all the way through the fortress, empty it out, kill the boss, take the elevator back. That's style.

Thanks for no sudden large battles. I can't stand that about some games, where a cinematic ends while I've gotten up to make tea, and suddenly I'm dying. Big TNM enemies start as a friendly until after the conversation.

Don't feel bad about the bugs, as it was in the postmortem. There were lots of bugs. I didn't see almost any of them since I started with the 1.0.2 patch. Often I'll be around a community for something interesting that's unreleased, but I'm not an early adopter. TNM had very few bugs for me. Fewer and less serious bugs than the original Deus Ex. One of the most impressive parts of TNM is that the next reply for each bug report is inevitably either "Thanks, but that's not a bug because _____" or "Thank you, it's now fixed for the next patch release."

I love the small touches. The little details are what are impressing me. The little window at the top of the apartment building's elevators so you can see the elevator shaft. The little diver in the fish tanks. The intimidating camera angle when first talking to Abomination on the hill. CD cases divulging people's tastes and personalities. The UNATCO/warehouse models in DXEditing with positioned characters. How someone asked if I can search their computer without a warrant. The receptionist telling me I have a key to the side door and don't need to use the intercom. The mana RPG joke. NVShacker's character differentiating between an EMP and an explosion. The hilarious Bugs Bunny conversation. The Mr. Fusion reactor reference taking garbage scraps as energy. Using half the huge Downtown map just for show outside an apartment window.

There's so much content. It's overwhelming on the first playthrough. I keep seeing books and thinking "I'll read that later".

DeusEx.exe's instability is a drag. If anyone ever does port Deus Ex to a new engine, please port TNM to the new engine. If that doesn't happen, please port to the NES.

I've noticed some of the TNM character skins could use some HDTPing.

I don't like the quantity of doors that can't be opened, or their appearance compared to real doors (they look the same). It reminds me of Jedi Knight Outcast, where I had to find control panels on every level, but they looked like regular computers, which were decoration everywhere. I have to check every door to see if it can be opened. It is useful to hide secret areas though, so OK. Some computers are hard to find in TNM as well though, because they look like decoration.

I think on my first playthrough, I went to the goat city without the llama's help somehow? I wrote this earlier, and on a second playthrough, I've seen this isn't always true; I don't like how the religion loyalty can be decided by where I go to first. The initial PDX/WC choice hints at that, but I was too dim to see future consequences. I don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing.

I've spoken to Trestkon, ChristheCynic, Phasmatis, NVShacker, Master_Kale, that guy, Jonas, and even a little with Deus Diablo and ZeroPresence, but I wasn't on the DXI/PDX forums. Making that list makes me feel way better about this one, but at times it still felt a little alien (the mini green one, consensually) when I didn't know the acronyms and some important characters. I'd never heard of Kinkachu, yet he's a moderator unharmed by a gibinator to the crotch. Oh, I should explain that -- the EMP gun zaps his bioenergy and he can be confused by hiding under a desk, from which he can only be shot in the crotch. Anyway, it makes me realize that maybe I should have been on the forums back then. Could TNM Wiki pages link to who the people are, to their OTP forum profiles, or say more about them? I know TNM gets negative feedback about the inside-jokes, which I'm really not complaining about, but I'd like to know more about the players and the original history.

Despite not being on PDX, I still get the intrigue stuff with the previous forum and being bought out by gamespy; I've been on forums that "sold out" and suddenly changed. Personally, I've avoided gamespy entirely, since I got the sense that they were intent on jerking people around for money, and others seemed to provide the same services, so that'd be a reason why I missed the in-game forums. Of course that's just my experience and personal opinion, and I know TNM had to cast someone as the baddie, Gamespy is being a good sport about being the baddie, harmless fiction, etc disclaimer etc etc.

I really like the concept of the forum city. I know others don't but I do. It kept the DX-fan stuff in, but kept it outside the DX universe. That could have been a disaster, but the truly impressive part is how professional TNM is. Sure, there's inevitable Monty Python quotes, references to Gibson and other stuff I haven't read, and the wacky developer humour reminds me of Anarchronox (talking to goofy NPCs), but this is a real game. It's so professionally done that even adding voodoo and a dimensional goat warp gate totally fit in. Everyone there really is a Deus Ex fan, and TNM uniquely recalls the original excellently, from the underground AI base to the restaurant freezers. Thanks for making a whole new Deus Ex game.

Trestkon could have carried a terabyte HD to contain shadow code. I like the Radish 3000's 120mm exhaust fan, but the PCI modem on the back really should be a PCI ethernet card. Also, I'm compiling a list of areas in the game which are not wheelchair accessible.

I've a few questions. Which major characters aren't voiced by their namesakes (eg. Trestkon)? Was there a year when the script was essentially finalized and frozen? Is there extra unreleased in-game TNM development content available, like an incomplete old forum city map that can be walked around -- I may have seen one outside Corporate, and old incomplete stuff could be hastily released as Then Aimless Mod. What is your personally favoured ending? (mine is WC -scara +kylie, along with happy PDX one of course). I'm always typing out "Trekston", and I can't seem to end the habit; does Lawrence mind if we do Scara-like name jokes? Is there a bonus for killing all of the cats?

[bobby 55]

Eloquent post. You are apart from Trestkon(Tnm team not our character in the game)who has mentioned Anachronox. The humour in game there was at times eye wateringly funny.This mod has even topped that and the more i play both PDX&WC the more little asides are discovered. The replayability of TNM is huge.

[Jonas]

What a great post, I really enjoyed reading that. I love it when people single out details and respond either negatively or positively to specific things because it makes me remember parts of TNM that I'd forgotten about or that have always got lost in the big picture (like the fact that the DXO entrance is a reference to the entrance to the sunken Canal Road section in DX).

I think your name was actually added to that guy in the Partyzone in one of the patches - 1.0.2 even, same as when Deuxhero, Teknikal, and Majestic were named.

For some reason the main thing I want to reply to is the part about Monty Python, even though you said you didn't mind. It was actually Trestkon's idea, originally we had a whole character only quoting Monty Python as his dialogue - Trestkon's lines were actually recorded for that conversation but it was never implemented because quoting Money Python is so old. Larry really wanted some Python quotes in there though, so we replaced some of the random barks with them, primarily the cultists because they were just about mad enough for it to work.

Of course I was totally fine with it because when you think about it, Monty Python is always quoted on Internet forums, so it fits our setting beautifully.

Which major characters aren't voiced by their namesakes (eg. Trestkon)?

It's easier to list the ones that are, minor characters too: Jonas, That Guy, NVShacker, Gelo, Steve Tack, LeoBad, Ahmatron, Orak, Andrew Livingston, Jim, Grub, Chris the Cynic, Spot, Dr. Dumb Lunatic (possibly my favourite character in the game), Master_Kale, Aemer, Sheldon Pacotti, DP, EER, Andreus, and Mercedes.

Was there a year when the script was essentially finalized and frozen?

Not really. We made script changes all the way up until January when the final character was recorded. The script was locked down character by character according to when the scripts were dispatched to the actors. We even made changes to recorded characters once in a while, so we either had to doctor the recordings to fit the changes or have actors re-record certain lines, much to their immense irritation.

Is there extra unreleased in-game TNM development content available, like an incomplete old forum city map that can be walked around -- I may have seen one outside Corporate, and old incomplete stuff could be hastily released as Then Aimless Mod.

We do have a couple of old versions of Downtown lying around - one version of Chris's remake that's about twice as big (and empty) as the final version and has an extra canal and a bunch of background buildings behind the walls around the Llama Temple, and we probably even have Kevo's original version lying around that you can see a top-down screenshot of in our bonus material, but I'm not sure it can be loaded in UnrealEd anymore because it probably uses classes we've since moved, removed, or renamed.

We also have Phasmatis's original version of Forum City from back when we were planning on it being a single map. Unfortunately most of the old levels have classes that no longer exist, so we can't open them in the game nor the editor anymore.

What is your personally favoured ending? (mine is WC -scara +kylie, along with happy PDX one of course).

Probably the Ryan ending because I never got over how awesome it looks when the space station 'splodes. Phas did a great job of animating that and setting the explosions up, and I'm pretty proud of my camera work too, plus Leo's music really drives the scene home. I only wish Deus Ex supported larger textures so the station exterior didn't look so blurry.

I'm always typing out "Trekston", and I can't seem to end the habit; does Lawrence mind if we do Scara-like name jokes?

Even if he does, you should do it anyway, because it's awesome.

Is there a bonus for killing all of the cats?

If anything there should be a special game over where you're dumped straight back to Windows and your savegames are deleted.

[JC_Helios]

Treskton Treskton Treskton....
Nothing happened

[Jonas]

Did you remember to look into a magic mirror in an old citadel ruin while saying it?

[Trestkon]

Excellent post! I have to run so I'll just comment on one thing right now. As Jonas said we do have a couple old versions of Downtown, they'll be showcased in an upcoming feature on Moddb as part of of developer commentary videos Well, maybe not showcased...but they'll be in the first video.

[justanotherfan]

Glad you guys liked the post! When I write long stuff, I tend not to post it, but I had to talk about the game I was in.

TNM, especially the Goat City, reminded me of the Democratus level in Anachronox -- walking around, talking to many goofy NPCs, all of which had something weird to say (hailing mad dipper, not that I've played the PC version), with no real fighting in public areas until much later. "Oh my, did I forget to turn the melk off?" could have been an Anachronox quote. Deus Ex is like a contemporary and serious version of Anachronox; TNM is much more virtual than Deus Ex (eg. an ethereal forum made of bricks), and has much more humour, so the public levels often recall Anachronox more than Deus Ex. That game is older, buggier, and more obscure, but if a TNM fan hasn't played it, they're missing a game they'd enjoy.

Having a character that could be named Monty Python would probably have been annoying. Python does still fit in entirely, and it fits the crazy cultists, but it's always a sign that coders are writing dialog . It's just impossible to leave out.

In-game content always seems more special, so I thought if the old incomplete maps were already importable they'd be fun to wander around, but if it's not importable then there's not much point. I figured the intro level might be loaded, but I didn't look how to do it. Seeing the earlier versions of maps in a trailer would be cool. I really liked reading the postmortem, so that mentioned video sounds really interesting.

A memorable quote I didn't mention was about every building having a secret basement (Kinkachu). I'd noticed secret basements in every building that had a dedicated map inside, and was thinking the same thing the Tkristcun character did. Everyone being "DX fans afterall" cleared that up fast.

I haven't played through all the variables with the religions, but I liked how they could be wiped out. The "but...that's stupid" "Yes we know." lines were great. I expected the Goat City to have hidden areas when I couldn't open doors, but the colossal marble hallways were still a surprise.

The Unkempt Scientist was fun. I like his ending cinematic, and his pokes at university, (good) science, scientific journals...

I expected to see hidden textures in TNM like "Hey, stop ghosting around! You can't see this! LALALALA...". The "Oh, you just wanted a developer quote, but now you're on fire. Sorry" was good, much like that.

I expected to see more stuff in bathrooms. There's maybe two big secrets in TNM bathrooms (eggs), but there isn't the datacubes and items left in Deus Ex bathrooms. TNM has many many bathrooms. I did like the number of kitchens though, since TNM did have a sort of death star cantina.

I've been wanting to ask "What great stuff did I miss?", but that's really difficult to answer. People will always miss the hidden book in Goat Temple, which is an excellent part, so I'm sure I missed some stuff like that.

Is there a bonus for killing all of the cats?

If anything there should be a special game over where you're dumped straight back to Windows and your savegames are deleted.

That line was just for you . I think Beeblequix' cat was invincible anyway. I was surprised the Jonas character didn't have a cat in his office, or a wooden box that, when broken, a dozen cats would fall out of. Oh well, there's always iamjonas.

[Xesum]

Iamjonas is the best code in the game.

[Zodiac]

I thought quite a bit during the game, and I'm only at the part where I killed Treskton in the citadel ruins (nice touch imho)

Beeblequix's cat is indeed invincible, it can't be set aflame even from the FireStaff. I tried killing it just to see how mad Beeble would get, but he didn't die so yeah XD

I think it was mentioned somewhere (I think the wiki) that one of Beeblequix's purposes was to keep blabbering in the DXI caverns when Gwog is so you couldn't save, and I remember thinking that as I stood there on one lone rock waiting for this mother to shut up.

I really like how the cultists react to how they are harmed like 'Gas! The dishonor!' or 'Grate Goat, I beckon thee to quench thy flames!' or something.

Sometimes, the characters actually felt so...real to me, that playing the game, completing all the side quests, choosing allegiances, it actually almost felt like an MMORPG.

I never played Daikatana either, but it was a massively hyped game and the maker kept saying in ads that he'd make you his bitch. But the game ended up being mediocre, and...yeah.

I like how some decisions could help you later or just bite you in the ass later on. Like in Deux Ex when you walk in on the female admin in the lady's room and then she holds a grudge on you for the rest of the game. Or at least until you murder her hehe. One example in TNM is if you disable A2 in Jonas' lab and at ABI you can use him to fight.

[Hassat Hunter]

DeusEx.exe's instability is a drag. If anyone ever does port Deus Ex to a new engine, please port TNM to the new engine. If that doesn't happen, please port to the NES.

Hmmm... I never had any stability problems with the GOTY. Nor with TNM for that matter with 1.0.2.

I don't like the quantity of doors that can't be opened, or their appearance compared to real doors (they look the same). It reminds me of Jedi Knight Outcast, where I had to find control panels on every level, but they looked like regular computers, which were decoration everywhere. I have to check every door to see if it can be opened. It is useful to hide secret areas though, so OK. Some computers are hard to find in TNM as well though, because they look like decoration.

I don't recall that problem. Unusuable doors are barred up, just like they are in Deus Ex. They don't look similar at all. Or do you mean INF/INF doors? I don't think so seeing you mention having to distinguish them from decoration. Also; computers are no problem either, since decoration and useful console's do use different skins.

I don't like how the religion loyalty can be decided by where I go to first.

Not quite the case, unless you know a way into Goat City I don't know 0_o.

Kinkachu, yet he's a moderator unharmed by a gibinator to the crotch.

Wait, who? (King Kashue?)

I really like the concept of the forum city.

QFT. Not really all that different from concepts as Tron or the Matrix, if you look like it, and very well executed! And we wouldn't have all the humour without it, and PC gaming (or gaming in general) seems to be getting too serious, so it's a welcome relief.

What is your personally favoured ending? (mine is WC -scara +kylie)

Seconded. Also; the music here is epic .

I was surprised the Jonas character didn't have a cat in his office

He doesn't? Hmmm... must have overused Phasrox and then the animal tab .

but there isn't the datacubes and items left in Deus Ex bathrooms

Are you sure? Usually I find a lot of useful items and information in toilets and stuff. Especially always check the females' one. For some reason the TNM devs put more stuff there. Either as homage to DX, or because they are pervert ;P.

What great stuff did I miss?

Well, what did you find? Then maybe we could tell what you missed .

I think it was mentioned somewhere (I think the wiki) that one of Beeblequix's purposes was to keep blabbering in the DXI caverns when Gwog is so you couldn't save, and I remember thinking that as I stood there on one lone rock waiting for this mother to shut up.

Since I wrote that page; yes... it's infact standing right there. It was totally based on things Jonas said on these forums though, especially one time where it was suggested that that platform puzzle should be removed he mentioned "but what about Beeblequix just keeping talking to prevent you from quicksaving?"

[Jonas]

I don't recall that problem. Unusuable doors are barred up, just like they are in Deus Ex.

For the most part they are, but there are doors in the slums and the corporate sector and especially in Goat City that you can't open, but which look the same as other doors, which is a bit of a drag I agree.

I was surprised the Jonas character didn't have a cat in his office

He doesn't? Hmmm... must have overused Phasrox and then the animal tab .

I would never put my cats in a game where the player could kill them.

Usually I find a lot of useful items and information in toilets and stuff. Especially always check the females' one. For some reason the TNM devs put more stuff there. Either as homage to DX, or because they are pervert ;P.

Well toilets have to be in the game, because toilets are necessary to make most buildings appear realistically designed - it's necessary to maintain the illusion of a functional world where people live. But there's almost never anything to do in the toilets - they're just there because they have to be. I remember we had a thread on the forums for suggestions on how to make the toilets more interesting - that's how we came up with the gold toilets in WorldCorp. I also liked to hide lockpicks and multitools and other little goodies in the toilets, in addition to the occasional datacube and magazine.

[Hassat Hunter]

I would never put my cats in a game where the player could kill them.

Well, you could make Kashue kill said person if they did. They can kill rats and fish, but not Jonas' cats.
Of course, that still leaves the WC storyline.

[justanotherfan]

Hmmm... I never had any stability problems with the GOTY. Nor with TNM for that matter with 1.0.2. Unusuable doors are barred up, just like they are in Deus Ex. They don't look similar at all. Also, computers are no problem either, since decoration and useful console's do use different skins.
Kinkachu, Wait, who? (King Kashue?)...Beeblequix

I actually let Beeblequix ramble on, since I wanted to hear the full thing. It was kind of funny.

I had stability problems with TNM using 1.0.2. Some sound errors, some other errors. Most of the bugs were fixed by the time I started by using 1.0.2 as I mentioned, but still, deusex.exe is annoying. An NES port would fix everything. Deus Ex really should be an 8bit overhead-camera game.

I remember a few areas with a lot of doors that didn't open despite using the standard texture. I think one was a semi-hidden restaurant building in corporate, another maybe an apartment block at the helipad. I remember having a lot of trouble finding the last computer in the space station for one of the endings since it was pretty unique looking. It's OK, just something that I found annoying while playing so I mentioned it. I have a low annoyance-tolerance in games, and the textures help hide a couple areas.

I had to go back to Jonas' character's lab to double check, but yeah, no cat. Maybe it would have fought with the yellow spiderbot. I know Wolfy could be killed, but I don't think I tried to kill any cat other than Beeblequix', since I was playing that time by killing everyone/everything I met and I knew the cat was shown in the ending; the ending where random TNM characters form a resistance was funny in that playthrough, "A resistance has formed to challenge Treskton's unbridled power, consisting of GenericWoman, RandomScientist, and Friend."

And yeah, the kinkychew. I'd never heard of him, except inside TNM. Still no idea who that is ;-), yet he's one of three moderator "gods" in TNM. It's part of why I think some wiki profiles of people would be cool.

[justanotherfan]

Nothing in this particular post is criticism. Just more thoughts, sometimes worded antagonistically for effect. Back to initial thoughts. I'm still having fun in TNM.

You can definitely kill the cats. Most of them actually. They make a funny noise too, try it!

I found Phasmatis in DXI. I think someone said there's another hidden convo, but I haven't seen any more writing on the walls. I could run around using legend to invoke conversations, but meh.

I wasn't expected to survive the fight with Scara's guards and turrets? LAM. As in one LAM. With the alarm triggered, Scara runs into his hallway, where a single LAM thrown in can disable four turrets, kill all the guards, and kill Scara. So easy it was accidental, and great until I couldn't find Scara. On the plus side, I learned that I can keep going in and making him unconscious with the rice bags. He wakes up at some point. At least Worldcorp isn't Microsoft.

I like the way DarkTemplar-Goatstoryline and NarcissusEntity-PDXline notice when you're in rooms you shouldn't be in (Athena's and Despot's apartments). I don't mean that they do, I mean how they do it, what they say, and the no consequences.

I noticed how the toilets in Sol's Men's Washroom are all brown even when flushed, while the toilets in the Women's Washroom have blue water. I'm told women's washrooms are far worse than men's ;-)

ThatGuy may be a hologram, but EMP doesn't break him like a firewall, and gas makes him rub his holographic eyes ;-)

I think that there should be some reward item, like soy food or a ketchup bar in the hallway in the old server labs, where the floor breaks through. It's possible to jump over the chasm, open the hatch door, stand on the hatch door, and jump up to the second level to find the darkened hallway to nowhere.

I've decided I'm a Goat. AFAICT, I can't kill Athena without summoning her, with DT dead and a llama alliance, so I prefer to have a Saint Me temple Downtown. At least the Goats are smart enough to drug their followers, and build extra-dimensional palatial paradises with the profits. The llamas are so stupid that one of them ran into their precious cave stone tablets when alarmed, destroying them. "Um, Beefman? I kinda tripped when I heard a noise downstairs, and those blank tablets got even more cryptic..."

That moderator Kant Catchyou is a pretty annoying character. Intolerably virtuous long speeches that I started skipping through on my first playthrough, and I certainly could hide forever in PDXHQ. The bathroom doors fool him, and I can kill people from outside the doors that lock. Klingon Chew is the impassively righteous and distantly controlling yet betrayable god to the JC/Jesus/Trestkon character.

Kindness and unselfishness can be rewarded in Cyberpunk games, contradicting DarkTemplar; at Castle Clinton, giving a starving child free food gets you the secondary entrance. There can be shades of gray morally, contradicting DeusDiablo; Ryan will continue to try and take over PlanetDeusEx if he is left alive, while death/banning results in thousands of unemployed people -- or just the phrase "Lucious Debeers" should be enough. Still, those were two really funny TNM conversations.

I was thinking more about my in-game character. I like him. He's Just Another Character. He's standing at the bar, talking about the latest political/situational news, having a drink and listening to electronica music. The bars I've gone to are more like Sol's, but PartyZone is edgy, and JAF-character's "newbie" nervousness makes him out of place at PartyZone. I've just seen the pan-galactic gargleblaster animation (Hitchhikers', yay); I love comedy, and the last line of that animation made me laugh. What character in TNM matches you best? BTW If you have a namesake character, that character doesn't necessarily match you (eg. Jonas).

What's GITM Construction about (it references something I'm sure)? I left Kylie alive in the PDX storyline using the cloak aug; what happens to her? Did Alpha Operator know about DXO in the basement or was he a member?

I didn't include a cool experience in my first post, which was part of the reason for the post. Someone implied it might be coded in, but I couldn't replicate it. With Shadowcode on the brain for the first time, I was running toward a computer. I was almost there, uncertain what permanent changes could be made to the rest of the game, and then Digital Ronin's Katana suddenly equipped and unsheathed. I thought Shadowcode was causing a little seppuku, so I toggled the computer as quickly as I could. I probably just hit the scroll wheel.

It's always fun when people apologize to me for blowing my head off :P

In that case, when you wake up in Corporate on that building roof ledge, don't jump. It's too high to survive. Sorry.

[JeniSkunk]

You can definitely kill the cats. Most of them actually. They make a funny noise too, try it!

Odd.
I've not heard them make any different noises to what I heard them make in DX.

I found Phasmatis in DXI. I think someone said there's another hidden convo, but I haven't seen any more writing on the walls. I could run around using legend to invoke conversations, but meh.

I've still yet to find Phas in DXI. Irritating.

I wasn't expected to survive the fight with Scara's guards and turrets? LAM. As in one LAM. With the alarm triggered, Scara runs into his hallway, where a single LAM thrown in can disable four turrets, kill all the guards, and kill Scara. So easy it was accidental, and great until I couldn't find Scara. On the plus side, I learned that I can keep going in and making him unconscious with the rice bags. He wakes up at some point. At least Worldcorp isn't Microsoft.

I think the Narcissus Entity's speech was made expecting players to go into Scara's office, kill Scara, and then fight their way back out the front door of Scara's office.
It's eminently doable to terminate Scara without ever needing to open the door to his office, much less enter it.

I noticed how the toilets in Sol's Men's Washroom are all brown even when flushed, while the toilets in the Women's Washroom have blue water. I'm told women's washrooms are far worse than men's

If you look properly, there's another DX in joke/hommage regarding the toilets in level 1 of WC.

ThatGuy may be a hologram, but EMP doesn't break him like a firewall, and gas makes him rub his holographic eyes

When i did a PDX run, I was annoyed by the fact that you can't kill TG, and that it is impossible to get past him without him detecting you, even if you never see him and you keep solid walls between you and him at all times.

That moderator Kant Catchyou is a pretty annoying character. Intolerably virtuous long speeches that I started skipping through on my first playthrough, and I certainly could hide forever in PDXHQ. The bathroom doors fool him, and I can kill people from outside the doors that lock. Klingon Chew is the impassively righteous and distantly controlling yet betrayable god to the JC/Jesus/Trestkon character.

KK is the moderator I dislike most of all in the game.
I maintain a couple of saves in PDXHQ specifically for going into god mode and just blasting the hell out of KK with heavy weaponry.

I've just seen the pan-galactic gargleblaster animation (Hitchhikers', yay); I love comedy, and the last line of that animation made me laugh. What character in TNM matches you best? BTW If you have a namesake character, that character doesn't necessarily match you (eg. Jonas).

The Pan-galactic Gargle Blaster sequence at PartyZone is a brilliant mix of Douglas Addams; Clint Eastwood; and Warner Bros cartoons.

What's GITM Construction about (it references something I'm sure)?

GitM was a mod being developed for DX. Ghost in the Machine.

I left Kylie alive in the PDX storyline using the cloak aug; what happens to her? Did Alpha Operator know about DXO in the basement or was he a member?

A better question is: How did Jackie know of the DXO base and why did she conceal it from her boss and the Moderators who were regulars at Sol's, even after the day 1 events immediately prior to the start of the game?

I didn't include a cool experience in my first post, which was part of the reason for the post. Someone implied it might be coded in, but I couldn't replicate it. With Shadowcode on the brain for the first time, I was running toward a computer. I was almost there, uncertain what permanent changes could be made to the rest of the game, and then Digital Ronin's Katana suddenly equipped and unsheathed. I thought Shadowcode was causing a little seppuku, so I toggled the computer as quickly as I could. I probably just hit the scroll wheel.

I like Shadowcode. I'd love to upload him to an A2 minispiderbot chassis.

It's always fun when people apologize to me for blowing my head off

In that case, when you wake up in Corporate on that building roof ledge, don't jump. It's too high to survive. Sorry.

I prefer to evict Jonas from his lab. I see no reason why someone not formally employed by PDX should have personal workspace in the building.

Jenifur Charne