Caltrops - ICJ's Necrotic Drift - The Longest Journey: getting inside the theater

Forum Overview :: ICJ's Necrotic Drift

by fabio 02/19/2014, 12:02pm PST

Entropy Stew wrote:

Have we done this yet? I'll start off with Gabriel Knight...the original. Spoilers in the solution section, obviously.

The Setup: You're trying to get the location of a voodoo crime scene. There's a cop in a park, but he tells you to piss off. Radio chatter is tantalizingly close, but cannot be heard fully.

The Solution: In another screen of the park, there is a mime. Everyone hates him. He is a mime; this is his lot in life. If you approach the mime, he starts to follow you. You can lead him along to another screen where the cop is, and the cop will chase after you, giving you access to his radio.

Why This Puzzle is The Worst: You, at a fundamental level, never want to interact with a mime. I was stuck at this point in the game for years.

-/ES/-

The Setup: You must get inside a locked movie theater.

The Solution: Jesus christ bear with me here.

- You must get the outside lights to flicker so that the janitor inside pokes his head out to look at them. Why this was an important step I do not know because you end up sneaking in the side door.

- There is a detective standing watch outside the theater. He will not let you fiddle with the transformer box. You must get rid of him using a piece of candy you picked up from a bowl (why do the worst puzzles involve candy bowls?). The detective will always gobble down every piece you give him. You must dip a piece of candy into a puddle toxic waste right in front of his face and offer it to him, which he will eat, get sick from, and run away. This was the only part I figured out on my own.

- You must open the locked transformer box. You are given ZERO hints as to what does this. Turns out it's simply a key, but the key is lying on the third rail of a subway on the opposite end of the city. It just looks like random sparks unless you closely look at it. I have no idea how you were supposed to find this.

- Being the third rail, you cannot touch to to retrieve the key. You must build a device. You to the basement of your apartment building. Turn all sorts of dials on the boiler until you can remove the clamp from a hose. Go to your apartment and look out the window. Pull a chain to bring up a clothesline. Take the clothesline. Spot a rubber ducky float stuck on some debris in the canal outside. Throw some breadcrumbs out the window onto the ducky. A seagull will land to peck at the duck and puncture it. The deflate ducky will float away. Exit the building and travel several screens to find the deflated ducky. Take the ducky. Use the mouth icon to inflate it. Use the clothesline and clamp on the ducky. Use a bandaid on the hole so that it gradually leaks. You have now created a clamp on a string with remote grabbing due to the time deflating. Of course! Get the key. Go back to mess with the transformer to cause the lights to flicker so the janitor will look out the front door.

- Wait, there's more! You must now sneak in the side alley entrance. Find a random pile of garbage in the alley. Place a hat on top of it so it will cast a shadow looking like a 1920s gangster pointing a gun. Take the toy monkey in your inventory, the one that says, "Stop! Put your hands in the air! Do the monkey!" and use it on the garbage heap. Light a fire in a nearby trashcan to set off the alarm, causing the janitor to open the door. He will think the shadow and the monkey voice is a mugger ordering him to dance. While he's dancing, sneak into the theater.

Why this puzzle is the worst: Jesus just look at that. It's 2nd only to the maple syrup cat mustache puzzle.