[SPOILER] Plot Discussion Thread *Spoiler Alert*

[chineseroom]

Great stuff figuring some of the stuff in the notes. You're still light on investigating the hint text, which is Mandus really journeying deeper into his own self-knowledge. The rabbit hole goes quite a bit deeper still...

have fun!

[Kotch]

Great stuff figuring some of the stuff in the notes. You're still light on investigating the hint text, which is Mandus really journeying deeper into his own self-knowledge. The rabbit hole goes quite a bit deeper still...

have fun!

At any point will you guys release something that explains the story?

[tickldkfiifo]

I still think Mandus was a pig


Also, I am almost 100% sure those weren't orbs at the end.

[Kein]

We all are the pig, tickldkfiifo, we are all the pig.

rotten
Kotch
But where is the Egg -- Orb -- itself? If there indeed was an orb that Mandus brought back from Mexico - where it is? it plays quite significant role in the game and its events and yet we never see it. And at the end we do some kind of weird sacrifice instead of destroying Orb.

Honestly, I'm not really fond of this hypothesis, it is way too simple and deus ex'ish. But if we assume it was the orb all along then possible but far-stretched explanations are:

1. Death of the Mandus in the end means shutting down the orb because there is no connection between orb and Owner. As as know from Amnesia, Orb needs a person to work. But in this case there is a bigger issue I will mentioned later.
2. The heart at the end of a game is actually an Orb, it just Mandus sees it as a heart as an allegory to machine's heart (orb, that power the machine == heart). While it makes sense, there are more question of consistency of the story and setting - if that as an illusion, what else is an illusion?


Either way, if we seriously take into account theory with Orb, then there is a bigger issue - the Shadow. From Amnesia: DD we know that only someone who mentally and spiritually strong can actually control and use orb without consequences (like Weyer and Alexander). Daniel was weak and thus Shadow begun to hunt him (he even didn't use Orb, he was just around it!). And let is be honest, Mandus is far less strong person, in terms of mental condition, than Daniel. So here is the question - where is the Shadow then? Are we going to deny the fact that game set is in the same universe? If not then rules are unchanged.

[chineseroom]

Great stuff figuring some of the stuff in the notes. You're still light on investigating the hint text, which is Mandus really journeying deeper into his own self-knowledge. The rabbit hole goes quite a bit deeper still...

have fun!

At any point will you guys release something that explains the story?

I think the community are doing a pretty good job right now. What's also really important to me is that your own understanding of the story means as much as ours. I hate it when you get something you didn't think dictated to you. The discussion is the really interesting bit.

[kojack]

Are we sure there aren't orbs in the temple at the end? Several people thought these were the twin's hearts but take a closer look at those pics (full size recommended if you want to see something):

There are two objects in the map called "child_heart_1" and "child_heart_2", those would be the glowing things.

There are also files called orb_room and orb_room_blood. There are also files in models called "sphere" and a little further down files named pyramid. Though I don't see where it says "child_heart_1" all it says is "heart.DAE and heart.msh.

They are probably child hearts, but there is so little context.

They are child hearts:

Spoiler below!

There's also an orb in that scene, but it's hard to see. It's floating between the hearts, almost entirely transparent and elongated (scale 3,10,3). It's probably just there for visual effect, not as an actual orb.

The cables plugged into the children's backs are called arterial wire. What purpose is the cable, is the machine taking something from them, or giving? Or does Mandus just have bad taste in interior decoration?

[Rytkonen]

First of all, thanks for The Chinese Room and FG for yet another awesome game. The game really scared the crap out of me but the story was so interesting that I couldn't stop playing.

Secondly, I think this discussion and speculation is one half (no pun intended) of the game and I am sure that TCR has left some space in the story for our imagination.

I read the whole thread and noticed only one message about the disappearing doors/hallways. I'm pretty sure there was at least one door that disappeared in the very beginning of the game, and most noticeable disappearing happened in the Centrifuge level. What do you think about this?

[Kotch]

First of all, thanks for The Chinese Room and FG for yet another awesome game. The game really scared the crap out of me but the story was so interesting that I couldn't stop playing.

Secondly, I think this discussion and speculation is one half (no pun intended) of the game and I am sure that TCR has left some space in the story for our imagination.

I read the whole thread and noticed only one message about the disappearing doors/hallways. I'm pretty sure there was at least one door that disappeared in the very beginning of the game, and most noticeable disappearing happened in the Centrifuge level. What do you think about this?

Idk what this disappearing everyone is talking about is. Everything stayed the same for me as far as I could tell.

[Kein]

Great stuff figuring some of the stuff in the notes. You're still light on investigating the hint text, which is Mandus really journeying deeper into his own self-knowledge. The rabbit hole goes quite a bit deeper still...
have fun!

At any point will you guys release something that explains the story?

I think the community are doing a pretty good job right now. What's also really important to me is that your own understanding of the story means as much as ours. I hate it when you get something you didn't think dictated to you. The discussion is the really interesting bit.

Can you at last tell us a bit more about custom endings that were removed or explain existence of vo_temple_orbend_1.ogg, vo_temple_orbend_2.ogg, vo_temple_orbend_3.oggvo_temple_orbhit_1.ogg, vo_temple_orbhit_2.ogg, vo_temple_orbhit_3.ogg ?

[tickldkfiifo]

Hmm... this game is hard to figure out, as almost everything could be explained by being called "an illusion".