RPG Gamebooks

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Bounty Hunter Playthrough Part 2


Now that Gilgamesh has actually survived to the point where I can use him in the Du-En dungeon, let's test him out on the beam-phantom!


"Sparks cascade from Gilgamesh's visor as it sinks its fingers under his armour.  For a long instant they both stand there, wreathed in white mist, struggling for the upper hand.  Then Gilgamesh steps forward over the edge and he and the creature drop out of sight.  You hear its thin bleating cry echo up from the depths and then there is silence.  When you run to the chasm and look down, you find no trace of either the phantom or your loyal automaton".


Losing Gilgamesh is painful, but at least Samus doesn't sacrifice 2 Life Points in CHOICE #45.  She doesn't have either Talos or LORE either, so this is the only good way for a Bounty Hunter to survive the beam-phantom unless there's a way to gain LORE somehow.


The trip is uneventful until the chitin monster in CHOICE #49.  What effect will SHOOTING a Barysal Gun on it have?  


"With unerring precision, you blast a shot at the lintel above the doorway.  The beam fractures the darkness and raises the lintel to white heat in an instant.  'Run towards the door!' you shout to the others".


Dave Morris was creative here.  Samus didn't shoot the monster, but rather used her gun as a source of light.


Kyle Boche says "Believe me, you don't want to know" when I ask about the creature.


No, I am NOT going to save Novak this time.  He will have to remain in the stasis bomb field for eternity.  Or at least until someone gets the Heart of Volent.


Kyle Boche kills Baron Siriasis with his hypnotism grenade shenanigans as usual.


But Samus is stuck when she gets to the elevator.  She has neither the Lunar codeword, nor ESP, ROGUERY, LORE, or CYBERNETICS and Little Gaia available to her.  Will the truth set her free?


"The elevator door slides open.  You are confronted by one of the hover-droids, which immediately opens fire.  Although you twist to one side, the blast rips through your arm, burning you to the bone.  Lose 6 Life Points unless you possess a Speculum Jacket, in which case lose only 4 Life Points".


Guess not.  That's the problem of playing as a Bounty Hunter.  The only useful endgame skill they have is SHOOTING, and that can't get you past the Elevator of Elimination without massive Life Point loss.  Besides the obvious step of actually finding the Manta car, the best option for classes like this may be to purchase something from the Gene Genie.


And yes, Thadra Bey is confirmed to die in the Elevator of Elimination.


"If still alive, you stab desperately at the button.  As the door closes, you see Thadra Bey die in a hail of laser-blasts".  After the 6 Life Point loss, you're forced to go to the Elevator of Elimination Skill check.  If Samus had survived the lasers, this would have happened:


"You hesitate too long over your response.  The elevator door opens and locks.  Several of the hover-droids swivel in midair and come floating towards you.  Behind them, you see the smouldering corpse that seconds ago was Thadra Bey.  Boche and the others seem to have got away.


The red beams of the droids' aiming-lights appear on your chest.  You take a step forward.  Lasers blister the air.  With a single cry, you slump to the floor.  The adventure ends here.  THE END".


Results So Far (Non-Life Point Endings)


0 Good Endings

2 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

0 Inconclusive Endings

[Gustaran]

Glad to see you're enjoying Heart of Ice too.  It's probably my favorite English gamebook.  I'd love to know how you got killed so early in the story.  Did it involve being eaten by the monster in Lyonesse or something?

On my first try I went along with Boche but didn't even make it to Venis.   Basically the first location on the trip (the pass with frozen corpses) ended my journey . I decided to spend the night there and was killed by a hypnotizing mutant, because I was not passing any skill checks while waiting.

However, it is possible to attack the mutant and use "cunning" to kill it. You can then enter his cave and find an "ID card" amongst other things. The card gives you access to the most expensive hotel in Venis. And if you buy the "mask" retrovirus, you gain a "CAMOUFLAGE" ability, which (in combination with the ID card) will later give you access to the base of the Compass Society in Kahira where you can get the "LUNAR" password after entering the library.

Unfortunately, I spent too much money on the cool mutating viruses - let's see if I will make it through the frozen sahara...

[Gustaran]

That's the problem of playing as a Bounty Hunter.  The only useful endgame skill they have is SHOOTING, and that can't get you past the Elevator of Elimination without massive Life Point loss.

I think it doesn't really matter much what class you take if you know where to go and get the key codewords. I believe you already were super close to win with your 2nd attempt (the scientist), I think you were just missing a gun in the end? And I checked: The book just asks for a gun, not explicitly for the shooting skill.
Aiming at Boche (obviously my primary target! ) gives access to the heart, because the two other guys kill each other.

It's a little hard to judge the difficulty of the book since I had read your reports and thus avoided many pitfalls before playing myself, but I would indeed think it is easier than other books because there is no element of chance.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

That's the problem of playing as a Bounty Hunter.  The only useful endgame skill they have is SHOOTING, and that can't get you past the Elevator of Elimination without massive Life Point loss.

I think it doesn't really matter much what class you take if you know where to go and get the key codewords. I believe you already were super close to win with your 2nd attempt (the scientist), I think you were just missing a gun in the end? And I checked: The book just asks for a gun, not explicitly for the shooting skill.
Aiming at Boche (obviously my primary target! ) gives access to the heart, because the two other guys kill each other.

It's a little hard to judge the difficulty of the book since I had read your reports and thus avoided many pitfalls before playing myself, but I would indeed think it is easier than other books because there is no element of chance.

I sometimes think of Nethack when I play Heart of Ice.  According to Nethack fans, most of the game's difficulty comes from not knowing all that you need to do without either extensive trial and error, or reading a guide.  (Never got very far in that game, but reading the spoilers was fun to see how in-depth the item and monster interactions could get.)


Heart of Ice requires a similar process.  Marsay's subways are a major trap for new players in particular.  If you go to Tarabul and then flee the fight, you're forced to go on the Sahara trek unprepared.  Trying to go to Giza directly dumps you into Maka, where you may lose half your Life Points.  (No idea what happens if you wait in the subway entrance there.)


Other bottlenecks include the beam-phantom and the Elevator of Elimination.  The latter two are reason enough to consider a LORE character for your first win.


But I have other plans for my new character tomorrow.  When I get my first win, I'll probably do posts showing off alternate routes, like going through the whole Lyonesse jungle instead of taking the subway.

[Gustaran]

Other bottlenecks include the beam-phantom and the Elevator of Elimination.  The latter two are reason enough to consider a LORE character for your first win.


But I have other plans for my new character tomorrow.  When I get my first win, I'll probably do posts showing off alternate routes, like going through the whole Lyonesse jungle instead of taking the subway.

I agree, LORE seems very useful, as well as PILOTING for the Manta car, because then you have a way around the most dangerous obstacles.

Interesting fact: The "normal" ending of just reaching the heart and absorbing it may not even be considered the "ultimate ending". I didn't have the codeword NEMESIS which seems to give further options in the single ending as well as maybe allowing alliances according to your scientist walkthrough? And then there are still the color codewords  "RED", "BLUE" "YELLOW" (which you also enountered  I think)...

I tried walking all the way through the jungle on another attempt, which indeed gave me the "NEMESIS" codeword, but somehow suddenly ended up in the Sahara with no equipment or SURVIVAL whatsoever, which was pretty much game over. I am still wondering if there was a typo in the choice number, because aside from the NEMESIS passcode I really had neither information nor any gear.

So all in all, the standard ending may be not that difficult to reach after a few playthroughs with the right class, but figuring out the other endings may prove to be be an additional challenge.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Other bottlenecks include the beam-phantom and the Elevator of Elimination.  The latter two are reason enough to consider a LORE character for your first win.


But I have other plans for my new character tomorrow.  When I get my first win, I'll probably do posts showing off alternate routes, like going through the whole Lyonesse jungle instead of taking the subway.

I agree, LORE seems very useful, as well as PILOTING for the Manta car, because then you have a way around the most dangerous obstacles.

Interesting fact: The "normal" ending of just reaching the heart and absorbing it may not even be considered the "ultimate ending". I didn't have the codeword NEMESIS which seems to give further options in the single ending as well as maybe allowing alliances according to your scientist walkthrough? And then there are still the color codewords  "RED", "BLUE" "YELLOW" (which you also enountered  I think)...

I tried walking all the way through the jungle on another attempt, which indeed gave me the "NEMESIS" codeword, but somehow suddenly ended up in the Sahara with no equipment or SURVIVAL whatsoever, which was pretty much game over. I am still wondering if there was a typo in the choice number, because aside from the NEMESIS passcode I really had neither information nor any gear.

So all in all, the standard ending may be not that difficult to reach after a few playthroughs with the right class, but figuring out the other endings may prove to be be an additional challenge.

NEMESIS seems to be the codeword for proposing a temporary alliance with one of the rivals in Du-En.  If you want a final boss other than Kyle Boche, this is probably the way to do it.  (This may be a way to get several failure endings, if you let them get the Heart of Volent.)


I'll have to check out the jungle route.  The game suggests the player character will walk through the Atlas mountains over the "Jib-and-Halter" land bridge, and there's a town named Daralbad there.  Another town named Kastilan? is near where Madrid would be.  (The font is small on the Kindle map.)


YELLOW acts as if you didn't have a codeword for the final battle at all, since both options go to page 324.  Assuming there are no typos, of course. 


Mutant Playthrough Part 1


Since Heart of Ice's idea of a "mutant" isn't too far removed from X-Men, I'll name this character Xavier.  If he had CLOSE COMBAT, he would be Wolverine instead.  Mutants start with AGILITY, CUNNING, PARADOXING, and ROGUERY, making them a strange "magical thief" sort of class.  Since there have already been so many failed playthroughs, I'll omit the CHOICE numbers unless Xavier makes a different decision than other heroes.


After accepting Kibosh's inn payment, Xavier goes west to Marsay.  He doesn't want anyone learning his mutant secret, after all!  And he has AGILITY, so he can dodge the jungle monster.


I talk to Fax and take 7 Skudge Bars from his free vending machine.  Pretend that Xavier contemptuously throws the excess amount to beggars in Kahira when he drops them.  Xavier takes the subway to Kahira and sends Bador off without asking him any questions.  The ultimate mutant power is foreknowledge.  He does ask Pindar about the Sphinx to get Humbaba, however.


Although he has 30 Scads and 7 Skudge Bars, Xavier spends the night by sleeping in the open plaza and stealing a pastry rather than supporting Kahira's economy by staying in the Ossiman Hotel.  Xavier is a wizard, and he thinks having magical powers entitles him to whatever he wants.


He does, however, buy a Burrek from the animal market for 10 Scads, and Polarized Goggles from the bazaar for 6.


Xavier thinks typing in a password at the Great Pyramid directly is beneath him, so he casts PARADOXING in CHOICE #30 instead.


"You close your eyes, focusing with that inward mental sense which transcends ordinary reality.  The veil of time draws aside.  For a moment you glimpse a figure in the military dress of an earlier era, stabbing impatiently at this very keypad.  The image flickers, breaks apart like a projection on smoke.  With bated breath you enter the same sequence you thought you saw the soldier use:  H-U-M-B-A-B-A".


I thought PARADOXING would open the door by itself, but it works more like a time travel clairvoyance.


Without LORE or Talos cyborg equipment, Xavier needs to pick up Gilgamesh and the Enkidu codeword to get past the beam-phantom.


On the Research Level of the Great Pyramid, another Skudge Bar is replaced with the Cold-Weather Suit.  Now that his preparations are complete, it's time for Xavier to cross the Sahara.


The 1st check doesn't hurt Xavier because he has both the Burrek and the Cold-Weather Suit.  The Polarized Goggles keep him safe for the 2nd.  Sacrificing 2 Food Packs protects him in the 3rd.  Gilgamesh slaughters the bometh, whose corpse Xavier butchers with CUNNING.  He doesn't stay at the hot spring, which prevents him from contracting the Hourglass disease.  All of Xavier's preparations can't keep him intact during the next Life Point check because Mutants lack SURVIVAL, so he reaches Du-En with 9 instead of 10.  Two more Food Packs are consumed during the final stretch.


Character Sheet
 
Mutant
 
Life Points:  9
Possessions:  Psionic Focus, 3 Food Packs, Polarized Goggles, Cold-Weather Suit
Special Items:  Burrek
Money:  14 Scads
Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, PARADOXING, ROGUERY
Codewords:  Enkidu

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Mutant Playthrough Part 2


Xavier descends into the catacombs, but leaves Gilgamesh behind to prevent the Gargan clones from throwing a grenade behind his back.  He receives the temporary Uruk codeword, named after the Sumerian city-state the legendary Gilgamesh ruled.


AGILITY acrobatics knock out the sword-wielding puppets, and Golgoth congratulates Xavier's "deus ex machina". 


When Golgoth poisons the Gargans, Xavier takes some of the loot.  Two 3 charge Barysal Guns, a Flashlight, and a Stun Grenade sound good.  Not many Food Packs are needed at this point, so Xavier drops 2 to make room.  Xavier is restored to full health by eating the final Food Pack.  Imagine him eating a Skudge Bar at the campsite because it's funnier.


Gilgamesh is sacrificed to get past the beam-phantom.  Xavier could use ROGUERY against the chitin monster, but uses the Flashlight instead to avoid potential damage.  He leaves Novak to rot in the stasis field, because who wants a 6 Life Point penalty?  Kyle Boche puts the kibosh on Baron Siriasis with his amnesia grenade.


When Xavier enters the Elevator of Elimination, he takes advantage of his ROGUERY Skill in CHOICE #55 for probably the only time in the playthrough. 


"Through the glass door you see Boche pull out a scrap of paper and recite from it.  The computer is obviously satisfied with his response, because his elevator starts to descend.  Having read his lips, you know the words he used.  Now to find out if they will also work for you".


Kibosh thinks he's a master manipulator, but Xavier is using him quite effectively.


Final Battle!  Xavier lacks confidence in his Barysal Gun Skills, and is feeling cheeky, so he tosses a Stun Grenade.  Dave Morris is particularly cruel in this ending.


"As your companions set off along the ramp towards the Heart, each keeping a weather eye on the others, you roll the grenade into their midst.  The detonation knocks Golgoth and Boche off their feet, but Vajra Singh merely rocks like a great pillar and turns.  Because of his armor he is just dazed.  He sees at a distance that he can now finish off the other two at his leisure.  You are the immediate threat.


Levelling the mantramukta cannon, he unleashes a roaring blast of plasma that chars you to a lifeless husk in less than a second.  Your adventure is over.  THE END".

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

2nd Mutant Playthrough


Assume this one is a lot shorter than the first Mutant attempt, because Xavier II does the exact same things until the final battle.  Let's use the Barysal Gun on Kyle Boche without SHOOTING.


"Boche falls to your first shot.  His death acts as a signal for the start of hostilities.  Golgoth and Singh, in no doubt that each is the most dangerous foe, whirl to face each other.  Golgoth's first shot hisses into sparks on Singh's armour as the Sikh warlord raises his mighty mantramukta cannon".


I suspected Vajra Singh was Sikh because male Sikhs have taken the name Singh since the time of Guru Gobind Singh.  This section confirms that he is.


The end of the final battle:


"Despite Golgoth's searing volley of barysal shots, Singh manages to raise his cannon.  There is a deep thrumming as the power kicks in, sending a blast of incandescent energy streaming through the air.  As you dive for cover inside one of the elevator tubes, you can see that Singh is already dead on his feet.  But Golgoth has no defence against the raw power of the cannon, and he too is blown to pieces."


Vajra Singh is honorable enough to let me take the Heart of Volent instead of using the last of his energy to shoot me down with his pistol.


CHOICE #100 is a Nemesis check.  Maybe it's more than an alliance codeword?


Xavier II's victory looks like this:


"You kneel beside the huge gem and embrace it, feeling its power surge through you.  Coruscating bands of energy blaze from the depths of the unearthly gem, swathing you in an aura of blinding violet light.  The fabric of reality is ripped apart and you feel weightless.  A vortex spins up through the dome, sweeping away rock and air, rising up into space, out past the moon and planets.


In what seems like seconds, all of creation has been swept away, replaced by a new universe of your own making.  You are immortal and all-powerful now.  Your adventure has culminated in godhood.  THE END".


What universe does Xavier II create?  Does he abuse his power?  (Of course he does.)


For a Good Ending that's hard to obtain, it's surprisingly short.  Not many details about what happens next.  I can see what Gustaran said about this not feeling like an ULTIMATE ENDING, even though it should be.


After the embarrassing loss with the Stun Grenade, this barely feels like a win.  Oh well, time to post some alternate routes!


Results So Far (Non-Life Point Endings)


1 Good Endings

3 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

0 Inconclusive Endings



Xavier II Final Character Sheet


Mutant
 
Life Points:  10
Possessions:  Psionic Focus, Polarized Goggles, Cold-Weather Suit, Barysal Gun (2 charges), Barysal Gun (3 charges), Flashlight, Stun Grenade
Special Items:  Burrek
Money:  14 Scads
Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, PARADOXING, ROGUERY
Codewords:  None

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Heart of Ice Alternate Paths:  Frozen Corpses Near Venis


Now that the main game is over, I'll check out some other stuff that I neglected.


If you investigate the frozen corpses, several events can follow.  If you have ROGUERY, you notice Kyle Boche taking a token out of one of the corpse's wallets.  The player character then discreetly transfers 60 Scads (!) from the token to their own account.  60 Scads is more than most heroes will ever need, considering money is useless starting with the Sahara crossing.


PARADOXING gives you a vision of a "golden eye" that may have something to do with how the people had died. 


If you choose to spend the night near the corpses, you can pass one of several checks to survive.  ESP and LORE can be used, but that has the same effect as attacking the "Gorgon" mutant.  If you fight, you can use SHOOTING, ROGUERY, or CUNNING.  The CUNNING option in particular is worth it because you get to use Kyle Boche as a decoy while you disguise yourself with snow.  Kyle Boche thinks it's rash when you use the Shooting option, until you discover how inhuman the Gorgon really is.


If you fail to use any of these Skills to stop the Gorgon, it's AGILITY or Death.  No Life Points can save you.


Pressing on before the Gorgon can attack results in a 2 Life Point loss, or 1 with SURVIVAL, the same as if you had chosen not to look at the frozen corpses.


After the Gorgon is dead, you can either go to its cave or wait until dawn.  If you try the latter option, you lose 1 Life Point unless you have SURVIVAL.


If you go to the Gorgon's cave, you'll see some Gorgon young.  If you kill them, Kyle Boche says "They might have been the only members of a new and unique species!  Are you proud to have committed genocide?"  The player character retorts with "Since each would have grown up to become a murdering monster, yes, I am".  Considering Kyle Boche's plans for the end of the game, he is being disingenuous.


Not killing the young Gorgons seems to have the same effect.  Either way, you find an ID Card, a 6 charge Battery Unit for a Barysal Gun, a Flashlight, and Polarized Goggles.  If you want to go to Venis and avoid spending more money than necessary, check out the Gorgon cave!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Heart of Ice Alternate Paths:  Venis Hotels


Entering the Marco Polo with an ID Card doesn't do anything special on its own, but you learn that some criminals are so scared of the Compass Society that they refuse to attack its members.  Unfortunately, there's a hologram photo which looks nothing like the player character.


Thadra Bey happens to be staying at the Marco Polo.  Her al-Lat accent is easily recognizable.  She says that she wants genetic engineering, which is forbidden on the space station due to the risk of a "deadly plague".  She mentions one friend of hers that had an optic nerve implant that could tell her the time by blinking, but it was 3 minutes ahead and she had trouble sleeping.  You'd think a watch would be a much less invasive and effective option.  Thadra Bey is looking for Malengin the Gene Genie.


With STREETWISE or a Vade-Mecum, you can help her find Malengin.  She gives you Antidote Pills in exchange, which are used to counter the Hourglass disease.


Now let's investigate the other possibilities for the Doge's Inn assassin attack.


It's only possible to make a clean retreat in the "run away" option by passing an AGILITY or CLOSE COMBAT check.  Otherwise you lose 3 Life Points and are forced to pick either the steam room or combat.


The steam room is fatal if you lack PARADOXING or SURVIVAL.  That leads to instant Death.  SURVIVAL means losing 2 Life Points as you're injured, but manage to kick one of the assassins in the crotch.  PARADOXING creates a steam whirlwind that scalds and trips up the murderers.  You lose 1 Life Point and go to the CHOICE where you can use STREETWISE/Vade Mecum or ESP to get 2 Knives and 10 Scads.