Rick -- in some ways, OLAD reminds me of Auryn Quest. Both games are innovative enough to be out of the mainstream and quirky -- though in different ways.

But both are also difficult enough that many gamers have trouble adjusting to the gameplay, and LOTS of trouble finishing without a step-by-step guide. Auryn Quest didn't have that (unless you bought the strategy guide) and OLAD didn't have that because the game is built in such a way that providing a step-by-step guide is impossible.

Quirkiness, combined with difficulty made them inacessible to many gamers. If you figure out a way to make them more acessible, more people will play and finish them.

Playing as a group makes them more accessible because two heads (or twenty heads) are better than one. But most adventure games aren't played the way we've been playing these -- as a group, with lots of help from one another. Playing games as a group makes the gaming experience significantly different and more fun, especially with a quirky, difficult game.

Hey Rick and Annie -- one last question: (well, until the next last question):

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when you kept your companion apparition around and repeatedly zapped him/her, IF you waited until the "You have one minute" stewardess message, did the game ALWAYS flash the color of the apparition you were using as a companion? (This assumes that you were ONLY carrying around the artifact form your companion, and not also carrying another artifact with another color.)

Afternoon Becky,
Your color combos and lock artifacts are correct.
I cannot say on color of all the Plague rooms, I guess you used the clock a lot more than I. There were only a few times that I white flashed and ran back to the clock to force the apparitions. The red,green and yellow rooms, are in my notes. You see that I was also watching the Olympics and would go to room where the artifacts and their apparitions were, that I wanted to redeem and wait for the one minute warning. Then white light and pick up what I wanted and pop over to their sin room(s), redeem them and pick up more orbs on my way to next set and save. Resume and wait and watch the games and repeat. Heck, I even had the three orbs highlighted, so I would just spin back and hit the spacebar. As you said that the Olympics are only every four years. Talk about low stress gaming. Now the games are over and I have the last seven left to go. The heat is on!!
I did not use a companion on level three, for that matter, I did not even use a portal yet!!!!
I thought that I would, but with the slow pace and planning out moves like a chess game or computer Basic,(if,then,go,to,and), it was not needed. In the other levels there were times that after redeeming the apparitions, that you wanted to, the clock would start ticking and the companion was there to white flash. Then I would collect up orbs and my companion artifact and moved on.
I cannot say if the color for Droessus was the first flash after, as I was in so much of hurry to get his artifact and orbs, in case the timer started agin. I was more scared in level two then I have been in level three. Slow is good !!!
I know, I know, this will change very soon.
Thanks for the input on game play. It was a very good conversation, Katsumoto.

Becky: I thought the colors were different for the plague rooms. I'll have to go back and check again. Also, I'll be sending you my thoughts tonight. At last. I've been slowed down by deep meditations on the game.

Okay, Becky, I just turned in my term paper. Please let me know if it doesn't arrive.

And as usual, once I sent it I thought of a few more things, which I don't think we have touched on yet. First, why oh why do we have to re-redeem apparitions. Does the game ever say why they don't stay redeemed?

Second, have you or Rick (Hi Rick!) explored the Customized Level? I was happy enough with the standard level and so I never got around to it.

Finally, the manual mentions passwords to activate Millennium Freebies. What a shame the OLAD site is gone and we will never know what the freebies were! <img border="0" alt="" title="" src="graemlins/cry.gif" />

Nope. Haven't explored the Customized Level. I had my hands full just with the Free Tour and the regular game!

I'm still experimenting a bit with the game to confirm how things work. There is a surprising level of strategy that you can apply once you know the game (in my case, AFTER I had beaten it). The strategy element is disguised by the fancy graphics and the bios and the multitude of inventory items and Gar Hob alternately cracking jokes and making threats. I had thought this was an identification and matching game with a timed element. I hadn't thought of it as an observation/experimentation/strategy game.

Yes, it's too bad we missed the Freebies. Still, we didn't need those little extras to defeat Gar Hob. We did it without the extra help!

Might be fun to own one of those jack-in-the-boxes, wouldn't it?

I wondered about the re-redeeming aspect myself. Especially Gacy, whose soul apparently is put through the spiritual/subatomic shredder after Level One. How do they manage to reconstruct him? (Have you taken his artifact to the clock? I nearly cried.)

Afternoon Becky and Annie,
Just a quick note:
I hope to get a block of time, this long weekend to finish, OLAD ! I have yet to use the red eyed skull to unlock, El Dorado. Then maybe my game plan will work. Maybe I can get lucky, with the pyramid? Are you guys going to be around, if I need a hand? I know, this board, someone is always there to help. Sometimes a Boomer just jumps in, that is so sweet.

Late Evening Becky and Annie,
I found the El Dorado and redeemed Carlos and Caligula. Oh, ya and Marie !!
I thought I redeemed the sheep skin guy. Gar Hob said he was. I picked red eye skull and went to the mirror room and was toast. I was thinking just the three skulls and down to the mirrors. The whole gang was there. No fair play!

No fair indeed! Most of the "whole gang" in the mirror room are apparitions you have redeemed. I guess you must have run into a live one. I forget what the red eyed skull is for. Do you need to go to the mirror room?

Morning Annie,
The Stitchman over in the garden has a great thread on Doubles. Double posts!!! I had lots of fun with it.
Do you check out the other boards, here on Boomers? I must jump around this site more than most. My posts are all over this great site.
Anyhow,
The red eye skull is Quechua. I thought that I read a post, that said there is another room down in the hall of mirrors, yes? In the Pyramid ?
Why would the Shakem Ben-Jamin, sheep head , still be in inventory. I redeemed him.
I will try to find this other room first.
By my count, I have just three skulls, red, green and blue left. That is Quechua, Alexander and some guy named Amratus, Cain or Admah-Najeh and he is blue. What's with that?

Hi Rick: Yes, the pyramid does lead to another place. Have you solved the pyramid puzzle yet?
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You don't need the skulls to solve the puzzle, but you do need the information you get when you click on them.

As for the sheep skin still being in inventory, it's because you'll need it to unlock the door you'll find at the new place.

Be careful carrying skulls around as the owners can do nasty things to you. Best just to drop them until you know what to do with them. Which you will soon. Good luck! I should be around to help. All my birthday plans are cancelled, or at least postponed since we've got a pipe leaking in the TV room downstairs, and plumbers on major holiday weekends are not easy to find!

Morning Annie,
I only have Quechua(red eyed skull), left to redeem. Then I may solve the last puzzle, in the throne room. This guy makes my eyes red.
I have tried many different ways, but I am not fast enough. He takes my inventory and curses me with Plague. I have four saved games with this one guy. Should I try and find the curse removal room? I even made it up the spiral staircase once, before he laughs and zaps me.
I did manage to stop the clock once. I had both rows of inventory filled up with orbs and portals.
I was waiting at Radiation to get the blue eye skull. You know, after the timer starts, white light and then pick up the artifact.
No count down for over twenty minutes. I had to white light and go out to clock and force the artifact back into it's spot to pick it up.
Anyhow,
After 9+21+20=50, you would think I could do number 51.

Hi Rick!

I think you should go get purified. I was never cursed (she said smugly), but I gather from the manual that your orbs and artifacts won't work til you come clean. The purification room is, I think, the one down the tunnel that you can't get to at the beginning of the game. That is, the tunnel that goes in the opposite direction from the tunnel to the mask room.

As for your other situation, with the red eyed skull meanie, I had to laugh Hope any of this makes sense. I check back later to see how you are doing.

Right now I think I'll go look for this garden forum. Sounds intriguing!

Annie ,
I did it, no pure room thing needed.
I just had to use the portals faster.
Angel puked up the Gar Hob guy and I guess we wait for Williams. Loved the Sagan explorer and the little space man guy. I had the sound turned down and did not here about insert disk one.
I thought I was stuck.
Let's see, one month, heck three years, to get it completed.
I will post some notes about level three later.
Put this one in the books, done ,done ,done!!!

Yay Rick! Congratulations! was it three years) ago Brave Annie, Beautiful Becky and Rick the Smart were the chosen ones to save the world ... again. How bravely they worked together to wrest artifacts from apocalyptic devices, racing to deposit them in their proper spots to redeem nasty apparitions from their nasty sins. And then doing it all over again on the next level. Many were the distractions. Rick had to balance saving the world with teenage units and watching the Olympics. Becky had her anniversary trip with her PCU, as well as getting two daughters off to college. And poor Annie's cats, unable to find Annie's lap, decided Annie's laptop would do just as well, thereby clogging the works with hair. And still they fought on and once again saved the world from apocalyptic doom, not to mention learning to spell apocalyptic. They were not just amazing, they were amazingly amazing.

Oh, we three, we happy happy three!