Titanic: Adventure Out of Time

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Titanic: Adventure Out of Time is a video game for the personal computer. It was developed by Cyberflix and was published in the United States by GTE Entertainment and released on October 31, 1996. The game is a point and click adventure game which sees the player travelling around a virtual representation of the RMS Titanic, the doomed ocean liner which struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912 and sank with great loss of life.

Characters in Titanic: Adventure Out of Time were rendered by way of photographs of actors given limited animation in sync with dialogue. The producers of this game used this same style of rendering for a previous adventure entitled Dust: A Tale of the Wired West.

Contents

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Summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The game begins with the player being caught in a fatal explosion during the London Blitz of World War II and being sent back in time to 1912 with an opportunity to change history. In 1912, he is a British secret agent who has been sent to retrieve a priceless copy of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (such an item is believed to have actually been aboard the real Titanic). The open-ended gameplay allows the player to either follow the storyline by solving puzzles or simply explore the rooms of the ship.

The computer graphics of the ship have been used in several documentaries about the Titanic, due to their authenticity. However, on a ship with a complement of over 2000, the game portrays Titanic as almost deserted. With the exception of the main characters, there are only a few sparse "wallpaper" characters who appear as unmoving figures in the hallways and major rooms of the ship.

The main plot of the Titanic adventure game revolves around recovering the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, which is revealed to have been stolen earlier in the year and is now suspected of being in the possession of a German Oberst (Colonel) who is traveling on the Titanic under the guise of inspecting embassies in the United States. Along with the Colonel is a young professor and, through a web of intrigue it is revealed that the Colonel has made a deal with an art dealer to exchange the Rubaiyat for a rare painting. The Colonel and the art dealer (named Sasha) act through an intermediary, a Serbian stowaway named Vlad.

In addition to the Rubaiyat and the painting (which is revealed to conceal secret military plans), the agent soon learns that the Colonel’s professor associate is in fact a Russian spy and has in his possession a notebook with names of top Bolsheviks. The notebook is to be handed over to the Okrana forces of the Czar so that the Communist rebels will be executed.

A final item that appears in the game, acquiring of which is critical, is a rare diamond necklace that Sasha has stolen to pay Vlad for his services and also to finance a Serbian terrorist group called the Black Hand. Vlad’s involvement with the Black Hand sets the stage for the events on the Titanic directly impacting whether or not the Black Hand will assassinate the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, thus sparking the start of World War I.

During his mission, the agent also becomes involved in several sub-plots unrelated to the central mission or, for the matter, the winning conditions of the game. These plots include a wealthy couple (the Lambeths) whose marriage has gone bad (and to whom the agent had previous relations with the Lady Georgia Lambeth) as well as the agent also meeting the ship’s “gossip hound”, in the form of an annoying middle aged woman. The agent also has relations with both a psychic and a fanatical religious preacher, an American freelance businessman. Assisting the player from time to time is fellow agent Penny Pringle. Also, in exploring the ship, the player may also encounter a French blackjack expert who may look familiar to players of the earlier game, Dust (see below).

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Objectives

After learning of the major characters and items in the game, the agent is faced with the following five objectives to win the game

  1. Obtain the Rubaiyat
  2. Obtain the rare painting
  3. Obtain the secret notebook
  4. Obtain the Lambeth diamonds
  5. Escape the Titanic on a lifeboat before it sinks
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The Rubaiyat

Most walkthroughs and hint sites suggest that the player let Vlad steal the Rubaiyat early in the game, which happens if the agent does a favor for Vlad (mainly obtaining a package for him) before going to the Rubaiyat’s location to acquire it. The location of the Rubaiyat is revealed in one of two ways: Either decoding a secret telegram, or going to a Turkish bath and using steam to see the location written on a mirror.

Once the Rubaiyat is located, if the player moves it to an alternate location (it is hidden in a coal chute in the Titanic’s boiler room), the Serbian national Vlad will search for it in vain and abandon his pursuit of it. The player can then acquire the Rubaiyat much earlier in the game than is normally suggested. It should be noted, that if the Rubaiyat is taken before Vlad searches for it, Vlad will kill the player to acquire it.

Taking the Rubaiyat early in the game alters the course of events and dialogue of the characters as well as eliminating the need to solve at least two later puzzles. For this reason, players are urged to let Vlad take the Rubaiyat (he is bribed at the end of the game to give it back) thus experiencing the “full” version of the storyline.

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The Painting

The painting that the player seeks is hidden in an art box in the Titanic’s cargo hold. The player is led to believe that it can be taken from the hold and, after stealing the keys to a motorcar (whose headlights shine to reveal the art box in question) the painting is revealed to have been stolen. Some bootleg and earlier versions of the game allow the player, with foreknowledge of the painting's location, to enter the cargo hold much earlier than normal and remove it from the crate before it is stolen. This significantly alters the game's progression and causes a large amount of dialogue and puzzles to be omitted in later scenes.

At the end of the game, it is learned that a pair of Irish immigrants acquired the painting for Willie, the German Colonel’s art professor associate (who was later murdered). The immigrants give the painting back in exchange for a kidnapped baby, stolen by the wife of Andrew Conkling, head of a major steel company who helped build the Titanic. Conkling’s wife returns the baby due to a scandalous letter which reveals the steel on the Titanic was substandard, making the risk of a sinking in a serious collision more likely.

The painting (whose canvas conceals secret military plans) is a landscape portrait of Vienna, Austria. It is shown at the end of the game to be a work of Adolf Hitler and, depending on whether or not the player gets the painting off the Titanic, Hitler becomes a world famous artist instead of a Nazi dictator.

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The Notebook

The notebook, containing the identities of Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky, is revealed through character dialogue (or, depending the course of play, a photograph) and is eventually found to be hidden at the top of one of Titanic’s smokestacks. In a tribute to the actual history of the Titanic, it is incorrectly revealed that the last smokestack is fake and was added to give Titanic a total of four smokestacks to make the ship appear more “grand”. It was actually the first stack that was fake and was used for air intake and venting of the cook's coal-fired stoves.

Once the notebook is acquired, it is either surrendered to the German Colonel Zeitel (who then shoots the player although not fatally), or the player gives the pen to Zeitel that then allows him to escape with the notebook, or the player is attacked by the Serbian Vlad who then steals it. If Vlad already has the Rubaiyat, if he steals the notebook then it becomes impossible to win the game. Most walkthroughs and hint sites suggest letting the Colonel shoot the player and steal the notebook, which may then be retrieved after disarming a bomb in the Colonel's Titanic state room.

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The Diamonds

The diamonds which the player seeks are found to be locked away in a Russian doll by the art dealer Sasha. The player must first acquire a fake diamond necklace by way of an old love affair now turned nobility, then break into Sasha’s Titanic stateroom (by way of disabling the cabin’s power), and finally solve a puzzle to open the Russian doll and take the actual necklace. If the player does not replace the diamonds with the fake version, Sasha will kill the player once the theft is discovered. However, in earlier versions of the game, the player may use his Map (which contains "hotspots" or shortcuts that will transfer the player immediately to a location on the ship when clicked on) to "teleport" out of Sasha's suite and to some other location on the ship, which will result in a rather interesting arrangement whereby the player retains both the fake and real diamonds.

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Escaping the Titanic

At the end of the game, the Titanic begins to sink and the main character must complete his mission before the last lifeboat leaves (40 minutes in real time). The player must acquire all of the needed items as well as succeed in getting a place on a lifeboat, although the player can board a lifeboat before all the items are acquired, thus finishing the game but not winning it.

There are several ways to accomplish escaping the Titanic, with the most secure being to acquire a lifeboat pass in a hand of blackjack from the Frenchman Rivera. The player may also get on to a lifeboat by helping certain passengers or conversing with the crew. In the last minutes of the game, the German Colonel reappears to offer a "deal" to the player, seemingly adding another objective to the game which is to save the agent's former lover who the Colonel has poisoned. If the player agrees to any of the Colonel's deals, then the Colonel will obtain the painting, and the player will not win the game. However, the Colonel will then make a second deal, offering to trade you back the painting for the lifeboat pass, enabling you to win the game, provided that you find another way off the ship.

There is another method of escaping the ship, however it may mean not winning. Throughout the game, the player encounters a couple by the surname of Gorse-Jones. They will, on three separate occasions, engage the player in a lengthy conversation (although the player seldom gets a chance to talk). While the ship is sinking, the player will encounter them for a fourth time on the boat deck; they give the option of entering a boat. Invariably, however, not all objectives have been completed, so leaving at this moment would allow you to complete the game but not reach a desirable ending. But if you avoid them on deck and get the object you need and come back to them when you have gotten it, you can get on a lifeboat.

Throughout the last part of the game, various cutscenes show the Titanic sinking in various stages. After the character completes his mission, several ending scenes are available depending on whether or not the agent acquired all of the necessary items before leaving the ship. In addition, if the player stays on the Titanic for too long, the ship will sink and the agent will die.

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Game Endings

The game offers a variety of cut scenes at the end of the game, once the player has succeeding in leaving the Titanic. The course of history may also be changed, depending on how many items the player got off the ship.

The following are the different ending results and are dependent on the player acquiring the authentic diamonds.

Obtained Rubaiyat, painting, and notebook

The optimal ending. World War I is averted, the Communists in Russia are stamped out and never seize power, Adolf Hitler becomes a famous artist, and World War II never comes to pass. The player awakens in 1942 to a world of peace and retirement from a successful career.

Failed to obtain Rubaiyat, painting, and notebook

History unfolds exactly as normal. World War I occurs, the Communist take power in Russia, and Hitler becomes dictator of Germany and starts World War II. The player is killed in the original bomb explosion seen at the start of the game.

Obtained Rubaiyat only

World War I is averted but Hitler comes to power in Germany in 1927. Germany uses the additional years under Nazi rule to develop the atomic bomb and eventually starts 'World War II'. The player dies in a nuclear attack on London, England.

Obtained notebook only

World War I occurs as normal, but the Czar stays in power in Russia. World War II starts on schedule and Russia falls in 1939. Germany invades England and the British Empire surrenders. Winston Churchill is executed, and the player dies when Nazi stormtroopers raid his apartment.

Obtained painting only

World War I occurs on schedule, but Hitler does not rise to power in Germany (having become a famous artist). Communism takes hold in Germany instead and the Second World War is started by a far more powerful USSR. England falls to the wave of European Communism and becomes part of a Bolshevik Empire. The player is killed in his apartment by a Russian shock trooper.

Failed to obtain the authentic diamonds

If the player does not obtain the actual diamonds, then this has the same effect as failing to obtain the Rubaiyat with regards to the ending scene at the game’s conclusion.

Other variations

Mixing various items but failing to obtain a critical item offer the same cut scenes and end sequences as described above. The other versions which will end the game include

  1. Failing to obtain only the Rubaiyat
  2. Failing to obtain only the painting
  3. Failing to obtain only the notebook

As mentioned previously, failing to obtain the authentic necklace offers the same conclusion as if the player failed to obtain the Rubaiyat.

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Ship's Tour

Besides the game, the CD-ROM also included a separate exploration feature that featured characters in the game discussing various aspects of the ship, its crew, and the sinking. Several character narrations were included with the game, while others could be downloaded from the game's website. These characters would be placed at locations around the ship.

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Connection with Dust: A Tale of the Wired West

Titanic is linked to the previous Cyberflix game by the character "Buick Riviera". In Dust, Riviera is a con artist in a remote town in the Old West who keeps borrowing money from the player; in Titanic, Riviera is now an elderly man who spends his time playing blackjack on the doomed ship. If the player indicates having been to Diamondback, New Mexico (the setting of Dust), Riviera thereafter uses a special deck of cards marked with the logo of the saloon from Diamondback for the blackjack game. The actor who plays the photographer also appears in Dust as a different character.

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Trivia

  • Fans of the 1997 Titanic film can use the game's free-roaming feature to explore some of the areas of the ship that are featured in the movie. It is possible to knock on the door of Rose's cabin (but not enter), get close to the bow of the vessel, visit the boiler room, walk down the Grand Staircase, take an elevator, walk along service corridors similar to those seen in the film, visit the bridge, see the automobile in the cargo hold, and explore assorted common areas such as lounges that are featured in the film. With knowledge of the available areas of Titanic presented by the game, it is possible to follow the movements of the film's protagonists to a degree.
  • During gameplay, it's possible to steer Titanic off-course. However, when you stop steering an officer throws you off the bridge and orders a seaman to re-correct the position.
  • As mentioned, there are several ways to accomplish the objectives. Finding the location of the Rubaiyat, for example, can be done by gaining access to the wireless room and intercepting a message containing its location Or, meeting with the Colonel and having a psychic use his pipe to 'sense' it was at the Turkish Bath, will allow the players to access the mirror there, which contains a hidden message accessible by turning on the hot water.
  • Again, during gameplay, you can listen to incoming wireless transmissions, which are historically accurate. Simply enter the wireless room, turn the set on, select "REC" on the send/receive swtich, turn the tuner until the light flashes, then click on the morse key.
  • At the start of the game the newspaper says it is 1942, and the radio states that fighting is going on in places like Leningrad and Burma (which it was during that time). However, by 1942 bombing of the UK took place only at night. It is clearly daytime in the game. V1 and v2 rocket bombs were used against London later in the war to great loss of life, and the Luftwaffe continued raiding the coastline.
  • If you go down into the Turkish bath and look in the drawers of the small tables, you can view some of Cyberflix's other game's boxes.
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External links

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