Heh, good one!
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I think 4358?
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This was really fun!
@Nerull
In chapter 2.
After, Samantha goes to one of the windows and looks outside to see her own parked .
Missing word.
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I believe it is 4815.
For chapter 3, I … accidentally made Sam scared of me (edit: wait, her terror just automatic go to 0 to 100 real quick). Also, I knew Violet would be that kind of a person! So, the Brooks are just some sacrifices that Violet sacrifice??
The game sure looks amazing.
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You can find it by using Dreamwalk during the second chapter, during the same…scene(?) that you can also unlock the phone during. If I remember correctly it should present itself on one of the tombstones. Or if you just want it know, then it’s 4815.
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It occurs to me that unlocking Michael’s phone is… probably meant to be limited to Ghosts with Dreamwalk. Thus, allowing a Ghost without Dreamwalk to use the phone simply because the password was remembered from a previous play-through may not be desirable. So maybe it could, for future builds, be randomized.
I guess the simplest way to randomize it would be two variables. One that gets randomized at (or just after) startup; the other that the player inputs to try and match the first.
Maybe something like this?
In startup.txt:
*create password 0
*create password_guess 0
*rand password 1111 9999
Then later, when the player wants to use the phone:
*input_number password_guess 1111 9999
*if (password_guess = password)
Text about success.
*if (password_guess != password)
Text about failure.
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Mmm, I don’t think so. The Poltergeist skill allows us to interact with other characters’ phones in most applicable exploration scenes. Not having the password shouldn’t make it so we can’t touch his phone and see that a photo was sent. I do think, though, that adding morphine to the grocery list should be limited to those with Dreamwalk since it’s the first chapter and we have no reason to know about that if you haven’t visited his dream first.
edit: ah ok @Minnow, that def clarifies what you mean. i think i agree there. in kind, I’ll clarify what I meant
I notice (and love) that @Nerull leaves all options available to peek at regardless of your chosen powerset, but I think something as plot relevant and significant about a main character as Michael’s addiction might benefit from being the exception–only being revealed through the narrative and/or gameplay, not as a mechanic of the code. I think the opportunity to discover this about Michael’s past should present itself organically. Without Dreamwalk, you barely learn anything about Michael (so far, anyway) because he spends so much time out of the house. I think that lack of attachment the player might develop with Mike should be allowed to foment! Let there be a misunderstanding of his motivations, priorities, and feelings! As a ghost, we have hardly any information about this family, and I think these games are often better when the player has opportunities to operate off of assumptions they make based on their play route (and specifically while lacking information from other routes). If that makes sense!
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Oh, yeah. I definitely should have been more clear there. Let me go back and edit in an “unlocking.”
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I know nothing about the password scene since I play without Dreamwalk and without Poltergeist, so yep, I’m not getting to do a lot of messing around with phones.
However, I think an easier way to go about it would be to just set a flag when the player has seen the correct password in a dream and then have a choice to “use the password I learnt earlier” if they did. No need to have the player enter an actual password and no need to randomise it.
I like that idea better than relying on the player for something that the character should know or not know (what if someone has a terrible memory for numbers? 
)
Unrelated: I’m sure that witch Violet killed William and me 
just wait until I get my hands on her… Figuratively speaking, since I’m a spirit and all. 
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oh god, this. i’m real close to becoming an advocate against memory tests in choicescript 
My memory is garbage! I forget things in weeks, days, hours, literal seconds… yeah, I think if a story says the character learned something or memorized something as short/trivial as a short code, that should give the player a pass on having to wrack their brains to recall a certain portion of text in a whole game of it. tho that is definitely mainly my bad memory angst talking 
However, if a story makes it clear that the MC had a hard time grasping something or the game is testing something both the MC and the reader wouldn’t have been inclined to pay particular attention to (something seemingly trivial in-game actually being valuable info or a clue, for example)… i can deal lol
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I think we are forgetting that this is supposed to be set in the late 80’s-mid 90s when you couldnt even send pics via cellphones…
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Sort of, but not exactly. The Ghost died in the early 90’s 1993 if the precise year matters, and so is rather unfamiliar with the modern-day technology the new residents use.
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I seeeee…nice. That makes much more sense, thanks for clearing it up!
Two thoughts:
1: The check only needs to involve having the dreamwalk skill … the randomization would only annoy those that want to “cheat” for themselves … or frustrate those unable to cheat the code, it would not accomplish the actual goal of adding more to the replayability
2: Tech in the 1990’s was not that far removed from today’s or even the near future tech, that adapting would be an issue … The Apple Newton, for example may not be as the Apple Iphone but the concepts involved with today’s app use and OS on an Iphone were well established and understandable …
It is like taking a person from 1915 and claiming they would be clueless about cars of the 1950’s and 1960’s – they might not comprehend minutia, but they would be able to adapt to the technology used.
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Is their friendship relationship with living people (like in betteljuice) or romance? Or are we dommed to be alone?
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I am not sure I understand what you mean by tech/phones being very similar to the 90s…cell phones in the 90s were COMPLETELY different as were computers
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Have you considered implementing a save system?
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