[360]Bioshock

[Soulchilde]

Destructor, according to Tom Chick on QT3, if you see a Big Daddy sans Little Girl, you can follow him around and he'll eventually call out a Little Girl from her hiding place. 

Re: Hacking- so far (360 Version) I've only found one safe I would classify as hard and used an Auto-Hack to get by, it's just that I don't find the mechanic fun.  I can do the stupid puzzles alright, I just find them very boring. 

I actually like the hacking puzzle on the 360, but it might also help that i have two upgrades that help me hacking

[Booner]

PS - Anyone else playing on hard?  I usually play games on the hardest setting by default, and even on hard this game isn't.  EXCEPT for the big daddies.  They are tough and I have to admit taking advantage of the respawn system to take them down.  I'm usually wiped of ammo by the time they drop.

Yeah...playing on hard. It's definitely getting more difficult as I go, the number of splicers and certain types of splicers are making for some hellacious fightfights. I guessing I'm on the fourth or fifth...haven't paid that much attention to the number....which level would be the third?

[unbreakable]

Since I first heard about the game, I was wondering how difficult it would be to play the game without modifying yourself.

I'm undecided on whether to try that first, or do it on a future playthrough.

[Booner]

I was wondering how difficult it would be to play the game without modifying yourself.

You must....It would be 100% unpossible.

[ericb]

Got the 360 LE yesterday (thank you 10% gamestop coupon ) and I love it.  It's one of the first games that has pulled me away from WoW in a long time and one I didn't want to quit playing.  It's creepy, love the art, the style and even like the hacking puzzles which are a nice change from what you normally see.  And it looks fantastic on my big screen with the lights down.  Not much past the demo levels (from what I've heard...never played it so everything would be fresh) but really looking forward to advancing.

[Roscoe]

I posted this question over at the OO forum but I think people might know about it as well:

The manual (page 11) says "If you have failed to collect ADAM from Little Sisters on ealier levels you can return to those levels at any time to tackle the Big Daddies." Does that mean you can also return to an earlier level just for the heck of it? There's a safe I'd love to crack once I get some engineering gene tonics.

[Bullwinkle]

Well my first encounter took me 10min to decide. The look on that child face, the argument between the other two on the benefits of either\or. Most important the look on my 2 year old face. And the fact I really did not know what the hell Adam was. I speared the Kid  . I did Harvest the second one after I knew the out come. And I only died 6 times  (Big dad is Fast)

I'm having the same dilema with the first one.  I saved right before I have to make the choice, but I'm not sure if I take the doctors offer to make it worth my while or get twice the amount of Adam......

Hardest choice I've had to make in a game, and I'm still not happy with it.  I like playing "good," and harvesting just feels wrong.  None the less, the strategy guide says that for the most benefit and achievements harvesting is the way to go on your first play through.  They also say the game is much harder releasing them.  I'm glad I had the guide because I don't think I would have made that choice otherwise (the guide is also used for making sure I don't miss any diaries, by the way, and that's pretty much it).

[Roscoe]

i put this in the other thread of atb's but it bears repeating.  2k will replace the figure and send you the art book if you get a busted figure.

link

Hmm, the extreme tip of the screw weapon of mine was broken off. I wonder if that's pushing it, to get a replacement? I guess not. I also wonder how they will make sure it's YOUR Big Daddy that's busted, will they require you to mail it to them?

[kathode]

Re: hacking - I didn't mind the minigame too much, but be prepared to do a whole LOT of hacking.  The rewards for hacking stores or security systems are much greater than the benefit of destroying them or not hacking the stores.  I honestly couldn't bring myself to buy anything at all from a store that I hadn't hacked.  It felt like I went to Safeway and forgot my Safeway card.  This is my #1 complaint about the game aside from the crashing.

There is a way to making hacking security systems a lot easier.  This will spoil one of the weapons you get about 1/3 of the way through the game.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Once you get the research camera, take loads of pictures of turrets.  Eventually you get the ability to auto-hack them.  Super useful.  I believe the same applies to the bots and cameras as well.

Re: Saving vs. killing the Little Sisters.  I struggled over the first decision mightily as well.  I finally decided to save them all and was happy I did for the achievement.  If you want to know some details about the difference between saving and killing them beyond the Adam difference, I'll put it here.  No plot spoilers, just some people might not want to know.

Spoiler for Hiden:

After every two or three little sisters you save, Tenenbaum will contact you and let you know that the sisters have left you a gift by the Gatherer's Garden machines.  You'll find a teddy bear container object with 200 Adam, usually some rare ammo, and once in a while a moderately useful plasmid or tonic.  The 200 Adam means there's actually very little difference between killing and saving.  The first gift will contain a plasmid called "Hypnotize Big Daddy" that isn't as useful as it sounds, but does get you a very powerful companion when you need it.  You'll still need to kill the Big Daddy before you harvest or save the Little Sister though.

[CeeKay]

with the hacking mini-game I just start flipping as many tiles as possible, then I extend the tubes and click on the rest of the tiles.  so far it hasn't been an issue for me, but I can see the puzzles getting very hellacious later on in the game.

[CeeKay]

Well my first encounter took me 10min to decide. The look on that child face, the argument between the other two on the benefits of either\or. Most important the look on my 2 year old face. And the fact I really did not know what the hell Adam was. I speared the Kid  . I did Harvest the second one after I knew the out come. And I only died 6 times  (Big dad is Fast)

I'm having the same dilema with the first one.  I saved right before I have to make the choice, but I'm not sure if I take the doctors offer to make it worth my while or get twice the amount of Adam......

Hardest choice I've had to make in a game, and I'm still not happy with it.  I like playing "good," and harvesting just feels wrong.  None the less, the strategy guide says that for the most benefit and achievements harvesting is the way to go on your first play through.  They also say the game is much harder releasing them.  I'm glad I had the guide because I don't think I would have made that choice otherwise (the guide is also used for making sure I don't miss any diaries, by the way, and that's pretty much it).

I'm still leaning towards saving them for the first play through.  It'll give me a reason to play the game again to see all the benefits the evil path gives you.

[DamageInc]

I dont find the hacking to be an issue but I like the implemetation.

Here is a tonic tip in the medical area but it is a spoiler.

Spoiler for Hiden:

In the medical area you will see a blast furnace with a dead body on the slab. There is a security camera near by so hack that first. You can press "A" at the slab and the body will go into the furnace. Allow for some time to go by, I went upstairs and finished that room and when I returned to the slab there was an Engineering Tonic sitting in a pile of ash.

This game is definitely what you call a QUALITY title.

[The Grue]

Here is a tonic tip in the medical area but it is a spoiler.

Spoiler for Hiden:

In the medical area you will see a blast furnace with a dead body on the slab. There is a security camera near by so hack that first. You can press "A" at the slab and the body will go into the furnace. Allow for some time to go by, I went upstairs and finished that room and when I returned to the slab there was an Engineering Tonic sitting in a pile of ash.

Spoiler for Hiden:

You actually don't have to wait very long.  Press the button, the corpse slides in for a few moments and then the tray slides back out with the tonic on it.  I thought it was very cool when I discovered it last night.

[Soulchilde]

I dont find the hacking to be an issue but I like the implemetation.

Here is a tonic tip in the medical area but it is a spoiler.

Spoiler for Hiden:

In the medical area you will see a blast furnace with a dead body on the slab. There is a security camera near by so hack that first. You can press "A" at the slab and the body will go into the furnace. Allow for some time to go by, I went upstairs and finished that room and when I returned to the slab there was an Engineering Tonic sitting in a pile of ash.

This game is definitely what you call a QUALITY title.

Actually, if you just wait it will be there.  That was a cool find

[Kevin Grey]

How much ADAM do you get for harvesting Little Sisters?  Want to know what I'm missing out on. 

[JuniorDan]

Got in four hours yesterday. I'm taking my time playing, poking into every room I can, although I screwed up on the Medical Pavillion map and...
(click to show/hide)

Now that I read your post, I believe the devs. may have planed that. May have to do with you returning to that level later on.  I had the same problem.

[JuniorDan]

How much ADAM do you get for harvesting Little Sisters?  Want to know what I'm missing out on. 

160

[Kevin Grey]

That's it?  Well, that's not too much different so I think I'm going to stay the course and try to rescue them.  Thanks!

[JuniorDan]

Well my first encounter took me 10min to decide. The look on that child face, the argument between the other two on the benefits of either\or. Most important the look on my 2 year old face. And the fact I really did not know what the hell Adam was. I speared the Kid  . I did Harvest the second one after I knew the out come. And I only died 6 times  (Big dad is Fast)

I'm having the same dilema with the first one.  I saved right before I have to make the choice, but I'm not sure if I take the doctors offer to make it worth my while or get twice the amount of Adam......

Hardest choice I've had to make in a game, and I'm still not happy with it.  I like playing "good," and harvesting just feels wrong.  None the less, the strategy guide says that for the most benefit and achievements harvesting is the way to go on your first play through.  They also say the game is much harder releasing them.  I'm glad I had the guide because I don't think I would have made that choice otherwise (the guide is also used for making sure I don't miss any diaries, by the way, and that's pretty much it).

I'm still leaning towards saving them for the first play through.  It'll give me a reason to play the game again to see all the benefits the evil path gives you.

For Achievement purposes I will have to play through the game 2 more times because I saved the first one (being clue less) but I am harvesting the rest. The Achiev. point are either save them all or harvest them all.

[JuniorDan]

That's it?  Well, that's not too much different so I think I'm going to stay the course and try to rescue them.  Thanks!

You get twice as much, allowing you to get more slots and extra stuff opposed to just one choice.

[Destructor]

Destructor, according to Tom Chick on QT3, if you see a Big Daddy sans Little Girl, you can follow him around and he'll eventually call out a Little Girl from her hiding place. 

Well, I was stalking one around for a while (2, actually). He'd occasionally bang on a hole in a wall (the same type of hole I've seen one go into before), but she never came out. I still stand by my statement that I killed 4 out of 3 on that level. I have like 300 Adam and only can spend 60 or so on an upgrade I didn't choose to get.

BTW - wait until you get a bit later in the game. It starts to get really creepy in parts. And I also LOVE (in this game - I usually hate it) that some things you do trigger enemy spawns nearby. Normally you're tucked into a corner or some hideaway when you do it, so you have a great opportunity to get a jump on whatever just came out (go go pistol headshots).

What did you all take for your first weapon upgrade? I went with more damage on my Machine Gun. Although, now that I think about it, I should've gone for the damage increase on the pistol. I'm generally such a crack shot with it.

And as far as my progress goes (about 7 hours or so), I've just gotten to the sub that your guy on the inside talks about.

[Arclight]

I love the one two punch of Freeze and Shotgun..........I love the Shotgun....Grenade launcher aint too shabby either when you just gotta take out the mob in one shot....

And as for saving or killing the little sisters. I've talked about this before, I just couldn't kill a little girl in any circumstance. I know, I know, its a game...but honestly I would hate it if I "had" to kill them. There is one achievment I wont be getting...Killing all the little girls.

Weird, I know..but there ya have it.

[Destructor]

I love the one two punch of Freeze and Shotgun..........I love the Shotgun....Grenade launcher aint too shabby either when you just gotta take out the mob in one shot....

Do mobs actually shatter (like the description says) when you do that? I've honestly only used Freeze on the Big Daddies so far (and no, before you ask, they don't shatter).

[Arclight]

I love the one two punch of Freeze and Shotgun..........I love the Shotgun....Grenade launcher aint too shabby either when you just gotta take out the mob in one shot....

Do mobs actually shatter (like the description says) when you do that? I've honestly only used Freeze on the Big Daddies so far (and no, before you ask, they don't shatter).

Yep, into a million pieces  muwahahahah

[Caine]

i really need to take a day off to play this.  last night i started and got as far as the demo ending bit and had to stop.  wife really wanted to watch a movie.  it ended up some goofy icelandic thing with subtitles and a crazy plot.  at least they showed some skin.  i fell asleep halfway through. 

this morning, i had an hour to play it and made my way into the med section and got the second plasmid. 

for the audio log achievement, does it count found or played?  i ask because right after you hack the first sec bot is a log.  when i hit 'A' the damn bot flew in front of my face and got deactivated.  the prompt for reading the log went away and i don't see a way to hear it now.  does that mean i'm too late?

i loved watching the gun toting splicer die after she ran up to heal at my hacked station.  :twisted:

[Kevin Grey]

Caine, you can go into the Start Menu and access a tab that will allow you to play back (and even read) all of the voice logs. 

[Caine]

perfect.  i hadn't even bothered to look.  why spend a minute of my game playing window to look through the menus?

[Calvin]

Destructor, according to Tom Chick on QT3, if you see a Big Daddy sans Little Girl, you can follow him around and he'll eventually call out a Little Girl from her hiding place. 

Re: Hacking- so far (360 Version) I've only found one safe I would classify as hard and used an Auto-Hack to get by, it's just that I don't find the mechanic fun.  I can do the stupid puzzles alright, I just find them very boring. 

Personally, I like the hacking mechanic, and find it a fun and rather tense mini-game, but there are several safes I have found that I would classify as hard, if only because you start with two looping sections and have to immediately find and open up a new path. It's not easy.

[Calvin]

I still haven't decided what to do in terms of harvesting the little sisters-I am right before the first decision and I just can't decide. I know I am going to play through this multiple times on different platforms-that much is a given-the question is simply whether I want my first run through to be harvesting or not-someone said you get a lot more stuff eventually by harvesting...so, since I am playing on normal maybe thats better left for hard? Or maybe not harvesting is better left for the PC runthrough so I can aim and fight more easily?

Anyone have any tips for me? I am playing a game of football now and trying to decide whether or not to go pick up the PC version and play through that first.

[Destructor]

Just harvest the creepy little kids and move on with your game.

[hepcat]

I still haven't decided what to do in terms of harvesting the little sisters-I am right before the first decision and I just can't decide. I know I am going to play through this multiple times on different platforms-that much is a given-the question is simply whether I want my first run through to be harvesting or not-someone said you get a lot more stuff eventually by harvesting...so, since I am playing on normal maybe thats better left for hard? Or maybe not harvesting is better left for the PC runthrough so I can aim and fight more easily?

Anyone have any tips for me? I am playing a game of football now and trying to decide whether or not to go pick up the PC version and play through that first.

I'm playing it as a good guy the first time around and sparing the little ankle biters.  here's what to look forward to if you go that route:

Spoiler for Hiden:

if you choose to not kill the little sisters, tannenbaum (or whatever her name is) will eventually reward you with some pretty cool toys and some extra ADAM...

Personally, I like the hacking mechanic, and find it a fun and rather tense mini-game, but there are several safes I have found that I would classify as hard, if only because you start with two looping sections and have to immediately find and open up a new path. It's not easy.

ditto.  love the hacking mini-game and actually look forward to safes, health stations, vending machines, etc...

[Calvin]

Just harvest the creepy little kids and move on with your game.

You playing on PC, right Destructor? You finding it a lot more intuitive control wise than 360? Don't ask please, why I am still agonizing over the controls rather than playing. I do this sometimes. 

[Interloper]

This game is superb.  The level design is fantastic, and the atmosphere is just so well done.  My mouth almost drops open in awe at some of the areas in the game.  I love the character development through the diaries, and some of the  characters are so interesting.  And it's so refreshing to play a game with such excellent voice overs.  I'm always checking my map and making sure to uncover any areas it shows as unexplored.  There are so many nooks and crannies laying about.  The scripted events are great, and I'm always left wondering whats up next.  I'm going to be sad to see this game end.  I'm taking my sweet time making sure to try to explore every corner, safe, everything. 

I've been upgrading quite a bit and I'm finding the big daddies are dropping much faster now.  Still not easy, but definitely getting easier.  I've also been taking tons of pictures, and the rewards for doing so are great.  This is easily the top game of this generation so far, IMO.

[Destructor]

Just harvest the creepy little kids and move on with your game.

You playing on PC, right Destructor? You finding it a lot more intuitive control wise than 360? Don't ask please, why I am still agonizing over the controls rather than playing. I do this sometimes. 

Yuppers. I find the controls work great. The game keeps track of your weapon and plasmid choice, and you push RMB to switch between which one is 'active', and LMB to fire it. Number keys choose weapons, and function keys choose plasmids. Mouse wheel scrolls through what's available (based on if you have a weapon or plasmid active) if you'd rather work that way. You can also push Shift to 'pause' the game and choose the weapon or plasmid you want ready.

I find the controls work out great. And precise and easy head shots makes for a much more fun game, IMHO. Accuracy is well rewarded.

[Calvin]

Just harvest the creepy little kids and move on with your game.

You playing on PC, right Destructor? You finding it a lot more intuitive control wise than 360? Don't ask please, why I am still agonizing over the controls rather than playing. I do this sometimes. 

Yuppers. I find the controls work great. The game keeps track of your weapon and plasmid choice, and you push RMB to switch between which one is 'active', and LMB to fire it. Number keys choose weapons, and function keys choose plasmids. Mouse wheel scrolls through what's available (based on if you have a weapon or plasmid active) if you'd rather work that way. You can also push Shift to 'pause' the game and choose the weapon or plasmid you want ready.

I find the controls work out great. And precise and easy head shots makes for a much more fun game, IMHO. Accuracy is well rewarded.

Yeah, I am REALLY close to picking up the PC version now and just playing it for the first time on PC.

[The Grue]

Got a question for you folk.  Is a Bouncer not a Big Daddy?  I keep killing these Bouncer things and there are no Little Sisters with them.  They keep respawning in the medical area.  Did I just waste a ton of money and ammo?

[Caine]

Got a question for you folk.  Is a Bouncer not a Big Daddy?  I keep killing these Bouncer things and there are no Little Sisters with them.  They keep respawning in the medical area.  Did I just waste a ton of money and ammo?

what's it look like?  i read elsewhere that the BD's will sometimes call out the sisters from their hidey holes if you follow them around.  i also read that there are BD's without companions. 

i haven't got enough play time to see these things yet.  just splicers.  lots of them. 

[kathode]

Got a question for you folk.  Is a Bouncer not a Big Daddy?  I keep killing these Bouncer things and there are no Little Sisters with them.  They keep respawning in the medical area.  Did I just waste a ton of money and ammo?

Big Daddies don't require Little Sisters.  Once you deal with all Little Sisters on a level, you'll still find Big Daddies roaming around aimlessly.  You can even follow them and see them bang on the portholes where the Sisters come from, and then get annoyed when no one comes out   But yes, there's little point to killing either of the Big Daddies if they don't have Little Sisters with them.  They usually give you a decent amount of cash but that's about it.

BTW, I would highly recommend upgrading your shotgun rate of fire.  It makes a huge difference.  And either way, the visual "pieces of flair" that get added when you upgrade weapons are great.

[Kevin Grey]

Got a question for you folk.  Is a Bouncer not a Big Daddy?  I keep killing these Bouncer things and there are no Little Sisters with them.  They keep respawning in the medical area.  Did I just waste a ton of money and ammo?

I belive Bouncer is the name of a type of Big Daddy. 

[Calvin]

Well, I played through the PC demo again, and played another 1.5 hours or so of the 360 version. I REALLY prefer the PC version so far, but the 360 version is on my big screen tv and I get achievements. I think at this point its more like do I mind experiencing the game for the first time on a control scheme I find VASTLY inferior yet still works acceptably or do I need to play it on 360 for the achievements and for replay value after I play PC? I honestly cant decide, but I do know that fights that were hard for me on the 360 version on normal take me a couple easy shots on the PC version. It's much, much more gratifying.