Hints
Each of the following hint sections is designed to reveal the answer to you in stages, so you do not see more information than you wish. First, click on the hint topic you wish to access. Then find the question that pertains to you. To read the hints, left-click and highlight the hidden text next to each hint number. More pieces of information will be revealed in each successive hint until the final hint, which should reveal all the information you would need.
Good luck!
Topic I: The Diner/Introduction
Topic III: The José/Jack Thread
Who am I?
Hint 1:
Did you examine the contents of your backpack? (You can do this on page one by clicking on the camera).Hint 2:
The items that fall out of your backpack are your student ID, your monthly planner, a picture of your girlfriend with a note on the back, and an e-mail that you recently printed off. Together, these items give you an idea of who your character is and what he's going through right now.Hint 3:
You are a college student named David (Dave) Hamilton in his freshman year at fictional State University in fictional Bloomberg, Indiana. You are about 18-19 years old. It is the Sunday before the first semester finals and you waited until the last minute to study. One of the reasons your mind hasn't been on your classes is likely related to that girl in the picture.Hint 4:
She wrote a nice letter on the back of that photo, didn’t she? Too bad the e-mail isn’t quite as friendly…Hint 5:
Take a look at your planner and you'll see that after you called Kristen, you later scratched out plans to meet her for dinner replacing them with "Return Kristen's gift." It looks like things aren’t going to work out between you two. To be honest though, about 5 minutes after the story starts your relationship with Kristen isn’t going to seem like that big of a deal anymore.Hint 6:
Originally, you were to be given the choice of playing as a boy or a girl, but time constraints forced me to cut out that option (sorry ladies!) Perhaps in a future release I'll be able to add that back in. For most plot threads, your gender is irrelevant.Hint 7:
The town of Bloomberg and the university setting are loosely based on Indiana University and the surrounding town of Bloomington. [FINAL HINT]Where did everybody go?
Hint 1:
An interesting question. Perhaps you should investigate.Hint 2:
A main point of the story is to figure out what's going on. Look around and play a while. You (or another character) will figure it out.Hint 3:
The people of Earth were kidnapped by an alien species using some kind of transport beam. For reasons initially unknown, you and some others were spared. [FINAL HINT]Does it matter which choice I make in the parking lot?
Hint 1:
Yes.Hint 2:
Your choice here will determine which main plot thread you follow.Hint 3:
There are three major threads in this story, each named after your sidekick. They are the Tina thread, the Jack/José thread and the Morgan thread. Your choice will determine which sidekick you have throughout the story.Hint 4:
There is some intersecting between the various threads. It is possible to meet more than one sidekick in a thread.Hint 5:
There is one other thread…Hint 6:
Choosing to go back to your dorm from the parking lot results in you briefly teaming up with a guy named Steve. However, this thread ends very quickly in your deaths. It is the only way to meet the unlucky Steve though, so if you're "dying" to meet him (groan), give it a try. [FINAL HINT]
Oh, no! Can I save the little girl?
Hint 1:
Not on this thread…Hint 2:
If you go exploring from the diner parking lot, you will not have time to rescue the girl before she is attacked.Hint 3:
The girl enters the road from the direction of the police station.Hint 4:
Go to the police station from the diner parking lot instead of exploring. This will give you a chance to save the girl before it's too late. [FINAL HINT]What is Tina's web site good for?
Hint 1:
It's full of information, isn't it?Hint 2:
Read all the various posts from people who survived the abductions for clues about what is going on.Hint 3:
There is also an "About Me" section for biographical information on Tina. [FINAL HINT]
Why is this thread sometimes different?
Hint 1:
It has to do with when you go to the police station.Hint 2:
Not long after the beginning of the story, an escape pod/shuttle craft from one of the orbiting alien ships crashes behind the station. When you choose to go to the station will determine whether or not you see the crash.Hint 3:
Have you ever tried letting Jack investigate the pod alone?Hint 4:
If you wait a long time before going to the Police Station, Jack explores the pod without you. This has the same effect as when you tell him to go in alone (the alien kills him). [FINAL HINT]What crashed into the woods behind the station?
Hint 1:
Have you explored it yet?Hint 2:
Kind of a small ship, isn’t it?Hint 3:
Really too small to be used for abducting the population of a planet…Hint 4:
This is an escape pod/shuttle craft from one of the larger, orbiting space ships. It is unclear as of yet which it is or why the alien took it to the planet's surface. However, the video may offer some clues. [FINAL HINT]Help! I'm stuck playing with buttons!
Hint 1:
Have you noticed which colors light up when you press the buttons?Hint 2:
Red…Hint 3:
Orange…Hint 4:
Yellow…Hint 5:
Green…Hint 6:
Blue…Hint 7:
Indigo…Hint 8:
Violet…Hint 9:
These are the colors of the visible light spectrum, from longest to shortest wavelength.Hint 10:
Starting from a fresh beginning (you can use the white "reset" button for that) you need to light up the bulb in the order ROYGBIV. This will give you access to another button. Press it.Hint 11:
The video will explain why it was encoded in this way. [FINAL HINT]So…I'm still a little confused about what I saw on the video.
Hint 1:
Some questions are left unanswered on purpose, but here's what you need to know. The Gren-Star were a peaceful race of alien explorers who had never encountered violent species of life before. When they landed on the planet of the "horror creatures" they were taken completely by surprise. Most were hunted and killed. The horror creatures are intelligent enough to use the Gren-Star technology, but they are not advanced enough to redesign it much or to fix it when it breaks down. (Incidentally, this is why they cannot simply recalibrate the transport beam to recognize overly-caffeinated humans.) The horror creatures quickly took over the Gren-Star ships and began slaughtering them. At least one survived long enough to record a video of himself and encode it in a way that the color-blind and vision-impaired horror creatures would not be able to break. After finishing off the Gren-Star, the horror creatures began searching the galaxy for more prey using the Gren-Star ships. Now they have found Earth. [FINAL HINT]Wait a minute…if I didn't take Morgan to the police station, do I really have a chance to save her?
Hint 1:
Nope. She's dead. [FINAL HINT]
Is this the little girl from the Tina thread?
Hint 1:
Yes. Congratulations on saving her life!Hint 2:
Unfortunately, there is no way to travel the Tina thread and save Morgan. [FINAL HINT]Help! I can't break the encrypted code number!
Hint 1:
If you travel the Tina thread, you can be there when she sets up this code. That will offer a small hint.Hint 2:
It is designed to be recognized by humans, but not by the aliens. Tina doesn’t want to give the aliens access to the secret meetings.Hint 3:
It's in a code.Hint 4:
It's Morse Code. If you don't know Morse Code, you can find any number of web sites (in real life, not in the game) that will explain how to translate it.Hint 5:
The number being played in Morse Code is 8362. Type this into the keypad on Tina's web site. [FINAL HINT]Help! I broke the code, but the e-mail doesn't work!
Hint 1:
First of all, you have to use your real e-mail for this and send a real message. This was to make the game seem more "real."Hint 2:
Your e-mail address will not be used for anything at all, but will be promptly deleted from the inbox. If you want, you can get a free address from Yahoo (or any other service) that you only use for this game.Hint 3:
However, if you still don’t want to use your e-mail or are unable to, below is the text of Tina's auto-response message. After reading it, just say "yes" when the game asks you if you received her e-mail. [FINAL HINT]The secret resistance meeting is at State University in Bloomberg, Indiana. Go to Chudy Hall and enter the basement level.
The password is: NEDRA
Good luck,
Tina S.
Wait, why can't I access the main site on Tina's web page? I can access it on the Tina thread.
Hint 1:
Remember, on the Tina thread, you never accessed her web site after she posted the information on the coffee and meetings. [FINAL HINT]Why do I need a password to get into the meeting anyway? I don't look like an alien.
Hint 1:
There is a hint to this on the Tina thread.Hint 2:
Tina is afraid the aliens may be able to shape shift into human form or possess people. She wanted to do what she could to help make sure anyone trying to get into the meetings had a minimum knowledge of human history and technology, figuring that the aliens would not. So, she used Morse Code to encode her message and then ensured someone would also need to know how to use e-mail to get into a meeting. It isn't foolproof, but it was the best she could no on the fly. [FINAL HINT]
Why am I still on Earth?
Hint 1:
That's a good question. Perhaps you should investigate a while.Hint 2:
If you investigate for a while on any thread, you will find the answer to this question.Hint 3:
Every possible ending will at least give some clue as to how or why you were initially spared.
Hint 4:
It is possible to be abducted in this story.Hint 5:
You simply have to avoid doing something for a while.Hint 5:
What were you doing just before everyone was abducted?Hint 6:
You were studying and…Hint 7:
…drinking coffee. Extremely high levels of caffeine in the blood alter your vital signs, body chemistry and brain functioning enough to confuse the aliens' abduction mechanism. To keep from being abducted, you have to consume caffeine more or less continually throughout the story. [FINAL HINT]Why am I not still on Earth?
Hint 1:
First, see the previous question for a lot of the information you may be looking for.Hint 2:
The aliens are continually sweeping the planet with their abduction ray to catch those they missed the first time. The ray is invisible until it comes into contact with human life that it can lock on to. Then, the human disappears in a flash of orange light.Hint 3:
If you fail to keep drinking drink enough caffeine, your vital signs will eventually return to a level that the aliens can recognize as human and the beam will successfully lock on to you, beaming you to an alien vessel orbiting the planet. This is a bad thing. [FINAL HINT]I still don't understand, what happens to me after the "flash of light"?
Hint 1:
If you appear somewhere else after a "flash of light" then you are no longer on Earth. The previous two questions can provide much of the information you are looking for. Read them before continuing.Hint 2:
Each of the different threads will give some clue as to the aliens' motivations for abducting mankind. Explore a while and see what you discover.Hint 3:
What kind of animal do the aliens resemble? What does that animal do well?Hint 4:
The aliens are hunters (like a wolf). They are here to hunt and feed. If you are abducted, you are either eaten right away or rendered unconscious by a needle to be hunted (and consumed) later. [FINAL HINT]