A Return To My Bane. (Codename: Iceman)

[Collector]

http://sierrahelp.com/Misc/SaveGames.html#C

[Tawmis]

Did you see this? http://www.sierrahelp.com/Hints/Code-Na ... ilers.html

I had not seen that! It was the actual hintbook in PDF (though, that may have been SierraGamers - I just searched for "Codename Iceman flares" or something - and it led to the PDF hintbook.

http://sierrahelp.com/Misc/SaveGames.html#C

Awesome! I'm (in)famous! I posted a link to the save games post earlier today on Twitter (like an hour ago)! Will post the new link too!

[Tawmis]

Codename Iceman Walk Thru.docx

Modified walk through for CodeName: Iceman, with some additions and notations by me. Also fixed typos/errors.

(29.75 KiB) Downloaded 916 times

Codename Iceman Walk Thru.pdf

PDF version of the Word document attached.

(289.08 KiB) Downloaded 985 times

[pl212]

Just a note to say I'm in the middle of a play-through of this, a game that I knew of in the 1980s but never owned. Having read all the reviews recently, I'm glad I never took the plunge -- sub sims are definitely not my interest! But SCI0 games are, and this one has some really terrific graphics in part.

The hardware for my run is an IBM PS/2 Model 25, the all-in-one model with MCGA graphics. I've upgraded the processor to a NEC V30 to help out with the speed. And perhaps most interestingly, the audio card is an IBM Music Feature Board which does, in fact, fit in one of the Model 25's two 8-bit slots...

[Tawmis]

Just a note to say I'm in the middle of a play-through of this, a game that I knew of in the 1980s but never owned. Having read all the reviews recently, I'm glad I never took the plunge -- sub sims are definitely not my interest! But SCI0 games are, and this one has some really terrific graphics in part.

Nice pun (taken the plunge, while discussing sub sims).

This game is great for graphics - the story is even REALLY good, I thought (especially for a game back then) - but some of the puzzles are damning, for sure.

[OmerMor]

Tawmis,
you might find this thread from VOGONS interesting:
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=47621

It's about getting the full 300 points in Codename: ICEMAN.

[pl212]

Thanks for pointing out that thread -- I had missed it over at Vogons. Feel like "the most miserable experience I've ever had in a Sierra game" could well apply to so many parts of Codename:Iceman

[Tawmis]

Tawmis,
you might find this thread from VOGONS interesting:
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=47621

It's about getting the full 300 points in Codename: ICEMAN.

Maybe in a few years... I will try. I was just happy to finally beat the game. I had it since it had FIRST come out and never beat it until this thread.

[OmerMor]

I think you might find the thread interesting even if you don't plan to play the game again.

[Tawmis]

I think you might find the thread interesting even if you don't plan to play the game again.

Ah! I thought it was a 300 point walk thru thread. Will go check it out.

[Tawmis]

I think you might find the thread interesting even if you don't plan to play the game again.

Ah! I thought it was a 300 point walk thru thread. Will go check it out.

Pretty cool you were able to rip'er open and see where those missing points were that have eluded many... (I was just happy to find an ending!)

Amazing work.

[OmerMor]

Thanks.
I think the takeaway from this is how badly designed the whole game was...

The summary there says it all:

You have to win an optional game of dice to win a jamming device. And then when you get to the magnetic scuba net, you don't use the jamming device at all, and instead take the long way through the cavern maze. And you're supposed to use all your flares to get 8 points, and then ignore them and take a different path instead.

[Tawmis]

Thanks.
I think the takeaway from this is how badly designed the whole game was...
The summary there says it all:

You have to win an optional game of dice to win a jamming device. And then when you get to the magnetic scuba net, you don't use the jamming device at all, and instead take the long way through the cavern maze. And you're supposed to use all your flares to get 8 points, and then ignore them and take a different path instead.

That is a crazy summary... I would love to ask Jim if he remembers if it was like that... I wonder if things were rushed for some reason, and the Q&A was not as thorough as other games...? You'd think one of the Q&A things would be a list of how to score a perfect score - and have someone in Q&A play the game - with that "perfect score" walk thru to ensure that all the points are assigning properly...

I saw other comments in that thread that said the graphics were bland - and I'd have to respectfully disagree with those comments. I thought Codename: Iceman had some of the best graphics for Sierra games back then. It was just the game play was murder and the game was utterly forgiving in some instances (especially if you're a young kid trying to play... like the limited save/restore with the dice game... back then, I thought I _had_ to beat the guy... didn't realize it was "optional"... and I can't be the only kid, back then, who thought that - and that made the game dead end for me right there, because I was too young to understand the dice game completely... among the many, other unforgiving dead ends...)

[OmerMor]

I agree with you on the graphics - but that's because I'm a sucker for SCI0 EGA graphics.
Your questions regarding the QA are good. You should post them in the Sierra Alumni facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/54741862568/). Maybe someone could shed some light on that.

[pl212]

I think I'm going to need a little help on the first sub battle. The available walkthroughs differ on what the best plan is. Seems like you'll be hit if you're 1) going any faster than the slowest speed, 2) have not switched off active sonar, 3) are possibly too shallow, despite advice to "dive and surface repeatedly between 100 and 900".

Given all that, at least for me, the notion of the enemy torpedoes being randomly effective does not seem to be true. And thus the save/restore method doesn't seem to work. I'm always hit, with varying death messages (leadfoot, do it deeper, etc). Can anyone thing of something I've forgotten?