Let's Discuss The Scratches Ending...

[multitimbral]

The second night, when you see the mask behind the door, is it really a nightmare?

I certainly have the opinion that it was...

btw, why is the big clock working?

One of the persons that Jerry had to clean up the house probably wound it up and adjusted it... :

[Agustin]

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you folks!

Let's talk about the remaining questions...

When you're right in front of the house, you're able to get Michael to make a comment on this vent behind some bushes on the right side of the house. He says he senses nothing but a deep darkness behind it...is that the vent you see in the room next to where Robin is, the one that the meat was being thrown down?

Yes, this is precisely that very same vent. It made things easier for whoever brought the meat - just walk straight towards this vent and throw the meat inside. No sniffing around and no questions asked.

[Agustin]

But now ag aswer our questions, I'll ask something that I already asked on our forum...
The second night, when you see the mask behind the door, is it really a nightmare?
I ask this question because, in the first dream, you can go only in the affrican room, and some details of the house have changed (like the face on the painting), all like a dream. But the second night, all is at the right place, and the sounds are not like in the first dreams...

Yes, the second night (first sequence) is really a nightmare. The player was allowed to freely walk precisely to give the impression that it wasn't a dream - and therefore providing a bigger scare ;D

btw, why is the big clock working?

The cleaning ladies just probably winded it. They could have tried with all the clocks and this resulted being the only one that worked.

[testo24]

How much longer til you release all the other info on scratches, Agustin? Such as the original ending? Or other alternate endings?? Pleeeaassee ;D

[Agustin]

There will be some news in a couple of months, tops ;D

[Nuxly]

But now ag aswer our questions, I'll ask something that I already asked on our forum...
The second night, when you see the mask behind the door, is it really a nightmare?
I ask this question because, in the first dream, you can go only in the affrican room, and some details of the house have changed (like the face on the painting), all like a dream. But the second night, all is at the right place, and the sounds are not like in the first dreams...

Yes, the second night (first sequence) is really a nightmare. The player was allowed to freely walk precisely to give the impression that it wasn't a dream - and therefore providing a bigger scare ;D

it worked, like the ambiance trick with the car

Now another question that jumped into my mind:
You said Milton could get Robin to sleep to change his clothes... Some years ago. But didn't he notice like a hole in the wall? When you try to break the wall of the robin's room, michael says it would take ages, even using a tool... Wouldn't it take longer without a tool? Robin had to start digging a long time before michael comes...
The only time Milton could notice the hole is when he goes in this cellar, I guess he doesn't dare to look through the cellar window when he comes with the food for some security reason, or maybe it's just another brick in the wall...

[M�we]

Nuxly wrote:

The only time Milton could notice the hole is when he goes in this cellar, I guess he doesn't dare to look through the cellar window when he comes with the food

I think Robin startet the digging, when Milton didn' t come any more. It' s probably someone from the meat-company who brings the meat since years! 8)
@ Agust�n: foretaste of spring ... ;D

[Agustin]

Exactly - Robin was all alone in the house for some 4-5 years. More than enough time to carve a hole like that!

[elbosenasoles]

Not sure if this topic is still on going, but I do have a question. There was a letter written from Milton to Catherine where he was asking her to keep something secret from James (I believe this letter was in the locked drawer in the desk on the first floor). What is he reffering to? You mentioned earlier in this topic that Milton threatened to go to the police. I don't recall that from the letters, but this 'secret' that was mentioned in this letter, is the 'secret' that Milton threatened to go to the police?

[indigo_206]

i have a question that might sound stupid . the seccond night when you get to see Robin in the basement, you crawl in a space kinnda made especially for you to crawl in it and you see a little window like the one you open at the end of the game. from the moment i saw robin down i was thinking about that place and how do i get there, when i got to see robin i was wandering: the space in which i crawled to get to robin was in the basement through those pipes leading somewhere "outside underground" rather than "inside underground", besides that, there where bricks sorounding that little window. as i said i am sorry is i am wrong, i read the full thread but this question is still in my head

[Nuxly]

i have a question that might sound stupid . the seccond night when you get to see Robin in the basement, you crawl in a space kinnda made especially for you to crawl in it and you see a little window like the one you open at the end of the game. from the moment i saw robin down i was thinking about that place and how do i get there, when i got to see robin i was wandering: the space in which i crawled to get to robin was in the basement through those pipes leading somewhere "outside underground" rather than "inside underground", besides that, there where bricks sorounding that little window. as i said i am sorry is i am wrong, i read the full thread but this question is still in my head

sorry, I can't find the question in your message...

off-topic: happy to see we've not been kicked out.... yet =)

[indigo_206]

ok, my mistake. "was the place i saw in the basement the seccond night the same with the place i went into the end of the game?" i think this is how the question sould sound like even if the first time i said pretty much everything i had to say, but let me refraze. if you make yourself an imaginary map of the basement you see that the tunnel in wich you crawled leads somewhere beneath the maiden's room wich dosen't coincide with the room in wich you go at the end of the game, beneath the room on the right of the entrance.
besides that the seccond night you get to a little window sosrounded by bricks, i don't see that at the end of the game. i hope somebody gets my point. and if this is right i don't see how is it explaind by the game, if i am right i see it as a mistake (even if so far i didn't found one)

[Nuxly]

I made a little map under paint some times ago, but was wrong in the orientation of the secret place, it's the place you see from the furnace right

[theMadMusician]

Hello,

I bought the original "Scratches" in the French language version (gotta keep up those language skills!) and enjoyed it, though I remained confused about a few things after it was all over.

Just recently I happened to stumble upon the "Director's Cut" and bought it, thinking that the purpose of the "Last Visit" segment was to clear up some of the confusion (guess I was wrong about that -- if anything, I was left feeling even more confused). Adding further mystery and more unanswered questions was literally the last thing I expected; I feel like I've been tricked and misled into buying something that really wasn't as advertised.

Then I stumbled upon this thread, which answered most of my questions (thanks!!), but I'm still left with at least one big thorn in my paw, which wasn't mentioned by anybody (yes, I read through every single post/reply in this thread):

What about people who buy a game, install it, and just play it? People with no home internet connection, or people who don't want to take the effort to search online for explanations like this?

It's all well and good to have endings with multiple interpretations, open for discussion (remember "The Prisoner" TV show?), and all that, but still, I think that if you spend cash on a game (ok, in this case I essentially had to buy the same game twice), there should be enough clues/information within it to make it self-contained -- it shouldn't be necessary to scour web forums for answers (especially forums where game developers seem to enjoy teasing the people writing posts with "Yes, I know all the answers, but I don't want to reveal them" replies).

Also, the "alternative ending" on the box was intriguing, but was I really expected to be able to figure out on my own that I was supposed to keep coming back to the typewriter, repeatedly get a "don't feel like typing now" message, and yet keep doing it over and over again anyhow?

At least at the end of "Myst", there was a logical connection between bringing back the final blue page, the final red page, or neither and the resulting game outcomes. Or consider "Obsidian" -- near the end you can choose either to trust the whatever-that-thingie-person-was-called or not, and you get one of two endings based on your choice. The alternate endings are consistent within the rules of their respective games.

In "Scratches", however, it seems like if I don't make multiple attempts to use the typewriter, then that means Robin has been in the lair all this time ("standard" ending), yet if I do make multiple attempts to type (and don't miss any, if I understand this thread properly), then everything down there is completely different ("alternate" ending). How would something like periodically attempting to type something cause the last ten or fifteen years of history to be completely different?

Since I did enjoy most other aspects of the game, I will consider playing any future releases from these people, but if I see any hints that all sorts of important plot details are purposely left unresolved in order to inspire further discussion (i.e., if it means I'll have to search all over the place just trying to find answers), then I'll keep my money in my wallet or spend it elsewhere...

[Alkapwn]

This is my first post here, but this game Left me freaked out and my head reeling in terror at times. But I read the forums and I have questions that no one seems to ask, but it might just be because I missed something.

First off, The body in the Crypt, the one in Mrs. Blackwoods coffin, who does it belong to, According to everyone Eva got away so it is not hers, The Alternate Ending Can explain that, but Refering to the Normal ending, Who does it Belong to?

Second, Regarding if its Supernatural or Real, curse or no Curse, I have to believe there is a curse, just because of the First nightmare, You are there not even one day, Dont know anything really about anything happening, yet you have a nightmare Showing you the location of the mask, Michael Could not have been going insane regarding the mask, when the information regarding it was minimal, but I have to believe the Mask Was an Evil thing and Maybe all of the things did happen because of this Mask, and Mr. Blackwood was not as Insane as he seemed. Plus that Puts An interesting twist on Robin, a Teen possesed by this Evil God, and it tears at his very being forcing him to dig for its freedom, and Making him a Angry Destructive force, but the Humanity in him is still there fighting the Evil god, inch by inch, hench Why everyone think he may have been asking for help at the end.

Also, Ill stay Vauge on this for others, but In Alternate Ending, would change some of the Games earlier Points, like who would the shadow moving across the behind the bars on the Second Night Then belong to, if the body looked liked that, also What was Then Making the Scratching?