Planet Descent
Community => Mess Hall => Topic started by: Kaiaatzl on May 23, 2012, 12:57:20 PM
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I thought this would be fun.
Basically post any plotholes/fridge logic -- small story elements that don't make sense when you examine them closely -- you can find in the Descent series (probably D3). Parallax and Outrage didn't exactly write robust stories so you should be able to find plenty (bonus points if you suggest something silly that would fill the hole). It could be about things that happen in-game or things that happen in the backstory -- but stay away from big things like "how does the ship fly", I think we already have a thread for those (if not, make one!) and besides they fall under "Willing Suspension of Disbelief," so they're not even the same thing.
And please limit yourself to one plothole per post, and don't double post obviously -- a lot of people have probably come up with the same things so this ensures everyone gets to say something :D.
Even I have a couple, but I'll let someone else start the meat of the thread.
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I remember some one pointed out once that there wasn't really any logical reason for the robots to keep hostages, and I've personally never been able to fill in that little plothole.
...Maybe the robots were fascinated by how paper-thin those hostages always were...
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...Maybe the robots were fascinated by how paper-thin those hostages always were...
Like chips. Computer chips. *ba dum tss*
Yeah. That was bad.
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The nomads in D3.
They were created when the pilot in Mercenary sabotaged the first Martian colony. By D3 Retribution they have their own culture full of "bizzare rituals and strange beliefs". How did their culture evolve so quickly?
The humans in the colony seem to have merged essences with the robots in the colony... maybe there were a couple of mayflies trapped in the essence merge too!
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Actually, it's commonly assumed that it was the same colony, but there is no real confirmation that they were the same, and that there haven't been other martian colonies that had been established. Could have easily been a different colony that failed many years ago. Maybe it was because of that failure that rules had been put in place that had made the PTMC's unauthorized attempt to build a colony such a problem.
Which brings up another plot hole of sorts, and that's the fact that for an organization dedicated to preventing terrorism (the CED) with the goal of maintaining order and peace, they sure end up doing a lot of terrorist-like acts themselves. Nor they do they seem to have a very good intelligence organization, because they don't even take the time to investigate a situation. They just immediately buy the first theory that gives 'em something to shoot, and go to blow it up. *cough*cough*Red Acropolis*cough*cough*
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The part that bugs me most would be the part where you and the Red Acropolis are trying to convince the CED that you are good and PTMC is bad. How exactly do you do this? You steal a high-tech assault fighter from them, blow up the factory you steal it from, and then infiltrate the CED's command center with said assault fighter. Totally not a terrorist.
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Is it ever really explained why Dravis wants to shut down his own mines and then pay you to blow them up? Perhaps he's just so filthy rich he can think of nothing better to do with his money...
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And... what motive did Dravis have for wanting to kill you? It can't be that he didn't want to pay you; he paid both his other pilots -- even the one who told him to shove his long term employment down a black hole :P.
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...blow up the factory you steal it from...
Now wait, wasn't said factory PTMC property? In that case, blowing it up would be a blow to the bad guys, and that's a language the CED can understand. Blowing up what they (the CED) perceive as the good guys doesn't make sense to them, but blowing up what they perceive as bad guys makes total sense to them. That said, personally, I think the CED are more than a little trigger-happy.
But then again, so's the player playing the game. Maybe we should just assume that in the Descent universe, everybody's just trigger-happy, and somehow they've built a stable society on that premise. :P
And... what motive did Dravis have for wanting to kill you?
Is it ever really explained why Dravis wants to shut down his own mines and then pay you to blow them up?
No, it's not really explained why Dravis wants to blow up mines, so theories abound here. I was of the opinion that blowing up the mines was kind of a cover, make it seem like Dravis was trying to stop the virus from spreading while he secretly worked to harness the virus's power for his own purposes. That, and we have no confirmation of exactly when Dravis starts trying to harness the virus, so maybe at first, he really was just following orders at first, at least up until he got his big idea. By then MD had been hired, and so...well...
Actually...now that I think about it...that is a pretty good point. Why DID Dravis want to do you in? You were just doing your job so to earn a paycheck. It wasn't like you were poking around, trying to find out things you weren't supposed to know. That didn't start happening until D3, AFTER Dravis's made the attempt on your life with the whole warp core bit. And by trying to kill you would seem like it'd bring unnecessary attention to Dravis, the very LAST thing he'd want...
Maybe he thought you knew more about what was going on than you actually did at the time, and decided he couldn't take the chance.
Ooh, or maybe it has to do with the planetoid you blow up in the last level of D2. A serious enough a threat that Dravis felt it couldn't be ignored, but at the same time, he didn't want it's existence getting around, and since you'd had seen it, he thought it'd be easier to just kill you rather than just paying you off and hoping you kept your mouth shut, as that, despite popular belief, couldn't guarantee anything.
This would also fit in with Dravis's reasons for wanting the other planetoid destroyed in D3 Merc, and why he went to such measures to make sure the CED didn't find out about it either.
But then that still leaves the question as to WHY he'd want to keep the planetoids secret. Hmm. Maybe he realized that, assuming his plan to use the virus to seize control of the universe etc. worked, the only thing that could stop him then was the virus itself, specifically the original alien version that he could NOT control. So destroy the planetoid carriers of the virus to keep the version of the virus he COULDN'T control away from him, and maybe keep their existence quiet, so to keep people from getting the idea to use the virus against him too...yeah, that could work. It all adds up in my mind, so unless I overlooked something (which is possible)...
The only flaw to this logic that I can find is that, since it was proved the planetoids are NOT the origins of the virus, he'd want to keep them around to look for clues that could lead him to find the true origin and take that out, and nip that problem in the bud then and there.
But nobody said Dravis was smart. His plan was pretty flawed in the first place, anyway. I mean, he was stupid enough to think that crazy plan was actually going to WORK. ::)
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My impression is that Dravis wanted to destroy the mines because of the virus being out of control there, out of his control. And then, because you had learned he learned too much of what was going on, MD needed to be disposed of.
Dravis was experimenting with the virus in the mines. Being experiments, things didn't always go as planned. And he did have to keep up the appearance of legitimacy, so he hired someone to go in and destroy the virus and rescue hostages.
Or something like that... TBH, I never gave it much thought.
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We never really find out what happens in D2 apart from destroying mines -- even though there are a lot of hints that there is more going on. Maybe MD found some pretty dangerous information while he was on his mission but you as the player never see that.
To extend WillyP's theory; what if Dravis secretly ordered the robots to take hostages, and then had you rescue them to make him look like a good guy? Despite the fact that he made rescuing them optional.
Or, what if he already had control of the virus in D1, and was trying to eliminate the last bits of the "natural" virus before they could affect his plans?
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All good theories, but unfortunately, there's no real way to know for sure. :-\
I suppose it's also possible that since you had clearly become so good at fighting the virus, and the virus was Dravis's means of power, and he couldn't guarantee what side you were on, he figured he'd better get rid of you before you opted to become a problem.
A plan which, thankfully, failed. :)
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Actually, Kai, to extend my theory...
Dravis never really had control of the bots, in fact, he was just a pawn in a plot, he was being used by aliens who had developed the virus, and bought Dravis with promises of future glory, or something. In my sequel to D3, 'Z-Axis' we will learn that the alien plans are only slightly delayed by Dravis' demise...
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That sounds suspiciously like one of the songs I wrote for Solarian... that I know you heard...
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What song is that? I have had this plot line in mind for many years, since I first started making levels.
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Hive Mind. The only difference there was that the Virus itself was the sentient antagonist.
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For a virus supposedly with a "hive mind" ... it sure didn't act that way. More like "single minded mind" (ie: Infect bots and kill humans, save some hostages for snacks later on). Really didn't accomplish (or try to accomplish) anything else.
You know, the CED was totally worthless. They get one infection and their whole dreadnought is non-functional ... and the CED can't do anything about it. So one pilot (albeit a seasoned pilot) goes in with one well armed craft and not only stops the infection there from continuing to spread, but cleans up the infection for them WITHOUT destroying the dreadnought. With all the supposed resources the CED has/had at their disposal, why were they so helpless? ... Then ... when MD shuts down the virus, then (and only then) does the CED actually step in and do anything, and what is their solution? Three really ginormous missiles blowing the PTMC's station to a bazillion pieces, effectively scattering potentially infected pieces and bots just about everywhere ... and offer a large bunch of money to civilians who shoot up the bits and bots that the CED scattered. The CED couldn't even clean up their own mess. All they could do is fly around and "push the red button" to file really big missiles.
The CED was worthless.
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Red Acropolis was more capable than the CED, and they were the underfunded, framed, scientists.
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Adding something more to TechPro's observations, one of the thing that bugs me A LOT from the D3 ending, is that the CED decides to destroy PTMC's Shiva station, without taking in account if there were any innocent PTMC workers inside the station, as it seems they decide just to blow it without giving any advice (at least an advice to evacuate the station or something).
I mean, Dravis and the PTMC may be not so good, but then EVERYONE else that works for the PTMC like a normal employee, needs to pay for Dravis' crimes?
In that scene the CED looks like cold-hearted murderers to me, and I don't like it at all. :P
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Ok, I'm having a somewhat tough time with the tl;dr syndrome. I have theories for a few questions.
WHY BLOW UP THE MINES?
The mine's computers, circuitry, ect are infected with the virus. Wipe out the virus by blowing up the mine. Plus the reactor shoots at you. If it tries to kill you, you kill it right back.
WHY DID DRAVIS BETRAY THE MD?
He needed the MD to go out to distant systems to flush out the robots, so he gave him the warp core. To save money, instead of paying the MD when he got back, he sabotaged the warp core. The MD could have spread the word that the virus was of ALIEN ORIGIN and might have gotten the CED involved. So Dravis sabotaged the MD and he sent the merc to destroy CED tracking station to prevent CED involvement. This allows for PTMC salvage to move in on the first planetoid and the second planetoid in Mercenary unhindered.
WHY DID THE CED BLOW UP SHIVA STATION?
Dravis is the overlord of Shiva station. If they weren't indoctrinated and convinced by the allure of galactic conquest and profit, then they could have been like mindless idiots and been like "HEY! The robots are shooting at the CED...LET'S HELP OUT OUR BOTS! MAN THE GUNZ!"
WHY TAKE HOSTAGES?
The first batch of infected robots (D1 and D2) could have interrogated the hostages for the locations of other holdings (OBJECTION! 'They could have downloaded the data from the mine's computers!'-- Mine personnel could have sabotaged the data before being captured), military information, bait for traps, better understanding the enemy, and according to the novels, downloading their brains into the robots themselves to give them personalities to better understand the enemy (that backfires though...sometimes).
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I can poke holes in your hole-filling, though not all of them are big holes, so don't panic too much here, but to begin...
The mine's computers, circuitry, ect are infected with the virus. Wipe out the virus by blowing up the mine. Plus the reactor shoots at you. If it tries to kill you, you kill it right back.
Then why not just destroy the computers? Why destroy the WHOLE darn mine, which would be a major financial blow for PTMC, which regardless of where Dravis was in his master plans, was his lifeline at the time?
He needed the MD to go out to distant systems to flush out the robots, so he gave him the warp core. To save money, instead of paying the MD when he got back, he sabotaged the warp core. The MD could have spread the word that the virus was of ALIEN ORIGIN and might have gotten the CED involved.
I admittedly have a hard time buying this. As PTMC was the biggest bureaucratic business around, and the MD's mission authorized by the PTMC on a whole (remember, Dravis was NOT large and in charge of the company when he assigned MD the mission) the fact that they just didn't want to pay seems dumb, especially seeing that when they want someone to stay quiet about their private plans, they give 'em money. LOTS of money. You'd think Dravis would think that drowning MD in money to keep him quiet and getting him out of the way would be easier and safer than trying to kill him, unless he had some reason to suspect MD wouldn't keep quiet even with the money (which, now that I think about it, doesn't seem to be in MD's character. Until Red Acropolis talked him into siding with them, he seemed more than willing to just turn a blind eye to it all, just so long as he got paid. In fact, I think the very fact that he HADN'T got paid was what got him to agree to help Red Acropolis at all) but even then, what would MD have to tell? He knew nothing of Dravis's REAL plans, and the virus and it's origins were probably already common knowledge, especially to the CED, who are referred to off-and-on in D3 to be engaged in their own plans to fight the virus, including Project Failsafe (Merc level 2). It seems like they were studying that second planetoid for awhile too, and Dravis's attempts to keep a lid on that actually always seemed a little late to me. I'm sure the rest of the CED got SOME word about it being out there. More likely Dravis ordered it destroyed just to keep the CED from finding out more than they did, or to make their own plans to hunt down the virus's source and eliminate it, which could interfere with Dravis's plans.
Dravis is the overlord of Shiva station. If they weren't indoctrinated and convinced by the allure of galactic conquest and profit, then they could have been like mindless idiots and been like "HEY! The robots are shooting at the CED...LET'S HELP OUT OUR BOTS! MAN THE GUNZ!"
So out of the no-doubt thousands of employees on Shiva, not one was against Dravis? Sorry, I may be bad at math, but even to me, the odds for that don't add up, especially when you consider that Dravis was being very low-brow about his plans, keeping it only to people he could trust THE MOST. The more people you let in, the more risk you run on it getting out. More likely, most, if not all, of those employees knew little to nothing about Dravis's plans. What purpose does blowing up Shiva even serve anyway, except to be destructive? The station's defenses clearly only included a swarm of infected robots. The moment MD deactivated them and gave the CED their "clear shot," the station appeared to be totally defenseless, and whoever on board that was still on Dravis's side likely wouldn't have anywhere to run. Getting them to surrender seems more reasonable, not blowing them up just because.
The first batch of infected robots (D1 and D2) could have interrogated the hostages for the locations of other holdings (OBJECTION! 'They could have downloaded the data from the mine's computers!'-- Mine personnel could have sabotaged the data before being captured), military information, bait for traps, better understanding the enemy, and according to the novels, downloading their brains into the robots themselves to give them personalities to better understand the enemy (that backfires though...sometimes).
Except the robots don't really seem like the interrogating type. In fact, their AI doesn't even seem to include any real means of verbally communicating with humans, so this idea, while not bad, isn't perfect. I like the bait for traps idea, though, and the "better understanding of the enemy" and the novel's ideas could work too. They're at least better explanations than what we've already come up with. :)
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...and according to the novels, downloading their brains into the robots themselves to give them personalities to better understand the enemy (that backfires though...sometimes).
True I guess... but pretty much the only things I remember from the one book I read were the "Frank" subplot and Dravis' interesting journey into insanity (which took me a long time to understand). And Manman. Definitely Manman.
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In Descent 3 Level 3 (Piccu Station and SRAD Research) never really made sense to me. I mean, yes you needed to get a data cartridge and it never is as simple as that, but still there seemed to be a whole lot of totally unnecessary effort involved.
Here's how it goes ... You get dropped off in a warehouse/storage room, battle your way through a number of passages until you get to an outside area where you blow the "lightning tower", go back inside to a different section and blow your way through the passages where you blow your way through ... and perhaps also signal a SRAD emergency response time ... until you eventually get to some weird/off underground caves (entranced from a room with a locked/damaged/closed outside door) to work your way outside ... yet again ... so that you can work your way through some old/bizarre ancient ruin to emerge the other side (still "outside") in order to enter the "lab" area (bust your way through simple glass) in order to retrieve some data... and exit through the same simple glass to leave the whole place.... Where you see the SRAD response team waiting (if you successfully signalled them) ... and you safely leave without traveling any additional areas in doors.
So ... Why all the passages and going outside not just once, but three times before you actually get to the portion you wanted to get to in the first place? Why didn't the Red Acropolis people drop MD off just outside the "lab"? It's obvious they knew that was the destination area, and it's obvious they knew where the lab was at. What was the purpose of MD going through the entire Piccu Station blowing every bot in sight when they knew they only needed to go to the lab? Does the Red Acropolis people have a death wish for MD? The Red Acropolis people knew how to discreetly tap Davis' communications and track MD, were they really that inept about setting MD down near the goal?
Truth is, the Descent 3 builders wanted gameplay action, puzzle challenges, and especially wanted to show off taking MD outside... but we're talking about plot holes here, and there are a few in Level 3 of Descent 3.
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I think it's pretty obvious Red Acropolis are total morons. Why did they drop you off in total deathtrap of a subway in the next level? Surely there are other places in a city that can be used for a covert insertion (and are probably easier to get to). For that matter how did they get you into the subway in the first place?
In fact, if your ship would be seen as hostile why would they even let you go at all no matter how much they thought you might want to (and judging by MD's character up to that point it seems pretty obvious he wouldn't have wanted to). Or why not have you pilot something that isn't a fighter ship? They do have at least two -- the Tugship that helps you out in level 6 and whatever that ship was that you rescued in level 11... plus the Beagle which needed to dock on Earth for refueling anyway.
So yeah, morons.
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I always wondered why they didn't just sneak MD in via the Beagle for level 4, like they did in level 10.
As for level 3, I suspect part of the reason for the extremely in-direct route was because the level apparently went through a few different iterations before arriving at the final version we have now (remember the first D3 demo with the crashed alien saucer?), and the developers just later recycled most of it, either because they liked it too much to part with it, didn't have time to build something that fit into it better, or for other reasons.
Either way, I know from personal experience that this tactic for building something can often times lead to things not lining up like they should, plot-wise.
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Here's one for ya: You're flying a SPACE FIGHTER. Why do you have to fly through little canyons in outdoor levels that are conveniently just barely taller than what you can fly over? Why can't you fly that extra 2 inches up and over? And yet these little robots designed for mine usage can fly up and over the tops of them just fine.
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Yes, 'curious' that your "Space Fighter" cannot go over those hills, ridges, canyon tops yet those pesky bots can ... but you can speedily transit in your "Space Fighter" across the solar system in a relatively short time.
Level 4 (Sol and the PTMC) is a bit goofy with how the Beagle drops you off deep in the subways leaving you to transit through the subways, down many street passages, into the sewers, then down more street passageways before you get to the entrance to the PTMC tower (which was physically right next to the subways) where you upload your data to Mr. Suzuki whereupon you are attacked while trying to leave.
No wonder the PTMC was out of control. No one could get to them (did their employees live at work? If they left to go home or for lunch did they also have to travel the sewers to get home??)... and those who managed to get there, would be attacked before leaving PTMC grounds.
How would you feel if you had to fight your way to a doctor's office for an appointment, then get attacked in the waiting room when you tried to leave?
For Level 4, MD had traveled by way of the Beagle to get to Earth and Sol city (remember, the Beagle left MD in the subways while they took the Beagle to get refueled) ... but it looks like (start of Level 5) MD traveled by himself in his Pyro all the way from Earth back to the Red Acropolis on Mars (he states "they must have tracked me!"). Why does MD keep letting them haul him around in the Beagle? Rarely do they set him down in a good place, and he can certainly get there all by himself.
It also appears that MD visited with Suzuki after uploading the data and was paid his money, probably by Suzuki. The Level 5 video clip starts with: "Suzuki's with us! ...[blah blah]... I even got my money! I'm going home!" --- In the video clip at the end of Level 4 you can just make out what looks like a cloaked ship headed towards the PTMC tower. We're led to believe that's the Mercenary sent to kill Suzuki and frame MD. Why did MD leave the tower so soon? He'd just uploaded his data, could not yet know Suzuki was one their side, and certainly had not been paid yet. Wouldn't he need to return back to the tower in order to get paid?
I'm going to assume that MD doesn't get any news video/radio/updates while traveling in the Pyro. He traveled all the way from Earth to Mars, yet was unaware of them being accused of being terrorists. If there was an upgrade the Pyro needs, it's a news transmission receiver or "news data link", because his communications receiver with PTMC, CED, and Red Acropolis sure doesn't seem to get anything else.
Oh, and one more thing. In the start of Level 5, at the end of the video clip, Harper tells MD to get everyone to the Beagle ... even though his real task is to keep three of the five reactors working while Harper and the rest evacuate. It's just a little detail.
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Dropping MD off in the beagle on level 4 was likely stealthier than having him just fly into the city all on his own.
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So... drop him off right at the PTMC tower then.
Suzuki was kind of expecting them.
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That's why you had to be dropped off at a secret location.
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What if the MD blew up the tower to instigate this whole conflict in order to destroy the morons at Red Acropolis and to kill Dravis later?
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And Dravis tried to have him killed because he knew the MD was a murderous lunatic!
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As for Level 6 (Mars "Labyrynth" canyon and old colonist's caverns), and Level 7 (planetoid where two virus samples are stored) things move along well and I don't see any blaring plot holes with them. MD is dropped off at a reasonable location and since they don't know the precise location of the downed ship other than it's behind a couple force fields, it makes sense that MD would have to work out a way and and to get the force fields turned off. At the planetoid, MD is dropped at a very reasonable locations and again must search around to find what they are looking for. Reasonable.
Level 8 (a refinery that needs 'disrupted' in order to gain some time) is ... perhaps a stretch. When you consider just how many mines, refineries, processing facilities, etc. that the PTMC controls or that the CED is involved with, disrupting a single facility would do nothing to gain more time for the Red Acroplolis refugees ... unless PTMC's organizations was really, really baldly managed. Well, they've got S. Dravis, so I guess it's possible.
Still a bit of a stretch IMHO.
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What if the MD blew up the tower to instigate this whole conflict in order to destroy the morons at Red Acropolis and to kill Dravis later?
This is not a half-bad alternate plot, tbh.
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What if the MD blew up the tower to instigate this whole conflict in order to destroy the morons at Red Acropolis and to kill Dravis later?
Mind=blown. :o
That would actually explain SO much, it's not even funny.
Well, okay, it kinda IS funny. :P
You're flying a SPACE FIGHTER. Why do you have to fly through little canyons in outdoor levels that are conveniently just barely taller than what you can fly over?
Can't give you an in-game explanation for this, but the real world explanation is obviously because the game's engine couldn't handle, nor was it designed to, allow your Pyro to fly higher than that. To say nothing of the fact that, frequently, the level ceased to exist over that next hill. :P In the end, this is one of those details I just overlook simply because that's how the game works.
He'd just uploaded his data, could not yet know Suzuki was one their side, and certainly had not been paid yet. Wouldn't he need to return back to the tower in order to get paid?
Can only speculate about this one, but I suspect it's either one of two possible scenarios.
- We're supposed to interpret it to mean that MD really actually did meet Suzuki while at the tower, but this couldn't be portrayed in-game so the actual meeting is left to our imagination.
- Suzuki met with MD via a (presumably private) transmission to discuss the matter, perhaps most likely after he'd left the tower.
I find the latter to be more likely, and not unreasonable at all. Because the mercenary was only just arriving as MD left, that leaves a fair window of time before Suzuki is assassinated, enough of a window for Suzuki to process the information (or at least the basics), radio MD and tell him he's on his side, etc. etc. Any money paying could easily been done electronically.
I'm going to assume that MD doesn't get any news video/radio/updates while traveling in the Pyro. He traveled all the way from Earth to Mars, yet was unaware of them being accused of being terrorists. If there was an upgrade the Pyro needs, it's a news transmission receiver or "news data link", because his communications receiver with PTMC, CED, and Red Acropolis sure doesn't seem to get anything else.
Most people have news uplinks for their cell phones or computers, but that doesn't mean they have to read them. I could easily see MD just ignoring it, and why would he suspect anything wrong anyway? As far as he knew, the plan was just pulled off without much of a hitch, Dravis rightfully pinned for the blame, and MD having completed the overall mission. He even got his money. :P Things seemed to be going his way finally. He was probably concentrating more on going back to Red Acropolis to tell all the good news. Why waste time checking the news reports, especially when he didn't have any real cause to suspect things had just gone terribly awry?
That's why you had to be dropped off at a secret location.
Which I buy...but why in the middle of the subways? Especially when the subway trains can kill you? Did Red Acropolis have a death wish for the MD? Or was MD just looking for a challenge to keep him entertained for what was likely to be a rather boring mission (and it kind of was, honestly)?
...Maybe PTMC was never guilty of anything. Maybe Red Acropolis is really behind the whole virus deal. :o
But I guess then it wouldn't make sense for them to make an anti-virus for it then, now would they? And Dravis pretty much DID come clean of his involvement at the end of the game anyway, so...
Still...I have to admit I'm finding myself intrigued by this idea...I'll have to see if I can turn it into a viable explanation for the whole franchise, if only just for kicks. :P
OH! OH! OH! I know! They did it all so to get the PTMC out of the market, and give them the chance to seize PTMC's spot in the business! Near as I can figure out, that freakishly works out very well on every point I can think of, although it does seem like they bent over backwards to do it. Except for the mercenary. And Dravis, who is still a baddie no matter how you cut it. Hmm...maybe Dravis really was the bad guy, just not as problematic as made out to be, Red Acropolis just used him as a chance to get PTMC out of the picture. In that case, the presumed plan was probably use the whole mess to have the blame pinned on the PTMC, and get them shut down (probably by the CED who'd no doubt would want to investigate once word got out), with Red Acropolis later helping speed the process however necessary. But they didn't plan on Dravis making the move of assassinating Suzuki and pinning THAT on THEM. So Red Acropolis improvised. At any rate, they won.
Man, I really like this idea. Could serve as a premise for a D4, assuming the odds of it weren't so venomously against us. :(
When you consider just how many mines, refineries, processing facilities, etc. that the PTMC controls or that the CED is involved with, disrupting a single facility would do nothing to gain more time for the Red Acroplolis refugees ... unless PTMC's organizations was really, really baldly managed.
But then think about all of the mines you blew up in D1 and D2, pretty much all of which is PTMC property (or is implied as such) and some ARE named as facilities. With that in mind, I would imagine that by D3, the PTMC was starting to run short on a few facilities. :P
Besides, that one facility could have been a major and/or key facility for PTMC operations, and disabling it struck a blow to the PTMC business-wise, as it forced their users and/or customers to divert somewhere else. Maybe that facility was in a key location in terms of marketability, and taking it out cut the PTMC out of that market. There are actually a few ways to explain this away, but they all run along similar lines.
And yes, they do have S. Dravis, who we have already proven to have trouble coming up with solid, practical plans, and he WAS in charge of the PTMC by then. :P
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Every game has to have limits... it's a little difficult to imagine how you would have better implemented the limits with the hardware we had at the time D3 was released.The fact that you could go outside and inside at all was quite something back then. That's not really a plothole.
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I was going to say that around Level 8 and on, the plot carries on with pretty good reasoning and there isn't much to poke holes in ... and then I remembered the Secret Levels.
Secret Level 1 (Unknown facility with weird green glowing blob and a laser pentagram at the end) is ... pretty odd. If you look at if from from a game perspective, it's in an odd place, too easy, doesn't accomplish anything, and doesn't challenge the player much at all. From a plot perspective, it's a really big plot hole.The facility itself makes no sense in it's layout, unless it's sole purpose was to test weapons and measure their performance. Otherwise it appears to be simply three weird passages and an exploratory dig hole. The fact that MD loses communications with his support crew at the end suggests danger, and then his ship is grabbed and suspended by the lasers as the whole thing builds with light and energy... then the level is finished. No end solution, no explanation, no reasoning. The next level is taken on as if nothing had happened to MD. Plot hole? The entire Secret Level 1 is one single plot hole.
Obviously, we need to toss out Secret Level 1 from Plot hole consideration. It's clear that level was only there as filler. It doesn't appear to be complete. It doesn't challenge the player much at all. Doesn't logically fit ANYWHERE in the Descent 3 storyline. Therefore, it's clear that Secret Level 1 was left over level material that was used as filler. IMHO and I'm sticking to it.
... Unless Secret Level 1 happens to be the place where the alien transmode virus was first encountered, in which case (for MD) visiting that place is a little like visiting a roadside monument while traveling on vacation. We came, we saw, we moved on. It had no significant impact on the rest of the plot.
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I think your right. Just a few days ago I told my son I had never found or played that secret level, but now that you mention it I do remember it. At least the pentagram anyway. Other than that the level was not all that memorable. Or at least I don't remember it as being all that memorable... ;)
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Secret Level 1 goes like this:
You start in a small room with a door immediately in front of you. Upon exiting the starting room, you're in a curved hall at one end of a looped hall that intersects with 3 straight halls parallel to each other. The loop contains three total 'tail bots' and a couple 'orb bots' and a number of weapon inventory items. If you were good in previous levels, there is very little that you don't already have a full load. There is one other room attached to the 'loop' and in it is two tail bots and a full map. Also in the room by a kind of dias is the numbers 1, 2, and 3 each with a screen. Screen next to 3 says Ready. As you explore each of the three tunnels, the screens of 2 and 1 will switch to 'Ready' (a kind of progress indicator).
Explore first down tunnel 3 (1 and 2 won't let you access them, level will 'enable' access to each tunnel in order starting with 3, ending with 1). Each tunnel has a short accelerator section. At the end of 3, you'll encounter of few plasma gunning bots and a few small tail scratching bots. There are several plasma rockets and plasma upgrades, a couple smart missiles and a couple mega missiles. Exit through a passage below which will return you to the tunnel 3.
Next travel tunnel 2 which will end in a large room with a variety of bots (nothing really hard) and a few weapon upgrades. Nothing special. Return back through the same tunnel.
Lastly, travel tunnel 3 and deal with an omega firing soldier bot, a couple tail bots, and orb bot or two, a couple sharks, and yet another omega firing soldier bot. After that, there are no more bots and you've entered a large room with an opening below to another large room. Around the sides are several upgrades including Omega (first time for that in the level set) and Energy-Shield Converter (but you lose the converter at the end of every level). In the room below is a large yellow-green glowing blob with light sticks at five points. Light beams intersect all five light sticks forming a pentagram with straight sides. As you enter the room, communication from your support people indicate they are losing your signal followed by loss of signal. Nothing else happens as you look around for a little bit until suddenly the view switches to outside your craft and your craft is just above the middle of the blob where your craft appears to be suspended by light beams and steam (?) rises from the blob where your craft is held. The yellow-green light builds ... Level ends 'Successful'.
Level summary at the start of the next level states simple that you completed the secret level. Nothing more.
That is all that happens.
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I've always wondered if that first secret level was just a mish-mash of scrapped ideas that the developers just threw together into a plotless level just for the fun of it. Granted, no real way to be sure, but given the level's disjointed feel, it'd make a degree of sense.
Plotwise, however, yeah the level doesn't fit in anywhere at the moment, but at the same time, it leaves things open enough that the temptation to explore with it can be hard to resist. One could even reasonably devise some kind of "lost chapter" of D3 with that secret level if they so wanted. If I were ever involved in the development in a theoretical D4 (which sadly is not likely), I would want to revisit that secret level in the course of the game, if only just to tie up loose ends.
Sticking to the confines of the preexisting plot, though, the only things that can be safely deduced is that the mine was in PTMC control, likely kept secret by Dravis's order, had something of interest for Dravis enough to go to such lengths to KEEP it secret, and the end portion with the whole pentagram bit is likely alien in origin. The other portions could possibly experimental technology the PTMC was working on. I've always thought the pentagram thing was some kind of teleporter...maybe it just zapped MD back out of the mine, and that's why the plot's left open...there wasn't much else to tell.
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The pentagram thingy could have warped him to a different reality and when he got back home to tell everyone about his mission, they'd all wouldn't know and would be like "lul, u crazy. We never sent you on a mission like that. What chu tawkin bout?" And then you never get any explanation because you don't know and they never knew.
I always thought the level was kind of organic themed. Area 3 was like a heart. It was red and had the red fluctuation wall texture. Area 2 might have been like eye sockets or lungs. I'm thinking lungs more because you hear steam hissing sounds. Area 1 was the brain because of the dome shaped upper room which is like the cranium and the green blob is shaped like a brain too.
Maybe the PTMC was working on growing a Reaper from Mass Effect or something, IDK. Some super bioweapon.