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Hotline Miami |OT| - All your LSD are belong to us. You are already dead

G

geestack

Member
Something interesting I just realized after playing through it again:

Chapter 14 and chapter 19 seem to occur in the same place, as the lobby that you start off in is the same. However, in chapter 14 as the jacket guy, you end up going to the bottom of the map, whereas you go to the left and discover the janitors' operation as motorcycle dude.

Regardless of the story, I'm still having an incredible time playing through this and trying to get the perfect run down.
 
A

Archurro

Member
ArynCrinn said:
This has got to be the best indie surprise of the year for me, absolutely loving this game. The soundtrack is probably one of the best of the year too.
Click to expand...

Definitely. Along with the Fez and Journey OST, those three are probably in my top 10 albums of the year.
 
RiccochetJ

RiccochetJ

Gold Member
Still fucked. Still can't play this game. I can't even start it. Splash says it's loading and then a blank screen. Fun. Too many restarts and too many downloads to even bother anymore. Good job. You got my money. Hopefully I'll get to play it eventually.
 
A

Archurro

Member
RiccochetJ said:
Still fucked. Still can't play this game. I can't even start it. Splash says it's loading and then a blank screen. Fun. Too many restarts and too many downloads to even bother anymore. Good job. You got my money. Hopefully I'll get to play it eventually.
Click to expand...

They're working on a patch, you'll probably be able to play the game within the next week. They've been really good with communicating to us so far.
 
K

Krabboss

Member
I just finished the game. I feel like I'm missing a lot of subtle details because I played it in chunks with a couple days in between. I'm incredibly confused and don't understand any of the things people are talking about in the thread.

Edit: Nevermind, I'm dumb. There's stuff after the credits!
 
B

basic_text

Member
I feel like the mouse sensitivity has been drastically reduced thanks to the patch.

Anyone else feeling this or do I suck more than I thought I did?
 
Raptomex

Raptomex

Member
basic_text said:
I feel like the mouse sensitivity has been drastically reduced thanks to the patch.

Anyone else feeling this or do I suck more than I thought I did?
Click to expand...
The patch was released?

Anyway, I collected all the weapons and began a replay. I want more! This game could seriously benefit from a random level generator and modding allowing for user created levels.
 
B

basic_text

Member
Raptomex said:
The patch was released?

Anyway, I collected all the weapons and began a replay. I want more! This game could seriously benefit from a random level generator and modding allowing for user created levels.
Click to expand...

Steam updated it at least before I played it this morning so I guess it's the patch, no controller support though.
 
F

Family Fry

Member
People have paid nothing for the game but are complaining about bugs?
My mind tank just blew.
I did see the dev ReTweet a message from an uploader saying his torrent had been downloaded 200,000 times go Hotline Miami, was like WTF RT??
 
D

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
grimshawish said:
Having just bought the game - this pisses me off. End of the day its not pirating if hes directly supporting them, hes motivating their actions. Stupid. Why did I pay for this again?

/sigh

Anyway - not played into it yet but looks good. Won't this ruin the experience for me.
Click to expand...
I dunno, to support the guy that made it?
 
E

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
grimshawish said:
He obviously doesn't care, which does annoy me.
Click to expand...

He obviously does care, but also knows not everybody can pay, and would prefer those who are playing his creation regardless of how experience the game in its best state.
 
D

Darklord

Banned
grimshawish said:
Having just bought the game - this pisses me off. End of the day its not pirating if hes directly supporting them, hes motivating their actions. Stupid. Why did I pay for this again?

/sigh

Anyway - not played into it yet but looks good. Won't this ruin the experience for me.
Click to expand...

Because some people care about everyone enjoying what they made as well as money. Lemmy once said at a Motorhead gig I was at "Our new album is out. Listen to it. If you can't buy it fucking steal it."
 
S

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
Darklord said:
Because some people care about everyone enjoying what they made as well as money. Lemmy once said at a Motorhead gig I was at "Our new album is out. Listen to it. If you can't buy it fucking steal it."
Click to expand...

And then he played 100 more gigs. Musicians live by gigs these days, not copies sold like they could do.
 
D

Darklord

Banned
subversus said:
And then he played 100 more gigs. Musicians live by gigs these days, not copies sold like they could do.
Click to expand...

And this guy will live by building a reputation for having a great game and more people will buy this from word of mouth and anticipate his next game too.
 
E

Erasus

Member
Family Fry said:
People have paid nothing for the game but are complaining about bugs?
Click to expand...


Oh yes. A pirated game dosent work = better go on the comment section and blast the release group for not including a crack

Pirated 1080p mkv dosent play on your shitbox using WMP = better go and complain in the comment section on a certain site
 
G

grimshawish

Banned
Darklord said:
Because some people care about everyone enjoying what they made as well as money. Lemmy once said at a Motorhead gig I was at "Our new album is out. Listen to it. If you can't buy it fucking steal it."
Click to expand...

And I bet the crowd cheered his comments. The crowd who spent money to go see them that is.
Not going to turn this into a thing, I'll let the games merits speak for themselves; I just don't like this idea.

In the end its not pirating once you the creator support it. Which makes the game free.
 
S

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
Darklord said:
And this guy will live by building a reputation for having a great game and more people will buy this from word of mouth and anticipate his next game too.
Click to expand...
Pretty naive, I think, but there is no data to prove it.
 
F

FlutterPuffs

Member
subversus said:
Pretty naive, I think, but there is no data to prove it.
Click to expand...

It's a work of passion. I know he wants the money, but the game itself seems like something he did because he wanted to. Not surprised if he's (somewhat) alright with people pirating his game.

And hey, it will bolster his name throughout the industry now. Word of mouth is serious business.

It also explains how he could have gotten away with such shitty GUI because it fits the design.
 
D

DagsJT

Member
If the pirates enjoy it and tell their friends, some of those friends might buy their games so it could lead to possible sales that way.

It's keeping the game fresh on social networks and forums, it'll all publicity.
 
D

Darklord

Banned
Bought this game. Completely busted. Keeps crashing at launch, I got in once and it had no sound and a resolution of like 800x600. Well, shit. :(
 
K

KingKong

Member
Man, wtf was with the car and this stealth level?

I think I liked the game a lot more in the first two acts when there weren't as many guns, guns just aren't as fun to use and the game is too finicky with the controls
 
M

Mr.Monitor

Member
Beat it yesterday. Absolutely fantastic game. I encountered my share of issues, mostly the fact that I had to disable components of my sound driver to get the game to work properly, but that wasn't such a bother considering the game itself. As for the story, I still have to gather up all the secrets and masks so I could be completely wrong about all this, but I do think (prepare your tinfoil hats)
that the janitors represent Jonathan and Dennis, and it seems that there's a light commentary on how game devs set up scenarios just for players to kill in, and oftentimes the justification comes more from the player than the creator.

I also think it's improbable that the girl was his girlfriend, at first you have to almost walk out to save her, and it seemed like they hadn't met. As a whole, I lean more towards the possibility that he kept the girl around just to fill a void in himself; throughout the game you only interact with her twice, and the main character never really shows much interest towards her. I don't think he ever really saw her as anything other than something to comfort himself. I wonder what the significance of the photograph at the "end" was; if my guess about the girl is true, he's probably just throwing the picture away as he doesn't have a purpose for her anymore. If it's a picture of his old girlfriend, I guess he's just putting things in the past.

I found it funny how he took out the leader of the Russians, rather than the guys who set it all up in the first place. I wonder if he ever considered that. If anything, I think he got played hard. He took out both the cops and the Russians and never even got close to the guys who were actually behind everything. Maybe that doesn't matter to him and he was just in it to satisfy his growing bloodlust.

I also think that the mask guys were the main character's subconscious trying to make sense of what he had done in some sort of sick, twisted way while he was in a coma. The main character likely used the masks to remove himself from his actions, so it's fitting that this process would be portrayed as him conversing with people wearing masks. It also explains the rooster's questions and predictions and why he'd be the "leader" of the trio. The rooster was the first mask he ever got. I also think the reason his friend works everywhere is because the main character's memories got jumbled up while he was in a coma, so events and conversations sort of blurred together as a result. This also explains the random dead/dying guys in certain locales.

As for the motorcycle guy bits, I think it was an alternate timeline kind of deal. In a sense, both of the endings are just as true as the other, they're just the results of different circumstances.

I don't think the motorcycle guy put him in the coma, as it's revealed the guy who shot you and the girl was the guy who apparently killed the main character's friend. This being the case, I wonder why his friend was assassinated. Was he somehow involved with the janitors or the Russians? Was he catching on? He obviously followed the case on the news and whatnot. Was he too close to the main character? Did he actually exist? Does it even matter?

Also, did anyone else notice that after killing the cops in Assault, some of the dead bodies turned into Russians? I'm thinking it's just a glitch, but I couldn't help but consider for a second that it could be on purpose.

I also wonder why the main character ever took up the jobs in the first place. I remember the janitors mentioning that they threatened people with violence, but I don't recall the main character ever being threatened, blackmailed, or anything like that. Did they do something to his old girlfriend? I find it hard to believe they motivated him with threats, as the Russians could probably do just as bad to him and he didn't really have anything other than his car and apartment. I also found it interesting how at first what he had done made him sick. To me this shows that initially something other than bloodlust motivated him. That, or he was disgusted at himself for enjoying the whole thing. Maybe this lack of motive for the main character was intentional, to show how the player doesn't need a motivation to kill, it just comes naturally. Regardless, I got a kick out of how they threatened motorcycle guy.

It was a small thing and maybe it's obvious, but I think the score screens represented the buildings and scenery the main character drives by on his way home. It hit me when this screen was weird and distorted after the hospital mission; it resembled a disoriented person looking at passing buildings and blinking slowly. If this is true, I really like that detail.

Last, did anyone else notice the symbol that was all over the place? What was up with that? I'm guessing it was just a callsign for the janitor's group of tools, but the main character never heard anything of it. Maybe it's just a trademark one of the tools made up for kicks. I only remember it being in areas where the jumpsuit guy who killed your friend was involved, but I'm really not sure. Maybe it's his?

Anyways, sorry for the massive blocks of text. There's a lot to discuss about this game and I'm probably overthinking things. At least the game gave my mind something to chew on, as well as encouraged me to start a new playthrough ASAP.
 
Raptomex

Raptomex

Member
It's safe to say after beating this game
the story still doesn't make sense to me but it's awesome
. But can someone explain
why your character is murdering all these people
?
What's stopping him from saying "I don't want to"
. And the whole
"playing as helmet guy" really threw me off
. Were the
three guys in the masks who question you in that room the cleaners
?
 
V

Visualante2

Member
Sighing at the white knights in this thread trying to feign outrage over piracy gestures. They're big boys they can take care of themselves okay?

In other news, a demo may be coming next week.
 
S

ScOULaris

Member
Has anyone come across any high score and/or speedrun videos for this game yet? I'd love to see someone blowing through the levels in record time.
 
L

Leckan

Member
Listening to the OST and goddamn is it ever spectacular.

Game is not too shabby either if I may say so.

One of the surprises and games of the year.
 
S

ScOULaris

Member
Watching this Quick Look is painful. Patrick is so slow about everything, and it seems as though he has no idea that you can lock onto bad guys with the middle mouse button.
 
S

ScOULaris

Member
The core gameplay here is so much fun, but all I can think about now is how much potential there is for expansion. Here are some things that I'd like to see in a sequel or DLC:

  • Level Editor and online sharing
  • Online Leaderboards
  • Option to have all weapons in a level (including those held by enemies) randomized. There is some slight randomization on certain levels already, but making it completely random would give it that roguelike replayability.
  • More levels, weapons, and masks!
 
Raptomex

Raptomex

Member
ScOULaris said:
The core gameplay here is so much fun, but all I can think about now is how much potential there is for expansion. Here are some things that I'd like to see in a sequel or DLC:

  • Level Editor and online sharing
  • Online Leaderboards
  • Option to have all weapons in a level (including those held by enemies) randomized. There is some slight randomization on certain levels already, but making it completely random would give it that roguelike replayability.
  • More levels, weapons, and masks!
Click to expand...
Agree with all of this. And actually a random level generator would also be beneficial.
 
M

Mr.Monitor

Member
Raptomex said:
Were the
three guys in the masks who question you in that room the cleaners
?
Click to expand...
No, the mask guys don't really exist. They're a representation of the main character's subconscious as he pieces together the events of the past few weeks. Everything you played up until the hospital was distorted memories of what happened to the main character before he was put in a coma by jumpsuit guy.

Raptomex said:
But can someone explain
why your character is murdering all these people
?
Click to expand...
The janitors say that they use threats of violence to force their "players" to kill, but I'm almost positive this is never shown in the main character's case. I think the apparent lack of a reason for the main character to commit murder might be intentional to show how players (in a literal sense, not the assassins) don't need any justification or motivation to kill in a game, it's just an action that comes naturally. In Hotline Miami, you were told to kill, and that's exactly what you did. A motive for the main character wasn't necessary because one wasn't necessary for you. Basically, why did YOU murder all those people?
On a less meta note, it might also be possible that whatever happened to the main character's girlfriend is a factor, but I doubt it.

Raptomex said:
What's stopping him from saying "I don't want to"
.
Click to expand...
When you meet the janitors, they explain that "players" often develop a sort of bloodlust and stop requiring threats to keep them going. They start to enjoy the killing. This is demonstrated with unnecessary acts of brutality on the main character's part, and to an extent, the phone mission from the motorcycle helmet guy's point of view. Did you kill the workers? If so, why? They posed no threat and you gained nothing from killing them, and killing them isn't necessary to advance. If you killed the workers, you effectively demonstrated this point yourself.

Raptomex said:
And the whole
"playing as helmet guy" really threw me off
Click to expand...
If you're wondering which ending is real, the one with the mansion or the one with motorcycle guy driving, they both are. Motorcycle guy finding the janitors and the main character waking up from his coma are both important to Hotline Miami's story, but each character can only get to those points by killing the other. Hotline Miami gives you the "full" story, but the only way it can do this is by splitting the story in half with two alternate timelines.

As a warning, take all this with a grain of salt. This is just how I personally understand things, and I could be completely wrong. This is especially true since
I haven't completed the puzzle yet. It's always possible that the puzzle reveals something that disproves all of this or explains points completely differently.
 
G

geestack

Member
Mr.Monitor said:
Beat it yesterday. Absolutely fantastic game. I encountered my share of issues, mostly the fact that I had to disable components of my sound driver to get the game to work properly, but that wasn't such a bother considering the game itself. As for the story, I still have to gather up all the secrets and masks so I could be completely wrong about all this, but I do think (prepare your tinfoil hats)
that the janitors represent Jonathan and Dennis, and it seems that there's a light commentary on how game devs set up scenarios just for players to kill in, and oftentimes the justification comes more from the player than the creator.
Click to expand...

This is what I believe as well, pretty sure they just say, iirc:

Does it really matter? You had fun right?
or something to that effect.
 
Raptomex

Raptomex

Member
Mr.Monitor said:
No, the mask guys don't really exist. They're a representation of the main character's subconscious as he pieces together the events of the past few weeks. Everything you played up until the hospital was distorted memories of what happened to the main character before he was put in a coma by jumpsuit guy.


The janitors say that they use threats of violence to force their "players" to kill, but I'm almost positive this is never shown in the main character's case. I think the apparent lack of a reason for the main character to commit murder might be intentional to show how players (in a literal sense, not the assassins) don't need any justification or motivation to kill in a game, it's just an action that comes naturally. In Hotline Miami, you were told to kill, and that's exactly what you did. A motive for the main character wasn't necessary because one wasn't necessary for you. Basically, why did YOU murder all those people?
On a less meta note, it might also be possible that whatever happened to the main character's girlfriend is a factor, but I doubt it.


When you meet the janitors, they explain that "players" often develop a sort of bloodlust and stop requiring threats to keep them going. They start to enjoy the killing. This is demonstrated with unnecessary acts of brutality on the main character's part, and to an extent, the phone mission from the motorcycle helmet guy's point of view. Did you kill the workers? If so, why? They posed no threat and you gained nothing from killing them, and killing them isn't necessary to advance. If you killed the workers, you effectively demonstrated this point yourself.


If you're wondering which ending is real, the one with the mansion or the one with motorcycle guy driving, they both are. Motorcycle guy finding the janitors and the main character waking up from his coma are both important to Hotline Miami's story, but each character can only get to those points by killing the other. Hotline Miami gives you the "full" story, but the only way it can do this is by splitting the story in half with two alternate timelines.

As a warning, take all this with a grain of salt. This is just how I personally understand things, and I could be completely wrong. This is especially true since
I haven't completed the puzzle yet. It's always possible that the puzzle reveals something that disproves all of this or explains points completely differently.
Click to expand...
Well...thank you. That answered all of my questions and now I feel slow. Lol. This game is a
mindfuck
but I love it. I want DLC and then a sequel. So basically
the events of the main character are all jumbled up due to the coma induced by the biker
? Is that your take? So that would mean
the main character didn't really kill biker dude
but vice versa. And now the only question to me left unanswered is how the main character even gotten involved
with the cleaners
.
 
A

ArynCrinn

Banned
Maybe it's just because I need sleep, but... How do you beat the
Biker helmet boss guy
, I grab a golf club but can never seem to hit him with a throw or melee.
 
K

Kifimbo

Member
ArynCrinn said:
Maybe it's just because I need sleep, but... How do you beat the
Biker helmet boss guy
, I grab a golf club but can never seem to hit him with a throw or melee.
Click to expand...

Dodge, run around, wait for him to throw his knife and hit him when he tries to grab his knife on the ground.
At least that's what I did.
 
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