Dark Fall: The Journal

Walkthrough by Adam Crolla ([email protected])


***


Now I know you dont want a big introduction and the such,
so I'll keep this brief.

All I will recommend is that you have your speakers on
and nice and loud as to get the best atmosphere, and:

ONLY REFER TO THIS GUIDE WHEN YOU ARE TRULY STUCK!

If you just play the game step by step with this guide,
it will really spoil the experience!

Also, this is one game you really need to take notes throughout!

And just a quick word on movement etc:

You cant save the game until after you exit the train tunnels.

By default, subtitles are turned off each time you load your
game, just press F1 to turn them on (this may help American
players who may have trouble understanding some English dialects,
or if you cant have your volume too high).

So here's the walkthru, the main bits that you need to do, all the
other little investigations and exploring are up to you! Have fun ;)


***


After the introduction of the story, you fall asleep on the late train, only 
to wake up in a train tunnel in the company of Tim Pike, a local youth who 
seems eager to lend a hand. Move foward down the tunnel and turn right to 
face the wall where you should notice an old newspaper on the ground, read 
it and listen to what Tim has to say. Then turn left again and carry on down 
the tunnel until you make your way out, then turn right and climb up onto 
Platform 1.


As you climb up onto the platform, you should automatically be facing down 
an alley way, down which you should find the power shed, enter it and pull 
on the lightbulb chain so you can see, then open the cabinet in front of 
you, and pull down on the left lever, then right lever to restore power to 
Dowerton Station, and The Station Hotel. Timothy says that he'll leave you 
now, but you can always find him on the bridge which is the big white 
building spanning across both railway lines. Also from now on you can save 
your game if you wish.

If you turn around you should be facing the station's toilets, it's only 
particularly important for you to enter the Gents', so enter it, and enter 
the cubicle and look through the gloryhole on the wall, you will see a 
symbol on the wall, which is the first of twelve symbols, known as "lyrics" 
that you will need to collect, so write the symbol down on a pad or 
something, and write it's name next to it, "LARSUS". After you've noted this 
down, exit the toilet and go back to the platform and turn so the platform 
is on your left hand side, then move forward a pace, and turn right to see a 
door, click on it and enter the foyer.

In the foyer, turn right and walk over to the ticket vending machine, turn 
the handle and pick up the coins that fall out. Then turn left and enter the 
green-lit office on the left of the stairs to the bridge, in the office turn 
right and pick up the lantern on top of the pigeon holes, then return to the 
main foyer, and turn to the Waiting Room door, and enter. In the Waiting 
Room, turn right and pick up the PDA/Palmtop on the table, and on starting 
it up click the "document" icon at the bottom to access Pete's journal, and 
read through to find out more information including settings for the 
Theodolite, which should be noted down as position 271X632, and a name which 
came into mind during this, "KARS". After this, return to the main Foyer and 
move to the rear of the room and turn left to face the Public Telephones. 
Walk over to the phones and lift the reciever on the phone on the left, then 
use the coins from your inventory on the phone, and you should have a brief 
conversation with Nigel (who sounds remarkably like Peter), during which he 
mentions the key to his room being hidden in a silver teapot. After this, go 
over to the stairs by the office you were in earlier, and cross the railway 
bridge (picking up Tim's note as you do so), over to Platform 2.

On Platform 2, turn right and go over to the surveying device, turn it on 
and press the buttons so the settings are 271x632, at this point the screen 
will fade in and out on another "lyric" symbol, note it down along with the 
name that
was mentioned earlier, "KARS". Then turn so you are facing the Dowerton 
sign, you should see a gap in the fencing to the left of the sign, move 
through it and through the bushes, turning left until you come across the 
barn.

In the barn, use your lantern so you can see, and move forward and right 
until you can see a ladder, ascend the ladder into the loft, then turn right 
and pick up the screwdriver from the wooden box and go back down the latter, 
this time turning so you are behind the old car, behind which you should 
spot a trapdoor on the floor, which you should then open and enter.

In the dark cave area move forward until you come to a pillar with symbols 
on it, at this point use your lantern on the wall on the right hand side so 
you can see. Examine the pillar by looking through the holes on the pillar 
in front of it from top to bottom noting the top hole (and the lyric you see 
through it) as #1 right down to #12. You should have a page of 12 lyrics, of 
which we currently only know the names of two, "LARSUS" (lyric #2) and 
"KARS" (lyric #8), so write down those names by the lyrics, pick up your 
lantern, and head back to platform 2.

Cross back across the railway bridge and down onto Platform 1, walk to the 
end of the platform and turn right, open the door with the word "Buffet" on 
the windows and enter, inside walk to the back and turn left, and on a lower 
shelf you should find the Electromagnetic Tracket, which when used can alert 
you to the presence of paranormal activity, its handy to keep this minimised 
on stand by. Turn right and go through the double doors, and into the 
reception area of The Station Hotel.

Go to the office behind the reception area. Answering the phone is optional. 
Examine the desk and open the draw, move the flour advert out of the way and 
look at the card underneath it to reveal the code for the safe, copy this 
diagram down on your notes. Move back to reception so that the office is in 
front of you, and look down at the safe. The cross on the right hand side is 
identical to the one you just drew in your notes, so click the spaces in the 
order as shown by the dots on the diagram, (which is left, up, middle, very 
bottom, right), if at any point you make a mistake, just move away then move 
up close again and try again. When the safe opens, pick up the key to the 
bar.

Back to main reception, use a piece of paper on the desk and drag it onto 
the ink blot pad, then click on the pen for a series of confusing numbers to 
appear. Then move the paper so that the 1, 2 and 3 are on the three large 
blobs of ink, the 1 being on the largest blob on the right hand side, if you 
do this properly, you should hear Edith's voice complaining about Betty 
wasting paper. Now try and make a little doodle showing the order of the 
numbers in relation to each other.

Turn left and climb the stairs to the first floor hall and move forward and 
turn right, ascending the stairs to the 2nd floor hall, then when possible, 
up the stairs to the third floor hall (we'll start from the top and work 
down!) Enter room 3A, which although unlabelled, is the first door on the 
left. Room 3A is Arther Johnston's Studio, go over to the table and move the 
painting of George and pick up the piece of paper underneath it, then go and 
look at the cabinet by the door, looking at the cupboard under the stove, 
turn on the gas tap next to the cupboard, then look at the stove, turn the 
left knob then press the ignition on the left of it. Hold the paper up to 
the flames and the following words should appear:

Betty: TYMA

Fly: MORCANA

Grable: FRENIC

Edith: IXIAM

Turn the stove off, dont worry about the cryptic note just yet, we'll sort 
that out soon. For now, leave the room and walk to the end of the corridor 
(with the painting on it), and turn left, then enter the bathroom and turn 
so you are facing the door, then click the mirror on the left of the door a 
couple of times until one of the purple lamps can be seen in the reflection. 
Now turn left and you should see a white light shining on the wall (how 
you're meant to know to do that I do NOT know!), anyway note the numbers 
down in the order they're in, (top left: 00:20, top right: 00:90, bottom 
left: 00:5, bottom right: 00:40), then leave the bathroom, and enter the 
door next to the bathroom, which is the storage room.

In the storage room, you should find a teapot on one of the shelves, and you 
should find the hidden key to Polly and Nigel's room in there, collect it 
and climb the ladder to the attic. In the attic of a haunted hotel... 
peachy... hehe... anyway, move over to the boiler and look down the left 
hand side of it, turn the wheel, and make sure flames are visible in the 
boiler window, then go to the other side of the boiler and turn the wheel on 
the far left, then pull down the handle, this makes sure there is now hot 
water running to the first floor bathroom, so you can have a bubble bath! 
...or not... maybe later, I dunno ;)

Now move around the attic and find the suitcase, then use your screwdriver 
on its lock and pick the lock by click left, right, or down (the correct 
combination is left, right, left, right, down). When the suitcase opens, 
pick up the copy of War of the Worlds, and read through the piece of paper 
sticking out of the pages, at the end you will be told that lyric #3 is 
named "OLIVIAK" so write that down in your notes!

The Ouija Board is optional.

Go back down the ladder and into the hallway again and face room 3F (you can 
work out which one that is), the most noticable point being that it's 
locked, from the outside, take a close look at the door and slide the piece 
of paper under it, then use the screwdriver in the keyhole to poke the key 
out of the other side, landing on the paper (which you then pick up), you 
then use that key on the door to enter George Crabtree's Office. In the 
office read the journal on the desk, it's quite lengthy but he mentions 
several trials he must solve, but mentions that the first trial's solution 
was recorded on a quilt pattern made by Edith who made the pattern as shown 
in the notes, "top left = 1st, top right = 2nd, bottom left = 3rd, bottom 
right = 4th", it'd be worth noting that down as we can add to it later.

Turn to the other desk and open the box, turn on the projector and insert 
slide 5, when the projection is thrown onto the wall, notice that the man on 
the bottom left of the picture is holding lyric #10, turn the projector off 
and close the box, then look at the slide reference on the desk, slide 5 is 
listed as "MORTYM", so write that down in your notes next to lyric 10!

Now go over to the device near the wall, turn it on and turn the crank, then 
insert the film strips in the box near it's base, and view them through the 
eyeholes. One of them should be called "Elements", note down the order the 
elements are shown in (Fire, Lightning, Wind, Water)

Exit this room and go next door into room 3D, Betty Penfold's room. In here 
examine the trumpet by the desk, click the mouthpiece twice and you should 
see a small strip of paper wrapped around the middle, look at it and see 
that its a few notes from "Knees Up Mother Brown", with a few notes circled, 
highlighted as needing practice, note them down (G, G, A, B, C).

Then go back out into the hall and down one flight of stairs, enter room RB, 
Matilda Fly's Room. In here go over to the desk and look at the clock, press 
the buttons on the front listening to the click they make, you need to press 
them in order, if they make a higher pitched click when you press them, well 
done, if not, then keep trying so they all make a high pitched click when 
you press them (the order is 3, 1, 2, 4). The paper in the hidden 
compartment shows lyric #5. As this is Matilda Fly's room, we can assume 
that the list earlier is relevent here, so "Fly: morcana" would indicate 
that lyric #5 is named "MORCANA".

Exit this room and enter room 2C, which is probably Arther's room. Open the 
closet on the left of the bed and notice a small box on a shelf inside. The 
pattern is very similar to that seen on the ink blotter in reception. Press 
the buttons in the same order you noted them down from the ink blotter. If 
done correctly, the box will open, examine the papers within to find that 
lyric #1 is named "LUSSA"

Exiting into the hall again, use the key we found in the teapot to open room 
2D, this is Polly and Nigel's room. The noticeboard mentions a password for 
the computer being the only thing he likes on one of the take away menus. If 
you look at the desk you can assume they like a good Chinese, so note down 
the phone number of the Dragon Inn (01622 643853), then go over to the 
computer desk, if you look at the left side of the desk you should find a 
mobile phone, phone the Dragon Inn and the automated service will ask if you 
want your normal order, press star key (*) twice to agree, and the automated 
service will confirm Order 15. Go back to the noticeboard and read the menu, 
Order 15 is "Chicky Chow" which is the password for PC Terminal 2, allowing 
you to view the CCTV cameras around the hotel, the last of which is a 
thermoscanner in the basement, use the settings you found in the bathroom, 
(top left: 00:20, top right: 00:90, bottom left: 00:5, bottom right: 00:40) 
and the scanner will suggest a manual inspection... in the basement... of a 
haunted hotel... fun eh?

Terminal 1 is Polly's terminal, and can be fully accessed using the toolbar 
on the left hand side, have a good look through her notes and journal 
entries etc to unveil some interesting and useful information such as the 
song "As Time Goes By" being played in the hotel. Also check the web browser 
and click recent viewed website, "http://www.learn_piano.co.uk and note down 
the layout of keys A to G on the piano, and the location of middle C (if you 
arent already musically inclined).

If you look down the left side of the desk, you should find some thermoscan 
goggles, pick them up. From now on if you enter a room and face a certain 
direction which allows you to use the goggles, a spirit will say "Here", 
allowing you to use the goggles.

Now enter room 2E, Andrew Varney's room. In here look in the box on the 
floor and pick up the astronomy book and open it. Then look in the other box 
and piece together the note. It mentions that I=R and D=W, so you need to 
look through the alphabet to try and work out how the rest of the code may 
work! But if you want to save time, then write down the alphabet A-Z and 
then beneath it write the alphabet BACKWARDS, Z-A, you will then have your 
code cracked! I'm not telling you what the messages read though, you can do 
that yourself now you have the code! ;)

Now exit the room and go to the end of the corridor (where the painting is), 
and turn left to see a telescope, look through it at the stars until you 
hear Andrew commenting on one constellation being brighter than the others. 
Go back to his room and look in his wardrobe at the star chart stood in the 
corner and look for the constellation you just saw, (it should be at the 
bottom, listed as Raka), then look in the drawer third from the top of the 
night-stand and find the book, look in the book for Raka, and note down its 
index number (12/534/76), now in the wardrobe you may have found the note 
showing the lock mechanism of the puzzlebox on the night-stand, if so then 
you can probably work this part out, press the buttons on the puzzle box in 
the order of the index number of the Raka Constellation (1st, then 2nd, then 
5th, then 3rd, then 4th, then 7th, then 6th), and the box should pop open, 
inside which you should find lyric #12, which we can now note down as 
"RAKA".
Now go back to where the telescope was, and enter the bathroom here. Look 
under the sink at the soapbox and look at the photo stuck to the bottom of 
the lid, note down the size and type of each rune and where abouts they are 
on the chalk circle.

After exiting here go down the hall to Room 3B which is George Crabtree's 
bedroom, in which is a cabinet by the bed, if you look in it you should find 
another puzzle box. If your British History is a little rusty, the images 
are Henry VIII, Henry V, and Elizabeth I, so turn the dials to match the 
monarch's numbers, then when the box pops open, note down the size and type 
of each rune and their location on the chalk circle. Now go over to the 
table by the chair and place the runes in the order you noted down (large 
brown rune on the right where the chalklines merge, the smallest yellow rune 
on the lower right where the chalk lines merge, the medium sized yellow rune 
on the top left chalk line merge, and the white rune on the bottom chalk 
line merge. As soon as you do this the runes will disappear and reveal the 
name for lyric #9, "OLKAS" (note it down!).

On leaving this room, enter Room 3E, which is Edith Penfold's room, the most 
friendly feeling room I'm sure you'll agree.

If you look in the wardrobe you'll find a record, note that track 2 is "As 
Time Goes By", now this record is already on the gramophone, so simply look 
at the gramophone and crank the handle, click the lower left switch to start 
the turntable, and click the far left of the record for the arm to move over 
and start playing the record, then click a little further in so the needle 
plays track 2, and turn the volume up, the record should be stuck on ´and 
when two lovers woo...¡, now if you move left one of the photos on the wall 
should fall off. Pick it up and you should find a few pieces of paper stuck 
in the back of the frame, showing lyric #11, and it's name, "IXIAM", which 
you should now note down.

Now in the hallway, descend the staircase to the first floor hallway, and 
make your way to the bathroom (you should know where it is by now!), Go over 
to the sink and turn on the hot tap, the steam will rise and reveal lyric #7 
in the mirror, with it's name, "MALUS" (scribble scribble!)

Room 1E is the so-called "Gloria Grable" 's room. This is a room you'll hear 
a spirit say "here" in, so if you use your goggles you should see some (Most 
Haunted style) orbs focussing around a board in the middle of the room, 
which if you remove it, you should find cash! Loads of cash! We're rich! 
Rich beyond our wildest dreams!! ...*ahem*... well thats apparantly not what 
we're bothered with, we're bothered with the piece of paper there showing 
lyric #4, which is named "FRENIC". Replace the board, and leave, thank you 
Sly Fox!

Now go into room 1A, you can use the goggles in here to see the room in its 
former glory, the most informative detail being to look at the quilt cover 
to see the coloured icons, (top left: green, top right: blue, bottom left: 
purple and bottom right: rusty orange.

Now we go back down to the reception (woo!), and use the bar key on the door 
to The Station Hotel Bar, on the left of reception. In the bar make your way 
forward and right into the second room to find a piano, now when you choose 
to sit at the piano, there are only seven white keys you can use (to make 
things easier I imagine), find the first key on the left that you can use, 
this is key F, and so the scale is F G A B C D E as shown on the website you 
saw earlier, and the notes you need to play are G G A B C (2nd key twice, 
then 3rd, 4th and 5th once each... easy eh?), a piece of paper will be 
revealed in a secret compartment in the front of the piano, which reveals 
the name for lyric #6, "TYMA".

Now back out to reception, and with the stairs on your left, go down the 
corridor to the right of them, and turn left, entering the kitchen, go 
through the kitchen and turn left to open the doors to the dining room, note 
down the designs on each table, and the table number (only table 3 is 
labelled, but the other tables are easy to work out if you've been reading 
information about customers being seated at numbered tables, or moving to 
and from numbered tables for various reasons), then go back through the 
kitchen and out to the reception. This time turn so you are facing the 
stairs, and open the door to the right of the chair, under the stairs, and 
enter the cellar.

In the cellar, turn left, move foward then turn right, move forwards, and 
turn back around, you will be facing a control panel with buttons bearing 
symbols matching the tables up in the dining room, the code is the table 
numbers (I still think this is a bit advanced for a 1940's establishment!), 
so you need to assume the numbers are 1-6, top to bottom, (if you didnt get 
the table numbers properly, you need to press the buttons in order 3, 2, 5, 
1, 4, then go and open the metal door nearby.

This opens into the old DarkRoom, which all looks very interesting, but you 
only need to look in the cabinet below the shelves to collect the piston 
key, then you can go back out into the cellar, and go over to the other 
side. When you get there, turn left and click on the metal sheets to move 
them out of the way and reveal a secret passage, behind which you need to 
use your lantern, then use the pison key to reveal a secret passage.

In this passage you will have to pass The Three Trials (sadly, not the same 
Three Trials as in The Secret of Monkey Island, but ah well!).

Moving forward will bring you to the first trial, you need to click the 
runes in the order of the colour patches in the quilt seen earlier, (green, 
blue, purple, rusty orange), the barrier will dissipate, and you can 
progress to the second trial. In the second trial, click the runes to hear a 
sound effect, each representing one of the elements, so press them in the 
order you noted the elements down earlier, (fire, lightning, wind, water = 
top, left, right, bottom), and you can progress to the third and final 
trial. This one is considerably trickier. If you click on the left and right 
walls, you will have sounds played to you in the order you must play them, 
and they are played so they string into one another, making things harder! 
But lucky for you, if you're having trouble with that part, I'm here! 
Hoorway! Press top-right, low-left, centre, left, and you can progress to 
the chamber of Dark Fall!

To banish Dark Fall for good, you must say the 12 lyrics in their proper 
order. Type each lyric and press "say" after each one, not forgetting to 
delete your typing before moving onto the next lyric. Take your time with 
this, there's no rush.

You should have noted down that the order is: LUSSA, KARS, OLIVIAK, FRENIC, 
MORCANA, TYMA, MALUS, LARSUS, OLKAS, MORTYM, IXIAM, RAKA. When you've done 
this, the trapped souls will be freed from their keeper, Dark Fall, you get 
your happy ending, and the game is complete... or is it!?!   ...okay, it is.


***

Well I hope you enjoyed the game, and hope this walkthru has been helpful 
for you! If you have any questions about it or need further help (not 
technical help, and not help on Dark Fall II), dont hesitate to E-Mail me! 
[email protected] :)