Stuck Ch2, Nobody talking. (much Spoilage)

Maffu · #1 (**permalink**) 11-05-2009, 06:15 PM

I am so very stuck in Chapter 2. I'll try to be specific so that you have as much info as possible to help me with. Sorry if it seems long-winded.

In a nutshell
Kalkstein won't speak to me at all.I did a load of stuff for him (but not the Alghoul Mission) I got to the point where it said I should pressure him and so I did. He got pissed off and threw me out.
Now, whenever I go back to Kalkstein (even though I know he's innocent and have the stuff from the Alghoul mission for him) he just tells me to "get lost, and don't return", and throws me out.
So I went and did a load of other things, thinking that he'd sulk for a bit and calm down later. So I did other missions... For several (real life) days.
Unfortunately, this Kalkstein business seems to have affected other missions and I can no longer continue. I have run out of things to do...

Details

I have done the autopsy and presented the evidence to Raymond. it is now listed as "Raymond needs time to analyse the evidence".
I have done the party (I have also done Shani, but that's another story). Shani no longer has any useful dialogue for me.
I have arrived at the fact that Rammstein is innocent and I have told him so - there is now no more dialogue for us.
I have arrived at the fact that Thaler is innocent (and why), kicked his pants at poker and now have no further useful dialogue.
I have arrived at the fact that Declan LoveHandles is innocent and told him so (so why won't he by badges from me any more). No further useful dialog available.
I have arrived at the fact that Vincent Meiss is innocent but it won't let me tell him so. No more useful dialogue available.
I have found all but the last two Sephirot (the one that is in the golem and one other, I think)
I have done all the missions I can find in The Swamp.
I have arrived at the fact that Raymond is not what he seems and he is my prime suspect. I've clicked the fisstech but it just says how strange it is to see Raymond with it. I questioned him about the medallion twitching and he tried to brush it off. I went back and questioned him again about the map on his wall and his 'flamboyant' taste in rugs, but the conversation just ended. I know it's him and I want to chop off his smug little face but it won't let me.
I can't get permission to go into the cemetery - nobody will give me a pass.

The only available unused dialogue is "I am ready for Ramsmeat", but I've already proved him innocent and he's my pal, so I can't kill him. Do I have to kill him? Surely not. What about Kalkstein and all these gooey bits for him in my rucksack?.
I am stumped. Can someone tell me what I have missed? (please god, let me have missed something - I can't go back a week.)

PS. Please tell me I also get to hack the old bag in Shani's house into teeny-tiny bits!

flix · #2 (**permalink**) 11-05-2009, 07:05 PM

Go kill the Golem, get the Sephirot, then get the last Sephirot from Raymond. Once you've unlocked the tower, Kalky should talk to you. The rest of what you described is just really unfortunate events (botching the autopsy, not proving your suspects innocent soon enough and so not being able to get into the cemetery, etc.). Things should open up more once you've killed the Golem.
You should still be able to talk to Ramsmeat. Have the two of you agreed that you will "kill" him and then lie to Raymond about it?

Maffu · #3 (**permalink**) 11-05-2009, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flix

You should still be able to talk to Ramsmeat. Have the two of you agreed that you will "kill" him and then lie to Raymond about it?

Thanks for your reply Flix.
Unfortunately, if I don't talk to Raymond, or if I tell Raymond I'm not ready to kill Ramsmeat then I don't get any dialogue options for Ramsmeat other than "See you" and "Uh, how's things?", both of which lead nowhere.
If I tell Raymond I'll kill Ramsmeat then Ramsmeat, or, rather, his label, goes blue instead of green and I can't interact meaningfully with him again.

I'll get the other one from the golem as you suggested and see if that fixes things and let you know.
Thanks again

PS It's a bit rubbish that you have to do the autopsy in a certain order or the options disappear. But hey ho.

Maffu · #4 (**permalink**) 11-05-2009, 08:16 PM

Well, I got the sephirot from the golem but unfortunately all the dialogues are still exactly the same as described above - Raymond will only talk to me about killing Ramsmeat, Ramsmeat only has the same two trivial options and Kalkstein still tells me to get lost.
Grrr.
Looks like I have to kill Ramsmeat.
Which makes me a fickle whore, not to mentions slightly angry.

swcarter · #5 (**permalink**) 11-06-2009, 01:13 AM

I think you can tell Raymond that you're going to kill Ramsmeat, and then not actually do it. That dialogue with Raymond is probably what's holding you up.

SWC

Maffu · #6 (**permalink**) 11-06-2009, 07:48 AM

I tried telling Raymond that I would kill Ramsmeat. Ramsmeat is now blue with no useful dialogue.
I went back to Raymond and got a new option - "I was supposed to deal with Ramsmeat" - to which he replies "you need to get information from him. How you do it is up to you."
Unfortunately, since I've already proclaimed Ramsmeat innocent he has no more to tell and this doesn't open up any further options.

Can you tell me are there any ramifications later in the game if I kill Ramsmeat? It doesn't seem as if I have a choice other than to go back to an old save and I really don't want to have to repeat a week's worth (week off work!) of game play.

flix · #7 (**permalink**) 11-06-2009, 02:52 PM

It's a hard fight, that's all. No plot ramifications....

But, in the final act, certain characters reappear in a sequence to help you in some fights. If you helped Ramsmeat, he will appear. If you killed him, someone else will appear to help (Vincent maybe, can't remember).

Is Kalkstein talking to you yet?

A lot hinges on getting the autopsy 'right.' If you ever replay, be sure to find and read books on forensics and autopsies. Then, you'll figure out who's innocent and who's guilty without having to go into the cemetary.

Maffu · #8 (**permalink**) 11-06-2009, 03:13 PM

I've found that with all the running I've done (I've lost count how many times I've massacred every beastie in the swamp) I'm actually quite tough now.
I had a pop at Ramsmeat a couple of times to see how it went and found it ludicrously easy.
So, rather than redo everything I might just kill him and be damned. Nothing personal Ramsmeat old boy, just business.
If Kalky wont speak to me after that then I'll just have to go back to the autopsy (if I can find the save) and do it again.
Cheers for your help.

Maffu · #9 (**permalink**) 11-06-2009, 04:24 PM

Ok, I got to the tower, placed all the sephirot then went to see Kalkstein. He spoke to me long enough to give me a thousand orens and then reverted back to "Get lost and don't return". So now I don't have Vincent, Ramsmeat or Kalkstein a sallies and through no real fault of my own.
So looks like I'll have to go back over a week of solid playing. This has made me lose interest in continuing. It's not as if I did anything wrong per se. I read the books on autopsies but I asked the questions out of order and it only let me ask two before they all disappeared. Bit of a dodgy thing to flub the entire game on.
I might sulk for a few days then see if I can be arsed to do it all over again.
Either that or find someone with a non-phuquéd savegame at the end of Chapter 2 before entering the tower.
**sigh**
Thanks for your help anyway.

swcarter · #10 (**permalink**) 11-06-2009, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maffu

Ok, I got to the tower, placed all the sephirot then went to see Kalkstein.

Did you actually enter the tower? That's what will trigger the next big event.

SWC

flix · #11 (**permalink**) 11-07-2009, 03:21 AM

He's right. I didn't realize you thought you wouldn't able to continue at all, I just thought you were mad because you made so many people stop talking to you. You'll have no trouble finishing the chapter or the game - the devs really would have flubbed if that were the case. Loot the tower and then go meet "Raymond" again and have a nice little chat.

Also, Kalkstein should reset after Chapter II and you can still fulfill your outstanding contracts with him in Chapter III. Vincent will also play a part in things, so he'll be talking you.

Maffu · #12 (**permalink**) 11-07-2009, 10:09 AM

That's good news.
I shall give it a try.
Thanks

Maffu · #13 (**permalink**) 11-07-2009, 07:02 PM

Ok, now in Chapter 3.
I had to kill Ramsmeat in the end, but I'm telling myself that he understood that it was nothing personal.
Kalkstein is running around deliriously happy in the tower - obviously high on his own supply - and has completely forgotten that I accused him of murder.
Which is nice.
It remains to be seen if Vincent Meiss will talk to me again, someone messed up my swamp and I need to re-pacify it first.
Thanks again everyone for your help.