Halfway through Bioshock: questions (SPOILERS)

[Zeus]

I don't want to ruin the game for myself and having gotten my cuz addicted to it, I can't just play it on my own since he's invested 15 hours in it with me. I have to wait for him so I'm falling behind you guys a bit and can't have that other thread ruin anything for me. So hence the new thread.

Spoilers coming....last warning....

So, I just finished the sequence where you kill Ryan 'cause he orders you to. Pretty freakin' neat if you ask me. I loved how he begged you to kill him. Then the game's worst kept secret comes out in that Atlas if Fontaine (I think we pegged that one about 2 or 3 hours in). And one of the greatest part of the storyline comes out: he's been controlling your mind the whole time the way Ryan did when he forced you to kill him. One of the best storyline immersive twists in a long time.

So my question is this: for you sadists out there who have been harvesting the Little Sisters rather than rescuing them, what happened to you on the way out of Ryan's office (you end up with tons of Adam and other stuff from the presents they leave if you don't harvest BTW)? I got escorted by a Little Sister into a vent shaft and then fell down into Tennenbaum's office. There were all of the girls that I saved there then they lead you out to the sewers.

Keep in mind, I'm avoiding all Gamefaqs and guides of any kind. I'm just figuring things out as I go.

If you harvest the girls, do you still end up in Tennenbaum's office? If not, what happens? if you do end up there, I assume the room's empty other than the locked area where Tennenbaum is (haven't gotten into there yet).

Also, what exactly do you need to "fully research"? Do you just keep taking pictures until you get all of the bonuses? I've tried everything from combat shots to regular stills to shocking then shooting and I've taken TONS of pictures of everything but I haven't even gotten one "fully researched" achievement yet. Tons of combat bonuses so I want to make sure I'm not missing something there. I musta shot 30 or so Spider Splicers in the theater were you complete that "masterpiece".

And man, that Electric Buck absolutely SLAUGHTERS the Big Daddies. They hardly even move when I fight them now. Couple that with the rate of fire upgrade and they're easy as pie.

[bovine]

keep taking pictures, you can only get 3-4 pictures that actually get you the research experience or whatever it is from one subject... so you kind of just have to keep the camera out all the time and take pictures like crazy before you kill anything. I rescued as well, so I can't tell you what happens after the ryan experience.... though I would be interested in knowing as well.

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

If you harvest the girls, do you still end up in Tennenbaum's office? If not, what happens? if you do end up there, I assume the room's empty other than the locked area where Tennenbaum is (haven't gotten into there yet).

It plays out the same, but the girls respond differently to you ("Who's he?" "Stay away from him, he's a bad man!").

Also, what exactly do you need to "fully research"? Do you just keep taking pictures until you get all of the bonuses?

Yep. There are five research levels per mob in the game (this includes turrets and cameras). Remember also that you can take multiple shots of the same enemies. Film is cheap and it's not used if your score is too low so there's no harm in throwing it away. I had fully researched the leadhead splicers before I had even got back to Peachy at Neptune's Bounty.

[Tessian]

You can take research shots of cameras and turrets??

[Eric]

lol yes.

You can take Shots of Little Sisters too.

[SineSwiper]

Sisters give out health bonuses on each bar. Also, the Houdini's give out Natural Camouflage on the 2nd bar, which is one of the best tonics in the game.

BTW, the Atlas thing wasn't really obvious to me. The "Would You Kindly" thing didn't really phase me; it seemed like a quirk in his speech. Now, I can see it everywhere, including reviews for the damn game. (Or on the first scene, where there's a tag on the gift with "Dear Mom and Dad, Would You Kindly...")

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

Sisters give out health bonuses on each bar. Also, the Houdini's give out Natural Camouflage on the 2nd bar, which is one of the best tonics in the game.

Yeah, seriously. Makes security alerts cake, as soon as they're activated you can just stand still, disappear and wait them out. It completely changes the way you can play the game.

BTW, the Atlas thing wasn't really obvious to me. The "Would You Kindly" thing didn't really phase me; it seemed like a quirk in his speech. Now, I can see it everywhere, including reviews for the damn game. (Or on the first scene, where there's a tag on the gift with "Dear Mom and Dad, Would You Kindly...")

I was expecting Atlas to turn bad but the "Would you kindly" hook blew me away.

[Tessian]

Camouflage changed the way I played... but I never saw it help me avoid cameras or bots... they still saw me.

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

Camouflage changed the way I played... but I never saw it help me avoid cameras or bots... they still saw me.

Protip: if you get spotted by a camera and the alarm starts, stand perfectly still. Unless you get seen by a bot before the camo kicks in, you should turn and remain invisible until you move or act. The bots can't see you when you're invisible: they'll fly straight through you (not sure about splicers).

[Tessian]

Splicers WILL see you if they bump into you. You're camouflaged-- not invisible

[Eric]

Splicers WILL see you if they bump into you. You're camouflaged-- not invisible

If they're that freakin close to you a Shotgun to the face should have already happened :p

[Tessian]

Splicers WILL see you if they bump into you. You're camouflaged-- not invisible

If they're that freakin close to you a Shotgun to the face should have already happened :p

Of course... but this was all in the name of research.

Speaking of which-- taking pictures will remove the camouflage

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

Quick tip on researching the security bots (it's worth it, at the fourth level [I think?] you get autohack for them): find a camera not too far from a Vita chamber (the one near the entrance to the Waterfall Grotto in Arcadia is good for this), get caught, snap as many shots of the security bots as you can, then die and repeat. You can get max research on the bots in a couple of minutes doing this.

[Zeus]

Splicers WILL see you if they bump into you. You're camouflaged-- not invisible

If they're that freakin close to you a Shotgun to the face should have already happened :p

Of course... but this was all in the name of research.

Speaking of which-- taking pictures will remove the camouflage

More spoilers below....

Oh Eric, how alike we think :-)

The zoom on the camera is great for taking photos too, especially if you're camoflauged. You can set it up perfectly while they're walking around. Take the picture, then shock, then shotgun to the face using the exploding buck you just invented. So great :-)

I may be screwed on the cameras and turrets for taking pictures. I can still get the security bots using that method, which I may just do, although I'll probably take pictures, waste them, take pictures of the other that come, etc. I didn't know you could take pics 'til after I got past Ryan so I'm not so sure I have enough left to research (I just saw Fontaine for the first time after removing his spell). I had actually stopped taking pictures of the Spider Splicers in the area where you do the masterpiece (can't remember the name off the top of my head) 'cause I thought I was doin' something wrong.

There's also those two secret achievements near the bottom of the list. Curious as to what those are. They ones near the top are all of the storyline completion ones. They kept them secret so you wouldn't ruin the game by reading the achievement. I've tried to be as much as completist as I could without resorting to any real help other than what I've asked you guys here. Much more fun that way IMO

[Eric]

I know alot of you are playing it on the X-Box, but I didn't even know you could zoom in on the PC until like the 5th or 6th area, heh.

[SineSwiper]

Camo is great for single enemy kills. You will usually end up invis when you stop and listen for the enemy, anyway. For thugs and leadheads, just bash the hell out of them (especially with a full wrench tonic set). For Houdinis, you will actually go invis again when he disappears, so he's always trying to figure out where you are.

Camo still will not work if you have "aggro" for the most part.