A boy without his robot. Let's Play: Beyond A Steel Sky

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

What is this?

Beyond A Steel Sky is a third-person sci-fi adventure game that was developed by Revolution Software. It is the sequel to the 1994 point-and-click adventure game, Beneath A Steel Sky. Set ten years after the events of the first game, Robert Foster returns to Union City to track down a boy that has been abducted from his home in The Gap. This game explores social control, AI and total surveillance. I can't tell you much more than this as the game was released on Steam today (July 16th 2020).

It was originally released on the Apple store on the 26th of June.

Do you need to have played Beneath A Steel Sky beforehand?

Not at all. The intro video recaps the events of the first game while it also sets up the plot for this game. Shameless plug alert If you do want a proper catch up before going into this, I recently LP'd Beneath A Steel Sky and it's now on the archive here: https://lparchive.org/Beneath-A-Steel-Sky/

Let's Play details

This is going to be semi-blind as this is a new release, the only footage of this game that I have seen is the trailer. I will be playing a portion of the game before recording so when it comes to making a video, I have a semblance of knowing what I'm doing. This is going to be a video LP and I will be commentating as I play. I will be uploading at least one video a week and it will happen as and when I have the time to do so.

No spoilers!

Let's Play: Beyond A Steel Sky




















Bonus Videos
Union City Factfile (Unabridged Audiovisual)
Additional Scenes & Dialogue (Part 1)
Additional Scenes & Dialogue (Part 2)
Museum Exhibits
Museum Exhibits (Remixes)
Additional Scenes & Dialogue (Part 3)
Additional Scenes & Dialogue (Part 4)
Additional Scenes & Dialogue (Part 5)
Additional Scenes & Dialogue (Part 6)
Death Scenes

[JamieTheD]

Okay, the dialogue's already looking fun, and I really hope I can end up reviewing this one, since I loved the first one's charming wit and snark (and dystopia, of course)

Looking forward to the next update!

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

In this video, Foster explores the rest of the area outside of Union City and makes even more new friends. He also loses a fight with a bird, gets an interesting offer regarding a sausage and finally gets the chip implant. The next episode will feature some puzzle solving and hopefully, we will get inside of Union City.

In this episode, I decided to exhaust the dialogue options again and once again they repeat with little variation in dialogue. In future, I'll make sure to note any time this happens so it doesn't get annoying.

[Oggy]

Trust an engineer to fix things with a swift kick.

Looking forward to this!

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

Trust an engineer to fix things with a swift kick.

Looking forward to this!

I'm definitely interested to see where this goes. I've played through the next segment and things are going to speed up now most of the greetings are out of the way with, I'm going to push towards getting inside the city when I start recording again.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

In this episode, Foster gets hold of a stinky sausage, steals a sandwich and assaults an innocent robot. I pushed through this recording to get everything done in the first area so we could leave it. The next episode will start inside Union City!

There are a few cuts during this video. A couple were to trim the time down a little, another was because I missed the trigger for a puzzle entirely and another one was because of a game-breaking bug. For some reason, I was unable to speak to Hobbsworth at all so I had to reload the game. There is another bug involving Hobbsworth that I kept in because it was amusing and not game-breaking.

I've tried to maintain a balance between graphics and performance but I've noticed various moments of slowdown during playback of the last few videos. I'm trying not to make the game look like total ass but I may have to turn it down a notch or two for the next video, it depends on how things are in the next area. Everything runs fine until I hit the record button and the systems resources take an extra hit, which is the issue I'm facing at the moment. I'll see how things go with the next recording session.

[JamieTheD]

Yeah, I've had that from time to time, sadly. Anyway, yeah... Joey's gone, and there's a LINC based system. Plus ca change... The more they go to shit because somebody's a dumbass.

Still, hopefully our firmware update will be quick and easy... And we find Joey.

[mateo360]

I am hoping we get to see some of the old characters from the last game. I want to see what Gilbert Lamb and the insurance guy are up to.

[Oggy]

As for the similar looks of Foster and Graham, I understood that as Ember updating the picture to fit.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

In this episode, Foster is firmly inside Union City and he finally upgrades his firmware. I was initially intending to end this recording at a later plot point but things don't always work out during the actual recording. In the test run, I missed a conversation with two characters. One of them was my fault as I've been suffering from sinusitis and it was down to a lack of awareness but the other was down to a glitch, for some reason when I tried to speak to this character originally they turned around and decided to walk into a wall. We do get to speak to more personalities in this video and we open up the game world even further. I've turned down the graphics a couple of more notches so hopefully, this will ease any further slowdown.

I should have uploaded information about the council along with the last video but the events of the past week have been a little unexpected (They'll be in the OP too):

The Council







Messages (Old)

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

Yeah, I've had that from time to time, sadly. Anyway, yeah... Joey's gone, and there's a LINC based system. Plus ca change... The more they go to shit because somebody's a dumbass.

Still, hopefully our firmware update will be quick and easy... And we find Joey.

Joey was spoiled for me before I even went into this, sadly. Linc was a very 90's system with (edit: implied) command lines and direct user inputs, the Minos system seems to be based on how technology has evolved with society. The whole QDos system and how things are based on popularity automatically makes me think that everyone is a dumbass in Union City.

I am hoping we get to see some of the old characters from the last game. I want to see what Gilbert Lamb and the insurance guy are up to.

All I know from this game is a little about the plot and as I said above, Joey was spoilt for me going into this. Foster is being voiced by a different person even though the original voice actor is alive and according to ImDB, his last roles were fairly recent. Edit: I wrote more but then I made the mistake about Imdb, I'm not saying anything further.

As for the similar looks of Foster and Graham, I understood that as Ember updating the picture to fit.

Now that you've pointed this out, it makes more sense.

[Oggy]

I really like how Greta's voice actress pulls off the almost-but-not-quite entirely not exasperated help(desk) droid.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

I really like how Greta's voice actress pulls off the almost-but-not-quite entirely not exasperated help(desk) droid.

I was very apprehensive with the start but the more that I play the more that I'm liking it. I've just played the next section of the game and it was a delight, there's a lot of charm within this game. As much as there were some doubts in my mind about this being a sequel I'm starting to feel like they can pull this off.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

In this episode, Graham returns home, makes some new friends and meets a member of his family. This part of the game was quite delightful to play, our aim was to find out more about Graham and that's pretty much all that we do in this video. Unfortunately, the apartment was another area that suffered from slow down as soon as I hit the record button, I may have to turn the graphics down even further going ahead. There's also a couple of audio glitches in this video, I'm thinking about putting together something for the developers are still actively working on updates for the game.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

In this episode, Foster is finally able to speak to Songbird at length and he uncovers more about Graham's mysterious lifestyle. This video contains a lot of dialogue as well as some puzzle-solving, we also meet a new friend after leaving the party and encounter a bit of drama...

I've turned the graphics down some more, it's starting to get into TellTale territory but hopefully, it will help with the slow down.

[JamieTheD]

Argh, I'd actually missed the box! Oh well, it was funny to see the miming, I got my own clue as to that from the prevalence of land trains. As to failing, yours and Songbird's QDoS score is decreased, and oh boy, is she pissed about that! After all, she can't go to the Aspiration Day Celebration if you fuck up, and worse, Alfonso will be even more suspicious of you.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

Argh, I'd actually missed the box! Oh well, it was funny to see the miming, I got my own clue as to that from the prevalence of land trains. As to failing, yours and Songbird's QDoS score is decreased, and oh boy, is she pissed about that! After all, she can't go to the Aspiration Day Celebration if you fuck up, and worse, Alfonso will be even more suspicious of you.

Thank you for letting me know the flip side of things, I did wonder how differently things could progress if you failed it. Even after passing his test, I don't think he believes a single thing that was said to him.

[Thesaya]

Is episode 6 meant to cut off so abruptly?

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

Is episode 6 meant to cut off so abruptly?

It is and I know that it's different to the flow so far but I was struggling to find a place to end the video. The urge to end this on a cliffhanger was too much and I wasn't sure about cutting this in the middle of a cutscene. I probably should have cut this after Alonso had shooed away the gang-gang for an easier transition but the cutscene itself cuts off abruptly and goes straight into Foster's internal monologue without a pause.

I'll most likely be recording more tomorrow, I'll leave the final scene intact at the opening of the next video.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

In this video, Foster finds a way to help Raquel and then decides to visit the museum to unwind. I was racking my brains trying to work out the hacking in the first segment but finally cracked it, when it came to recording I was expecting to end this at the museum doors but I decided to enable some short conversations before entering and then explored the museum a little after I got there. There is a bug at the 15:15 mark where you can continue the conversation after Orana and Raquel have left and it plays hell with the camera.

Edit: Can you guess who greets us as we enter the museum?

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

Bonus Videos

Union City Factfile (Unabridged Audiovisual) - These are the facts that we can learn in the area outside of Union City.

I've started to record more footage and I've started from the beginning of the game. I've found a different way of getting the deet's away from Big Steve, I may have broken the Mini-K van puzzle too but I'll have to go back and review the footage once I'm done recording.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

Bonus Videos - I spent a couple of hours recording additional scenes and dialogue. I believe that I have caught most of the things of interest before the scene involving Raquel's awakening. I probably should have pushed it until after the cutscene as I had already replayed the interview segment three times just to capture about ten seconds of footage that came after it. I replayed the interview a fourth time so I could have a save file for a potential bad route. I originally had two videos planned but after a rest, I'm thinking about going back in and recording more footage of the rescue scenario. This may end up becoming three videos as there's still a lot of footage to edit without adding more. Either way, I'll upload the second set of extras along with the next update.

Additional Scenes & Dialogue (Part 1)

This first video involves extra scenes and dialogue from outside the walls and along the piazza. Timestamps are in the video description.

Vending machine vandalisation, Qdos from Hobbsworth, Voxel's monster, Fun with firecrackers, Trial and error with the van, Offerings for Greta, Luring Bad Steve (Two bad options and an alternative solution), Scanner talk with Hobbsworth and offering him some items, Sandwich talk with Ember, First "death" scenario, Hacking 5HO-UT (Speaker-bot) & Asking B4R-1 about HO-LO.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

In this video, Foster breaks a man's heart, breaks open an old fridge and breaks out a chip off the old block. The exclusive part of the museum holds a lot of relics to the past and we get to reminisce about Beneath A Steel Sky. Unfortunately, everything is collecting dust and most of it appears to be inactive.

Bonus Videos

Additional Scenes & Dialogue (Part 2)

This video covers everything surrounding the apartment complex, timestamps are in the video description.

Colourful opinions, Apologies to Songbird, Failing the interview, More apologies to Songbird, Offerings for Songbird, Offerings for Chipworth, Offerings for Tarquin, Joey Defaced, Swapping the hololens, Making it up to Songbird, Alternative paint can scene, Onara isn't interested in any offerings, The view from the window and Offering for the cleaning droid.

I decided to only include one alternative colour of the paint can as you get the gist of it, I probably should have extended it to graffiti but again, I think you get the gist of it too.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

In this video, Foster and Joey make a daring escape from the dangerous mouse infested room, we find out that Joey is a little horn-bot and then we lose our iconic coat.

Edit: Updated with the correct link.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

In this episode, Foster gets a change of clothes, has issues with some bunting and he also goes to the recycling plant to meet some friendly new characters.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

In this episode, Foster lends a hand, enters the Hellfire club and then speaks to a man about his port. A lot happens in this video, there are a few surprises, some action and a lot of dialogue. I don't want to spoil anything as there's a lot of plot advancement in this episode.

Bonus Videos

I'm going to record more additional dialogue and scenes soon as they're starting to build up. I spent some time this evening in the museum and have recorded a couple of videos. The first video is the exhibitions being explained to us in full by their own methods, this one includes the exhibits in the second room. The second video only contains the hackable exhibits in the first room, I've recorded their dialogue with each of the other personalities that are available to them. Timestamps are included in the video descriptions.

Museum Exhibits

Spankles Exhibit, Children's Exhibit, Council Exhibit, Asio City Exhibit, MINOS Exhibit, The Story Of Joey (Parts 1-5), Spunky, Refrigeration Unit, Public Music, Life In The Gap, City Power, LINC, Joey's Circuits, Holographic Map, Barrel Transporter Robot, Antique Map & The Organism.

Museum Exhibits (Remixes)

Spankles Exhibit (Default - Crazily) - Excitedly, Enticingly, Gently, Calmly, & Aggressively.
Children's Exhibit (Default - Excitedly) - Crazily, Enticingly, Gently, Calmly, & Aggressively.
Asio City Exhibit (Default - Enticingly) - Crazily, Excitedly, Gently, Calmly, & Aggressively.
MINOS Exhibit (Default - Gently) - Crazily, Excitedly, Enticingly, Calmly, & Aggressively.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

I was meaning to post this yesterday but some important real-life stuff was happening.



In this episode, Foster enters Lincspace, takes a trip into MINOS and then goes to see a woman about her bilby.

Bonus Video

This video features additional dialogue and scenes from the museum and a couple of scenes from gameplay from shortly afterwards.

Additional Scenes & Dialogue (Part 3)

Talking With Cecily, Talking About Cecily, Joey's Calm Arm (Default - Gentle), Joey's Crazy Arm, Joey's Excited Arm, Joey's Aggressive Arm, A No-Deal Exit, Too Slow With The Fridge, Talking To Joey About Escaping, Vacuum Robot Manual, T80 Manual, Finding Alonso, You Must Gather Your d-RYD.

[Thesaya]

That navigator icon in Minos sure looks familiar:

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

There was a man called Foster
Who befriends a d-RYD on the roster
To get into the gala
And continue this saga
They need to steal from the poet master

That navigator icon in Minos sure looks familiar:

We're all doomed!

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

In this video, Foster gets changed, takes Songbird to the Aspiration gala and then proceeds to spoil it for everyone!

I'm going to start recording additional scenes and dialogues soon, it's been fairly busy here lately.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

There are some major plot advancements in this video which include a couple of lengthy cut scenes.

Bonus Video

This video covers the preparation of the Aspiration Gala, the Recycling Centre and everything before starting the storyline involving Tarquin's poem.

Additional Scenes & Dialogue (Part 4)

Talking Shop With Joey, Showing Our Inventory To Orana, Feedback From P4R-T, Trying To Leave Without Joey, Feeding The Crusher, Crazy Jimmy, Putting The Bilby Down, A Happy Songbird.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

In this episode, Foster returns to the recycling centre, to Minos and then hopefully returns to sanity. We get a little back and forth between Foster and Joey which is something that I've been wanting ever since they reunited. Unfortunately, it doesn't last long. This episode primarily focuses on the recycling centre area of the game, something tells me that we won't be returning here.

[Thesaya]

Well, looks like we took care of Leet's hard drives for him!

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

In this episode, Foster helps the children escape, deals with an ongoing nuisance and hears more about Wendell's sausage than we need to know. This episode is shorter compared to the others as I felt like it was a self-contained segment of the game. I also didn't talk a whole lot during the hacking sequences, I should have been explaining the process but I was concentrating on remembering how to actually complete each sequence.

Additional Scenes & Dialogue (Part 5)

I believe that I've caught up to the current episode. There are only four clips but two of them are fairly lengthy, "Wash Pin Bowling" can be done at any time and I only found out about it since the achievements became active.

Wash Pin Bowling, Leaving For The Gala Without Songbird, The Private Poem Recital, Alternate Response to Piermont.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

This is the final video of the LP, I'm not going to spoil anything with this.

Bonus Videos

Additional Scenes & Dialogue (Part 6)

There are only two scenes in this video. The first is the alternative ending to Songbird's storyline and the second is the other dialogue choices in a conversation during this video.

Death Scenes

I only discovered seven different situations that resulted in death, not counting the LINCspace scenes. Two of these I put under one description as they involve the same scene.

Welcome To Union City, The Meat Grinder, A Shocking Encounter, Getting Haked Off!, An Explosive Dilemma & One Lump Or Two?

I'm at a loss if there are any more, I did try to get Foster killed as much as possible.

Thank you, everyone, for being a part of this LP, I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending. The game has been a delight in a lot of areas but equally as frustrating in others. Regardless, I'm glad that it was made and it's been very enjoyable to play. I won't spoil anything by going too in-depth in this post but I may say more later when I've collected my thoughts.

My next LP will be the ever delayed Chronomaster. There's no time-line for when I will be starting it, perhaps sometime next week. My daughter will be coming down from Scotland next Friday for a couple of weeks, which means I'll be devoting less time to working on LP projects during her stay.

[Thesaya]

Ugh, nooo! They did exactly what I feared they'd do. I suspected it would be Joey for quite a while, but I hoped they would have saved it by at least making his reasoning good. For example, Foster didn't even come visit him so he set up the council because he didn't care, or even as revenge. I would even have taken a bad advisor. But bloody hell, since when has Joey ever taken anything Foster says as an order?! And especially right at the beginning, I might have believed it if they said it came much later. Damn it.

[Rocket Baby Dolls]

Ugh, nooo! They did exactly what I feared they'd do. I suspected it would be Joey for quite a while, but I hoped they would have saved it by at least making his reasoning good. For example, Foster didn't even come visit him so he set up the council because he didn't care, or even as revenge. I would even have taken a bad advisor. But bloody hell, since when has Joey ever taken anything Foster says as an order?! And especially right at the beginning, I might have believed it if they said it came much later. Damn it.

Even in the original game, the "Ken" variant of Joey seemed different than his predecessors. I've rewatched the LP to check whether there was any rogue data on any of the disks but there didn't seem to be. When Joey was a utility robot he was snarky and limited in his abilities. It's possible that the android body had enough memory to enable his entire personality. His body had the same abilities as a human, if not more with being able to function perfectly well after having a limb taken off. There's a chance that Ken\Joey was at his full capacity as an android and this is the real him without limits. Unfortunately, I don't think that we will ever have any official answers.