Adventures of Veronica Wright:
Escape from the Present
Like a case straight out of the X-Files, Playtinum Games' Adventures of Veronica Wright: Escape from the Present begins with green-eyed alien creatures in pursuit of a spunky, white-smiled heroine. A mysteriously post-dated letter from her great great grandfather sends Veronica running for her life, searching for pieces to a time machine so she can fix what he could not.
Using your mouse, navigate through this part adventure, part escape-the-room game to uncover clues, useful items, and solve puzzles which will help Veronica repair the device and escape back in time. Our brave and witty protagonist channels Nancy Drew as the brightly-colored cartoon graphics yield a science fiction comic book appeal, well suited to the cornball plot. I mean, alien invaders and notes from the future! For real? (Where's Doc Brown and Agent Mulder when you need them?)
The controls are a bit clunky, it should be confessed, as each time you need to use an item, you'll have to scroll through your inventory list. There's no changing cursor to make interactive areas obvious, either. These gameplay aspects are probably because Adventures of Veronica Wright: Escape from the Present is also available for iOS devices; such controls are just perfect for the smaller touch screen. For a free, Flash game, that's a forgivable issue, though—the entertainment value and opportunity to sleuth is well worth the trade off. Of course, with all this sci-fi melodrama, you have to factor in a cliffhanger ending. What's a girl to do? Play Escape from the Present with tongue in cheek and simply relish in the fun!
Walkthrough Guide
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Adventures of Veronica Wright:
Escape from the Present walkthrough
General Info
Navigation is a little odd. Clicking on either arrows or doors will take you to a new screen. Sometimes it looks as though an arrow should take you through a door (like in the Corridor), but in fact the arrow and door each take you to different scenes.
Often when you click on objects in a scene, you will zoom in on that object. Click somewhere on the object to use an inventory item or otherwise interact, or click the X to dismiss.
Your inventory window will come up whenever you click somewhere where an inventory item can be used.
Your Amulet is always the first item to come up in your inventory.
Clicking the right arrow will cycle to the most recent item you picked up.
Clicking the left arrow will cycle through your other items.
To use an item from the inventory, just click the "Use [item name]" text.
There is no changing cursor, so be prepared for some pixel hunting.
Exploration
Kitchen/Conservatory
Click the pile of wood in the lower left corner to get Logs of Wood.
Take the Strainer from the open lower cupboard. Click the flour canister in the open upper cupboard and use the Strainer to find a Brass Key. Click to take the key.
Click the note on the refrigerator. Note the numbers that aren't crossed out.
There is a scale on the counter, but it can't be used yet. Instead, click the left arrow to go to the Conservatory.
Click the second hanging flower basket from the right to find a Shovel.
Click the left arrow, then the right arrow to enter the Nursery.
Nursery/Game Room
Click the Black Ball in the cradle to take it.
You can take a look at many of the toys in the room, but you can't use them left. Instead, go right to the Game Room.
Click the pool table and use the Black Pool Ball. You can click the balls to swap their positions, but you don't know the proper pattern yet.
Take the Door Knob near the game table and the Matches under the cue rack.
Click the game table. Click the king of diamonds to take the Torn Card. Note the two distinct symbols on the back of the cards.
Click the right arrow to enter the Drawing Room.
Drawing Room
Click the coat of arms to take a Sword.
Click the piano, then click the paper on the music stand to take the Parchment.
Click the fire place. Use the Logs of Wood (from the Kitchen), then the Matches (from the Game Room) to build a fire. Then use the Parchment on the fire to reveal Music Notes.
Click the right arrow to enter the Corridor.
Corridor
Click the door at the top of the stairs. Use the Doorknob (from the Game Room) on its spot, then click to open the door.
Read the clue for where to go next (it looks scrambled, but just read from left to right, and it will make sense).
Click the blank stone in the middle and take the Hacksaw Blade.
Zoom out, click the picture frame, and use the Hacksaw Blade.
Click on the fallen frame and click to take the Claw Hammer. Read the note for a clue.
Library/Machine Part One
Library
From the Corridor, click the open door on the left to enter the Library.
Click the flower pot in the windowsill and use the Shovel to find a Copper Key. Click to take it.
Use the Sword (from the Drawing Room) on the curtains to make a Rope Made from Curtains.
Click the upper left corner of the rug, then take the Film Reel.
Click the rightmost bookcase. You need to click the books in the proper order.
Use the note on the fridge in the Kitchen to learn the proper order.
XXVII (27)
V (5)
XXIX (29)
LXII (62)
Click to take the Silver Scale Weights.
Click the left arrow five time to go to the kitchen.
Scale Puzzle
Click the scale on the counter, then use the Weights in the tray on top.
You must get the scale to balance. Click weights to move them into the scale, or back to the tray. The solution:
425 + 175
Then click the red container and click the dials to enter the balanced weight.
600, which is 425 + 175.
Take the Machine Part One.
Machine Part Five/Secret Passages
Conservatory
From the Kitchen, click the left arrow 5x to return to the Conservatory.
Click the cabinet and use the Brass Key (from the Library) to open it. Take Machine Part Five.
Recall the clue from the picture frame in the Corridor.
Click the floorboards near the blue flowers on the left.
Use the Claw Hammer from the Corridor on the end of the floorboard to reveal a secret passage. Click it to enter the Cellar.
Cellar
Click the wine rack. Note the patterns of colors on the wine bottles.
Click the torn cards. Use your Torn Card (from the Game Room).
Click the queen that matches your king, according to the tear patterns. You will get a Weird Card.
It's the leftmost queen of hearts, in the twelve o'clock position.
Click the device on the door to the right. Click the dials to enter the proper symbols in the box.
Recall the symbols on the back of the cards in the Game Room.
When you enter the correct symbols, a slot opens up. Use the Weird Card, and the door will open.
Before entering, click the right arrow to check out the other side of the Cellar.
Click the schematic to look at it. Note the direction and distance between each point.
You can also zoom in on the number pad on the machine, but you don't know the code yet. Instead, click the left arrow, then the doorway to enter the Attic.
Attic/Garage
In the Attic, click the music stand and use the Music Notes. Take the Silver Key from where the cat was sitting.
Click the window and use the Rope Made from Curtain (from the Library). Click the window again to enter the Garage.
Take the Screwdriver from on top of the boxes under the workbench.
Click the row of tools above the workbench to get the Garden Shears.
Click the hood of the car, then click the engine to get the Car Battery.
Click the left arrow 3x to return to the Conservatory.
Machine Parts Three and Four
Pool Ball Puzzle
In the Conservatory, click the blue flowers and use the Garden Shears (from the Garage) to get the Flowers.
Click the left arrow, then the right arrow 3x to return to the Game Room.
Click the pool balls. Use the Black Pool Ball from the Nursery if you haven't yet.
Click the balls to swap them. You need to put them in the proper order.
Recall the colors of the wine bottles in the wine rack in the Cellar.
The leftmost column should be the single blue ball.
The next column should be maroon then yellow, from top to bottom.
The next column should be white, then orange, then purple.
The next should be red, then black.
The last should be the single green ball.
Take the Nine Colored Jewel.
Bedroom
From the Game Room, click the right arrow 2x to return to the Corridor. Click the rightmost door and use the Silver Key (from the Attic) to enter the Bedroom.
Click the portrait. Click the tiles to swap their places and unscramble the portrait.
Click the diamond-shaped slot in the portrait and use the Nine Colored Jewel (from the Pool Puzzle in the Game Room). Take Machine Part Four.
Click the foot locker and use the Brass Key (from the Kitchen).
Take the Stuffed Head and notice the silhouettes and dates on the card.
Click the left arrow 2x to return to the Drawing Room.
Drawing Room/Trophy Puzzle
Click the vase and use the blue Flowers (from the Conservatory, obtained with the Garden Shears) to reveal the Car Key. Click to take it.
Click the trophy wall and use the Stuffed Head (from the bedroom).
Click the heads to swap them and place them on the proper plaques. Recall the card from the bedroom for how the match the heads with the dates.
Goat - 1911
Bear - 1914
Ox - 1917
Stag - 1903
Take Machine Part Three.
Machine Part Seven/Car Puzzle
Go back to the Garage, via the Cellar and Attic.
Click the door to the car and use the Car Key (from the vase in the Drawing Room).
Take the Doll hanging from the rearview mirror.
Click the dials behind the steering wheel. You need to set the dials in the proper order.
Recall the schematic in the Cellar to figure out how to set the dials.
Each line of the schematic tells you a direction from one point to the next, plus the distance between them.
In the car, click a dial to set it. The left dial represents the direction, while the right represents the distance. Enter a direction, then a distance, and so on.
When you enter a direction and distance correctly, a number will appear in the right dial.
The solution:
East, 20
South, 10
East, 15
North, 25
West, 40
South, 10
Note the digital number that appears in the right dial.
L51086, though you may already notice that this can't be right.
Zoom out, re-enter the car, and take Machine Part Seven from the open glove compartment.
Machine Parts Two and Six
From the Garage, click the left arrow 4x, then the right arrow to return to the Nursery.
Click the toy soldier in the toy basket, then click the drum, then the screw. Use the Screwdriver from the Garage and take the Winding Handle.
Click the green toy box under the window, then click the socket on the right side. Use the Winding Handle and take Machine Part Two.
Click the toy on the bench to the right, then click the spot on the right. Use the Doll from the car in the Garage, then take the Gramophone Needle.
Go back to the Attic, via the Cellar.
Click the gramophone and use the Gramophone Needle, then take Machine Part Six.
The Machine
The Code
From the Attic, click the left arrow to return to the Cellar, then click the Right arrow.
Click the number pad on the machine. We got the code from the dial on the car in the Garage, but it's not quite right.
L51086 can't be entered in the keypad. How can we make sense of this?
Flip the code upside-down. L51086 becomes 980157.
Enter the code, then enter the machine.
Machine Part Puzzle
Click each slot and use the proper numbered Machine Part to install it.
The Machine Parts will not be in numerical order, but the dials they are connected to are. Trace the wires and install the Parts so that Part One is connected to the leftmost dial, Part Two to the second, and so on.
From left to right, the top row should contain Machine Parts Seven, One, and Five.
The bottom row should contain Machine Parts Four, Three, Six, and Two.
Activating the Machine
Exit the machine and click the left arrow.
Click the film projector in the bottom left corner, then use the Film Reel (from under the rug in the Library) and the Car Battery (from the car in the Garage).
Note the order of the symbols, which correspond to the Machine Parts in the machine.
Click the right arrow and go back inside the machine. Flick the dials to activate the Machine Parts in the order shown in the film.
From left to right, flick dials 2, 4, 6, 7, 1, 5, and 3.
Click the slot that appears and use your Amulet.
Click the arrows to watch the cutscene for the cliffhanger finale.
Posted by: Mike | January 25, 2012 9:44 PM