Permanently Jacked In: Let's Play Mega Man Battle Network!

The plot.



Children don't need parental supervision to ride the rails. Lan does live in Mayberry, Japan.



Here, Lan has arrived at the government complex.



This woman gives us the company line. Sure, on the weekdays they're improving life. On the weekends, they're holding Lan's father hostage so he can build a robot capable of being the Jenga World Champion.



The lady gives Lan permission to use the elevator.



I bet you heard. How did you get up here before me, anyway?



Looks like the doctor isn't in. Since, earlier, Lan and MegaMan partook in felonious activities, they see no problem with going in after the program without permission. At least it's family, this time.



MegaMan is foiled, though. Looks like the dog ate it.



Lan jots a quick email about how he stopped by and has MegaMan give it to the above program.



While he's here, MegaMan grabs the @Dad link to so he can access this computer from the net. I don't know if that's ever going to be very useful but it's better than going back empty handed.

On a side note, Dr. Hikari may be leading a double life.



Lan takes the Metroline back home, more than a little bummed out.



Once he arrives, back at ACDC Town, he gets an email from his dad. Looks like he was finally able to get the PowerUp program after all.



We already know what an HPMemory does. MegaMan's HP is now up another 20 to 140. The PowerUp program, on the other hand, is something you get to apply manually. MegaMan has three stats, as you can see.

The first time I played, I used my first PowerUp to give him the Charge attack, as Charging isn't available until you level it up to 2. But, I'm not sure I'll ever use it, this time.

I'll have to think about this...Buster Power or Buster Speed? Hmm.



Either way, Lan heads home for some much needed rest. Sleep well, Lan.

Next time: Lan beats his head against a tree.

Since I've just finished another chapter, I think it's about time I asked:
How am I doing?

I have to confess, I'm feeling less and less "on-a-roll" as I go along. So I'm wondering what people are looking for. Are the entries the right length? Is it clear what's happening? Do I need to explain anything more in depth? Those who know the game, have I passed up anything that you simply won't forgive me for having missed?

Aside from that, I want to say that I'm not really excited about the idea of simply illustrating Lan's exploits. Considering I've already received one request, I'm thinking about opening it up for more if people would like that.

So, penny for you thoughts. Only, without the penny.

i'm enjoying it. entries seem a little short, though, but whatever's comfortable for you.

and any fanart you give us is just bonus on the top. don't feel like you have to do it, but when the urge strikes, i doubt you'll find anyone who disapproves.

Foreshadowing!!!1

Agreeing with shiv-dawg, here. Don't feel obligated to draw that pic unless you want to, not by any means.

I am enjoying the LP. I like Battle Network in general; the series kind of went downhill after 4 (though I found 6's story very interesting), but I never expected to like the games, and was surprised when I did.

I believe my opinions on this LPs quality are already well documented.

The updates are great! If anything, they could be slightly longer.

Updates could be longer and happen more often. But then that's what I say about every LP I'm reading.

Carry on the good work!

This is the LP I'm looking forward to most each day (besides It breathes. You die). So don't feel discouraged.

To me, it always feels like the entries are too long. Ehh, I guess that's just because my brain includes the time spent playing the game, too. I took the last two days off from the LP. But, I started again, strong, this morning. The next entry should be up, at the latest, Saturday.

On a side note, an idea came to mind for something I might do after this LP. I was thinking about the whole concept of audience participation and I had an epiphany. When I start to draw closer to the end of MMBN, I'll put it to you guys to see what you think.

This LP is many times better than the game. And many, many times less repetitive.

I had intended to get through the entire chapter in one entry but my wrist was giving me trouble the other day.

Part V: A Lesson In Fluid Dynamics



Again, we find Lan being awakened by MegaMan. I used to believe that Persona 3 introduced me to the Japanese school system and school on weekends. However, it seems this assumption was dead wrong.

(You see, unlike every other person who plays RPGs, I don't bother reading that text hooey. This is the first time I've payed attention to the story.)



That's a dirty lie, MegaMan. I've never been there but I'm willing to assume that cereal is just as plentiful in the Land of the Rising Sun as it is in America.

MegaMan tells Lan to get a move on or else they'll be late.



I swear! Every time MegaMan mentions the pontential for tardiness, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.



Lan and Mayl reprise their walk to school from the first part. This time, the news of the hour is how there isn't any water. Mayl points out that she couldn't even wash her face. Lan considers this of less than paramount importance. Let it be noted that if you can't wash your face then you can't wash your anything.



Looks like the whole neighborhood is out of water. Today will prove to be a very stinky day.



Lan decides to head over to the Nurses Office again. She catches him off guard, though, as she's outside the room. He didn't have time to get his Yakko impression ready. He tries to convince the nurse he's got a serious disease, but she doesn't buy it. Lan hardly believes that a school nurse's cursory glance could determine a person's general health.



Lan accosts this young gentleman. Lan tells him that the toilet should be under his butt and to be wary, should he ever find himself in any less than satisfactory variations of this arrangement.



Lan considers the possibility that there may be some guy with a ghastly surname like this.



Since there is a large probability that no one has taken a bath recently, the smell she is alluding to might be nothing of the kind.



After talking to Yai, the bell rings and class starts.

Ms. Mari fills the class in on the situation. It appears that no one has water anywhere in the vicinity.



Snow Day! Err....Dehydration Day!

Lan takes the opportunity to wander around class again, but no one seems to know anything pertinent. The youth of today are completely out of touch with current events, I tells ya.



Ms. Mari lets more disturbing info slip. Every kind of water container has been stolen. Lan considers the logistics of stealing every toilet in town. Surely, there must be some water left in a basin somewhere.



This girl points out that there's no water in the next city over: DenCity. It looks like the problem is hardly local.



Lan decides to investigate by going straight to the horses mouth: the WaterWorks plant. On the way to the SciLab, yesterday, Lan noticed that WaterWorks was in the adjoining building. So, he heads in the direction of the Metroline.



Arriving at the Metroline, Lan gets an email from Yai. It appears that the kid she told us about earlier was kidnapped. Gasp!



Lan arrives at the Government Complex but concludes there is no harm in dawdling so he walks around.

Over here, he finds this girl, Sal. Sal sells "natural lunches". Aside from that, she's an amateur NetBattler. Like with Dex, this means Lan has the opportunity to pick a fight. The problem is, Sal's NetNavi is WoodMan and he, unlike GutsMan, is no pushover. In fact, WoodMan is far out of MegaMan's league, at the moment. But that isn't going to stop Lan from trying.



Battle Gab
WoodMan isn't hard if you fight him later (or with a better chip selection). In my test play, I beat him at the very beginning of the next chapter: Chapter 4. But, at this point, MegaMan doesn't have any good restorative chips and WoodMan's fight is one were it's almost impossible to get through unscathed.



WoodMan's first attack is to jump. When he lands, several tiles, on MegaMan's side, will start to blink. A split second later, spiked tree stumps will shoot up for massive damage, if you're not fast enough. This attack isn't too hard to dodge but I still find myself blinking and taking a hit.

After about three jumps, WoodMan will bend over and touch the ground (above). The attack is the same as before, except it will be three sets of spikes in succession each with blinking beforehand.



After these two sets of attacks, WoodMan will stop attacking and items will fall in from the side of the screen. Sometimes an acorn will fall in and provide a guard to WoodMan, should he be standing behind it. Sometimes one will fall and create pillars of flame (above) like FireMan's, way back when. Sometimes it will create a line of spikes instead of flame. Since multiple items appear in a quick sequence, it's very possible to get forced into a corner where dodging is out of the question.

I started a tally of how many times I died against WoodMan. The grand total turned out to be: 14

Eventually, I decided that I would be cheap and try it with the GutsMan Chip. The death count was: 4

With a total of eighteen deaths, I decided to give up as there was little chance that I would luck out and beat WoodMan, today. Lan learned a valuable lesson: Don't pick a fight with a tree.



Lan finally goes into WaterWorks.



As you can see, the masses are hopping mad. That last woman sounds like she needs to take her complaint to the supermarket or the cows or, failing those, a licensed physician.



This suspicious character is also here. He wants to check WaterWorks' digital plumbing for a virus problem. Looks like he's an offical NetBattler. Whoever they are, they're issued snazzy ID cards.



They're also issued a plus sized chip for their shoulder.



MegaMan is pretty taken with the concept of being an Official Netbattler. But, Lan decides they need to get right back on the case.



Lan's an honest kid, so he tells the woman the truth.



Lan's a pragmatist so he backpedals and tells a lie. It doesn't work, though. Looks like Lan will have to solve a problem. Lan wonders if there's any kind of ID that he can use to fake it. He immediately comes up with the solution.



He's not? Oh, that's fantastic.



Lan dislodges his father's ID card from his coat. Remember, this is for the greater good so it falls under the "Hero's Steal for the Best" rule.

Lan knows not to bother confronting the woman, again, as she would easily spy the card out for a ruse. Instead, he goes ahead and slips it into the elevator. It works.



Lan enters the control room but both doors to the machinery rooms are locked. Lan decides to consult the locals.



Of particular note is this guy: Froid. Lan tells him about the fluid asset situation in ACDC Town. Froid explains that the problem is a bug in the system and that they're working on solving it right now.



Now that the magical plot related conversation has occured, the doors to the adjacent rooms are unlocked. In this area, the water filtration room, is Mr. Offical Netbattler.



In the pump room is....nothing of considerable interest.



Lan rides the elevator back down to the lobby. MegaMan stops Lan to point out the suspiciousness of the situation. Lan, being the precocious boy he is, plots to stick around and take a look at the problem himself.



Since the only, out of the way, place Lan has access to is his father's office, he'll have to wait there.



It works. Everybody leaves.



Lan goes back to WW to the scene of the crime. The door to the machinery is locked, though, so he can't get in. Lan takes MegaMan's advice to look for something jackable.



Looks like the water fountain will have to do.

Lan starts to jack in but a lady stops him. Lan's convinced that she's no offical employee of WaterWorks. He takes her opinion with a grain of salt and throws it over his shoulder for good luck.



Dungeon Smalltalk
The Water Purification/Cooling system digi-space is a pretty straighforward winding corridor, like all the other dungeons. But, the gimmick for this one is ice skating.



And, water spigots. In iced over areas, turning on a stream of water and turning it off will remove the ice layer so MegaMan can walk around normally.



In the second area, we meet ProtoMan and His handler, Chaud. I'm still on the fence concerning how that's pronounced. Chaud tells Lan to stay out of the way or risk getting deleted.



With that done, Lan gets back to exploring the dungeon. Lan runs up on this character. Lan, naturally, got suspicious about ProtoMan but a literal clown is obviously no threat.



Near the clown, Lan scores another HPmemory just for being on the nice side of Santa's list.



Right past the clown there's a spigot with a missing handle whose stream is blocking a pathway beneath. MegaMan won't be able to move past this point without it.



So, instead, he takes the transporter (above) on another route.

In the following area, Lan passes through a figure-skating based non-puzzle and gets to the water pump system. He's stopped by a guard program.



Battle Gab
This is a mini-boss battle. The bears are easy to beat. They do two things: move into a position adjacent to MegaMan and shoot an ice block. They can only move along the vertical axis.

I continue to take stupid hits in this fight in spite of it's simplicity.



After the battle we see that the water pump program didn't have enough digital anti-freeze and was iced over. MegaMan uses, what Lan calls, a "Fireshot" program to solve the problem. Now that the pump is working again, water should be returned to ACDC Town and the surrounding prefecture.

Next time, Lan checks on the situation.

I like how often Mega Man's solutions to the various problems he's faced with always boil down to "Shoot it a whole bunch".

Actually, I've never been to Japan either, but from what I hear, it's not. Something about the Japanese being too good to smell like rotten milk like us foreigners.

Of course, you don't need water to make toast either, so I don't know what's going on.

"Chode."

Oh, Froid. You will forever be my favourite DILF.

That's what I'd like it to be, but it's the French word for "Hot"--pronounced "Show." Froid is the French word for cold--"Fwoi."

The anime translation had them pegged as "Chode" and "Freud," and I had a shit-fit.

/Canadian immersion

I suppose, in the back of my mind, I knew it was french. I took french in high school, even if most of it didn't really stick.

Also, I was considering doing the Froid illustration but I have to ask: Can a man be handsome without a nose?

Yes.

If you want to get super technical, it's more like "Sho" (no trailing phoneme) and "Frwah" (this is the guttural r, in the back of the throat, which resembles neither the English r or the Spanish r).

I think "Chode" and "Freud" are the best.
It's like the phallic stage of psychoanalytic development!

But how does he smell?

("Just terrible!")

Very likely! One of the reasons I stupidly stopped taking French (went from grade three through grade ten) is because my grade ten teacher sucked all the fun out of the language by consistently making fun of my pronunciations.

Part VI: He Never Knew When to Quit



Back in ACDC Town...



Lan takes a look at the school pond and it turns out to be quite horrifying.



Egad! Lan's actions have dire consequences. An unwitting civilian partakes of the molasses water. No doubt, he will be rushed to the hospital for a, much needed, stomach pump.



Mr. Frenchman of Warmer than Average Temperature telephones to rub Lan's nose in it and to remind Lan that he should've stayed on the sidelines when he was told to the first time. Chaud, also, tells Lan that the real problem was in the Water Filtration program.



But, Lan can't take this lying down, he's going back to that place and fixing it for good.



Lan gets another NetNews Bulletin on his way: "Citizens have a choice: either don't drink the water, faint, and die or drink the water, faint, and die."



More email at the Metroline station. No, MegaMan! It might be anthrax!



Yai decides, now, to tell Lan the kid's name was Froid. Lan and MegaMan piece together the puzzle. Those scoundrels of the WWW (Warmongering Wiffleball Witchdocters) are blackmailing Froid to bug the water purification plant.



Lan and MegaMan figure they have to find that kid to save the day.



Lan inspects the town and finds this suspicious car. It's suspicious because there isn't a single other parked car in the town besides it. Inside, he finds the kid.

He admonishes Lan to foil the Witchdocters' devious plot. He gives Lan the very program he needs to go the other direction in the Water Fountain MegaMan wandered around in last update.

Looks like Lan knows exactly were to go.



Yeah, there.

Lan returns to WaterWorks, jacks into the water fountain, and makes his way to the faulty spigot.



The handle program works like a charm and now MegaMan can pass through to the new section.

(It might be assumed that Froid removed the handle program from that one spigot to keep people from getting to where his Navi is on the Water Purification Plant's digi-space. Even if it's true, the whole concept is still nonsense.)



Not far away, MegaMan finds a Recov80 C chip. Looks like he may have a chance in the next fight against WoodMan.



I thought, I'd point out something that's reared its hideous visage. My starter chips are beginning to show their age at Chapter 3. The virus I'm fighting would take three Cannon chips to "delete". What's more, he dodges if you move into a space adjacent to him. This makes for long battles.

I decide that it's about time to start harvesting new chips from random battles.



With this spigot off MegaMan can pass through to the next area.



Virus Hall of Famer
I thought I'd point out some of the more unique viruses. This one, for example, remains stationary. It's attack is passive. It shoots out acid rain clouds. You have to dodge his clouds while waiting on him to decend to a level where your attacks will connect.



In the second section, this big plane of ice causes a problem for Mega. He needs to get to the path on the left. The solution is obvious: Mega must make use of that spigot.



MegaMan takes moment for play. Hey, Jack's no dull boy.



Voila!

Virus Hall of Famer
Here's another interesting fellow. Like the cloud guy, he's stationary. He will fire a single bubble that will bounce slowly and follow MegaMan around indefinitely. The trick with the bubble is that when you destroy it, it explodes and does damage in a 3x3 area around where the bubble was.

He's not so hard when he's solo.



Continuing on, MegaMan finds this chip.

I said, earlier, I was going to start harvesting chips. It's awfully convienient that this one is just laying around. I like TriArrow. It fires three bolts (harpoons?) in succession; each one inflicts 40 damage. I like it because you can line enemies up and, should you kill the enemy in front, you can still hit the enemy behind with the same attack.



I suppose this is as good a time as any to rearrange my chip folder. I tossed out my numerous Cannon copies and replaced them with anything I had that hit higher. At this point, having multiple copies isn't too important to me as the newer chips I can get in this dungeon hit 2 to 3 times higher, anyway.

The above is my new folder. I know those multiple Recov10s might be a little disconcerting to some. Since I try my best to, simply, not get hit, you may wonder why they're still around. For whatever reason, I leave them in. Maybe I think they're lucky.



Back on the case, MegaMan goes another area deeper into the Water Purifier.



This is another of those annoying sliding puzzles. It's only slightly difficult because you can't see the entire area on the small GBA screen. This little green guy doesn't help much with his general advice.



What he means is: Try every hole; Eventually, you'll get it right, after your blood stops boiling.

(The gradient isn't to be fancy. This collection of images gave me a headache before I added it.)



Doing all that leads Mega to Yet Another Transporter which, itself, leads to the last area.



This sector has another "Frozen Path Puzzle" and some not so needed Zenny. I've hoarded quite a bit having refrained from shopping since the first HPMemory. Turns out my haul is 16,930Z. That's pretty good, I think.



After passing through the puzzle, Mega finally ends up at the Cutscene/Boss Battle area. Chaud has beaten him there and seems to have felled the enemy.



Chaud reminds Lan he shouldn't be here for the third time, counting the initial instance last entry. Immediately after, the green bogey NetNavi shows that ProtoMan's long-division left a significant remainder of spunk. Looks like Mega-Lan's theory was correct. Froid was being blackmailed.

ProtoMan is ready for round two but MegaMan stops him. Before he can explain the situation, Chaud gets an email from his superiors that does the job for Lan. It says the real menace is somewhere about and they're after the Aqua SuperProgram. Hearing this, ProtoMan runs off.



MegaMan tries to reason with Froid and IceMan but to no avail. This chapter hasn't reached it's Boss Battle quota so it's time for fightin'.



Battle Gab
I'll confess, I died once.
Ironically, the TriArrow chips I love so much don't work well in this battle. That's because IceMan is sporadic. He moves fast enought that your forced to wait until he stops. The only time he stops is when he's attacking.



He is constantly creating these iceblocks to guard him. There is a split second between him teleporting and creating the iceblock where you can hit him.



Aside from that he'll toss ice balls at MegaMan. When they land they create ice stalagmites in a plus-sign pattern. If any one of those hits Mega, he'll take damage and be frozen. If that happens you have to mash buttons until he breaks free. While he's throwing he'll be stationary and open for a shot.



The best solution, that I've found, is to use the shockwave type chips as they will pass under the ice blocks he creates.

I take a little more damage, in my second bout, than I would've liked.



Still, I defeat IceMan, albiet with an embarrasingly low Busting Level, and am rewarded with more cashola.



After the battle, Froid is griefstricken that his son's fate might already be sealed. MegaMan gives him the message they got from his son. Froid, though relieved, is filled with remorse over his actions.



Froid has IceMan defreeze the purifier. (IceMan sucks the ice off of the purifier program.) With this done, the day is saved.

But, what happened to ProtoMan?



ProtoMan locates that insidious clown. It turns out that it was a WWW (Wiggly Wobbly Worm) NetNavi. ProtoMan insists that it return the Aquaprogram but the handler jacks out with a promise of a showdown to come.

Lan and IceMan show up and try to interrogate Chaud but he runs off too.



Froid and Lan wrack their brains but are at a loss for how the program could be used for evil. (The reason for all this can't be corporate espionage as Water Works likely has a government authorized monopoly.)



Later, they all go to ACDC Town for a fond reunion.



MegaMan and Lan get sentimental for the old days, when Lan's father actually came home once in a while.

After proverbially linking pinky-fingers, Lan and MegaMan swear to bring an end to the villainy that's afoot.

Next Time: Avoiding the Plot at all Costs

It's jokes like this that keep me reading this LP.

I'm starting to think I should go back to how I did entries at the beginning. Initially, I would play through a section and make notes. Then I would play through again and take screenshots. Then I would write the entry and edit it. Lately I've been doing everything at once and I don't think it's helped.

I guess, that's something others who are planning an LP can take to heart. Don't try to do everything at once. (Oh, yeah! And, be patient.)


I've had a couple of ideas in the past week or so.
I contemplated doing a community written comic. That is to say, the TT community would conceive a story (for anywhere from 24-32 pages) starting with a genre base and then building on top of that characters and so forth. With the preliminaries finished, it would work on a 2-3 page-at-a-time system. People would pitch a direction to move in, write short script for the next set of pages, and then predefined judges (or community consensus) would determine what went in the final draft. Of course, after each collection of pages reached consensus, I would then work my little fingers to the bone. Sounds like it would be a lot of work but I'm beginning to think I would much prefer that to an LP. Ehh, it's just a whim.

My other idea was to take a game that's less than superlative (like say, Final Fantasy 2) and turn it into a series of radio dramas instead of a screenshot or video LP.