Neighbors From Hell 100% Viewer Ratings Walkthrough =================================================== This is a solution/walkthrough (soon to be published thesis) for the PC game "Neighbors From Hell" that shows you how to achieve all 100% viewer ratings for every episode in the game (besides copying your friend's savegame files of course). If you're looking for a "get only minimum Viewer ratings per episode" solution, then TOUGH! Can't please everybody. :=( As usual I'll keep my intros short as readers would usually have to suffer a long-winded walkthrough anyway. My approach, hopefully, will help readers understand the game better and maybe pick up a few tips on how to solve future episodes on their own. Failing which, they probably will be so engrossed in this back-to-back babbling that they will unwittingly sacrifice meals and proper sanitation and be guided to solve the entire game before the sun comes up the next morning! I wanna say that the time limit feature doesn't make that much of a difference. It is more likely you'll make a mistake and get clobbered instead of having the timer run out. And most of the time even if you do one trick at a time, you'll most likely finish with plenty of time to spare. You can also easily PAUSE the game (press 'P') have a good look around as and when you want. So for those of you who are stuck at a certain episode and you want the satisfaction of figuring out how to get that 100% viewer rating, you can turn off the time limit feature from the main menu option. Then take your time to slowly observe the neighbor at your leisure. Either that or you can hide Woody somewhere and use the game as a noisy screensaver! To make life easier for you, you'd probably want to turn off the Trick Camera Option as you don't want to be fighting against the camera panning away at every trick going off when you are trying frantically to set all your tricks before getting caught. The provided "Introduction" season serves as a good tutorial, but a few things noteworthy aspects of the game are: 1) When Woody (your character) picks up an item that goes into his inventory, he will usually turn his head to face you, point his finger in the air (like he's got an idea) and say, "HAH!", then turns back and picks up that item. This is important to note because when you hear Woody go "HAH!" means that you can issue another command like "pick up (another item)" or "use (item) from the inventory with (such and object) in the room" and Woody will still pick up that object (the one that he "HAH!" about) and immediately execute the second command you gave him. This is good as Woody spends less time idle and makes his actions more continuous. 2) When Woody is setting a trick, he'll stand in front of the object (to be set a trick on), face away from you, and wave his arms around as he works on it. A progress bar over his head will indicate his progress. If you click anywhere before the progress bar is finished (reaches the end) it will cancel the setting of the trick and you will have to start again if you want to set the trap. So sometimes you might be rushing to set tricks one after another that you accidentally click away before Woody is finished setting it and when you leave the room you suddenly realize you missed out one trick. So no doubt you need to be quick sometimes but be careful not to inadvertently cancel a trick in the process. After every trick you set, Woody will give out a little giggle. Introduction ============ i) First Steps (100% V.R.) ----------- Statistically the most demanding level! Minimum 100% viewer ratings!! ARGH!!! Detailed steps: - Go to [Room B] target (pronounced "tar'je") - Left-click on door - Go to [Room A] target - Go to [Room C] target - Walk out front door (End episode) Score: Tricks [1/1], Bonuses [0]. ii) Onwards and Upwards (100% V.R.) ------------------- - Look at [Room C] plant - Open [Room C] chest of drawers => Marbles & Marker pen - Use Marker Pen with [Room A] picture Now if you want to get 100% viewer rating instead of 97%, you need to get a bonus by making sure that the neighbor's (I'll refer to him as 'N' from now on) anger indicator (that thermometer at the bottom left) doesn't go all the way down before N gets a taste of your next trick! You will then get a Bonus! (indicated at the bottom right, below the [?/?] counter for the number of tricks you played. Every Bonus is worth an extra +3% towards your overall viewer ratings. So if you end up with 97% at the end most likely you were required to get 1 more bonus than what you scored for that episode. Similarly 94% means you failed to achieve 2 bonuses meant for that episode. ********************************************************************* FAQ: Is it possible to achieve 100% viewer ratings for all the episodes? Ans: DUH! What's the title of this walkthrough?!? ********************************************************************* - Walk to Room C - Use Marbles on [Room B] floor - Immediately walk down to [Room C] Alternatively you can try letting N's Anger indicator drop down to nothing and then walk back to Room C. You will still be awarded for 2/2 tricks but your Bonuses will be 0. Furthermore your V.R. would only be 97%. (See the difference?). So the main idea in the later episodes is to string as many tricks together as possible. So if you managed to figure out how to effectively link as many tricks one after another as possible without "anger gaps" or if you follow this walkthrough (which I think 97% :P of you would choose this option) then you should end up with 100% V.R. Sound way too simple? Not really, with the exception of a few episodes in Season 3 (which require a little more cunning), this basic rule should get you 100% V.R. all the time. Score: Tricks [2/2], Bonuses [1]. iii) Expert Moves (100% V.R.) <-- Notice a pattern here? ------------ - Open [Room C] chest of drawers => Marbles - SNEAK (sleeping dog hazard): Use Marbles on [Room B] floor (You basically left or right click on the Marbles in your inventory and then right click on the floor of Room B. when you use Right-clicks that means all actions are done in Sneak Mode and won't trigger off pets in the same room) Now the tutorial tells you to SNEAK back down to Room B. But you can try something else. Instead, you can left click on Room B, Woody will start walking normally, the dog will get up and start barking! (Woody will yell "AHH!!" and stop in his tracks) Continue to click on Room B to quickly resume Woody walking through the door and back down to Room B. You have to do this before N rushes over and sees you in the room (and uses you as an anger management doll). N will then look around the room and since he doesn't see any intruders, would assume the dog made an honest mistake and patiently VENT HIS ANGER by scolding it and reassures it by angrily waving his fist in the air. This action on the part of N is a little time consuming no doubt. In later episodes, distracting N in such a way would help buy time for Woody to collect items as well as to set up tricks and escape in time. The tutorial now tells you to: - Hide in the wardrobe Now this wardrobe is (later) always in the Hall. N is guaranteed never to look in there so Woody can hide in it forever (until the timer runs out). The other place you can do this (in later episodes) is Under N's bed. Just these 2 places. So if you've done setting all your tricks, it is recommended that you hide in one of these places to guarantee your success in that episode. Score: Tricks [1/1], Bonuses [0]. Golden Neighbor award! (awarded for achieving all 100% V.R in all episodes in a season! NOT!) Season 1 ======== i) The First Trick (100% V.R.) --------------- Okay! N's house is now furnished for your sadistic pleasure! Only 4 rooms in his house are enabled in this episode. Note: At the start of the episode, even as Woody is walking into the house, does his little "gunslinger dance", you can start by clicking on your first room or item to pick up and Woody will respond to command as soon as the episode commences. - Open [Hall] chest of drawers => Whoopee Cushion Hit 'P' to pause the game. When you pause the game you can scroll around and take a look at what is happening around the house. You cannot get a description of items in the rooms or place your cursor over items to determine which you can pick up, that you probably have to do by trial and error. Pausing is mostly meant for you to catch your breath, or in case you need to stop and think of what move to do next. Or the main reason, which is to read this long-winded walkthrough and see what step to take next ;). You should also notice that once the episode commences, N will constantly have thoughts on which item he is going to use next (displayed on the lower left of the screen in his "thought bubble". Woody is psychic, don't you know! ;) ). If you pay attention to this you can tell exactly where N is gonna go next. Thus, this "thought bubble" becomes an invaluable tool in later episodes when time is of the essence and N's routine becomes more and more complex. You can unpause by pressing 'P' or continue clicking anywhere on the house. Now for this episode, N's routine is confined to the upstairs (easy for you). So you have free reign of the Hall and Bathroom. - Open [Bathroom] Medicine cabinet => Superglue - Go back out to Hall The following is to illustrate the "97% solution", for the 100% solution, skip the parts in {} brackets. { Best to stand near the left door (the "Go to living room" door) When N goes from the Living Room to the kitchen, quickly: - Go to Living Room - Use [Living Room] TV antenna (twists it) - Use Whoopee Cushion on [Living Room] Sofa - Go to Hall (all the above before he comes back from the Kitchen) - Open [Kitchen] fridge => Egg - Use Egg with microwave (egg explodes inside) - Use superglue with binoculars - Go to Hall If you do it this way, you will end up with Score: Tricks [4/4], Bonuses [2] and only 97% V.R.! "What gives?" you may ask. Well the 97% would indicate that you missed 1 Bonus the episode intended Woody to have. You should also note that if an episode has eg. 4 tricks Woody can perform in it then the maximum number of bonuses (theoretically) can only be 3 -- one less than the total number of tricks. Bonuses are only awarded for 2 tricks that link (i.e. N's anger indicator doesn't get to fall to zero in between those 2 tricks). So logically, *raises eyebrow* if you get 2 Bonuses and you still only get 97% V.R. that means the episode needs ALL 3 bonuses! So to cut a long story short, >>too late<< ALL your tricks in this episode must link! If you observe carefully, the "anger gap" comes between when N sat on the Whoopee cushion (or farting sofa), fixes the sofa, then resumes watching TV and then walks into the Kitchen to notice the exploded egg in the microwave. This part of the sequence takes too long! But as far as we can see, from the part where he notices the twisted TV antenna --> to the sitting on the Whoopee cushion, that is done in enough time to link the two tricks together. As well as from the time he notices the exploded egg in the microwave to getting his face stuck to the binoculars. FACT: You cannot be in the same room (and be in plain sight) as N, otherwise you automatically get caught regardless of whether N is currently getting "tricked" or not. The only exception being when N is asleep in his bed in a later episode. So knowing this its more or less given that tricks that are close together (or in the exact same room) should be "set" and thus triggered (by N) together. So no argument with setting up the TV antenna & and Whoopee Cushion together or even the Egg and the Superglue thingy. Nothing beats a little trial and error in this game. But in this case the only other variant is the order in which the tricks for the 2 rooms are supposed to be set in. } So let's try it this way now: Best to stand near the right door (the "Go to kitchen" door) When N goes from the Kitchen to the Living Room, quickly: - Go to Kitchen - Open [Kitchen] fridge => Egg - Use Egg with microwave (egg explodes inside) - Use superglue with binoculars - Go to Hall When N goes from the Living Room to the kitchen, quickly: - Go to Living Room - Use [Living Room] TV antenna (twists it) - Use Whoopee Cushion on [Living Room] Sofa - Go to Hall This way N will: > Notice exploded egg in microwave > Get face stuck on binoculars > Enter living room and notice TV reception immediately and actually run (more like a hop, skip and a jump) towards the TV a lot faster than his usual trotting along. This could well make all the difference. > Sit on farting sofa Viola! Score: Tricks [4/4], Bonuses [3]. Before that you'll notice how long it is from the time when N gets angry at the farting sofa, the time he takes to fix the problem (btw, N will always fix the trick played on him immediately after triggering it off and getting angry at it, so take note this also takes up some time) and eventually he will resume using the item (in this case the normal sofa, to watch his TV), before moving on to the item he desires (indicated in this thought bubble, which is the binoculars). He will of course be interrupted by the sight of the exploded egg in the microwave (how many times am I going to Copy/Paste this?!?) In this episode the above takes the longest of all the links between the tricks and it is the only "anger gap" in it. So the main idea is to leave out this "anger gap" until the last. In other words, make the farting sofa the last trick to perform. That way the "anger gap" (which is unavoidable given the time N takes to walk and the fact that there is nothing to make him run or trigger another trick along the way) does not become an issue at all. So that's the basics of how to analyze an episode and find out what is preventing Woody from getting those bonuses. Of course a few episodes may require more drastic measures but we'll come to that later. ii) TV Afternoon (100% V.R.) ------------ Okay, I'd highly recommend grabbing all the inventory items you can get in a level before even setting your first trick. This way your timing would not be so tight and you can make sure you have all the required items before you proceed. Nothing stops a good trick laying routine more than finding out you "forgot to get such-and-such an item". - Open [Kitchen] fridge => Egg - Open [Hall] chest of drawers => Saw - Open [Bathroom] Medicine cabinet => Laxative - Examine [Bathroom] loo roll holder => Loo Paper - Use Loo Paper with [Bathroom] loo (eh...best not described) Please note that all we've done at this point is prepare the tricks (i.e. N can go about his usual routine and not stumble upon a single trick). But now its time to start tripping him up so we have to move continuously to ensure that the tricks link one after another. Note: As a rule of thumb, if you want N to trigger off tricks in a certain order then you should set them in that exact same order. If you deviate from that, N might trigger off some other trick earlier than you planned and mess everything up. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. Some tricks might cause N to run to a totally different part of the house. He will, however return to seek whatever item he had in this thought bubble before he stumbled upon your trick. But if he is in a different part of the house, he might take a different path toward it. This could either ruin your original plan or you might be able to exploit it. I also want to point out that while you are setting tricks (Woody would be waving his arms around setting up the tricks with a progress indicator above his head), you will notice that some tricks take longer to set than others. That can effectively limit your options as to which situation(s) you can get Woody to get in a set the trick. A good example is using the saw on the sofa. This takes a ridiculously long time. So we need to get N out of the living room for quite some time. But his routine in this episode is rather short (like in the previous episode). After a few attempts using trial and error, I know this episode has 6 tricks but only requires 4 bonuses to get 100% V.R. So what does that mean to Forrest Gump? 5 tricks must link, the remaining one trick can be separated from the rest. BUT! That is not the only possibility. We can also have a set of 4 linking tricks (3 bonuses) and another set of 2 linking tricks (1 bonus). You can also have a case where a set of 3 tricks linked together (2 bonuses) and another set of 3 tricks linked together (another 2 bonuses). Now it is usually easier to find 2 sets of 3 tricks fairly close (or related to) one another rather than finding 5 tricks together. Well lets see how this plays: - Use laxative with [kitchen] beer - Go back through the door and wait downstairs in the Hall N should take a laxative beer and go back down to sit in the sofa. - Go back up to the Kitchen - Use Egg with microwave (egg explodes inside) > N drinks laxative beer (gets laxed?!? hehe!) > N runs down to bathroom via door from living room to hall - Use [Living Room] TV antenna (twists it) - Use Saw with sofa (Woody takes long time to saw the legs of the sofa) > Meanwhile N realizes...well you know.... You should be done sawing the sofa > N goes back for another beer (persistent isn't he? ;) But also thoroughly predictable) via the hall. Once N enters "Door to kitchen", - Go down to hall - Hide in the wardrobe (It is just a good practice to do so) Now N will: > Notice exploded egg in microwave > Enter living room and notice TV reception immediately and run towards the TV. > Sit on manipulated sofa Score: Tricks [6/6], Bonuses [4]. So basically, this way works out because we use the: ~laxative beer ~the fact that the Loo Paper is missing from the loo paper holder this is the first set of 3 tricks that link easily together. ~twisted TV antenna this is the second set. So conveniently, we've found a solution that fits our criteria! The fact that the: ~laxative beer ~the fact that the Loo Paper is missing from the loo paper holder link so closely together and are so far from the kitchen, and the living room (according to the path N walks), kinda only gives you the option to link those 3 together (otherwise the bathroom tricks won't even be triggered). So logically *raises both eyebrows* the +3+3 strategy (as I like to call it) is the only possible solution here. iii) Birthday Surprises (100% V.R.) ------------------ Okay this is the only episode in the game where the mail box is enabled. Now N doesn't go into the living room in this episode. But he does come downstairs to the Hall to check his mail (after blowing party whistle) so you need to start looking out for his "thought bubble" if you see an "envelope symbol" quickly hide in either the wardrobe, bathroom or living room. - Open [Hall] chest of drawers => Firework, Marker Pen & Mousetrap - Use Marker Pen with [Hall] picture (smears picture) - Examine [Bathroom] soap dish => Soap - Examine [Bathroom] loo roll holder => Loo Paper - Use Loo Paper with [Bathroom] loo (eh...best not described) - Use Soap on [Bathroom] floor You'll note that N doesn't walk by this way as of yet and would most likely need a trick to cause him running this way (the only thing in that direction is the bathroom). When it is safe: - Go up to the living room. Wait by the door to the kitchen (in front of piano). Now this part is a bit of a tight squeeze so it is best to do this in stages. When N goes down to check his mail: - Open [Kitchen] fridge => Egg (Gee, what do we do with this?!?) - Go back to living room. > N comes back, does his routine. Wait by the door to the kitchen (in front of piano). When N goes down to check his mail: - Use Firework with box with candles - Use Egg with microwave (egg explodes inside) Then without waiting, quickly: - Go back to living room. - Go back to Hall. > N should have gone back up to the kitchen by now - Use Mousetrap with [Hall] letter box > N notices exploded egg in microwave - Hide in the wardrobe Now enjoy: > candles blows up cake > N gets mail! (sort of! hehe!) > Runs to bathroom but notices smeared picture of mother > Slips on soap in bathroom > Notices blocked-up loo Score: Tricks [6/6], Bonuses [5]. Piece(s) of cake right? hehe! iv) The Apple Pie (100% V.R.) ------------- Okay 7 tricks now. Now N doesn't go into the living room in this episode. But he does come downstairs to the Hall and to the bathroom for his regular (and somewhat obsessive) bath(s). We need to be a little quick here: - Open [Hall] chest of drawers => Marker Pen & Superglue - Open [Bathroom] Medicine cabinet => Hair Restorer & Shaving foam - Examine [Bathroom] soap dish => Soap - Examine [Bathroom] loo roll holder => Loo Paper Don't waste time, quickly exit the bathroom and: - Go up to living room. Now the obvious solution here would be to set up tricks for N starting from the kitchen to the hall (picture of N's Mother) to the bathroom, right? Well it would get you 5 bonuses but you need all 6 for this episode. The following is to illustrate the "97% solution", for the 100% solution, skip the parts in {} brackets. { > N should be coming down from the kitchen, to Hall, to Bathroom - Go to kitchen - Use Shaving foam with Whipped Cream - Open [Kitchen] fridge => Egg (*yawn!*) - Use Egg with microwave (egg explodes inside) - Go back to Living room. Wait at door leading down to hall. > N should be doing his bathroom routine When N leaves the bathroom and enters the door to the kitchen: - Go down to bathroom - Use Superglue with aftershave (left bottle on bath tub, with a "blue circle" on it) - Use Hair Restorer with stick deodorant (on the right side of the bath tub) - Use Loo Paper with [Bathroom] loo (eh...best not described) - Use Soap on [Bathroom] floor Quickly exit the bathroom: - Use Marker Pen with [Hall] picture (smears picture) - Hide in the wardrobe Now in the kitchen, N does something predictable, yet highly undesirable. N will first take the apple pie to the microwave, find the exploded egg in it, fix the microwave and then proceed to cook the apple pie in it then walk over to the kitchen counter to place the whipped cream on it and eat it. Needless to say this is ridiculously long and definitely one of those "anger gaps" a mile wide! } So we need a slight variant here in our plan. The biggest "anger gap" comes from the cooking of the apple pie. It cannot be last because the exploded egg trick comes before that. So logically *lowers one eyebrow* (hehe! lateral thinking here!), it would have to be first. But what happens to the exploded egg trick? It would now come last and would have to be noticed after the bathroom ones. That means that the picture would have to be saved for N's return path to the kitchen. Fortunately, there is enough time for N to get the apple pie trick and walk over to the bathroom to slip on the soap! So here we go: > N should be coming down from the kitchen, to Hall, to Bathroom - Go to kitchen - Use Shaving foam with Whipped Cream - Open [Kitchen] fridge => Egg (*yawn!*) - Go back to Living room. Wait at door leading down to hall. > N should be doing his bathroom routine When N leaves the bathroom and enters the door to the kitchen: - Go down to bathroom - Use Superglue with aftershave (left bottle on bath tub, with a "blue circle" on it) - Use Hair Restorer with stick deodorant (on the right side of the bath tub) - Use Loo Paper with [Bathroom] loo (eh...best not described) - Use Soap on [Bathroom] floor Quickly exit the bathroom: - Hide in the wardrobe When N walks past and enters the bathroom: - Use Marker Pen with [Hall] picture (smears picture) - Use Egg with [kitchen] microwave (egg explodes inside) - Go to living room (to hide) And that did it! Score: Tricks [7/7], Bonuses [6]. v) The Old Spoilsport (100% V.R.) ------------------ Now we have 8 tricks to play. Now I must say the thing(s) you have to do to get 100% V.R. in this level is kinda silly, but having a keen eye for observation here is critical. As well as a good sense of timing. The tricky part is the part where you use the Mobile Phone to make a prank call to N (he will interrupt his routine to answer it). Remember timing. Also, you'll notice a new type of trick where the object to set the trick on is only there for a brief period of time. The football that flies through the kitchen window appears when N sits down to play. Woody only has to be one step ahead of N and has only a few seconds to set the trick on the football and leave before N comes in to eh...sportingly return the football to the kids. Now after trial and error, I found the largest "anger gap" to be from the time N leaves the bathroom (yes, Woody is responsible) to the time he takes to walk up to the piano and play it (which as a trick set on it too). So it is obvious *lowers other eyebrow* that should be first. Now there is a way to do this continuously but it has many tight squeezes and Woody has to be flawless in executing his moves. I'll do the slower method, the one that takes one more round, but it is slightly easier. The following is to illustrate the "slower solution", for the nerve-wrecking solution, skip the parts in {} brackets. { - Open [Hall] bowling bag => white bowling ball - Open [Hall] chest of drawers => Marker Pen - Examine [Bathroom] soap dish => Soap - Examine [Bathroom] loo roll holder => Loo Paper - Use Loo Paper with [Bathroom] loo (eh...best not described) - Use Soap on [Bathroom] floor Wait for N to exit hall and go up to living room to play his piano. - Exit bathroom The bathroom is set already. We only need to stink up N's favorite plant here in the hall for him to use the bathroom. When N goes into the kitchen: - Go up to living room. - Examine [Living Room] telephone holder => Mobile Phone - Use Marker Pen on composition ("music score" paper on piano) > N should have gone down to hall and is coming up to living room Quickly: - Go to kitchen > N plays piano - Open [KitchňZ! ~!C3Q>8 t ." 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