I’m totally obsessed with Authentic Fly Fishing - after discussing the game with others, I’ve come up with theories and questions.
I’ve used spoiler tags but am trying to use clear titles so you only read something you want spoiled…
The fenced off area
This area belongs to Erica Nailer - but what’s her deal? I think she:
Did something bad (recently):Shot and killed Tortus, Anita’s dog
Knows some of the Fishers because she… used to belong to the Fly Fishing Club and is featured in the photo from 1986 of 3 people (I think they are Noah Elsworth, Harlan Waverly, and Erica Nailer) and that the missing photo is a picture of the club at her house.
Did something REALLY bad recently: Killed Jack Deacon - but I can’t recall where I found the GPS coordinates for the skeleton - is that him? Anyone know where I found those coords?
As for Anita:
I think she knows/suspects that Erica did something pretty bad (killed Tortus), but why did Harlan cover it up by cremating the dog before she saw the body, per her scrapbook? and if she knows he hid the truth, why does her note say he did a good job? Why does her note to Harlan have the ambiguity about if either of them will ever return, is it because Jack Deacon disappeared? Also, what’s up with the photo in the observatory? My theory is that Anita took it from the observatory and made up the story about putting it there to find a way to reconnect with Jack in “pulling a prank” simply as a way of reconnecting with Jack after he got mad about the scary story contest.
Jack Deacon:
Where is he now?
Big spoiler: He’s the skeleton under that tarp. That’s my theory at least!
Harlan Waverly:
What’s his connection to the property north of the pond? I think he and Erica were lovers
and he knows she made up the Morrecht Cregg to keep people out of her property? OR he made up the Morrecht Cregg and Erica thought Tortus was it when she shot him?
Questions:
Seriously, what’s up with the disc golf course? Doesn’t that seem weird? and who is going to the fire pit and hanging out considering it’s on private property? It appears that it was several years ago - 16? that Erica Nailer shut down her property, so I can’t imagine there are people having fires there still.
The Lodge: What’s up with the snake? Obviously someone is still coming out there frequently to feed it, but it’s a little on the nose, right? like, Erica is evil, she has a snake?
Under the bridge: Who is the painting of? Who was the artist with initials BJ?
The librarian: This must be Linda, who Zuleika mentions if you ask about her jacket - what’s the story there? She and Linda both liked a dude, Zuleika got his jacket, he moseyed on, and she and Linda fell out? What doesn’t hold up there is Zuleika only seems to know Anita of all the fly fishers, and Linda would have been a fly fisher if she’s the librarian/club secretary?
Makes sense on coord although that makes me think - did Erica save the info on where she left the dead body? Or, did someone else kill Jack and Erica found the body?
As to Waverly/notebook: I’ve read it to the blank pages - I must have missed something…
The damp notebook: Is there something mentioned in the notebook that if you came across it as separate item you’d say “this look important, I’d better take it and figure out what it means?”
also: What’s up with the main character? they aren’t mentioned in the notebook or scrapbook, and seem unaware of most of the club history?
Badges: I have 12, but I think there are 17. I think Zuleika might give me her pin when I find all birds, but am still looking for two birds - heron (which I think is in sanctuary on the right day) and hummingbird (which I think is in garden on the right day)
Oh… no. No no no! You must play this a lot more. I don’t think this is a spoiler but I’m going to put it in tags… there is absolutely no fishing in Authentic Fly Fishing
Yes, that’s the part of the notebook I mean. Think about the condition of the note. That gives a strong hint whose it was/who touched it last. Walk around their part of the map and think about the words each time you enter a screen.
Once you’re in the right place don’t be afraid to use a new verb
I’m interested how little Zuleika will tell you about people when asked, even if she knows who they are when shown their stuff.
And I’m completely and utterly stymied by the bird that’s not in the guidebook. Everything about that place is just baffling. The tree, the acorns, the bird, let alone the main feature… I was able to do something with one item I found (open the bumpy rock) but am otherwise totally unsure what to do here and how it fits in with the rest of the pond and characters.
I didn’t think much about my/our/your lack of knowledge coming in. Maybe I’ve played too many “you wake up in a room unsure how you got here” games.
I’ll also admit I’ve done a very bad job piecing together who’s in what photograph/painting.
What an interesting thread. I have little to add except to point out that there are references to previous games by Ryan Veeder in Ryan Veeder’s Authentic Fly Fishing. For example, Zuleika is from Taco Fiction, Malcolm knows about Captain Verdeterre, the graffiti word “RIEDOU” references The Ascent of the Gothic Tower, and the woods region is a clear reference to Crocodracula. Well, clear to me, at least.
So… I think it’s at least possible that the lodge portrait, the under bridge painting by “BJ”, and the angel statue are also references to other games, even if I don’t know which ones they might be from. I guess we all will have to play every single game that Ryan Veeder ever wrote just to be sure.
MIND BLOWN. WHAAAAT.
Big spoilers for the clue you gave me: Well, I have 14 badges now! and what the hell is going on with this costume? Blood on the gloves - was it Harlan wearing it the whole time? And Zuleika says it reminds her of something unpleasant 6 or 7 years ago that she doesn’t like to think about - AND ANITA DREW IT IN HER BOOK!
But who was the monster - Erica or Harlan? And who killed Jack? (If he was killed)
Possibly the biggest mystery in the game is where the road out from the parking lot could possibly be. Assuming Z’s truck doesn’t fly or go into an underground tunnel, the only place a road could be is sandwiched between the sanctuary to its west and the outflow stream to its east.
Glad for the info on Malcolm. He was a real left-turn for me encountering him as something entirely new.
Streever, you just finished my favorite part of the game:
I took the note at face-value that it was built for Erica and thus was her all along. But I’ve already said that I think Erica was mad at Harlan for being named president. Though I probably need to look more closely at dates and such.
I suspect that Erica shot Tortus and Harlan cremated the body to hide the bullet wound from Anita. At least this way she can think it may have been a monster or wolf or something. And I’ve still found no function for the disc golf course other than to be over the tunnel.
I was wondering why the directions - even covert directions - I guess they were for Erica? Part of me wondered if they were for Harlan, but I think you’re right - Erica was wearing the costume. I’m really wondering though what Zuleika means about something bad 6 or 7 years ago… going through all the notes, I just don’t see anything it could be in reference to.
I assumed that Erica didn’t build the lodge, fire pit, or golf course, that they were built by the previous owner and she got them all when she bought the property.
I’ve seen absolutely nothing in the game to suggest why Erica was so crazy keen mad on her privacy to go to the extreme lengths that she did. Like, what secret was she hiding? Was she trying to find a buried viking ship filled with gold doubloons out in the woods somewhere and she just wasn’t that keen on sharing? Is she an extraterrestrial who’s intensely allergic to human beings, impersonating the real Erica who she killed, and she’s hiding her broken spaceship until she can repair it? Like, honestly, what was her motivation?
Also, I think it might be fun to dress up, in-game, as the you-know-what on real-world Hallowe’en.
I figure the N on the targets is for Nailer and it is her (or her family’s) property. Figuring out her deal is why I wish I could do a better job of piecing together the photos and timelines. But I guess that’s really the game, huh?
How did you find out about the librarian? I don’t remember seeing her mentioned and asking about the jacket is only vaguely mentioning a guy, a festival, and Wyoming.
And I don’t know about anybody else, but this game is so little about fishing that I made a simple puzzle much harder because I literally forgot I’ve been carrying a fishing rod around the entire time.