[Myraseth]

I just recently got to play this mod, and it's amazing, but I'm having a problem with it.

No matter what I do, I can't complete "Through The Looking-Glass". I record all ships in the first cluster that Zeta 1 tells me to, and get to the 2nd cluster, then I'm told to depart before I finish. I understand there's a time limit, and I record everything I can (patrols on the 2nd cluster of cargo are insanely tight, it's quite difficult), but no matter how well I do or what I do, I fail the mission and I'm told "Perhaps you can find something during your reconnaissance to lure the Ranoth away from the node. Follow Zeta 1's instructions on what to investigate".  Which is fine, except I still fail lol. Is there any tips, advice, or just straight up guides? I've been stuck on this mission 3 days now.

[Iain Baker]

Yup, bloody brilliant mod, but I had the same problem. I did get past it in the end. If I recall the problem is that you need to observe/scan far more ships/platforms/cargo containers/fighter wings etc. than Zeta 1 tells you to - but the game doesn't tell you this.

What I did which appeared to work was to move to the left-hand side of the area and park up. Then keep methodically pressing the 'target hostile key'. This will highlight each Shivan ship, gun platform etc. in turn. Once it says 'observed' hit the key again and repeat with the next ship. Once you can cycle through every ship and platform within range and they all state observed hit the 'target next un-inspected cargo' key - default is 'U' - and do the same with the cargo containers.

Once everything in sight has been observed move towards the middle of the formation and repeat this process, then repeat again at the far right-hand side.

If I remember rightly, you need to scan a cruiser as well - a Rak I think. It is near the lower middle part of the formation.

NB - Zeta 1 says you can observe things by getting between 2500M and 1000M (or perhaps 2500 to 1500M) from it. Just assume you need to get to within whatever she says is the lowest range, since some ships cannot be 'observed' from 2500M out - however the game doesn't tell you which ones they are. If you have targeted a ship and after a few seconds it still isn't displaying 'observed' then try closing to 1000M. You should then be able to 'observe' it.

I think you get an audio queue once you have scanned everything needed - something like - "We need to get this intelligence to command - fly out to a safe distance then activate your jump drives"  (You will get a prompt when you are far enough away which is nice :-) )

Hope this makes sense and that it helps. Let me know if you get stuck.

[Thisisaverylongusername]

I think you need to
EDIT by Goober5000: read the next post first if you don't want to be spoiled

Spoiler:

record enough containers in the cluster closest to you so that Zeta 1 asks that you scan one, then go to the other cluster, record any gas miner, then you should be set.

Honestly though, I hate this mission with a passion - I've run into 2 separate bugs while playing it, and it's bad enough when it is working properly.

[Goober5000]

Thanks for the kind words.   Here are some hints in order of spoilerage, with the second-to-last one telling you what you probably missed, and the last one telling the requirements to proceed:

Spoiler:

You don't need to record all the ships, just enough to give a general sense of the situation.

Spoiler:

"Alpha, there are a large number of logistics vessels conducting operations near the secondary cluster.  Do not neglect them in your reconnaissance."

Spoiler:

You probably didn't "record" the gas miners that are coming and going from the second cluster.

Spoiler:

In order to proceed, you need to a) learn that there are two cargo clusters, b) scan a SAC 3 containing volatile gas, and c) learn that there are a large number of gas miners present.

EDIT: ninja'd.  I marked off a spoiler in This's post.

It's not intended to be frustrating; it's supposed to be a puzzle.

[Myraseth]

I'm very grateful to all of you for your help. This mod really is quite astounding, and by far my favorite part is the sound track.

I'm going to try it now, here's the game plan:
The gas miners don't start in the heavily patrolled area, so I'm going to record the closest freighters first, then zip past the 2nd cluster, recording fighters on the way, and scan the gas miners until Z1 says her line. Then make a mad dash back to the first cluster until I'm reminded about the 2nd cluster. There, I'll scan the Rak, and the cargo nearby.

It seems like I knew about all the voice lines (except the mission complete one), I just need to get the proper order down. If my order takes too long or doesn't work, I'll go directly for what was put in spoiler text. I'll post results here after, because why not.

[Goober5000]

[Myraseth]

My strategy worked flawlessly, along with all of your help. Thank you all so much for your help. Guess I'm not SOC material after all 

Maybe we can keep this archived in case there's any more confused individuals such as myself?

[Goober5000]

Well I'm certainly not going to delete it.

[CT27]

It was difficult at first, but with practice I eventually got it.  It's a good mission overall.


Will there be a mission like this in Scroll 2?

[Goober5000]

There will be a couple of stealth missions in Part 2, but there aren't any missions that quite match this one in scale or scope.  But plans can change.  Originally "Through the Looking Glass" wasn't in the mission outline at all, but we needed an extra mission between "Cloak and Dagger" and "Hush, Little Baby".

(As a result of adding this mission, the exploding cargo container concept was used twice, in both "Through the Looking Glass" and "Accidents Will Happen".  It might have lessened the entertainment value due to the redundancy.)