Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure

***Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure*** (developed under the working title ***Project Fedora***) is the sixth game in the *Tex Murphy* series of detective adventure games, developed by Big Finish Games and published by Atlus. Like the previous three games, it tells much of its story through live-action full-motion video sequences, and features freely explorable 3D environments during gameplay.
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## Background

*Tesla Effect* begins in 2050, seven years after Tex and his love interest, Chelsee Bando, were attacked at the end of *Tex Murphy: Overseer*. Relations between the Norms and Mutants are now stable even with reports of a new kind of mutant known as Morlocks being reported.Tex is still living at the Ritz Hotel, and Chelsee has been missing and presumed dead ever since the attack. Tex finds himself assaulted and awakens, disoriented, to find his memories of the past seven years gone. He sets out to find out what happened to him, what became of Chelsee, and to regain his past memories, and in so doing uncovers a web of intrigue involving murders, double crosses, and the lost inventions of Nikola Tesla. The fam explores the theme of memories with not only how they form the people we are but also how object can trigger them(as seen how certain items scattered around Chandler avenue trigger flashbacks from Under A Killer Moon and The Pandora Directive.Tex finds that the new world he inhahits is considerably different as he feels like a stranger with characters new and old adjusting to his situation.

## Storyline

The story starts with Tex conversing with God who assures that his time is not yet at hand and that his services to the greater
good are once again required as the forces of darkness have risen again.

It shifts to 2050 New San Francisco with Tex monologuing his current situation as over the years he has changed from the naïve private investigator he once was to “A man who gets things done no matter what the cost” and that the hardness of the world has made him become much harder than the goofy manchild he used to be.He enters his office with a briefcase full of money and then the screen fades to black as a scuffle takes place and Murphy wakes up five hours later on the ground of his office with a piercing headache and a distorted voice urging to wake up after noticing a black speeder fly past his window.The voice becomes clearer and directs his attention to the ground as he sees a small computer pad that identifies itself as his Smart Alex “Fashioned three years ago factory with truly horrible working conditions you don't wanna know”. After being introduced into how to use the Smart Alex he receives a fax from Archie Ellis saying he is currently out of town doing research as well as finding a book written by him. Upon searching through his office and apartment Tex finds that a lot of his furniture is unfamiliar to him including a hole in his wall, and a large stash of cash on the floor. Upon heading outside he finds that a room above the electronics shop next to his office has a broken window and there are several gun shell casings on the ground with spying equipment visible too. Searching around Chandler Avenue he notices unusual things such as an ID badge belonging to NSA agent Jackson Cross (from his Pandora Directive case), Chelsee's newsstand is empty,there is some new construction near Coit Tower and the Golden Gate Hotel is reopened. He enters Louie's Diner and meets a brunette who seems to know him despite Tex never having seen her before. She inspects his wound on his head and suggests he see Dr. Donahue at the North Hill Clinic after implying they are colleagues. Still confused when she leaves, Tex finally meets Louie who looks suspiciously thin to Tex and asks about the woman who is revealed to be Taylor, and then about the state of his apartment. Louies face goes white as he asks Tex what year it is when he mentions Chelsee. He says it is 2043 and that the last thing he remembers was going to the Golden Pagoda with Chelsee and being picked up by Dalton but finds a calendar showing that it is in fact 2050. After finding he has no memory of the last seven years and a pair of injection marks on his arm Tex enquires about everything from Chelsee (which Louie refuses to answer as he was told by Tex never to mention her), to Taylor who is revealed to be a colleague of Tex's who also works at the Bay City Mirror. At the Golden Gate Hotel which is now re-opened operated by a hologram clerk named Holly Graham (Ardo Newpop is now a California Senator) who gives him a lead as to where to find a ladder for the Electronic Shop window – The Snow White Warehouse. Once acquiring a key to a lockbox he finds his way into the warehouse and finds a ladder, alongside the old Rusty doll from “Under a Killing Moon” and a sex offenders list the SFPD with Nilo Paglio name being one of them. Using the ladder to get into the room above the electronics shop he finds a dead man sitting in a chair and a cryo chamber. When he attempts to take this is caught in a laser field trap overnight.

The following night a man comes in and begins to take the chamber and asks for some private investigator called Carlos Maldonado who Tex deduces is the dead man. The man states that he was sent by another person called Bauers, a neurologist who Maldonado is working for to collect the cryo chamber. He realizes that he has set off an alarm as the police can be heard coming and tells Tex if he want help he should find Bauers who may be in trouble with the wrong sort of people. He frees Tex on the condition that he doesn't follow him but find Bauers. Tex once freed, steals Maldonado's wallet and a USB key next to some surveillance equipment that has been focusing on Tex apartment. Tex leaves the room and is met by two police officers who bring him down town to the offices of Danwicz who has replaced Mac Malden as head of the NSFPD. He reveals that Tex that not only has Chelsee been declared legally dead (DNA belonging to her was found in his burnt out speeder), but that Tex has grown quite a rap sheet including apparently hospitalizing Beek Nariz three years ago when he was providing the NSFPD information on Tex as well implicating him in the disappearance of one Jen Lee a suspected extortionist. Danwicz explains he wont tolerate Tex's vigilantism and questions why he was in the apartment with the dead Maldonado. Back on Chandler Avenue Tex looks for a way to decrypt the USB and heads to the alley behind Rook's Pawn Shop and finds a zipline pulley and an anvil. With these he heads to Molanados office and using the anvil destroys a sentry robot (SFOPAD system set up by the police) protecting the entrance. Once inside he finds a videophone that starts with a call from a blonde women looking for Charles. When she notices Tex is there and not Charles she hangs up. Tex is able to collect a photo of her and a ticket to the Llama club. He heads straight away into Rooks Pawn who seems disappointed that Tex has lost his memory and is now is old self from seven years ago. He also reveals that last night he saw a man being chased by two others in a speeder who was abducted and that Tex was looking for a lost Faberge Eggs amongst other valuable items after the incident at The Golden Pagoda, but does not recognize the woman in the photo. He heads to the Electronic Shop where Zack Williams fearing for his safety in the face of Tex puts his hands in the air but is soon eased by the old Tex,reveals he lent the room to Maldonado for extra cash. Louie reveals he may have seen the woman in the photo and tells Tex the kid at Inspector Burns BBQ may be able to help with regards to decrypting the USB key. Once inside the restaurant he finds a dwarf named Mojo who happen to be a huge fan of Tex's and that Archie has set up shop on Chandler Ave. as well as that he may be able to decrypt the memory stick but it will take about a day. At the Ritz Hotel he finds that Clint has not only bought the hotel and is the now the new manager (after buying it from Nilo), but he is now over his chocolate addiction. Before he leaves, Tex examines the rooms of the Ritz and sees that they are all locked; including his, one belonging to a Domineering Escort named Saffyre and one that has a bloodstained hand next to it. He along with several of the residents of the avenue recognize having seen the women once before. Holly is able to confirm that not only is Mason Bauers a registered guest and that the woman in the photo did pick up a letter from the hotel and gives the address of a luxury beach house in Monterey.

Tex heads to the house but has a bad headache and decides to take a taxi to the North Hill Clinic. The driver mentions rumors of a new type of mutant called Morlocks that have been attacking people and discovers she owns his old gun he lost in the beginning of his Under a Killing Moon case. At the Clinc, Tex details the extent of his memory loss, head injuries and injection marks. She takes a blood sample and Tex gets a cab back to his apartment and after feeling better heads to the address given to him by Holly. After solving puzzles and collecting items such as talking cigarettes makes his way to a secret home medical office where he meets the mysterious woman who introduces herself as Ariel Bauers, Mason's wife. She explains that Mason had been suffering from depression and worked in neurochemistry and learns and Tex reveals to her about Maldonado's murder. In the medical office Tex discovers a fax from Maldonado saying he was looking for a woman called Margaret Leonard, a video of Bauers explaining he has been able to successfully create the technology to wipe a person of specific memories and even one of Tex's business cards. In Bauers actual office he solves a puzzle involving baseball cards to open up a safe containing a stash of cash suggesting illegal activity, an issue of Pawn Weekly Magazine and a second safe inside opened by two more baseball cards. The magazine shows that Baures was looking for a stash of Nikola Tesla items at Rooks Pawn Shop. Back at his office he receives a videomessage from a Russian brunette from the White Russians saying that a White Guard member is close by and if he proves his loyalty they'll reveal the truth. At Rooks Pawn shop Tex confronts him about the Tesla items who reveals that Maldonado attempted to gain access to the previous owner of the items through bribery but failed. At the Inspector Burns BBQ Mojo has the USB encrypted drive and won't hand it over until he has a priceless memento from Tex which decides should be the liquid nitrogen Freeze gun from one of Tex's former cases. Tex agrees to find it and from asking Rook finds out that Tex had pawned it and is now in the possession of a group of vigilanties called the “Nights of the Templers” residing in the remains of Rusty's Funhouse. Inside he meets the trio but they leave the building and Tex makes his way to the rooftop and across a zipline, unlocking the water tower to find the freeze nitro gun. He hands it over to Mojo in exchange for the USB key and finds a video of Bauers to Maldonado telling him that if Margaret shows up at the Ritz he is to call Bauers immediately or detain her if he is delayed saying she wont hand over the egg voluntarily and that the cryo chamber is for the “very last resort”. He also states that if something happens to him then he
is contact a friend of his. Tex returns to his office and is greeted by Taylor who reveals that they were dating as well as being business partners. She also reveals that over the year Tex had become insomniac and paranoid of the last few weeks believing his apartment to be haunted and had left it for a another beach house. He went as far as investigating psychometry (the belief that an object can contain a persons memories and energies) and had had dreams and visions of the past, asking Taylor for a list of all past tenants at The Ritz as far as she could go particulary his room. She claims that one night Tex said the name J.T. Donnelly out loud in his sleep which she discovered was one of the rooms previous tenants in the 1940's who was an influential private investigator. One night Tex had called her up in a frenzy and she found that he had punched a hole in the wall and was curled up in a ball. She attempts to seduce Tex and his choice will effect the ending. If he stays loyal to Chelsee she mentions his other room at the Ritz and leaves him the key to it, if he is loyal to Taylor they spend the night together.

A fax from Archie reveals that he is back and has opened up a shop on Chandler Avenue. Tex visits the other room on the second floor and he finds a shrine to her inside containing everything from: her lasso, photos of her, the postcard from Arizona, her newsstand business card. At the Resort at Oceanside Tex finds some of the stuff he had moved there including a note from Bauers, brass knuckles a womans phone number and a PLAYBUB magazine with Emily Sue Patterson as the main spread. He heads back to Chandler Avenue to meet Archie Ellis who knows the connection between Margaret Leonard and the Tesla items. Tesla after creating the Death Ray that resulted in the destruction at Tungunska had all of his documents relating to it and other inventions stolen by the FBI upon his death (called the Tesla Cache). One FBI agent named Charles Johansson allegedly stole it before leaving the FBI and joined the Tesla Legacy Society for people who wanted to use the technology for the good of humanity and met Margaret Leonard at the society. They had a child together before he died of cancer and she disappeared. There has been much interest by many parties to get the inventions in particular the Death Ray which was a thousand times stronger than the atomic bomb - forty years before the Americans invented it. He also reveals that Tesla had been in contact and possibly hired J.T. Donnely. Using a photo of Margaret from the early 2000's Tex returns to the Ritz and shows it to Clint who confirms she had a room on the second floor and only visited the place every once and a while. Rook explains that he believed she was in danger and was left a book on Tesla with a puzzle to be handed over to Tex in case something happened to her. The puzzle once solved gives Tex a key to her apartment. Once inside he solves another puzzle that leads him to a picture of a person called Mantus. A USB key with a video of Margaret of her shows that the dream she and Charles shared is now a nightmare. She was surprised that Tex took the same room of JT Donnelly and is eventually convinced there is no coincidence once he found the Egg which she stole from him due to suspicions and entrusted to “the one who prays” to protect to the translator. He also finds a business card of Count St. Germaine and inside the bathrooms bathtub Margaret's decapitated body. After screaming he is once again brought into Danwicz's office.

Danwicz before revealing the details of the contents of |Maldonado's surveillance tapes he takes Tex's Smart Alex and is allowed to download the video of Bauers from the USB stick. According to him Tex met with Margaret and injected him with something after a mutant pinned him on the floor. He informs Tex that if he gathers the details of the speeder (which had a broken right front headlight) to the Vehicle Compliance Tracking he could find the ID and address of the owner. Tex is then sent to Count St. Germaine at The Golden Gate Hotel from Rook who wants justice for Margaret's death. Germaine mentions that JT was an influential figure when a person known as the Sleeping Prophet made a strong case that many people had past lives and believes that Tex is the reincarnation of JT due to their link of the egg which is worth a fortune. Tex starts asking the residents of Chandler Avenue about the speeder. He determines that it was Bi Turbo XL Pandion, all white inside, the last numbers on the license plate was 63 and it was coloured sapphire. During his investigation he meets Saffyre an obese transvestite escort (who happens to have Rook as a client) and details the events of the abduction from what she could see from here room. He inputs the information into the VCT which leads him to a castle owned by a company called Sesen a front for a doomsday cult. After deactivating a force field to the castle he is caught by the alarm systems realizing he needs a token to enter. He returns to his office and finds a fax from an anonymous informant who arranges to meet at the top of Colt Tower. The informant is revealed to Big Jim Slade who has gotten out of life imprisonment for good behaviour (he was supposed to be in prison until 2260). He further reveals that not had Tex been meeting at The Ritz with a woman named Juliette and Chelsee's brother but also that he and Tex have been working together for the last few years. He gives Tex a token to enter Sesen and a 24 hour ultimatum to acquire the Tesla Egg for him. Once inside he is greeted by a video of a cloaked figure welcoming him into his future of immortality and to continue must solve seven Egyptian symbols gained from solving puzzles there. Once he has found them he has to solve three more puzzles and reaches the prison section of the company where he finds the seven motto words of the cult to find the password to Mason's cell spelt out in highlighted letters:

1.**S**erenity

2.A**u**thority

3.**P**urity

4.**R**ebirth

5.Obedi**e**nce

6.Wisdo**m**

7.P**e**ace

Once inside he finds Mason Bauers inside the cell and finds that his memory is gone. Stealing two baseball cards from him he returns to Dr. Kate Donahue.

She informs him that he maybe the victim of memory loss brought on by memory wiping that was originally used by the military and behaviour therapy groups called Trance Inducing in the 2020's. She explains that it involves nanites that block certain neurochemicals and neurons to remove the memory, she states that he needs to be injected by a trance interrupter and be exposed to a trance key which is an audio or visual cue that should completely restore his memory. At his office he decides he must find both and a cutting laser to free Bauers, but is interrupted by the man who freed him the laser field in Maldonado's room earlier on. He reveals himself to be Thompson Ault and that will help him no matter what. At the Electronics Shop Zack Williams states that on the night of the abduction he was close to the abduction, but out of fear he drove away in his speeder really fast and then returned to the scene of the crime shortly after and found a four of clubs playing card. He gives Murphy the four of clubs card which Tex may believe is the trance key and also a laser cutter. At Masons' house, Tex meets Ariel and keeps her informed with the current state of Mason. He then uses the cards opens up the second safe and finds the trance interrupter. Back at Sesen he reawakens
Masons memories who reveals that when he believed Margaret had double crossed them, he made Maldonado spy on her and Tex in The Ritz. He then had him decapitate Margaret and steal the cryo chamber after she died of a coronary when she wiped out Tex's memory and allowed
himself to be abducted to act as diversion for Maldonado to carry out his tasks. He was looking for the Tesla Egg from Margaret who stole it from Tex. He also admits he had deliberately suppressed his memories in order to prevent The Translator from finding out his ploy and the location of Margaret's head which he had left with Thompson Ault for safekeeping. Upon Tex mentioning Ariel, Mason states he has no wife and soon enough Dalton comes in and in desperation Mason jumps to his death outside into the gorge. Dalton brings Tex to the main room of the temple with Slade and the cloaked figure from the video earlier on reveal the events of the night after the Golden Pagoda incident. Dalton then informs Tex that he had stolen Tex's speeder beforehand and after picking up and
sedating him and Chelsee he brought the couple in to have their memories searched for the location of Margaret. When they found no leads he staged Chelsee's death to bring Margaret out of hiding. Leaving her DNA in Tex's burnt out speeder he was unable to lure Margaret in. He then lost track of her. The cloaked figure reveals he is the Translator as well as Charles Johansson and upon learning he had terminal cancer he was put in a cryonic state to awaken when a cure could be found. Margaret believing it to be unsafe refused to awaken him under the pressure of Dalton, but Mason ended up awakening him. Mason was convinced by Margaret to turn against the Translator, but
Tex wasn't. While asleep, Johansson became obsessed with Tesla's work and saw it his duty to complete the work he left behind. He needs the Tesla Egg in order to activate something called the Spirit Radio and Immortal Coil.

After a good days rest, Tex informs Ault of Masons demise and returns to Germaine who reveals that the Tesla Egg, originally the Columbus Egg, is a key component of the priceless Death Ray responsible for Tunguska. Germaine then speaks of his despair
at the current turmoil in the world. Ariel then arrives and reveals she is an agent of a group based in St.Petersburg that have investigating The Tesla Legacy Society which once had hundreds of members that have all either disappeared or died since Johansson died. Revealing the current state of Johansson they suggest he find the egg as soon as possible. Ariel invites Tex to the [[Resort at
Oceanside]] and reveals she is a member of The White Guard and needed to find where his loyalties were by pretending to be Bauers wife. After attempting to seduce him Tex can choose to stay loyal to Chelsee or go with the flow (effecting the ending). When she goes to change in the bathroom Taylor arrive and Tex once again can choose how to deal with her which will affect the ending (and again when Ariel returns). Archie invites Tex over a lead he may have regarding an where Margaret once worked due to the fact the recently there were
increased Morlock activity, but had died down after her death were found mainly in a deserted property owned by her outside of town.

If Tex stays loyal to Taylor she will provide him with the location of the house at his office. If Tex sleeps with Ariel she gives him the key to the sewers on Chandler Avenue where he encounters Morlocks as well as a fortune telling machine that leads him to the Blue Dragon Warehouse in Chinatown where he meets the White Russian guard from the videophone message earlier on. She asks if he is regaining his memories, speaks of his past betrayal but he can get his redemption. Here he also finds items that trigger memories of his past life as J.T. Donnelly working with the same Russian Guard agents previous incarnation (Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia) tracking down the Tesla Egg (aka the Copper and Columbus egg) while being tracked down by three russian mobsters. He also finds and assembles pieces of a photograph of both Donnelly and his Russian partner. Once he leaves he is informed by Archie of the location the Swamp House.

At the mansion, Tex hears a large scream he deduces must the mutant called Mantus. He then infiltrates the building and is confronted by the mutant who attacks him, but is soon driven away by Tex. Deep within the compound he finds a voice message on a phone found using a code written on a hidden post it note suggesting that a serum that can temporarily calm him down can be made by making a mixture of valerian and alcohol inside the mansion's secret underground laboratory. There on a monitor is a video of Margaret performing experiments on Mantus and her logs from 2040-2050 of her saying she now she has the Spirit Radio working after assembling it meaning she can now contact her husband. She also manages to get reception and hear voice but as time goes until she realizes that the device becomes too powerful that it almost destroyed the house causing her to break it in order to save her life. Future attempts with her husbands cryo chamber near amplify the signal and she tapes the voices with the words Void, Return and Immortal being all that is deciphered. Soon she realizes the Tesla Egg could be an effective amplifier and that Gideon Enterprises have awoken him back to life. With Charles now alive as The Translator she realizes his former self is gone forever and urges whoever is watching to stop him. Once preparing the solution in the greenhouse he finds a body buried under some soil and administers the solution via a hyposyringe to Mantus. Who calms down and reveals he is “the one that prays” – Preying Mantis and that he was at Tex's apartment the night of the abduction and that he is one of the founding members of the Tesla Legacy Society who had allowed themselves to die and put under cryostasis prior to WWIII like Johansson in order but found the world much darker than before.One of the effects of the cryostasis was their transformation into the Morlocks and constantly insanity. However Johansson became obsessed with Tesla and even delusions of grandeur and changed his name to The Translator and wanted to make a bridge to the realm of the dead called the Immortal Coil at any cost. This inevitably led to him being banished by the newly operating Tesla Legacy Society which was then raided by Johansson in the form of Jim Slade whose mercenaries slaughtered all remaining members of the society and destroyed all traces of it except the Spirit Radio frequencies which are stored in the cloud computers in the headquarters. Mantus was able to see his wife gunned down in front of him by Slade and has since held a personal vendetta on him and warns that the Immortal Coil if activated could split the planet in two. He'll give Tex the location of the egg if he gets the frequencies. Tex heads to Thompsons home and reveals that he has the cryo chamber with Margaret's head upstairs and that Chelsee is actually the daughter of both Johansson and Margaret. Margaret left her in the care of a mutant family in order to protect her and tried to forget her existence and one she discovered her living in The Ritz she moved to monitor her never revealing her true relation to her. She was at the time being funded by Gideon Enterprises and had stolen the Tesla Cache. Dalton an important member of the company's manager went after Margaret and when he was unable to convince her to reanimate Johansson she went into hiding and he discovered Chelsee her daughter and to lure her out arranged for her capture thinking she was aware of her real mothers identity. Depending on Tex's actions he will also reveal her fate – If loyal to Chelsee he states that she is alive and well and is in fact his wife marrying her under Mason's orders to protect her. When Thompson is about to get the cryo chamber he is confronted by Slade at the front door who quickly shoots him in the chest and steals the chamber. Tex is forced to bring Thompson to the hospital.

The next night he infiltrates the Tesla Legacy Society HQ and after resetting the power he makes his way to the inner offices finding one or two still alive but hungry Morlocks and the remaining ones all dead inside a small room allegedly resorting to cannibalism to survive. He finds the office of the CEO with a painting of him. He steals the face of the painting he uses it on a face recognition lock to enter the atrium of the headquarters and then the Titan Reactor to return power to the entire facility. After accidentally setting off a chain reaction that would result in a nuclear explosion, Tex reinserts the cooling rods in the proper order before the nuclear reactor explodes and makes his way to the control room. Here he discovers that Slade had put the satellite control out of sync with the satellite
containing the frequencies. He realigns them after restoring power to the satellite control and then receives the frequencies and returns to Mantus. Mantus gives the location of the egg as being at the base of Colt Tower and asks for Tex to arrange a meeting between the three at the top of the tower. Tex finds the egg in a heavy duty gravity box using a Geigger counter and he meets Slade at the rooftop and hands him the egg who wishes to sell it to The Translator for a large sum of money. Just as he receives it Mantus jumps from the shadows and pushes himself and Slade over the edge killing them both. Tex takes the egg to his office and like before with the Hubah statuette
he is knocked out cold this time by Dalton.

Waking up in a facility in New Mexico where all the worlds Titan Reactors are linked to he encounters the Translator again who believes Tex to be the reincarnation of J.T. Donnelly and reveals that Dalton got Slade out of prison and was in turn helped by Slade to rise through the ranks of Gideon Enterprises. He then guides Tex to the Immortal Coil which is a hybrid of the Death Ray, Spirit Radio and Tesla Egg
which he hopes will grant immortality to all of mankind despite being unaware of the dangers involved. Tex enters the device and uses specific frequencies to contact Margaret. She explains she wiped his memory to return him to his earlier self as he had become a danger to Chelsee and the plan to stop Charles, but also was a way for her to atone for the mistakes in her past. She also gave a serum to Chelsee for her to make the choice for herself to sort out. She urges Tex to insert the correct frequencies to destroy the device and once he does this the device begins to fall apart. (if he fails and input the wrong frequencies machine the device starts up and surges energy through all the plate tectonics surrounding the earth causing the planet to explode.) As this happens she calls for Charles to come back to her as he decides to run away in the horror of his dreams being destroyed and Tex just makes it out of the room into a door closed by Dalton. Once outside Tex fully realises the plan of Margaret: She no longer trusted Tex due to his hardened nature and so stole the egg to prevent him collaborating with Charles, Dalton and Slade. She knew the Tex of seven years ago was a better person and would do the right thing and so arranged to have his memory wiped but didn't count being ambushed by Mason (whom Tex had betrayed in favour of
money). Outside Tex finds himself confronted by Danwicz and depending on Murphy's actions five endings are available.

### **Endings**

**1. Somewhere I'll Find You:**  Thompson Ault arrives as at the scene and explains that Tex cannot be responsible for the murders and then talks to Tex telling him that he has brought along someone important along. Chelsee is then seen coming out of Thompson's speeder. He states that although he and Chelsee care for each other they are not in love with each other hand he will never have a chance with her. He gives them a trance inducer that will take her back to the same night seven years ago giving them both a fresh start. Chelsee and Tex return to the Golden Pagoda and as she is about to be wiped of her memory reveals that she never really loved Thompson who is now “giving her way” in the best sense of the word implying the two will soon marry. The two share that they love each other and they embrace. After the credits they find their speeder once again stolen and she suggests they walk home and she winks to the screen.

To get this ending Tex must stay loyal to Chelsse at all times including visiting her shrine and refusing both Ariel and Taylor twice.

**2. A Double Life:** Danwicz reveals he put a tracing app on Tex' Smart Alex the last time they met and arrests Tex over the
death of Slade and another unidentified man with Tex being the prime suspect. Taylor arrives and gives evidence of Slades involvement in the mass murder of the Telsa Legacy Society members in exchange for Tex's
freedom. Danwicz makes this the last exception and then leaves. Taylor and Tex leave to continue their relationship.

To get this ending Tex is disloyal to Chelsee and Ariel favouring Taylor both at his office and at the resort.

**3. Out of the Past:** The same events occur except Ariel arrives revealing herself as an NSA agent who intimidates Danwicz into
letting Tex go with the threat of getting the chief of police arrested. She suggests Tex leave town for a while and states that the White Guard is meeting next week and she considers making Tex a member.

To get this ending Tex must favour Ariel over Chelsee and Taylor at the resort.

**4. Petrified Forest:**Tex is arrested by Danwicz with no one to defend him. He is soon seen in a bar with Saffyre. The bar is called the "Petrified Forest Barbeque" located in the Alaskan wilderness. Dalton arrives and challenges him to drink. Unbeknowst to the both of them other has a gun pointed at the other under the table. While Saffyre is away an shootout occurs offscreen
with Tex victorious. He drives off into the wilderness with Saffyre.

To get this ending Tex brushes off Taylor and Chelseeat Tex's office and brushes off all three women at the resort.

**5. To Have and Have Not:**The same as "Petrified Forest" but after the credits Tex is seen in the shrine and calls Chelsee using Thompsons number and leaves a videophone message that although she still has a place in his heart things have not worked out as planned and hopes Thompson can take care of her.

To get this ending Tex must be loyal to Chelsee when meeting Taylor at his office, visit the shrine but then brush off all three women at the resort.

For endings 2-4 a news bulletin is played after the credits detailing the deaths of the Nights Templar in the sewers of Telegraph Hill hunting Morlocks. The police believe they may have killed each other on accident as they like the media are skeptical to the existence of the Morlocks.

## Gameplay

'*It*s gameplay has been described as very similar to *Under a Killing Moon*, *The Pandora Directive*, and *Tex Murphy: Overseer*. As in those titles, players navigate 3D environments in first-person, search for clues, and use inventory items. The game also includes logic puzzles and a branching conversation system for interviewing characters. Like *The Pandora Directive*, it features "narrative pathing" where player choices affect the story and ending.

## Development

Background and fundraising
In the years following Microsoft's acquisition of Access Software, series creators Chris Jones and Aaron Conners made numerous attempts to revive the *Tex Murphy* series, but were unable to get approval from Microsoft's management. In 2008, they regained the rights to the series and characters, and, around the same time, founded Big Finish Games, which would employ several key figures from Access Software.

Big Finish Games first announced the game as "*Secret Project 'Fedora'*" on their website in May 2009, without any details. Previously, Big Finish had considered making a casual game featuring the Tex Murphy character, but after exploring the market, they grew doubtful that such a product would please either casual fans or existing fans of *Tex* games. Instead, they sought to use the profits from their casual games to finance a *Tex Murphy* adventure game, but after three years and several releases, they had still not gone into production on *Fedora*. In early 2012, they began experimenting with new technology in an effort to determine the cost of a new game, but, while they found the costs for such a production had gone down, they still had inadequate funding to produce a game of similar size and scope to the old *Tex Murphy* titles.

Following the success of *Double Fine Adventure* and other high profile titles on Kickstarter, Big Finish decided to crowd source the additional funds needed to turn *Project Fedora* into a full-length 3D adventure game in the vein of the previous titles. They announced their intention to launch a Kickstarter campaign, and set the date for May 15. This iteration of *Project Fedora* was pitched to have live-action video cut-scenes, fully 3D environments, and multiple story paths. The fundraising goal was set at $450,000, to be supplemented by $300,000 supplied by Big Finish, for a proposed budget of $750,000 (minus fees and

* Storyboards Electronics Shop
* Story Board for Telsa Legacy Society Massacre
* Tex(Chris Jones),Ariel(Shannon Engenmann) and Taylor(Jodi Russel)
* Tex(Chris Jones),Ariel(Shannon Engenmann) and Taylor(Jodi Russel)
* Ariel(Shannon Engenmann) & Tex(Chris Jones)
* Adrian Carr directing Chris Jones at the Sesan set
* Rook Garner(Douglas Vandergrift) being prepared for shooting Adrian Carr
* Big Jim Slade(Richard Norton)
* Adrian Carr directs Travis Eberhard
* Adrian Carr director and actor
* Adrian Carr and an example of a conversation tree
* Mat Van Rhoomy & Adrian Carr
* Chelsee(Suzanne Barnes),Tex(Chris Jones), Adrian Carr
* June Lockhart(Margaret Leonard) & Nicholas Watts(Saffyre)
* Green Set Test
* Adrian Carr directing June Lockhart(Margaret Leonard)
* Adrian Carr in Morlock Make-up
* Adrian Carr directing in Mat Van Rhoon and Cathy Hurley
* Adrian Carr Directing Chris Jones
* Dalton(Adrian Carr) interrogating Chelsee(Suzanne Barnes)
* Chris Jones & Jodi Russel
* Kickstarted Auction Items
* Tesla Effect Novel
* Tesla Effect novel front cover
* Tesla Effect Novel back

fulfillment costs). Within six days, it had surpassed half the funding needed. On June 7, eight days ahead of the deadline, it reached its minimal funding level of $450,000. As of the project's close on June 16, it had raised $598,104 on Kickstarter, and $14,385 in PayPal donations, for a total of $612,489, 36% over its goal, and continued to allow pledges and upgrades on their own site via PayPal, eventually raising $657,196 by the close of the fundraising campaign on July 31, 2013. Several additions to the game were announced for the extra funding, including expansions to the game's main hub, Chandler Avenue, an orchestral music score, and a playable golf simulator accessible in-game.

### Production and filming

"*Project Fedora*" entered full production on June 18, 2012. On August 30, it was revealed that the game was being developed using the Unity engine, and the first footage of in-game environments was shown to backers. Principal photography commenced on February 4, 2013, and took place in a newly furnished studio in Big Finish's office in Salt Lake City. Characters were shot entirely against a green screen and then composited into the game scenes. Principal photography concluded on February 22, with additional material filmed in late April. In some cases, backers visiting the offices were used as crew on set. An update on March 15 revealed a cast that included June Lockhart, along with Steve Valentine, Todd Bridges, and Larry Thomas as Lt. Danwicz. The shoot ultimately consisted of more than 140 hours of raw footage and 2600 shots.

On July 10, the birthday of Nikola Tesla, it was announced that the official title would be *Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure*, and a teaser trailer was unveiled. On August 27, 2013, it was revealed that Atlus would be publishing, supporting Big Finish with distribution, marketing, and quality assurance. On May 7th, 2014 it was released for Microsoft Windows and OS X through GOG.com and Steam; a Linux version is expected to be released shortly. In a video update on February 26, 2014, Chris Jones explained that the scope of the game had expanded far beyond what was initially planned, describing it as "two full-length *Tex Murphy* adventure games in one." He also revealed that the game would run at 2K resolution, a possible first for game FMV.

Shortly before the game's release, Big Finish announced various production statistics to demonstrate the size and scope of production, revealing that the game would boast over 5 1/2 hours of FMV, inlcuding 2,800 visual effects shots; over 31 virtual locations, 20 of which are interactive; and over 1,000 gameplay "steps" in its walkthrough, making it one of the most ambitious productions of its kind, despite a team of only 13 and a relatively small budget.

## See also

* List of question topics in Tesla Effect

## External links

* *The Official Tex Murphy Website*
* *The Unofficial Tex Murphy Website*
* *Tesla Effect* at Big Finish Games
* *Project Fedora Kickstarter Page*
* *Tesla Effect* at *GOG*
* *Tesla Effect* at *Steam*