Plotholes/ continuity errors/ anachronisms in the game (spoilers!)

edited September 2012 in Back to the Future
In the beginning when the DeLorean appears, shouldn't Biff and George be curious as to what that sound is?!

Also when Marty goes downtown is it responsible to leave the DeLorean unattended like that?


Just some minor issues I'd thought I discuss here. Doesn't really bother me though. I think it's because of the pacing of the story, the game only really starts when you arrived in the new era.
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Comments

  • edited December 2010
    Yes to the first.

    2nd isn't really that important. Its 1986 afterall. For the people of Hill Valley its just a pimped up Delorean.
    And I'm pretty sure Marty locked the car when he headed into town.
  • edited December 2010
    Origami wrote: »
    In the beginning when the DeLorean appears, shouldn't Biff and George be curious as to what that sound is?!

    I think Biff was unconcious from the amplifier at that point.
    Not sure about George.
  • edited December 2010
    I've finished the game twice now and love it :D

    However, there are one or possibly two problems with the story regarding history being rewritten. Spoilers ahead!




    Near the end of the game when Marty goes to break Doc out of jail, he finds him already gone, with Tannen having taken him in a van to kill him somewhere, and the newspaper from the next day changes to reflect the change in events. But what I'm wondering is, what exactly did Marty do that caused this change to happen? As far as I can tell, even if Marty went into the past, did everything he did but then wasn't able to break the Doc out of jail in time, the Doc would have still been released the next day and then killed outside the courthouse. But something was changed, causing Tannen to decide to get the Doc out of jail and drive him out somewhere to kill him. But what was changed?

    The second problem isn't as big and can probably be explained easily. At the end of the game Marty finds himself fading away, meaning something must've happened to Arthur. If Marty had never gone into the past, then wouldn't Emmet have still delivered the subpoena to Arty who would have then still testified against Tannen? But they delivered it anyway. My only explanation is that without Marty's help, Emmet was never able to deliver the subpoena to Arty, who then never testified and never got himself (possibly) killed by Tannen.

    Does anyone have an explanation or a better one?
  • edited December 2010
    He served his grandfather papers..... maybe the judge figured they better move the prisoner because he felt they were closing in on Kid and thought Doc was in trouble in there.
  • edited December 2010
    But what was changed?

    Well, Marty pissing Kid off probably didn't change anything, but Arthur receiving the subpoena most likely did (the goons are even mad at that fact in the episode 2 preview), so Kid decided to act.
    If Marty had never gone into the past, then wouldn't Emmet have still delivered the subpoena to Arty who would have then still testified against Tannen? But they delivered it anyway. My only explanation is that without Marty's help, Emmet was never able to deliver the subpoena to Arty, who then never testified and never got himself (possibly) killed by Tannen.

    As far as I gather, without Marty's interference, a) Arthur would never gather the subpoena (but that doesn't stop Kid from being arrested in the future), b) Doc would never meet Edna (have you seen how Edna looked at Doc like Lorraine at Marty?), c) Doc would never be really disillusioned about science, d) And probably there are some things I don't take into account right now. Generally speaking, Marty messed the hell up.
  • edited December 2010
    Irishmile wrote: »
    maybe the judge figured they better move the prisoner because he felt they were closing in on Kid and thought Doc was in trouble in there.

    But that would have happened whether Marty was there or not, but the paper from the next day says that the Doc was killed outside the Courthouse after being released, so something was changed that caused them to move him during the night.

    As far other stuff Marty did, I agree that Emmet and Edna meeting never would've happened and may have changed something, but I didn't get the impression that he became disillusioned with science.
  • edited December 2010
    Rade88 wrote: »
    As far other stuff Marty did, I agree that Emmet and Edna meeting never would've happened and may have changed something, but I didn't get the impression that he became disillusioned with science.

    Well, not with science per se, maybe, but with his own abilities and what he can accomplish. You know, if Marty would never try to talk to him he would never think Marty's a patent officer and there would never be really any downer or ruined expectations, you know (Doc tells that only a few months later there will be an Expo which would pinpoint Emmet's decision to be a scientist).
  • edited December 2010
    Irishmile wrote: »
    He served his grandfather papers..... maybe the judge figured they better move the prisoner because he felt they were closing in on Kid and thought Doc was in trouble in there.

    Unless Kid Tannen knocked out the real driver, it seems Judge Brown may not have known about this little moving of the prisoner.
  • edited December 2010
    Farlander wrote: »
    As far as I gather, without Marty's interference, a) Arthur would never gather the subpoena (but that doesn't stop Kid from being arrested in the future), b) Doc would never meet Edna (have you seen how Edna looked at Doc like Lorraine at Marty?), c) Doc would never be really disillusioned about science, d) And probably there are some things I don't take into account right now. Generally speaking, Marty messed the hell up.

    I also take into consideration that Emmet would have never talked back to his father at this point without Marty's interference. This kind of personality/decision/relationship change probably had a GIGANTIC impact on the space-time continuum. I don't think Emmet will be disillusioned with science... But
    I think he will become disillusioned with friendship and with the law.
    And I'll leave you with your own imaginations instead of delving further.
  • edited December 2010
    Rade88 wrote: »
    I've finished the game twice now and love it :D

    However, there are one or possibly two problems with the story regarding history being rewritten. Spoilers ahead!




    Near the end of the game when Marty goes to break Doc out of jail, he finds him already gone, with Tannen having taken him in a van to kill him somewhere, and the newspaper from the next day changes to reflect the change in events. But what I'm wondering is, what exactly did Marty do that caused this change to happen? As far as I can tell, even if Marty went into the past, did everything he did but then wasn't able to break the Doc out of jail in time, the Doc would have still been released the next day and then killed outside the courthouse. But something was changed, causing Tannen to decide to get the Doc out of jail and drive him out somewhere to kill him. But what was changed?

    The second problem isn't as big and can probably be explained easily. At the end of the game Marty finds himself fading away, meaning something must've happened to Arthur. If Marty had never gone into the past, then wouldn't Emmet have still delivered the subpoena to Arty who would have then still testified against Tannen? But they delivered it anyway. My only explanation is that without Marty's help, Emmet was never able to deliver the subpoena to Arty, who then never testified and never got himself (possibly) killed by Tannen.

    Does anyone have an explanation or a better one?


    I think you're dead on correct. I don't think Emmet would have been able to find Artie without Einstein's nose to guide them. And even then he wouldn't have been able to find a way to get Artie to come outside unless he created an invention to help him deliver the subpoena, which is probably not likely with how much he hides his love for science from the public. Whatever put Kid Tannen in prison, it either wasn't Artie or Kid's humiliation at the hands of Marty and Artie going to testify against him probably set him off and may have been what caused him to personally take out Doc Brown. But I think all of this will actually be explained in the second episode.
  • edited December 2010
    But I think all of this will actually be explained in the second episode.

    I think you're probably right :)


    As for interfering with Emmet's life as a scientist, I actually think it made him believe in himself more. If he was feeling that dejected about it I don't think he would've called after Marty to tell him about the throttle, and wouldn't have smiled like that. I think he was disappointed about the patent, but realised that someone needed him and his invention, and that someone also helped him finally stand up to his father, so he would actually become more confident as a scientist. Also, the way events occurred originally, Emmet never even heard back from the patent company at all, so wouldn't that have left him feeling more dejected?
  • edited December 2010
    i found another "problem"

    its where doc states that marty cant go back and rescue doc before he gets in jail

    doc says: "blah, the time continuum would be destroyed, blah" but thats bullsh, what about different timelines that will be created when history is changed?? doc explained this very precisely in bttf part2.

    edit: OMG, this means the whole game, all 5 episodes are a lie and would never happen that way in the real bttf-universe.

    is it too late to cancel my order??

    ...

    just kidding....
  • edited December 2010
    Rade88 wrote: »
    But something was changed, causing Tannen to decide to get the Doc out of jail and drive him out somewhere to kill him. But what was changed?

    Could that possibly be what was shown in the trailer for ep 2:
    the policeman finding the Delorean
    ?
  • edited December 2010
    Rade88 wrote: »
    As for interfering with Emmet's life as a scientist, I actually think it made him believe in himself more. If he was feeling that dejected about it I don't think he would've called after Marty to tell him about the throttle, and wouldn't have smiled like that. I think he was disappointed about the patent, but realised that someone needed him and his invention, and that someone also helped him finally stand up to his father, so he would actually become more confident as a scientist. Also, the way events occurred originally, Emmet never even heard back from the patent company at all, so wouldn't that have left him feeling more dejected?

    Exactly. Emmet stood up to his father AND completed a (relatively) successful invention earlier than he would have before. That will likely have an effect on his performance at the Expo. While the original Doc had a spectacular failure at the Expo, the new more self-confident Emmet may find it a spectacular success. And it may be that lack of a humbling experience that leads to the events hinted at in Citizen Brown.
  • edited December 2010
    Cyphox wrote: »
    i found another "problem"

    its where doc states that marty cant go back and rescue doc before he gets in jail

    doc says: "blah, the time continuum would be destroyed, blah" but thats bullsh, what about different timelines that will be created when history is changed?? doc explained this very precisely in bttf part2.

    edit: OMG, this means the whole game, all 5 episodes are a lie and would never happen that way in the real bttf-universe.

    is it too late to cancel my order??

    ...

    just kidding....

    The difference this time is that if Marty were to change history in that way, then the DeLorian would never have had to go to 1986, and Marty would never have gone to the past. But if the future changes like that while Marty is still in the past, it would do something where a 1986 would be created that should have a Marty who never went into the past, but it can't be created because Marty is still actually in the past. I'm not sure if that makes sense but it's damn hard to explain lol.
  • edited December 2010
    Rade88 wrote: »
    The difference this time is that if Marty were to change history in that way, then the DeLorian would never have had to go to 1986, and Marty would never have gone to the past. But if the future changes like that while Marty is still in the past, it would do something where a 1986 would be created that should have a Marty who never went into the past, but it can't be created because Marty is still actually in the past. I'm not sure if that makes sense but it's damn hard to explain lol.

    That's a paradox that's all over the place in BttF2 and 3, it doesn't seem to do much harm to the time travellers, but Doc still wants to have caution, just in case.
  • edited December 2010
    i have to think about this.

    but still, it should be possible, cause the delorean, marty and so on are from different timelines then and in the "old" timelines they wouldnt exist after travelling back anymore (but who cares...) and so on...

    damn, THIINK BRAIN!! THINK!!!
  • edited December 2010
    Farlander wrote: »
    That's a paradox that's all over the place in BttF2 and 3, it doesn't seem to do much harm to the time travellers, but Doc still wants to have caution, just in case.

    I suppose that's true. If you think about it, in the new alternate 1985 from BttF2, Doc and Marty would probably have never gone back in time, or even have created the DeLorian, meaning the events that led to Biff receiving the Almanac would never have happened. However I think that's explained by the fact that it's like an alternate reality that exists on it's own outside of the regular reality, and only people from the regular reality would know about it.

    So you would think that if in the game, Marty did change events so that he would never have had to go back in time, it would simply have created an alternate 1986 that, when Marty returned to it, would just be the same as when he left it basically, and Doc would have returned home in the DeLorian. Marty would still remember the events, and the DeLorian would still have come to get him before, because that was in the regular reality, and he would now be in an alternate reality.
  • edited December 2010
    I think Biff was unconcious from the amplifier at that point.
    Not sure about George.

    He was, but when you go to Edna's, you see Biff at the video store.
  • edited December 2010
    And remember Biff saw the flying Delorean so...
  • edited December 2010
    Mino_Dan wrote: »
    And I'm pretty sure Marty locked the car when he headed into town.

    With what? Magic? Best not to think about it :)
  • edited December 2010
    ALV910 wrote: »
    He was, but when you go to Edna's, you see Biff at the video store.

    Enough time to get up / have George wake him up or something. :p
  • edited December 2010
    Has anybody noticed any continuity errors?

    I have noticed one: When Marty is in the Soup Kitchen and asks for more salt etc. in the soup, Cue ball puts his paper down. When that sequence finishes and Marty can walk around, the paper is not on the desk where Cue Ball left it.
  • edited December 2010
    picnick wrote: »
    Has anybody noticed any continuity errors?

    I have noticed one: When Marty is in the Soup Kitchen and asks for more salt etc. in the soup, Cue ball puts his paper down. When that sequence finishes and Marty can walk around, the paper is not on the desk where Cue Ball left it.


    Yeah, that's cause a space ninja took it.
  • edited December 2010
    ^ I can confirm that.
  • edited December 2010
    Ninja wrote: »
    yeah, that's cause a space ninja took it.
    lmao :d
  • edited December 2010
    Harassment laws did not come into effect until after 1964.

    1931 Emmet mentions something about suing Marty for harassment. There are other out of place things, just have to take the time to write them out.
  • edited December 2010
    not really continuity error, but i was expecting people from 1931 to at least be a bit curious about the name Einstein.
  • edited December 2010
    Mataku wrote: »
    not really continuity error, but i was expecting people from 1931 to at least be a bit curious about the name Einstein.
    If you're implying that nobody would have heard of Einstein, he was known in 1931. He'd won the Nobel Prize in 1921, and his theories of Relativity were published decades before that.

    If you're implying that people should have wondered why somebody named a dog Einstein, then I agree with you. :)
  • edited December 2010
    markeres wrote: »
    If you're implying that nobody would have heard of Einstein, he was known in 1931. He'd won the Nobel Prize in 1921, and his theories of Relativity were published decades before that.

    If you're implying that people should have wondered why somebody named a dog Einstein, then I agree with you. :)

    Let's face it, Albert Einstein is not the only Einstein living on this good Earth. Besides, Einstein didn't immigrate to America until... Actually, I don't know when. But after 1931, right? If yes, then there's no reason for everybody to know about Albert Einstein, especially in a small town like Hill Valley (I suppose Einstein immigrating were pretty big news, but heck, I don't know actually)
  • edited December 2010
    He's a dog! People name their pets the weirdest things. No-one would think it odd in the slightest.
  • edited December 2010
    Farlander wrote: »
    Let's face it, Albert Einstein is not the only Einstein living on this good Earth. Besides, Einstein didn't immigrate to America until... Actually, I don't know when. But after 1931, right? If yes, then there's no reason for everybody to know about Albert Einstein, especially in a small town like Hill Valley (I suppose Einstein immigrating were pretty big news, but heck, I don't know actually)

    Einstein fled in 1933 because he was extremely unpopular with the Nazis (he's German) ... and didn't receive citizenship till 1940. In 1931 he would be unknown to most Americans because Americans had little knowledge of, or regard to, what went on in the world outside the US.
  • edited December 2010
    Farlander wrote: »
    Let's face it, Albert Einstein is not the only Einstein living on this good Earth. Besides, Einstein didn't immigrate to America until... Actually, I don't know when. But after 1931, right? If yes, then there's no reason for everybody to know about Albert Einstein, especially in a small town like Hill Valley (I suppose Einstein immigrating were pretty big news, but heck, I don't know actually)
    Yeah, but Relativity was, um, kind of a big deal. As is the Nobel prize. From Wikipedia (yeah, not the most reliable resource, but still):
    However, in May 1919, a team led by the British astronomer Arthur Stanley Eddington claimed to have confirmed Einstein's prediction of gravitational deflection of starlight by the Sun while photographing a solar eclipse with dual expeditions in Sobral, northern Brazil, and Príncipe, a west African island. Nobel laureate Max Born praised general relativity as the "greatest feat of human thinking about nature"; fellow laureate Paul Dirac was quoted saying it was "probably the greatest scientific discovery ever made". The international media guaranteed Einstein's global renown.

    Anyway, how many people actually ask about or hear Einstein's name in 1931? Just Young Doc and Edna, right? And Young Doc assumes it's because Marty's a patent officer. So, we're really just asking why Edna doesn't care about the dog's name.
  • edited December 2010
    So, we're really just asking why Edna doesn't care about the dog's name.

    Would you care about the name of the dog that tried to bite your ass off? Or you would care more about the 'bite' aspect of the question? :)
  • edited December 2010
    Farlander wrote: »
    Would you care about the name of the dog that tried to bite your ass off?
    Nope. :D
  • edited December 2010
    markeres wrote: »
    Nope. :D

    :D Case closed :) No reason for anyone to care about Einstein's name :p
  • edited December 2010
    Rade88 wrote: »
    The second problem isn't as big and can probably be explained easily. At the end of the game Marty finds himself fading away, meaning something must've happened to Arthur. If Marty had never gone into the past, then wouldn't Emmet have still delivered the subpoena to Arty who would have then still testified against Tannen? But they delivered it anyway. My only explanation is that without Marty's help, Emmet was never able to deliver the subpoena to Arty, who then never testified and never got himself (possibly) killed by Tannen.

    Does anyone have an explanation or a better one?

    I was thinking about this one and maybe this is the main focus of all the events. Since the subpoena was served, Artie had to testify against Tannen and was subsequently killed, resulted in Marty not being born. Because Doc was able to serve the subpoena, Doc became a powerful lawyer and gained fame and money resulting in First Citizen Brown.

    Maybe now Tannen gets locked up for stealing the Police Truck and goes after Marty for saving the Doc and the manure incident.
  • edited December 2010
    sethf11 wrote: »
    Because Doc was able to serve the subpoena, Doc became a powerful lawyer and gained fame and money resulting in First Citizen Brown.

    I don't think he would become a lawyer because of that. After serving the subpoena he still went home and argued with his father about being a lawyer, so he still wants to be a scientist.

    I think we can pretty much guess what happens with Arty, but there's still no explanation for what caused Tannen to take the police van with Doc in and try to kill him out on the road, rather than in front of the courthouse like what originally happened.
  • edited December 2010
    The way I see it, The reason Doc will no longer become a scientist is he got really excited when he thought his patent was going to be passed, and after Marty admitted he wasn't from the patent office, Docs hopes dropped (after all you could see he was really disapointed) and thought that he will never become a scientist and chose not to follow it.
  • edited December 2010
    Continuity error (Or as I see it...)

    Edna wrote for the newspaper, "Hill Valley Telegraph", the name of the newspaper can be seen in the movies -besides the USA Today local version in 2015- and on Edna's apartment when Marty checks for Doc's "whenabouts", but in 1931, Edna says she works for the "Hill Valley Herald"; Isn't this a mistake?...
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