So far, we've seen how the game behaves when you play it on ScummVM. When you play it on DOSBox or similar emulators (or when you play the remaster), there are significant differences. We'll refer to these emulators as playing the "original game", since they better recreate what it was like to play the game on original hardware.

Most of what's described as "original game" applies to Day of the Tentacle Remastered as well. At the end of this section we'll also talk about differences between the original game and the remaster.

Quantum-swapping

When you try to pick up an item, the original game expects you to be in the room where you originally picked it up. This means that, for instance, if you try to quantum-swap the red paint, the game will crash unless you're in the attic in the past.

Luckily, there are exceptions. When you try to pick up the contract (if Dr. Fred is in his office) or the crowbar, Dr. Fred and ski mask won't let you pick them up. Since you don't really pick them up, it doesn't matter which room you're in when you quantum-swap them - the game won't crash.

The quarters are another exception. When you quantum-swap them, the game doesn't care about which room you're currently in, so it won't crash.

On ScummVM, on the other hand, you can quantum-swap any item in any room. No crashes here.

Another difference is that, when playing on ScummVM, when you quantum-swap an item, characters will stay right where they are. That isn't the case in the original game. Here one of the characters will walk to a certain spot in the current room (the exact spot will depend on the item you're trying to quantum-swap).

An additional minor difference is that, in the original game, successfully quantum-swapping an item will result in a duplicate entry in your inventory. So, if you quantum-swap the oil, you'll end up with two oils in your inventory. Don't get too excited, though - giving the oil to Red will remove every oil in your inventory. So you won't be able to give the oil to Red three times.

Under the hood

When you pick up an item, most of the time the game calls script 127. In that script, there's a line that says:

pick-up-object L.0 in-room 0

L.0 will be replaced with the ID of the item you're picking up, and room 0 is the room you're currently in.

That makes the game look for the definition of an object with the given ID in the room you're currently in. Unless you're in the room where this item is supposed to be, the game won't find it, and it will crash.

There are some exceptions. For instance, when you pick up the quarters, the game doesn't call script 127 but instead runs:

pick-up-object 267 in-room 31

Room 31 is the hallway with the candy machine in the present. The game will look for the definition of object 267 (the quarters) in room 31 (the hallway), will find it, and won't crash.

As for the contract (when Dr. Fred is in his office) and the crowbar, you don't end up picking them up when you try to, so script 127 is never called, and the game doesn't crash.

The ingredients skip

In part 4: quantum-swapping items, we mentioned that the game would crash if you quantum-swapped the contract in Red's basement unless you switched to a different character right after quantum-swapping it.

That isn't the case in the original game. Here you can safely quantum-swap the contract. Red will get one ingredient, and the game won't crash. You can even do it three times and skip the oil, although picking up the oil might be faster since (in the current non-ScummVM route) you've got to pick up the spaghetti.

The gum glitch

If you use the gum glitch during the salesman cutscene (see part 6: the salesman cutscene and the gum glitch), the game will crash as soon as you skip the cutscene.

The gum glitch will still work when using it after activating the kite sequence (see part 7: the battery plans cutscene). You can use it to either get someone to the future (similar to what we did in part 5: the salesman cutscene and the tentacle guard) or to get an item slide. We'll talk abou item slides in part 13: item slides and the quarters cutscene.

The salesman cutscene

You might not be able to use the gum glitch to gain control during cutscenes thanks to the salesman, but flushing items to Laverne or reading the stamp will still work. What happens next is different than what you get on ScummVM.

In part 5, we mentioned that the game crashed if the cutscene ended when the cursor was visible, with a "cursor state" message. The original game doesn't crash - you still get the message, but after pressing any key, you can continue playing.

From that moment on, you don't lose control during cutscenes until you start a conversation. And every time you open a door or pick up an item, you once again get the "cursor state" message. This state is known as an "item slide". We'll talk about it in part 13.

The game crashes when you try to use this glitch to talk to Mr. Tentacle Guy. So you can't use it to get other characters to the future or give the plans to Red and keep them.

Time-traveling during cutscenes

In part 7, we talked about how you could time-travel during the plans cutscene. You just had to click on an exit after gaining control of your character. Gaining control of your characters was the hard part, but clicking on an exit was trivial.

That isn't the case in the original game. For the most part, clicking on an exit during a cutscene won't do anything. And you won't be able to talk to characters or interact with any hotspots in any way.

Luckily, there are still a couple of cutscenes that you can use to time-travel. One of them is pretty much useless: when you use the skunk in the kennel, there will be a cutscene where the prisoners escape. After that, assuming you've somehow gained control of your character, clicking on an exit will work. So, when the camera switches to the tentacle guard exiting the former motel, click on the former motel and your current character will make it to the lobby in the future. And, in the future, they can do... nothing. At this point, the only thing left to do in the future is using the hamster in the generator, and for that you don't need an extra character in the future.

The other cutscene is much more interesting. We'll talk about it in part 13.

Original game VS remaster

Most of the time, Day of the Tentacle Remastered behaves exactly like the original game does. However, there's one critical difference. In the remaster, you can't switch to different characters during a conversation by pressing "2" or "3" in conversations with one or two options. This means you can't get Laverne or Bernard to the past, and so you can't skip the battery ingredients.

You can still get control during the conversation with Hancock about the canary, and use it to skip the hamster.