From the official FAQ that was on BTTF.com some time ago:
- What is the significance of the pair of "backwards 9's" of fire left behind when the DeLorean is struck by lightning?
A: When the big bolt of lightning hits the DeLorean, it sends the flying vehicle spinning on its axis. As we already know, the DeLorean leaves fire trails behind it when it travels through time. Since in this case, the car was spinning, the fire trails are left behind as spirals instead of the usual straight lines left behind when the car is moving straight ahead.
- How could the DeLorean travel through time when it gets struck by lightning if it isn't going 88 miles per hour?
A: The sudden rotation of the DeLorean from the lightning hit accelerates it to 88 miles per hour when it spins.
That one is easy. Because it mirrors the DeLorean getting send back in time 75 years.
As I have said before I think the problem people have with the explanation is not the how but rather how it is told.
I think TellTale should've done it like this:
Episode 1: Still shroud it in mystery. Have Marty ask about it persistenly and Doc reply:
'Nevermind that now Marty! We have bigger problems on our hands. In time I'll explain everything.'
Episode 2 quiet scene:
Marty: So Doc, how did the DeLorean end up returning? I saw it get it and end up into pieces.
Doc: Remember that.....*tells story* maybe accompanied by flashback.
The DeLorean didn't duplicate!!! It couldn't! It shouldn't!!!... There's never any mention in the movies that duplication is even possible, so it doesn't feel right that it should be duplicated... It's also a cheap explanation, if you ask me... I really hope they came up with a better idea...
How about this: Remember the end of the first movie (also known as the beginning of the second movie).
Doc appears in the DeLorean to get Marty and take him 'back to the future'...
Doc obviously has been to the future before (the clothes, the Mr. fusion, the hover-conversion, knowing about Marty's future, etc.), But who's to say that he didn't go anywhere (or better: anyTIME) else???
Maybe he went to the future first to "upgrade" the DeLorean with the Mr Fusion and then started "time-cruising"? It would explain where he got all the old dollars in the briefcase in the second movie...
So maybe Doc went to 1932, got himself in prison and well, the rest is in the game...
I think this would be a better explanation then the "temporal duplication"-theory because it ties in with the movies better. And in case you're wondering why Doc never mentions anything about the 1932 episode in the movies... well, it could destroy the space-time continuum OF COURSE!!!
So I really really REALLY hope that in the next episode, when Marty asks the Doc about Clara, Doc will go :"huh, What? Who? I never heard of a Clara"...
There's never any mention in the movies that duplication is even possible,
Again, why does this matter?!?
As for "hoping they come up with a better idea", what do you think they'll do? Have Doc say "I was just kidding about the whole temporal duplication thing, it's actually [something else]."?
As for "hoping they come up with a better idea", what do you think they'll do? Have Doc say "I was just kidding about the whole temporal duplication thing, it's actually [something else]."?
See, they're applying their own character flaws to Doc Brown by assuming that he'd lie to Marty about something like that just so you don't have to answer the question in detail. That's not what Doc does. Doc doesn't lie.
Why should duplication not occur?
WHY?
Marty's reaction when called "chicken" also appeared in the 2nd movie and was a total new element which had nothing to do with BTTF1.
Meeting yourself in another time period which can destroy the whole space-time-continuum is also mentioned in BTTF2 and never in the first movie.
See there are a lot of elements which are added to the franchise with every episode and so it is with the game.
I absolutely do not understand how some people have a problem with this new duplication issue. In my opinion it adds a new feature to the franchise, expands it BUT it feels BTTF-esque. It's new writers creativity and doesn't feel missplaced for me. It just needs a bit more explanation. But why should BTTF not evolve?
By the way the only reason why Doc went to 1931 was to pick up a special present for Clara. It's all postBTTF3.
Um, Doc has a wedding ring and specifically mentions Clara, Jules, and Verne.
I haven't heard Doc mention Clara, Jules or Verne in the game... but you're probably right...sigh...
I just think that the duplication-explanation isn't very elegant... it's just too 'deus ex machina' for my taste... In stead of trying to fix the problem with the already established rules in the movies, they're just inventing new ones... isn't that a little bit too easy???
The time circuits do a lot of internal calculations. They make sure that the Delorean reappears in the same place on Earth, no matter where Earth is in space (this was evidently so much work that Doc didn't bother added the ability to put in space coordinates and thus teleport as well as time-travel). They also need to convert the date and time keyed in by the driver. This is because traveling forward in time and traveling backward require different procedures; traveling forward is likely easier because that is the natural direction of time's flow. Thus, at the moment of time travel, the inputted date and time are combined with the current date and time to create a two numbers: a time distance and a direction. When the Delorean was struck by lightning, the time circuits were glitching out and were able to decide on a distance, but not a direction, so the Delorean traveled in both directions at once, its personal timeline splitting in two.
Telltale could really take advantage of this and reveal what happened to the probable other Doc. Especially if he turns evil, because for story purposes, he'd have such a good reason for doing so - he would have been able to find out via historical records what his counterpart got up to and go mad with envy. However, unless handled well, he might be too similar to First Citizen Brown.
The time circuits do a lot of internal calculations. They make sure that the Delorean reappears in the same place on Earth, no matter where Earth is in space (this was evidently so much work that Doc didn't bother added the ability to put in space coordinates and thus teleport as well as time-travel). They also need to convert the date and time keyed in by the driver. This is because traveling forward in time and traveling backward require different procedures; traveling forward is likely easier because that is the natural direction of time's flow. Thus, at the moment of time travel, the inputted date and time are combined with the current date and time to create a two numbers: a time distance and a direction. When the Delorean was struck by lightning, the time circuits were glitching out and were able to decide on a distance, but not a direction, so the Delorean traveled in both directions at once, its personal timeline splitting in two.
Telltale could really take advantage of this and reveal what happened to the probable other Doc. Especially if he turns evil, because for story purposes, he'd have such a good reason for doing so - he would have been able to find out via historical records what his counterpart got up to and go mad with envy. However, unless handled well, he might be too similar to First Citizen Brown.
It is still possible for him to BE first citizen brown.
I haven't heard Doc mention Clara, Jules or Verne in the game... but you're probably right...sigh...
I just think that the duplication-explanation isn't very elegant... it's just too 'deus ex machina' for my taste... In stead of trying to fix the problem with the already established rules in the movies, they're just inventing new ones... isn't that a little bit too easy???
Not really. Coming up with something new like that is harder than just saying "Oh, I built a new one." In fact, out of all the theories about the DeLorean, I was the only one who posited a duplication theory.
It is still possible for him to BE first citizen brown.
By the looks of it, First Citizen Brown is going to be an alternate future of Emmett. In that reality, the splitting of the Delorean would have never occurred.
By the looks of it, First Citizen Brown is going to be an alternate future of Emmett. In that reality, the splitting of the Delorean would have never occurred.
My guess for the whole Citizen Brown thing is that (possible spoilers)...
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... Marty's fooling on Doc with the patent-office story could have disappointed young Doc so much that he goes fully into law plus he already met Edna Strickland, a person who likes to observe other people to find out what they are doing against law (she likes George Orwell's 1984...), they marry and make the perfect pair for a fully controlled Hill Valley, similar to a police state. Inside the clocktower Doc established his control room with a lot of monitors.
This is my guess.
I don't get the whole "duplicate" thing.
In BTTF: The Ride, and the cartoon series, Doc made a new time machine DeLorean.
So why can't that be used as an explanation, instead of some hokey "ITS A DUPLICATE CAUSED BY LIGHTNING AND TEMPORAL DISTORTION!!!"
I don't get the whole "duplicate" thing.
In BTTF: The Ride, and the cartoon series, Doc made a new time machine DeLorean.
So why can't that be used as an explanation, instead of some hokey "ITS A DUPLICATE CAUSED BY LIGHTNING AND TEMPORAL DISTORTION!!!"
What makes more sense? :P
The temporal duplicate. For one thing, it was caused by a gigawatt overload through the flux capacitor. For another, if Doc's having financial troubles in 1986, where would he get his hands on a new DeLorean? Those cars aren't cheap.
Financial trouble in 1986 perhaps, but not when he has a time machine. He had the train still, he lived a life. Wife and kids. He probably had an emotional attachment to the DeLorean, and could have gone anywhere in time to get a new one.
I just find the random "duplicate" idea to be silly.
So if there was a random duplicate made of the DeLorean made, then how come it didn't duplicate whomever was inside of it at the time as well? Hm?
For another, if Doc's having financial troubles in 1986, where would he get his hands on a new DeLorean? Those cars aren't cheap.
Again, he's having financial troubles in 1986 because he's not IN 1986 to pay his bills. In BTTFII, we see that at some point he became financially prepared for all eventualities, so he may have more than enough money to settle his debts if he ever actually feels like returning to 1986.
Financial trouble in 1986 perhaps, but not when he has a time machine. He had the train still, he lived a life. Wife and kids. He probably had an emotional attachment to the DeLorean, and could have gone anywhere in time to get a new one.
I just find the random "duplicate" idea to be silly.
So if there was a random duplicate made of the DeLorean made, then how come it didn't duplicate whomever was inside of it at the time as well? Hm?
To be honest I was a bit disappointed with Doc's throwaway explanation about the duplicate DeLorean.. When I saw the beginning of the game, I thought maybe Marty's "dream" actually happened in an alternate 1985, and maybe the vanishing DeLorean got sent somewhere in time (and eventually appearing in 1986) resulting in a split timeline and an alternate Doc disappearing from history and... yeah, I guess I kinda got carried away building things up in my head.
Don't worry too much Kiwi. That scene was probably intended to make you think that, but it's what we in the writing business(even though I haven't sold anything yet <_<) refer to as a "red herring".
An additional possibility:
Just because Doc thinks the DeLorean is a time duplicate doesn't necessarily mean that it is the case.
It could well be that in his personal future he will someday build a new DeLorean..and that car will somewhen end up in 2025 where he has to save it from Griff.
I originally thought that the explanation was a bit implausible, but upon reading this thread and understanding the reasoning a bit more, I think it's pretty perfect. It fits neatly with the lore of the backstory and makes sense from the BttF temporal mechanics perspective. Well done!
How did Griff know about the duplicate delorrean? It was said that Doc stopped Griff from collecting it. Am I missing obvious here?
I don't know if he thought it was a duplicate Delorean or the original one. As we know from Back to the Future II, Biff saw the original Delorean depart to the year 2015, and back in 2015, Biff jumped at the chance to use it given that he had an inkling that it was a time machine. It wouldn't surprise me if from 2015 to 2025, Biff had told Griff all about his adventure back to 1955 -- which even though Marty and the Doc fixed it, still occurred.
I don't know if he thought it was a duplicate Delorean or the original one. As we know from Back to the Future II, Biff saw the original Delorean depart to the year 2015, and back in 2015, Biff jumped at the chance to use it given that he had an inkling that it was a time machine. It wouldn't surprise me if from 2015 to 2025, Biff had told Griff all about his adventure back to 1955 -- which even though Marty and the Doc fixed it, still occurred.
Would be implausible at first, but then, Biff would've been restored along with that timeline.
He doesn't have to know it was a time machine at all. For all we know he saw an antique car, abandoned and unlocked and decided to take it for his own, perhaps as an antique or to figure out what the weird things on it were. Or he went in, saw the displays and figured out it was a time machine then.
I just played through the whole game, and don't remember Doc addressing this issue at all. It certainly bugged me, wondering what happened to Clara/train-time-machine/kids, and why he's roaming around in the Delorean. If he gave an explanation somewhere in the game, how does one trigger that explanation?
If doc is in mrs. Strickland newspaper, woudnt it disrupt time continuum to save him??? jajajja
When marty ask's doc why he was in 1931...he doubt and says something like "i was...hmm doing some research...and...ehem" i think theres something more...
The solutions to the real reason doc is in 1931, why the delorean appear with einstein...the only time einstein travelled alone was in the mall... so... i just hope the script is right, if you guys of Telltale have a more twists to this explanation, this would be the best game in the world...that and more difficult puzzles and longer games! jaja
I just played through the whole game, and don't remember Doc addressing this issue at all. It certainly bugged me, wondering what happened to Clara/train-time-machine/kids, and why he's roaming around in the Delorean. If he gave an explanation somewhere in the game, how does one trigger that explanation?
Talk to Doc in jail after he gives you the phone number. You can access the dialogue options afterwards, but that's the earliest point.
An additional possibility:
Just because Doc thinks the DeLorean is a time duplicate doesn't necessarily mean that it is the case.
It could well be that in his personal future he will someday build a new DeLorean..and that car will somewhen end up in 2025 where he has to save it from Griff.
Then why adding the alarm clock back on the dashboard?, the 81's have a built-in digital clock in front of the shifter. Nostalgia? maybe. I'd like that explanation, but I think Doc would make sure that the car is the same car by looking at simple things like the DeLorean's VIN or license plate.
Wouldn't this duplicate-DeLorean also have a fried time-circuit control microchip prior to our Doc finding out Griff had it?. So, if the DeLorean was functional, that means either Doc was duplicated (most likely) or somebody else now knows about the time machine in 2025 (I don't think Griff could repair it by himself)... Maybe we'll find out in Episode 5...
plus we don't know what destroyed the flying circuits... maybe the lightning, which would result in a very hard landing for Doc and the Delorean after timetravelling to 2025 and 1885.
Or it happened because of a rather unlucky landing Doc was forced to because of deorientation after timetravelling.
Fact is that both - the time-circuit control microchip and the flying circuits - weren't working any more short after the TT to 2025 and 1885.
By the way: Griff should have been told the secrets of the time machine by old Biff. Is this right?
When old Biff returned as we saw in BTTF2, he actually faded from existance because his intervention with the almanac not only lead to 1985A but also to a 2015 where Biff has been killed. (Although the scene was cut, we see old Biff falling to the ground).
But when Marty burned the almanac in 1955 he kind of "restored" the original timeline which leads to a 2015 where Biff survives. So after he arrives he just notices that nothing has changed although he travelled to 1955. But he knows of the Delorean. And can tell that to Griff.
plus we don't know what destroyed the flying circuits... maybe the lightning, which would result in a very hard landing for Doc and the Delorean after timetravelling to 2025 and 1885.
Or it happened because of a rather unlucky landing Doc was forced to because of deorientation after timetravelling.
Fact is that both - the time-circuit control microchip and the flying circuits - weren't working any more short after the TT to 2025 and 1885.
Let me answer that quote with another quote:
"... The overload shorted out the time circuits and destroyed the flying circuits. Unfortunately, the car will never fly again..."
-Doc Brown (Nov. 13th, 1955, reading his Old Self's letter to Marty).
Being that hover conversions are widely used, the use has to be regulated by the goverment, like with the insertion of a fail-safe landing device, since Hover flight is not based on speed and aerodynamics. The DeLorean's frame and body look intact in the cave. The duplicate, -most likely- having the same device, found a clearing on the Lyon Estates street of 2025 and landed just as Doc managed to land safely in the desert in 1885.
By the way: Griff should have been told the secrets of the time machine by old Biff. Is this right?
When old Biff returned as we saw in BTTF2, he actually faded from existance because his intervention with the almanac not only lead to 1985A but also to a 2015 where Biff has been killed. (Although the scene was cut, we see old Biff falling to the ground).
But when Marty burned the almanac in 1955 he kind of "restored" the original timeline which leads to a 2015 where Biff survives. So after he arrives he just notices that nothing has changed although he travelled to 1955. But he knows of the Delorean. And can tell that to Griff.
We don't know what kind of grandparent-grandson relationship Biff and Griff have. Based on their only interaction at the Café 80's, is more like a bully-victim relationship with bloodlines thrown into the mixture. We know Biff can be diabolic, but he's always been selfish: If he gets an advantage over everyone else (including relatives/in-laws), he'll use it. So, IMO, I don't think Biff would tell Griff anything.
Biff erasing from existence is non-canon because it's not on the finished story; it fits, but is still non-canon. Biff could have had a heart attack from the stress of the trip and it would still be believable.
ah... okay. THX Carlos!!
the safe landing option would make sense although there is no evidence (well at least the nearly perfect shape of the 1885-Delorean in the cave).
I only got the hint from BTTF:HV. When I got struck by a lightning when hovering in a BTTF2-Delorean the hover-mode was destroyed and my car was falling hundreds of feet to the ground.
Maybe the arrest of the hoverboard-gang in 2015 had a very bad influence on the whole Tannen family. This is why Biff tells Griff about the time machine, when he leaves the prison (was he taken to prison in BTTF2?). Well at least Griff can't find anywhere a certain Doc brown with a Delorean for a whole 10 years when he accidentially stumbles upon the left behind dublicate Delorean of dublicate Doc near Lyon Estates. Now he has an idea: travelling back to 2015 and prevent Marty McFly (Jr.) to fool Griffs gang at Courthouse Square.
Comments
Oh I guess it's somewhere in the "making-of"...
So my mirror-story can't be bought :eek:
That one is easy. Because it mirrors the DeLorean getting send back in time 75 years.
As I have said before I think the problem people have with the explanation is not the how but rather how it is told.
I think TellTale should've done it like this:
Episode 1: Still shroud it in mystery. Have Marty ask about it persistenly and Doc reply:
'Nevermind that now Marty! We have bigger problems on our hands. In time I'll explain everything.'
Episode 2 quiet scene:
Marty: So Doc, how did the DeLorean end up returning? I saw it get it and end up into pieces.
Doc: Remember that.....*tells story* maybe accompanied by flashback.
<...1885........................1955........................2025...>
<......|.........70years..........|...........70years.......|......>
How about this: Remember the end of the first movie (also known as the beginning of the second movie).
Doc appears in the DeLorean to get Marty and take him 'back to the future'...
Doc obviously has been to the future before (the clothes, the Mr. fusion, the hover-conversion, knowing about Marty's future, etc.), But who's to say that he didn't go anywhere (or better: anyTIME) else???
Maybe he went to the future first to "upgrade" the DeLorean with the Mr Fusion and then started "time-cruising"? It would explain where he got all the old dollars in the briefcase in the second movie...
So maybe Doc went to 1932, got himself in prison and well, the rest is in the game...
I think this would be a better explanation then the "temporal duplication"-theory because it ties in with the movies better. And in case you're wondering why Doc never mentions anything about the 1932 episode in the movies... well, it could destroy the space-time continuum OF COURSE!!!
So I really really REALLY hope that in the next episode, when Marty asks the Doc about Clara, Doc will go :"huh, What? Who? I never heard of a Clara"...
Why is it everyone is so bent out of shape about this? Just because the possibility never occurs in the movie??? IT'S F***ING SCIENCE FICTION!!!!
As for "hoping they come up with a better idea", what do you think they'll do? Have Doc say "I was just kidding about the whole temporal duplication thing, it's actually [something else]."?
See, they're applying their own character flaws to Doc Brown by assuming that he'd lie to Marty about something like that just so you don't have to answer the question in detail. That's not what Doc does. Doc doesn't lie.
WHY?
Marty's reaction when called "chicken" also appeared in the 2nd movie and was a total new element which had nothing to do with BTTF1.
Meeting yourself in another time period which can destroy the whole space-time-continuum is also mentioned in BTTF2 and never in the first movie.
See there are a lot of elements which are added to the franchise with every episode and so it is with the game.
I absolutely do not understand how some people have a problem with this new duplication issue. In my opinion it adds a new feature to the franchise, expands it BUT it feels BTTF-esque. It's new writers creativity and doesn't feel missplaced for me. It just needs a bit more explanation. But why should BTTF not evolve?
By the way the only reason why Doc went to 1931 was to pick up a special present for Clara. It's all postBTTF3.
The time circuits do a lot of internal calculations. They make sure that the Delorean reappears in the same place on Earth, no matter where Earth is in space (this was evidently so much work that Doc didn't bother added the ability to put in space coordinates and thus teleport as well as time-travel). They also need to convert the date and time keyed in by the driver. This is because traveling forward in time and traveling backward require different procedures; traveling forward is likely easier because that is the natural direction of time's flow. Thus, at the moment of time travel, the inputted date and time are combined with the current date and time to create a two numbers: a time distance and a direction. When the Delorean was struck by lightning, the time circuits were glitching out and were able to decide on a distance, but not a direction, so the Delorean traveled in both directions at once, its personal timeline splitting in two.
Telltale could really take advantage of this and reveal what happened to the probable other Doc. Especially if he turns evil, because for story purposes, he'd have such a good reason for doing so - he would have been able to find out via historical records what his counterpart got up to and go mad with envy. However, unless handled well, he might be too similar to First Citizen Brown.
It is still possible for him to BE first citizen brown.
Not really. Coming up with something new like that is harder than just saying "Oh, I built a new one." In fact, out of all the theories about the DeLorean, I was the only one who posited a duplication theory.
By the looks of it, First Citizen Brown is going to be an alternate future of Emmett. In that reality, the splitting of the Delorean would have never occurred.
That's certainly a possibility.
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... Marty's fooling on Doc with the patent-office story could have disappointed young Doc so much that he goes fully into law plus he already met Edna Strickland, a person who likes to observe other people to find out what they are doing against law (she likes George Orwell's 1984...), they marry and make the perfect pair for a fully controlled Hill Valley, similar to a police state. Inside the clocktower Doc established his control room with a lot of monitors.
This is my guess.
In BTTF: The Ride, and the cartoon series, Doc made a new time machine DeLorean.
So why can't that be used as an explanation, instead of some hokey "ITS A DUPLICATE CAUSED BY LIGHTNING AND TEMPORAL DISTORTION!!!"
What makes more sense? :P
The temporal duplicate. For one thing, it was caused by a gigawatt overload through the flux capacitor. For another, if Doc's having financial troubles in 1986, where would he get his hands on a new DeLorean? Those cars aren't cheap.
I just find the random "duplicate" idea to be silly.
So if there was a random duplicate made of the DeLorean made, then how come it didn't duplicate whomever was inside of it at the time as well? Hm?
Again, he's having financial troubles in 1986 because he's not IN 1986 to pay his bills. In BTTFII, we see that at some point he became financially prepared for all eventualities, so he may have more than enough money to settle his debts if he ever actually feels like returning to 1986.
We don't know that it didn't.
Just because Doc thinks the DeLorean is a time duplicate doesn't necessarily mean that it is the case.
It could well be that in his personal future he will someday build a new DeLorean..and that car will somewhen end up in 2025 where he has to save it from Griff.
You have to think 4 dimensional!
I don't know if he thought it was a duplicate Delorean or the original one. As we know from Back to the Future II, Biff saw the original Delorean depart to the year 2015, and back in 2015, Biff jumped at the chance to use it given that he had an inkling that it was a time machine. It wouldn't surprise me if from 2015 to 2025, Biff had told Griff all about his adventure back to 1955 -- which even though Marty and the Doc fixed it, still occurred.
Would be implausible at first, but then, Biff would've been restored along with that timeline.
If doc is in mrs. Strickland newspaper, woudnt it disrupt time continuum to save him??? jajajja
When marty ask's doc why he was in 1931...he doubt and says something like "i was...hmm doing some research...and...ehem" i think theres something more...
The solutions to the real reason doc is in 1931, why the delorean appear with einstein...the only time einstein travelled alone was in the mall... so... i just hope the script is right, if you guys of Telltale have a more twists to this explanation, this would be the best game in the world...that and more difficult puzzles and longer games! jaja
Then why adding the alarm clock back on the dashboard?, the 81's have a built-in digital clock in front of the shifter. Nostalgia? maybe. I'd like that explanation, but I think Doc would make sure that the car is the same car by looking at simple things like the DeLorean's VIN or license plate.
Wouldn't this duplicate-DeLorean also have a fried time-circuit control microchip prior to our Doc finding out Griff had it?. So, if the DeLorean was functional, that means either Doc was duplicated (most likely) or somebody else now knows about the time machine in 2025 (I don't think Griff could repair it by himself)... Maybe we'll find out in Episode 5...
Or it happened because of a rather unlucky landing Doc was forced to because of deorientation after timetravelling.
Fact is that both - the time-circuit control microchip and the flying circuits - weren't working any more short after the TT to 2025 and 1885.
By the way: Griff should have been told the secrets of the time machine by old Biff. Is this right?
When old Biff returned as we saw in BTTF2, he actually faded from existance because his intervention with the almanac not only lead to 1985A but also to a 2015 where Biff has been killed. (Although the scene was cut, we see old Biff falling to the ground).
But when Marty burned the almanac in 1955 he kind of "restored" the original timeline which leads to a 2015 where Biff survives. So after he arrives he just notices that nothing has changed although he travelled to 1955. But he knows of the Delorean. And can tell that to Griff.
Let me answer that quote with another quote:
Being that hover conversions are widely used, the use has to be regulated by the goverment, like with the insertion of a fail-safe landing device, since Hover flight is not based on speed and aerodynamics. The DeLorean's frame and body look intact in the cave. The duplicate, -most likely- having the same device, found a clearing on the Lyon Estates street of 2025 and landed just as Doc managed to land safely in the desert in 1885.
We don't know what kind of grandparent-grandson relationship Biff and Griff have. Based on their only interaction at the Café 80's, is more like a bully-victim relationship with bloodlines thrown into the mixture. We know Biff can be diabolic, but he's always been selfish: If he gets an advantage over everyone else (including relatives/in-laws), he'll use it. So, IMO, I don't think Biff would tell Griff anything.
Biff erasing from existence is non-canon because it's not on the finished story; it fits, but is still non-canon. Biff could have had a heart attack from the stress of the trip and it would still be believable.
the safe landing option would make sense although there is no evidence (well at least the nearly perfect shape of the 1885-Delorean in the cave).
I only got the hint from BTTF:HV. When I got struck by a lightning when hovering in a BTTF2-Delorean the hover-mode was destroyed and my car was falling hundreds of feet to the ground.
Maybe the arrest of the hoverboard-gang in 2015 had a very bad influence on the whole Tannen family. This is why Biff tells Griff about the time machine, when he leaves the prison (was he taken to prison in BTTF2?). Well at least Griff can't find anywhere a certain Doc brown with a Delorean for a whole 10 years when he accidentially stumbles upon the left behind dublicate Delorean of dublicate Doc near Lyon Estates. Now he has an idea: travelling back to 2015 and prevent Marty McFly (Jr.) to fool Griffs gang at Courthouse Square.