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

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  • edited May 2011
    This. I`m not sure as to why everyone`s still unclear on the reason behind Doc's vanishing act.
    Because it was vague and unexplained in-game, requiring an out-of-universe developer comment to explain his sudden disappearance?

    And I'm pretty sure they just had to ration Christopher Lloyd's recording time, so they offed a time duplicate Doc because two Docs means either twice as many lines or half as many lines per Doc.
  • edited May 2011
    Because it was vague and unexplained in-game, requiring an out-of-universe developer comment to explain his sudden disappearance?

    And I'm pretty sure they just had to ration Christopher Lloyd's recording time, so they offed a time duplicate Doc because two Docs means either twice as many lines or half as many lines per Doc.

    I figured it out without help from the developers. It just seemed like a no-brainer to me.
  • edited May 2011
    Doesn't the time stream have to catch up with the time travellers though? Like when Marty starts fading out in 1931 because his grandad gets killed. He doesn't fade out straight away because theres 55 years between him and 1931.
  • edited May 2011
    (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler)

    If Doc got erased when going to the parallel world, why didn't Marty?

    (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler)
  • edited May 2011
    Carlos85G wrote: »
    It's not a matter of coexisting:

    Suppose Emmett Brown (either FCB or Doc) would naturally die at the age of 80 (according to the game, he's 72 in 1985); now Doc -our version of Emmett Brown- invented time travel and got some procedures in the Future (natural overhaul) that allowed him to live beyond that threshold. Every timeline Doc traveled to was to a timeline where Doc had invented the flux capacitor and made those actions.

    Now, Edna comes into the picture: Because of Edna, Emmett uses Science for practical goals, making him not invent time travel and not going to the Future, becoming FCB -another version of Emmett Brown- in 1986.

    FCB and Doc are the same person, but not the same age, as Doc has stayed living in another time period raising his teenage sons with Clara, aging beyond his natural life (beyond 80, above the threshold) thanks to the overhaul, and FCB didn't invent the time machine, aging with the natural flow of time (73, below the threshold), like everyone else.

    As Marty reaches 88 MPH in 1931, Doc enters a timeline where he didn't get the overhaul because he didn't invent time travel. Due to him not living to his current age (beyond 80) in that particular timeline, he dissapears by Ripple Effect.

    Now, we really don't know the real age at which Emmett Brown would naturally die, but we can be certain that that age is between FCB's age -73- and Doc's age -almost 100-.

    If Emmett Brown was supposed to naturally die at 100, we'd have both Doc (who would have arrived with Marty) and FCB (native) in 1986B, just like we had two Docs and two Martys in Biff-horrific 1985A.

    Same case with Einstein.

    This doesn't make sense. If the time line of the movie doesn't exist anymore, then Marty would disappear, also, because he never got into a time machine!

    If the time line of the movie DOES exist, then Doc would still be alive, because he just time traveled to this dimension. (Just like Doc is alive when they go to the Biff dimension in the 2nd movie.)

    None of this nonsense about his age makes sense, if Doc is 72 in 1985, he travels to 10000000 B.C.E, spends a year there with the dinosaurs, whatever, he is NOW 73. Not -9997943 (if my math is correct)!

    Makes sense?
  • edited May 2011
    miketh2005 wrote: »
    (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler)

    If Doc got erased when going to the parallel world, why didn't Marty?

    (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler)

    This has been explained so many times, it should have it's own pin. lol.
    (Sorry if it sounds like I'm complaining)

    The basic reason is this:
    Old doc = +100 years old
    FCB = 75

    FCB never invented the time machine, and thus never got the age reversal treatement in 2015 and therefore probably died before 100.

    Marty is the same age as his alternate self in FCB 1986, therefore marty hasn't died...yet.
  • edited May 2011
    Kamagawa wrote: »
    This has been explained so many times, it should have it's own pin. lol.
    (Sorry if it sounds like I'm complaining)

    The basic reason is this:
    Old doc = +100 years old
    FCB = 75

    FCB never invented the time machine, and thus never got the age reversal treatement in 2015 and therefore probably died before 100.

    Marty is the same age as his alternate self in FCB 1986, therefore marty hasn't died...yet.

    I don't understand this fully. If Doc's aging still takes effect in 1986B, and he dies because he didn't go to the future to get the operations, wouldn't the lack of the time machine being invented take effect on Marty also? He would never have gone back to 1931 because there was no time machine, so he should have vanished when Doc did, right?
  • edited May 2011
    I figured it out without help from the developers. It just seemed like a no-brainer to me.

    Same here. I didn't realise that it was a concept that needed explaining. Everyone's different, I suppose.
  • edited May 2011
    simonizor wrote: »
    I don't understand this fully. If Doc's aging still takes effect in 1986B, and he dies because he didn't go to the future to get the operations, wouldn't the lack of the time machine being invented take effect on Marty also? He would never have gone back to 1931 because there was no time machine, so he should have vanished when Doc did, right?

    That's what I was thinking. :/
  • edited May 2011
    miketh2005 wrote: »
    (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler)

    If Doc got erased when going to the parallel world, why didn't Marty?

    (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler) (Spoiler)

    Exactly. Why is Marty so special? And technically if doc disappears shouldn't the time machine? When did the Future get selective on what changes immediately and what doesn't?
  • edited May 2011
    littlewyan wrote: »
    Doesn't the time stream have to catch up with the time travellers though? Like when Marty starts fading out in 1931 because his grandad gets killed. He doesn't fade out straight away because theres 55 years between him and 1931.

    Well, the thing is...if Marty were to time travel forward in time past his birthday and his grandfather was still dead, then Marty would vanish instantly. Basically, the ripple effect does have to catch up to them. Basically, since FCB didn't invent time travel and doesn't get the life extension stuff and dies prior to real Doc's current age, and Doc and Marty passed the point where Doc would have invented time travel(October 26th, 1985), the ripple effect caught up with Doc when the DeLorean passed October 1985.
  • edited May 2011
    This is easy. The DeLorean that Marty and Doc were traveling in is a temporal duplicate created on November 12, 1955 when it was struck by lightning. Since the temporal duplicate was CREATED at that point and sent to 2025, it's not dependent on the actual invention of the time machine nor even the events of the movies. Marty's existence isn't dependent on the events of the movies either.
  • edited May 2011
    bttf4444 wrote: »
    The point I was making is that, if this is the timeline where Marty and Jennifer took a trip to 2015 when they were younger - then why are the McFlys still losers. The operative word here is "still". Surely, they would have learned something. I was commenting specifically on why I have a problem with the theory of it being the timeline where young Marty and Jennifer went to 2015.

    I understand what you mean now. Like Snice timetravel is already part of there lives in 1985, how would it even be possible for them to see Themselves In the future as "losers" if they never would of ended up like that anyway.

    Correct?

    I always wondered why Future marty and future jennifer Didn''t say to each other "tonights the night we came here from 1985. Lets go look for our younger selves!"
  • Because marty still lives to his current age (18) in the FCB timeline while doc does not.
  • edited May 2011
    Because marty still lives to his current age (18) in the FCB timeline while doc does not.

    This doesn't make sense. If the time line of the movie doesn't exist anymore, then Marty would disappear, also, because he never got into a time machine! Sure, the TIME MACHINE might still be created in 1955, but Marty was not. xD

    If the time line of the movie DOES exist, then Doc would still be alive, because he just time traveled to this dimension. (Just like Doc is alive when they go to the Biff dimension in the 2nd movie.)

    None of this nonsense about his age makes sense, if Doc is 72 in 1985, he travels to 10000000 B.C.E, spends a year there with the dinosaurs, whatever, he is NOW 73. Not -9997943 (if my math is correct)!

    Makes sense?
  • edited May 2011
    miketh2005 wrote: »
    This doesn't make sense. If the time line of the movie doesn't exist anymore, then Marty would disappear, also, because he never got into a time machine! Sure, the TIME MACHINE might still be created in 1955, but Marty was not. xD

    If the time line of the movie DOES exist, then Doc would still be alive, because he just time traveled to this dimension. (Just like Doc is alive when they go to the Biff dimension in the 2nd movie.)

    Just like the case in II where we see Old Biff in 1955 even if he got erased from existence in 2015 (I'm referencing a deleted scene, but it's canon for the game), we can still see our Doc and Marty in FCB's 1931 photograph. By BTTF's logic: The actions required to create a timeline remain intact in the point where the tangent starts, even if the elements for it get erased by the new timeline's Future.

    And, to be clear for the next parts:

    - Chronological age: The timespan between the time traveller's birth date (0) and the date he/she/it is in at the moment (being this value positive or negative).

    - Biological age: The quantity of time the time traveller has lived, to the moment (can only be a positive value).

    Marty doesn't dissapear because he's still alive at that biological age. Our Marty would only be biologically 2 weeks older (the aproximate time Marty lived through the Trilogy) than the 1986-B-native Marty, that never traveled through time; but for Doc, the biological age difference between him and FCB is almost 2 decades: In this timeline, Marty won't naturally die in a couple of weeks (as we know he'll live to be at least 47), but Emmett Brown will naturally die in the next 20 years without the overhaul; so only Doc dissapears.

    Now, the time machine doesn't have to do anything with Doc's age and most of the components are still going to be created, so they remain intact (like the Cusco fax at the end if III), but some might not be available in the new timeline (just like the ink erased from the fax) and that's why the time machine malfunctioned, just like the pages of Doc's notebook kept fading away.
    miketh2005 wrote: »
    None of this nonsense about his age makes sense, if Doc is 72 in 1985, he travels to 10000000 B.C.E, spends a year there with the dinosaurs, whatever, he is NOW 73. Not -9997943 (if my math is correct)!

    Makes sense?

    So, basically, you agree on that part: If you spend one year in a different time period and come back to your original point of departure, you'll be chronologically the same age, but biologically one year older.

    In I, Marty spends one week in 1955, but when he goes back to 1985 he sees his other self go back to 1955. The Marty who's about to go to 1955 is biologically one week younger than the Marty that just came back. The Marty we follow at the end of I is biologically one week older than his own chronological age.

    Same happens to Doc: Everybody in 1986 would see Doc is 73, but he knows he has spent 10-15 years with Clara and his sons in the Past, making him biologically 10-15 years older than that. So, chronologically, he'd be 73, but biologically, he's almost 100.

    Doc gets erased from existence like Old Biff did.
  • edited May 2011
    I was thinking about this today, and I really can't put together how this works. I just can't wrap my head around WHY Marty would have gone back to 1931 in the first place if the timeline was so altered that Doc was dead in 1986B. In 1986B, Doc is dead and Emmett Brown has become FCB, so how did the time machine end up back in 1986B in the first episode? All of the events from 1931 on have been changed, so Doc should have never gone to 1931 in the first place as he was dead in 1986B. If Doc doesn't go back to 1931, neither does the time machine, and the time machine never comes back to 1986B for Marty to get in and go find Doc in 1931.

    I guess I really just don't understand how Doc still goes back to 1931 if he's dead in 1986B. Same lines as why is "Carl Sagan" still in the newspaper picture.
  • edited May 2011
    "I was thinking about this today, and I really can't put together how this works. I just can't wrap my head around WHY Marty would have gone back to 1931 in the first place if the timeline was so altered that Doc was dead in 1986B. In 1986B, Doc is dead and Emmett Brown has become FCB, so how did the time machine end up back in 1986B in the first episode? All of the events from 1931 on have been changed, so Doc should have never gone to 1931 in the first place as he was dead in 1986B."

    Well from Marty's view point he went back because he thought Doc had become stranded in 1931 and died at the hands of mobsters. We percieve the changes only as they happen through the story and through Marty's eyes. If you worry too much about "well that earlier scene in the present wouldn't have happened because of this later scene in the past" your not thinking about the other aspect of the paradox which is, despite the present being changed there still logically should have been a point when the future time traveller departed in a non-changed reality to go back in time and change it.
    " If Doc doesn't go back to 1931, neither does the time machine, and the time machine never comes back to 1986B for Marty to get in and go find Doc in 1931.

    I guess I really just don't understand how Doc still goes back to 1931 if he's dead in 1986B. Same lines as why is "Carl Sagan" still in the newspaper picture."

    Well the last bit you mentioned puzzled me a bit at the start but the basic idea is that since time is always moving forward from a single point (in bttf logic anyway) the events of 1986B are always dependant on events of the past, even if those events where caused by travellers from an alternate timeline. My point is that, paradoxally (again) even if doc shouldn't logically exist in 1931 in his original state, since he interacted and affected events in that time, he has imprinted his existence onto that reality - the 1986B reality, regardless of how small, is depentant on the existence of that incarnation of doc.

    In a sense if Marty was to go back earlier in 1931 original doc would probably still be there doing everything he did almost like a 'phantom of time'(COPYRIGHT), just like Marty from bttf1 was doing everything to fix his parents in bttf2 despite the timeline being screwed up because of Biff.
  • edited May 2011
    daeva0123 wrote: »
    Well from Marty's view point he went back because he thought Doc had become stranded in 1931 and died at the hands of mobsters. We percieve the changes only as they happen through the story and through Marty's eyes. If you worry too much about "well that earlier scene in the present wouldn't have happened because of this later scene in the past" your not thinking about the other aspect of the paradox which is, despite the present being changed there still logically should have been a point when the future time traveller departed in a non-changed reality to go back in time and change it.



    Well the last bit you mentioned puzzled me a bit at the start but the basic idea is that since time is always moving forward from a single point (in bttf logic anyway) the events of 1986B are always dependant on events of the past, even if those events where caused by travellers from an alternate timeline. My point is that, paradoxally (again) even if doc shouldn't logically exist in 1931 in his original state, since he interacted and affected events in that time, he has imprinted his existence onto that reality - the 1986B reality, regardless of how small, is depentant on the existence of that incarnation of doc.

    In a sense if Marty was to go back earlier in 1931 original doc would probably still be there doing everything he did almost like a 'phantom of time'(COPYRIGHT), just like Marty from bttf1 was doing everything to fix his parents in bttf2 despite the timeline being screwed up because of Biff.
    Marty couldn't have thought that Doc died at the hands of mobsters; in the 1986 that they have created, Doc dies of natural causes at an unknown time, so even if he did somehow magically go back to 1931, Doc would have passed away before 1986B, there would have been no estate sale in 1986B, Marty wouldn't be at Doc's place, and he would have never seen the time machine come back.

    I also don't understand how any of the events in the movies have occurred if the time machine wasn't invented. If it wasn't invented, Doc doesn't go back to 1885 and he doesn't age, so he isn't dead by 1986B. Or do these events happen by the same logic that "Carl Sagan" exists in 1931 (by saving Clara, he makes a big enough impact to be irreversible?)? If that's the case, then Doc's operations just didn't happen because he didn't make a big enough impact on the timeline there? If he had made some sort of imprint, would he still have gotten the operations even though there is no time machine?

    This is getting confusing, lol.
  • edited May 2011
    Carlos85G wrote: »
    Just like the case in II where we see Old Biff in 1955 even if he got erased from existence in 2015 (I'm referencing a deleted scene, but it's canon for the game), we can still see our Doc and Marty in FCB's 1931 photograph. By BTTF's logic: The actions required to create a timeline remain intact in the point where the tangent starts, even if the elements for it get erased by the new timeline's Future.

    And, to be clear for the next parts:

    - Chronological age: The timespan between the time traveller's birth date (0) and the date he/she/it is in at the moment (being this value positive or negative).

    - Biological age: The quantity of time the time traveller has lived, to the moment (can only be a positive value).

    Marty doesn't dissapear because he's still alive at that biological age. Our Marty would only be biologically 2 weeks older (the aproximate time Marty lived through the Trilogy) than the 1986-B-native Marty, that never traveled through time; but for Doc, the biological age difference between him and FCB is almost 2 decades: In this timeline, Marty won't naturally die in a couple of weeks (as we know he'll live to be at least 47), but Emmett Brown will naturally die in the next 20 years without the overhaul; so only Doc dissapears.

    Now, the time machine doesn't have to do anything with Doc's age and most of the components are still going to be created, so they remain intact (like the Cusco fax at the end if III), but some might not be available in the new timeline (just like the ink erased from the fax) and that's why the time machine malfunctioned, just like the pages of Doc's notebook kept fading away.



    So, basically, you agree on that part: If you spend one year in a different time period and come back to your original point of departure, you'll be chronologically the same age, but biologically one year older.

    In I, Marty spends one week in 1955, but when he goes back to 1985 he sees his other self go back to 1955. The Marty who's about to go to 1955 is biologically one week younger than the Marty that just came back. The Marty we follow at the end of I is biologically one week older than his own chronologic age.

    Same happens to Doc: Everybody in 1986 would see Doc is 73, but he knows he has spent 10-15 years with Clara and his sons in the Past, making him biologically 10-15 years older than that. So, chronologically, he'd be 73, but biologically, he's almost 100.

    Doc gets erased from existence like Old Biff did.

    I can see where you are coming from, but they might've deleted that scene for a reason. :P

    If Marty is still alive, that means the universe didn't erase the events that made Marty go back in time. Right? That timeline is still intact. So how is it that it erased ONLY the part where Doc goes to 2015 and gets life enhancement?

    Marty would have never gotten to FCB, if it were not for the events that occurred AFTER Doc got his procedure. So if Doc didn't get his procedure, Marty doesn't go to FCB. :/
  • edited May 2011
    miketh2005 wrote: »
    I can see where you are coming from, but they might've deleted that scene for a reason. :P

    If Marty is still alive, that means the universe didn't erase the events that made Marty go back in time. Right? That timeline is still intact. So how is it that it erased ONLY the part where Doc goes to 2015 and gets life enhancement?

    Marty would have never gotten to FCB, if it were not for the events that occurred AFTER Doc got his procedure. So if Doc didn't get his procedure, Marty doesn't go to FCB. :/

    They deleted it because test audiences found it confusing.

    The timeline where he went back to 1955 is NOT intact. Marty is still alive because he's still his chronological age.

    The reason that the 1931 time travels are still intact is because of the DeLorean used. Remember, it's a temporal duplicate, not dependent on the time machine's invention in 1955.
  • edited May 2011
    This is getting confusing, lol.

    Still, I find its always fun to ponder over this stuff :D besides OUTATIME I think is going to explain a bit more as to what is really going on with these events.
    Marty couldn't have thought that Doc died at the hands of mobsters; in the 1986 that they have created, Doc dies of natural causes at an unknown time, so even if he did somehow magically go back to 1931, Doc would have passed away before 1986B, there would have been no estate sale in 1986B, Marty wouldn't be at Doc's place, and he would have never seen the time machine come back.

    If I understand you're argument right, your refering to Marty once the timestream has been affected by the changes in 1931 (basically the now-dorky martin mcfly)..

    I posted something a while back on this thread about things existing and not existing outside the original timeline and I think this applies here. Marty, providing he doesn't threaten his mortality (bttf1 scenario), can walk around in the past and future and exist as himself in alternate timelines (this happened in bttf2) and due to his travelling in the delorean he retains memories of everything that changes around him. Now things such as; biff casino matches, your fired fax, emmet browns notebook, mr fusion, hoverwheels etc can exist in an altered past or present from the time they came from providing their existence in the future is still plausable/not compromised.

    The doc brown in the photo is also detached from any events in the future and could exist independent regardless of the changes he was creating until he passed a point of no return (travelling into a future where his old self was no longer valid - same as old Biff in bttf2). Apply your argument to bttf 2 you'll see what I mean; when Marty and Doc travel to 1955 to get the almanac off biff, they see old biff despite the fact that he shouldn't really be there if he's either; a) just compromised his existence by giving his younger self a book that leads to him to be killed earlier than when he can get hold of the delorean or b) created a hill valley so corrupt that no time travel occurs, specifically the trip to 2015 to fix marty's family.

    The way I've come to understand it is that Doc Brown being in the photograph is due to the fact that FCB1986 would not be plausable without his intervention. Now I think your right to wonder why the 1885 events appear to have been erased when by my same argument, if doc brown can alter events in 1931 why not 1885? It seems a strange thing to be inconsistent with if you have an event showing doc in a photograph and then mentioning Clayton ravine, its unlikely they overlooked it. Maybe those events do actually occur but doc and clara's time travelling in the train may have re-re-written history to make eastwood ravine Clayton ravine again hmm...
  • edited May 2011
    miketh2005 wrote: »
    I can see where you are coming from, but they might've deleted that scene for a reason. :P

    As Shadowknight1 already said, audience found the scene confusing.
    miketh2005 wrote: »
    If Marty is still alive, that means the universe didn't erase the events that made Marty go back in time. Right? That timeline is still intact. So how is it that it erased ONLY the part where Doc goes to 2015 and gets life enhancement?

    Nope, Marty didn't go back in time in this timeline, neither did Doc, that timeline is gone, but that doesn't affect Marty's existence at all. There was no reason for Marty not being born or dead at his biological age. The Ripple Effect only affects time travellers when the actions in the timeline affect their existence itself, not their way of existence.

    Same happens in 1985A: Native-Marty's in Switzerland and Native-Doc is committed in an insane asylum since 1983, so he didn't finish the time machine; but still, there's our finished DeLorean and our Doc and Marty in the alternate reality.

    The reason that the 1931 time travels are still intact is because of the DeLorean used. Remember, it's a temporal duplicate, not dependent on the time machine's invention in 1955.

    I don't believe the DeLorean's the reason. The same happened with Old Biff in 1955 with the original time machine.
    miketh2005 wrote: »
    Marty would have never gotten to FCB, if it were not for the events that occurred AFTER Doc got his procedure. So if Doc didn't get his procedure, Marty doesn't go to FCB. :/

    It's just BTTF's logic: What makes the tangent (Old Biff in 1955, Doc & Marty in 1931), remains existing at the point of diversion, even if it came from another timeline's Future.
  • Carlos85G wrote: »
    As Shadowknight1 already said, audience found the scene confusing.



    Nope, Marty didn't go back in time in this timeline, neither did Doc, that timeline is gone, but that doesn't affect Marty's existence at all. There was no reason for Marty not being born or dead at his biological age. The Ripple Effect only affects time travellers when the actions in the timeline affect their existence itself, not their way of existence.

    Actually thats up to interpretation; the fact that it's being called 'Clayton ravine" once more implies the 1885 travels did not happen. You could argue that since the car still gets powered by Mr. Fusion, the 2015 travel still happens. It doesn't seem like the 1955 travels happened because FCB would have remembered/brought it up. But there's plenty of evidence that the original travels to 1931 still happen; the picture FCB has of marty and Old Doc (meaning old doc is still lurking around in time), Edna recognizes 'carl sagan' and marty is recognized by Arthur, Edna, young Emmett, and Trixie.

    Why are some time travels erased but not others? Well it's possible that the original 1931 travels HAD to happen for the FCB timeline to exist.
    Same happens in 1985A: Native-Marty's in Switzerland and Native-Doc is committed in an insane asylum since 1983, so he didn't finish the time machine; but still, there's our finished DeLorean and our Doc and Marty in the alternate reality.

    There is NO evidence to whether there are another version of Doc and Marty in 1985A. Here's my theory on this timeline; the 1955 travels from part I still happen in this timeline; 1985 Biff confirms he still crashed into the manure truck, george was an author, and of course we do see marty from part I in 1955. So that means Doc knows he invents the time machine in 1985 and sends Marty back at that time and ensures that on October 26th he sends him back. Doc doesn't know how else the timeline plays out other than that he will be shot by terrorists and the date and time marty goes back.




    It's just BTTF's logic: What makes the tangent (Old Biff in 1955, Doc & Marty in 1931), remains existing at the point of diversion, even if it came from another timeline's Future.

    You could use the doctor who theory that the timeline has a mind of its own and ensures it remains in tact and does not allow itself to be compromised or placed into a paradox (hence why sometimes we see the same result happen but in a different manner)
  • edited May 2011
    *sighs* All time travels from the movies have been erased. Plain and simple. Clayton Ravine, Marty's parents being losers again, and the fact that FCB didn't invent a time machine all point to that. The reason that the DeLorean didn't vanish is because it is a temporal duplicate, no longer relying on the initial construction of the time machine in 1985. It is, essentially, an anomalous element in the time-stream. It was never supposed to exist, but a freak accident of technology and nature created it. And since it arrived in 2025 where Doc retrieved it, he obviously could have gotten Mr. Fusion, the flying circuits, and more repaired, hence why those devices still functioned when Marty arrived in 1986B. That's why "Carl Sagan" still exists and Edna was attacked by Einstein in 1931. As for the time machine, Marty likely lost control out of sheer panic because Doc was concerned about something, but he'd already hit 88 mph. It's possible that the time machine would have been perfectly operational had Marty not crashed it headfirst into a billboard. It makes the most logical sense that because the time machine is a duplicate not dependent on the flux capacitor being invented in 1985, any changes made while using said time machine would still be intact.
  • edited May 2011
    They deleted it because test audiences found it confusing.

    The timeline where he went back to 1955 is NOT intact. Marty is still alive because he's still his chronological age.

    The reason that the 1931 time travels are still intact is because of the DeLorean used. Remember, it's a temporal duplicate, not dependent on the time machine's invention in 1955.

    What does Marty being his chronological age have to do with anything? How is he in FCB if the the old 1986 ISN'T IN TACT???
  • edited May 2011
    I’ll try to explain the rules of time travel as they happen in the BTTF movies (and as a matter of fact, many other time travelling stories, Chrono Trigger/Cross, the stargate time travel episodes use almost the same rules).
    The only place it will not work is the BTTF2 travel in which future marty and Jennifer shoudn’t exist, but the writer admitted they wrote themselves into a corner with bttf’s ending.
    1/The ripple effect only goes toward the future.
    2/Whoever is outside his time (usually the time travellers) has its memories protected from the ripple effect.
    3/Whenever something travelled into the past and back to his own time, it takes the place of the version of itself already in this timeline, if there is one.
    (Exemple, I’m going back one week ago, and send myself a letter, when I get back, I still don’t remember ever receving the letter, I took the place of the other me from this timeline which ceased to exist when I came back). In the chrono game, they call this principle “Time Bastard”, and they have good article for it if you are interested.
    BTTF add a rule to 3/ which is

    3.5/ Whatever happened to your other self’s body does happen to you too.
    (Exemple, because my other self read the letter in the past he fell in the stairs and broke his leg).
    Whenever I come back into the present, as a said, he cease to exist, I take his place, but MY leg is suddenly broken, too.

    Now that it is explained, let’s watch at the movies.
    BTTF: DOC 1 is killed, MARTY1 goes back into 1955.
    Marty caused his parents not to meet, and the ripple effect is catching up to him. If he went straight back to 1985, he would disappear and the delorean would appear with no driver. Why, because his self in this new timeline doesn’t exist, so well, it’s the same as with my broken leg exemple but much worse).
    In the movie, MARTY1 fixes the timeline and goes back to 1985. Now, in this timeline, there is DOC2 (who remembers marty1 from 1955) and marty2, who is born and has always lived with rich parents.
    Marty1 arrive in 1985, a bit before the time of his original time travel. At the time of the time travel, 10 min later, MARTY2 and the delorean, which are seen, are NOT sent back to 1955, they cease to exist, as marty1 and his delorean take their place.
    In the original draft script, it’s explained in a better fashion, Jennifer literally says that marty2 just disappeared and Doc covers by saying he was doing a teleportation experiment with marty.
    So at the end of BTTF1, we have MARTY1 and DOC2.
    In BTTF2, the future time travel doesn’t make sense, so you have to admit they can see their future selves for some reason.
    In the future, Biff2 goes back in 1955 and gives himself the almanach. Then he goes back to 2015.
    The ripple effect happens for everyone except marty1, doc2, and Jennifer2 whose memories are protected due to being out of their time.
    Biff2 goes back to 2015. His plan was almost perfect, upon his return, Biff3 (rich Biff) should have disappeared and Biff2 should have taken his place keeping his memories.
    But Biff3 had been killed by Lauren in 1990 (bullet in the chest), therefore when Biff2 arrived back in 2015, he literally feels the bullet (he is seen holding his chest) and disappeared since he has been dead for 25 years in this timeline.
    And so on…
    Doc is 71 in 1985. With his years in the old west, he is at least 81 at the point of the game.
    When marty and doc go back into the present at the end of episode 2, their memory are preserved and for marty, everything goes fine. His “well behaved” self from this timeline disappears and he takes his place. But for doc, he takes the body of 81 years old citizen brown, who is dead since he never went to the 2015 clinic. Therefore he dies and disappears.
    It seems confusing but is really easy and logical of you have understood the 3 basic rules.
  • edited May 2011
    In Episode 4's 1986 Citizen Plus facility, the beverage can has a "Nutrition Facts" label on the side, but that format of label was part of a law passed in 1990 that went into full effect in 1995.

    Also, I agree with the earlier poster about the plutonium and Libyans thing. Edna didn't bat an eye at "plutonium" or "Libyans". The Libyans thing they might get a pass on, since the Greek word "Libya" referred to all of North Africa (except Egypt) before Italy started calling Libya "Libya" in 1934. But the word "plutonium" wouldn't even be invented until the early 1940s.

    Pretty amusing how one throwaway line had two anachronisms in it ;)
  • edited May 2011
    flobo wrote: »
    In the movie, MARTY1 fixes the timeline and goes back to 1985. Now, in this timeline, there is DOC2 (who remembers marty1 from 1955) and marty2, who is born and has always lived with rich parents.
    Marty1 arrive in 1985, a bit before the time of his original time travel. At the time of the time travel, 10 min later, MARTY2 and the delorean, which are seen, are NOT sent back to 1955, they cease to exist, as marty1 and his delorean take their place.

    Then how are we able to even see MARTY2, if he is supposed to disappear when MARTY1 enters the timeline?
    flobo wrote: »
    But for doc, he takes the body of 81 years old citizen brown, who is dead since he never went to the 2015 clinic. Therefore he dies and disappears.
    It seems confusing but is really easy and logical of you have understood the 3 basic rules.

    Okay, I get it now. :)
  • edited May 2011
    Dachannien wrote: »
    Also, I agree with the earlier poster about the plutonium and Libyans thing. Edna didn't bat an eye at "plutonium" or "Libyans". The Libyans thing they might get a pass on, since the Greek word "Libya" referred to all of North Africa (except Egypt) before Italy started calling Libya "Libya" in 1934. But the word "plutonium" wouldn't even be invented until the early 1940s.

    I thought that scene was in FCB facility?
  • edited May 2011
    miketh2005 wrote: »
    Then how are we able to even see MARTY2, if he is supposed to disappear when MARTY1 enters the timeline?


    Marty 1 doesn't take over the timeline until he catches up to the point where he left.
  • edited May 2011
    miketh2005 wrote: »
    I thought that scene was in FCB facility?

    No, it happens in 1931 when you talk to Young Edna. Old Edna would never be so polite.
  • edited May 2011
    Overture wrote: »
    Marty 1 doesn't take over the timeline until he catches up to the point where he left.

    How come?
  • edited May 2011
    miketh2005 wrote: »
    How come?

    As best I can work out from the rules, he doesn't actually belong in the new 1985 timeline as it is, at any point before the point he left it (the original point where he left the timeline, before that moment in time there was no time-travelling Marty in that timeline, so that timeline didn't have to acknowledge and correct for him being there until the moment where he had been created in the previous 1985.

    Either that or the ripples take a while to catch up, but I think it's the first explanation. :)
  • edited May 2011
    Yeah, one thing thats easy to take for granted in that end scene in the car park is that even though marty from 1955 has travelled from a much earlier period into what would have been the "future" from that point. The scene playing out in front of marty up until the original delorean disappears into 1955 is still technically 'the past' for marty, because he had already lived it. For him to merge with himself during the libyan shoot out wouldnt make sense because a) doing so would mean he would need to go back in time and experience 1955 all again in order to prevent a paradox and get caught in an infinite loop and b) he is a week older/out of sync with the timeline he arrived at.
  • edited May 2011
    @miketh2005 : In part 3's script, there is a deleted dialogue between Marty and Doc in which Doc tells him they have to go back "after their last departure" to make sure to find Jennifer in front of her house, so i guess that's the same thing.

    If you go before your departure, you can't "take the place of your other self fully" until after the moment.

    IMO, this can happen in two way (the "taking the place" part)

    Either in the new timeline, the new version will time travel and disapear (never rematerialse ie marty2). Or if that is not the case, it will disapear.

    But if you think too much about it, it can be quite confusing. When in 1985A, there WAS a marty in 1955, and he was sent back to the future too. So did he arrive in 1985A ?:D My guess is that it works the same way, this marty WAS an "older" version from the continuum pov.

    If Marty had stayed en 1985 and doc was alone in the future, marty would have been "ripple effect" leaving only Switzeland Marty (with 1955 marty never reapearing in 85).

    But since marty was in 2015 (outside his timezone), he was ripple effect proof, and when they went back to 85, he took the place of switzeland marty, and the 55 marty did not appear either, or did and disapeared too, when bttf2 marty came back from the future.

    That's so confusing, i love to think about that stuff ^^.

    One interesting but easier to follow case is Jennifer.
    She, too, was ripple effect protected when she was in 2015, meaning she kept his memories when brough back in 1985A. But then, she was left there, and when Doc and Marty corrected the timeline, what hapenned to her ?
    Well, this time, she was in her timezone so the ripple effect got to her (erasing her 1985A memories) (but not of ripple proof 2015 memories).

    But who put her in front of her house in this timeline ? :D
    Again, my idea is that at the exact same instant that they came back from the future in BTTF2 (when they nearly hit a plane), but in the "corrected timeline", Jennifer with future memories appear in front of ther house.

    From the "final timeline pov".

    MARTY comes back from 1955,
    MARTY 2 hit 88mph 10 mins later and cease to exist. (timeline preservation else TWO marty)
    Doc leaves to 2015
    Doc comes back and get marty/jennifer

    Jennifer appear in front of her house and Einstein appear in the lab (in the night). (timeline preservation else 0 Jennifer and 0 Eisntein)
    Marty comes back.

    Of course, everyone IS speculative, but to make it work, you have to think that the continuum will "protect itself", deleting alternates version of people/correcting stuff (for exemple, making Jennifer reapear from nowhere) so that there are only one of them in the end.
  • edited June 2011
    Just started Episode 1 and it's great!

    But am I the only one who wonders why Biff is "nice" to George?
    He's supposed to be bullying George at this point.
  • edited June 2011
    My only issues are - Why did Doc Brown disappear when Marty and him travelling to the alternate 1986 when in the 2nd movie there was an alternate Marty and alternate Doc in the same timeline as them. (The Doc that was in the asylum and the Marty that was in boarding school).

    Also why is the DeLorean there? If this is meant to be a sequel to BttF 3 there shouldn't be a DeLorean as it was destroyed at the end of the 3rd movie.

    Sorry if these have already been addressed, but if someone has an explanation for these 2 things I'd be a lot happier (though I have been enjoying the game anyway).
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited June 2011
    Mulperi wrote: »
    Just started Episode 1 and it's great!

    But am I the only one who wonders why Biff is "nice" to George?
    He's supposed to be bullying George at this point.

    Noooo... we're of course exactly where we left Marty at the end of the third movie, just six months later. George punched Biff's lights out at the Enchantment under the Sea dance, and became a famous Science Fiction author. Biff still has a car wash service and tries to be nice to other people so he'll be able to sustain himself...
  • edited June 2011
    Grojak wrote: »
    My only issues are - Why did Doc Brown disappear when Marty and him travelling to the alternate 1986 when in the 2nd movie there was an alternate Marty and alternate Doc in the same timeline as them. (The Doc that was in the asylum and the Marty that was in boarding school).

    Also why is the DeLorean there? If this is meant to be a sequel to BttF 3 there shouldn't be a DeLorean as it was destroyed at the end of the 3rd movie.

    Sorry if these have already been addressed, but if someone has an explanation for these 2 things I'd be a lot happier (though I have been enjoying the game anyway).

    Both of these have been addressed ad. nauseum, and in this very thread. However, I shall illuminate you.

    First, the issue of the DeLorean. In Back to the Future 2, when the lightning bolt hit the time machine and sent it back to 1885, there was more than the necessary 1.21 gigawatts needed to activate the flux capacitor. In fact, there was a gigawatt overload that subsequently shorted out the time circuits and destroyed the flying circuits. Because of this overload, an unintended side effect took place. As Doc and the DeLorean were shot 70 years into the past, the flux overload created a duplicate of the DeLorean that was sent 70 years FORWARD into the year 2025. Doc discovered this on a subsequent visit to that year, retrieved it, repaired it, and added some minor bells and whistles over the following years, such as the automatic retrieval system. In the words of Doc, the DeLorean is "for all intents and purposes the exact same machine as the original." This explanation is given in Episode 1 if you question Doc while he's in jail. It's doing this that also gives you his basic reasons for being in 1931, where he's been, and how his family is doing. We also learn that Jules and Verne are teenagers now, getting ready for college. Also, another line that comes when you talk to him about needing booze for the rocket drill reveals that Doc is almost 100 years old.

    Now, going off of that tidbit. When Doc invented the time machine and traveled to 2015, one thing he did in the future was go to a "rejuvenation clinic and got an all-natural overhaul." Doing this added a good 30-40 years to his lifespan, hence why he is so old and yet so damned energetic. Now, when young Emmett went down the path of science for the sake of the law, he did NOT invent the time machine in 1985, did NOT travel to 2015 for the all-natural overhaul. Now, if you've seen the BTTF2 deleted scene where Biff fades and have read about it, the reason Biff fades is because at some point prior to 2015, evil Biff was killed by Lorraine. This is the same principle. Now, Doc would have been 71 when he was stranded in 1885. Maybe 72. We add on 10 years for when he arrives at the end of BTTF3 in the time train with his family. Jules appears to be 10, so we'll go with that. Add on another 8 years or so, and Doc is pushing 90. Since Doc is now well past the point where he expected his life to end(He looked at 25 years into the future as being beyond his years in BTTF1), we can assume that First Citizen Brown did not live all the way to the year 2003(if Doc remained in 1985 and lived to his current age). Going by that, since the Emmett Brown of the FCB timeline died well before Doc's current chronological age, Doc vanished and SHOULD reappear once young Emmett is back on his destined path.
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