Titanic Endings
There are nine possible endings that can be obtained in Titanic: Adventure Out of Time. The ending you receive depends directly on which of the four key items Frank Carlson manages to save from the Titanic:
Saving all four of the items results in the best ending where both World Wars and the Russian Revolution are averted. Saving none of the items results in history playing out exactly as it had done before. Saving some of the items but not others result in drastic new consequences within Germany, Russia, or both.
Possibilities
Rubaiyat/Lambeth Diamonds
- If Vlad Demonic has either or both of these items by the end of the game, it is counted as a failure.
- If both items leave the ship with Carlson, it is counted as a success
- If both items are lost at cards with Buick Riviera, it is counted as a success.
Painting
- If the painting goes down with the ship, it is counted as a failure.
- If the painting leaves with Colonel Zeitel, it is counted as a failure.
- If the painting leaves the ship with Carlson, it is counted as a success.
Notebook
- If the notebook goes down with the ship, it is counted as a failure.
- If the notebook leaves with Vlad, it is counted as a failure.
- If the notebook leaves the ship with Carlson, it is counted as a success.
Endings
The endings are dictated through which items are recovered and which are lost. The following entries are marked with either an 'X' for failure or an 'O' for success. The items are in the order of their effects in the closing monologue; Rubaiyat/Lambeth Diamonds, the painting and the notebook.
1. Total Mission Failure
Regardless of what key items he has obtained, Carlson fails to find a lifeboat and goes down with the Titanic.
Though this not an actual ending as such, it still results in a Game Over and presumably has history play out much like it did if the past was unaltered.
2. If Only... (XXX)
- World War I occurs as Vlad is able to get his funds to finance the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.
- World War II occurs as the failure to save the painting allows Hitler to rise to power.
- The Russian Revolution occurs as the list of radical names in the notebook never makes it to the Russians.
History remains unchanged from the original failed mission at the beginning of the game.
As Carlson narrates in his 1942 apartment, he muses if the past could be changed before he is killed in the original bomb blast that sent him back in time.
"World War I ended in 1918, a victory for the Allies, Germany was ruined, Russia in revolution. Soon after, Lenin consolidated his power in Moscow. A decade later, Hitler became Führer, promising to avenge Germany’s defeat. The rest of the story is… depressingly familiar. Here we are, April 14, 1942, fighting another war, a Second World War."
"And I keep wondering; was there something anyone could have done? Something I could have done to stop it?"
3. Nuclear Germany (OXX)
- World War I does not occur as Vlad escapes the Titanic without the means to finance the Black Hand.
- World War II occurs as the failure to save the painting allows Hitler to rise to power.
- The Russian Revolution occurs as the list of radical names in the notebook never makes it to the Russians.
In 1927, Hitler overthrows the Kaiser and channels the full power of a Germany un-weakened by World War I into industry and high-tech weapons. Germany develops the first atomic bomb in 1939. The West, weakened by several decades of complacency, now finds itself facing a nuclear-armed Germany, bent on world-domination.
As Carlson remarks that its not a question of if but when Hitler will use his weapons, he muses if the past could be changed before London is vaporized by a Nazi atomic bomb.
"Meanwhile, the rest of Europe and America enjoyed a prosperous peace, what did we gain? Complacency. In 1927, Adolf Hitler, toppled the Kaiser and channeled the power of German science and industry into weapons production. The democracies lulled by decades of uninterrupted affluence ignored him. The Germans have had a six-year lead into the race to unlock the secrets of nuclear fission."
"Now that the world war has begun, I wonder if the question is; not whether Hitler will use atomic weapons, but when."
4. Soviet Tidal Wave (XOX)
- World War I occurs as Vlad is able to get his funds to finance the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.
- World War II does not occur as the painting's fame as the sole artifact from the Titanic means Hitler becomes an artist.
- The Russian Revolution occurs as the list of radical names in the notebook never makes it to the Russians.
As a result of Germany being weakened by the first World War and the failure of the Nazis in their rise to power, the Communists seize power in Berlin instead of the Nazis, became powerful and take a totally off-guard Europe and Britain by surprise, conquering them and uniting them into a single Communist super-state.
As Carlson remarks how Britain has lost its freedom, he muses if the past could be changed before he is shot dead by a Red Army Serzhant.
"However the Allies defeated Germany and posed a humiliating peace, but not before the German military convinced the Revolutionary Russia to leave the war. Eventually, Lenin replaced the feeble Russian Empire with a communist one. There were totalitarian stirrings in Germany as well, but with no strong man to lead them, parties like the Nazis never amounted to much. With Berlin no longer a check against communist expansion, the Soviet tidal wave swept over Europe. Today, April 14, 1942, it’s Britain’s turn now."
"They say we’ve lost our chains, but it’s our freedom that’s vanished instead."
5. Nazi Fury 1 (XXO)
- World War I occurs as Vlad is able to get his funds to finance the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.
- World War II occurs as the failure to save the painting allows Hitler to rise to power.
- The Russian Revolution is aborted and its leaders killed after the notebook is given to the Russian secret police.
When Hitler comes to power and starts World War II, the Russian Czar's regime is too weak to resist and surrenders to the Germans. With the Eastern Front won, Hitler turns the full might of the Third Reich onto an exhausted Britain, which is forced to surrender three days before the narration.
As Carlson remarks how Winston Churchill had been captured and hanged the previous day, he muses if the past could be changed before he is shot dead by a Nazi SS Stormtrooper.
"With no revolutions disrupting it, the Romanov dynasty continued to rule in Russia. When the Nazis attacked an old and feeble Tsar proved no match for Hitler, and neither will we. In 1939, Nazi Germany conquered the Russian Empire before turning its fury against the West. Britain surrendered three days ago, now we take our place behind Germany in a Europe ruled by hate and national socialism."
"They hung Churchill yesterday."
6. Nazi Fury 2 (OXO)
- World War I does not occur as Vlad escapes the Titanic without the means to finance the Black Hand.
- World War II occurs as the failure to save the painting allows Hitler to rise to power.
- The Russian Revolution is aborted and its leaders killed after the notebook is given to the Russian secret police.
When Hitler comes to power and starts World War II, the Russian Czar's regime is too weak to resist and surrenders to the Germans. With the Eastern Front won, Hitler turns the full might of the Third Reich onto an exhausted Britain, which is forced to surrender three days before the narration.
As Carlson remarks how Winston Churchill had been captured and hanged the previous day, he muses if the past could be changed before he is shot dead by a Nazi SS Stormtrooper.
"With no revolutions disrupting it, the Romanov dynasty continued to rule in Russia. When the Nazis attacked an old and feeble Tsar proved no match for Hitler, and neither will we. In 1939, Nazi Germany conquered the Russian Empire before turning its fury against the West. Britain surrendered three days ago, now we take our place behind Germany in a Europe ruled by hate and national socialism."
"They hung Churchill yesterday."
7. Communist Russia (OOX)
- World War I does not occur as Vlad escapes the Titanic without the means to finance the Black Hand.
- World War II does not occur as the painting's fame as the sole artifact from the Titanic means Hitler becomes an artist.
- The Russian Revolution occurs as the list of radical names in the notebook never makes it to the Russians.
The Communists seize power from the Czar and Germany, weakened by the Great Depression and a decade long struggle against the warmongering Soviets, collapses in 1931. The Soviets invade and conquer a weak Europe. Britain is forced into surrender and Europe is united into a single Communist super-state.
As Carlson remarks that Britain has lost its freedom, he muses if the past could be changed before he is shot dead by a Red Army Serzhant.
"War was avoided, but not bloodshed. In Russia the communists overthrew the Tsar, exchanging one empire for another, though Lenin could not have seized power without Germany’s support. The new Soviet Union proved no friend the Kaiser, as the Soviet Union began a decade-long campaign to bring communism to Europe. In 1931 weakened by the Great Depression the German Empire collapsed, with Berlin no longer a check against communist expansion the communist title wave swept over Europe. Today, April 14, 1942, it’s Britain’s turn."
"They say we’ve lost our chains, but it’s our freedom that’s vanished instead."
8. Communist Germany (XOO)
- World War I occurs as Vlad is able to get his funds to finance the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.
- World War II does not occur as the painting's fame as the sole artifact from the Titanic means Hitler becomes an artist.
- The Russian Revolution is aborted and its leaders killed after the notebook is given to the Russian secret police.
As a result of Germany being weakened by the first World War and the failure of the Nazis in their rise to power, the Communists seize power in Berlin instead of the Nazis, became powerful and take a totally off-guard Europe and Britain by surprise, conquering them and uniting them into a single Communist super-state.
As Carlson remarks how Britain has lost its freedom, he muses if the past could be changed before he is shot dead by a Red Army Serzhant.
"Following Germany’s defeat in the Great War, the communists seized power in Berlin. they organized, they waited. Weakened by the Great Depression. The democracies gradually fell under communism swing. Today, April 14, 1942, Britain has joined the rest of Europe in a communist union ruled from the German Political Bureau in Berlin. We are to work on unceasingly build a workers' paradise. From each, according to his abilities, to each, according to his needs."
"Those who disagree with the new order are to be liquidated."
9. World of Peace (OOO)
- World War I does not occur as Vlad escapes the Titanic without the means to finance the Black Hand.
- World War II does not occur as the painting's fame as the sole artifact from the Titanic means Hitler becomes an artist.
- The Russian Revolution is aborted and its leaders killed after the notebook is given to the Russian secret police.
With no wars or revolution to take foot in the world, peace and prosperity has flowed into every corner of the globe, elevating humanity to a level that only the privileged used to know of in the Titanic era.
As Carlson thinks back on how important his mission was, and how the Titanic took 1500 people with her, he is glad that a peaceful world would be their epitaph. The picture above the fireplace in Carlson's apartment changes to one of sailing boats as the sun shines in through the apartment window. He contemplates how events may have been different if he had failed.
"I didn’t really realize it then, but that night 30 years ago was one of history’s most crucial. Though the Titanic carried 1500 to the death a peaceful world would be their epitome. Our mission was a success. With no wars or bloody revolutions to derail us, prosperity and progress has flowed into every corner of the globe. Bringing humanity to a security known only to the privileged few before the Titanic sailed. Today on April 14, 1942, I am leaving the service to retire in a world at peace."
"One can only imagine how different it could’ve been, would have been if we had failed."