The Simpsons: Tapped Out Into the Simpsonsverse content update/From the Red to the Black (and White) Gameplay

Reading the Room

After the user logs in on August 4th: As you can see here, Mr. Burns, your power plant is in the red. Cancel Disney+! I don't know why I ever subscribed — my only streaming device is a ticker tape machine. The image resolution is decidedly meh, and every time I watch a movie I'm crushed beneath a mountain of paper! We agree that cancelling Disney+ is a prudent way to save eight dollars per month, but the plant will still be many, many millions of dollars in the red. We can pay our other bills with BiteCoin. I didn't know you dabbled in cryptocurrency, sir. In what now? I mean: set the hounds on the bill collectors. Ah, I see. BITE Coin. I'm sure they'd be able to evade them quite easily. Are you saying they have some sort of dodge-coin? Perhaps if we used some kind of tether... Maybe we should look at some other strategies for improving worker productivity, sir. You're right! The greedy workers are the problem. Let's move the plant somewhere where we'll be given a free hand by a corrupt government and a gullible population manipulated by appeals to prejudice. We already did that, sir. That's why we moved here from North Korea. When you're treating your workers even worse than the commies, you know you've done your part! Since we've maxed-out oppression, maybe we could try to toggle a few other levers, sir. Such as worker satisfaction and motivation. Ew, gross. You said toggle. If we want to compete for today's values-driven workforce... Smithers, learn to read the room, will you? Now, quickly, to the basement! I've got just the thing to solve our financial problems. Task: Make Burns Head to the Basement (6s, Cooling Towers, Control Building or Homes) If the user has Smithers: Task: Make Smithers Learn to Read the Room (6s, Cooling Towers, Control Building or Homes The Alternate Universe Computer? But sir, it hasn't been tested! We're going back to the golden days, before things had to be tested. What decade should we pick? I suppose you'd opt for the Gay Nineties! It just meant "lively" or "high-spirited" then, sir. I knew that. I didn't know you knew. We might as well go straight to the Great Depression of the 1930s, when people were at their most desperate for work. Quest reward: 100 and 10

From the Red to the Black (and White)

=== From the Red to the Black (and White) Pt. 1 ===\r

\r|- After completing Reading the Room: Sir, it looks like your plan is working. The Alternate Universe Computer has opened a portal to the 1930s and there's no shortage of people looking for work. Excellent. What trades do you follow, my good men? Steam-fitter! Hod-carrier! Hod-loader! Hmm. If you don't mind my asking, what exactly is a hod? Beats me, mac. Do I look like a hod-knower? Are any of you computer systems engineers, software developers, or radiation technicians? I sold pencils on the sidewalk. I carried a sign that said "will work for food". I owned a radio, until I wrecked it so the martians wouldn't find me. I sold pencils on the sidewalk. I see. And what are your salary requirements? Three hots and a squat would do it for me. Keep the railway bulls away and I'm your man. Have some self-respect, fellas. A dime a day or nothing doing. And I speak for us all! In a sense, isn't all business "selling pencils"? You're all hired. Task: Collect Rotary Phones [x115] Task: Make Burns Think of New Things to Exploit (4h, Cooling Towers, Control Building or Homes) If the user has Smithers: Task: Make Smithers Read the Room (4h, Cooling Towers, Control Building or Homes) Working in a radio station ain't all it's cracked up to be. When do we meet Charlie McCarthy? I'm dying to find out what he really thinks of Edgar Bergen. It's not a radio station, you mug, it's a radiator factory. Whatever it is, it's making me sick. I carried eight hods of uranium into the core and now my hair is falling down faster than Max Schmeling in the ring with Joe Louis. I lugged fifty buckets of wastewater out to the river and now my skin is as red as FDR's heart. Let's make a break for it! Quest reward: 100 and 10

From the Red to the Black (and White) Pt. 2

After completing From the Red to the Black (and White) Pt. : We've got to round them up before the government cracks down on us for using time-migrant labor! Won't your "campaign contributions" assure you "access" to "present your point of view" to the government? *sigh* Life was so much easier when we just called them bribes. Sadly, today's Republican party cares more about bashing outsiders than they do about undermining American labor. We're on our own. A Burns and Smithers detective duo parody? Smithers, the whole point of being rich is to not have to do the work yourself. And to be able to afford inter-dimensional portals through which you can bring cheaper labor? That is a nice bonus, yes. Task: Collect Rotary Phones [x115] Task: Make Burns Bring a 1930s Detective Through the Portal (4h, Cooling Towers, Control Building or Homes) If the user has Smithers: Task: Make Smithers Imagine a Burns/Smithers Detective Duo (4h, Cooling Towers, Control Building or Homes *whistles* Swell place ya got here. Really? You think so? I picked out the paint myself. It's called institutional grey. Are you kidding? This dump is depressing. And I came from the Great Depression, so that's really saying something. Anyways, I hear you got a job for me. What's the gig? A few of my workers have run off. I want you to use your hard-boiled detective skills to find them and bring them back. Here are pictures of them. In black and white? I thought you had color photos in the future. Those ARE color photos. The workers are black and white. Speaking of... *hands him a mirror* *looks in mirror* Huh. You do know that we're not actually black and white in the 1930s, right? It's best not to think about it too much. Probably some strange physics properties of the portal. You've got yourself a gumshoe. But I'm not exactly a cheap date. I get a dollar a day. Plus expenses. What are your expenses? Bullets, beer, and three bags of peanuts per day. Take it or leave it. That's highway robbery! What's a highway? You know. The inter-state highway system. Built in 1956? Oh, right. Quest reward: 100 and 10

From the Red to the Black (and White) Pt. 3

After completing From the Red to the Black (and White) Pt. : Mr. Simpson, is it? Your boss said I should come talk to you. It wasn't me. Somebody else used the office fern for lettuce in their sandwich, and switched the core video monitor to ESPN9, and did everything else I did. What? No. Mr. Burns said you were the last person to see the fugitives before they fled. Did you see where they went? Those funny-talking guys? Well, first they asked where they could "lie low", and I said that I usually do it behind my desk, but they didn't like that answer. Then they asked where was the nearest "flop house" and I suggested Fox Studios, but they didn't like that either. Then they asked where they could get some "shut eye" and I actually understood that and said that I always got a good nap at church, so I think they went there. Come on, you're driving. Woohoo! Second lunch break! Task: Collect Rotary Phones [x155] Task: Make Homer Drive Noir Homer to the Church (4h, First Church of Springfield, Mega Church, Springfield Epicospal Church, Springfield Buddhist Temple, Cut Glass Cathedral or Homes Well, here we are. See ya! You're not coming? You mean you're deputizing me? I've always wanted to be a detective! I promise I won't let you down. Deputizing you? I'm no sheriff. I'm a noir detective. The only jobs I have to offer are gal friday, femme fatale, and sidekick. Are you open to non-traditional casting? I have no idea what that is, so I'm gonna go with no. I guess I can do sidekick. I've still got the tights from the update where I dressed as Robin Hood. I would very much appreciate you not wearing the tights. Quest reward: 100 and 10

From the Red to the Black (and White) Pt. 4

After completing From the Red to the Black (and White) Pt. : We're looking for three dangerous fugitives that may have come through here. Good Lord. What did they do? They're suspected of favoring workplace safety regulation. They're extremely dangerous to the corporate profit margins. What did they look like? Average builds, average height, average...averageness. This is a house of God, detective. Many lost sheep come through our doors. You'll have to be more specific. They were in black and white. Oh, you could have led with that. Yes, I know which individuals to whom you are referring. They said they didn't have a place a stay, so I let them sleep in our basement last night. Helen, could you show the detective the way? We'll also be needing this. *takes bottle of wine off desk* That's for communion! Reverend, we're the police. We're already doing the Lord's work, okay? *winks at Noir Homer* Well, that's a new record for the fastest I've ever regretted deputizing someone. There's just one more thing, Reverend... I've been more than patient, but, please, go on. This counts as church! Task: Collect Rotary Phones [x155] Task: Make Homer Look for More Things to Confiscate (4h, First Church of Springfield, Mega Church, Springfield Epicospal Church, Springfield Buddhist Temple, Cut Glass Cathedral or Homes) If the user has Helen Lovejoy: Task: Make Helen Escort Noir Homer (4h, First Church of Springfield, Mega Church, Springfield Epicospal Church, Springfield Buddhist Temple, Cut Glass Cathedral or Homes) I'm so glad you're here, detective. I feel so much safer with a real man in the house with those fugitives. *narrating* Her tone lit up every light on the switchboard, and I knew I was in danger. One long look into her tiny black eyes and I'd be a goner. Are you talking to me? I'm narrating. It gets a bad rap these days, but in my time it was as common as a femme fatale trapped in a dead-end marriage to a holy Joe. It is helpful. Do you have other ideas about writing? Perhaps we should get together sometime and you can tell me all about them. It's tempting. But I've got a black-and-white lady waiting for me at home and I'm not going to screw that up even for a chance to go on about myself and my writing. Does she have to know? My narrating makes it hard to keep secrets. Besides, Noir Marge is the only dame for me. *narrating* He said with finality, closing the subject for good. Fine, they're in here. Oh, no, it's the fuzz! We didn't do nothing, we swear! Save it, fellas. I'm just here to bring you back to the power plant. There's no way I'm going back there. They don't even allow cigarette breaks! Hold it. They don't let you two smoke while you're working? That's just the tip of the iceberg. You wouldn't believe what goes on in that place. Hmm. It seems there's more to this story than meets the eye. Okay, new plan, we're heading back to my office to sort this whole thing out. Hang on. I'm not quite done with communion. Quest reward: 100 and 10

From the Red to the Black (and White) Pt. 5

After completing From the Red to the Black (and White) Pt. : So, you're saying you're in physical danger working at Mr. Burns' plant? When I get home, I'm so beat I have to put my feet in a basin of cold water. That doesn't sound too bad. My feet make the water boil! I got a toothache! Are you sure that's the plant's fault? Do you brush regularly? It's in the new face growing in my chest. And of course I brush its teeth! Yech. This whole time I've been working for the bad guy. Who could've seen that coming? I think it's time we all get back to an era when things made sense. Like the Great Depression? Exactly. Now I'm gonna go reverse the portal that brought us all here so we can go back home. Homer, are you sober enough to drive? Eh, sober enough for the '30s. Task: Collect Rotary Phones [x195] Task: Make Homer Take Noir Homer Back to the Plant (4h, Cooling Towers, Control Building or Homes Are you sure you wanna do this? There's a lot of great things about the future that you haven't seen yet. Did you know they can fry Oreos, now? Also our phones connect us to all of the world's information, plus its misinformation AND its disinformation! Save it. I'm reversing this portal and that's all there is to it. Well, it was nice knowing you. I'll never forget the time you believed me when I framed Lenny for stealing the company donuts. Farewell, Homer. I hope you can steer this town back on track. *flips switch* Hmm, I think something is wrong. And is that music I hear? Oh no, something's definitely wrong. Someone is coming through the portal! Ooh, a big reveal just before the end of the first part of the story! I can't wait to see who it is. I'm glad we avoided the classic Hollywood crutch of using cliffhangers. Man are people fed up with those. We need instant gratification. What's a "cliffhanger"? Oh you know, it's that cheap gimmick where you cut things off right before the big reveal. Oh, right, like if we just stopped talking now and didn't show who it was that came through the portal? Exactly. Quest reward: 200 and 20