Tyhrra-Guise

Icon(s)
Specifications
Type	Handheld
Function	Holographic disguise
Obtained in	"Win the Tyhrra-Guise", Annihilation Nation

The Tyhrra-Guise is a gadget in Up Your Arsenal. It is a hologuise device which disguises Ratchet as a one-eyed tyhrranoid. After disguising himself, Ratchet can communicate with other one-eyed tyhrranoids in their native language, Tyhrranese, allowing him to infiltrate enemy bases. The Tyhrra-Guise is won in the Annihilation Nation.

History

Ratchet obtained the Tyhrra-Guise in "Win the Tyhrra-Guise". Sasha Phyronix informed Ratchet that the prize would be offered on Annihilation Nation. When competing, the announcer berated Ratchet by claiming he wanted the device to make him more attractive to women. Ratchet competed in the "Deathcourse Challenge" and "Grand Prize Bout". After beating both, the prize was offered to him by Courtney Gears.

Captain Qwark then drew up a plan to infiltrate Dr. Nefarious' Deep Sea Hideout on Aquatos. His plan was that Ratchet would "use his extensive knowledge of the tyhrranoid language and customs to win the trust of the bloodthirsty alien guards" in order to infiltrate Nefarious' office, while Clank would sneak in through the ventilation shaft.

Ratchet uses the Tyhrra-Guise.

In "Find Nefarious' Office", Ratchet then followed this plan with the Tyhrra-Guise. Most of the tyhrranoids were fooled by the disguise, and though two were suspicious, they took little convincing after Ratchet lied that he was "not a lombax". He got past the first forcefield simply by politely asking a tyhrranoid, and then claimed to the second he had a message to deliver for Nefarious. In order to raise a girder for Clank to use as a bridge to progress further, he fooled a tyhrranoid by claiming he had hid five bolts underneath it. After this, Ratchet convinced another tyhrranoid to open a door for him by saying he had been sent to repair the holo-vid in the break room, and convinced another to extend a bridge for him despite his lack of clearance by offering to give his sister's phone number in exchange.

Ratchet did not use the Tyhrra-Guise again until Mylon, during "Battle your way to the launch site". Two one-eyed robonoids blocked the path forward. As they were smarter than the tyhrranoids Ratchet had previously talked to, and the Tyhrra-Guise only gave him an organic disguise, these robonoids were harder to convince. For the first robonoid, Ratchet tried to claim there was a fire drill and asked the robonoid to "activate the elevator immediately, then proceed to the nearest swimming pool and throw yourself in". The robonoid did not trust Ratchet at all, and became frustrated until Ratchet then claimed that he was there to give Dr. Nefarious a massage, at which point the robonoid let him through and apologized, presumably out of fear of Nefarious.

To the second robonoid, Ratchet claimed Lawrence wanted a forcefield deactivated as the color clashed with his trousers. The robonoid was unconvinced, and claimed he was aware of "a lombax creeping around here disguised as a tyhrranoid". Ratchet distracted the robonoid by offering to loan the Amoeboids Gone Wild holo-vid disc, which he claimed was director's cut after being asked. The robonoid fell for this and let him through.

Use

Ratchet using the Tyhrra-Guise.

After selecting the Tyhrra-Guise from the Quick Select menu, it immediately activates and Ratchet transforms into a one-eyed tyhrranoid. Ratchet is only capable of jumping, or pressing to wave at nearby one-eyed tyhrranoids. Pressing to use the OmniWrench, or equipping another weapon or gadget, will deactivate the Tyhrra-Guise.

Ratchet, I found some online instructions for the Tyhrra-Guise! Let's see, when you speak to a tyhrranoid, you should see a holographic display. Just tap or hold the correct button as it moves across your display. Watch what you say, though, these guys have really nasty tempers!

Sasha Phyronix

The Tyhrra-Guise is necessary to get past certain areas, blocked either with a forcefield, a deactivated elevator, or a gap with a retracted bridge. Ratchet will need to speak to a tyhrranoid in Tyhrranese to get past. During these conversations, a rhythm game commences, in which the player must press or hold the buttons that appear on-screen. Failing a button press will cause Ratchet to insult the tyhrranoid or spout nonsense. However, the player can retry an infinite number of times after an error.

The Tyhrra-Guise may also be used outside of instances where it is required if the player wants to, though Ratchet will take full damage from any damage source while the disguise is active as any damage reduction from armor will not be taken into consideration until the disguise is deactivated.

Behind the scenes

The Tyhrra-Guise was designed on paper by Mike Stout, who also designed its puzzles. He considered it less of a success than the Refractor, which he also designed. Stout had the idea of a rhythm game similar to Space Channel 5, with the twist that it was a conversation. The implementation ended up similar to his original design, but it was difficult to get players to understand the interface. Many players during playtests would walk up to the tyhrranoids and fail repeatedly as they did not understand it.

The Tyhrra-Guise segment on Mylon proved difficult for the developers. Originally, the Tyhrra-Guise challenge would begin immediately after the grav-ramp and turrets would shoot a player if they were not disguised. Playtesters did not think to use the Tyhrra-Guise as it had been absent for a while, meaning that this was problematic. Mike Stout was told by his superiors that the turrets should be removed, though Tony Garcia, who was programming the Mylon level, opposed this as he felt it made the challenge pointless, and preferred to simply move the challenge further back from where the grav-ramp stops. This led to a huge row, resulting in a compromise in which a forcefield appeared after the grav-ramp and before the challenge initiated.

Mike Stout wrote many of the original lines for the Tyhrra-Guise, though they were rewritten by the writer for Up Your Arsenal, Brad Santos. One of the lines Ratchet says upon failing the button presses, "I emit a noxious effluvium in your general direction!", is a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in which a French soldier insults King Arthur and his knights by saying "I fart in your general direction!". Another line, “Your Mother was a nine-toed Amoeboid!” Is a reference to the same film, where the aforementioned soldier yells “Your Mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!”.

References

• Insomniac Games (2004). Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal [Game]. PlayStation 2.
• Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [@uselesspodcasts] (2012, April 16). Ratchet & Clank 3 Dev Commentary: 6 - Annihilation Nation [Video]. YouTube.
• Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [@uselesspodcasts] (2012, May 6). Ratchet & Clank 3 Dev Commentary: 9 - Aquatos Finale [Video]. Anthony Yu. YouTube.
• Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [@uselesspodcasts] (2012, December 23). Ratchet & Clank 3 Dev Commentary: 35 - Final Level [Video]. YouTube.