When you start Pathways Into Darkness the opening Progress window informs you that:

You are 0.0m above ground. You have scored
0 of 41 points and recovered $0.0K in treasure

As you begin to pick up certain items your points increase. But is the final points total 41?

In Russ Taylor's Pathways point totals spoiler it states:

pre-endgame: 37 points
endgame: 42 points (yes, out of 41)
w/ special: 44 points (the highest I've gotten)

Is the endgame total 42?

mizark316 (full name pending) <mizark316@earthlink.net> writes:

After scouring through the site, I found the Point Totals guide. After beating the game, I only got 41 points, wheresas the guide says that you can get 42. After adding all the points again I saw that the Point Guide added the points wrong:

Walther P4 pistol       1       Ground Floor
MP-41 SMG               1       Happy Happy, Carnage Carnage
M-79 grenade launcher   1       Need a Light?
AK-47 assault rifle     1       Warning: Earthquake Zone
---
weapon total            5    <------- It should only be 4 points here.

So in the end you should only have 41 points by the end of the game, plus the money bounus, accuracy bonus, suvival bonus, and the carnage bonus.

This is just one of four errors in the Russ Taylor's Pathways point totals spoiler yet as we'll shall see below Taylor's comments about the the end game total being not 41 but 42 is valid.

Below is a full listing of all the items with points in the game

Item			Pts	Level

Weapons
Walther P4 Pistol	 1	Ground Floor
MP-41 Submachine Gun	 1	Happy Happy, Carnage Carnage
M-79 Grenade Launcher	 1	Need a Light?
AK-47 Assault Rifle	 1	Warning: Earthquake Zone
---
Weapons total		 4

Crystals
Yellow crystal		 2	Never Stop Firing
Blue crystal		 2	They May Be Slow...
Orange crystal		 2	Wrong Way!
Violet crystal		 2	The Labyrinth
Green crystal		 2	Watch Your Step
Black crystal		 2	Where Only Fools Dare Tread
---
Crystals total		12

Other items
Emerald			 1	Lock&Load
Silver Bowl		 1	They May Be Slow...
Large Pearl		 1	Evil Undead Phantasms Must Die!
Alien Pipes		 3	Ascension
Silver Key		 1	Welcome Tasty Primate
Red Cloak		 1	Happy Happy, Carnage Carnage
Gold Ingot		 1	Feel The Power
Infra-Red Goggles	 1	A Plague of Demons
Cedar Box		 2	A Plague of Demons
Diamond Necklace	 1	Beware of Low-Flying Nightmares
Radio Beacon		 1	Need a Light?
Amethyst Ring		 1	Need a Light?
Red Velvet Bag		 1	Lasciate Ogne Speranza, Voi Ch'Intrate
Sapphire		 1	Watch Your Step
Nuclear Device		 1	Watch Your Step
Lead Box		 1	Warning: Earthquake Zone
Ruby Ring		 1	Warning: Earthquake Zone
Gold Key		 1	Where Only Fools Dare Tread
Alien Gemstone		 5	Ok, Who Else Wants Some?
---
Other items total	26


---
Total points		42


Special item
Easter Egg		 2	Happy Happy, Carnage Carnage

---
Grand total		44

So excluding the Easter Egg the points total is 42 not 41. Given that the Egg is almost impossible to find (without some clue to its existence) the final points total you would most likely end up with is 42. Yet the game says 41. Did Bungie make a mistake?

A quick check of the Pathways Into Darkness Hint book reveals more points total anomalies. The Hint book only identifies a total of 40 points to be found in the game. No reference is made to the Easter Egg and its two points and no points are ascribed to either the Lead Box or the Ruby Ring. Indeed the Lead Box is missing off the items list altogether.

As noted on Warning: Earthquake Zone when you pick up the Lead Box your points total increases by two points. Inside the Lead Box is the Ruby Ring. Given that the Amethyst Ring is worth one point it is logical to assume that the Ruby Ring is also worth one point and that the Lead Box itself makes up the other point. Russ Taylor's Pathways point totals spoiler also came to same conclusion. Either way picking up the Lead Box gains you two points thus the correct total in the Hints book should have been 42 without the Easter Egg or 44 with the Easter Egg.

Just discovered that Ron Hunsinger <Ron_Hunsinger@bmug.org> posted a follow post to Russ Taylor's Pathways point totals spoiler back in Feb 1994 correcting the errors and adding further interesting information. You can read it here. It's also linked in the Inventory window (right frame).