[PA Comic] Friday, June 22, 2012 - Dichotomy

Geth

Dichotomy
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/06/22

Turambar

@Dichotomy

godmode

Turambar wrote: »

@ Dichotomy

Heh, I came in here to say that.

DexOZ

I reckon switching roles here could've made this way more awesome ... just sayin'

Dark Raven X

"that" puzzle, huh?

Might have to check this out, if it's got one of "those"

SpiraMirabilis

The art is really good on today's strip!

Lucascraft

What type of game is Quantum Conundrum? I can't look it up at work.

SabreMau

Wikipedia wrote:

Quantum Conundrum is a first-person action video game by Airtight Games and published by Square Enix. It is designed by Kim Swift, who formerly worked at Valve as a lead designer on the critically acclaimed Portal. The game was released on Microsoft Windows via Steam (software) on June 21, 2012, and is scheduled for release on July 11, 2012 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Plot
The plot stars a quiet 12-year-old boy as its main protagonist. One day, he visits the mansion laboratory belonging to his uncle, an eccentric scientist and inventor named Professor Fitz Quadwrangle (voiced by John De Lancie). Shortly after his arrival, an explosion occurs as a result of a failed experiment, causing the professor to disappear. The boy then discovers a special glove with the power to change dimensions, which he decides to use to find out what happened to his uncle.

Gameplay
Quantum Conundrum is viewed from the first-person perspective and emphasizes contained puzzle elements. The objective is to explore Professor Quadwrangle's manor, solving puzzles and challenges in order to progress from room to room.

The primary game mechanism is the Interdimensional Shift Device (shortened to ISD) - at the press of a button, the player can switch into one of four different dimensions. To do this, they must first locate special batteries and place them into colored receptacles, which subsequently creates a dimensional rift. The geometry of the normal environment is retained when switching dimensions, but changes are made to the aesthetics, and the physics and properties of objects are altered significantly. One of the dimensional options is the "fluffy dimension". When swapped to this, the environment takes on a bright white, softened look. This causes objects to become 10 times lighter in weight, allowing the player to interact with them in ways that would not be possible in the default dimension. The other dimensions slow down time to a twentieth of its ordinary speed, make objects become 10 times heavier in weight, and reverse the direction of gravity.

Oh, it's this game? I remember hearing about it a few weeks ago but forgot about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M161dkBtXoM

kingworks

Looks pretty good - like it's got sort of a Psychonauts vibe put to time and/or dimension-based puzzle solving.

Black_Heart

Getting back to PA roots with this strip.

Nightslyr

Watching that video made me realize how annoying it must be for John de Lancie to still play a Q-like character 25 years after Encounter at Farpoint.

SabreMau

Might be used to it by now. And he gets other kinds of roles too.

Athenor

SabreMau wrote: »

Might be used to it by now. And he gets other kinds of roles too.

Like Discord, where he plays.... Q.

SabreMau

Actually, was thinking more of things like Torchwood, Breaking Bad, and Assassin's Creed.

anastazius

Nightslyr wrote: »

Watching that video made me realize how annoying it must be for John de Lancie to still play a Q-like character 25 years after Encounter at Farpoint.

He was a badass in Breaking Bad. Damn you Walter White!

jippee

My Braaaaaaaaaaaaaain.

Enlong

I imagine that that kind of role is fun for DeLancie to play. Of course, it's good that he's getting other kinds of roles, but I don't think it's bad for someone to have a signature role, if it's one that's fun for them to do.

And I'm not an actor, but I imagine it would be fun to play a big ham.

Dedwrekka

Nightslyr wrote: »

Watching that video made me realize how annoying it must be for John de Lancie to still play a Q-like character 25 years after Encounter at Farpoint.

Even if Quantum Conundrum was nothing but John de Lancie making snide remarks as you run around an empty room (which it definitely isn't), I would play the hell out of that. Even if that kind of character is annoying for him (which I'm not convinced it is, because he keeps playing it), he's still amazingly good at it.

For the person who asked what the game is like.
Short answer: Portal-ish, maybe
Long Answer: The thing that will cause me to put my keyboard through my monitor

First Person Physics game with some basic elements that seem to make reviewers seizure and spout out the word "Portal" while they twitch horribly (tsk, there was a warning about that at the loading screen). In play though, aside from being a first person physics game, it's very different, and I would even venture to say it's much harder.
Portal had one feature (portals) and asked you to learn everything about it. Quantum Conundrum has four to five (dimensions) and asks you to learn every combination of those that you could possibly come up with to work out the solution to the problem, then takes some of them away every so often just to make things more difficult.

Simon Moon

Tycho in the news post wrote:

Quantum Conundrum doesn’t have any intention of being a narrative tour de force, which is too bad, because this is no doubt what everyone expects. Portal was written by the industry’s foremost writer of humor, which helps. There is one other person who could have done it, but he also works at Valve.

So, I know that "the industry's foremost writer of humor" is Erik Wolpaw; who's the other writer Tycho's referring to?

TychoCelchuuu

Simon Moon wrote: »

Tycho in the news post wrote:

Quantum Conundrum doesn’t have any intention of being a narrative tour de force, which is too bad, because this is no doubt what everyone expects. Portal was written by the industry’s foremost writer of humor, which helps. There is one other person who could have done it, but he also works at Valve.

So, I know that "the industry's foremost writer of humor" is Erik Wolpaw; who's the other writer Tycho's referring to?

Chet Faliszek.

Veecat

Isn't anyone else curious what Gabe is eating? Is it a stack of pringles?

Hahnsoo1

Veecat wrote: »

Isn't anyone else curious what Gabe is eating? Is it a stack of pringles?

I thought he was eating a rock. As in a rock-eating caveman thing.

Sleepery Jeem

OK, I played through the whole game, but I really have no idea what "that" puzzle was. None of them seemed to be exceptionally more difficult than any others. This isn't bragging - I found the game plenty challenging, I just can't think of a specific puzzle that stands out. Which room was it?

The only one I really found infuriating was the quarter-circle shaped one near the end, but not because I couldn't figure out what to do, just because the timing on the first jump was WAY too tight, and I atomized myself a dozen times.

Muffins

Sleepery Jeem wrote: »

OK, I played through the whole game, but I really have no idea what "that" puzzle was. None of them seemed to be exceptionally more difficult than any others. This isn't bragging - I found the game plenty challenging, I just can't think of a specific puzzle that stands out. Which room was it?

The only one I really found infuriating was the quarter-circle shaped one near the end, but not because I couldn't figure out what to do, just because the timing on the first jump was WAY too tight, and I atomized myself a dozen times.

My thoughts exactly, I have no idea which puzzle the comic refers to.

I'd really like to see the video behind this comic to understand what was going on with this one.