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[The Witness] Released! Get lost on a mysterious puzzle island on PC and PS4!

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    fortyforty Registered User regular
    Actually just fuck the desert in general. I still have no idea how to do anything here except a few +1s.

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    fortyforty Registered User regular
    I feel like I'm running out of things I can do without looking stuff up. :/

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    fortyforty Registered User regular
    forty wrote: »
    I do not like these shadow puzzles. Some of them feel like guesswork and I've been completely stuck on one for a while now.

    I looked up one of them and laughed because I would never, ever have gotten it. didn't feel bad at all. that was one of the weakest puzzle sets IMO.
    OK, I did the same and, ugh. I guess the pieces were there but it was really fucking messy. I did all the ones after it with no major issues, so I feel like that was maybe not set up so well. I wonder why play testing didn't show more issues with that one.

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    MachwingMachwing It looks like a harmless old computer, doesn't it? Left in this cave to rot ... or to flower!Registered User regular
    forty wrote: »
    That door on the beach by the desert: how the fuck?
    I was also confused by this. I posted in the SE++ thread and somebody was like "The four blues cancel the T-shape, just segment the line and you're good!" To which I was like "That doesn't make sense, I have to touch every corner, I... oh, I can do that."

    l3icwZV.png
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    fortyforty Registered User regular
    edited February 2016
    Machwing wrote: »
    forty wrote: »
    That door on the beach by the desert: how the fuck?
    I was also confused by this. I posted in the SE++ thread and somebody was like "The four blues cancel the T-shape, just segment the line and you're good!" To which I was like "That doesn't make sense, I have to touch every corner, I... oh, I can do that."
    I realize what needs to be done with the pieces. I just can't do it.

    Edit: Nevermind. I had a bad assumption about how the straight piece had to be picked up for some reason. I was thinking there was only one way it could go but there are two.

    forty on
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    fortyforty Registered User regular
    edited February 2016
    Bah. Found the colored glass.

    forty on
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    Ratsult2Ratsult2 Registered User regular
    forty wrote: »
    I don't think you even can manually save in this game.

    I'm not 100% sure, but I think the game saves when you open the "load game" menu option, those stats are always updated. Technically you can also force a save by quitting the game too.

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    fortyforty Registered User regular
    I meant you can't save in the traditional sense of plopping a save point that you can restore to if you don't like what you just did.

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    Ratsult2Ratsult2 Registered User regular
    forty wrote: »
    I meant you can't save in the traditional sense of plopping a save point that you can restore to if you don't like what you just did.

    I'm not sure there is any reason you would need or want to revert to a save. I guess if you are desperate, you could go to the load screen to force a save, then alt+f4 to exit (without saving) if you need to get back to that save.

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    fortyforty Registered User regular
    Well, back to work tomorrow so progress will be slow again. I'm at something around 340 +35.

    Is there something I need to do first before I can solve any of the panels in the desert? I've run all around that little fort thing and can't find anything that hints at what to do.

    Other areas I can't figure out how to do anything in: the jungle with the camouflaged boxes and the bamboo forest.

    I like The Witness when I'm figuring out some sort of reasonable logic. I like it less when I'm running around playing "spot the minute detail from the right angle."

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    fortyforty Registered User regular
    Ratsult2 wrote: »
    forty wrote: »
    I meant you can't save in the traditional sense of plopping a save point that you can restore to if you don't like what you just did.

    I'm not sure there is any reason you would need or want to revert to a save. I guess if you are desperate, you could go to the load screen to force a save, then alt+f4 to exit (without saving) if you need to get back to that save.
    In general you don't really need to. I haven't had any issues with the system. But if you could, quick saving and reloading could save a bit of time when getting a panel wrong deactivates it. It would also save time if you changed your mind when kicking off a slow moving or irreversible (from one side) platform. Or if it worked during environmental puzzle activations, it would be handy as a safety net for some of the longer or more onerous ones.

    Basically, you don't need to be able to quick save/reload, but I could definitely see why you would want to.

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    KoopahTroopahKoopahTroopah The koopas, the troopas. Philadelphia, PARegistered User regular
    Doing the mountain puzzles finally.
    God damnit my eyes. Why Jon? Why....?

    Just did the whole first floor down.

    Then my internet died so I'm holding off til I can keep streaming the rest of it.

    Endgame Windmill stuff:
    I have all the puzzle videos but the fourth from the left. Is that in the mountain or did I miss a door somewhere? I feel like I definitely did every single puzzle up until now except the obelisks and secret single white panels with the triangles. Also I could not suffer through that video from the ship. I'm sure he was saying educational material but that guy was speaking awfully slow for a very very long time.

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    Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Registered User regular
    Has the internet collectively got a final total how many puzzles and + puzzles there are?

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    WinkyWinky rRegistered User regular
    I found the final set of puzzles to be
    obnoxious and unenjoyable; didn't really learn anything through doing them, just regular puzzles with added handicaps. I looked up a solution for one because I was just tired of dealing.

    I found the game in general lost steam near the end, and I found the overall philosophy to be fairly incoherent/uninteresting musings on consciousness

    90% excellent though.

    I actually found the overall philosophy to be almost startlingly coherent, considering how esoteric and occassionally conflicting everything aims to be, but perhaps that has something to do with what I brought into it myself? I thought the whole thing was all actually rather elegant, especially insofar as it attempts to really leverage its medium in service to the message. You might find issue with the "new agey" components and Blow being about as pretentious as you can possibly be, but he was aiming rather high and I sympathize with what he was trying to do especially after listening to the entire final video lecture (that's an amazing lecture, by the way; it's super long-winded and meandering by design but sit still through the entire thing and you'll most likely find it rewarding if you're a person who is interested in taking games seriously as an art form). I'm not really sure yet if Blow hit his mark with what he was attempting here, but I think he's definitely made one of the best stabs at it that I've ever seen, and probably one of the most respectable examples of games of art.

    I absolutely intend to write an essay on it.

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    P10P10 An Idiot With Low IQ Registered User regular
    edited February 2016
    P10 wrote: »
    hrm
    find the puzzle is not an acceptable puzzle
    jblow-chan pls

    jungle? I liked the puzzles themselves but that area is stupid
    No.
    Not the +1 puzzles, I'm ok with that.
    it's a timed bit where you have to solve a sequence of randomized puzzles. The final puzzles in the sequence are in a randomized maze and you have to find them and its fucking awful.

    P10 on
    Shameful pursuits and utterly stupid opinions
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    BaalorBaalor Registered User regular
    Has the internet collectively got a final total how many puzzles and + puzzles there are?

    The general consensus is that
    523 +135 +6
    is the highest score possible.

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    P10P10 An Idiot With Low IQ Registered User regular
    Baalor wrote: »
    Has the internet collectively got a final total how many puzzles and + puzzles there are?

    The general consensus is that
    523 +135 +6
    is the highest score possible.
    Hrm.
    I'm at 510+101+1 so I'm not actually that far off the mark (if accurate) once can I get through this ballbuster. I imagine some of the +1s are a pain to hunt down tho.

    Shameful pursuits and utterly stupid opinions
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    Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    jothki wrote: »
    How crippling is color blindness for this? I saw an example online of something with blue? and purple? that was fairly bad, but if that's the absolute worst that it gets I might be fine.

    @jothki I have the most common form of colourblindness (anomalous dichromacy, which mainly affects red and green but also purple, pink, orange, and others to lesser extents) and the only trouble I had was having to lean forward and squint at some pink and orange stars that looked very similar. at worst you can get someone else to interpret or get the solutions online. or skip it!

    the most colour intensive puzzles are actually very colourblind friendly as they deal with less of the spectrum.

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    jothkijothki Registered User regular
    edited February 2016
    jothki wrote: »
    How crippling is color blindness for this? I saw an example online of something with blue? and purple? that was fairly bad, but if that's the absolute worst that it gets I might be fine.

    I have the most common form of colourblindness (anomalous dichromacy, which mainly affects red and green but also purple, pink, orange, and others to lesser extents) and the only trouble I had was having to lean forward and squint at some pink and orange stars that looked very similar. at worst you can get someone else to interpret or get the solutions online. or skip it!

    the most colour intensive puzzles are actually very colourblind friendly as they deal with less of the spectrum.

    I have a different kind, one that makes blue and purple and yellow and light green look similar.

    If you show me a green block and a yellow block, I'll probably be able to tell which is which. If you tell me to push those blocks on to lightly shaded targets, I'll be helpless.

    jothki on
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    HugglesHuggles Registered User regular
    I have strong suspicions (post-game)
    that very subtle things change if you complete the game and restart. I don't just mean the credits area, I mean I suspect that there are things you can only do/solve after resetting everything. Pure conjecture, but I've seen it corroborated in rumour enough to have strong suspicions, particularly about 'a star at dawn' etc.

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    P10P10 An Idiot With Low IQ Registered User regular
    edited February 2016
    Huggles wrote: »
    I have strong suspicions (post-game)
    that very subtle things change if you complete the game and restart. I don't just mean the credits area, I mean I suspect that there are things you can only do/solve after resetting everything. Pure conjecture, but I've seen it corroborated in rumour enough to have strong suspicions, particularly about 'a star at dawn' etc.
    I will probably look into stuff like this later.
    I was planning on comparing the post-ending 'new game' and say, 'new game' from the menu. I also need to make a new game to test the theory about the lake / the white lilies, which I believe is true but I want to prove to myself.

    P10 on
    Shameful pursuits and utterly stupid opinions
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    SniperGuySniperGuy SniperGuyGaming Registered User regular
    Huggles wrote: »
    I have strong suspicions (post-game)
    that very subtle things change if you complete the game and restart. I don't just mean the credits area, I mean I suspect that there are things you can only do/solve after resetting everything. Pure conjecture, but I've seen it corroborated in rumour enough to have strong suspicions, particularly about 'a star at dawn' etc.

    I know for a fact
    the "flickering lamp" statue lady moves. She's underwater in my new game as if she fell in, whereas the credits sequence thing showed her up above the water. I've heard people mention she can move. Maybe based on completion? I haven't checked in my autosave before the elevator. I'm not sure if I should play that autosave or the new save file!

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    P10P10 An Idiot With Low IQ Registered User regular
    edited February 2016
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    Huggles wrote: »
    I have strong suspicions (post-game)
    that very subtle things change if you complete the game and restart. I don't just mean the credits area, I mean I suspect that there are things you can only do/solve after resetting everything. Pure conjecture, but I've seen it corroborated in rumour enough to have strong suspicions, particularly about 'a star at dawn' etc.

    I know for a fact
    the "flickering lamp" statue lady moves. She's underwater in my new game as if she fell in, whereas the credits sequence thing showed her up above the water. I've heard people mention she can move. Maybe based on completion? I haven't checked in my autosave before the elevator. I'm not sure if I should play that autosave or the new save file!
    I believe she moves based on your progression through the game.
    The theory is the lake is a map of the island (you can see for yourself it mirrors the shape of the island by looking at the boat's map), and the white/yellow flowers track 'hidden' progression (white = audio logs, yellow = ???, clams = safes). The lady moving almost assuredly tracks lighting all the lasers, since she's mirroring the statue of the lady carved into the mountain.

    This would also mean the random white flowers scattered around the island actually signify # of audio logs in the area.

    P10 on
    Shameful pursuits and utterly stupid opinions
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    SniperGuySniperGuy SniperGuyGaming Registered User regular
    P10 wrote: »
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    Huggles wrote: »
    I have strong suspicions (post-game)
    that very subtle things change if you complete the game and restart. I don't just mean the credits area, I mean I suspect that there are things you can only do/solve after resetting everything. Pure conjecture, but I've seen it corroborated in rumour enough to have strong suspicions, particularly about 'a star at dawn' etc.

    I know for a fact
    the "flickering lamp" statue lady moves. She's underwater in my new game as if she fell in, whereas the credits sequence thing showed her up above the water. I've heard people mention she can move. Maybe based on completion? I haven't checked in my autosave before the elevator. I'm not sure if I should play that autosave or the new save file!
    I believe she moves based on your progression through the game.
    The theory is the lake is a map of the island (you can see for yourself it mirrors the shape of the island by looking at the boat's map), and the white/yellow flowers track 'hidden' progression (white = audio logs, yellow = ???, clams = safes). The lady moving almost assuredly tracks lighting all the lasers, since she's mirroring the statue of the lady carved into the mountain.

    This would also mean the random white flowers scattered around the island actually signify # of audio logs in the area.

    Ah hah.
    there's a white X behind the mill made out flowers so I assumed they were something weird. But what's up with the star at dawn and the rest of that?

    MYSTERIES!

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    P10P10 An Idiot With Low IQ Registered User regular
    edited February 2016
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    P10 wrote: »
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    Huggles wrote: »
    I have strong suspicions (post-game)
    that very subtle things change if you complete the game and restart. I don't just mean the credits area, I mean I suspect that there are things you can only do/solve after resetting everything. Pure conjecture, but I've seen it corroborated in rumour enough to have strong suspicions, particularly about 'a star at dawn' etc.

    I know for a fact
    the "flickering lamp" statue lady moves. She's underwater in my new game as if she fell in, whereas the credits sequence thing showed her up above the water. I've heard people mention she can move. Maybe based on completion? I haven't checked in my autosave before the elevator. I'm not sure if I should play that autosave or the new save file!
    I believe she moves based on your progression through the game.
    The theory is the lake is a map of the island (you can see for yourself it mirrors the shape of the island by looking at the boat's map), and the white/yellow flowers track 'hidden' progression (white = audio logs, yellow = ???, clams = safes). The lady moving almost assuredly tracks lighting all the lasers, since she's mirroring the statue of the lady carved into the mountain.

    This would also mean the random white flowers scattered around the island actually signify # of audio logs in the area.

    Ah hah.
    there's a white X behind the mill made out flowers so I assumed they were something weird. But what's up with the star at dawn and the rest of that?

    MYSTERIES!
    I'm not sure how many flowers there are by the mill. I know it's a lot (9?), which makes me think it's counting audio logs + what's underneath the windmill. As for the lines during the ending...¯\_(ツ)_/¯? Some of it definitely has meaning, but I'm not sure it corresponds to puzzles...

    P10 on
    Shameful pursuits and utterly stupid opinions
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    PeewiPeewi Registered User regular
    P10 wrote: »
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    Huggles wrote: »
    I have strong suspicions (post-game)
    that very subtle things change if you complete the game and restart. I don't just mean the credits area, I mean I suspect that there are things you can only do/solve after resetting everything. Pure conjecture, but I've seen it corroborated in rumour enough to have strong suspicions, particularly about 'a star at dawn' etc.

    I know for a fact
    the "flickering lamp" statue lady moves. She's underwater in my new game as if she fell in, whereas the credits sequence thing showed her up above the water. I've heard people mention she can move. Maybe based on completion? I haven't checked in my autosave before the elevator. I'm not sure if I should play that autosave or the new save file!
    I believe she moves based on your progression through the game.
    The theory is the lake is a map of the island (you can see for yourself it mirrors the shape of the island by looking at the boat's map), and the white/yellow flowers track 'hidden' progression (white = audio logs, yellow = ???, clams = safes). The lady moving almost assuredly tracks lighting all the lasers, since she's mirroring the statue of the lady carved into the mountain.

    This would also mean the random white flowers scattered around the island actually signify # of audio logs in the area.
    Some of the audio logs are orange instead of the usual grey. I'm pretty sure that's what the yellow flowers indicate.

    They don't just indicate how many there are, but also their exact position. For example, by the flower for the symmetry area there are flowers behind it and to the left of it. If you actually go to the symmetry area, there's an audio log behind the laser cube and another to the left of it.

    I assume the sprinklers also mean something, but I don't know what.

  • Options
    P10P10 An Idiot With Low IQ Registered User regular
    Peewi wrote: »
    P10 wrote: »
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    Huggles wrote: »
    I have strong suspicions (post-game)
    that very subtle things change if you complete the game and restart. I don't just mean the credits area, I mean I suspect that there are things you can only do/solve after resetting everything. Pure conjecture, but I've seen it corroborated in rumour enough to have strong suspicions, particularly about 'a star at dawn' etc.

    I know for a fact
    the "flickering lamp" statue lady moves. She's underwater in my new game as if she fell in, whereas the credits sequence thing showed her up above the water. I've heard people mention she can move. Maybe based on completion? I haven't checked in my autosave before the elevator. I'm not sure if I should play that autosave or the new save file!
    I believe she moves based on your progression through the game.
    The theory is the lake is a map of the island (you can see for yourself it mirrors the shape of the island by looking at the boat's map), and the white/yellow flowers track 'hidden' progression (white = audio logs, yellow = ???, clams = safes). The lady moving almost assuredly tracks lighting all the lasers, since she's mirroring the statue of the lady carved into the mountain.

    This would also mean the random white flowers scattered around the island actually signify # of audio logs in the area.
    Some of the audio logs are orange instead of the usual grey. I'm pretty sure that's what the yellow flowers indicate.

    They don't just indicate how many there are, but also their exact position. For example, by the flower for the symmetry area there are flowers behind it and to the left of it. If you actually go to the symmetry area, there's an audio log behind the laser cube and another to the left of it.

    I assume the sprinklers also mean something, but I don't know what.
    Locations of the obelisks, maybe? idk i have a hard time mapping spots in the lake to the broader island's geography so its hard to confirm things. i'll look into it at some point

    Shameful pursuits and utterly stupid opinions
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    DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    Still not really reading the thread but having just
    found the first secret path, mine was the piping on the river above the waterfall

    The PA comic has become about a million times more truthful.

    https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2016/01/27/potential-thingness

    Whippy wrote: »
    nope nope nope nope abort abort talk about anime
    I like to ART
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    jaziekjaziek Bad at everything And mad about it.Registered User regular
    when people are saying x+y+z, what is the z?

    is it the
    honeycomb solutions under the windmill?

    Steam ||| SC2 - Jaziek.377 on EU & NA. ||| Twitch Stream
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    P10P10 An Idiot With Low IQ Registered User regular
    jaziek wrote: »
    when people are saying x+y+z, what is the z?

    is it the
    honeycomb solutions under the windmill?
    completed obelisks

    Shameful pursuits and utterly stupid opinions
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    jaziekjaziek Bad at everything And mad about it.Registered User regular
    P10 wrote: »
    jaziek wrote: »
    when people are saying x+y+z, what is the z?

    is it the
    honeycomb solutions under the windmill?
    completed obelisks

    ok.

    Does that actually show up on the load screen? I still haven't finished one yet.

    Steam ||| SC2 - Jaziek.377 on EU & NA. ||| Twitch Stream
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    P10P10 An Idiot With Low IQ Registered User regular
    jaziek wrote: »
    P10 wrote: »
    jaziek wrote: »
    when people are saying x+y+z, what is the z?

    is it the
    honeycomb solutions under the windmill?
    completed obelisks

    ok.

    Does that actually show up on the load screen? I still haven't finished one yet.
    yes, it's recorded on the save file.

    Shameful pursuits and utterly stupid opinions
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    BaalorBaalor Registered User regular
    P10 wrote: »
    Peewi wrote: »
    P10 wrote: »
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    Huggles wrote: »
    I have strong suspicions (post-game)
    that very subtle things change if you complete the game and restart. I don't just mean the credits area, I mean I suspect that there are things you can only do/solve after resetting everything. Pure conjecture, but I've seen it corroborated in rumour enough to have strong suspicions, particularly about 'a star at dawn' etc.

    I know for a fact
    the "flickering lamp" statue lady moves. She's underwater in my new game as if she fell in, whereas the credits sequence thing showed her up above the water. I've heard people mention she can move. Maybe based on completion? I haven't checked in my autosave before the elevator. I'm not sure if I should play that autosave or the new save file!
    I believe she moves based on your progression through the game.
    The theory is the lake is a map of the island (you can see for yourself it mirrors the shape of the island by looking at the boat's map), and the white/yellow flowers track 'hidden' progression (white = audio logs, yellow = ???, clams = safes). The lady moving almost assuredly tracks lighting all the lasers, since she's mirroring the statue of the lady carved into the mountain.

    This would also mean the random white flowers scattered around the island actually signify # of audio logs in the area.
    Some of the audio logs are orange instead of the usual grey. I'm pretty sure that's what the yellow flowers indicate.

    They don't just indicate how many there are, but also their exact position. For example, by the flower for the symmetry area there are flowers behind it and to the left of it. If you actually go to the symmetry area, there's an audio log behind the laser cube and another to the left of it.

    I assume the sprinklers also mean something, but I don't know what.
    Locations of the obelisks, maybe? idk i have a hard time mapping spots in the lake to the broader island's geography so its hard to confirm things. i'll look into it at some point
    Water spouts definitely represent obelisks. When you finish one the spout shoots higher.
    Also lamps are lasers and there are small triangle shaped leafs representing the hidden iPad triangle puzzles.

    I think most of the speculation about extra stuff hidden in another playthrough comes from the secret ending before it was known how to access it later. There was a person talking on a stream claiming to have worked on the game and that at least 3 playthroughs are needed to see everything. However the info given there is pretty much disproven by the possibility of closing the starting gate again.

    Personally I lean more towards speculation about secret combinations on puzzles with multiple solutions.

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    fortyforty Registered User regular
    P10 wrote: »
    jaziek wrote: »
    when people are saying x+y+z, what is the z?

    is it the
    honeycomb solutions under the windmill?
    completed obelisks
    Oh, so it's essentially redundant information from the second number.

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    DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    forty wrote: »
    Actually just fuck the desert in general. I still have no idea how to do anything here except a few +1s.

    I found the desert pretty easy, I'm having a hell of a time with the "shapes" puzzles though.

    Whippy wrote: »
    nope nope nope nope abort abort talk about anime
    I like to ART
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    DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    I did just run into a weird thing last night that I don't mind getting spoiled on.
    the tower in the castle, why are their two "maze" sections with the mega puzzle at the top since it seems like you only had to solve one to start the laser

    Whippy wrote: »
    nope nope nope nope abort abort talk about anime
    I like to ART
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    fortyforty Registered User regular
    Doodmann wrote: »
    I did just run into a weird thing last night that I don't mind getting spoiled on.
    the tower in the castle, why are their two "maze" sections with the mega puzzle at the top since it seems like you only had to solve one to start the laser
    I think it might be a leniency thing? Like "we're only going to make you solve one of these to progress the game; you can solve the other if you want to for completion." Probably the same reason you don't need to activate every laser to get to the ending.
    That said, it's funny how the tower puzzle for the hedge maze was ridiculously simple (if you take screenshots) while the other one was pretty damn complicated since you can't just retrace your route. You actually have to figure out a new, much more difficult puzzle.

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    fortyforty Registered User regular
    edited February 2016
    Doodmann wrote: »
    forty wrote: »
    Actually just fuck the desert in general. I still have no idea how to do anything here except a few +1s.

    I found the desert pretty easy, I'm having a hell of a time with the "shapes" puzzles though.
    Shapes as in the Tetris pieces? Some of the puzzles involving them get really tough to figure out, but at least there are a significant amount of teaching panels for them. I still can't figure out what I'm even looking for with the "ship wheel" panels in the desert. I don't know if I'm missing a training section or I just can't find what the gimmick is supposed to be. I feel like all the other mechanics archetypes I've seen so far have had some very clear training opportunities, so this feels like a weird exception.

    forty on
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    LeumasWhiteLeumasWhite New ZealandRegistered User regular
    I ended up doing the desert area well after everything else. The only non-spoiler advice I have is that there's a definite theme going on in the area that should help you towards the gimmick it's using.

    QPPHj1J.jpg
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    fortyforty Registered User regular
    The definite theme that I could discern was "sand." :|
    Is it self contained to that "structure" that has a bunch of panels strewn about on it? Or do I need to keep wandering around the desert area at large in order for the panel area to make any sense?

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