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[Obduction] -- It is 1:30 AM and I must solve the puzzle: yep, it's a Cyan game.
Lucid_Seraph
TealDeerMarylandRegistered User regular
TealDeerMarylandRegistered User regular
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1INKH_iBak8Obduction is a game by Cyan Worlds that was successfully Kickstarted in 2013. Like their previous games in the Myst series, Obduction is a visually stunning puzzle-based adventure game with a big emphasis on atmosphere, exploration, and intuitive mystery solving. Though Obduction (probably) does not take place in the same universe as Myst, it will shares themes of becoming lost in an unfamiliar place, trying to find (and, perhaps, define) home, loss, and melancholy for something great now fallen into ruin.
The plot revolves around people and buildings mysteriously transported to another planet by a strange artifact...including you. When you arrive at this strange, new planet, you find yourself alone in a recently abandoned town. It's up to you to find out where everyone went, and, hopefully, how to get back to your own home.
The game is built on the Unreal 4 engine. As with basically everything Cyan has ever done, it looks completely stunning. Robyn Miller, the composer behind Myst and Riven, did the (amazing) music.
It's only $30 so go buy it right now, immediately. If you've felt recently starved for beautiful single-player, plot-based games, this game is here for you. Warning: will keep you up at 4 AM and cause you to say things like "damn these stupid sphere doohickies what does it mean!?"
Official Website
Steam page
GoG
Original Kickstarter
PLEASE KEEP ALL PUZZLE AND PLOT SPOILERS IN SPOILER TAGS! Asking for help is fine, but the whole mystery and fun of the game IS the puzzles.
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I was a huuuge Myst fan as a kid. My first game was actually Riven; I played Myst second, then kinda went in a weird backwards way and played Uru and was really disappointed with... well, basically everything that Cyan made in collaboration with Ubisoft. Watching the trailer felt like coming home after a long, long journey and being like yes. Yes, this is the place I belong, finally.
I like how I was recently like "bleh you don't need good graphics to have a good game!" and that's still true but Obduction is some serious eye candy. I hope my old 2010 machine can handle it (it does have an updated graphics card and RAM, but it has a garbage power supply and terrible CPU...)
I am VERY EXCITED about the themes they seem to be exploring from the trailers and other sneak peeks they've talked about. Really seems like My Jam when it comes to games.
Also, I'd like to note that I think Cyan is... just. Wow. I think they're one of the very few game companies from the early 90s that never got bought out by someone like EA, 2K, or ZeniMax and just continued to be their own separate entity trundling along. In many ways, Obduction is a return to the Myst and Riven games for them -- I had the chance to actually speak to Rand Miller a few times (once way back in 2009 in person at the Smithsonian, and again in about 2014 in an AMA on Reddit) and he said to me that he never quite got the distinction between "indie" and "AAA" games because when he started, everything was basically indie, and for him, Cyan never really left that. For him, it felt like doing Obduction was also like coming home, back to a mode of creation & production that he & his team understands a lot better.
The thing is, unlike a lot of other Kickstarters I've seen (and backed... DoubleFine
Cyan does good fucking work.
Oh man, yes, absolutely.
My greatest hope is that Obduction also sells well beyond and outside its Kickstarter -- not something that a lot of Kickstarters manage, but if anyone can do it, I think it'll be Cyan. From the trailer it may sell on the strength of just how good it looks alone...
Because if Obduction ALSO sells well in addition to their Kickstarter, that means Cyan might be able to continue to make more weird, powerful adventure games, and by golly do I want that so very much.
Steam ID: Obos Vent: Obos
Shame the production process outlasted the relationship with the person I bought it for. :-P
Oh well.
THIS GAME IS SO FUCKING GOOD.
If you like the genre don't watch or read a single thing, just buy it when you can afford it. I went in 100% blind just trusting that Cyan makes good games, and I'm so glad I did.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
Alright, either I'm being stupid or the game might have been released half finished. I got surprise (failure-ish) credits rolling, which are avoidable on reload, except I can't seem to progress if I avoid them. Significant spoilers below if anyone has gotten pretty far and wants to tell me if I'm being dumb or if the game really just ends out of nowhere halfway through.
Other than that, super compelling!
this is def. a Cyan game. it is 1:20 AM and I don't want to go to bed because i know the keycode for that thingy is around somewhere dammit i gotta open the thing to get to the place. fuckin. i'll get it. i don't need sleep.
Also: because my computer is a bit old I'm running on lowest settings, and IT STILL LOOKS GORGEOUS
*e* maybe I need to leave the first world finally to get the codes for the doors that have them? and like, open those other doors, that have no codes, but I want them open, dammit?
also my photo album is broken
also also, having "photo" where the jump key is in most other games is awkward and leads to many many weird pictures of the dirt
*ahem*
perhaps I should continue this puzzle tomorrow.
That's an issue I've been seeing but haven't experienced myself (thankfully). I believe an image gets corrupted and messes up your album. You can try looking for corrupt images in your save folder and deleting them to see if that helps. The folder is located in the AppData>Local folder.
And also, this game. I missed you so much, Cyan.
I absolutely need a physical notebook for this game, god damn. Just like old times. If people like, I will happily scan pages (with spoiler warnings) once I start it, I always enjoy those things myself. If you're keeping one, please share!
I have some questions about Hunrath. PUZZLE SPOILERS FOR HUNRATH BELOW. Please don't spoil beyond the exact questions I ask? Feel free to ask more questions about the current state of my Hunrath (eg, "did you twist the doohicky and flip the switch and then rotate the sprocket in the office?")
I'm having some issues with a few puzzles, but I've also managed to unlock two sphere thingies which seem to open the way to other worlds.
I'm especially miffed by the two rotary phones. There's one in the garage, and one that's the door lock for the vertical boat building. I tried the phone number on the lawyer advertisement garage on both, no dice (I may not have used the whole number on the phone booth?). There's also the keypad to the... door... thingy... near the big weird sphere.
SO OKAY QUESTIONS.
1. Can I "solve" / finish Hunrath without leaving, or do I need to go to the other worlds first? I hate leaving a world unsolved, but I know from previous Cyan games that it's often necessary to leave and come back.
2. Does the phone booth near the garage do anything, or is it just a red herring / practice for the boat door? If it does something, is there something else I need to do first to make it operational? Is there something to interact with in there besides the rotary dial?
3. The lawyer advertisement with the phone number in the garage. Red herring, or actually important? If important, do I use the number on either of the two phones?
4. The Villein device in the garage... Is that actually a puzzle, or just something to teach you how Villein devices work for the future (similar to Ghen's schoolroom in Riven?) (GDI CYAN I DON'T WANT TO LEARN ANOTHER NEW MATHEMATICAL SYSTEM >| OR A NEW LANGUAGE, I SUCK AT THAT)
5. Stuff in Farley's house. I haven't figured out what the projector & map is trying to tell me. I figure that the symbol on the back of the shade for the chalkboard is a Villein symbol, but I'm not sure where to apply it? I tried the villein bot in the garage but I think I drew it wrong (I couldn't look at the image up close because of the photo album glitch, so I was working with the thumbnail).
6. The playing cards left around. Are the card faces and numbers important (codes & such) or just there for ambiance? Similarly, the backgammon board.
I have other things I'm chewing over, but those I figure I'll solve on my own later.
Now, some more general but spoilery thoughts on atmosphere, logic, and the game.
"Huh, it says here that the projectors always have weird interference... I wonder if that's why some of the rocks blocking the tunnels hum?"
"Hehe lazor. Oh no whoops I turned off Farley's hologram in my enthusiastic lazoring
"OH GOD WAS TURNING OFF THE RED LAZOR THE RIGHT CHOICE... THAT WAS A BIG THING I JUST DID... wait okay no Cyan games usually don't kill you or get you force stuck until closer to the end, unless you're realllly dumb like in Riven with the prison book."
"mine cart mine cart mine cart mine cart OMG I CAN LAZOR ROCKS omg lazor alllll the rocks
"lazor that thingy near the salt vents hey why don't I walk in there eh it's a dead eeeENENENF WHAT. WHAT. HOW AM I IN THE JUNKYARD
That last moment was super amazing and cool. Like... really, really amazing. That was also the point when I went "haha it's only midnight it's fine!" and that was a mistake.
Annnd some random thoughts and things about logic and easter eggs.
My shadow interferes with puzzles sometimes, but I like having it on because it makes the game feel more real, like I have physical presence.
"Who the devil are you?" RAND IS THAT YOU.
Many of the "actors" are pretty bad in the 90s FMV game way... but that works for this game? It feels nicer than digital characters, even if the acting is wooden.
Hahaha white farmhouse AND THERE'S A MAILBOX WITH A NOTE I see what you did there. I can't throw the pamphlet at myself to die like in Zork tho.
One of the many words for "Hello" the mayor in the hologram greets you with is "Shorah..." which is D'ni. I know it's probably just an easter egg, but now I'm going WAIT IS THIS GAME IN THE MYST UNIVERSE TOO...???" It's not actually out of the realm of possibility, the Myst universe is really, really big.
Is gasoline magical? Or is there infinite gasoline like there's infinite water? Because that generator just keeps on trucking. Why aren't y'all using solar power, since night doesn't seem to be a thing?
Is the planet outside the dome even inhabited? Is the air out there even breathable? Why is it so alien and hostile looking? There IS an atmosphere and it looks like there IS life, even if it's just plant life and bacteria, but...
Sorry, not "planet," given the size of the thing in the sky we're probably on a moon. Wait, if we're on a moon, why does gravity seem like Earth gravity? Another effect of the dome? WHY CAN'T I JUMP.
I've officially played Riven too many times because I recognize the page-turn sound effect as the same damn one from that game. I mean there's no reason not to re-use their old sound effect library, it's more that I recognized the exact sound effect.
The transition from planet to planet takes wayyy too long and I'm not sure if it's my computer (Computer is from 2011, intel i5, albeit upgraded with 12 gigs of RAM and an NVidia 750Ti) or the game.
Speaking of though, the game is still gorgeous on minimum, albeit kinda blurry. It's like I'm wandering around without my glasses. I can run it on higher settings, but the water effects cause my whole rig to chug like crazy. Devs, I know you like water, but it sets my machine on fire ;-;
1.) You'll have to solve at least the stuff you're having trouble with before you can explore other worlds in earnest.
2.) As far as I can tell, the phone booth is basically there to help you solve the elevator puzzle (other rotary dial) but doesn't do anything it's own.
3.) I think it's just fluff. It didn't come into play with the rotary dial puzzle.
4.) The device is connected to the cash register beside it, which displays the number you put in the machine. It's used to get a clue to another puzzle, which I'll sorta spoil if you want a little more direct hint (but not solution):
5.) The map/projector is just trying to tell you the circled area is important, but that's kind of obvious on it's own. The projector is also used on the shade for a clue to another puzzle. Look closely at the projector if you haven't.
6.) I didn't even notice the playing cards, and they haven't come into play for me yet.
In case you didn't put it together, disabling that red laser is what allows you to teleport around Hunrath (it was projecting a dome that acted as a prison, Robyn Holliday mentions it). You'll have to do it in the other worlds, too, to fully explore them.
The last clue I got from Robyn Holliday is to grow the tree and connect it all together, which is why you start exploring the other worlds.
There will be a lot of teleporting back and forth as you go on. I just finished a puzzle that required me to jump probably 20 or 30 times in pretty quick succession (trail and error type stuff). Thankfully, they seemed to have chunked off certain parts of the world to make loading faster. On my SSD, they were taking maybe 5 or 6 seconds, but when I would try to leave that chunk, I would have to wait 20 or 30 seconds for it to load the rest of the area. Probably my only real complain with the game so far.
Edit: Also, it seems you'll need to learn the numbering system for at least another puzzle later on. I should have played with the machine in the garage more. Now I'll have to read up on it online somewhere. I wish the game had a printable version of that worksheet describing the system.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
I don't think those are spoilers, but, uh, sure.
(sorry for the double post)
Later today, I'll make a printable worksheet of the number system.
I'll also make a solved version for those that are like "I don't want to muck around with this shit." I wish there was a way to reset that thing
It'll make more sense when you find it. :P
http://www.unitconversion.org/unit_converter/numbers.html
Edit: Instead of triple posting, I'll just amend this.
The number system isn't as hard to figure out as I first thought. It's actually pretty simple. Really, the hard part is when you have to convert from base 10 to base 4, or vice versa.
I think I'm well and truly stuck. minor spoilers, I guess
Two things:
1. Here's the worksheet anyway! Feel free to share it around the interbutts.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx9paIaDNyqIZ3F0amZhWmRDTlE/view?usp=sharing
2. Turns out, there's an "Obduction Explorers Guide" PDF in the Steam file... at least, there is for me? It might be backers-only, I don't know. Anyway, it's a hint guide. Not too heavy on the spoilers, just enough to move you in the right direction. Maybe give that a look?
Hmm, I'm not finding any PDFs in the Steam game directory.
I know I'm missing something in Kaptar because there's a locked door I can't find a way behind. I think I've seen the rest of the level.
Edit: Aha! Found what I was missing. It was a path I thought I had come from at one point, but hadn't been in. 3rd tree down. Now I have no idea where to go next. I think there's still another tree on a world I haven't even been to yet.
I'm going to put this in a spoiler because it's about the nature of the ending, from a mechanics standpoint, with a slight warning that I would have liked to know before finishing the game. It doesn't spoil anything story-wise.
After you get an ending, you can load your game and it'll be pretty close to the end so you can get the other ending.
Overall, I really enjoyed the game. There were some head-scratchers (and I had to look up solutions a couple of times), but overall it wasn't too crazy. It was more of a mechanical puzzle game than some of the Myst games that relied on understanding cultures and crazy languages. The end of the game felt pretty rushed, honestly, like they were just ready to release it. It took me about 12 hours to finish, with a fair amount of running around trying to figure something out. I think the price was perfect for what we got.
I'm currently at the STUPID GODDAMN SPINNING DISK PLATE PUZZLE... THINGY in the Jungle. Am I still at a good point for getting the good ending if I unplug the battery now? I haven't managed to water any trees yet except the one in the Desert Town / Starting Area.
Speaking of that... I went as far as I could in the Cliffside world (I can't remember any of these goddamn names) but couldn't get to the tree. Kept hitting a barred door. I'm now in the Jungle world, at that STUPID GODDAMN 4 DISKS INSIDE THE DISK MAZE PUZZLE which is up there with the underwater sound maze in Myst and the marble puzzle in Riven in terms of "this thing makes me angry." am I on the right track? Especially since I 1. brute-forced the bridges in Jungle somehow, I have NO IDEA what number I used, I just mashed stuff until I got a working bridge, and 2. I have NO IDEA what that weird light-up sound box thingy in Cliffside does. It's near the main generator? A bajillion switches. Have found nothing that indicates what I should do with the damn thing.
And an aside re: Cliffside world...
Speaking of those dudes, ho man, lol, the guy who I thought was the mayor called me on Jungle and because I'd read EVERYTHING, the SECOND he started talking I went "Wait, you're not human, you're one of the voice mimic alien dudes with bad grammar."
I remember that now, but it didn't really register when I saw it.
That puzzle is the one I was referring to with the constant jumping around.
Ending path spoilers:
Spinning puzzle:
A decent sized hint on building the paths:
For the bridges, I just kept trying combinations until everything was lit up, then memorized that design. You can use it for all of the bridge panels. There's probably a number associated with it, but it didn't take me long with guessing to figure it out. As long as you can cross the bridge, you should be fine.
Regarding the box with the Russian characters:
The Arai (?), the little bug dudes.
Yeah, I definitely remembered that description of them so I immediately knew what was happening. You'll get to something soon that confirms it.
I actually did figure that out at around, oh, 1:30 AM last night, at which point I went ARGHGHGHGH.
Unfortunately that didn't help much and I just went "I need to go the fuck to sleep." What would help me most at this point is a picture of the solution so I at least know what I'm aiming for, because I honestly suck at spacial reasoning
HA! My first thought when I found that thing was "... is the game trolling me...? I think the game is trolling me." Apparently I was correct.
Related
If it helps:
I think maybe they're the ones the books mention that go into suspended animation and launch colonies across space? If so, it's likely they landed there, but I didn't really find much detail on their backstory. I think Kaptar is supposed to be the Arai world in the game. I don't know the reason we're all linked together, either.
All I'll say is fully explore the (extremely small) volcanic world before leaving it. There's an achievement that'll pop and it'll make a little more sense.
The way the digits work is that the center dot is the first digit, than the one directly above it is the second digit (each increase here is +4), the one directly right is the third digit (+16), below is fourth (+64), and left is fifth (+256). The dots other than those 5 are not digits but are there to make connections to the dots that are actual digits. The number of connections is the number being represented, but the direction of the connections is only valid in one way.
0 = No connections
1 = Up-left
2 = up-right and down-right
3 = up-left, up-right, and down-left
If you put in an invalid connection the panel basically has auto-correct to what it thinks you meant to put in, which probably helps players who are brute forcing the bridges. That behavior is also used in the puzzle to figure out the key-code to the mayor's office.
Edit: I actually watered both the other tree's before figuring out the mayor's office code because I looked at the chalkboard diagram and went "That is not a valid number!" I thought maybe the projector and map was going to be telling me to look for a sphere in that position in another world to break my way in. It wasn't until I came back that I realized the projector had two slides and that the second was a dot pattern that I figured out it was intentionally making use of the auto-correct functionality.