As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

[Obra Dinn] The 1-bit insurance adjustment simulator

halkunhalkun Registered User regular
edited October 2018 in Games and Technology
So Lucas Pope, right? He made that game called "Papers, Please?" Well he's back with a mysterious tale an the high seas in absolutely gorgeous ascetic. Introducing...
mVaw3Jp.png

In 1802, the merchant ship "Obra Dinn" set out from London for the Orient with over 200 tons of trade goods. Six months later it hadn't met its rendezvous point at the Cape of Good Hope and was declared lost at sea.
Early this morning of October 14th, 1807, the Obra Dinn drifted into port with sails damaged and no visible crew. As insurance adjustor for the East India Company's London Office, find means to board the ship and recover the Crew Muster Roll book for assessment.


The game is very well written and has some glorious technology behind the seemingly simple presentation. I've seen it pop up in a few threads and I just gave an 8 hour go at it. The game is fantastic... Mind your spoilers friends! It's best to go in blind.

So, let's chat about insurance claims and single beam phosphor displays!

EDIT : More Screenshots - Only two more in order to keep it light and spoiler free. You can get clues from literally every screenshot.
a2LmQsQ.jpg
yklbmFY.png

halkun on

Posts

  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    This looks so good!

    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • akajaybayakajaybay Registered User regular
    Cantido wrote: »
    This looks so good!
    It is!
    If you enjoy playing detective in games this one is a must.
    Don't really want to say too much about the game. But so far I'm finding it very impressive.

  • XaviarXaviar Registered User regular
    Man. This game is.. not what I expected, but very intriguing.
    I'm sure there is some stuff I'm just not supposed to get yet, but I have some fairly early questions, one mechanical, one story.
    Mechanical:
    So when you are in a memory, what triggers the swirls and the starting a new page? Is it a timer? Are there specific things I'm supposed to look at first? Sometimes I will look at everything and it still won't happen for another quite a while, and I'll keep looking, but I won't have found anything when it finally starts to swirl down. Other times it will start swirling when there are like 6 other things I haven't even gone near that I want to look at first.
    Story:
    There is one of the first memories on the gun deck, that shows that two people have died. I can only find the guy being shot by the cannon. I did find another guy who was already dead that triggered one of the secondary memory things. But I can't find the guy whose portrait matches the second guy who died anywhere. Have I just not gone far enough with other stuff yet?

  • halkunhalkun Registered User regular
    edited October 2018
    I just beat the game last night. So Good! I'll try and answer these question with hints in spoilers, but not give it away.
    Xaviar wrote: »
    Man. This game is.. not what I expected, but very intriguing.
    I'm sure there is some stuff I'm just not supposed to get yet, but I have some fairly early questions, one mechanical, one story.
    Mechanical:
    So when you are in a memory, what triggers the swirls and the starting a new page? Is it a timer? Are there specific things I'm supposed to look at first? Sometimes I will look at everything and it still won't happen for another quite a while, and I'll keep looking, but I won't have found anything when it finally starts to swirl down. Other times it will start swirling when there are like 6 other things I haven't even gone near that I want to look at first.
    Answer:
    It's on a timer, but after you chose to update the book you can look around for as long as you want, and can always go back by looking at the corpse again for unlimited viewings.

    Story:
    There is one of the first memories on the gun deck, that shows that two people have died. I can only find the guy being shot by the cannon. I did find another guy who was already dead that triggered one of the secondary memory things. But I can't find the guy whose portrait matches the second guy who died anywhere. Have I just not gone far enough with other stuff yet?
    Hint:
    Imagine if you were being shoved up against a cannon barrel by a kracken, and when the cannon fired, blew a hole in the side of the ship. Where do you think the pasty goo that was once your body would of gone?


    halkun on
  • XaviarXaviar Registered User regular
    halkun wrote: »
    I just beat the game last night. So Good! I'll try and answer these question with hints in spoilers, but not give it away.
    Xaviar wrote: »
    Man. This game is.. not what I expected, but very intriguing.
    I'm sure there is some stuff I'm just not supposed to get yet, but I have some fairly early questions, one mechanical, one story.
    Mechanical:
    So when you are in a memory, what triggers the swirls and the starting a new page? Is it a timer? Are there specific things I'm supposed to look at first? Sometimes I will look at everything and it still won't happen for another quite a while, and I'll keep looking, but I won't have found anything when it finally starts to swirl down. Other times it will start swirling when there are like 6 other things I haven't even gone near that I want to look at first.
    Answer:
    It's on a timer, but after you chose to update the book you can look around for as long as you want, and can always go back by looking at the corpse again for unlimited viewings.

    Story:
    There is one of the first memories on the gun deck, that shows that two people have died. I can only find the guy being shot by the cannon. I did find another guy who was already dead that triggered one of the secondary memory things. But I can't find the guy whose portrait matches the second guy who died anywhere. Have I just not gone far enough with other stuff yet?
    Hint:
    Imagine if you were being shoved up against a cannon barrel by a kracken, and when the cannon fired, blew a hole in the side of the ship. Where do you think the pasty goo that was once your body would of gone?


    Yeah, I came to this conclusion, when I
    saw that guy in the timeline-preceding memory

    But I went back and still can't figure out
    how to get or look outside the ship. When I try to get close to the hole all I can see is the fire from the cannon, and I haven't been able to find a different angle.

  • LeumasWhiteLeumasWhite New ZealandRegistered User regular
    Xaviar wrote: »
    halkun wrote: »
    I just beat the game last night. So Good! I'll try and answer these question with hints in spoilers, but not give it away.
    Xaviar wrote: »
    Man. This game is.. not what I expected, but very intriguing.
    I'm sure there is some stuff I'm just not supposed to get yet, but I have some fairly early questions, one mechanical, one story.
    Mechanical:
    So when you are in a memory, what triggers the swirls and the starting a new page? Is it a timer? Are there specific things I'm supposed to look at first? Sometimes I will look at everything and it still won't happen for another quite a while, and I'll keep looking, but I won't have found anything when it finally starts to swirl down. Other times it will start swirling when there are like 6 other things I haven't even gone near that I want to look at first.
    Answer:
    It's on a timer, but after you chose to update the book you can look around for as long as you want, and can always go back by looking at the corpse again for unlimited viewings.

    Story:
    There is one of the first memories on the gun deck, that shows that two people have died. I can only find the guy being shot by the cannon. I did find another guy who was already dead that triggered one of the secondary memory things. But I can't find the guy whose portrait matches the second guy who died anywhere. Have I just not gone far enough with other stuff yet?
    Hint:
    Imagine if you were being shoved up against a cannon barrel by a kracken, and when the cannon fired, blew a hole in the side of the ship. Where do you think the pasty goo that was once your body would of gone?


    Yeah, I came to this conclusion, when I
    saw that guy in the timeline-preceding memory

    But I went back and still can't figure out
    how to get or look outside the ship. When I try to get close to the hole all I can see is the fire from the cannon, and I haven't been able to find a different angle.
    You can still infer their fate from what you know so far, even if you can't spot their final resting place. Which may not even be in the same memory, mind. A chapter's parts can sometimes be running very close together, or even at the same time.

    Having beat the game, it really is excellent, and I assume Pope is some kind of wizard to keep track of all these characters. That said, I can recall pretty clearly where most members of the ship were at any given time, thinking back on it.

    It's also unexpectedly funny a couple of times, even though it's quite gruesome. Spoilers for a couple of entries:
    The artist dying while taking a shit was funny in a very juvenile way, even though the sound effects were pretty hideous. And the fakeout death in Loose Cargo made me laugh; you assume it's the guy getting his head crushed while the memory is playing, but nope! It's a stowaway in a barrel that you never see. Sucks to be that guy.

    QPPHj1J.jpg
  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    I'm about 38 Fates solved so far. I got hung up on one that was driving me insane. Solving him caused a cascade of Fates solved.
    The bad-guy with the beanie. He's everywhere, mostly doing bad shit. When someone calls his name, I was looking at the wrong guy.

    I lack the memory or discipline to use the hammocks to deduce the seamen and topmen names. Its rather frustrating. Many of my late game solutions involve me getting the death and murderer right, and me fiddling around with names until I get the Well Done You Solved 3 Fates prompt.

    This is indie game of the year.

    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    Ross played this on Steam train and seemed to like it... But man this was like 2 years ago!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJexHfXWFmw

  • halkunhalkun Registered User regular
    Cantido wrote: »
    I'm about 38 Fates solved so far. I got hung up on one that was driving me insane. Solving him caused a cascade of Fates solved.
    The bad-guy with the beanie. He's everywhere, mostly doing bad shit. When someone calls his name, I was looking at the wrong guy.

    I lack the memory or discipline to use the hammocks to deduce the seamen and topmen names. Its rather frustrating. Many of my late game solutions involve me getting the death and murderer right, and me fiddling around with names until I get the Well Done You Solved 3 Fates prompt.

    This is indie game of the year.

    I am using a a pen-and-paper notebook to keep track of notes. I played games like this back in "the day" the same way so it's a nostalgia trip.

  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    Damn. Got the perfect ending. It made me feel bad and left me craving more.
    The final determinations by the insurance company can be pretty dickish. Fog of War doesn't exist in the eyes of the insurance company. The Captain was an utter badass but the Insurance company labels him as a Murderer and fines his estate.

    I'm pretty sure everyone in Nichols' estate was homeless after that report.

    Charles Miner, who tried to shoot a crab-rider but missed and hit someone else, gets labeled as a murderer.

    Either England didn't have Involuntary Manslaughter/Friendly Fire or the Insurance Company is deliberately concealing the fantasy elements of the story.

    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • LeumasWhiteLeumasWhite New ZealandRegistered User regular
    Cantido wrote: »
    Damn. Got the perfect ending. It made me feel bad and left me craving more.
    The final determinations by the insurance company can be pretty dickish. Fog of War doesn't exist in the eyes of the insurance company. The Captain was an utter badass but the Insurance company labels him as a Murderer and fines his estate.

    I'm pretty sure everyone in Nichols' estate was homeless after that report.

    Charles Miner, who tried to shoot a crab-rider but missed and hit someone else, gets labeled as a murderer.

    Either England didn't have Involuntary Manslaughter/Friendly Fire or the Insurance Company is deliberately concealing the fantasy elements of the story.
    Nichols was a bit of a twat, to be fair. If he hadn't fucked around with trying to steal the chest, none of the game's events outside of a cargo crushing and a couple of deaths from illness would have gone down.

    The thing I wonder about is, was Chioh Tan shooting him an accident, revenge for the royal pair, or just to keep the mermaids away? It's a bit painful that he got spiked when he did; that would have been some useful exposition.

    QPPHj1J.jpg
  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    edited October 2018
    Cantido wrote: »
    Damn. Got the perfect ending. It made me feel bad and left me craving more.
    The final determinations by the insurance company can be pretty dickish. Fog of War doesn't exist in the eyes of the insurance company. The Captain was an utter badass but the Insurance company labels him as a Murderer and fines his estate.

    I'm pretty sure everyone in Nichols' estate was homeless after that report.

    Charles Miner, who tried to shoot a crab-rider but missed and hit someone else, gets labeled as a murderer.

    Either England didn't have Involuntary Manslaughter/Friendly Fire or the Insurance Company is deliberately concealing the fantasy elements of the story.
    Nichols was a bit of a twat, to be fair. If he hadn't fucked around with trying to steal the chest, none of the game's events outside of a cargo crushing and a couple of deaths from illness would have gone down.

    The thing I wonder about is, was Chioh Tan shooting him an accident, revenge for the royal pair, or just to keep the mermaids away? It's a bit painful that he got spiked when he did; that would have been some useful exposition.

    Oh absolutely. He had it coming.

    But last night I think I figured out why the final report is written the way it was.
    Its the literal nature of the Journal and the Memento Mori. It literally has "who killed who" with no room for context. That's why the Captain is marked as a murderer. And while those facts alone make murder, conspiracy and kidnapping obvious for Nichols, they aren't for the Captain and Charles Miner.

    EDIT - Ah, but the book does record dialog! So why did the Captain go down as a murderer? He went out like a warrior. :(

    Cantido on
    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • XaviarXaviar Registered User regular
    edited October 2018
    I kinda wish I could jump back into a memory from the book.

    Also, I get that it is part of the aesthetic, but I've watched a couple videos on my phone and with the increased pixel density it looks amazing vs just kind of alright on my monitor.

    Like, for instance, I did not realize there was rain or water droplets in the scene where
    the captain's wife
    dies, until after I saw it again on my phone. It just looked like dithering noise to me on my computer.

    Same with
    the axe the first mate is holding in the first memory you find
    which I just did not even see at all. But have been able to pick out very clearly and easily in videos I've watched on my phone since.

    (whoops. the italics tag and the spoiler tag are different)

    Xaviar on
  • halkunhalkun Registered User regular
    One thing I can say about the game is it's 1 color stipple wrecks havoc on video encoding. Youtube videos are a smeary mess when in motion and do not reflect the crispness of the game's look. BTW. the game is natively running in 800X450. "Sharp Mode" is double the resolution to 1600x900. Full screen takes that doubled image and stretches it with a slight filter.

  • ED!ED! Registered User regular
    Started playing this last night and it's quite something. Pretty simple concept but really oozing style. Hopefully the game is relatively "short" so I can get to playing Thronebreaker some more, but not really looking to rush it.

    "Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    ED! wrote: »
    Started playing this last night and it's quite something. Pretty simple concept but really oozing style. Hopefully the game is relatively "short" so I can get to playing Thronebreaker some more, but not really looking to rush it.

    Its 10 hours or less. But you may experience a "just one more Fate" addiction that will speed things up and make you forget the rest of your gaming agenda.

    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • cursedkingcursedking Registered User regular
    the only true complaint i have about this game is that it isn't several of these sorts of scenarios. I am now hungry for a game genre that did not exist until now

    Types: Boom + Robo | Food: Sweet | Habitat: Plains
  • XaviarXaviar Registered User regular
    I have another complaint. Some of the deaths seem tough to fit into a single category.
    Fancy foreign passengers in spoiler.
    Opening the box and letting out all those weird shrimp ladys who then zap the guy with magical energy. Is that burning? Is it electricity? Is it something else? I have no idea.
    Also earlish spoiler:
    I get the difference between being spiked by the spider-ladies, and being speared. But for speared I have to say who. Are they a foreign enemy or are they a beast?

  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    edited October 2018
    I'll help with these.
    Sometimes the games do leave some room and allow similar verbs for deaths. However, if you look at the body rather than the extravagant lasers, you'll see fire. This is a burning.

    All the sea creatures are A Terrible Beast.

    Also, the mermaids were not inside the box. Something else was.

    Cantido on
    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • halkunhalkun Registered User regular
    So I beat the game and now I decided to get a little replay value out of it by doing an inventory of the rigging and seeing what’s missing and what needs to be replaced. It’s a little more than just the sails and the broken mizzenmast. On the bow, it’s really hard to see the bowsprit, but the sail configuration is a little confusing. It appears to have been rigged for one or two jibs. (It’s has a jibboom so, I assume two?) , but the bowsprit sports an athwart spar, which means it likely had a spritsail. That’s strange as it also has a dolphin striker. That infers that there was a jib and a spritsail, but that’s rare.

    The masts seem to support a three sail configuration of a mainsail, topsail, and a topgallant on the foremast and mainmast There doesn't seem to be spars for royals, but the stays are rigged funny. This means I can’t say for sure there were stay sails The mizzen sail spar is gone, but was unceremoniously liberated by a guest, so that’s accounted for.

    On the aft end the is a shredded spanker, the rigging is sparse there too.

    So in the end it was appears to be, maybe a fluyt? That’s a dutch cargo ship that clould support a mast configuration like the Obra Dinn. The Obra Dinn has mizzen sail and not a lateen. Also fluyts tended to have a sprit-topsail, our ship is missing a boom for that.

    Any sail-type people have any thoughts?

  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    I heard the Obra Dinn has a serious lack of shitters.

    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • halkunhalkun Registered User regular
    It has two in the officer's mess. That's it.

  • Jam WarriorJam Warrior Registered User regular
    Having finished my corpse finding journey I've now got to start the serious detective work as I identified precious few souls during the journey first time through.

    Is there no way to jump to a previously seen memory beyond physically walking to the relevant corpse? It seems a glaring omission from the logbook functionality if so.

    Especially:
    If that means I have to keep corpseptioning deeper to get to the mer-thing boat attack scenes.

    MhCw7nZ.gif
  • halkunhalkun Registered User regular
    This is a design choice by the developer. I can see where he's coming from. If you had the ability to "fast travel", it will pretty much turn the back half of the game into an elaborate drop-down menu. To make things easier, if you look at the hands of the watch when it's open on a corpse, it will tell you the chapter/part the scene will take place in. This way you are not jumping around random bodies for the thing you are looking for.

  • WotanAnubisWotanAnubis Registered User regular
    Picked up this little gem. Unfortunately, I only picked it up after seeing some Let's Plays and being impressed.

    So I got through it quite quickly. Saved a lot of frustration, I guess. Still, there were several moments where I had to pause and puzzle out who did what and who was related to who and what uniform represented which position.

    But I'm the kind of person who enjoys experiencing a story even though I already know how it turns out. So, yeah, I had fun. I'll probably play it again at some point when, hopefully, I've forgot most of the tricks to figuring who the less-important characters are.

  • halkunhalkun Registered User regular
    It's a shame about the replayability of the game. Thta's just how adventure games were back in the day.

  • cooljammer00cooljammer00 Hey Small Christmas-Man!Registered User regular
    I mean, at the very least you can consider it a donation to Lucas Pope.

    Watching a puzzle game with no replayability be played, you sorta know what you're doing for better or worse.

    steam_sig.png

    3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
    Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
  • Tim is on the InternetTim is on the Internet On the Internet Edmonton, ABRegistered User regular
    edited February 2019
    I started playing this last week. Picked it up in a Lunar sale bundle on a whim. I'd seen it on several lists of the best games of last year but didn't know what I was about to get myself into.

    Man oh man. I've so far solved 42 fates and feel like I'm at the point where I need to bust out a pen and paper. This may retroactively be my favourite game of 2018, with apologies to Celeste.
    I just need to figure out what to do about all these topmen.

    Tim is on the Internet on
    Discord: TimIsOnTheInternet#0056
    Steam: TimIsOnSteam
    Battle.net: TimIsOnBnet#1745
    Switch: SW-7012-4788-7410
    PSN: TimIsOnTheNet
  • RamiRami Registered User regular
    There's a few ways to identify the topmen, there is at least one chapter that makes it abundantly clear who the topmen are. It's just getting the names that's the issue.

    Steam / Xbox Live: WSDX NNID: W-S-D-X 3DS FC: 2637-9461-8549
    sig.gif
  • Tim is on the InternetTim is on the Internet On the Internet Edmonton, ABRegistered User regular
    Rami wrote: »
    There's a few ways to identify the topmen, there is at least one chapter that makes it abundantly clear who the topmen are. It's just getting the names that's the issue.

    That's really the issue here. I think I've identified one? One or two. I figure I'll start combing for clues about their identities once I've figured out the folks I feel more confident about.

    Discord: TimIsOnTheInternet#0056
    Steam: TimIsOnSteam
    Battle.net: TimIsOnBnet#1745
    Switch: SW-7012-4788-7410
    PSN: TimIsOnTheNet
  • RamiRami Registered User regular
    I can give you a clue from memory that will help you with one of the early ones if you like

    Steam / Xbox Live: WSDX NNID: W-S-D-X 3DS FC: 2637-9461-8549
    sig.gif
  • Medium DaveMedium Dave Registered User regular
    Picked this up during the Lunar sale to play with my wife. Her job is to analyze and sift through data to come up with answers and she's very good at it (she whips ass at that Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective game, Holmes ain't got shit on us!) and I thought murder sudoko would be fun.

    AND BOY IS IT! We've really enjoyed playing the past couple of nights, trying to acquire all the information, taking our time, what a hell of a game.

  • Tim is on the InternetTim is on the Internet On the Internet Edmonton, ABRegistered User regular
    Rami wrote: »
    I can give you a clue from memory that will help you with one of the early ones if you like

    Nah, I got it. Just finished watching the credits.

    Discord: TimIsOnTheInternet#0056
    Steam: TimIsOnSteam
    Battle.net: TimIsOnBnet#1745
    Switch: SW-7012-4788-7410
    PSN: TimIsOnTheNet
  • Senna1Senna1 Registered User regular
    edited October 2020
    I know I'm reviving an old thread, but our Switch has us picking up random indie games we've missed and this was on sale so I grabbed it just out of curiosity.

    I'm only an hour or so in, but this is just fantastic. Super atmospheric, clever, and presented amazingly. Can't wait to figure all of it out - not that I'm in a rush.

    Also, I'm a history nerd, so the setting is perfect.
    halkun wrote: »
    So I beat the game and now I decided to get a little replay value out of it by doing an inventory of the rigging and seeing what’s missing and what needs to be replaced. It’s a little more than just the sails and the broken mizzenmast. On the bow, it’s really hard to see the bowsprit, but the sail configuration is a little confusing. It appears to have been rigged for one or two jibs. (It’s has a jibboom so, I assume two?) , but the bowsprit sports an athwart spar, which means it likely had a spritsail. That’s strange as it also has a dolphin striker. That infers that there was a jib and a spritsail, but that’s rare.
    By 1800, the spirit sail yard would have remained as is depicted in the game, but the actual spiritsail rarely bent to it or deployed. Especially on an Indiaman. Much of the bow rigging traversed it, so it stuck around long after the sail fell out of use. Merchantmen like this probably would have had two headsails, as you've guessed.
    So in the end it was appears to be, maybe a fluyt? That’s a dutch cargo ship that clould support a mast configuration like the Obra Dinn. The Obra Dinn has mizzen sail and not a lateen. Also fluyts tended to have a sprit-topsail, our ship is missing a boom for that.

    Any sail-type people have any thoughts?
    I think she's largely based on the real-life Earl of Abergavenny, a large full ship rigged English Indiaman, built in 1796 (as is the games' fictional titular vessel), and lost at sea with much fanfare in 1805. It was a fairly high profile disaster at the time, due to the fact that it happened very near England, caused over 250 deaths, and the ship's captain was related to the poet William Wadsworth.

    Edit: I'm now at the point I've 'seen' all the memories, and am putting pieces together. I have about 30 fates solved now, but damn some of these are hard... And I don't find the difficulty ratings very accurate to my experience. There are some one triangle dudes only in a handful of memories that I've watched over and over to no avail, and 3 triangle people I was able to identify by prior association/mention the first time I saw their face.

    Senna1 on
Sign In or Register to comment.