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The Witness |OT|

Shrike Alvaron

Shrike Alvaron

Member
GhaleonEB said:
No, I actually didn't know what to do. None of the many hints given made any sense to me at all. (This is not on you guys, it's me.) The game built a set of rules about how to handle those blocks. It then presented a puzzle that, when you apply those rules, is literally impossible to solve. That meant the previously established rules go out the window. Without that framework, I was left having no concept whatsoever as to what the actual rules are. I get that another solution is required. I do not understand how I'm supposed to divine that solution when the *only* thing the game established was the previously learned rules do not apply. Without them, I have no model with which to interpret puzzle, since they are all about following the established rules.

I'm not an out of the box, strategic thinker. I'm a very tactical, process oriented person (professionally and personally, it's just how I'm wired). So I did okay in the game since this game was all about learning rules and then applying them systematically. The fun was in figuring out what rules to apply and then do so in way that solves the puzzle. Without that, I'm lost. I literally cannot play that kind of game - I have no bearing. I'm pretty sure someone could post the solution and I'd still not understand either the rule or how I was supposed to get from here to there.

But like I said, I'm really done with the game. I enjoyed my time with it, but I'm simply not clever enough for this.



I think I kind of get it seeing this, but I know I'd have literally never come to this solution. Thanks.

If that's a sign of things to come, then yeah - no way I could proceed.
Click to expand...

Honest question, did you do this puzzle from the swamp? This is the tutorial panel for this concept that
symbols do not have to overlap their shape in a combined group
. The only way to solve it is to defy the idea that
the symbol has to be on the shape
.

MThanded said:
Since so many people have the same problem with the same panel in the swamp there is probably a better way that panel could be handled.

An earlier puzzle could be designed to highlight the rule for that piece. The puzzle that chosen to broaden that rule is not very intuitive.
Click to expand...

Check the link above. It IS early, one of the first in the swamp. The game is an open world so you can't expect to solve every puzzle you encounter right away, that's the entire point of the town being so close to the start despite needing knowledge from all other areas to complete.
 
C

CAAAAAAAAAAAW

Member
MetroidPrimeRib said:
I think thats my problem, I am having issues visualizing. I've used pen and paper for a few other puzzles but I cant think of a good way to use outside stuff to solve these...
Click to expand...
I usually just doodled vaguely similar lines on some paper when I was pondering those puzzles. For one or two of the really late, super abstract(if that's even the right word, either way they were too hard to draw) ones, I cut out some papershapes to fiddle around with until the answer clicked.

justjim89 said:
The panels don't explain anything. They're line puzzles. Puzzles that can be brute forced, guessed through, or completely misunderstood, as is evident here. And clearly, if so many people aren't understanding what the panels are "explaining," they're not explaining them well. Maybe having the puzzles be the sole means of interaction with the world wasn't a wise design decision.

You know what's a great way to explain complicated, obtuse rules? Words.
Click to expand...
It doesn't have to be 'this puzzle isn't explaining itself properly,' it could instead be 'these people aren't thinking about these puzzles in the proper manner.'

GhaleonEB said:
I'm not an out of the box, strategic thinker. I'm a very tactical, process oriented person (professionally and personally, it's just how I'm wired). So I did okay in the game since this game was all about learning rules and then applying them systematically. The fun was in figuring out what rules to apply and then do so in way that solves the puzzle. Without that, I'm lost. I literally cannot play that kind of game - I have no bearing. I'm pretty sure someone could post the solution and I'd still not understand either the rule or how I was supposed to get from here to there.
Click to expand...
Something about the bolded seemed really funny to me.

But if you're not seeing the answer through your own lens, the best thing to do is to go back to older puzzles that built up knowledge of them and see if you've missed anything.
 
Shrike Alvaron

Shrike Alvaron

Member
jett said:
So I got all 11 lasers going. Now what? I don't want to go back all the way to the mountain for no reason. :p
Click to expand...

It won't be for no reason, but I don't want to just give it away :p
You'll have to look around some to see, but... Yes, center your search around the mountain.

I'm losing my grip on what should be spoilered or not but putting that in tags just in case *shrugs*
 
J

jett

D-Member
Shrike Alvaron said:
It won't be for no reason, but I don't want to just give it away :p
You'll have to look around some to see, but... Yes, center your search around the mountain.

I'm losing my grip on what should be spoilered or not but putting that in tags just in case *shrugs*
Click to expand...

I think at this point everyone knows the mountain is an important place. :p
I'm at the top of the mountain. I see nada. Do I have to back inside all the way to the bottom? :/
 
G

generic_username

I switched to an alt account to ditch my embarrassing tag so I could be an embarrassing Naughty Dog fanboy in peace. Ask me anything!
I really wanted to like this game but nope. It is just making me ill and pukish. I dont know why because I normally never feel that way with first person games. I cannot play this game for more than a few minutes. Worst part is I cannot even sell it so thats 40$ down the drain.
 
A

Aurongel

Member
WHAT THE HOLY FUCK?

I entered a spiral symbol I found into a particular panel and suddenly a
Tarkovsky short film started playing on the screen. It made me leap out of my seat because all I heard were some weird noises and as soon as I turned a corner I saw a giant ass human hand reaching out.
.

Biggest WTF moment so far.
 
M

MetroidPrimeRib

Banned
GRAPH PAPER WORKS BOIS

mindblown.gif~c200
 
D

Durante

Member
This game is amazingly well designed.

It's also, surprisingly, a fantastic couch coop game. Dangerously addictive even one might say. We just played it for 12 hours straight without fully realizing how much time had passed.
 
M

MetroidPrimeRib

Banned
Durante said:
This game is amazingly well designed.

It's also, surprisingly, a fantastic couch coop game. Dangerously addictive even one might say. We just played it for 12 hours straight without fully realizing how much time had passed.
Click to expand...

I imagine it would be, if you actually started it at the same time. I've had friends watching me stream and me trying to explain stuff to them just makes them more lost.
 
T

TimeEffect

Member
Yeah, the game does a really good job explaining the rules

And I love going back to the tutorial puzzles and trying to test the rule. It's such a fun way to introduce and play the puzzles

I hope we get dlc. I want more

These puzzles can really be standalone too. Like on mobile or as dlc. I enjoy them a lot

Is this something blow himself created?
 
H

hugocésar

Member
Not much of a spoiler I suppose, but the entirety of the game is based on small/awesome moments, so nonetheless:

I just found the boat, which put a big fucking smile on my face. I sped that motherfucker up and got to the tree houses, which have been so far my favorite puzzles in the game. Although I just got to a set that only has a single black star and it's making me lose my mind. I've played around with the idea of the other star being invisible, or having it blocked off from the other black boxes, but nothing. I'll try again tomorrow. I'm making an effort to not look up shit online for once. The game's moments of victory feel way too goddamn good to use a cheat guide.
 
D

Durante

Member
MetroidPrimeRib said:
I imagine it would be, if you actually started it at the same time.
Click to expand...
Almost. I had played the first ~2 hours alone and reached the first puzzle where I was a bit stumped. So before starting our regularly scheduled coop Friday I quickly explained the rules I had deduced so far and asked for input on the puzzle. We managed to solve that one, and then obviously had to check out what it unlocked. One thing led to another, and there we were 12 hours later (feeling more like 7 or 8 at most had passed).
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
GhaleonEB said:
No, I actually didn't know what to do. None of the many hints given made any sense to me at all. (This is not on you guys, it's me.) The game built a set of rules about how to handle those blocks. It then presented a puzzle that, when you apply those rules, is literally impossible to solve. That meant the previously established rules go out the window. Without that framework, I was left having no concept whatsoever as to what the actual rules are. I get that another solution is required. I do not understand how I'm supposed to divine that solution when the *only* thing the game established was the previously learned rules do not apply. Without them, I have no model with which to interpret puzzle, since they are all about following the established rules.

I'm not an out of the box, strategic thinker. I'm a very tactical, process oriented person (professionally and personally, it's just how I'm wired). So I did okay in the game since this game was all about learning rules and then applying them systematically. The fun was in figuring out what rules to apply and then do so in way that solves the puzzle. Without that, I'm lost. I literally cannot play that kind of game - I have no bearing. I'm pretty sure someone could post the solution and I'd still not understand either the rule or how I was supposed to get from here to there.

But like I said, I'm really done with the game. I enjoyed my time with it, but I'm simply not clever enough for this.



I think I kind of get it seeing this, but I know I'd have literally never come to this solution. Thanks.

If that's a sign of things to come, then yeah - no way I could proceed.
Click to expand...
Fwiw, the game doesn't always just layer thing after thing like this. The concepts are finite and each area tends to take on more of a bell-shape difficulty curve than a typical ramp. The end-game is mind- breaking, but perhaps more time spent in the world will prepare you for it. Id sleep on it and come back tomorrow. Try a different area. I think "I'm not clever enough" may be a little defeatist, because the leaps you have to make to solve the puzzles are often. . .mentally orthogonal, you know? The thing you're finding discomforting now might not be part of the difficulty in other puzzles, and you may find other parts of the game very rewarding.
 
A

arts&crafts

Member
Can anyone give me a hint for the puzzle found on the ship? I know there is a mirrored line but there are 7 balls to collect of different sizes and 3 colors. I see a grid of steel in the water does it have to do with that?
 
R

Remembrance

Member
GhaleonEB said:
The game built a set of rules about how to handle those blocks. It then presented a puzzle that, when you apply those rules, is literally impossible to solve. That meant the previously established rules go out the window.
Click to expand...

I just want to say what I have always said: the most important part of this game is eliminating the impossible. Because a rule that is impossible to follow was never a rule to begin with!

The game did not give you a false rule. Once you realize that all the rules, true or false, came from you and you alone, then you can come to terms with this game.

It's just like what all the scientific quotes are saying. You can't accept something as a true rule just because it works a few times, even in the face of contrary evidence!

Meanwhile, one puzzle stands in the way of me and the town laser. I don't get it, but... I came this far without asking for help.
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
arts&crafts said:
Can anyone give me a hint for the puzzle found on the ship? I know there is a mirrored line but there are 7 balls to collect of different sizes and 3 colors
Click to expand...
If you haven't been to the
bamboo section
yet, you don't stand a chance. :p
 
C

CAAAAAAAAAAAW

Member
arts&crafts said:
Can anyone give me a hint for the puzzle found on the ship? I know there is a mirrored line but there are 7 balls to collect of different sizes and 3 colors. I see a grid of steel in the water does it have to do with that?
Click to expand...
Identify what types of 'concepts' envelop the puzzle and apply what you know about those to it. If that's not working, go back to the places you first learned about those things and get a better feel for them.
 
O

OrbitalBeard

Member
GhaleonEB said:
At any rate - I'm done with The Witness. I'm not cut out for this. Thanks for the attempts at helping my feeble brain.
Click to expand...

No no no no no don't give up.

There's a pretty good chance you're smarter than I am and I have been able to figure out the vast majority of this game on my own, with a few hints here and there from the community. If I can do it, trust me, so can you. Just take a few hours or even a day off and you'll be fine. I've had to do that a couple times myself.
 
M

March of the Crabs

Member
Just got my 2nd laser going (have the bunker and treetops now) and only had to get help from GAF on one puzzle! I haven't felt this smart in years which is depressing considering I'm in my third year of college...
This game is SO good at giving you that "holy shit I think I know what to do!!!" euphoria rush.
 
C

CheesecakeRecipe

Stormy Grey
Despite them being used in the opening area, the black/white dot puzzles are continuing to throw me for a loop. So far, there's two puzzles in wholly different areas that use them with other mechanics, and I can't for the life of me figure out how I'm doing them wrong. I thought I had the basics nailed down, but the original logic I operated by to solve them previously seems to no longer apply, even if I discount the other mechanics tied in with them.

Luckily, there's a ton of other mysteries to solve on the island, so I never feel trapped despite the road bumps!
 
M

March of the Crabs

Member
CheesecakeRecipe said:
Despite them being used in the opening area, the black/white dot puzzles are continuing to throw me for a loop. So far, there's two puzzles in wholly different areas that use them with other mechanics, and I can't for the life of me figure out how I'm doing them wrong. I thought I had the basics nailed down, but the original logic I operated by to solve them previously seems to no longer apply, even if I discount the other mechanics tied in with them.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. Once the black and white stars got introduced it really threw me off for a while and for the longest time I thought that the game was breaking its own rules.
 
O

OrbitalBeard

Member
CheesecakeRecipe said:
Despite them being used in the opening area, the black/white dot puzzles are continuing to throw me for a loop. So far, there's two puzzles in wholly different areas that use them with other mechanics, and I can't for the life of me figure out how I'm doing them wrong. I thought I had the basics nailed down, but the original logic I operated by to solve them previously seems to no longer apply, even if I discount the other mechanics tied in with them.

Luckily, there's a ton of other mysteries to solve on the island, so I never feel trapped despite the road bumps!
Click to expand...

I honestly didn't fully grasp the black and white cube mechanic until I went through the "greenhouse" area. Have you been there yet?
 
B

boredJonathan

Member
Belgian Dude said:
You know what you should do when you solve a puzzle and don't understand it? Try to understand it or go back through your assumptions instead of merrily skipping to the next one.

One of the first puzzles in the Swamp Tutorial has a 2-by-2 box and a 2-by-2 horizontal piece, side by side. The only accepted solution is a vertical 3-by-2 box. That tells you straight away that the pieces don't need to cover the symbols, they just need to fit in the section, and is one of the first puzzles on the area.

If you don't understand that the pieces don't need to cover the symbols, you probably guessed this puzzle and then skipped along instead of trying to understand it.
Click to expand...

Except, it's the only puzzle to explain this kind of logic, and it unfortunately does leave room for interpretation. I got the correct solution, and instead read it at "you read the Tetris symbols left to right." (Meaning that the 2x2 would come first, and then the 3x1) And that logic worked for the remaining puzzle till you cross the bridge and get another one or two puzzles in.

Granted, that logic falls apart shortly after that set of puzzles - and i was simply to frustrated to attempt to piece together where my logic had gone wrong. But I think that also says that the tutorials for these pieces could have used at least one or two more examples without room for misinterpretation like I had to make sure the basics were communicated.

It's a great game - but it is decidedly NOT perfect in it's explanation of the individual logic behind some mechanics.
 
McFadge

McFadge

Member
If you really want to test your understandings of the puzzles, try to create a solution you assume to be incorrect. This works very well on the introductory puzzles.
 
P

Pomo

Member
Apologies if this has already been asked, but how would you folks rank the areas in terms of difficulty? I'd like to hear different perspectives on this. I've only got 3
lasers
activated, so I don't feel like I've seen much. So far I'd say, from easiest to hardest:
Red Gate (Symmetry)
Trees (Shadows)
Hedges
Desert
Swamp
 
G

Grim Patron

Member
Question for people who finished it or are close. I've done 8 locations but havent found a single
audio log
. Is there a point in the game where I will be in some area where you can't go back and then not get any of the secrets? I don't want ot have to replay the game for the hidden stuff later.
 
J

jett

D-Member
Shrike Alvaron said:
Think of what the first 7 lasers did, what might four more do?
Just where is the "energy" from the lasers going?
Click to expand...

I'm asking for a straight answer here, man. I already finished the game. I want to see whatever bonus 11 lasers brings me.


edit: okay I got it. lol. Thanks.
 
J

jett

D-Member
failgunner said:
Question for people who finished it or are close. I've done 8 locations but havent found a single
audio log
. Is there a point in the game where I will be in some area where you can't go back and then not get any of the secrets? I don't want ot have to replay the game for the hidden stuff later.
Click to expand...

They don't matter. At all. In any way, shape or form.

And no, you will never be locked out of anyplace.
 
Z

Zen_Arcade

Banned
Pomo said:
Apologies if this has already been asked, but how would you folks rank the areas in terms of difficulty? I'd like to hear different perspectives on this. I've only got 3
lasers
activated, so I don't feel like I've seen much. So far I'd say, from easiest to hardest:
Red Gate (Symmetry)
Trees (Shadows)
Hedges
Desert
Swamp
Click to expand...
Symmetry
Keep
Monastery
Jungle
Shady Trees
Desert Ruin
Bunker
Quarry
Treehouses
Town
Marsh

From easiest to hardest.
 
C

cpp_is_king

Member
Are the two half lit red spider webs
supposed to be the tutorial for desert ruins? There's like nothing else here and no indication how to solve it
 
E

Exuro

Member
jett said:
I'm asking for a straight answer here, man. I already finished the game. I want to see whatever bonus 11 lasers brings me.
Click to expand...
When you had 7 lasers you went to the mountain and unlocked the box so go do that again.

cpp_is_king said:
Are the two half lit red spider webs
supposed to be the tutorial for desert ruins? There's like nothing else here and no indication how to solve it
Click to expand...
The sun is a factor in these puzzles. Think about what the sun can do to the puzzle.

Mr.NiceGuy said:
I give up.

Can someone tell me the solution for the right door under the windmill? I solved the left door but the right one I just can't.
Click to expand...

Don't quit. Here's a biggish hint, Hopefully it helps.

Swap the top and bottom pieces. ie bottom left piece goes in the top left, bottom right goes in the top right
 
Mr.NiceGuy

Mr.NiceGuy

Banned
I give up.

Can someone tell me the solution for the right door under the windmill? I solved the left door but the right one I just can't.
 
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