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The Witness |OT|
- Thread starter Afro
- Start date
Ooh man by the skin of my teeth pulled it off without the "cheese." Took about an hour and a half of attempts with one failure where all I had to do was exit the line. Was about to give up for the night. Going to post the video in 20 minutes. (I'd do a normal PS Share image but the video uploading had rendered my PS4 useless).
Now that was fun. Video link below if anyone is interested.
I believe the
second large puzzle in the castle tower
an alternative way to trigger that laser
I think the
color/sound puzzles in town
a difficult challenge to attempt. Lower-case C!
Did you do the puzzles that teach you this mechanic? It's the area near the start where you have to do other symmetry puzzles. Some teach this exact mechanic, but aren't required to unlock the laser. I missed them completely, and then banged my head against this puzzle, overthinking to the nth degree.
But as a hint,
you've already got the right idea with the palm trees. Just vary it slightly.
TheNamelessOne
Member
I just finished the game and have a question
When the camera pans around the map and all puzzles reset - do I have to play from the beginning again to get the environmental puzzles or can I load my autosave from before the game ended and get the same puzzles?
ashecitism
Member
The latter.
TheNamelessOne
Member
Thank you!
Can someone give a hint about star/sun puzzles?
(middle? game spoilers)
(middle? game spoilers)
I'm stuck at one of the doors in the village. The one with 4 different colors of which 2 have 3 stars each. How can I group them? If I understand the rules correctly the suns should always be paired with another of the same color.
GlamFM
Banned
You should do the greenhouse before tackling this one.
toythatkills
Member
(end-game)
The challenge doesn't feel as hard as people have made it out to be - hard, sure, but pretty doable. I make it to the final pillars every time and it doesn't feel like I'm that far away from doing it.
The only stumbling block had been the maze but that's basically nothing once you realise the trick to it.
The only stumbling block had been the maze but that's basically nothing once you realise the trick to it.
Oh god, I just realised something else about it:
the video's environmental puzzle requires me to stand at the back of the theatre and wait for the circle (eclipse) to move across the screen. It takes the entire audio to happen. Ahahahaha, what the fuck, Jonathan. xD
The first full area I completed was the Symmetry area, which didn't take too long. A lot of the times, if something is taking a long time it's either because you don't understand the mechanic, or the puzzle you're stuck on has a particularly nasty additional mechanic to deal with.
toythatkills
Member
Yeah it really varies, anything from five minutes to over an hour.
1.
Yeah, I'm sure I'll figure it out if I spend some time with it, but the ones with disjointed tetrominos are so damn tedious.
2.
I found an explanation on Reddit, but I still couldn't get it right because some of the colors were too ambiguous. But now as I'm looking at the screenshot from that Reddit post again, I think my monitor might be slightly miscalibrated.
3.
Oh, so this is indeed how it works. I thought I had tried that approach, but evidently I didn't.
Thanks for the answer, I'm gonna try the puzzles again in a while.
edit: Solved 1 and 3.
Will do! thanks!
DKehoe
Member
The symmetry one is probably the area I've progressed furthest in. I got stuck at one of the later ones in it so left to go try some other areas. I keep meaning to work my way back to it but keep coming across other areas. I'll go back to it for sure next time I play. Hopefully the time away from that area will give me new perspective on it.
Thanks to you both... still can't get it though...
I feel guilty about it... but could I get a more explicit hint?
It's a great talk though, worth listening to.
I think it would be fun to ask some people who have 'finished' the game ( or quit the game halfway through ) some general questions:
( Your save file name here )
1 ) How / when did you find out about +puzzles and what they were? Did you stumble upon one yourself? Heard about them on here or were hinted towards them on here?
2 ) Did you hear about the challenge before reaching it, and if yes, how much did you know before-hand?
3 ) If you found the challenge frustratingly difficult, what parts specifically were hardest / most frustrating for you and why?
4 ) How many tries did you approximately need to beat the challenge?
5 ) When you activated the desert laser and saw it didn't point to the mountain, did you a ) Follow the laser to see where it went. or b ) Ask the internet why the laser didn't point to the mountain?
6 ) What puzzle mechanic did you have the most trouble with and why?
1 ) How / when did you find out about +puzzles and what they were? Did you stumble upon one yourself? Heard about them on here or were hinted towards them on here?
2 ) Did you hear about the challenge before reaching it, and if yes, how much did you know before-hand?
3 ) If you found the challenge frustratingly difficult, what parts specifically were hardest / most frustrating for you and why?
4 ) How many tries did you approximately need to beat the challenge?
5 ) When you activated the desert laser and saw it didn't point to the mountain, did you a ) Follow the laser to see where it went. or b ) Ask the internet why the laser didn't point to the mountain?
6 ) What puzzle mechanic did you have the most trouble with and why?
Spoilers for those who haven't done everything.
(Every puzzle except one triangle panel that I didn't bother to look for it and the movies' puzzles.)
1 - I watched a video where the guy showed he could enter puzzle mode without having to be in front of a panel so I kinda knew there was something strange going on. Right when I got out of the initial white corridor I looked back and saw a line but didn't align myself to draw it successfully. Then on the symmetry hill I looked to the pottery house and saw the upwards black line, drew and thought "wait, what are those sparkles?"
2 - I accidentally read here that the challenge was time-based and had a song. I did not know anything beyond that, nor what would I gain from it.
3 - I did not find it difficult.
First I learned that the 4 puzzles after the maze one would show up in random order;
Then I learned that in those series of 3 puzzles, only one was solvable;
Then I learned the meaning of the maze puzzle and kept taking pictures of the solution (which clears the locations of the triangle puzzles inside the maze) with my phone using one hand while moving with the other;
Then I started looking left and right when walking through the maze to find the two triangle puzzles;
In the end, those pillars were easy and I had plenty of time left to do them. I only failed them once because I thought I was done when I reached the cage.
4 - Less than 15 times.
5 - I had done the town "mirror" panel before, so I knew I could change its position and I saw where it reflected the laser to. It was just a matter of going there and pointing it to the mountain.
6 - Color puzzles. As a colorblind, I could not solve any of them and searched for every answer.
1 - I watched a video where the guy showed he could enter puzzle mode without having to be in front of a panel so I kinda knew there was something strange going on. Right when I got out of the initial white corridor I looked back and saw a line but didn't align myself to draw it successfully. Then on the symmetry hill I looked to the pottery house and saw the upwards black line, drew and thought "wait, what are those sparkles?"
2 - I accidentally read here that the challenge was time-based and had a song. I did not know anything beyond that, nor what would I gain from it.
3 - I did not find it difficult.
First I learned that the 4 puzzles after the maze one would show up in random order;
Then I learned that in those series of 3 puzzles, only one was solvable;
Then I learned the meaning of the maze puzzle and kept taking pictures of the solution (which clears the locations of the triangle puzzles inside the maze) with my phone using one hand while moving with the other;
Then I started looking left and right when walking through the maze to find the two triangle puzzles;
In the end, those pillars were easy and I had plenty of time left to do them. I only failed them once because I thought I was done when I reached the cage.
4 - Less than 15 times.
5 - I had done the town "mirror" panel before, so I knew I could change its position and I saw where it reflected the laser to. It was just a matter of going there and pointing it to the mountain.
6 - Color puzzles. As a colorblind, I could not solve any of them and searched for every answer.
darkinstinct
...lacks reading comprehension.
No, that's it.
There is a secret ending for the credits. You have to do an environmental puzzle at the start (right side of the locked force field) to start it.
Challenge
It kinda sucked. I was able to breeze through the first few puzzles without any problems, but I had trouble with finding my way around the room with the two triangle puzzles just before the final room. I was so happy when I finally made it, only to find two more pillar puzzles just as the music was ending. Ugh.
Anyway, it's done. When I reached the final room the second time, I managed to finish it with like two seconds left.
Anyway, it's done. When I reached the final room the second time, I managed to finish it with like two seconds left.
GlamFM
Banned
Did you know that
the fourth puzzle is actually a map of the labyrinth and the yellow dots tell you the position of the panels?
Thanks to you both... still can't get it though...
I feel guilty about it... but could I get a more explicit hint?
(Spoilering, although it's not terribly spoilery, it's more discussing a way to think about solving these)
A number of people have found it useful making physical copies of the shapes and shuffling them around. Don't bother thinking about the line right now, just take those shapes and shuffle them until you get something that covers all three symbols.
Goddammit.
GlamFM
Banned
lol
Its the only liberty I took with that part, I took a photo of that to use later (but still got turned around lol).
toythatkills
Member
I've been
quickly sketching it, so I can map both the route and the position of the panels in one image.
Save file: I don't have the numbers exactly, but something like +510, +60, +1
1 ) How / when did you find out about +puzzles and what they were? Did you stumble upon one yourself? Heard about them on here or were hinted towards them on here?
I wrote my (quite lengthy) answer to that question here, for me it was quite a slow process of realisation, ticking away for quite a while.
2 ) Did you hear about the challenge before reaching it, and if yes, how much did you know before-hand?
I got to the endgame elevator without having heard about it, then took a break from the game while I focussed on Xenoblade Chronicles X for a bit. I was still watching the thread, though, and saw mention of the Challenge after a while. All I'd picked up on was that it was a timed run, and was difficult, and that there was music (so I'd deduced at that point that the music was probably a timer of sorts - I knew I was at The Challenge when I saw the record player). Oh, and lots of people were saying the last-but-one section was a pain, but I didn't really have a frame of reference for which that was.
3 ) If you found the challenge frustratingly difficult, what parts specifically were hardest / most frustrating for you and why?
I didn't really find it frustratingly difficult, I have to say; I think it was about the right level. I did succumb to looking for one hint, though - on my first attempt getting there I got through the labyrinth very quickly but wasn't aware there were puzzles on the way, so I had no idea what to do when I was in the tomb room.
I always had a somewhat... inelegant solution to the labyrinth; I wasn't aware of the map earlier in the challenge run, but I am pretty experienced at straight mazes, and I've got a good sense of direction, so I spent a lot of time basically racing through the options making snap decisions when walls popped up and keeping a vague memory of the layout (at least in terms of general directions). I did need to be alert and react whenever I saw a hint of yellow in the screens, of course, along with keeping a clear idea of which way was still 'forwards'.
It helped that the actual mazes generated for the labyrinth were somewhat simple, and usually charging towards the exit was good enough!
The hardest for me were the pillars, I think, and that's less because of the puzzle itself and more because I couldn't get an overview of the entire puzzle at the same time, so I was solving it on-the-fly and occasionally having to take into account new information as it scrolled into view.
...but, after all that, I'll still say that it never got to a point of frustration for me.
4 ) How many tries did you approximately need to beat the challenge?
I'd say maybe fewer than ten. Certainly not much more.
5 ) When you activated the desert laser and saw it didn't point to the mountain, did you a ) Follow the laser to see where it went. or b ) Ask the internet why the laser didn't point to the mountain?
I did a), but completely missed the mirror! I didn't actively ask the internet, though; I accidentally saw a comment early on that said 'fix it', which meant I was distracted for a while trying to find some controls I could use to move the laser gun - including re-entering the temple a couple of times. That was actually the big hint that that was the wrong path - the fact that - locked (at the time) back door aside there was no quick way out of the basement of the temple once you'd raised the lift suggested it wasn't a place you were intended to return to for normal purposes. (Okay, there was a +1 purpose for it, though!)
I eventually solved it when I stumbled on the mirror while working through the town.
6 ) What puzzle mechanic did you have the most trouble with and why?
Audio. Determining pitch is a bit of a weakness of mine, even without the distractions. While I could ignore the distractions easily enough - I generally knew the sound I was trying to isolate - their tones would break my train of thought. Think of it a bit like someone saying numbers to you while you're trying to count.
1 ) How / when did you find out about +puzzles and what they were? Did you stumble upon one yourself? Heard about them on here or were hinted towards them on here?
I wrote my (quite lengthy) answer to that question here, for me it was quite a slow process of realisation, ticking away for quite a while.
2 ) Did you hear about the challenge before reaching it, and if yes, how much did you know before-hand?
I got to the endgame elevator without having heard about it, then took a break from the game while I focussed on Xenoblade Chronicles X for a bit. I was still watching the thread, though, and saw mention of the Challenge after a while. All I'd picked up on was that it was a timed run, and was difficult, and that there was music (so I'd deduced at that point that the music was probably a timer of sorts - I knew I was at The Challenge when I saw the record player). Oh, and lots of people were saying the last-but-one section was a pain, but I didn't really have a frame of reference for which that was.
3 ) If you found the challenge frustratingly difficult, what parts specifically were hardest / most frustrating for you and why?
I didn't really find it frustratingly difficult, I have to say; I think it was about the right level. I did succumb to looking for one hint, though - on my first attempt getting there I got through the labyrinth very quickly but wasn't aware there were puzzles on the way, so I had no idea what to do when I was in the tomb room.
I always had a somewhat... inelegant solution to the labyrinth; I wasn't aware of the map earlier in the challenge run, but I am pretty experienced at straight mazes, and I've got a good sense of direction, so I spent a lot of time basically racing through the options making snap decisions when walls popped up and keeping a vague memory of the layout (at least in terms of general directions). I did need to be alert and react whenever I saw a hint of yellow in the screens, of course, along with keeping a clear idea of which way was still 'forwards'.
It helped that the actual mazes generated for the labyrinth were somewhat simple, and usually charging towards the exit was good enough!
The hardest for me were the pillars, I think, and that's less because of the puzzle itself and more because I couldn't get an overview of the entire puzzle at the same time, so I was solving it on-the-fly and occasionally having to take into account new information as it scrolled into view.
...but, after all that, I'll still say that it never got to a point of frustration for me.
4 ) How many tries did you approximately need to beat the challenge?
I'd say maybe fewer than ten. Certainly not much more.
5 ) When you activated the desert laser and saw it didn't point to the mountain, did you a ) Follow the laser to see where it went. or b ) Ask the internet why the laser didn't point to the mountain?
I did a), but completely missed the mirror! I didn't actively ask the internet, though; I accidentally saw a comment early on that said 'fix it', which meant I was distracted for a while trying to find some controls I could use to move the laser gun - including re-entering the temple a couple of times. That was actually the big hint that that was the wrong path - the fact that - locked (at the time) back door aside there was no quick way out of the basement of the temple once you'd raised the lift suggested it wasn't a place you were intended to return to for normal purposes. (Okay, there was a +1 purpose for it, though!)
I eventually solved it when I stumbled on the mirror while working through the town.
6 ) What puzzle mechanic did you have the most trouble with and why?
Audio. Determining pitch is a bit of a weakness of mine, even without the distractions. While I could ignore the distractions easily enough - I generally knew the sound I was trying to isolate - their tones would break my train of thought. Think of it a bit like someone saying numbers to you while you're trying to count.
GlamFM
Banned
That's the thing. We want to talk about it, because there's so much to share, and not all of that really belongs in the spoiler thread. But we don't want to spoil anything for people and deny them the sense of discovery we got ourselves. Hence,
black bars
When I've hinted for people, I've generally gone to great pains to break it down into InvisiClues-esque step-by-step hints so the reader can stop when they feel they've understood enough. I also try to use that notion to display my train of thought for solving a puzzle, hopefully helping the reader understand how each step follows logically from the one before.
Endgame
515+57 puzzles. Challenge completed. Now what?
I'm missing one of the codes for the cinema. The fourth one, I believe. But I really don't know where I could have missed any puzzles. It has to be in the caves or inside the mountain, I think.
Are there any helpful guides for the environmental puzzles available yet? I really can't be arsed to search every single spot of every single area for line patterns.
I'm missing one of the codes for the cinema. The fourth one, I believe. But I really don't know where I could have missed any puzzles. It has to be in the caves or inside the mountain, I think.
Are there any helpful guides for the environmental puzzles available yet? I really can't be arsed to search every single spot of every single area for line patterns.
A little tip for the latter:
The symbol on the black pillar faces that environmental puzzle's location.
Posted my answers in the Spoiler thread. Obviously don't follow the link if you don't want to be spoiled.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=194799402&postcount=331
Good questions, I'd be happy to discuss it more over there with you, for the sake of not making this a black wall of text thread. I watched a bunch of people doing the challenge on Youtube last night and it was interesting to see the different approaches people took. It seems a lot of people tried to straight up brute force certain parts and may have just gotten lucky. But it's really fun watching someone of the better players do the puzzles without the "cheese." As you watch them draw you can see their train of thought play out.
( Don't remember the exact count atm, but something like 430s +105 and 11 lasers activated)
1 ) How / when did you find out about +puzzles and what they were? Did you stumble upon one yourself? Heard about them on here or were hinted towards them on here?
Discovered these on my own. First one i found was fairly early on, I think it was the squiggle one in the sand near the desert. I don't have any black columns complete yet, but very close on a couple. The spaced out orange metal one near the couch on the cliff behind the castle has been driving me crazy.
2 ) Did you hear about the challenge before reaching it, and if yes, how much did you know before-hand?
I discovered the existence of the challenge area on here, and the fact that there were tunnels I couldn't access. From skimming other posts I think I've gathered that its the disconnected orange triangle panels that activate the area, and that its done in the room prior to the endgame elevator? I've activated a few of the orange triangle panels but the panel in the final room is still dark. I thought the white column with triangles on it in the starting area might track how many I've completed, but it doesn't seem to change. If there is no way to track how many I have left, I'll probably just look up the rest, I don't want to wander around forever just for this.
I know about a credits area too and that maybe it's in the starting area? I realized the first security gate in that area was a grid, so thought that could be it, but I can't find a way to re-activate it to see what it looks like.
3 ) If you found the challenge frustratingly difficult, what parts specifically were hardest / most frustrating for you and why? n/a
4 ) How many tries did you approximately need to beat the challenge? n/a
5 ) When you activated the desert laser and saw it didn't point to the mountain, did you a ) Follow the laser to see where it went. or b ) Ask the internet why the laser didn't point to the mountain?
I followed it and saw the panel on top of the building, and from there messed with it and saw the it light up the cloud. I figured it was for a +puzzle and just made note of it before pointing it to the mountain top. I've since found that one and one negative cloud space +puzzle. I assume there are more, but haven't found the right place to stand/sail yet. Although now that I'm thinking about it, maybe I can point that laser to another place on the mountain? I'll try that tonight!
6 ) What puzzle mechanic did you have the most trouble with and why?
I got hung up on a couple marsh puzzles, the ones where it puts to the test rotating and swapping places, and another with negative spaces and overlapping. Even though these were hard, i had a great time in that area. The one giving me the most trouble at the moment is the mirror puzzle on the sunken ship. Besides the obvious color and size differences, i'm wondering if the water drop pitches play into what order i need to go over them? I'm guessing its a video key inside. Right now i have videos 1, 2, 3, and 6.
Even 30 hours in, I discovered the video +puzzles last night and that discovery always feels super great. It's going to be hard for another game to top it for me this year. I've been very happy with myself for getting this far on my own, but I'm starting to get to the point where it's not going to be very rewarding wondering around looking for hidden panels to the challenge area instead of just looking it up.
1 ) How / when did you find out about +puzzles and what they were? Did you stumble upon one yourself? Heard about them on here or were hinted towards them on here?
Discovered these on my own. First one i found was fairly early on, I think it was the squiggle one in the sand near the desert. I don't have any black columns complete yet, but very close on a couple. The spaced out orange metal one near the couch on the cliff behind the castle has been driving me crazy.
2 ) Did you hear about the challenge before reaching it, and if yes, how much did you know before-hand?
I discovered the existence of the challenge area on here, and the fact that there were tunnels I couldn't access. From skimming other posts I think I've gathered that its the disconnected orange triangle panels that activate the area, and that its done in the room prior to the endgame elevator? I've activated a few of the orange triangle panels but the panel in the final room is still dark. I thought the white column with triangles on it in the starting area might track how many I've completed, but it doesn't seem to change. If there is no way to track how many I have left, I'll probably just look up the rest, I don't want to wander around forever just for this.
I know about a credits area too and that maybe it's in the starting area? I realized the first security gate in that area was a grid, so thought that could be it, but I can't find a way to re-activate it to see what it looks like.
3 ) If you found the challenge frustratingly difficult, what parts specifically were hardest / most frustrating for you and why? n/a
4 ) How many tries did you approximately need to beat the challenge? n/a
5 ) When you activated the desert laser and saw it didn't point to the mountain, did you a ) Follow the laser to see where it went. or b ) Ask the internet why the laser didn't point to the mountain?
I followed it and saw the panel on top of the building, and from there messed with it and saw the it light up the cloud. I figured it was for a +puzzle and just made note of it before pointing it to the mountain top. I've since found that one and one negative cloud space +puzzle. I assume there are more, but haven't found the right place to stand/sail yet. Although now that I'm thinking about it, maybe I can point that laser to another place on the mountain? I'll try that tonight!
6 ) What puzzle mechanic did you have the most trouble with and why?
I got hung up on a couple marsh puzzles, the ones where it puts to the test rotating and swapping places, and another with negative spaces and overlapping. Even though these were hard, i had a great time in that area. The one giving me the most trouble at the moment is the mirror puzzle on the sunken ship. Besides the obvious color and size differences, i'm wondering if the water drop pitches play into what order i need to go over them? I'm guessing its a video key inside. Right now i have videos 1, 2, 3, and 6.
Even 30 hours in, I discovered the video +puzzles last night and that discovery always feels super great. It's going to be hard for another game to top it for me this year. I've been very happy with myself for getting this far on my own, but I'm starting to get to the point where it's not going to be very rewarding wondering around looking for hidden panels to the challenge area instead of just looking it up.
toythatkills
Member
(end game)
This is actually my first and only platinum trophy, haha.
The Challenge has been conquered! Fifth or sixth attempt I think, not including one that I accidentally paused three puzzles in, haha.
I'm on 504 +25, so I've missed a pretty significant bunch of panels around the place. I don't think there's any one particular area I missed though so I guess I'll have to wander round - I suspect they're mostly gates I didn't open and stuff like that.
Not sure whether I care about the environmental "puzzle," such as they are. Do they serve any purpose that we know of?
I'm on 504 +25, so I've missed a pretty significant bunch of panels around the place. I don't think there's any one particular area I missed though so I guess I'll have to wander round - I suspect they're mostly gates I didn't open and stuff like that.
Not sure whether I care about the environmental "puzzle," such as they are. Do they serve any purpose that we know of?
This is actually my first and only platinum trophy, haha.
toythatkills
Member
There is no shame in cheating through those.
Is the ansswer truly that unclear?
GlamFM
Banned
This helps a bit, but not much. I can't even find all of them in simpler areas like the desert; I haven't even yet started to search in visually busy locations like the marsh or the forest. Ugh. I'm gonna try to find a few more before finally consulting a guide.