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The Witness |OT|
- Thread starter Afro
- Start date
I don't think it's that many, but other games have implemented modes. Just a minor nitpick. I made it through The Bunker but it was certainly a strain. Apparently Protopania people have it far worse.
https://twitter.com/AbleGamers/status/692375279705137153
Huh? Which line?
Remembrance
Member
Can you draw a line for the red dots?
I guess I'm also trying to be exactly clear on how much you have figured out at this point without asking spoilerish questions.
Oh, I see.
Yes, I can draw the line. But I haven't figured out anything so far. There's the sound of the water drops, and the loud, booming noise. Obviously, the different colors correspond to different kind of noises. But how does my second, invisible line come into play?
bitoriginal
Member
Okay guys, maybe I'm tired, maybe I'm being stupid, but I cannot for the life of me figure out the rule of the
I'd been feeling pretty proud of myself up until this point as I'd managed to get through without any help. However, could anyone provide a soft hint that will push me in right direction but still allow me to figure it out myself?
orange star puzzles in the swamp area.
I'd been feeling pretty proud of myself up until this point as I'd managed to get through without any help. However, could anyone provide a soft hint that will push me in right direction but still allow me to figure it out myself?
Remembrance
Member
Remembrance
Member
I consider this the hardest puzzle in the game. Being very careful about how much I give away.
What did you have to do before when there was a second invisible line, and two colors?
therealminime
Member
Taking a break is so beneficial when you are feeling stuck. Come back to it after a day of not thinking about it. A clear mind will see new things really quickly.
Grinchy
Banned
Just keep at it, and you will develop your brain into a line-puzzle solving muscle. It just needs a workout to get there.
I first noticed the
puzzles
+
in the bamboo forest... I found the shape of the moss on the trees curious, even more so when I spotted a semi circle that became a full circle when looked at from the right perspective. I assumed at first that they were that area's gimmick, but then I noticed the sparkles when each were solved headed towards a black column nearby and realized that was actually what the columns were for, so there must be environmental puzzles everywhere. It definitely surprised me. I confirmed that they were "+" puzzles by checking the "Load Game" screen before and after solving one of them.
This game is frustrating on so many levels. I'm pretty stuck.
For those of you that have beat it without help, how long did it take you?
More importantly, was it worth it?
Edit:
I feel you on that.
For those of you that have beat it without help, how long did it take you?
More importantly, was it worth it?
Edit:
I feel you on that.
Goldrusher
Member
Take a screenshot so we can give you hints or even the solution?
Remembrance
Member
There are
135
When I got all achievements in Steam, I had 32 hours in-game.
The experience of beating everything without help was fantastic. I have never done that in any other puzzle game before.
TheChillyAcademic
Member
I am horrible, read HORRIBLE at this game, my mind just does not allow my mind to think the way the game asks me to...but it is so god damn alluring and so beautiful, it worth the humiliating headache.
Feel like a genius for the first few panels and then HAHA WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD PUZZLE NOW.
Mindfuck,
Feel like a genius for the first few panels and then HAHA WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD PUZZLE NOW.
Mindfuck,
hey_it's_that_dog
benevolent sexism
I'm starting the endgame and I have a question.
Thanks!
I'm seeing some locations on the monitors in the junk pile that I haven't seen in the game. Are those places I could go right now and I somehow missed them, or is that part of the post-game content? I have avoided spoiling myself on what the post-game content is other than the word "challenge" so simply answering whether these are areas I have missed or areas I can go later will suffice. I've done all 11 eleven lasers and I thought I'd seen the whole island but maybe there are hidden caves I missed.
paperspace
Member
~45 hours. Number of puzzles so far:
522 + 130 + 4
It's absolutely worth it!
If you're stuck (like, really stuck) I'd suggest you ignore it for the time being and try to explore other puzzles to learn new rules, or simply to get better at them. You can also just take a break, it can help a lot.
Also, be observant. Look for details. Analyze how things look from another perspective.
Remembrance
Member
There is really no "post-game" content, in that there is nothing to do after the ending except reload a save. Your last save will always be before the game ends.
So strictly speaking you can go there before ending the game. Most people only end up finding it after.
So strictly speaking you can go there before ending the game. Most people only end up finding it after.
The jungle puzzles suck! Anyone else find them hard?
The fact that Blow put a variety of sounds together to put the player off feels unfairly designed to me. The last one was extra hard and I couldn't be bothered with it and just used a hint.
So far I've used 4 hints over 250 puzzles.. How am I doing so far?
So far I've used 4 hints over 250 puzzles.. How am I doing so far?
paperspace
Member
How does one know this?
Remembrance
Member
Count the flowers in the lake that have not bloomed.
Now that I'm on the hunt, turned out I consistently missed the most interesting ones in the game.
Remembrance
Member
I just got around to checking this one:
I heard the sound as a different bird call. It starts with a quick "whoOo" trill, is how I would describe it. Just pitches slightly up in the middle very quickly.
For all trophies it was something like 22 hours for me spread over 4 days, but I didn't do a single thing extra than the trophies, doing all that extra stuff now. I got stuck on a few things for 30+ minutes at a time but I was able to breeze through all the sections that just had a bunch of panels in a row. The last trophy took about an hour and a half. I didn't stop to smell the roses either, it was Point A to B to C.
Just played for another 4 hours tonight and I'm not even a quarter done with all the other stuff. If you like it keep playing, it got a lot better for me because I thought the early game was boring and easy, while the end game got more difficult and diverse. Especially the "post" game stuff.
D
Deleted member 10571
Unconfirmed Member
too lazy to turn on the ps4 now, gotta go to work soon, so no savegame. I think I was at ~510, +60ish last i checked
1. Found the line at the first outlook point after the tutorial. Wasn't really suprised since I think the line was super obvious and actually wondered if the "twist" was supposed to be found that easy. Especially when reaching the mountain and seeing the river thing.
2. Yes, and only that there's a challenge.
3. Labyrinth. Despite knowing what was going on I never ever had enough time, got stuck at figuring out a triangle puzzle (literally took forever for those things, don't know why, the concept is super easy), or got lost since my sense of orientation, even with a map, wasn't existant in there. I was so frustrated.
4.Friday evening to Sunday evening, played all sunday. It should be live in this thread. Apparently all of GAF is geniuses, given how everyone seems to think its super easy and doable on the second try or something (and no, I don't believe you lol)
5. a) obviously. The only time I checked the internet is the double computer pathway puzzle and the challenge.
1. Found the line at the first outlook point after the tutorial. Wasn't really suprised since I think the line was super obvious and actually wondered if the "twist" was supposed to be found that easy. Especially when reaching the mountain and seeing the river thing.
2. Yes, and only that there's a challenge.
3. Labyrinth. Despite knowing what was going on I never ever had enough time, got stuck at figuring out a triangle puzzle (literally took forever for those things, don't know why, the concept is super easy), or got lost since my sense of orientation, even with a map, wasn't existant in there. I was so frustrated.
4.Friday evening to Sunday evening, played all sunday. It should be live in this thread. Apparently all of GAF is geniuses, given how everyone seems to think its super easy and doable on the second try or something (and no, I don't believe you lol)
5. a) obviously. The only time I checked the internet is the double computer pathway puzzle and the challenge.
D
Deleted member 10571
Unconfirmed Member
fuuuuuck
I'll have to check this. This game just keeps on giving, I shouldn't have gotten Firewatch so early lol.The game used to run on my laptop but all of the sudden stopped doing so. As soon as I launch the game from steam I get a small error window that says:
Unable to set up display device.
I tried to read read online and on the steam discussion board about the error but I couldn't find a solution. I have check the integrity of the local files but it didn't help. Has anyone here come across this problem?
Unable to set up display device.
I tried to read read online and on the steam discussion board about the error but I couldn't find a solution. I have check the integrity of the local files but it didn't help. Has anyone here come across this problem?
This game makes you feel like an idiot and a genius within seconds.
I just try to change my paradigm, if things are not working; if I get stuck for longer than necessary, I try to stay away from variations of solutions that do not work and try a vastly different approach. Sometimes the solution comes to me when I'm not even playing the game. The game certainly leaves a mark on you.
That said, I'm now over
300
maze tower.
I'm still refraining from getting any help, but I'm probably just postponing the inevitable. I'm certainly not the brightest bulb when it comes to puzzles.
Bought this on PS4 last night, absolutely love it.
Some thoughts:
1) It looks gorgeous. Love the art style, its so clean and solid and attractive.
2) It runs brilliantly, seems solid 60fps to me. Lovely and smooth
3) Its very intriguing, I have so many questions!
Can't wait to find out.
4) The puzzles are nicely pitched so far, lots of 'AHA!' moments when you figure something out.
5) Its actually very restful. The island is a lovely place for virtual tourism.
6) I like the fact that you;re just left to figure things out. To explore and find your own way.
In addition to point 4 though, I've completed 90 puzzles now I think, and finally had to resort to a guide for one of them. In my (weak) defence, I don't think the rules for this particular puzzle were particularly well explained, so I spent an hour or so pushing entirely the wrong solution. If you're interested: In the greenhouse
So rather than a single segment housing two blues, I had to have two segments each with a blue in it.
I don't think that rule was well explained, so I don't feel too bad about resorting to a guide. The next section using the
That did teach me to start thinking more about the environment though, its very easy to just focus on the line puzzle when perhaps there are clues around you.
But yeah, awesome game so far, happy with the £30 it cost. Its got under my skin, can't wait to play more.
Some thoughts:
1) It looks gorgeous. Love the art style, its so clean and solid and attractive.
2) It runs brilliantly, seems solid 60fps to me. Lovely and smooth
3) Its very intriguing, I have so many questions!
What are the buzzing black towers! What does turning on the windmill do! What is the curious noise in the bamboo grove! Whats with all the people statues everywhere!
4) The puzzles are nicely pitched so far, lots of 'AHA!' moments when you figure something out.
5) Its actually very restful. The island is a lovely place for virtual tourism.
6) I like the fact that you;re just left to figure things out. To explore and find your own way.
In addition to point 4 though, I've completed 90 puzzles now I think, and finally had to resort to a guide for one of them. In my (weak) defence, I don't think the rules for this particular puzzle were particularly well explained, so I spent an hour or so pushing entirely the wrong solution. If you're interested: In the greenhouse
lab, the panels that teach you the rule to separate same colours with a dividing line, the second from last puzzle before the panels in the coloured rooms open - the previous panels have taught me that the colours must be subdivided by lines so that alike colours are in their own segment, so thats what I was trying to do - this puzzle however wanted me to split same colours off into their own segment.
I don't think that rule was well explained, so I don't feel too bad about resorting to a guide. The next section using the
coloured glass to change the colours on the panels I figured out eventually.
But yeah, awesome game so far, happy with the £30 it cost. Its got under my skin, can't wait to play more.
toythatkills
Member
On your first attempt tonight, or your first attempt, tonight?
I assume it's the former but I was curious, haha.
Are you sure?
TyrantGuardian
Member
Gosh, about the "Endgame" achievement ending:
Am I the only one who found this completely genius? It is the only time the game takes control away from the player whatsoever. I followed this up with playing Firewatch and that game regularly has you lose control, but the Witness never does this aside from the elevator ride. It felt incredibly jarring and made the reset state of the island all the more impactful for me. I was honestly shocked.
At the same time, one of my most prevailing thoughts toward the end of the game was "geez, I really should just play this over from the start again and see how much I've actually learned". Lo and behold, the game was thinking the same thing! Fucking masterful game design. I love this game.
At the same time, one of my most prevailing thoughts toward the end of the game was "geez, I really should just play this over from the start again and see how much I've actually learned". Lo and behold, the game was thinking the same thing! Fucking masterful game design. I love this game.
Sixteen or so hours to get to an ending, and I've spent a further five or so hours pottering around the island doing Other Stuff, so a little over 20 hours to get a platinum. There's still a lot more Other Stuff to go, and quite a lot of that time wasn't directly heading towards the ending/platinum.
Oh god yes.
I would argue that that puzzle itself was the explanation you were after. It's clearly impossible based on an assumption you've made, so you must challenge that assumption.
I'm still struggling with
It's brutal, having such a hard time with it
the challenge. I'm looking at hours of attempts now. I made it to the pillars once with a lot of time left, but I got a really hard dot puzzle there and wasted the entire mountain king segment on it. I was crushed afterwards, made such good time before that. I arrived in the pillar room when mountain king began . I always took my time with this game, and I can't adjust well to being on a timer now. I can't even imagine doing some of the triangle puzzles without using the rest trick.
. I always took my time with this game, and I can't adjust well to being on a timer now. I can't even imagine doing some of the triangle puzzles without using the rest trick.It's brutal, having such a hard time with it
toythatkills
Member
Maybe download a slitherlink app and have a play around with that for a while. There's a lot of tricks you can use solving them that can be applied in this game.
It certainly helped me knowing how certain numbers behaved when adjacent/diagonally across, etc, and knowing what patterns to look for.
It certainly helped me knowing how certain numbers behaved when adjacent/diagonally across, etc, and knowing what patterns to look for.
I did actually make a comment along these lines earlier in the thread, about how that's the case but there's an associated irritation.
I think that's why a lot of the puzzles are really rather small, because at that scale it's not unreasonable to expect the player to keep sufficient info in their head.
Major spoiler (best not to read before postgame), a bit about my mindset when I wrote that:
I already knew about the environmental puzzles when I wrote that (but, at the time, I had seen triangle puzzles but hadn't realised they were fundamentally Slitherlink, hence the small edit to the start of the quote), and that was largely the impetus for the 'argument against' - the fact that pattern-recognition and the consistency of the interface would aid the player towards spotting those. Trouble is, I was trying to present that argument without acknowledging the existence of the puzzles for those who didn't know about them! I think I did reasonably well.
This is very true actually. I got into a mindset that I was doing it right, even though after an hour I genuinely started to think it must be impossible - but I was so dogged that this is what the previous panels had been teaching me I didn't try another solution and just persevered, assuming it was just me not seeing the solution. And I wasn't, just not in the way I thought!
That one room taught me a lot about the game actually, to look more carefully at the environment around me for clues and for solutions. Its also, as you say, taught me to challenge my assumptions.
Awesome game.
Changing your paradigm and challenging your assumptions seems a lot like guessing in practice though, something that a lot of the praise for this game says has no place in TW. If you've learned the rules of a puzzle type and then suddenly those rules don't work, what is there to do but guess around until you get it? That's what's frustrating to me.
I like the game, please don't take this as trying to troll the thread. That's just the thought I've had in my frustration.
I like the game, please don't take this as trying to troll the thread. That's just the thought I've had in my frustration.
You do know, at that point, that the rules you had thought were sufficient up until now. That in itself is important information.The rules never unexpectedly change, but your understanding of them evolves, and you can refine them towards the goal.
I think you need to approach the game with a mindset of scientific enquiry. What you're terming guesswork - which, to be fair, isn't an unreasonable statement - I would instead call "experimentation"; you should be approaching it with a sense of ordered testing of hypotheses, not through arbitrary guesswork trying to spot anything that might stick. When a rule is tested in a way that doesn't fit what you know, the player - the scientist - needs to experiment with what's available to try to rearrange their previous hypothesis into something that fits with the new information.
Out of interest, are there any 'new wrinkle' panels that also have that 'go back and solve the previous panel if you get it wrong' attribute set? I can't think of any, I think that's only true after a rule is established and it's being tested with escalating difficulty.
I would, perhaps, tie this in a little to the overall theme. I'm going to put this in spoiler tags, but that's only really in the context that I'm talking about grand thematic points that resonated to me. Whether they're intended... that's for Blow to decide, but I like them enough that I'm gonna run with 'em!
The title of the game is "The Witness". You are - implicitly - an observer, piecing together information about the underlying mechanics of the world from the most basic of principles (Draw a line to activate a thing) through extra complexities (Draw a line that fits these defined rules to activate a thing) to the very grandest of implications; the same as about how a scientific theory evolves from the most basic of principles (Objects fall towards the ground) through extra complexities (Objects fall towards massive objects) to the grandest of implications (Spacetime is curved)
I would be intrigued to see if players with a science background find the game - or at least the thought processes the game demands - a bit easier than players without.
SmiteOfHand
Member
Go back to a previously solved, simpler puzzle, and test your assumptions.