SmiteOfHand
Member
Oh, sorry, didn't realize you had not solved the other one yet when I posted above. My bad. As far as we know you have solved all there is to solve there.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
The Witness |OT|
- Thread starter Afro
- Start date
Oh, sorry, didn't realize you had not solved the other one yet when I posted above. My bad. As far as we know you have solved all there is to solve there.
For what to do with those mazes after completing them:
they're necessary for + puzzles
Remembrance
Member
The thing is, we already disproved that.
The windows are open from the beginning of the game.
SmiteOfHand
Member
To take it a step further
there are multiple environmental puzzles to solve there so you do need access to the room to be able to switch the colors, but don't need to have solved the puzzles inside.
Completed. 60-something hours,
, no hints.
This was a supremely well designed puzzle game.
One niggle:
522+135+6
This was a supremely well designed puzzle game.
One niggle:
am I the only one who thinks 2 environment puzzles on the mountain obelisk which are located around the coast of the swamp area are in the wrong segment? There are some further to the west which are located on the segment facing further east. One of them took us over 2 hours to find because of that.
Remembrance
Member
Yeah, I had to generalize it as:
it's not individual faces of the obelisk pointing in individual directions, but rather a group of consecutive faces pointing in one general direction. I mean, on that one you had an underground one mixed with overland marsh ones.
Grinchy
Banned
I actually almost liked that audiolog. What gets intolerably long are the videos logs.
The one with the guy walking back and forth for what feels like 49 minutes straight...
It is somewhat mesmerizing the first time though, though.
CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
When I got down to that room,
I found the little personal theater and started guessing combinations to put into the hex-puzzle. I was extremely delighted when my guesswork paid off in under a minute, and that it just so happened to be a clip from Nostalghia. Bravo, Mr. Blow~
inpHilltr8r
Member
I spent a while on that one.
(greenhouse and town spoilers)
The greenhouse taught me that these puzzles require knowing which colour filter is appropriate. Mostly it's obvious, but in the elevator you have to work out what the broken floor is. Apparently there are clues, but you can work it out by elimination, which is how I solved it.
Anyway, given that, I drew out the patterns for every possible filter (they're all removing one or two of the Red Green or Blue components), and realised that only one of them had a solution, and that that must be it. Elated when it worked.
Realised that the exterior of the church is a clue, as it's completely missing the same colour the filter removes. Felt like a massive idiot when a colleague pointed out that you could see the puzzle through the window of the door I'd opened in the adjacent building. The tinted window. Doubly so because I already knew that opening the church door, would allow you to solve the puzzle behind it.
Real kicker was I'd already seen the easy solution several days earlier, but had completely forgotten how the 8-pointed stars worked.
Backfoggen
Banned
Sometimes when walking around I heard the puzzle cancellation noise. (The one where you start a line and then not end it) Is this a hint or just a glitch? Couldn't reproduce it. Yes or no is all I need as an answer.
Thanks, will check them out.
Thanks for this! Haven't been able to get back to the game yet, but I will because I really want to understand how the color stuff works.
While doing the
Challenge
three panels on the roof that are not solvable. Does anyone know what do they mean or represent?
KharmaPolice
Member
Never happened to me. Sounds like a glitch.
Its letting you know that in this area there are puzzles
that can't be solved and that's ok
Dee Dah Dave
Member
Wow, so many hidden comments lol.
I'm getting this game soon. As a big Myst fan and general puzzle game lover, will I be happy with The Witness?
I've tried to avoid all information about it so I can go in clean!
I'm getting this game soon. As a big Myst fan and general puzzle game lover, will I be happy with The Witness?
I've tried to avoid all information about it so I can go in clean!
paperspace
Member
Where did you hear it?
I've heard it 2 times close to the town, near the big hole in the ground. I'm pretty sure it was the
theater
movie
Backfoggen
Banned
Here it is recorded:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baR2od4ZKpc
I think the
theater
paperspace
Member
Yeah, it could be something like that. I only heard it after I played a movie some minutes earlier on, so I just assumed it was related to that, but maybe it's actually reproducible by going back and forth?
I'm at
and I think I'm going to give up.
The challenge (513 +82)
I really don't feel like this is a good way to end the game. It really feels like the challenge is only about trying over and over until you get the right roll (some runs are obviously much easier than others) and that's not really fun IMO. Sometimes I only need to look at the maze puzzle to know that I won't make it. How am I supposed to memorize such a complicated thing without resorting to sreenshot/rest mode abuse? And even when I barely achieve to go past the maze because I got an easy one, I will get stuck on the pillar puzzles. And I guess that there are still the 3 shifting puzzles above the door to solve in some way after I don't know how many pillars...
Am I missing something here?
Am I missing something here?
If you feel like you're not getting anywhere, take a break.
The challenge is one of things you can't really brute force. That's not to say good RNG on the puzzles can't be significant but it's also very draining trying to grind through it.
As for the
maze, it sounds like you're getting bogged down in the specifics of the path. It's helpful to remember the layout but the most important part is remembering where the panels are in the maze. You can usually just charge through to the end, using the walls to funnel you forward once you got those two panels down.
If you're curious about how close you are to the end.
You've pretty much reached the end if you got to the pillars. I found them to be generally pretty easy compared to the other the pillar puzzles so don't overthink it.
Also the group of three panels at the top are
basically a timer. Don't worry about them, they're impossible to solve anyway.
Thanks for the info. I'll give it a rest and try again tomorrow. Hope I will eventually get through!
I finally earned the platinum trophy yesterday morning. That's a first for me as I usually tire of a game's mechanics long before all that arbitrary tasks developers wall the ultimate trophy behind. This game was definitely a welcome change in that regard. Better yet, I made it by solving every single puzzle on my own.
I did wind up looking for one hint to help me get there, though:
. I missed the subtle in-game clues that would have led me there, and I empathize with everyone who struggled similarly with other puzzles because the game frequently requires interesting leaps in logic. Usually, though, working your way through the challenges the game presents feels amazing. That final trophy, for example.
It felt like a cakewalk on that final attempt.
Now I'm on a quest for the optional things I've been missing. I hit 519 + 105 + 3 before I looked up my first optional puzzle solution. I already knew the family of puzzle it belonged to. I had figured out on my own every single thing the hint videos had to say about it. You know the one.
The one you find
I had even
anything it took to unlock the secret without brute-forcing the solution.
Honestly, I'm still not convinced that the explanations I've seen aren't an attempt to explain why the brute-forced solution works without really understanding it. It's legitimately the one puzzle in the entire game that seems to require significant guesswork instead of a series of verifiable hypotheses. Then again, I've seen others rant about puzzles where they felt the same way and I found a step-by-step chain of logic that led to a single conclusion that felt right when I reached it. Evidently this is that puzzle for me.
I did wind up looking for one hint to help me get there, though:
the fact that there was a second solution at the mountaintop after activating all eleven lasers
I tried the music box challenge on several occasions before finally completing it – and on that final run I didn't even reach the point where the music tempo kicks up a notch and the urgency sets in.
Now I'm on a quest for the optional things I've been missing. I hit 519 + 105 + 3 before I looked up my first optional puzzle solution. I already knew the family of puzzle it belonged to. I had figured out on my own every single thing the hint videos had to say about it. You know the one.
that ridiculous red door.
on the shipwreck?
recorded the ambient audio so I could play it back, speed it up,
Honestly, I'm still not convinced that the explanations I've seen aren't an attempt to explain why the brute-forced solution works without really understanding it. It's legitimately the one puzzle in the entire game that seems to require significant guesswork instead of a series of verifiable hypotheses. Then again, I've seen others rant about puzzles where they felt the same way and I found a step-by-step chain of logic that led to a single conclusion that felt right when I reached it. Evidently this is that puzzle for me.
About the RGB room,
I thought you would make groups of squares with specific lit / unlit patterns under the 3 lighting conditions, is that what you did in the end?
Incandenza
Banned
Well, I just finished the last thing I wanted to do in this game,
.
Hell of a game!
opening the shipwreck door
I actually cheesed it a little bit. I was pretty confident that one of the lines needed to spell out the low-high-middle of the water droplets but never actually figured out the melody for the second line. I knew the ship groaning must be it but couldn't actually parse what the notes were, so I just tried a couple possible permutations until I got it. So not the most satisfying ending, but I still feel like I put in the work.
Sitting at around 516 + 65 with the Platinum. Pixel-hunting my way to the rest of the panels and environmental puzzles doesn't sound fun at all, so I think I'm ready to put it down. Maybe I'll boot it back up in a month or two if I feel like finding a few more.
Also, funny side-note: I never actually discovered that that one puzzle in the Challenge gives you the path through the maze. I was watching the Giant Bomb Jonathan Blow video after I got the Platinum and smacked myself in the forehead when he casually mentioned that. Now I feel extra proud for completing it.
Sitting at around 516 + 65 with the Platinum. Pixel-hunting my way to the rest of the panels and environmental puzzles doesn't sound fun at all, so I think I'm ready to put it down. Maybe I'll boot it back up in a month or two if I feel like finding a few more.
Also, funny side-note: I never actually discovered that that one puzzle in the Challenge gives you the path through the maze. I was watching the Giant Bomb Jonathan Blow video after I got the Platinum and smacked myself in the forehead when he casually mentioned that. Now I feel extra proud for completing it.
Hell of a game!
Kinda.
I drew the map three times, and marked the squares as X (black) and O (white). Then I assigned each unique combination of behaviors a letter, in order of R/G/B:
OOO = A (white under all three lights)
XXX = B (black under all three lights)
OXO = C (white under red, black under green, white under blue)
ect. for each unique combination, which produced 7 unique combinations, A - G. Then I did a 4th grid and placed A - G on the grid, and solved that. Then repeated for the second puzzle in the room.
OOO = A (white under all three lights)
XXX = B (black under all three lights)
OXO = C (white under red, black under green, white under blue)
ect. for each unique combination, which produced 7 unique combinations, A - G. Then I did a 4th grid and placed A - G on the grid, and solved that. Then repeated for the second puzzle in the room.
Remembrance
Member
Consolidating some discussion about probably the hardest panel in the game:
The trap in this puzzle is when you get stuck trying to
I did the opposite:
The trap in this puzzle is when you get stuck trying to
fit one sound into all of the hexagons. This will make you start to think that the water drops loop is longer than it actually is, when it's actually just three sounds - personally, I never got past that assumption.
The other part is the metal groaning noise, which I think is far easier to recognize as a loop of four sounds. You are supposed to remember from symmetry island that black hexagons can be covered by either line, and once you have all this information you are supposed to know to divide the black hexagons up to make one set of three and one set of four.
This puzzle is actually not that hard to accidentally brute-force, because the parameters actually limit the possible solutions by a lot.
The nearby audio log is a reminder that you should not cling too closely to any preconceived assumptions about this puzzle. That said, it's easier said than done.
The other part is the metal groaning noise, which I think is far easier to recognize as a loop of four sounds. You are supposed to remember from symmetry island that black hexagons can be covered by either line, and once you have all this information you are supposed to know to divide the black hexagons up to make one set of three and one set of four.
This puzzle is actually not that hard to accidentally brute-force, because the parameters actually limit the possible solutions by a lot.
The nearby audio log is a reminder that you should not cling too closely to any preconceived assumptions about this puzzle. That said, it's easier said than done.
I did the opposite:
figured it out from only the second line without getting the first. As I said above, it's easy to brute-force this one based on the parameters - I feel like this is maybe the one puzzle in the game where it's fair to let you solve it from a partial solution.
I think I broke the "challenge". Light spoilers ahead, no puzzle solutions:
Finished the maze puzzle just as the music stopped playing. I had all the time in the world to complete the 2 pillar puzzles afterwards, and was awarded the trophy. I'm assuming those pillars were supposed to turn off after the music stops?
How entertaining. Your assumption is indeed correct.
I had noticed that the music box behaves a little oddly. The path you use to start it can be followed a second time after starting the music and then it lights up. I was curious if some secret series of on/off solutions would lead to disabling the time limit.
Dead Man Typing
Member
Just got the end game trophy. What an amazing experience this game has been.
I went in completely blind, didn't even know that line drawing was the mechanic. All I knew was it was a puzzle game with 400+ puzzles on an island and that it was made by Jonathan Blow.
I haven't decided if I'll go back to complete the mysteries I've left unfinished. Now I'm going to read some reviews and hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did. Professor Layton + Metroid was the way I kept describing the game as I played through it.
I went in completely blind, didn't even know that line drawing was the mechanic. All I knew was it was a puzzle game with 400+ puzzles on an island and that it was made by Jonathan Blow.
I haven't decided if I'll go back to complete the mysteries I've left unfinished. Now I'm going to read some reviews and hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did. Professor Layton + Metroid was the way I kept describing the game as I played through it.
yes king
mountain area goes off. definitely in my top 3 for favorite sections of the game.
gunstarhero
Member
Can anyone explain to me how the last puzzle (far right) in this picture works? It just doesn't align with what I thought was the rule set for these types of puzzles....
Picture shows 2 puzzle solutions in the swamp area - so don't click if you haven't completed that area first!
Picture shows 2 puzzle solutions in the swamp area - so don't click if you haven't completed that area first!
what do you think is the rule set?
Complete solution, answer the previous question first though before spoiling it for yourself.
The dots in each section completely cancel out the entire shape, so you essentially have no shapes to create at all.
LegendofLex
Member
How do you think you solved the previous one?
The 'subtraction' squares combined, equal the yellow shape, so you don't have to outline a specific form. 4-4= 0, 3-3 =0. But the combined shape of the blue squares has to match the yellow as well of course.
gunstarhero
Member
Blue squares are used to cancel out part (or all) of a tetromino - but it looks like I can cancel out all of BOTH - so why does that path work?
Valkyr Junkie
Member
Haha, I hope that happens for me too. I'm gonna try the challenge again tonight legitimately before cheesing it.
GlamFM
Banned
You´re gonna love it.
hey_it's_that_dog
benevolent sexism
You can, and you did, and that's why it worked. I don't understand your question. You might be assuming the rules are more complex than they actually are.
LegendofLex
Member
You've answered your own question.
gunstarhero
Member
So are you saying I could have drawn any shape? If I cancel out ALL of them, then I imagine I would simply trace the outer edge to the exit. But in this case, I cant because of the broken paths in the upper right... I guess I don't understand the logic being used here.
LegendofLex
Member
The broken line forces you to segregate the two tetrominos (and the blue squares used to cancel each of them out), because you can't draw a line that includes both tetrominos as well as all the blue squares needed to cancel both of them out (the single blue square on the right-hand side would have to be separated from the others if you attempted this).
Remembrance
Member
You could have traced the outer edge, yes, if not for the broken paths preventing you from doing so. Instead, the line had to be drawn so that it divided the shapes into two groups. And the two groups do not see each other.
gunstarhero
Member
Interesting... not sure I would have ever made that leap in logic - lol
Thanks!
Thanks!
GlamFM
Banned
Had a particularly tricky puzzle during the. It cost my friend and me the run of course... how long does it take you to solve it? Damn you Jonathan's algorithm!!!!time trial challenge
Solved!
Remembrance
Member
Had a particularly tricky puzzle during the. It cost my friend and me the run of course... how long does it take you to solve it? Damn you Jonathan's algorithm!!!!time trial challenge
One of those rarer cases
where the triple triangles don't make you do a U-turn.
Oh, hey, we just got moved to Community.
Had a particularly tricky puzzle during the. It cost my friend and me the run of course... how long does it take you to solve it? Damn you Jonathan's algorithm!!!!time trial challenge
Wow, that actually took me a couple minutes. Solution:
