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The Witness |OT|

R

Remembrance

Member
sackboy2197 said:
It's funny how pretty much the whole time I'm playing this game I'm like this. I keep finding something that seems utterly impossible only to solve it a bit later. It's really great.

Couple of thoughts/questions about the actual end-game:
I expected to find a lot of puzzles, but definitely not so many puzzle. I'm happy there's a lot more to do. Is the series of puzzles that start by operating an LP-player the infamous timed section that changes everytime? Also, should I worry about those three puzzles on top of (what i believe to be)
the last bunker (aka the small temple), or will those black dots disappear as I progress in the area?
Click to expand...

Yes, that is the randomized and timed section.

Those three puzzles are not actually puzzles - they are a very elaborate clock that counts how long the timed section has run while the LP is playing. Notice that they will never show any solvable configurations.
 
S

sackboy2197

Member
Remembrance said:
Yes, that is the randomized and timed section.

Those three puzzles are not actually puzzles - they are a very elaborate clock that counts how long the timed section has run while the LP is playing. Notice that they will never show any solvable configurations.
Click to expand...
I see, thanks for the info. Then I'd imagine the temple will open up when I finish the timed section?
 
S

sackboy2197

Member
Remembrance said:
You've got it.
Click to expand...
I have just done it :D
Honestly, I was expecting the Challenge to be way worse. I remember reading a lot about it near launch that made it seem like it was impossible, but I think it was handled really well. The time was plenty once you understood what you were supposed to do in each part, and the random puzzles themselves where, all in all, easy-ish (as they should be, considering you can't quite spend too much time on any one of them). If you understood the basic rules of the various symbols (as you should have by that point in the game), you shouldn't encounter many problems doing it.
Also, the nice music in the background definitive made it all more enjoyable :D
Still not sure if I'll do all the environmental puzzles. I'm really bad at those kind of things, so I'll probably skip them for now.

On another note, is this picture found near the end area related to the ship? I believe that's the only place I haven't visited yet.
By the way, how long did you guys take to "finish" the game? I have about 20 hours on Steam (which doesn't account for the extra time I spent thinking about some puzzles), and I'm missing a section of the keep, the ship and the environmental puzzles.
 
R

Remembrance

Member
Congratulations!

sackboy2197 said:
On another note, is this picture found near the end area related to the ship? I believe that's the only place I haven't visited yet.
By the way, how long did you guys take to "finish" the game? I have about 20 hours on Steam (which doesn't account for the extra time I spent thinking about some puzzles), and I'm missing a section of the keep, the ship and the environmental puzzles.
Click to expand...

That picture matches up to only one thing in the game, which you've already seen - you'll know because it looks exactly the same.

For me, I took about 25 hours to get to the end of the challenge, and ultimately 40 hours finding every panel, environmental puzzle, and audio log.
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
sackboy2197 said:
I have just done it :D
Honestly, I was expecting the Challenge to be way worse. I remember reading a lot about it near launch that made it seem like it was impossible, but I think it was handled really well. The time was plenty once you understood what you were supposed to do in each part, and the random puzzles themselves where, all in all, easy-ish (as they should be, considering you can't quite spend too much time on any one of them). If you understood the basic rules of the various symbols (as you should have by that point in the game), you shouldn't encounter many problems doing it.
Also, the nice music in the background definitive made it all more enjoyable :D
Still not sure if I'll do all the environmental puzzles. I'm really bad at those kind of things, so I'll probably skip them for now.

On another note, is this picture found near the end area related to the ship? I believe that's the only place I haven't visited yet.
By the way, how long did you guys take to "finish" the game? I have about 20 hours on Steam (which doesn't account for the extra time I spent thinking about some puzzles), and I'm missing a section of the keep, the ship and the environmental puzzles.
Click to expand...
It took me about 40 hours to solve all panels in the game, but I got stuck near the mountain for a while. I also tried to avoid hints.

I did some of the optional puzzles but they don't give you anything and it would take too long.
 
L

llehuty

Member
Lol, the most difficult part of the bamboo forest is finding the final switch. Well played.

I'm enjoying quite a lot my second go at the game, finishing the areas I couldn't before without much problem. Also, some areas are HEAVILY improved once you know about
environmental puzzles
. The hedge maze backside takes a new dimension now. Also
fuck the clouds, I know there must be quite a few lines up there, but it's complicated knowing at all where there could be. I guess once I've figured out most of them, I will hve to hunt the ones missing orienting myself with the totems.
 
D

deleted

Member
I'm stuck in the town...

The rules for stars are
only ever two stars of the same colour, right? Can they stand alone? It's been a while since I did those and town is bringing them back :p
 
M

Mindlog

Member
xyla said:
I'm stuck in the town...

The rules for stars are
only ever two stars of the same colour, right? Can they stand alone? It's been a while since I did those and town is bringing them back :p
Click to expand...
Like 90% sure I know what puzzle you are on.
The first thing you said is correct.

/evil grinch smile
 
L

llehuty

Member
xyla said:
I'm stuck in the town...

The rules for stars are
only ever two stars of the same colour, right? Can they stand alone? It's been a while since I did those and town is bringing them back :p
Click to expand...

Oh boy, good luck. And yeah, what you say is correct.

As it was said before, leave town for last, you are supposed to do the puzzles there once you have grasped all the different types of puzzles on the island.
 
GlamFM

GlamFM

Banned
Love how this fantastic game is making a comeback all of a sudden.

Assume it´s because it was an quiet a few GOTY lists?

Still my proudest achievement:

hfuSqtO.png
 
M

mclem

Member
Mindlog said:
Like 90% sure I know what puzzle you are on.
The first thing you said is correct.

/evil grinch smile
Click to expand...

Not quite

(eviller smile)

The rule for the stars is a little more nuanced than many people take it as on first sight. What you know is probably enough... except where it isn't.
 
L

llehuty

Member
mclem said:
Not quite

(eviller smile)

The rule for the stars is a little more nuanced than many people take it as on first sight. What you know is probably enough... except where it isn't.
Click to expand...

You are right, my stupid face when you face a panel with an
uneven number of stars.
I actually abandoned that area in my first play through (I've beaten a couple of days ago in my second run).

Remembrance said:
*Spoiler about the bonus area*
*aka, the underground* Those doors are only openable from the inside and don't really help you get in.

The entrance will not become evident until the endgame - even your first time around you must have noticed something at the end that didn't come into play.
Click to expand...

I have been thinking about it, and the only thing I can remember that doesn't come into play at the end is the
stand alone panels with the triangles
Is that it? How can I track my progress with those? Unless I need to complete the
environmental puzzles which... RIP, there are a lot a some very well hidden.
 
S

sackboy2197

Member
llehuty said:
I have been thinking about it, and the only thing I can remember that doesn't come into play at the end is the
stand alone panels with the triangles
Is that it? How can I track my progress with those? Unless I need to complete the
environmental puzzles which... RIP, there are a lot a some very well hidden.
Click to expand...
I believe those puzzles are tracked in the pond, but I can't remember which elements represent them.
 
R

Remembrance

Member
llehuty said:
I have been thinking about it, and the only thing I can remember that doesn't come into play at the end is the
stand alone panels with the triangles
Is that it? How can I track my progress with those? Unless I need to complete the
environmental puzzles which... RIP, there are a lot a some very well hidden.
Click to expand...

You're on the right track with the
triangles
.
The small triangular leaves in the pond tell you where they are and whether you've solved them, but you're not required to solve them all, just to learn what the triangles' rule is.

Now you need to figure out how the
endgame
plays into it.
 
C

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
GlamFM said:
Assume it´s because it was an quiet a few GOTY lists?
Click to expand...

It's been on sale, but yeah it's also doing really well in the goty lists, but also in the voting here. I've seen a few comments of people who got interested because it's stacking the #1 votes.

At this point The Witness seems like a lock for the top 5, and that's wonderful news for a game that doesn't exactly have mass appeal.
 
K

KodaRuss

Member
Just finished the game.

Anyone else really let down by the end of the game? Not sure what I was expecting but it wasnt that. Anyway, I enjoyed the game a lot going through it. I cheated a little towards the end because I just wanted to get through it (trying to finish up my backlog).
 
J

JesseZao

Member
KodaRuss said:
Just finished the game.

Anyone else really let down by the end of the game? Not sure what I was expecting but it wasnt that. Anyway, I enjoyed the game a lot going through it. I cheated a little towards the end because I just wanted to get through it (trying to finish up my backlog).
Click to expand...

Rushing to tick a game off your list will always feel bad. This one even more so. Enjoy the journey.
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
KodaRuss said:
Just finished the game.

Anyone else really let down by the end of the game? Not sure what I was expecting but it wasnt that. Anyway, I enjoyed the game a lot going through it. I cheated a little towards the end because I just wanted to get through it (trying to finish up my backlog).
Click to expand...
What ending did you get? (first ending spoiler)

If you just got sent to the beginning of the game, yes that ending is lame. There's a lot more to see if so.

If you didn't like the other ending with the exploring area and video, then I respectfully disagree there. Then again, cheating on puzzles may reduce the rewarding feeling a bit, especially in this game.
 
K

KodaRuss

Member
Blizzard said:
What ending did you get? (first ending spoiler)

If you just got sent to the beginning of the game, yes that ending is lame. There's a lot more to see if so.

If you didn't like the other ending with the exploring area and video, then I respectfully disagree there. Then again, cheating on puzzles may reduce the rewarding feeling a bit, especially in this game.
Click to expand...

I did get sent to the beginning after flying around in the elevator. I did just about every puzzle on my own outside of part of the town and some of the ones at the end where you are building the pathways by completing a puzzle. But I did activate every spotlight

I bought the game at launch just never got back to finishing it after completing 4-5 areas.
 
I

irrotational

Member
Hi all,

I've been playing this game on and off for months now (with my wife who doesn't game so it's been a good adventure together)

We've finished it but I am still trying to avoid spoilers in case there is more.

Would someone mind answering me with a simple yes no to avoid any other spoilers?

Note the spoiler below is about the end of the game!

is there more than one ending of the game? And if so do you need to activate all puzzles to get a second ending?
 
I

irrotational

Member
ctw0e said:
Yes, no.
Click to expand...

great, thanks for answering so quickly, really appreciate it! After all that I wish I knew more now! Will mull over whether to read more online or try to figure it out.

EDIT - read enough to know what I need to do for another ending - will plough on with the puzzles!
 
R

Remembrance

Member
KodaRuss said:
I did get sent to the beginning after flying around in the elevator. I did just about every puzzle on my own outside of part of the town and some of the ones at the end where you are building the pathways by completing a puzzle. But I did activate every spotlight

I bought the game at launch just never got back to finishing it after completing 4-5 areas.
Click to expand...

If you've activated every laser (there are 11 of them), then you're ready to enter the post-endgame and unlock the second ending.
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
KodaRuss said:
I did get sent to the beginning after flying around in the elevator. I did just about every puzzle on my own outside of part of the town and some of the ones at the end where you are building the pathways by completing a puzzle. But I did activate every spotlight

I bought the game at launch just never got back to finishing it after completing 4-5 areas.
Click to expand...
There's definitely more content left and a better ending, then. If you're not enjoying the puzzles, it might not be worth it though.

In my opinion it's worth it to see a couple of neat areas.
 
Y

ymgve

Member
Remembrance said:
If you've activated every laser (there are 11 of them), then you're ready to enter the post-endgame and unlock the second ending.
Click to expand...

The second ending isn't really "unlocked" - you can stumble upon it at the very start of the game accidentally - like some very confused individual did like an hour after the original game release
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
ymgve said:
The second ending isn't really "unlocked" - you can stumble upon it at the very start of the game accidentally - like some very confused individual did like an hour after the original game release
Click to expand...
Yes, but instead of spoiling that major hint, it'd probably be better to let a player work through the extra content that "unlocks" it naturally. :p
 
GlamFM

GlamFM

Banned
Creamium said:
It's been on sale, but yeah it's also doing really well in the goty lists, but also in the voting here. I've seen a few comments of people who got interested because it's stacking the #1 votes.

At this point The Witness seems like a lock for the top 5, and that's wonderful news for a game that doesn't exactly have mass appeal.
Click to expand...

It´s my GOTY for sure.
 
1

17 Seconds

Banned
really enjoying this game so far, but is there something up with the lighting that makes it dim randomly? like, when i'm zoomed in on a puzzle, it will suddenly get dimmer, and not because of any light sources around.
 
C

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
sackboy2197 said:
Anyone in here played it? I saw Blow recommending it in the Reddit AMA.
Click to expand...

I solved 3 puzzles in the first hour. It's tough as nails :p The Witness has a bunch of 'tutorial' puzzles to ease you into the concept, but Roll just throws you into the deep end. I liked it, but I want to save it for a time where I can devote myself to it. Too many other games on the plate right now.
 
D

dLMN8R

Member
So, about Stephens Sausage Roll.

Is there anything more to the game than rolling sausages around? Hidden mechanics not shown in early videos? Amazing discoveries as you dig deeper into it? Feel free to spoil it for me if there is.

Or is it "only" a well-designed puzzle game which teaches you new rules elegantly, and then asks you to execute on using those rules?

Not that the latter is a bad thing, but I've always wondered.
 
L

LeBart

Member
dLMN8R said:
So, about Stephens Sausage Roll.

Is there anything more to the game than rolling sausages around? Hidden mechanics not shown in early videos? Amazing discoveries as you dig deeper into it? Feel free to spoil it for me if there is.

Or is it "only" a well-designed puzzle game which teaches you new rules elegantly, and then asks you to execute on using those rules?

Not that the latter is a bad thing, but I've always wondered.
Click to expand...

I'm tempted to say it's the latter, but it sort of sells the game short.
There are no revelations that are as mindblowing as finding out the nature of the obelisks in The Witness, but that game is built around those "oh shit" moments.
Stephen's Sausage Roll does have a lot of "aha!" moments, some of them are indeed related to mechanics (I'll give you an example since you asked :
standing on top of a sausage and rolling it around
), but it's mostly about how amazingly designed each puzzle is. If I recall correctly, even the very first puzzle isn't immediately obvious, so you feel super duper smart after every single one in the entire game.

It's awesome.
 
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