Shades Of Clarity Episode II (Custom Story)

[Sollandia]

I played the first part when it came out, loved it!
But I'm stuck on part two, on the steam puzzle :/

[Descented Angel]

I played the first part when it came out, loved it!
But I'm stuck on part two, on the steam puzzle :/

Ha ha! Good luck! I'll give away some clues in some days. Welcome to the hard part! :-) Do you like it this far?

[HumiliatioN]

I really liked first one, I did. But this one was a little disappointment.. for me in a good way lol.

Let me explain why?

Spoiler below!

Intro was cool little jumping and nice overall, but then really frustrated that steam pipe puzzle thingy.
I tried and tried, but now way too difficult.. so I skipped that one and teleport other area...

Later when I reached that "Huge hall" with orbs and stuff. Another really HARD puzzle man!
I tried like 30 minutes, but I don't find any making sense clues and no clue which order I put the orb pieces..

"Inn map was interesting and cool to play.. no frustrated parts here" just common sense and you can solve that puzzle.

But overall I really liked this map, story and voice acting everything fits good, mapping was average, but interesting in some way, puzzles VERY GOOD / FRUSTRATING HARD, COMPLICATED nice work man.. I looked through that "Steam puzzle hps file" and I can't still understand which order levers are meant to be..

Try to make a little easier puzzles on the next episode I know you try to make hard.. and it's challenging and good, but I have to skip couple areas to finish this fairly.. shame.

Good episode.

[Adny]

Making puzzles that have no rhyme or reason doesn't distinguish the type of gamer that could complete them. I've noticed all too often that when people create something and they get the idea of a complex puzzle, they become so accustomed to the idea that they think it falls into the normal line of thinking. When that happens, the creator doesn't explain it in its entirety, leading to confusion. Even various notes that are supposed to help the player become vague and end up causing nothing but more frustration.

Difficult puzzles are fine, just make them solvable. There's a fine line between challenge and "wtf_is_this.jpeg". The people who download your mod shouldn't have to wait a week for you to tell them the answer. Puzzles should be gratifying; when the player solves them, they should feel like a genius, they shouldn't feel like saying "thank god that's finally over!".

[Descented Angel]

I really liked first one, I did. But this one was a little disappointment.. for me in a good way lol.

Let me explain why?

Spoiler below!

Intro was cool little jumping and nice overall, but then really frustrated that steam pipe puzzle thingy.
I tried and tried, but now way too difficult.. so I skipped that one and teleport other area...

Later when I reached that "Huge hall" with orbs and stuff. Another really HARD puzzle man!
I tried like 30 minutes, but I don't find any making sense clues and no clue which order I put the orb pieces..

"Inn map was interesting and cool to play.. no frustrated parts here" just common sense and you can solve that puzzle.

But overall I really liked this map, story and voice acting everything fits good, mapping was average, but interesting in some way, puzzles VERY GOOD / FRUSTRATING HARD, COMPLICATED nice work man.. I looked through that "Steam puzzle hps file" and I can't still understand which order levers are meant to be..

Try to make a little easier puzzles on the next episode I know you try to make hard.. and it's challenging and good, but I have to skip couple areas to finish this fairly.. shame.

Good episode.

I remember you from the first one. I remember you liked it and thank you!

Spoiler below!

You've lost so much of the game. After the first puzzle it still has a lot. The first puzzle is hard and I know that. You need pen and paper to complete it. If you read the instructions and the diagram on the wall carefully, you can solve it. I'll try to make it easier or maybe put a lever to skip it.
The orb puzzle is easy. There is just the timer that makes it challenging. Just this, 4 orbs, 4 altars and 4 symbols on the ground in front of the altars. It's try-error at the beginning, then you'll see.
The scripting was extremely hard. I know it's hard for everyone else to understand what's going on.

Thanks for the feedback!

---

Making puzzles that have no rhyme or reason doesn't distinguish the type of gamer that could complete them. I've noticed all too often that when people create something and they get the idea of a complex puzzle, they become so accustomed to the idea that they think it falls into the normal line of thinking. When that happens, the creator doesn't explain it in its entirety, leading to confusion. Even various notes that are supposed to help the player become vague and end up causing nothing but more frustration.

Difficult puzzles are fine, just make them solvable. There's a fine line between challenge and "wtf_is_this.jpeg". The people who download your mod shouldn't have to wait a week for you to tell them the answer. Puzzles should be gratifying; when the player solves them, they should feel like a genius, they shouldn't feel like saying "thank god that's finally over!".

Spoiler below!

I said old school gamer because I remember spending days trying to solve a puzzle in Myst for example. Today most of the puzzles are extremely easy. I haven't seen a hard game since... In both puzzles there is enough info to solve them. You are right about the "feel genius part", that's the reason I said I'd start giving tips after a week. If I tell you the solution, at least for the second puzzle you'll say "ohhhh". The first one is very hard, you need paper to make notes to solve it. But as I said to HumiliatioN I'll do something about that. Perhaps let the player skip it if he wants to. I made the first puzzle starting from the end to the beginning. It took me time to think it and solve it but it is possible. I tried every possible solution. You just need to follow the pipes and see. In the instructions there are mostly useless information. Just keep the useful info like, in which machine goes what. That's all. You'll need paper, that's not something forbidden in adventure-horror games. I can't give answers about the first one because I can't tell you which lever to pull up or down. So there will be a skip lever. If someone wants to solve it as it is he'll be able to try.
Thanks for posting. I'll try to make it better.

[Descented Angel]

I really liked first one, I did. But this one was a little disappointment.. for me in a good way lol.

Let me explain why?

Spoiler below!

Intro was cool little jumping and nice overall, but then really frustrated that steam pipe puzzle thingy.
I tried and tried, but now way too difficult.. so I skipped that one and teleport other area...

Later when I reached that "Huge hall" with orbs and stuff. Another really HARD puzzle man!
I tried like 30 minutes, but I don't find any making sense clues and no clue which order I put the orb pieces..

"Inn map was interesting and cool to play.. no frustrated parts here" just common sense and you can solve that puzzle.

But overall I really liked this map, story and voice acting everything fits good, mapping was average, but interesting in some way, puzzles VERY GOOD / FRUSTRATING HARD, COMPLICATED nice work man.. I looked through that "Steam puzzle hps file" and I can't still understand which order levers are meant to be..

Try to make a little easier puzzles on the next episode I know you try to make hard.. and it's challenging and good, but I have to skip couple areas to finish this fairly.. shame.

Good episode.

Spoiler below!

Here you are. Replace the old hps with this one and the code is 1,6,8,12,14,16,21,23,25 for the steam puzzle. You will understand once you get there. That's a temp solution for everyone that has a problem with the steam puzzle. Well... Everyone until now... :-(
Ohh! And please follow the pipes when you complete it and tell me if that's reasonable or not. Thank you!

[gatts205]

I was just able to complete the steam puzzle as it was originally intended after 2 hours of work (I know, I'm slow) and I must say I liked it. I haven't had a game get me thinking that hard for quite a while. If the rest of the puzzles are this good I should enjoy the rest a lot.

[Descented Angel]

I was just able to complete the steam puzzle as it was originally intended after 2 hours of work (I know, I'm slow) and I must say I liked it. I haven't had a game get me thinking that hard for quite a while. If the rest of the puzzles are this good I should enjoy the rest a lot.

Well done!!! I think you're the first to complete it! You're not slow, the puzzle is very hard! The thing is that the rest of the people that downloaded this mod and commented on it asked me to make easier puzzles for the next episode. :-( Well, I intent to put some hard puzzles that the player will be able to skip if he wants and some puzzles that give more info on the story that are not needed to complete the game. This episode has a puzzle like this. No one commented on this one. I think no one saw it. Well, try it. In the map that you start outside a house with the front door open, when you get in go left. There is a piano that you can press notes and a lever on the left. That puzzle is not for everyone, like the steam puzzle. :-)

[gatts205]

I have now tried out the piano puzzle and found it to be slightly frustrating. However it is mostly because my hands are not steady enough to accurately hit the correct keys consistently. So even after I knew the correct pattern it took me several attempts to get it right. Otherwise it was just as satisfying to complete as the others

[Descented Angel]

I have now tried out the piano puzzle and found it to be slightly frustrating. However it is mostly because my hands are not steady enough to accurately hit the correct keys consistently. So even after I knew the correct pattern it took me several attempts to get it right. Otherwise it was just as satisfying to complete as the others

I know. The keys of the piano are very small. And I had it enlarged a little. I'm very very glad that someone was actually satisfied by those hard puzzles. I can presume you had no problem solving the orb puzzle?