pennmom
Bear
Chief Ranger
[TI0] IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK AND ALL'S WELL
Posts: 16,660
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Post by pennmom on Apr 24, 2022 23:18:54 GMT
Jo , I love the "blueprint" pics & all (I'm picturing all us gamers with our walls full of sticky notes, pushpins and string ) I hate all puzzles where moving one piece affects others, they seem like illogical puzzles that have no rhyme or reason and I usually complete them by randomly clicking??? I think puzzles should be...well, puzzles. They should require a tad bit of thought not coordination, speed, etc. My favorite puzzles are mechanical types, fidgeting with levers, gears, water levels, and gadgets (Elephant Games used to be famous for these back in the day) and I love multi-step puzzles such as Rube Goldberg puzzles, anything where you have to think a few steps ahead to solve them correctly. Puzzles don't have to be hard or super complicated to be enjoyable, just something I have to think about versus being on auto-pilot. One feature I've always wished games had was a GIF kind of "visual" for solving the game. I can read instructions sometimes and and I'm still clueless to the rules. If they had a GIF showing me basic gameplay the lightbulb would go on immediately and it wouldn't give away the "solve" like watching a YouTube video in real time. While I'm at it, I've skipped puzzles before if I was in this situation, only to have the "skip" play thru the game for you which leaves me saying "oh, now I get it" How I wish HOPAs let you change your mind and play the mini-game you just skipped (I get that some are available in CE extras, but I would prefer to replay in-game, it would be super cool to be able to skip mini-games and play them whenever you want and still have it count in achievements etc. Since I'm on a roll...why do none of the HOPA developers offer a Mini-game or Jigsaw alternate to the Hidden Object Scenes & offer a HOP alternate for the mini-games? I should hire someone to make a HOPA game with everything I've ever wanted in a HOPA, how much ya think it would cost?
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Post by lurkercat on Apr 24, 2022 23:55:40 GMT
I'm always "surprised" to discover the logic to solve some seemingly random puzzles. Still remember the 1st time I encountered one of the "turn all the lights on" puzzles in a HOPA. Convinced there had to be a logic, I laboriously wrote down the effect of clicking on each light, developed equations to combine the actions, and actually managed to logically solve the equations to finally get all the lights on. Way too much trouble & I've just settled for random clicks ever since...and dont get any more adept at it with practice!! In The Room, I've generally found each puzzle that "seems" random actually has a solution appearing somewhere else (though not the one you mentioned pennmom), but also find they solve randomly too. Though I'm still bollixed by one that seemed to have the answer identified, but which I could not figure out how to apply and eventually settled for doing randomly Puzzle was the 2 dial "combination" on the side of the clock(?) in chapter 2. Dials ranged from 1 to 5, with multiple markings inbetween. There was a seeming "clue" appearing via the eyepiece that had a 2 over a 3, next to a wavy line, just to the left of the dials. Couldnt get 2 & 3 settings on the dial to work, though, so eventually settled for just setting one dial, running through all the settings on the other, then moving the 1st dial & repeating, till it finally thought it was "done" (which turned out NOT to be settings at 2 & 3). Never did figure out the logic for how the clue would help me to the answer though....maybe move 1st dial down 2 & 2nd dial down 3???
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Jo
Skunk
Forest Ranger
Posts: 2,045
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Post by Jo on Apr 24, 2022 23:57:56 GMT
My premise is that if I don't have to take notes, it's not a very good game.
I used to slog through all the puzzles because I used to be a completionist. It dawned on me one day how much of my life I was wasting when I played HOPAs to complete puzzles I hate. Part of this was because the puzzles in HOPAs gradually declined in quality over the years. I just replayed two of the Time Mystery games and almost all of the puzzles were good. I hate timed and dexterity puzzles because I'm such a klutz. Grace and Speed are not my middle names.
To address The Room, I actually think most of the puzzles are reasonably fair. The solutions are there if I'm not being a putz. I'm starting to see how it works.
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Jo
Skunk
Forest Ranger
Posts: 2,045
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Post by Jo on Apr 25, 2022 0:08:29 GMT
I'm always "surprised" to discover the logic to solve some seemingly random puzzles. Still remember the 1st time I encountered one of the "turn all the lights on" puzzles in a HOPA. Convinced there had to be a logic, I laboriously wrote down the effect of clicking on each light, developed equations to combine the actions, and actually managed to logically solve the equations to finally get all the lights on. Way too much trouble & I've just settled for random clicks ever since...and dont get any more adept at it with practice!! In The Room, I've generally found each puzzle that "seems" random actually has a solution appearing somewhere else (though not the one you mentioned pennmom ), but also find they solve randomly too. Though I'm still bollixed by one that seemed to have the answer identified, but which I could not figure out how to apply and eventually settled for doing randomly Puzzle was the 2 dial "combination" on the side of the clock(?) in chapter 2. Dials ranged from 1 to 5, with multiple markings inbetween. There was a seeming "clue" appearing via the eyepiece that had a 2 over a 3, next to a wavy line, just to the left of the dials. Couldnt get 2 & 3 settings on the dial to work, though, so eventually settled for just setting one dial, running through all the settings on the other, then moving the 1st dial & repeating, till it finally thought it was "done" (which turned out NOT to be settings at 2 & 3). Never did figure out the logic for how the clue would help me to the answer though....maybe move 1st dial down 2 & 2nd dial down 3??? I solved the clock puzzle by the process of elimination. I set the left slider on one and moved the right one up the scale. Then moved the left slider to to two and so on until something happened. If there was a solution given within the game, I never found it. I missed the 2/3 thing completely. It must have been a red herring.
The very worst puzzle I've ever seen in a game was the robot puzzle in Still Life. It took me about 45 minutes to map it and then there was no pay off when it was solved. Sure, Kate got into the records room but there was nothing to find there. Unforgivable! I did the same thing mapping the lights but, like you, just resorted to clicking madly until I beat it into submission.
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Jo
Skunk
Forest Ranger
Posts: 2,045
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Post by Jo on Apr 25, 2022 0:54:57 GMT
Okay, I finished Chapter 2 and played a little of Chapter 3 which appears at first glance to be even more enigmatic. I'm done for the night. My brain requires R&R. I'm watching The Good Place on Netflix and we all know that laughter is the best medicine. I like that show so much that I bought a coffee mug on Amazon.
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Post by lurkercat on Apr 25, 2022 5:32:09 GMT
D-u-h! Kudos to everyone who figured out the mirror puzzle in Chapter 3 on their own. After working on it f-o-r-e-v-e-r and getting no closer to a solution, I finally broke down & looked it up in a walkthrough...and even then had to watch several times before actually getting it. And yeah, now knowing, perhaps I should have been able to get it on my own...but I doubt that would have EVER happened. Aarrggghhhh! I'm taking my totally befuddled and excessively wracked brain to bed. Rough Day Perhaps (HA!) this will all seem more doable on another day...though I'm not terribly hopeful, 'cause even after cheating, I seem to have no clue what to do next. Maybe that will resolve itself by morning too and whatever new thing I may have gotten from the mirrors will suddenly pop up as visible. Not willing to bet my firstborn on the likelihood of that though!
P.S. Still loving the game!....er, but any questions I may have had previously about my basic sanity are now resolved...though not in a good way! Spinning Daisy
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pennmom
Bear
Chief Ranger
[TI0] IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK AND ALL'S WELL
Posts: 16,660
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Post by pennmom on Apr 25, 2022 16:05:12 GMT
I'm going in...wish me luck
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smitty189
Squirrel
[TI18] "No great mind ever existed without a touch of madness" Aristotle
Posts: 1,004
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Post by smitty189 on Apr 25, 2022 19:26:05 GMT
I really loved The Room and will eventually attempt the next 3. I suffer from vertigo (starting PT to see if it helps) but The Room definitely made it worse
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pennmom
Bear
Chief Ranger
[TI0] IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK AND ALL'S WELL
Posts: 16,660
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Post by pennmom on Apr 25, 2022 20:34:51 GMT
I am on the Sextant part of Chapter 3 and I need to go wheel myself into the kitchen and try to figure out what to make for dinner, if I can't reach it he don't get to eat it My brain hurts a little now Correction, I am on the Sextant of Chapter 4, apparently the final puzzle of chapter 4
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Jo
Skunk
Forest Ranger
Posts: 2,045
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Post by Jo on Apr 26, 2022 0:21:15 GMT
I didn't get to play today because I was busy with something else. Maybe later this evening or tomorrow.
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Post by lurkercat on Apr 26, 2022 6:43:16 GMT
Well, I can pretty much say that I hated all of Chapter 4, in its entirety! The top of the box was a big letdown for me as I disliked most of the mechanics and, a first, a reuse of one of the mechanisms, which I dont think has happened before in the game (well, ignoring the timer in Chapter 3). And I've no clue what the logic was for the final puzzle of Chapter 4 (the symbols). I "tried" to make sense of it using the clues, but wound up just doing it randomly, since none of my carefully-considered moves seemed the least bit productive....and my random solution seemed to bear no relationship to anything I "thought" the clues pointed me to. Ummm, and does this thing ever end??? Since smitty189 had earlier reported her progress as "on Chapter 3", then "doing epilogue", I sort of thought Chapter 4 was the epilog. But now I'm past that & Chapter 5 commenced, with no hint of epilogue yet. On the other hand, since my only progress in Chapter 5 (the 1st step) has not given me anything to proceed...who knows where I'm going! Ripping Hair Out
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pennmom
Bear
Chief Ranger
[TI0] IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK AND ALL'S WELL
Posts: 16,660
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Post by pennmom on Apr 26, 2022 14:22:51 GMT
lurkercat , I thought the Epilog came after Chapter 4? Do you have a deluxe version (do they make a deluxe?) I just googled it: How many chapters are in The Room?
Alas, it was only four chapters long, which led to a deep feeling of sadness upon reaching the end.
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Post by good2bqueen on Apr 27, 2022 23:27:01 GMT
I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT! Not the game, but was stuck on one of the "twist the scene around to make a symbol" puzzles. I've never opened and closed a game so many times out of frustration. Somewhere earlier in the chapter I had used the hint button and was told to "try the lens". After a smack to the forehead I vowed to not hit that button again. Finally, on the fourth try a couple days later, I figured it out. I love/hate this game. Makes me feel like a genius/idiot. I purchased The Room 2.
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Post by lurkercat on Apr 28, 2022 0:35:46 GMT
Hooray good2bqueen! I'm in awe of your being able to avoid the Hint button. I'm afraid I've used it far more than I wanted to when I had no idea of what to do next. I'm currently stuck in Chapter 5 and hint is of no help, since it is telling me to do exactly what I'd already concluded I needed to do....ummm, if only I could figure out how to do that!
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Post by lurkercat on Apr 28, 2022 7:25:44 GMT
Whew! Finally finished. Ending seemed a tad lackluster given the effort to get to it, but the final maze puzzle was about the easiest of the ones in the game...and forming the final figure certainly exacted a penalty for the ease of the final maze! smitty189 , CONGRATS on having finished the game so quickly. You are indeed a puzzling genius! It is 3 in the morning here and I'm taking my frazzled brain to bed. And to think I only planned on tackling this for another half hour tonight & going to bed at a reasonable hour. Whole game took me 9.3 hours to do (hey, nice feature of Steam, to keep track of that for me!). But that was only with LOTS of help from the Hint function (which I hardly ever use in other games, but sadly found a necessity here...ummm, not like it was a lot of help, but it did at least point me at where to look when I was otherwise out of ideas). My hat is off to those of you who persisted without clicking Hint. The 9.3 hours also doesnt include the 2 hours I played way back when I bought this, since I started the group play from scratch (& golly, I'm lucky when I remember what I had for breakfast, let alone what I might have done back in 2018 when I first bought this and played those other 2 hours...though I did recognize the Air, Earth, Water, Fire at the very start). Gotta say, I sure got my $1.24's worth, which is what its sale price was back when I got the game! Thanks to the Group Play, for finally getting me to persist in playing to the end.
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pennmom
Bear
Chief Ranger
[TI0] IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK AND ALL'S WELL
Posts: 16,660
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Post by pennmom on Apr 28, 2022 16:57:35 GMT
lurkercat , good2bqueen , Great job! I must confess I didn't even play the game yesterday and I still have to finish the Epilogue (I finished the first section with the handprint and got the blue ball) @ good2bqueen, will you be joining us for Wallace & Grommit?
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Post by good2bqueen on Apr 29, 2022 18:30:12 GMT
Not exactly a speedy player but finally finished the game. It took about 8 hours but finally finally finished. A sense of accomplishment and relief. Glad I played and look forward to the next one.
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pennmom
Bear
Chief Ranger
[TI0] IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK AND ALL'S WELL
Posts: 16,660
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Post by pennmom on Apr 30, 2022 19:27:38 GMT
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sandy
Hummingbird
Posts: 153
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Post by sandy on Apr 30, 2022 21:24:38 GMT
I played this a couple years ago but have really enjoyed seeing everyone's progress and comments!
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pennmom
Bear
Chief Ranger
[TI0] IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK AND ALL'S WELL
Posts: 16,660
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Post by pennmom on May 1, 2022 15:44:30 GMT
lurkercat, Jo, smitty189, good2bqueen, sandy, Just to deflate our pride a bit: Last night my 6-year-old grandson (turns 7 on June 17) called me into my office saying he needed help finding the slot to put the key into. I had no idea he'd been playing The Room on my computer and had already made it through most of chapter 1 all by himself. I found the slot and clicked the key and was about to explain that he needed to...when he cut my sentence off saying: "I know, Grandma, I have to change the key to make it fit the hole" Son of a gun, here we all are, so proud that we figured out all these puzzles as if this were a complicated and complex puzzle game requiring years of gaming experience when apparently it only takes about 6 years of life experience (a someone who just learned to walk 4.5 years ago Rolling Along ) Rough Day
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