Secrets - 'TARDIS' rooms

[c741535]

A question more than anything. The 'greys' 'TARDIS' rooms are an awesome concept, and really nicely implemented, but are there any visual clues to assist the player to solve them? It's likely I'm just thick but there's only one of these puzzles that I felt I could use the scanner to solve (the purple 'warp doors' that switch on/off when u walk through them).

For the one that exits into the open 'crater' with three possible entrances I just kept trying different combinations, couldn't see anything in the environment or on the scanner that helped me much. It feels like a lot of random work. Some wall decals that are only visible on the scanner would be helpful for example.

Hoping that it's just me and other testers will point out the obvious. Did I miss something, is it a little too obscure or is it just a case of working through the combinations?

Anyways, 4th play through and I'm still loving it. Shout out for the sound design, it's terrific and the music is great too, beautiful work.

[Rossignol]

Try scan vision mode.

[c741535]

Thanks Jim, I have done that, I must be missing something.

[collieuk]

There is a large base I forget the name (it's in the top left corner of the map). I've mentioned it before. You enter, walk forward a see an apparition in the distance. Then you have 3 paths forward which loop round (and one to the side). Took about 20 minutes of tedium to get out. There are no visual clues, it's only after trying every combination of purple gates that I managed to fluke my way out. I think I had to walk through one then turn around avoid the same one and the exit magically appears. Sorry but it's not great design as nothing is obvious or clear. There's nothing I recall that mentions these gate anomalies. Puzzles are great but when done proper. Even the awful ones in Resident Evil series make more sense. It's like someone had a great idea to make these ancient bases mysterious but forgot to include the player in the design idea. Might sound harsh but we all seem to be struggling with this one.

[collieuk]

If the Surveyor bot piped up after a bit and made some kind of mention "these relics are a trap/maze where we've lost many surveyor bots to. One made it out, said something about scanning for x before being destroyed by a zealot patrol. You might be lost here, forever. You could jump to another bot and solve the mystery later/avoid these hazardous areas..." That kind of gentle handguiding might suffice. I've played countless RPGs and dungeon crawlers & there's always some hint to what you are doing or need to do.

[ucacjbs]

Afraid I've found these to be extremely obscure too - only thing that scan mode has revealed to me are the purple gates; if there are further visual cues, I'm missing them too!

[c741535]

Anyone else found the secret sauce solution for these?

[Jonfitt]

r a bit and made some kind of mention "these relics are a trap/maze where we've lost many surveyor bots to. One made it out, said something about scanning for x before being destroyed by a zealot patrol. You might be lost here, forever. You could jump to another bot and solve the mystery later/avoid these hazardous areas..." That kind of gentle handguiding might suffice. I've played countless RPGs and dungeon crawlers & there's always so

The purple gates are teleporters to areas which look the same as the one you've left. So if you're in room A and go through one you'll be in room A* which looks identical, but as you leave it you'll see you're somewhere else.

That one in the top left also took me a long time to solve. I worked out the scan mode trick myself after a long while of trying every combo I could think of. Going through the gate, then through it again, then avoiding it the third time was a really tricky way to exit.

If I'm being critical then that top left puzzle stopped me thinking of them as pocket universes with non-linear geometry to thinking of them as a "puzzle with teleporters" to be solved. Because I wasn't able to solve it by just walking through it as a maze trying different routes, you have to loop back through an invisible teleporter in the same room.

I think the solution should never need you to go A -> A* -> A**. It should be something like A-> A* -> B -> B* -> A**. So once you pass through a teleporter, then next one is always in a room on from the one you're in. Then it's back to being a maze that looks non-linear.

[c741535]

Agreed @Jonfitt. I get who the warp doors work but I can't help but feel that while the concept is great the solving is unsatisfying. There aren't any clues that I can see that will assist in choosing the right path, it's just trial and error for most of the posters in this thread so far.

Also is the only objective to get all the resources that might be in there (eg. the multi-level puzzle with the 'drill' coming down from the ceiling) and then get out? If so then there's not much incentive for the player to solve them. There's enough resources outdoors and u can just respawn in another chassis to get out. Now if there were weapon/item schematics in them that couldn't be found anywhere else... then the reward for effort would be worth it. The very first room you come across during the end of the 'tutorial' is like this, it has an artifact to scan and u get XP and schematics from it when u turn in. I've found 3-4 more rooms and found nothing similar in them other than resources.

I'm either missing something and I hope that's the case, or I respectfully suggest the rooms get a tweak to rectify what appears to be an unrewarding experience for a few of us.

[UPDATE] Ok, my bad, the puzzle room at Transmission Pandect does have a scanable object that gives schematics on turn in. Do they all and I've only found two? Anyone else find a scanable object in a room other than the first signal and this location?

[Jonfitt]

The scannable object appears to be the goal. But they don't have map checkboxes so I'd say the implication is that they're optional.
I've found a scannable object in all of them so far... except the one at the top middle of the map. Many paths lead to a room with three exist tunnels opening onto a field with a turret floating a big square block.
The blue indicator shows a sliver of blue, but I ran out of paths to try, I even tried going through then back through all of the teleporters.

[c741535]

Yeah, I spent 30 minutes on that one yesterday, no dice. Good to know there's more scanables, I'll keep trying.

[tomnullpointer]

There a re more missions across the map than are needed to finish the game (because of the way that the ranking systems works) which means that the maze spaces are all optional, about half of them don't even have mission scannables in them at all. They are mainly intended to add to the wierdness of the world, and arent puzzles as much as just confusing alien environments. You can also always exit from any of them using the map hi-hjack system.

That said we totally understand that some people will find them frustrating as they are less of a puzzle to be solved and more like an actual traditional maze (like the hedge ones you get IRL), some people like the vibe of that and some not, so we've made sure that (like a few other things in the game) they aren't mandatory but optional .

[Jonfitt]

I like the fact that they appear like hedge mazes in non-linear space, that was really cool.

My complaint (if it is even that) is that by making the player go backwards through an invisible teleporter (or go around an invisible teleporter in a room where it doesn't span the width) to continue it ceases to be about following the hedge maze, and instead becomes about playing with the teleporters using the scan vision.

Every one you go through you have to think "Now do I have to loop through this teleporter again to get to another instance of this room before moving on?" You have to be aware of the fact that you just went through a gate, then turn around and go back through it.

To keep it like a hedge maze, going back through a teleporter you just exited would either do nothing (thus the player has moved to a new location on the map (the new reverse direction should then quickly dead end)), or take them back to where they were (thus this teleporter can tardis a large room into a small space making the maze seem "impossible"). By and large this is exactly what you do except in at least one spot that c741535 and I noticed.

It's hard to explain, does that make sense?