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Blueberry Pancakes posted:Now that I have a bit more time, here's a dumb edit. I absolutely love this, and I'm putting it in the second post of the thread, where it can confuse Ink further.
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Dec 8, 2021 22:57
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| # ? Jun 9, 2024 01:13 |
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11.1: Ill  The clock is ticking. (Music: Stranglehold, 0.5 speed) I’m not doing so hot. Nothing makes any sense and it’s really starting to get to me.  Took his own life some years back. But she’s convinced it was him. Not sure what to make of it. So there’s that. But that’s not even the most confusing thing to happen to me in the last hour. That’d be the ink. No, not me. Actual ink. From a pen. I was giving a short lesson on ciphers — the puzzle in the last room used one — so I wrote down an example to make it easier to understand. Rae ended up writing something else down using the same pen.  I couldn’t figure it out. Why was the pen a different colour depending on who was using it? I ended up having a bit of a freak out over it. Then I started coughing up blood again. Wasn’t pretty. And then, I don’t know how to describe it, but the room got all warped and tore into two halves. Impossible, I know. Aether managed to calm me down, but... I thought I was losing my mind. And hey, maybe I am. But there’s got to be an explanation for all of that, right?  Ink... If you don’t remember the end of the last episode, Aether is reacting to Ink saying ‘I think I’m going crazy, Aether’ here.  I’m not kidding around, Aether. Something’s not right with me. I think, um... I think I’m having hallucinations. That means something’s wrong with me, right? No sane person would just have visions out of nowhere. Describe these hallucinations of yours. I think I’d just end up sounding more crazy if I did that. Okay, well... I saw some kind of gash. It looked like the room was torn right in half. The room started to bend... the walls were all wobbly. The floor wouldn’t sit still. I was so, so disoriented. I couldn’t even stand up. And then, at the edge of my vision, there was this thread. I reached for it, and that’s when the tear appeared. And what’s more is that you didn’t see it at all. You just walked into the room as if it weren’t there. Which it probably wasn’t.The music stops.  Do you think it’s possible that I have schizophrenia? You tell me. You’re the hotshot Psych student, right? What you’re talking about is something I’d only study if I were to go into the clinical branch of psychology. At Bellbridge U, you usually don’t choose a specialization until year three... So you don’t know anything, then? I guess that’s to be expected. Still... (Music: Stranglehold (Rack)) Let’s start with the most basic question: Have you ever been diagnosed with a mental illness? Well, no, but I’ve done some research. Ink, reading an InternetMD article doesn’t count as research. A professional diagnosis is the only thing that should matter. What if I told you that one of my parents was mildly schizophrenic? Doesn’t that increase the likelihood of being diagnosed? Well... yes, okay, it does. But still, the chances of you— I’m about the right age for it to develop, too. I don’t want it to take me by surprise, that’s all. Well, from what I remember, the hallucinations are usually auditory. You know... like voices in your head. Usually auditory. Which, I take it, means that some more serious hallucinations have been documented.It's an interesting detail of Ink's character that he divides hallucinations into 'auditory' and 'more serious' here, rather than using the more neutral phrasing of 'Which, I take it, means that some visual hallucinations have been documented.' 'Auditory/visual/tactile' and 'mild/serious' aren't separate scales to him. It says something about where his fears lie, I think.  Have you ever had any hallucinations before? Not that I know of, no. But I’ve had other symptoms. Disorganized thoughts, paranoia... Try not to give this any more thought. It isn’t doing you any good.The music stops. ...It scares me, you know?The words just came spilling out of Ink’s mouth. He wondered if there was a part of him that wanted Aether to know. Losing control, not being able to trust my own senses... it scares me more than anything Sent could throw at me. There’s nothing wrong with being afraid.The screen fades to black. Ink slumped over and put his head into his hands. This game is getting to me. I’m counting on you to be strong, okay?Aether patted his shoulder. She was warm; Ink could feel the heat of her palms even through his jacket. She might have been a stranger just a few hours ago, but now there was at least one other person in the world who had some measure of faith in Ink. He couldn’t help but be happy, Exit/Corners be damned. Plink. Aw, crap. I forgot all about Sean. Ink reached for his Gemini.      She always looks so sad when staring at that thing... (Music: Aetherling)  So what’s Sean up to? Is he still trying to help us escape? He’s been investigating the hotel and my abduction. I don’t think he’s gotten any closer to actually getting us out of here, but I’ll take any information I can get. I’d say so, yeah. I’ve only been friends with him for maybe two years, but he looks out for me. ...Even if he is a bit of a dick sometimes. R-Really? You’ve got a strange sense of humour, girl. How about you, huh? Has your father made any progress yet? He’s not helping you? Or has he just not replied to you yet?Aether sighed, and whispered something to herself before responding to Ink. He’s talking to me, but... well, he never liked me very much. Even now, he’s telling me not to send him any more messages. He’s got more important people to talk to, apparently. He doesn’t care that you’re in danger?! He doesn’t believe a word I’m saying. Geez, your dad sounds like an rear end in a top hat. How do you put up with that?  drat... I don’t even know what to say. I want to ignore him, but at the same time, his help might be essential to completing this game. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to think anymore. The first option loses us a trust point with Aether; the second one gains one. Aether’s in a bad enough situation already; let’s not make her talk to her awful dad on top of that. C’mon, put that thing away. It isn’t important. Who’s to say? What if our Gemini are essential to completing Exit/Corners? I’m not so sure about that. So far, none of our Contacts have done anything useful to actually help us escape. Our Gemini are the key to getting out of here! I just know it! I feel you, Aether. I really do. But I don’t think any of us can know what Sent’s master plan is. He might just be using our Gemini to mess with us, or to give us false hope. If they are important, then we’ll figure out what their purpose is later on. No sense in getting hung up on it now. Our Contacts haven’t exactly proven to be useful as of yet. Besides, you’ve always got this gloomy look about you when you’re staring at that thing. It’s bumming me out. You don’t need to apologize. I just think you could afford to smile a bit more. As a general rule, it’s a bad idea to say ‘you should smile more’ to people – and particularly to women, who are often used to hearing it uninvited from strangers – unless you know them well enough to know it won’t bother them. Fortunately, Aether takes it well. For sure. You’ve got a contagious smile. I try, I try.The music stops. Come on, let’s rejoin the others before they get suspicious. Sure.The screen fades to black. We hear a door open and close. Aether followed Ink back through the adjoining hallway, into the newly-unlocked room. (Music: Duress)  This place looks like one of Sean’s old hangouts. I wonder if that’s real booze back there... The layout of the room seemed familiar, but Ink felt uneasy all the same. He found himself turning away from the oppressive glare of the lights above the bar.    That was, of course, until Ink wandered over.  There was an emergency. Besides, you don’t appear to be helping, either. The screen shakes.  What? Why are you looking at me like that? What happened to you? Why are you covered in blood? Oh, uh...Ink didn’t have an answer. His absentmindedness had gotten the better of him and he found himself with no excuses.  Ink knew that he was far beyond being able to conceal what had happened. He stayed still as Beth inspected his sleeves and scarf. There must have been some caked blood left on Ink’s face, as Beth began wiping the corners of his mouth. She was rougher than he would have liked, though, and he eventually pulled himself away.  Ink hurriedly wiped it away, but neither Beth nor Liza would divert their attention.  I wasn’t feeling well, so I ducked into one of the other hotel rooms back there. I was nauseous, you know? And then I just kinda... vomited blood everywhere. You should have come to me immediately. I didn’t want anyone to panic. Wait, so is this the same thing that was happening to me? If so, what causes it? Is it fatal? See? Like that.  I see. That’s a bit of a relief, actually. Don’t call it an illness. Does the word frighten you? It’s just... we don’t know what it is yet. Were you not listening? Pfft, no. I’m doing the puzzle. Ink was coughing up blood. At a glance, it’s the same thing that affected Liza earlier. Oh. Huh. That’s all you have to say? What else is there to say? Whatever it is that’s causing this bleeding, it hasn’t killed either of you yet. Who says it’s even an illness, though? What do you think, Beth? You’re a nurse, after all. Anyway, I’m aware that I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but I’m not terribly sure what it could be. If we’re lucky, your bodies are having a reaction to whatever sleeping agent they drugged us with. And if we aren’t lucky? It would be best not to dwell on that. As it stands, we won’t be able to treat it until we get out of The Four Elements.The music stops.  I don’t know if I’d go as far as to say that. Oh, sorry. I guess the part where we’ve both gotten sick on the very same day that we’ve been kidnapped is complete coincidence. This was planned, just like the rest of this stupid game. We were poisoned.There’s an electronic chirp.  Ink quickly jogged back over to the monitor. Sent made this room too big...    Pardon me for eavesdropping; I simply wanted you all to get your facts straight. You were not poisoned. Given the purpose of the game, that simply would not do.    Of course not. I’m merely trying to show my appreciation for Ink. And I think you ought to talk to your family, but we both know neither of us will get what we want. Why so quiet, Beth? Is something the matter? How did you get hold of Earl, Sent? Do you honestly think I’m going to answer that? Please, I need to know. Please... Perhaps if you hadn’t dropped your Gemini, you’d have found out. Pity. You certainly speak softly, don’t you, Aether? Could you please repeat that? Leave her alone, Sent. We can’t play Exit/Corners if you keep interrupting us like this. That’s what you want, right? You want us to play this game, don’t you?  Believe it or not, I want you to beat the odds and live another day. Most of you, that is. Prove it, then. Let us go. Perhaps I will. Perhaps I will. ...Or you could die.Sent zips off the screen.  A short moment later, it brightened anew, and the puzzle was visible once again.  I wish I could say I was flattered, but it mostly just creeps me out.  You two have been spending way too much time talking in private as it is. What if it’s important? I doubt that. He’s just gonna continue to taunt you or somethin’. I still need to think about it. I don’t want him to detonate another one of those explosives, you know? Let’s just do this puzzle while I mull it over. Fine. Let’s hurry it up.Rae and Beth turned to the monitor, eager to continue from wherever it was they had left off. Aether shrugged and joined them. Ink started for the monitor, too, but felt a tap on the shoulder. Yeah? What is it? Oh, no, I’m fine now. Why the sudden concern? Is that really all you wanted to ask me? Ink, do you feel any different since you woke up this morning? Different how? Other than the hemorrhaging, no, I feel the same. I mean, yeah, I’m a little more paranoid than I usually am. I’m more tense than usual, too, but I assume this kind of reaction isn’t so strange, considering our situation. And, you know, I usually don’t go around coughing up blood everywhere. But otherwise I feel normal. Was that the answer you were looking for? Didn’t think so. Sorry I couldn’t be of any help. Right. After you. The black tiles separating the 3x3 green sections can’t be moved. The green tiles can be swapped freely with each other, including between sections. There’s nothing to prevent you from, say, packing one square completely full of dots, or leaving a square blank, but there are ten dots in total, and they have to go somewhere. Rith fucked around with this message at 16:21 on Oct 8, 2022 |
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Dec 11, 2021 12:49
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Rith posted:
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Dec 11, 2021 13:38
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Recalling my thoughts roughly when I was around this point, my main wonder was Sean felt kind of off, although I had no concrete evidence other than gut feelings and vague 'douchebag' vibes of his messages.
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Dec 11, 2021 13:56
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I think I've got a solution for this one. My first thought was that this has something to do with numbers. The dark and light squares look like numbered dice, and the letters in JADE are the 10th, 1st, 4th and 5th letters of the alphabet. However, I can't see a way to make the shapes into those numbers with the tools we have. So going back to letters, naturally the tool to use is negative space. We want to make the dark squares into the shapes of the letters, and use the light squares for the borders around the letters. The clearest configuration I see that uses all 10 light squares is: In box one, light in cells 4, 6 and 9. In box two, light in cells 1, 3 and 8. In box three, light in cells 3, 5 and 9. In box four, light in cell 6. XXX OXO XXO XXX OXO XXX XOX XXO XXO XOX XXO XXX
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Dec 11, 2021 16:43
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Tales from the Subreddit again, right around now, the general perception of the game (and my own opinion) was "the puzzles are kind of lame, but the story's compelling." And I'm happy to say the puzzles do get more creative and interesting later.
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Dec 12, 2021 01:25
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So what I think is happening is that this is some advanced VR sort of thing and details are being filled in partially by players subconscious and expectations. The pen writes black when Ink uses it because he has an identical pen with black ink inside, it writes blue when Rae uses it because the pen itself was blue so that's what he expected. This is also how the Gemini work - nobody is actually on the other end, each person's subconscious provides the words the other person would say. That's why Sean seems sort of flat, because Ink's only known him 2 years. Beth can talk to Earl because she knows what her son was like. Aether is berated by her dad because she doesn't think he'd ever believe her in such a situation, and Liza's dad is going all-out because that's what she'd expect him to do if she were in trouble. None of the Contacts can actually tell the players anything new or useful, though, except for maybe information Sent has in a pool for them to pull from, because otherwise they're just mental constructs. When people start hitting against this too hard, there's a bad reaction and they get sick. This doesn't mean the game is less fatal because there's no physical building to collapse on them, because wherever they actually are, they're at Sent's mercy. As for Liza, I expect she was blind, yes, for all the reasons mentioned so far by people and including one more. She says she doesn't even know what her mother looks like, but while it's perfectly understandable for her not to remember her mother who died when she was so young, it'd be a bit unusual for her dad not to keep any pictures and for Liza to never ask what her mother looked like. Unusual, that is, unless Liza had little to no eyesight, in which case she wouldn't really be concerned with what her mother looked like since that wouldn't mean anything to her. It also explains a lot of her problems so far as her dealing with sensory overload this entire time. PetraCore fucked around with this message at 18:17 on Dec 12, 2021 |
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Dec 12, 2021 04:54
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I'm really enjoying the speculation! Just as a general note, there's no need to put story speculation in spoiler text. It makes sense to propose puzzle solutions in spoiler text, so multiple people can try to solve the puzzles. If you're just trying to guess what's going on in the story or pin down details about the characters, though, feel free to discuss that openly!
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Dec 12, 2021 08:32
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I hadn't considered the possibility that Liza was blind, but now that it's been brought up, I'll take it one step further: Liza IS blind, present tense, or if she did get her sight back, it was very recently and almost no people know about it. What was the thing which convinced Liza that the group of Contestants didn't kidnap her? It's when Beth said: Beth: "Liza... even if we were your captors, why would we trap ourselves in the same room as you? Wouldn’t we want you to avoid seeing our faces?" Liza: "But... I..." and she cuts herself off before finishing "...I suppose you have a point." "But... I..." what? "But I'm blind." She cut herself off because she realized that if they really did kidnap her, they would already know that she's blind, so Beth's argument would make no sense.
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Dec 12, 2021 18:15
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I'll also note that there's different grades of blindness. People think it's just having no sight at all, but it's very possible Liza was legally blind but had very impaired vision, and that a new surgical technique was able to give her some of that function back to the point she's struggling with things she 'should be' used to, but isn't necessarily confused by the concept of, well, vision. If her vision started to distort as she had her attack the way Ink's vision did, she could have a very different fear that she takes away from that, whereas Ink's panic is linked to his personal fear of experiencing hallucinations due to a family history of schizophrenia. EDIT: Or like the previous poster said, she could still have impaired vision. I don't think anything Liza has done so far requires her to be able to see clearly, and many of the things she hasn't done make more sense if she can't see clearly but doesn't want to admit this to the others. She isn't struggling to move around in an unfamiliar, weirdly laid out environment without the assistive devices one would expect, so I think she's got enough vision not to walk into things. PetraCore fucked around with this message at 18:27 on Dec 12, 2021 |
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Dec 12, 2021 18:24
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My first thought is braile letters, but it does feel a bit unreasonable to expect us to know braile. Maybe someone with the hints knows it, but that feels a bit difficult for us to guess. Looking it up is pretty trivial, but having to look up something for the answer makes me feel like I'm on the wrong track.
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Dec 12, 2021 18:32
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Capfalcon posted:My first thought is braile letters, but it does feel a bit unreasonable to expect us to know braile. Maybe someone with the hints knows it, but that feels a bit difficult for us to guess. Looking it up is pretty trivial, but having to look up something for the answer makes me feel like I'm on the wrong track. Doing a quick google, the format of the boxes is wrong, and the letters can't be formed with either the positive or negative space available.
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Dec 12, 2021 19:37
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:Doing a quick google, the format of the boxes is wrong, and the letters can't be formed with either the positive or negative space available. You could just ignore the right column, but I agree it still feels like a stretch
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Dec 12, 2021 23:23
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11.2: The Eleventh Puzzle (Music: Battle of Wits)  Something the matter? Why “JADE”? The word choice seems a bit random. We went through the green door earlier. Jade is green. You know, the stone. Maybe it’s related? Heh. Maybe. I’m probably overthinking this... Not necessarily. These puzzles have been pretty all over the place. Hmm…I remember struggling with this puzzle on my first time through. So, clearly, we’re not supposed to spell out the letters in the traditional sense. Yeah, pretty sure that’s impossible. But if not that, then what? Well... what if it’s some kind of code? Like, what if it’s Morse code or something? Ah, you might be right. I don’t remember how to write Morse, though. I knew at one point... Let’s see... J is Dot-Dash-Dash-Dash. And A is Dot-Dash. D is Dash-Dot-Dot and E is just a Dot. Wow, that’s an impressive memory you’ve got. Oh! Thank you. Though... I’m not sure if Morse code is the right approach. We’ve got dots, sure, but no dashes. Besides, I wouldn’t know how to lay them out. R-Right. I guess it’s not Morse. Sorry, I got carried away, there. No need to apologize! Besides, I think you’re on the right track. Even if it’s not Morse, it’s probably a similar kind of code. Something that uses dots. Right! Let’s keep that in mind!I love that both Ink and Aether have at some point learnt Morse code. Nerds. Hey, Ink. I finally noticed something about the word "JADE". Oh yeah? What is it? The letters A through J are among the first ten letters of the alphabet. Do you think that might be important? Dunno. But you must think it’s important if you told me about it, right? Well, um, not necessarily... It kinda just came to mind. Well, if the answer is a code like we originally thought, then that might be useful after all. That would mean that the code in question would only need to cover, say, the first ten letters of the alphabet. Hmm...Have some confidence, Aether; that’s a good observation!   Oh! I’m sorry; I must’ve been daydreaming. Have you given the puzzle any thought? The puzzle...? I’m sorry, dear. I’ll get on that right away.Man, she’s out of it. I wonder what’s bothering her so much. Was it what Sent said to her? The last time Beth seemed distracted, it turned out she’d lost the ability to talk to her dead son. I’m concerned. Do you have a moment, Ink? It’s about the puzzle. Sure. What is it? Did anything about the initial position of the tiles strike you as strange? As a matter of fact, they did; they looked a bit like a set of dominoes. My thoughts exactly. From the looks of the grid, they’re probably from a set of double-nines. This is probably intentional... Oh. I’ve never actually played dominoes, so I wouldn’t know. No? It’s an old game, but it’s quite a lot of fun. Earl was simply fascinated with them when he was just a boy. I spent many evenings playing dominoes with him and his sister. You should try it sometime. I’m sure you’d enjoy it. I’ll worry about that when we’re out of here. Anyway, what was that you said about “double-nines”? If you think it might help solve the puzzle, I’d like to know. Certainly. A common variant of domino set is the “double-nine”. This set has one domino for every combination of two digits from zero to nine. In all, that’s 55 different dominoes. From zero to nine, huh? Are the little dots always in the same place? Yes; though you’re supposed to call them “pips”, not “dots”. A one simply has a single pip in the center. A two has a pip in the top left corner and in the bottom right corner. A three is like a two, but with a pip in the center as well. A four has a pip in each corner. A five is like a four, but with an extra pip in the center. A six has everything but the middle column filled with pips. A seven has everything but the center-left and center-right areas filled with pips. An eight has everything but the center tile filled with pips. A nine has every space filled with a pip. Oh! And a zero has no pips, obviously. Uh... thanks. Hopefully that’ll come in handy.I’m surprised Ink’s first thought is dominoes, particularly if he’s never played it before; my first thought was dice!  Any idea how we’re supposed to go about that? Well, there are four different three-by-three grids, so those must represent the four letters in “JADE”. There’s no way you could display the letters in a space that small, though. Yeah, especially considering that we’ve only got ten little dots to work with. There’s gotta be some other way of representing the letters. Of course. We’ve just got to figure out what that is.In the game’s files, the names of several of these hints, including this one (‘Rae 7-1Old.txt’), suggest that this puzzle was originally intended to come in episode seven. Any ideas, Rae? Yeah, I had one, but it didn’t quite work out. Mind sharing? It might be helpful. Ugh, fine. I think we’re supposed to use numbers to spell “JADE” instead of letters. What makes you say that? Do you remember how the tiles were arranged when we first started the puzzle? It looked like the numbers one to four as they’d be displayed on a D6. A D-what? A six-sided die. You can find the same type of notation on a domino. Oh, of course. I did notice that. I thought that it might have been a clue, but I don’t think we can display the numbers that way. I see...Rae is also a big nerd, as exposed by the fact that he feels the need to specify a die with six sides. So let me get this straight... you were trying to arrange the tiles to display numbers as if they were on a dice? Yeah. And you thought that the different numbers would represent letters of the alphabet? Well, that was the idea. So, like... A would be one, B would be two, and so on? You’re close, but you couldn’t do it that way. What do you mean? See, the problem with that is that J is the tenth letter of the alphabet. You can’t represent the number ten on a domino. And obviously, you can’t spell “JADE” without “J”... Right... so how would you do it? I thought of an alternate solution where A is zero, B is one, and so on. In that case, J would be nine, so it could properly be represented on a domino. This led me to believe that the answer was 9034. At first, I was convinced that this was the right answer, but then I looked at the puzzle again. There aren’t enough tiles for that. That's right. We’ve only got ten little dots to work with, which isn’t enough to display 9034. So... what’re you thinking now? Listen, are you just going to keep asking me questions, or are you actually going to do something useful? I just wanted to know what you thought about the puzzle. Yeah, well you’re just slowing me down. Fine.I’m getting the impression Rae wants me to talk to him again. 9034... how am I supposed to represent that? Hey, Rae— I’m trying to concentrate here. Go bug someone else. Ugh. Fine... Huh. We still don’t really know what we’re doing here. Er, Liza...?  I’m a little preoccupied. Can it wait ‘till we’re done with this puzzle? This is about the puzzle! Listen, I know I don’t often help with these, but it’s never because I don’t want to. It’s because I can’t. Well, I normally can’t. But I know I can solve this one, so I want you to hear me out. Got it?! ...Got it. So, what’ve you got? I don’t think you’re supposed to spell out letters with those tiles. At least, not in the traditional sense. Well, yeah. That much is obvious. Sometimes numbers and letters can be the same, you know? I think I know what you mean. You want to arrange tiles so that the numbers are represented as they are on the face of a domino, right? M-Maybe? It won’t work. There are too few tiles. Too few? More like too many. That can’t be right. There are only ten tiles; that’s way too few. Oh, well, are you sure about that? Pretty sure, yeah. I don’t really think we’re on the same page here. No. I suppose not. Just... just let me think about this for a minute.Ink’s use of ‘tiles’ to mean pips/dots here is mildly confusing. There are all these blank tiles as well, and you’re free to swap them with each other! I mean, it won’t do you much good, but you can do it. 0145. What? I finally understood what you were trying to explain to me. It makes sense in conjunction with my original idea. The answer is 0145. You can use those numbers to spell “JADE”. So you’re saying that A is one, D is four, E is five, and J is... zero? That’s right. Shouldn’t J be ten? Or maybe A should be zero, and J should be nine? No. I’m positive that J is zero. Now that I look at it, I guess the tiles work out correctly if we do it that way. See? What did I tell you? It’s worth a shot, I suppose. Well, what are you waiting for? Go enter 0145. You can thank me later.Did Liza really just solve this thing? Wait, what? Liza gave us an answer? That can’t be right. Did you try 0145 yet? No, not yet. What, do you not trust me?! It’s not that... I just wanted an extra minute to think it over, that’s all. Why don’t you input the answer yourself if you’re so convinced that 0145 is the right answer? Well, I don’t... uh... You know what? I think it would be best if you did it.Something’s weird here. But I might as well try the answer she gave me. She seems pretty confident. Maybe she’s really got it? She’s not explaining her reasoning, though. 0145 is the answer. You sure? Yup. Better hop to it, Ink.  Nobody got this one, which isn’t really a surprise, although Phelddagrif did make a suggestion I liked, and Capfalcon got about halfway there. I’ll put the reason for the solution in spoiler text, in case people want to work it out for themselves: the Braille dot-patterns for numbers are the same as the dot-patterns for the first ten letters of the alphabet. A is 1, B is 2, and so on. Up to I, which is 9, and J, which is 0. This is the first clear instance of something that shows up a couple of times in this game. Exit/Corners is a game tailored to its Contestants. Sometimes, you are not the person who’s expected to solve a puzzle, because it relies on specialised knowledge that another Contestant has. From a story perspective, it makes sense; Sent knows who he’s making these puzzles for, so he knows what specialised knowledge they can collectively draw on. From a game design perspective, it’s an unusual and slightly risky move. If a game presents you with a puzzle, you generally expect to be able to solve it without more than basic outside knowledge. As Capfalcon says, ‘Having to look up something for the answer makes me feel like I'm on the wrong track.’ I go back and forth on how I feel about this. I sort of like the realism of this approach, in an area where you wouldn’t usually expect a game to be realistic, but it does have its gameplay downsides. If you expect to be able to work out all the puzzles without using any hints, you could end up bashing your head against this for a long time. You might potentially go 'well, A is 1 in the alphabet, D is 4 and E is 5, and then I'm out of dots, so I suppose I'll just leave J blank', but there's no guarantee, and it can be frustrating to get the right answer and not understand why it's right. I suppose my overall conclusion is that I find 'sometimes you're not actually meant to be the one to solve the puzzle' an interesting, memorable aspect of the game, but I wouldn't want every game to do it. The music stops, and the screen goes black. There we go. Puzzle solved.(Music: Stranglehold (Rack)) That doesn’t make any sense... No. It’s 0145. In most programming languages, the first index in an array is zero, not one. That’s why I thought that A would be zero, B would be one, all the way up to J, which would be nine. It would’ve worked out perfectly because you can’t display any digits with a value greater than nine on a domino. But for some reason, A is one and J is... zilch. That isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. Ugh. It was a stupid puzzle, that’s all... There we go. That one wasn’t too bad.Are you sure, Ink?  I think I might. Sent said he wanted to speak to me in private, remember? Oh, right. Are you seriously going to give in to his request? To hell with that guy.  Whoever they are, they’ve gone mad long ago. I can’t condone speaking with them unless absolutely necessary. Yeah, but— Let’s just go, Beth. He’s made up his mind. Ink, make it quick. I’ll try.Beth and Liza fade off the screen. We hear a door open and close.  I won’t.Aether follows the others. Now alone, Ink approached the monitor. He stared at the completed puzzle for a time, wondering if he should just turn tail and rejoin the others. What do you want, Sent?The screen didn’t so much as flicker. Ink sighed.  Might as well play along. Sent, Sent, Sent.There’s an electronic chirp. (Music: Ad Nauseam (Tendrils))  Yeah, don’t you feel special. Who wouldn’t feel special in my position? I am in complete control, after all. I can’t speak for the lot of you, but I am certainly enjoying myself. What do you want from me? I want to spend time with you, that’s all. I want to converse with you. I told you to cut the crap. What do you really want? ’Cause you’re trying to kill me, maybe? Why are you so loving obsessed with me?! You’re almost too clever. Not only are you an expert at solving puzzles, but you’ve also deduced a lot about Exit/Corners and about myself. You’re kind, too. You put others’ needs before your own, try to keep your fellow Contestants calm, and always seem to want to lend an ear. I also happen to think you’re a very funny fellow. Know that I have been laughing at all your jokes, even when the others have not!Something was off. To receive compliments from one’s abductor felt strange indeed. Ink crossed his arms. Why are you telling me this? I am telling you this because I believe you ought to know what a wonderful young man you are. I’m beginning to feel a certain connection between us. Connection? What’s that supposed to mean?The music stops. I suppose what I’m trying to say is...  
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Dec 14, 2021 09:38
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Can’t think of many games that use Lima Syndrome as a plot twist.
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Dec 14, 2021 09:57
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Man, I can't hold out just waiting for LP updates anymore after a cliffhanger like that! I had to go and look ahead to see what the next puzzle was.
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Dec 14, 2021 10:36
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Bifauxnen posted:Man, I can't hold out just waiting for LP updates anymore after a cliffhanger like that! I had to go and look ahead to see what the next puzzle was. Beautiful work. It's going in the second post of the thread. I'm sure Ink's relieved that the only person around to give hints is Beth, who probably has no idea what 'swipe right' means.
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Dec 14, 2021 10:56
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I Love You, So I'm Going to Kidnap You and Throw You Into a Murder Game: Let's Play Exit/Corners Also works for the first two Zero Escape games, now that I think about it.
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Dec 14, 2021 11:20
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And sort of works for all but the first "runthrough" of Head AS Code too. Love is a hell of a thing, no?
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Dec 14, 2021 13:43
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I think the only proper response to that statement from Sent is "You're wasting my time. I'm leaving."
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Dec 14, 2021 15:41
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I'm with you on the puzzle thing, although for me it was the temperature one that bothered me. This one, Liza's immediate reaction of being able to solve it was interesting enough to me that I didn't mind. Although, I can imagine if you're the type that deliberately doesn't go for hints it'd get really frustrating; maybe some kind of in-game acknowledgement earlier that relying on your companions is a mechanic would make it better? I dunno.
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Dec 14, 2021 15:46
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I agree it's interesting to make a puzzle that isn't "fair" to the player but is to the contestants. I hope they don't pull that trick too often, but it's a neat twist. Anyway, isn't the isolated nerd normally the one who is supposed to confess their love for a VTuber? This is all backwards!
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Dec 14, 2021 16:30
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12.1: A Cut Above  The clock is ticking. Following my gross vomit-blood-everywhere schtick, Aether and I had a bit of a heart-to-heart. I told her about my problems, she told me about hers. It was nice, actually. Apparently her dad is a huge jerkbutt. He isn’t even trying to help her escape! This is the first I really hear of him, probably for good reason. When we went back to rejoin the others, I forgot that my clothes were all bloodied. Beth noticed right away and asked what had happened. There’s no hiding it anymore. I told them I had coughed it up, which was the truth. Thankfully the others aren’t as paranoid about it as I thought they’d be. I guess I’m the paranoid one. Liza later asked me if I felt any different since I woke up. I gave her the best answer I could, but I don’t think she heard what she wanted to. She’s weird sometimes. You know who’s even weirder, though? Sent.  I expected him to try and get me to turn on the others, or maybe to threaten me in some way. What I did not expect was for him to profess his love to me. So, naturally, that’s what he did. (Music: Ad Nauseam (Tendrils), 0.5 speed) You love me? Is this some kind of joke? I have come to the conclusion that I am in love with you, Ink Greer. You really are a wonderful human being; a cut above the other Contestants, that’s for certain.If there was an appropriate emotion for this situation, Ink didn’t know what it was. Go away. Not even a little. Oh, I know better than that. You’re simply playing hard-to-get. Is this actually why you wanted to speak to me in private? Seriously? Yes. I want to develop a certain intimacy with you. What, do you expect me to just up and say, “I love you too”? One can hope. Trust me, that’s the last thing I’m worried about.That’s an interesting little tidbit, though. I’ll have to keep that in mind. Listen to me, Sent: I’m tired of you and I don’t have time for this.With a sigh, Ink began to back away from the screen. The music stops.  Ink stopped, more out of curiosity than fright. This was Sent, after all, and he didn’t often lash out like this. ...Is that so? There’s a soft rushing noise, like gravel being disturbed.  What was that? Wind? Quite the opposite. Look closely.As Ink took a step forward, his foot fell on something soft. He knelt down to examine it. Sand?(Music: Ad Nauseam (Tendrils)) A gold star for you, Mr. Greer. There are several metric tons of sand in the chamber above this one. I could have crushed the lot of you with it if I so desired. It would have been as simple as turning a valve and locking the doors. But we’d still have had the chance to solve the puzzle and escape, right? You wouldn’t just kill us outright, otherwise you’d have done so already. Don’t avoid the question. Then I might as well not ask you anything at all. You aren’t going to tell me poo poo. Nonsense. Please, ask me a question. If it is within my bounds to answer, I will comply. I will do my best to provide the one I love with the answers he seeks. You get one question. Go on, ask me something. It’s probably not the most useful option, but there’s one particular thing I think is probably on Ink’s mind right now. Are you really in love with me?There were other, more pressing questions Ink could have posed, but it was Sent’s sudden affection that was foremost on his mind. You tell me you love me and yet you’re trying to kill me. I can’t help but feel that’s a little contradictory. I suppose that’s what you’d call “tough love”.I don’t think that’s quite right...  I’ll admit that this is a sudden development. I wasn’t in love with you at the start of Exit/Corners, but now... oh, how I hope you and I can work something out! You could fix that yourself right now. Let me go. I’m sorry, my lovely Ink. I may be a love-struck fool, but I still intend to see Exit/Corners to its conclusion. I long to be yours, Ink, and so I pray that you make it out alive. I truly do. Sure you do.The music stops. I’m leaving. Of course. I’ll be seeing you shortly, I’m sure. Sent zips off the screen.  As much as Ink appreciated having a moment to himself, he knew he ought to rejoin the others. The screen blacks out. We hear a door open and close. (Music: Stranglehold)  Yeah. I get worried when we’re not all together. Well, I’m back in one piece. Where’s everyone else? If they’re doing the puzzle I’d like to help them out with that. The puzzle’s just around the corner over there. I started it with the others but I couldn’t really concentrate. I see. Guess I’ll get started — I’ve got to make up for all of that time I’ve wasted.The screen shakes.  Huh? What is it? Oh! He, uh...I guess there’s no harm in telling Aether.  Aether switches to her startled hood-up pose halfway through Ink’s line here, which is a nice touch! What?! You’re kidding, right? Honestly. I couldn’t make it up if I tried. For all I know, he... or she, or whatever... could have been stalking me for months. Maybe he does love me. If he loves you, then why did he kidnap you and force you to play Exit/Corners? It doesn’t make any sense, Ink. Hey, I’m just playing devil’s advocate. It’s not like it matters either way. He certainly isn’t giving me a break. Anyway, don’t bring this up with the others unless they ask first. It makes me uncomfortable just thinking about it. You know Sent can hear you, right? Oh, I’m counting on it.Ink motioned for Aether to lead the way. He followed her as she approached the end of the hall and spun around the corner. The music stops.   Ink? What is it? Oh, sorry. I was just having a look at that sword up there. No, not really. I was just admiring it.(Music: Peace of Mind)  Hey, I never said that! I mean, I do think they’re pretty cool... Oh, don’t be so shy. You’ve got one hanging in your room, I bet. What? How’d you know? Educated guess. I’m pretty good at this kind of thing.Man, am I really that easy to read? Come on, don’t look at me like that. It’s not anything to be ashamed of. I was just worried you’d think it was a little, uh, immature. You think so? You don’t think they’re dangerous to have around or anything? Well, they were sort of designed to be dangerous, but if you put them up carefully and make sure you keep them away from children, they do make for a pretty neat decoration. Right. The one I have in my room is just a replica with dulled edges, so it’s not especially dangerous. They wouldn’t let me bring a real weapon to residence, obviously. What about this sword? Do you think it’s real? Why would there be a real sword in the death game hotel? You could have someone’s eye out. Nah, there’s no way. That thing looks about as real as the rest of this hotel. Let’s have a look, why don’t we?Ink stood on his toes and reached for the blade. Despite nearly having to jump for it, Ink managed to pull the sword down without injuring himself.  Well, there’s only one way to know for sure. And hey, it looks like I was right. So it’s fake is what you’re saying. Pretty much. The weight’s all wonky. Here, look at this.Ink ran his finger across the length of the blade’s edge, then lifted it to show Aether. He was unscathed. See? This thing’s harmless.The music stops. The screen shakes.  The screen shakes.  I was just looking at it. Yeesh. That’s a weapon, Ink. You can’t just be flailing it around willy-nilly; that’s how accidents happen. I’m hardly “flailing it around”... I don’t want to hear it! You give that to me right now.Beth tore the sword from Ink’s grip. He didn’t resist, but he couldn’t help feeling a little embarrassed. This is going back on the mantlepiece. Under no circumstances is anyone to remove it again, understand?Th-that’s not a mantelpiece, Beth. Okay, okay.Beth fades off the screen. Unfortunately for Beth, the mantlepiece was just high enough to escape her reach. She did her best to put the sword back where it belonged, but simply couldn’t stretch the last few inches. It’s not a mantelpiece; it’s a plaque! I don’t suppose someone could lend me a hand? We are, of course, helping her out, because we’re not arseholes and she’s only trying to keep people safe. Yeah, sure. (Music: Biorhythm)  He tried to sweet-talk me, that’s all. I told him I was having none of it. He tried to get you to side with him? In a manner of speaking. I can’t help but feel Sent’s short-term goal is to divide us. Possibly. Thanks for filling me in, Ink. Now would you please help us with this puzzle? It feels like you’re always being delayed when we move between rooms. That I can. Let’s check it out. ...’Cause it’s junk. How many more times do I have to say it? If this were hold ’em, I’d ship those first two without a second thought. You don’t play very much, do you? Hands like that are as common as dirt. You’d have a flush in the making; I’d wait until the Turn, at least. Well, yeah, maybe if I had daddy bankrolling me, but it just ain’t smart otherwise.  Hey, I don’t want to get in the way of any bonding, but...The screen shakes, and the music stops.  So this one’s got a poker theme? Yeah. I hope you’ve played Five-card Draw before. I know of it. Let me have a look... We can’t move the ‘Your Hand’ message or the blank tiles to its left and right, but we can freely swap the card tiles in the upper rows with the ones in our hand. Rith fucked around with this message at 16:27 on Oct 8, 2022 |
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Dec 17, 2021 09:04
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There may be a sword, but the inkpen is mightier.
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Dec 17, 2021 10:22
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Welp, googling "Simpsons royal sampler" didn't pan out so I'm stumped on this one.
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Dec 17, 2021 10:22
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Any time there's poker in games I immediately switch off. Don't know the rules, never have, probably never will care enough to learn. Have them readily available to check anytime in-game or please stop doing it, devs.
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Dec 17, 2021 15:19
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I mean, unless the rules have stopped meaning anything there isn't even a Royal Flush on the board, so this puzzle seems like nonsense to begin with. Like, the others at least have had an actual objective that we could accomplish, this is just... here's some cards, I guess? Just eyeballing what's there, the best hand you can make seems to be a full house (6's over 9's) which is decidedly not better than a Royal Flush, although it does beat a regular flush which is what everyone else has. Artix fucked around with this message at 15:38 on Dec 17, 2021 |
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Dec 17, 2021 15:36
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The puzzle's definitely a bit confusing, and I struggled with it when I played. To clarify, we can't see the hands of the hypothetical other players. The cards at the top of the screen aren't meant to be other people's hands; they're just the pool of cards we can draw from.
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Dec 17, 2021 16:07
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Then there's clearly some aspect of this puzzle that isn't being explained because the set of cards given literally cannot be combined to form a hand that will equal a royal flush. I suspect this is going to be like the JADE puzzle where it actually wants something different that the player couldn't possibly know just based on the puzzle as presented. E: Comedy answer is "fold", can't lose to a royal flush if I quit first. Artix fucked around with this message at 16:21 on Dec 17, 2021 |
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Dec 17, 2021 16:16
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Don't lose to a royal flush, huh? I'm thinking the answer might be Jack of Diamonds, Queen of Clubs, King of Hearts, Ace of Spades, and the Two of Diamonds, with two assumptions. There is only one deck being used, so we're spoiling any possibility of a royal flush by using one of each of the face cards from each suit and This is a weird variant that allows wraparound straights, so the 2 of diamonds still makes a straight <- this one is a stretch but I can't think of anything else that would fit with the rest of my logic.
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Dec 17, 2021 16:37
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dervival posted:Don't lose to a royal flush, huh? This is a good angle I hadn't considered, but I still don't like it as a solution. First, taking a face card of each removes the possibility of a royal flush at all, this is true, but the way it is set up it's impossible to have a hand better than Ace high. We won't lose to a royal flush, which *does* satisfy the puzzle, but it loses to literally anything else which doesn't feel like it's in the spirit of a good poker puzzle. Second, it would mean that every single hand that combines the four face cards is a valid solution. There's nothing wrong with that, I guess, but again, it feels like a bad puzzle if that's actually the case. A good puzzle should only have one logical solution.
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Dec 17, 2021 16:52
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The best I can think of is to take the message in the most literal sense possible by making it so nobody can get a royal flush. So we keep the Queen of Clubs, then trade for the Ace of spades, King of Hearts, and Jack of Diamonds. Since there’s no 10, we end up with a total poo poo hand of “Ace high”, but while we’re totally losing, we cannot lose to a Royal Flush.
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Dec 17, 2021 16:52
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This is pretty clever. As others have mentioned, it's impossible to form a hand with the given cards that ties/beats a royal flush. So our other option is to prevent the other players from getting one. A royal flush is 10-J-Q-K-A, all of the same suit. In our hand and on the table are at least one face card from each suit. If they're all in our hand, the other players can't use them for their hands, and can't make a complete royal flush. So the solution must be to take one of each of the aces/face cards from the table, making sure to keep the one we already have. Our fifth card is irrelevant since there's no 10 to make a straight with. Our hand will be terrible and loses to pretty much anything, but we won't lose to a royal flush.
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Dec 17, 2021 16:54
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Artix posted:This is a good angle I hadn't considered, but I still don't like it as a solution. First, taking a face card of each removes the possibility of a royal flush at all, this is true, but the way it is set up it's impossible to have a hand better than Ace high. We won't lose to a royal flush, which *does* satisfy the puzzle, but it loses to literally anything else which doesn't feel like it's in the spirit of a good poker puzzle. Second, it would mean that every single hand that combines the four face cards is a valid solution. There's nothing wrong with that, I guess, but again, it feels like a bad puzzle if that's actually the case. A good puzzle should only have one logical solution. Yeah, I really wish there was a 10 of any suit or a duplicate face card to make it a lot more unique of a situation - if my answer is correct, it'd only be due to a uncommon variant on the rules, which doesn't seem right.
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Dec 17, 2021 17:16
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Do you think Sent verbalizes the slash in Exit/Corners, or is it just a text thing
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Dec 18, 2021 01:05
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I'm pretty sure it's like how Hunter x Hunter, Lucky☆Star, or .hack//SIGN are pronounced. I.e., you just don't pronounce the middle section.
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Dec 18, 2021 02:14
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Maybe you make a sword-slashing sound with your mouth for it. Exit shwing Corners.
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Dec 18, 2021 03:03
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I don't know anything about Hunter x Hunter, and this is rocking my world; I always assumed it was pronounced 'hunter ex hunter'! (In my heart, I wanted it to be 'hunter times hunter'.) I think it's made clearer through an offhand comment or something later on, so I hesitate to give a definitive answer to this question, even if it's not a huge detail. If you can find any evidence one way or the other in an update that's already been posted, though, feel free to present it! (Maybe it's just the pairing notation Sent uses on his fanfiction, where 'Exit' is the name of his self-insert and 'Corners' is a thinly veiled facsimile of Ink.)
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Dec 18, 2021 03:08
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12.2: The Twelfth Puzzle (Music: Battle of Wits)  Hey. Do you have any ideas on how to solve this one? It says "don’t lose to a Royal Flush", so I’m assuming we need to win the round somehow. This is supposed to be poker, right? I think so. Five-Card Draw, from the looks of it. Oh... Is something the matter? I don’t know how to play poker. Please don’t be angry! Why would I be angry? I’m not sure if I’ll be able to help if I don’t know how to play. Hey, don’t worry about it. You’ve been plenty helpful so far. Um... if you say so. If you want, I can even briefly explain how to play. Really? I’d like that. If I’ve got a minute, I’ll swing back around and show you.Aether’s hints for this puzzle are headed ‘AETHER AND BETH’ in the game files; presumably Aether and Beth were at some point intended to give hints together for this one, just like Rae and Liza in the final version. So, you ready to learn about poker? Yup! I know that you need to have a stronger hand than your opponent, but other than that I’m a little lost... Well, the variant shown in the puzzle here is called Five-Card Draw. That’s the closest approximation I can make, at least. You heard of that before? The name is familiar, but I have no idea how to play. Well, in Five-Card Draw, you’ve got a hand of five cards. You can send any number of those cards back and draw that many new cards. Though, in Sent’s version of the game, it looks like you can just make whatever hand you want from the available pool of cards. So, in the puzzle, the opponent theoretically has a Royal Flush? That’s right. It’s the strongest possible hand. And what makes one hand stronger than another? This is where it gets a little complicated. I’ll limit the potential hands to what’s possible given the cards in this puzzle. A one pair hand is a hand that contains a single pair of cards. For example, having two 4s or two Queens would constitute one pair. Stronger than a one pair hand is a straight, where you’ve got five sequential cards. Say you’ve got a 3, a 4, a 5, a 6 and a 7 – that’s a straight. The suit doesn’t matter. Stronger than a straight is a flush, where you’ve got a hand of five cards that are all the same suit. Stronger still is a straight flush, where you’ve got a straight in which all the cards in the straight are the same suit. And, like I said, the strongest possible hand is a Royal Flush, where you’ve got the Ace, Queen, King, Jack and 10 of the same suit. The weakest possible hand is called a junk hand, where you’ve got none of the aforementioned combinations. Something that’s important to note is that if that you’ve got the same hand as your opponent, the winner is determined by who has the highest card. Got all that? That doesn’t seem so bad...As with the cypher earlier, this is an area Ink knows a bit about, so some of the hints take the form of him explaining things to other people. It reminds me a little of the Beginner’s Hall in Final Fantasy VII; Cloud already knows how to fight, so the player learns the mechanics through Cloud teaching others, rather than other people teaching Cloud. That said, I’m not sure how much Ink really knows; he’s left out two pair, three of a kind, four of a kind and full house, all of which are possible with these cards!  Yeah, that’s what it says. Is it even possible to beat a Royal Flush? No. Didn’t think so. Any ideas on what the trick is for this one? Nah, not yet. Why don’t you poke around with it for a bit? Give me a few minutes and I might have an idea of what to do. What about Liza? What about her? It seemed like she knew poker pretty well. What if you bounced some ideas off of her? Meh. Won’t need to. Listen, if I need your help, I’ll let you know, alright? Now stop distracting me. I’m trying to think.Let Liza help, Rae! She doesn’t pitch in on the puzzles often; it’d be a shame not to use her expertise when we have the opportunity.  I play online for fun. I’m hardly an expert, but I know what I’m doing. You’re probably a lot better than me, in any case. My poker face is terrible. Meh. That’s not actually as important as you’d think. Anyway, can you lend your expertise to help us solve this puzzle? Remind me what the tiles are, why don’t you? You want me to read them off to you? Can’t you just... I’m trying to think, here. Just read them off to me, okay? ...Fine. So our starting hand was the 3, 6, 8, 7, and Queen of Clubs. Okay, what else? So there’s the 3, 4, 6, 9, and King of Hearts. Then we’ve got the 3, 5, 6, 7, and Ace of Spades. Finally, we’ve got the 2, 3, 4, 9, and Jack of Diamonds. What a mess of a setup. Think you can help us figure it out? Absolutely. Let me mull it over for a little while. Sure.Liza playing online poker has come up before; back in instalment 5.1, in an alternate dialogue path, she mentioned she was playing Hold ’Em Online when she was abducted.  No, I haven’t made any ground yet. Yeah, I didn’t think you would. Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence. I’m not making fun of you. I didn’t think you’d have made any ground because the puzzle is impossible. I’ve double-checked every card. There’s no way we can even tie a Royal Flush, much less beat one. There isn’t even a Straight Flush we can make. No matter how you order the cards, the highest potential hand we could make for ourselves is a four-of-a-kind with an ace high. Really? Let me have another look. Don’t bother. She’s right. I see. So our highest potential hand will never beat out our opponent’s hand. Exactly. Unless the cards mean something else, somehow... Screw this. I might just brute-force it. Please! You’re going to give up that easily? I’m not giving up! I’m just trying to find the quickest solution! Fine, do what you want.  Why don’t you and Liza work together to figure it out? Brute-forcing it might be faster. Yeah, but who says you need to be the one to do that? I can brute-force it while you work on finding the real solution with Liza. It’s fine. I wouldn’t want to get shown up by a high-schooler, either. I hate you guys. Fine, I’ll work with her! Happy? Yup!It’s fun when characters are combined for hints and get to bicker; it’s a shame it rarely happens!  I know that! I’m just thinking out loud. Still no progress? Nah. We’ve still got the same problem as before. This thing is unwinnable. Well... maybe winning isn’t the point. Maybe we’re supposed to lose. Hmm... I think you might be onto something, Liza. You catch our drift, Ink? Totally.What the hell are they talking about? The words ‘don’t lose’ are right there in the puzzle instructions, guys!  Yeah, I can see you’re having some trouble. Then why didn’t you help me?! You almost looked like you knew what you were doing. Almost. Can you two give me a hand or what? Think about it. What does the clue say? “Don’t lose to a Royal Flush.” Exactly. We can’t lose to a Royal Flush... but we’re free to lose to any other hand. But we can’t even see our opponent’s hand. How are we supposed to have any influence on it? Games of poker are played with a single deck of cards. It would be impossible for our opponent to get a Royal Flush if we have the cards he needs in our hand. So while we might still lose to some other hand, we wouldn’t lose to a Royal Flush. Oh, I think I get it... but is that even possible with the cards we have here? Yeah, it is. There are only four possible Royal Flushes, one for every suit. Sure. That sounds like it’s worth a try.That’s pretty clear and explicit. Let’s ask again.  Sorry, what was the solution, again? It’s not that hard. Just take the face card or ace from every suit and put it in our hand. That’d be the Ace of Spades, the Queen of Clubs, the Jack of Diamonds and the King of Hearts. Okay. I’ll try that.You guys make a strong argument, but Beth hasn’t had the opportunity to give her input yet!  No, not really. I played a little Texas Hold ‘Em back in high school, but that’s about it.  Do you play any other card games? Probably not the kind you’re thinking of. Ah. That’s a shame. There’s a lot you can learn from a simple deck of cards.Whatever that means... I tend to keep screenshots to a minimum for hints when we’re only talking to one other character, but I think that portrait of Beth smiling is new!  I just noticed... all of the face cards in this puzzle are famous. Famous how? I’m sure you’re aware that a deck of playing cards has a history that’s centuries old. You’d think that a few of the cards would have picked up a bit of notoriety along the way. Right. Like how the ace of spades is known as the death card. Yes. That’s one of the more famous examples. So you’re saying that the other face cards here are also famous? That’s right. The Jack of diamonds, for instance, is sometimes referred to as the Laughing Boy. Why is it called that? I couldn’t tell you. But I do know that when you draw the Laughing Boy, in some circles, you’re supposed to chuckle. But then everyone would know you’re holding the jack of diamonds. That’s true. But if your opponents focus too much on the one card they know is in your hand, they’ll stop thinking about what else you might be holding...You could always throw people off by laughing when you draw other cards as well! What about the other face cards? What are their nicknames? Oh, you want to know more, do you? I think it’s interesting. As do I. Let’s see here... Did you know that the King of Hearts is sometimes known as the suicide king? No, that’s news to me. Why is that? You can’t see it here, but in a normal deck, the King of Hearts is depicted holding a sword behind his head. Unfortunately for him, it usually looks like he’s stabbing himself in the head. Yikes. That’s pretty grim. Indeed. And that, my dear, is why you should never play with swords.I always thought the King of Hearts actually was depicted stabbing himself in the head; I didn’t realise he was just holding the sword behind it! That... probably makes more sense. There’s still one face card I don’t know: the Queen of Clubs. Ah, yes. That one’s a little obscure. She’s known as the Flower Queen. Why’s that? She’s usually depicted holding a flower. But it’s less common nowadays. It’s an old custom that’s on the way out. Isn’t her design, like, timeless or something? More modern deck designs usually omit the flower. And their queens just keep getting younger and younger. Some look like they’re your age. I guess there’s nothing terribly appealing about an old woman holding a flower...I’m enjoying this card trivia! Thanks, Beth. That’s enough exposition from me, I would think. Let’s try and solve this puzzle.  There was some speculation in the thread on whether wraparound straights were possible, but this is more a riddle than an actual poker puzzle. Our instructions are not to lose to a royal flush. So long as we’re holding a component of every possible royal flush, nobody else will be able to get one, so we can’t possibly lose to one. Losing to anything else is fine. Because of this, the final card doesn’t matter; any hand that includes the Jack of Diamonds, Queen of Clubs, King of Hearts and Ace of Spades will solve the puzzle. I just went for one of the nines because instinct demanded that I grab the highest card available. dervival, MagusofStars and Phelddagrif got this one. (There's nothing missing at the start of that sentence; dervival's name is just written lowercase! I considered switching the names around, but I wanted to credit dervival first because they were the first to solve it.) The music stops.  It worked, huh? Not bad. You know, I thought that puzzle was actually sort of fun. I thought it was annoying, to be honest; maybe I’m just bad at poker. These puzzles aren’t getting any easier. No, but we’re getting better at solving them. It kinda balances out. Rae fades off the screen. We hear a door open and close. Rae was the first to enter the next room, Beth right behind him.   About what? We are getting better at solving these puzzles. I think part of that is because you’ve started helping us, Liza. You should chime in more; you’re a big help when you do. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? What do you mean? I mean that we’re supposed to get better at solving puzzles. And they’re supposed to get harder as we go. Right? I suppose so. That’s how games work, usually.The game definitely wants you to consult Liza and Rae on this one. If you solve it yourself, Ink has no idea how he did it: quote:Ink: There we go. We hear a door open and close.  Did something happen? The next room is like... plants and poo poo. She doesn’t like that, apparently. “Plants and poo poo”? Just go talk to Beth, will ya? You’re better at dealing with that sort of thing. Okay, okay, I’m going.And so he went. The screen fades out. We hear a door open and close. (Music: All Is Dust)   Ink took baby steps into the garden, his shoes squeaking against the mossy stones. The room was otherwise silent — no birds, no bugs, no wind. The screen shakes. Impossible! Uh, yeah? What’s wrong, Beth? What is it, Beth? Tell me. This garden... it’s mine. My garden was just like this. Exactly like this. 
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Dec 20, 2021 09:46
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Oh boo, so it wasn't a unique solution? Shame on you, Sent! Yeah, the wrap-around straight speculation was a wild swing for uniqueness - I was torn between the 2 and the 9 otherwise. (Also, apologies for lightly messing with your sentence capitalization!  )
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Dec 20, 2021 16:05
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