(Prior posts on Ferret here. Also, I semi-spoil the endings to some 70s TV shows.)
No progress, alas. We have failed to reach the endgame.
Sorry, Link.
I thought of maybe likening this post to the ending of Blakes 7 (which has a super-high body count and the evil Federation wins) but maybe The Little House on the Prarie is more appropriate. After 8 regular seasons and a 9th “New Beginnings” Season there were some TV movies, including A Last Farewell, where an evil tycoon buys up Walnut Grove. The response of the townspeople is to blow everything up.
Having the sets blown up meant that it was of course the last piece of Little House of Prairie TV made, but oddly enough, it was not the last TV movie. Despite shooting earlier, the special Bless All the Dear Children showed after the explosive finale.
Such as it is here: we’ve been playing Ferret since the start of October, all the way to the end of January, setting a new record (Warp, even given the fact I broke it in two parts, took three months to finish). The patience of my dear readers desperately hoping for an Apple II game with a soothing phosphor beam or maybe some janky ZX Spectrum art has been pushed long enough, and I need to write about new games. But we really are one room away from the endgame (we know this, not just guessing) and we have some folks determined to see things to the end, so action will continue in the comments here.
How do we know we’re one room away? Well, in an earlier version the authors made an error which let us jump into phase 17 early. I’m going to wait until the last post proper to share too much, but you land in the escape ship we’ve been trying to get to, and end up in a disorienting place similar to Adventure 550. Then something slightly unhinged happens and maybe even transcendental which seems to be some sort of grand meta-puzzle. So it is worth waiting for, and I’m hoping to write up The End, on, say, February 28. (No promises, though. Maybe it’ll even happen sooner.)
Anyway, on progress: we kind of devolved. The game was updated today to 10.30, and we found that the trick of putting radioactive pellets in a leather wallet no longer worked to protect us. (I mean, fair, that wouldn’t work in real life: but the game has had a few bits of science fantasy so it didn’t feel too absurd either.) So that means we are back at square one as far as what to do with the broken warehouse.
Shadow of a Warehouse
A large open area exhibiting the ground shadow of an immense warehouse. The remainder of the warehouse is to the south. To the north is a fenced lane. To the west is a set of railway tracks, to the east is the rear end of a train locomotive which appears to be sinking very slowly into the ground.
Exits: NS-W ——– —
There are some shards of timber here
Score increment of 10 points.
-> s
Warehouse
A large open area in the remains of an immense warehouse. There is another
large open area to the north.
Exits: N— ——– —
There is a thallium receptacle here
-> open receptacle
Opening the thallium receptacle reveals:
some radiant pellets
Maybe the pellets are a red herring and we really want some broken wood? Maybe there’s some alternate way to carry the radioactive material with us? (If the latter is true, we could just use a prior version to make it through.)
Incidentally, the update did fix the map, so we can reach all the rooms whilst in space that we are supposed to. As predicted, the Escape from Hot ITV room is the missing one, although now you can see the location via asymmetry:
I don’t have too many other insights to share. I’ve tried naming locations to teleport to in every way I can think of, and typing in the same manner. I’ve tried stuffing various random items into slots rather than just identity cards and those don’t work either. I’ve tried eating the ooze.
Not such a good idea. Your stomach starts to implode. You are being positively gut-wrenched. As you start to suffer from severe convulsions you realise that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to eat something that might be poisonous.
It’s time to meet the big Ferret in the sky.
I’ve tried various actions with the space suit, but there’s no pockets in the suit and you can’t wear the teleport bracelet at the same time as the suit.
Finally, I tried various whacks at the mysterious Blake sarcophagus message. Let me just give all that text again, in case any puzzle solving maven has some idea even if they’ve not been playing Ferret at all.
Clue #1
The sarcophagus glisters and sparkles in a most tremendous way. You are bedazzled and, not to a small degree, hypnotised by the beauty of the object. Strange that such wonder should be associated with the morbidity of death. Any road up, you may be interested in the inscription on the side of the gaudy object which reads:
The Most Exulted
The Highmost
The Leader of Freed Men
The Champion of the Underdog
The Most Betrayed of All
Put to Death this Day
ABCDXY0123789
By Federation Termination Order
May his Magnificence Rest in Peace
Clue #2
Mong the Magnificent, King of Throb, Ruler of the Vibrations, Artisan of the Pulsating Wobblers was universally revered for his insights into the art of personal pleasure, usually of an exotic nature. It is assumed that he had discovered some incredibly good blow before coining this wonderful quip, full of deep thought and liberating enthusiasm:
“It could be that 0123789 is a number pure and simple, representing, say, the number of days since a given start point, possibly denoted by some other equation. Alternatively, it could be symbolic, with, for example, 9 and 0 denoting some simple code, one that often stares people in the face.”
Or, just maybe, Mong has sustained such physical and mental abuse in pursuit of hedonistic pleasure that he had gone completely barking.
Clue #3
Yo, ya kno’ that Graham geezer and his massive number. Well, like, X is the spot an’ it’s the last free digits, dig it?
Clue #4
Blap, blap. This is fierce. Y, oh Y, does the posse go mental when I jive some symbols at ’em? All I said was “pi and mash”.
Clue #5
It appears that a builder from some distant time in the past (the language appears to be ancient estuarine) has left his calculations inscribed for posterity on the wall.
Wifdf = AX
Hiftf = BY
Lemff = 9782C310
Clue #6 (possibly irrelevant, but here just in case)
I need to explain this before I expire. My life’s research has led me here. Sadly, I think my mind has been failing over the most recent years, things not having the clarity they used to possess. For what it is worth, and I hope it is worth something, otherwise my life has been for nought, my findings are as follows. Please pass on to Prof. Anderson of the Anthropology Department of Springfield University if you can.
“Every story of lore had three protagonists, they say. Let’s call them A, B and C. These lovely three were not related but they were from the same family, which means they are related, if you see what I mean. The first degree of freedom is the order of significance, which, in this case only, is reverse alphabetic order with a small, but significant, amount of moistness. Now, each of A, B and C can represent an individual digit, number, equation or some combination of some or all of the parts. Suffice to say the permutations are nearly endless, but in this case, think of some bears with a propensity to sugary conserves. The second degree of freedom is magnitude, for which an analogy with the late 20th century telephone will suffice coupled with the standard innuendo. The third degree of freedom is position within the arithmetic equation (or it is not how big it is, but what you do with it, to use televisual allegory). In this case we need to look to X and Y. If X is larger than Y then B is below the line, whereas if you are playing bridge it would be definitely above the line, if not straddling it. If Y is larger or equal in magnitude to Y then all are above the line with a straightforward multiplier effect. Not forgetting, of course, the geographical offset.”
One more Data General Eclipse ad for good measure. Computerworld, Nov. 15, 1976.
Renga in Blue 
If the note to be passed to the professor is a real clue and not just multicolored herring, it is my favorite kind. I really hope that the text will be significant.
Looking back for inspiration I come back up to the communicator. Has anyone managed to enter one of the many possible IDs? The message talks about *must* comply. But that might just be Ferret tr(e/u)ble-speak. BTW the mica/SD cards(?) fit with the Liberation slots….
I will need to check this next time I can fire up the game, but I believe the communicator ceasing giving “dial tone” responses after it’s been used to blow up the safe in Phase 11 that contains the diving suit. (It can still be used for “type” commands but, if I’m recalling correctly, stops giving feedback that the commands are doing anything.) Of course, even with this, the communicator might still be relevant in Phase 16 anyway – but I do think it a bit less likely given this behavior.
The next thing I plan to try is to plow through the full list of verbs (now that the latest version of Ferret lets the player see it) and determine which ones aren’t captured by TEST and so might be something we need to use here, either with the pellets, the teleporter, the navigation keyboard, or some combination(s) thereof.
Haven’t thwacked at this too much more except for the warehouse mystery. Still no luck.
I really had thought originally the pellets were going to power the escape vessel. Maybe that’s still true but we just need another method of protection (in which case I should hang onto the old version for, uh, alternate solution purposes).
I keep thinking we’ll need to find another card somewhere to make the teleport room work. A prompt in that room seems distinctly missing – something like the ‘state your destination’ voice from phase 14 when the correct card is inserted and which, if you’re wearing the teleport bracelet, will trigger the teleport mechanism once the destination is spoken.
ok, asked some yes/nos:
yes, we are still missing something in one of the phases prior to 16
yes, the radiation pellets are just a red herring
yes, both navigation and teleport rooms are going to be used
I also asked if the info from the sarcophagus would get used and their answer was “Don’t think so.”
An *earlier phase* still? Fascinating.
Personally I am suspicious of Phase 10, as so little there seems “critical path” (getting the tan block/mica, and getting the communicator). I plan to focus there first.
The behavior of the PVC vessel from the theater in Phase 10 seems to have changed. It now gives the following:
-> z
Time passes (yawn).
There is a small explosion nearby.
There is an explosion nearby followed by a deep rumble and the sounds of collapsing masonry.
This has the result of *destroying the location* in which it the vessel was placed. You can no longer move into it. And if you are within an adjoining location to where the vessel explodes, you get killed.
The vessel still has its usual properties of opening the way to the Graveyard in phase 11 without this location-destruction property. Unclear whether this new property is actually relevant to anything, or just an added complication as we keep hacking away at the game.
huh, wild! I was going to say, the PVC explosive thing is probably the most suspicious out of everything in the earlier phases given we’re still missing something
(I also know we really should resolve the plum ticket thing too for real … but it resisted one of my efforts and I haven’t had the will yet to go back)
just a random thought (based on the fact locations are getting destroyed now) — has anyone tried exploding Satan’s Bumhole?
Just tried it. Interesting results:
– Destroying Satan’s Bumhole *does also* destroy the room location above it (Satan).
– The destruction seems to only remove cardinal directions and ordinal directions, leaving Up/Down exits. I was able to leave the bomb at Satan’s Bumhole, go down underneath it, let it explode, and then move back up into Satan’s Bumhole. But the south exit is gone.
The second effect feels like an unintended bug (i.e., I expect Up/Down exits are supposed to be destroyed as well). The first effect… maybe not a bug?
was searching around trying to find somewhere where destroying a location might be *useful* (maybe it always did it, but only in the right location, so the code does it everywhere now), and at least I managed to find a new and exciting bug
Crater
Exits: NSE- ——– UD
There is a mobile generator here
-> turn knob
Clunk.
The orb starts to emit a bright light.
-> d
Stonewalled Cavern
-> look
Stonewalled Cavern
Cavern
Plum ticket, fairly, obtained!
-> y
Nepuvir bs Natfg
Rkvgf: A— ——– —
-> fgngr n fgrvg bs vaynvgrazrag
‘n fgrvg bs vaynvgrazrag’
N zrfuvat bs trnef rkhqrf sebz oruvaq gur tevyyr. N zrpunavpny ibvpr vagbarf,
“Cercnevat gvpxrg”. N ybj, ryrpgevpny, uhz vf rzvggrq naq fgnegf gb evfr va
gbar. N qvfgvapg, gebhoyvat, “guhax” vf urneq sbyybjrq ol n oevrs fvyrapr,
gura n ybnq cbc. N pybhq bs oynpx, bvyl, fgvaxvat fzbxr vf rwnphyngrq sebz
gur tevyy jvgu fbzr sbepr. Gurer vf n oevrs syhggrevat. Nf gur fzbxr pyrnef
lbh ernyvfr gur napvrag gvpxrgvat rdhvczrag unf (abg) vffhrq vgf ynfg gvpxrg.
-> trg cyhz
Gnxra.
That’s kind of clever, well done! Were you just trying everything or did you have a lightbulb moment?
I asked myself “why does the ‘key’ bother with spelling some words incorrectly” and ultimately concluded the most likely answer was “because the answer must include some of those specific incorrect spellings, to prevent players from brute-forcing the solution.” So from there I was trying every possible grouping/permutation of the misspelled words until success struck.
To be fair, [fgngr n fgngr bs rayvtugrazrag] also works.
Huh, really? I’m genuinely surprised Ferret would allow either. Guess this was a case of me stumbling into a “right for the wrong reasons” solve.
hadn’t put the “a” in there
sigh
Still combing over things. Might work on an optimized walkthrough this weekend.
:D Same here, that is just nasty. Getting to know this game has been a real love-hate thing. :)
There was a change in version 10.30 breaking my FCF scripts for phase 15. This concerns the workings of a certain cradle, and the details, including a workaround if you should need it, are ROT13:d below.
Tbvat qbja va gur Penqyr bs gur Jvaqbj Pyrnaref jvgu gur tenavgr fcurebvq naq gura tbvat fbhgu gb Zvyyvtna hfrq gb yrg gur penqyr fgnl bhgfvqr sbe n erghea wbhearl.
Gung ab ybatre unccraf va irefvba 10.30, gur penqyr yrnirf nf fbba nf V rkvg.
Ubjrire, vs V abj yrnir gur tenavgr fcurebvq va gur penqyr, gur penqyr fgnlf va cbfvgvba.
Fb V pna tb naq qb zl ohfvarff naq erghea gb gur penqyr.
Gb gura trg onpx hc, V guebj gur fcurebvq bss gur penqyr.
This strikes me as the probably-intended-all-along cradle behavior.
Yes, it seems more intuitive than the mechanism we had working before. :)
Back when we didn’t know the broken-ness was a bug, I thought maybe this was supposed to be the actual working.
Catching up with you somewhat, having the plum ticket properly pocketed, the new cradle mechanism worked out and the ITV mapped and fully(?) investigated.
Our main annoyance at this time is clearly that we can not get the teleporter to work as we know that we want it to.
We have some obvious threads to pick at:
* Phase 10 seems underused, as Voltgloss has already pointed out.
Overview of points found in each phase this far: 1:145, 2:75, 3:90, 4:70, 5:140, 6:90, 7:150, 8:205, 9:70, 10:10(!), 11:175, 12:45, 13:75, 14:80, 15:60, 16:90. Total 1570 out of 1670. Slight spoiler based on the glitch showing us a glimpse of the later game: [naq jr xabj bs nabgure gjragl cbvagf va cunfr friragrra]
* We get 10 points for reaching the middle Hallway in Phase 9. This is necessary to bring out the jade globe and the security capsule containing the teleport bracelet. So far we have had no use for any of these items. But maybe there was ex machina information that the teleport bracelet will be needed?
* There is a lot of work needed and score points gained in the process to reach the Shadow of Warehouse (10p) location. The Holloway Museum (5p) subsection, including the Floating Platform (15p) is (so far) only necessary to gain this access. The same for Blast Control (10p). We have yet to find any use for this whole branch of actions.
If we look very far back in the game, there are points given for reaching some locations that have not shown themselves necessary yet. I would bet on these cases are due to oversights/glitches though – or me being mistaken. But for completeness sake, here they are:
* Phase 1 – Balcony (5p): I am really unsure of this one, and I do not have the file to prove it now, but I seem to recall that I/we made a way to get to phase 2 without ever visiting the balcony. Probably me being wrong though.
* Phase 2 – Lift (5p): Most of us seem to have made it through Phase 2 without taking the path requiring passing the Lift location.
* Phase 3 – Top of Stairs (30p): With more walking around this location can be bypassed and we can still proceed to phase 4.
We have an indication that the sarcophagus description is not being necessary. I find that disappointing since I found the (possible) setup of this ABXY puzzle with the many clues very promising. Maybe there is still something to solve but it will just give us a hint for something that we can figure out (or that we have already figured out) in another way.
What about all the other unused items we have that could possibly be used for something interesting? If we look at using them past the phase 16 turnstile, and still bring the nickel key and the identity card, we could focus on a smaller selection. If we want to bring the teleport bracelet also, the selection is further reduced. Of course, we have seen Ferret finding new uses for items that we have already used once, so it might be unwise to only think of the unused items.
Yes, I am making up for lack of current progress by writing a long text. :D
I keep looking at the “Large Kitchen Garden” in Phase 10 and wanting to find an additional south exit out of it, as a mirror to the “Small Kitchen Garden” in Phase 9. This is where I was experimenting with the PVC vessel and learned of its new behavior. But I haven’t had success blowing open any of the Garden walls in a way that allows access to new locations.
btw, went back and scanned over my last email, and there were two other hints after worth sharing
You are essentially 3 activities away from escape (Q3 [that’s we use navigation and teleport] gives you 2).
>Have a look at Mustelid’s last post – s/he could be on to something. The Liberator is a high security area so you need all protocols in place.
here is that comment in question
>Looking back for inspiration I come back up to the communicator. Has anyone managed to enter one of the many possible IDs? The message talks about *must* comply. But that might just be Ferret tr(e/u)ble-speak. BTW the mica/SD cards(?) fit with the Liberation slots….
Hmmmmmm
I suspect the Ferret authors’ use of the word “protocol” (“…so you need all protocols in place”) is purposeful, and might potentially refer back to what the communicator tells us when we first charge it up:
The communicator emits three short beeps followed by:
“Area Scan commenced. Scan Completed. One humanoid detected in vicinity.
Continuing. Automatic Personnel Identification Procedure initiated. APIP
completed. Continuing. Agent identified, Darkins, B. O. Message Retrieval
Service activated. Standby…. Latched. Continuing.
This is your automated message service. You have one new message as follows:
Darkins, you have failed to register with The Department for an excessive
period. According to standard protocol you must text the first 8 characters
of your Security Pass Number to 80085 immediately, whereupon you will be
notified regarding your court hearing. Failure to comply will result in
immediate termination. This message has been deleted automatically”.
two other quick follow-ups from them
1. the explosive does not get used anywhere else, it was only changed so it worked more like a real explosive
2. I asked about us missing something in prior phases and they just re-emphasized the “The Liberator is a high security area so you need all protocols in place.”
so clearly whatever we are missing has to do with that message
doing lots of communicator fiddling. I know I’ve tried a bunch of numbers before with no luck but I think this may have been before knowing you could wait a turn for a “fully charged” phone
I might think you need to wait until you get in range of the court house (phase 16) but by phase 16 the communicator is no longer functioning.
The big problem otherwise is if you take the message as given, there really is no mystery in what number we need to type first: 80085. But that one doesn’t connect, at least not anywhere I have tried. Maybe it only works in some specific spot in phase 11?
add: two other things
1.) communicator can be used up to phase 15. At phase 16 is where it stops working altogether (even if never charge it until then)
2.) rather a long shot, but one other thing to consider is you can avoid getting scanned. I don’t think the scan is technically the cause of the “protocol” alert, but it would probably be worth testing a run that steps away during charging so the player doesn’t get scanned
Perhaps this in another use of the “press digits multiple times to indicate letters” trick, and the way to type 80085 is to treat them as letters and instead type 22666666227777? (Potentially while in the correct location)
speaking of letters, also wondering if the ID we’re supposed to use this time isn’t Militech’s (which was used on the lift), or Jenny’s (from the ferricopter) or the identity card (which doesn’t even go to 8) but from the pass all the way back in phase 1
R4E339I0-980
(that’s the letter I as in Igloo after the 9, and the ending bits are zeros not the letter o)
it jives a little better with
a.) the prompt asking for “characters”, not just numbers
b.) the “first eight” part — unlike all the other possibilities it makes sense you would only type the first eight
I’ve got nothing to add to this conversation other than to say that I F5-refresh this page more than I ideally should to see if you have completed Ferret. Good luck with making progress, I’m hooked!
gonna be honest I’m hitting refresh too! would love someone to get an insight, I’m just drained
ok, I can confirm that the walkthrough I’ve been using _already_ skips being scanned
so we’ve already tested out the longshot
so that means we need to deal with “The Liberator is a high security area so you need all protocols in place.”
I’ve tried all sorts of variants of 80085, keeping in mind it could be the “calculator code” and could be translated into boobs
I’ve tried backwards and/or upside down
I’ve tried testing in every phase
I’ve tried dialing the same thing way back at the phase 7 phone (with the ferricopter message)
Is there a _logical_ reason the communicator would blank out on us at phase 16? In normal circumstances that might indicate some sort of clue. The fact _even charging_ doesn’t work makes me thing it’s just a … bug? Is there something special the communciator can do then? Again, the relation with a “court house” makes me think a court house is involved, but I just don’t know
my brain is turning into slurry, I just don’t know
Honestly, all this is moot after the explosion anyway — making it set off the explosion is another way to cause the communicator to stop working. This is in _all_ the subsequent phases, and the explosion is absolutely necessary to get the strawberry ticket, so we know on the “real” run the communicator is busted past phase 11 anyway. So this suggests the action, if being done by the communicator, happens in phase 10 or phase 11.
also, you have to be _real_ close still to get the phone to acknowledge your call for the explosion. you have to be in the grassy area, you can’t go north even. So if there _is_ another hotspot, then it’d be a pretty tight window I’d think
I may not have a chance to tinker further on this till the weekend, but will absolutely be reporting back here with any results (or lack thereof).
Eureka-ka-ka! Must stop youtubing old british comedy (for research of course). Please find a penny. Dug out an old nokia and “Composed a new message”. The number and text are entered separately but the *send* is one event. One packet of data. Drop penny. Tried type 80085 followed by the R4 id (text style) after the other five answers and it accepted it, but no idea what it means?! Rinsing brain salad for the team….
could you lay that out in terms of specific parser commands please? I’m still not sure what you mean. doing
type 80085
type 7774333394440
or
type 800857774333394440
don’t work on my end other than getting the usual error signal
Mustelid, when you say “after the other five answers,” do you mean that you accomplished the “type 80085 followed by the R4 id” immediately after having typed in the sequence of codes to make the bomb at the safe explode (in phase 11)? Or am I misunderstanding *when* during the game you got this to work?
Also, I’m not in front of the game right now to test this, but is the trick to making this work including a comma? Like so:
type 80085,7774333394440
if you put a comma, it types them as separate (it says “typed” twice)
If you do it before the explosion you just get
-> type 80085,7774333394440
Typed.
The communicator emits a beep followed by a continuous tone. After a short time
the tone ceases.
Typed.
The communicator emits a beep followed by a continuous tone. After a short time
the tone ceases.
if you do it after the explosion you get nothing
am I even typing in the code right? the letter code thing is kind of weird mixing in numbers, how do you tell between a letter and non-letter button press?
ah, got it!
type 8008577744443333333333999994440
Typed.
The communicator emits a beep followed by a series of tones. After a short
pause you hear a voice that says “Confirmed”.
this was done before causing the explosion
(ADD: also works after the explosion)
What about using a number sign (#) before typing in the “number” parts of the security pass? I have no recollection whether that’s how it worked in Nokia flip phone days (which I did live through, I should remember!), but perhaps that’s the trick? E.g.:
type 80085,777#4333#3#3#9444#0
ohhhhhhh you have to cycle PAST the letters to get to the numbers
wow
I had actually tried the concatenate 80085-with-id thing, but I hadn’t tried typing the ID that way until just now
anyway, that “Confirmed” might be it. There’s no extra message. That may mean behavior in phase 16 is different now. Normally I might think that means go to the courthouse, but given we were already explicitly told we were missing three things, and two of them were navigation and teleportation, we might already be ready to whack at the spaceship some more
Not sure if this will do what’s needed, but I’ve found that you can input the 80085 sequence (8008577744443333333333999994440) in phase 16 and still get the ‘confirmed’ message.
As far as I can see, nothing changes in the teleport or navigation rooms after doing this, but I haven’t tried doing anything other than putting the ID card in the slots and saying the missing room name in the teleport room with the bracelet on.
briefly poking around phase 16 post-sending-message, not getting any different reaction from teleport or navigation
nothing different in the court house area either
Haven’t tested every action possible, of course
A thought: the message from the communicator does tell us to input the 80085 sequence *immediately*. Perhaps to get the desired effect in phase 16, we have to do so *immediately after* we get that communicator message in phase 10?
I did that in my run-through (you can enter it even before the two beeps). So maybe it makes a difference but not in anything I’ve tested yet.
Wondering if the key we’re currently missing is the location to type in at Navigation (ie: not the missing room, but…another planet?) It seems just possible that we have to navigate somewhere first before the teleporter will work. Presumably, we just have to put our card in the slot and type the location in question. (I’ve tried ESCAPE FROM HOT ITV and of course it does nothing.) In any case, we know that one of the needed steps takes place at Navigation. Any ideas as to where we should navigate?
Building on others’ recent insights, I have Escaped from hot ITV!
1. Gur fybgf (obgu ng anivtngvba naq ng gur gryrcbeg) ner abg sbe gur VQ pneq.
2. Jung unir jr cerivbhfyl chg va n fybg gb znxr fbzr xvaq bs grpuabybtl fgneg jbexvat?
3. Zhfgryvq qrfreirf n jubyr cvyr bs zrqnyf sbe gurve znal vafvtugf.
4. Gur xrl vf gur gval erpgnatyr bs zvpn (gung cbjrerq hc gur ynxr/jngresnyy pbagebyf).
5. Naq vg arrqf gb or gur “tbbq” zvpn, sebz gur gna oybpx. Abg gur fphssrq bar sebz gur gencqbbe.
6. Lbh nyfb arrq gb unir cerivbhfyl ragrerq gur 80085 frdhrapr, naq or jrnevat gur gryrcbeg oenpryrg.
7. Frg lbhe qrfgvangvba svefg orsber gryrcbegvat.
8. Ng anivtngvba, CHG ZVPN VA FYBG, gura GLCR RFPNCR SEBZ UBG VGI. Vs lbh ragrerq gur 80085 frdhrapr orsberunaq, lbh’yy urne pbasvezngvba.
9. Gura TRG ZVPN, tb gb gur gryrcbeg, naq juvyr jrnevat gur gryrcbeg oenpryrg, CHG ZVPN VA FYBG.
Wow! I am thoroughly impressed by your sleuthing! I did not expect this to be the way and have wasted my efforts elsewhere.
and…I’m on phase 17
1. Gur irel ynfg guvat lbh arrq vf fbzr shry. Vs lbh bcra gur ungpu lbh’yy abgvpr na rzcgl pnavfgre.
2. Jr’ir nyernql jbexrq bhg (be ng yrnfg orra gbyq ivn gur punatr va bhe rkcybvg) gur enqvngvba cryyrgf qba’g jbex.
3. Znlor fbzrguvat n yvggyr zber byq-snfuvbarq?
4. Fbzrguvat gung rkcynvaf na bgurejvfr onssyvat fpber qrnq-raq?
5. Chg gur gvzore funeqf va. Lbh’yy arrq gb qb gjb gevcf gb trg rirelguvat hc gur yvsg fvapr lbh’yy bgurejvfr or gbb urnil.
for those living vicariously:
-> push button
Click.
An ethereal voice intones “Starting automated launch sequence.”
There is a shallow rumbling followed by a gentle grinding.
The voice continues: “Initial checks complete. Status is: ‘continue’.” The volume of rumbling increases as does an incidious vibration. A siren blast makes you jump. An unpleasant odour pervades the escape pod. “Launch sequence interrupted. Invalid parameter setting. Attempting shutdown. Cannot complete shutdown as program ‘sludgepest’ will not terminate. Would you like to terminate ‘sludgepest’ manually? Error, user requires termination not interrogation. Semantic overload. Who wrote this code? It’s rubbish. Abort sequence. Fail over. Fall over. Start again. Rebooting.”
Suddenly there is a jarring thump as the escape pod cover is explosively ejected from the ship, rapidly followed by the escape pod. You start to feel light-headed (and light-bodied) as the escape pod is blasted into free space.
You lose consciousness for an indeterminate period of time. As you drift back into the land of the living (if you can call this living) you are overwhelmed by feelings of inner knowledge, but also the need to, to, what is it, er, wait! As the Guru says, wait and enlightenment will follow. There is another sensation. You sense the need for a new beginning, to start over. You intuit that you will gain new knowledge by revisiting and reviewing your journey as in rereading an old diary can shine new light on past experiences and yield new insights. Anyway, enough of this woo, woo, the launch sequence appears to have failed but at least you escaped. But from what and to what?
Escape from hot ITV
You are floating through space in the escape pod from a high-gain constant acceleration max-thrust Interstellar Transport Vehicle. Affixed to the floor is a square object with an ornate hatch. On the hatch is engraved a logo. On top of the object is an illuminated red button marked “Initiate Launch Sequence”.
There are some interesting objects here:
an embroidered sampler
an elm trunk
-> wait 50
Time passes (yawns).
You feel uneasy, as if there is a disconnect in the space-time continuum. The sensation is very mild. Almost sub-audibly, but not quite, you think you hear a soft ticking sound.
You feel mildly perturbed, as if there is a physical disconnect in the eternal space-time continuum. The sensation is vaguely unsettling. Almost audibly, but not quite, you think you hear a ticking sound.
You feel distinctly disturbed, as if there is a rift in the eternal space-time continuum. The sensation is deeply troubling. Subconsciously you become aware of a loud ticking sound.
You nearly escape your skin as an extremely loud klaxon bellows behind your head, thereby verifying its manufacturer’s claim: “Loud enough to wake the dead”. Maybe the ticking was real after all, some form of alarm, possibly. The klaxon repeats its earlier trick, and so do you, followed by a disembodied voice intoning: “Red Alert! Red Alert! Routine surveillance has detected an automatic teleport rescue scan. The living contents of this vessel will be teleported to the nearest habitable planet or spacecraft. Locking on to scan. Prepare for automatic teleportation in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 seconds.”
You feel disoriented (what a surprise), very tired and the need for sleep….
Quarantine Central
A featureless, senseless, disorienting, isolating chamber.
Score increment of 20 points.
The Guru incants:
111. Lastly, if the end is opaque, compare Phase 16 room manes with Blake’s 7.
-> hint
GLORY(ULTIMATE) = POINTS(MAX) & MOVES(MAX(2500)) & SOLUTION(FINAL)
woooooooooow
ok, there’s two major things
1. We obviously need to now have an optimized walkthrough to get here. I’m guessing the move count is tight enough we might need to crowdsource, although K has been doing the most on that — is yours good enough to hit 2500 already? Would you be willing to share either way, maybe we can figure out where to start cutting moves? Since we now know just exactly what on the train is useless to tote around I know I’m pretty far from optimized even in the late game.
2. The big thing is the game is now in Guru Mode and it looks like if you restart or restore anywhere after entering Guru, you get weird Guru messages (like the Guru incants) which make a story or something? I tried a little bit with a portion of phase 8 and phase 9 but I haven’t done much with this yet. I made a spreadsheet to put the phrases in order.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Auc4ZD-p0yBGg6lNrHqPHYVagLm_IX2MHYglfvQAROY/edit#gid=0
Yup, this is what I’ve been sitting on for a while, thanks to my bug-induced glimpse of Guru Mode. What a brilliant twist for the final challenge. A few things:
1. Based on my past experience, you get a Guru incantation every time your score goes up (while in Guru Mode).
2. I, for one, appear to be missing at least two score increase locations.
3. I don’t know if changes to Ferret have moved some of the incantations around (i.e., assigned them to different score increase spots), but I never before got message #4, which I see now is in the spreadsheet.
I’m going to tinker with optimization myself while tackling Guru mode in earnest.
whoops, made the file view-only
feel free to edit it now, I’m guessing you’ve already collected most of them
here’s where 4 was:
Ice Cream Parlour
You are in a rundown ice cream parlour. The majority of the contents of the
parlour have been removed, leaving a solitary refrigerator standing in the
middle of the room. There is a doorway to the west.
Exits: —W ——– —
The Guru incants:
4. start of time as far as Bob was concerned. He had no option, he had to get
The fabric of the refrigerator squeals in complaint as it grinds slowly to
one side on some unseen and ancient castors. After a short distance the
castors give in to the decaying effects of time and disintegrate under the
weight of the refrigerator. You appear to have revealed a narrow stairway
leading down into a dark and rancid-smelling room.
So we are now given the story of the game (and hints for the final) in the form of guru mode? I appreciate the twist.
I will be on this in a couple of hours when I’m back home, trying not to spoil myself too much before that.
I’ve added to the spreadsheet all the Guru messages from score increases we’ve found in Phases 1 through 7, and replayed through those both to work on optimization (I’m at 912 moves to the start of Phase 8) and to confirm the messages haven’t changed from what I’d previously seen. Need to turn to some other things now, so if anyone wants to pick up at the start of Phase 8, go for it.
So I ran through my script and got everything except #51.
Mega-spoiler:
1. Obo Qnexvaf pbhyqa’g erzrzore. Gung jnf gur ceboyrz. N
2. infg ibvq, ab pbagrag, ab pbagrkg, ab ersrerapr cbvagf. Gur snyy sebz tenpr
3. gung pbafvfgrq bs ghzoyvat serr sebz gur erfhfpvgngvba punzore jnf gur
4. fgneg bs gvzr nf sne nf Obo jnf pbaprearq. Ur unq ab bcgvba, ur unq gb trg
5. ba jvgu guvf yvsr be crevfu. Nppbeqvat gb gur cyndhr ba gur erfhfpvgngvba
6. punzore gur haxabja ivehf zvtug znxr crevfuvat gur bqqf-ba snibhevgr ohg ur
7. qvqa’g rira xabj vs gur cyndhr nccyvrq gb uvz. Ur ernyvfrq gung uvf nzarfvn
8. jnf abg nofbyhgr, nf ur pbhyq ernq, ohg gur rkgrag bs uvf zrzbel ybff jnf
9. hadhnagvsvnoyr jvgubhg shegure qngn. Ur jnfa’g fher ur rira erpbtavfrq uvf
10. bja anzr.
11. Qnexvaf unq yrq na rkgenbeqvanevyl beqvanel yvsr. Uvf bayl pynvz gb snzr
12. jnf gung ur unq znantrq gb pbagenpg na havqragvsvnoyr ivehf juvpu unq
13. pbzcyrgryl onssyrq gur zrqvpny nhgubevgvrf. Ng gur gvzr gur cebprff bs
14. serrmvat obqvrf hagvy n pher pbhyq or sbhaq sbe nal hagerngnoyr nvyzrag jnf
15. tnvavat zbzraghz naq gur nffbpvngrq pbfgf jrer ghzoyvat, rfcrpvnyyl sbe gur
16. ebthr bhgsvgf gung fvzcyl qhzcrq gur sebmra obqvrf. Qnexvaf vairfgrq n
17. fznyy vaurevgnapr ba uvf crefbany vapneprengvba naq ubcrq sbe gur orfg.
18. Ncneg sebz ubfgvat n znyvtanag sbervta obql Qnexvaf cbffrffrq n irel ivivq
19. vzntvangvba, sne gbb ivivq sbe uvf bja tbbq.
20. Gur pbzcyrgr ynpx bs obqvrf jnf n zlfgrel. Qnexvaf unq abg frra n fvatyr
21. uhzna, nyvir be qrnq va uvf geniryf. Ncneg sebz gur bppnfvbany fxryrgba
22. gurer jnf irel yvggyr rivqrapr bs yvsr, pheerag be cerivbhf, ba gur cynarg.
23. Gur rfpncr sebz gur ubhfr unq orra qvssvphyg. Inthr erpbyyrpgvbaf bs obzof,
24. gvzref naq gvpxvat gevttrerq cnegvny zrzbevrf bs fcrpvny bcrengvbaf, nezrq
25. sbeprf, zvyvgnel vagryyvtrapr naq gur birejuryzvat arrq gb sbyybj beqref.
26. Znlor gung rkcynvarq gur cnff ur sbhaq orybatvat gb gur Zvyvgrpu, jnf ur n
27. zrzore bs n zvyvgnel erfrnepu grnz? Jnf gur ubhfr n erfrnepu snpvyvgl, UD,
28. oneenpxf, fnsr-ubhfr be jung? Gbb znal dhrfgvbaf. Gur fgenatr cynpr jvgu
29. gur pvephyne neenatrzrag bs ebbzf jnf n pbaprea. Vg nccrnerq gb or
30. cebgrpgrq ol n fgenatr sbepr gung pbzcebzvfrq gur zntargvp svryq bs gur
31. nern naq vgf fheebhaqvatf. Pbhyq ur unir erprvirq fcrpvny genvavat gung
32. nyybjrq uvz gb svaq gur jnl guebhtu? Jbhyq ur rire svaq fbzrobql gung pbhyq
33. nafjre uvf dhrfgvbaf naq svyy va gur oynaxf? Gubfr znmrf naq ghaaryf nqqrq
34. gb gur srryvat bs orvat grfgrq. Jnf ur fgvyy va genvavat be jnf guvf n erny
35. zvffvba ba rarzl greevgbel, cbffvoyl n sbervta erfrnepu vafgnyyngvba. Gung
36. jbhyq svg. Ohg jung vf gur bowrpgvir? Jbhyq ur xabj jura ur sbhaq vg, be
37. jbhyq zrer fheiviny or gur cevmr? Gur pngurqeny jnf n gbgny nanpuebavfz.
38. Qnexvaf pbhyq abg erzrzore eryvtvba or cenpgvfrq va uvf yvsrgvzr, be jnf
39. gung whfg gur nzarfvn. Gur zbanfgrel nppraghngrq gur zlfgrel. Jnf ur ba n
40. qvssrerag cynarg? Gur pbzchgre qrivprf ohvyg vagb gur cvaf vaqvpngrq n
41. fvtavsvpnag yriry bs grpuabybtl ohg abguvat gung rkprrqrq uvf rkcrevrapr be
42. nqinaprf gung pbhyq unir orra znqr juvyr ur jnf sebmra.
43. Qnexvaf jnf na nirentr snzvyl zna, fbzr jbhyq rira fnl zvyvgnagyl qhyy. N
44. zbhfrl jvsr, 2 zbhfrl puvyqera, n fhoheona qjryyvat jvgu 3 orqebbzf, 2
45. pnef, 2 wbof va uvf yvsr, 3 orfg zngrf, 2 tynffrf bs jvar n qnl, uvf jubyr
46. yvsr jnf pbhagrq va 2’f naq 3’f.
47. Gur eribyivat jnyyf fgveerq zrzbevrf bs uvf genvavat. Ryvzvangr gur
48. vzcbffvoyr, gura jbex ba gur cbffvoyr. Vs gurer’f ab rkvg gura znxr bar, nf
49. ur unq gb qb va gur enivar. Gubhtugf bs fheirvyynapr vagehqrq. Jnf ur orvat
50. jngpurq, nffrffrq rira? Fheryl guvf vfa’g n cresbeznapr nccenvfny. Ab, gur
[zvffvat #51]
52. genafcbegre phegnva jnf n pbaprea. Jung sentzragf bs culfvpf ur pbhyq
53. erpnyy znqr nal sbez bs znggre genafsre vzcbffvoyr, be oebhtug qrngu va na
54. vafgnag. Nffhzvat gung rirag jnf fbzr sbez bs gryrcbegngvba gura gung jbhyq
55. vaqvpngr guvf jnf n qvssrerag cynarg, be jbefr, n qvssrerag havirefr.
56. Ohg gur pbybherq ebbzf jrer zber erzvavfprag bs Napvrag Rtlcg, znlor gur
57. cynarg unq n evpu uvfgbel bs znal ybfg pvivyvfngvbaf yvxr qrne byq Rnegu.
58. Jnf gur fuvzzrevat phegnva fbzr sbez bs gevpxrel, na vyyhfvba cbffvoyl?
59. Gur Ahpyrne Pber vaqvpngrq na vaqhfgevnyvfrq pvivyvfngvba ng yrnfg gb gur
60. Guveq Havirefny Grpuabybtl Yriry, ervasbeprq ol gur hfr bs zhygvcyr sbezf
61. bs genafcbeg fhpu nf genvaf, cynarf naq uryvpbcgref. Ohg gura fbzr nernf
62. jrer qrsvavgryl Havirefny Ren Fgntr 12 Vzcerffvbavfg (n fubc fryyvat shef,
63. sbe rknzcyr) iveghnyyl ceruvfgbevp ol zbqrea erpxbavat. Jurer jnf guvf
64. nanylfvf pbzvat sebz? Qnexvaf zhfg or rkcrevrapvat synfu zrzbel cbfg-genhzn
65. erserfuzrag flaqebzr pnhfvat vfbyngrq flancgvp pbaarpgvbaf gb wbva vagb
66. ynetre pbasvthengvbaf.
67. Jnf vg 42 be 43? Gur nafjre pbhyq qrgrezvar vs Qnexvaf jnf va uvf ubzr
68. Havirefr be n arne cnenyyry pybar. Gur eryngvbafuvc bs 43 (be 42) gb gur
69. Terng Havirefny Zbqry bs Ubj Rirelguvat Jbexf naq Jul (THZURJL) vf hapyrne,
70. rira gbqnl. Gur ahzore 17 nccrnef gb unir zber vasyhrapr guna nal bguref va
71. gur yngrfg erfrnepu.
72. Nyvra cerfrapr jnf dhvgr nccnerag. Gur nhgbzngba naq plobet jrer
73. qrsvavgryl harneguyl, cbffvoyl vaqvpngvat cbfg-ncbpnylcfr vainfvba be, ng
74. gur yrnfg, ivfvgngvba. Gur qebatbvq pbhyq unir orra fbzr sbez bs trargvp
75. naq enqvb-npgvir zhgngvba, vg pregnvayl orybatrq va gur ubeebe pbzvpf.
76. Gurer jrer fb znal vapbafvfgrapvrf, gryrcbegngvba zvkrq jvgu fubcf sebz gur
77. cer-unezbavfrq ren, nepunvp bssvpr oybpxf jvgu fragvrag cbfg-zbqrea
78. nepuvgrpgher. Vg qvqa’g znxr frafr.
79. Gur zbfg erznexnoyr rcvfbqr unq orra va gur rfpncr cbq. Bayl gur zrzbel bs
80. n fpvrapr svpgvba obbx unq fnirq Qnexvaf sebz fgneingvba va gur gval
81. yvsr-ensg sybngvat va fcnpr. Ur unq erpnyyrq ubj na rfpncr cbq unq
82. npgvingrq vgf fheiviny ornpba juvpu unq orra genprq ol na nhgbzngrq
83. erpbirel qebar, juvpu, bapr vg ybpngrq yvsr, nhgbzngvpnyyl ubarq vagb enatr
84. naq gryrcbegrq gur obql gb gur arnerfg unovgnoyr cynarg. Vs bayl ur pbhyq
85. erzrzore gur frdhrapr bs npgvbaf gung jnf arrqrq, znlor ur unq qbar jung
86. jnf erdhverq vanqiregragyl jvgubhg ernyvfvat gur pbafrdhraprf. Ur qvq,
87. ubjrire, erzrzore gur cvrpr bs grkg gung unq yrq uvz gb gur fbyhgvba:
88.
89. Furyy ebpxf Ubzr jbhyq unir vyyhzvangrq
90. Ehrf pbpbn ghar Fyvc pbhyq unir favssrq vg
91. Pbbar pyho Vzcbegf jbhyq unir tbg vg ynfg
92. Yvc evz cnj Ubyr pbhyq unir fzbxrq vg bhg
93. Lrf, yrg jvzc Beqre jbhyq unir orra fcvssrq bss
94. Pher ureb Cvybg pbhyq unir frafrq gur cybg
95.
96. Gurer jnf n pbzzba gurzr gurer fbzrjurer. Sbe gur yvsr bs uvz ur fgehttyrq
97. gb svaq vg. Va gur ortvaavat gurer jnf n cbq sbe erfhfvgngvba, abj gurer
98. vf n cbq sbe erfphr, vf gung gur yvax?
99.
100. Gur gubhtugf bs gur Theh fb rahapvngrq ner na vagvzngr qrfpevcgvba bs lbhe
101. erprag gvzrf juvpu sbez na nyyrtbel sbe yvsr: ovegu, gur nqiragher bs gur
102. wbhearl bs yvsr naq cynpr bs svany erfg, fnsr, serr sebz qvfrnfr. Gb ernpu
103. lbhe qrfgval lbh jvyy arrq gb rkcbfghyngr nppbeqvat gb gur sbyybjvat pbqr:
104.
105. _4_55_91_17
106. 31____92_72
107. 93____84_51
108. ______48__6
109.
110. Hasbeghangryl, abg nyy bs gur pbqr fheivirq gur enintrf bs gvzr….
111. Ynfgyl, sbe gubfr jvgu BPQ, pbzcner Cunfr 16 ebbz znarf jvgu Oynxr’f 7.
I went ahead and pasted into the spreadsheet (into column 2, just to compare in case there was somehow any errors)
Honestly think we have the full meaning except that 51 is still required for the max points, right? Maybe it’s a super-meta scoring thing? Like a “last lousy point” scenario? Possibly one that even requires info from the Guru info itself to get? (Or maybe solving the Guru puzzle will get 51 simultaneously — it does make sense we’d get one last point boost from doing whatever the code specifies)
Sorry, the in-order-of-occurrence list I just posted had some accidentally not cleaned up noise in it, here is a proper version:
80. n fpvrapr svpgvba obbx unq fnirq Qnexvaf sebz fgneingvba va gur gval
82. npgvingrq vgf fheiviny ornpba juvpu unq orra genprq ol na nhgbzngrq
42. nqinaprf gung pbhyq unir orra znqr juvyr ur jnf sebmra.
32. nyybjrq uvz gb svaq gur jnl guebhtu? Jbhyq ur rire svaq fbzrobql gung pbhyq
72. Nyvra cerfrapr jnf dhvgr nccnerag. Gur nhgbzngba naq plobet jrer
64. nanylfvf pbzvat sebz? Qnexvaf zhfg or rkcrevrapvat synfu zrzbel cbfg-genhzn
33. nafjre uvf dhrfgvbaf naq svyy va gur oynaxf? Gubfr znmrf naq ghaaryf nqqrq
75. naq enqvb-npgvir zhgngvba, vg pregnvayl orybatrq va gur ubeebe pbzvpf.
84. naq gryrcbegrq gur obql gb gur arnerfg unovgnoyr cynarg. Vs bayl ur pbhyq
18. Ncneg sebz ubfgvat n znyvtanag sbervta obql Qnexvaf cbffrffrq n irel ivivq
78. nepuvgrpgher. Vg qvqa’g znxr frafr.
31. nern naq vgf fheebhaqvatf. Pbhyq ur unir erprvirq fcrpvny genvavat gung
28. oneenpxf, fnsr-ubhfr be jung? Gbb znal dhrfgvbaf. Gur fgenatr cynpr jvgu
56. Ohg gur pbybherq ebbzf jrer zber erzvavfprag bs Napvrag Rtlcg, znlor gur
45. pnef, 2 wbof va uvf yvsr, 3 orfg zngrf, 2 tynffrf bs jvar n qnl, uvf jubyr
6. punzore gur haxabja ivehf zvtug znxr crevfuvat gur bqqf-ba snibhevgr ohg ur
1. Obo Qnexvaf pbhyqa’g erzrzore. Gung jnf gur ceboyrz. N
13. pbzcyrgryl onssyrq gur zrqvpny nhgubevgvrf. Ng gur gvzr gur cebprff bs
38. Qnexvaf pbhyq abg erzrzore eryvtvba or cenpgvfrq va uvf yvsrgvzr, be jnf
11. Qnexvaf unq yrq na rkgenbeqvanevyl beqvanel yvsr. Uvf bayl pynvz gb snzr
73. qrsvavgryl harneguyl, cbffvoyl vaqvpngvat cbfg-ncbpnylcfr vainfvba be, ng
43. Qnexvaf jnf na nirentr snzvyl zna, fbzr jbhyq rira fnl zvyvgnagyl qhyy. N
7. qvqa’g rira xabj vs gur cyndhr nccyvrq gb uvz. Ur ernyvfrq gung uvf nzarfvn
40. qvssrerag cynarg? Gur pbzchgre qrivprf ohvyg vagb gur cvaf vaqvpngrq n
25. sbeprf, zvyvgnel vagryyvtrapr naq gur birejuryzvat arrq gb sbyybj beqref.
14. serrmvat obqvrf hagvy n pher pbhyq or sbhaq sbe nal hagerngnoyr nvyzrag jnf
70. rira gbqnl. Gur ahzore 17 nccrnef gb unir zber vasyhrapr guna nal bguref va
63. sbe rknzcyr) iveghnyyl ceruvfgbevp ol zbqrea erpxbavat. Jurer jnf guvf
15. tnvavat zbzraghz naq gur nffbpvngrq pbfgf jrer ghzoyvat, rfcrpvnyyl sbe gur
69. Terng Havirefny Zbqry bs Ubj Rirelguvat Jbexf naq Jul (THZURJL) vf hapyrne,
49. ur unq gb qb va gur enivar. Gubhtugf bs fheirvyynapr vagehqrq. Jnf ur orvat
87. ubjrire, erzrzore gur cvrpr bs grkg gung unq yrq uvz gb gur fbyhgvba:
21. uhzna, nyvir be qrnq va uvf geniryf. Ncneg sebz gur bppnfvbany fxryrgba
19. vzntvangvba, sne gbb ivivq sbe uvf bja tbbq.
48. vzcbffvoyr, gura jbex ba gur cbffvoyr. Vs gurer’f ab rkvg gura znxr bar, nf
55. vaqvpngr guvf jnf n qvssrerag cynarg, be jbefr, n qvssrerag havirefr.
54. vafgnag. Nffhzvat gung rirag jnf fbzr sbez bs gryrcbegngvba gura gung jbhyq
66. ynetre pbasvthengvbaf.
46. yvsr jnf pbhagrq va 2’f naq 3’f.
81. yvsr-ensg sybngvat va fcnpr. Ur unq erpnyyrq ubj na rfpncr cbq unq
26. Znlor gung rkcynvarq gur cnff ur sbhaq orybatvat gb gur Zvyvgrpu, jnf ur n
35. zvffvba ba rarzl greevgbel, cbffvoyl n sbervta erfrnepu vafgnyyngvba. Gung
44. zbhfrl jvsr, 2 zbhfrl puvyqera, n fhoheona qjryyvat jvgu 3 orqebbzf, 2
27. zrzore bs n zvyvgnel erfrnepu grnz? Jnf gur ubhfr n erfrnepu snpvyvgl, UD,
61. bs genafcbeg fhpu nf genvaf, cynarf naq uryvpbcgref. Ohg gura fbzr nernf
5. ba jvgu guvf yvsr be crevfu. Nppbeqvat gb gur cyndhr ba gur erfhfpvgngvba
10. bja anzr.
53. erpnyy znqr nal sbez bs znggre genafsre vzcbffvoyr, be oebhtug qrngu va na
85. erzrzore gur frdhrapr bs npgvbaf gung jnf arrqrq, znlor ur unq qbar jung
16. ebthr bhgsvgf gung fvzcyl qhzcrq gur sebmra obqvrf. Qnexvaf vairfgrq n
65. erserfuzrag flaqebzr pnhfvat vfbyngrq flancgvp pbaarpgvbaf gb wbva vagb
83. erpbirel qebar, juvpu, bapr vg ybpngrq yvsr, nhgbzngvpnyyl ubarq vagb enatr
135 qrterrf jvgu gur abegurea jnyy naq na vapyhqrq natyr bs 22.5 qrterrf jvgu
57. cynarg unq n evpu uvfgbel bs znal ybfg pvivyvfngvbaf yvxr qrne byq Rnegu.
77. cer-unezbavfrq ren, nepunvp bssvpr oybpxf jvgu fragvrag cbfg-zbqrea
30. cebgrpgrq ol n fgenatr sbepr gung pbzcebzvfrq gur zntargvp svryq bs gur
41. fvtavsvpnag yriry bs grpuabybtl ohg abguvat gung rkprrqrq uvf rkcrevrapr be
17. fznyy vaurevgnapr ba uvf crefbany vapneprengvba naq ubcrq sbe gur orfg.
4. fgneg bs gvzr nf sne nf Obo jnf pbaprearq. Ur unq ab bcgvba, ur unq gb trg
3. gung pbafvfgrq bs ghzoyvat serr sebz gur erfhfpvgngvba punzore jnf gur
39. gung whfg gur nzarfvn. Gur zbanfgrel nppraghngrq gur zlfgrel. Jnf ur ba n
29. gur pvephyne neenatrzrag bs ebbzf jnf n pbaprea. Vg nccrnerq gb or
20. Gur pbzcyrgr ynpx bs obqvrf jnf n zlfgrel. Qnexvaf unq abg frra n fvatyr
23. Gur rfpncr sebz gur ubhfr unq orra qvssvphyg. Inthr erpbyyrpgvbaf bs obzof,
71. gur yngrfg erfrnepu.
74. gur yrnfg, ivfvgngvba. Gur qebatbvq pbhyq unir orra fbzr sbez bs trargvp
79. Gur zbfg erznexnoyr rcvfbqr unq orra va gur rfpncr cbq. Bayl gur zrzbel bs
59. Gur Ahpyrne Pber vaqvpngrq na vaqhfgevnyvfrq pvivyvfngvba ng yrnfg gb gur
47. Gur eribyivat jnyyf fgveerq zrzbevrf bs uvf genvavat. Ryvzvangr gur
60. Guveq Havirefny Grpuabybtl Yriry, ervasbeprq ol gur hfr bs zhygvcyr sbezf
22. gurer jnf irel yvggyr rivqrapr bs yvsr, pheerag be cerivbhf, ba gur cynarg.
76. Gurer jrer fb znal vapbafvfgrapvrf, gryrcbegngvba zvkrq jvgu fubcf sebz gur
24. gvzref naq gvpxvat gevttrerq cnegvny zrzbevrf bs fcrpvny bcrengvbaf, nezrq
34. gb gur srryvat bs orvat grfgrq. Jnf ur fgvyy va genvavat be jnf guvf n erny
52. genafcbegre phegnva jnf n pbaprea. Jung sentzragf bs culfvpf ur pbhyq
50. jngpurq, nffrffrq rira? Fheryl guvf vfa’g n cresbeznapr nccenvfny. Ab, gur
68. Havirefr be n arne cnenyyry pybar. Gur eryngvbafuvc bs 43 (be 42) gb gur
9. hadhnagvsvnoyr jvgubhg shegure qngn. Ur jnfa’g fher ur rira erpbtavfrq uvf
2. infg ibvq, ab pbagrag, ab pbagrkg, ab ersrerapr cbvagf. Gur snyy sebz tenpr
67. Jnf vg 42 be 43? Gur nafjre pbhyq qrgrezvar vs Qnexvaf jnf va uvf ubzr
8. jnf abg nofbyhgr, nf ur pbhyq ernq, ohg gur rkgrag bs uvf zrzbel ybff jnf
86. jnf erdhverq vanqiregragyl jvgubhg ernyvfvat gur pbafrdhraprf. Ur qvq,
12. jnf gung ur unq znantrq gb pbagenpg na havqragvsvnoyr ivehf juvpu unq
58. Jnf gur fuvzzrevat phegnva fbzr sbez bs gevpxrel, na vyyhfvba cbffvoyl?
62. jrer qrsvavgryl Havirefny Ren Fgntr 12 Vzcerffvbavfg (n fubc fryyvat shef,
36. jbhyq svg. Ohg jung vf gur bowrpgvir? Jbhyq ur xabj jura ur sbhaq vg, be
37. jbhyq zrer fheiviny or gur cevmr? Gur pngurqeny jnf n gbgny nanpuebavfz.
88.
89. Furyy ebpxf Ubzr jbhyq unir vyyhzvangrq
90. Ehrf pbpbn ghar Fyvc pbhyq unir favssrq vg
91. Pbbar pyho Vzcbegf jbhyq unir tbg vg ynfg
92. Yvc evz cnj Ubyr pbhyq unir fzbxrq vg bhg
93. Lrf, yrg jvzc Beqre jbhyq unir orra fcvssrq bss
94. Pher ureb Cvybg pbhyq unir frafrq gur cybg
95.
96. Gurer jnf n pbzzba gurzr gurer fbzrjurer. Sbe gur yvsr bs uvz ur fgehttyrq
97. gb svaq vg. Va gur ortvaavat gurer jnf n cbq sbe erfhfvgngvba, abj gurer
100. Gur gubhtugf bs gur Theh fb rahapvngrq ner na vagvzngr qrfpevcgvba bs lbhe
101. erprag gvzrf juvpu sbez na nyyrtbel sbe yvsr: ovegu, gur nqiragher bs gur
98. vf n cbq sbe erfphr, vf gung gur yvax?
99.
102. wbhearl bs yvsr naq cynpr bs svany erfg, fnsr, serr sebz qvfrnfr. Gb ernpu
103. lbhe qrfgval lbh jvyy arrq gb rkcbfghyngr nppbeqvat gb gur sbyybjvat pbqr:
105. _4_55_91_17
104.
106. 31____92_72
107. 93____84_51
108. ______48__6
109.
110. Hasbeghangryl, abg nyy bs gur pbqr fheivirq gur enintrf bs gvzr….
111. Ynfgyl, sbe gubfr jvgu BPQ, pbzcner Cunfr 16 ebbz znarf jvgu Oynxr’f 7.
Where are 52 and 50? Maybe if it is a Last Lousy Point situation it is between those two.
> Where are 52 and 50? Maybe if it is a Last Lousy Point situation it is between those two.
Good point!
Shrapnel Corner
A dark tunnel made from reinforced concrete as if to survive a blast overhead.
There is a dark concrete stairway leading upwards.
Exits: -S– ——– U-
Score increment of 10 points.
The Guru incants:
50. watched, assessed even? Surely this isn’t a performance appraisal. No, the
Station Platform
You are standing on a station platform. Set high on the north wall is a sign.
There is a locomotive waiting on the tracks to the south.
Exits: NS– ——– —
Score increment of 5 points.
The Guru incants:
52. transporter curtain was a concern. What fragments of physics he could
Both locations are in phase 11 (“Staines”).
just checking with my phase 11 walkthrough, no 51 either.
My bet would be on #51 just being something simple I/we have missed, but maybe it is a big meta-twist…
I have started optimizing moves. My main FCF until now was made to optimize bringing everything along, so I will probably be able to cut a lot.
This is/was my starting point:
SCORE
Phase 17 (Illumination)
Mode: Guru
You have scored 1640 (out of 1670) points in 3086 moves.
Rooms visited: 833. Rank achieved: Chief.
I want to clean up my FCF a bit before sharing it publicly. It is a real mess of comments at this time. I am cleaning them up a bit as I pass through it. I will try to be quick! :)
Not really done yet, but I can say that the move count will not be a problem.
Phase 17 (Illumination)
Mode: Guru
You have scored 1640 (out of 1670) points in 2273 moves.
Rooms visited: 725. Rank achieved: Chief.
For more scoring details, see https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pyj_7sWT0YDax2doTT12v_yEhq3XDP-NGBlc2cJjCEI/ .
>for those living vicariously
I’m in this photo and I don’t like it.
Impressive progress, everyone! Has anyone ever seen Mustelid and the Ferret authors in the same room?
Just a note on my way to the front of the game – it seems version 10.30 broke the old way to bring the PVC bin with us.
“GET PVC BIN
It’s a bit dark to do that isn’t it?”
Do we need the bin? Seems we just need to bring the mica and the strawberry ticket out of the post-lake area. Can we carry both of those items simultaneously with the dinghy?
I do not think we need it, it is just me being OCD-ish with trying to bring everything.
I will turn my OCD to a minimal turn count now. :)
the authors provided me with their end-of-phase scores and turn counts, so you can check against theirs
Phase 1 (Awakening)
You have scored 145 (out of 1670) points in 231 moves.
Phase 2 (Genesis)
You have scored 220 (out of 1670) points in 302 moves.
Phase 3 (Acquisition)
You have scored 310 (out of 1670) points in 396 moves.
Phase 4 (Ascension)
You have scored 380 (out of 1670) points in 647 moves.
Phase 5 (Inquisition)
You have scored 520 (out of 1670) points in 754 moves.
Phase 6 (Radiation)
You have scored 640 (out of 1670) points in 875 moves.
Phase 7 (Inversion)
You have scored 840 (out of 1670) points in 1053 moves.
Phase 8 (Conversion)
You have scored 995 (out of 1670) points in 1436 moves.
Phase 9 (Navigation)
You have scored 1065 (out of 1670) points in 1654 moves.
Phase 10 (Foundation)
You have scored 1075 (out of 1670) points in 1717 moves.
Phase 11 (Compression)
You have scored 1250 (out of 1670) points in 1875 moves.
Phase 12 (Delinearisation)
You have scored 1295 (out of 1670) points in 1943 moves.
Phase 13 (Concatenation)
You have scored 1370 (out of 1670) points in 1998 moves.
Phase 14 (Fascination)
You have scored 1450 (out of 1670) points in 2135 moves.
Phase 15 (Imagination)
You have scored 1510 (out of 1670) points in 2274 moves.
Phase 16 (Liberation)
You have scored 1650 (out of 1670) points in 2382 moves.
Interesting. Seems we are missing 30 points in Phase 6.
Very interesting, thanks! I speed ahead a lot of moves on them in the phases I’ve optimized this far.
Much more important though is that this shows that we ware missing 30 points in phase 6 (“Radiation”). Or does anyone else manage to get more than 610 points before going to phase 7? This also means that the move counts from phase 6 and on are not fully comparable to the authors’.
Phase 1 (Awakening)
You have scored 145 (out of 1670) points in 222 moves.
Rooms visited: 63. Rank achieved: Clever Dick.
Phase 2 (Genesis)
You have scored 220 (out of 1670) points in 284 moves.
Rooms visited: 97. Rank achieved: Professional.
Phase 3 (Acquisition)
You have scored 310 (out of 1670) points in 364 moves.
Rooms visited: 142. Rank achieved: Hot Shot.
Phase 4 (Ascension)
You have scored 380 (out of 1670) points in 625 moves.
Rooms visited: 220. Rank achieved: Hot Shot.
Phase 5 (Inquisition)
You have scored 520 (out of 1670) points in 712 moves.
Rooms visited: 256. Rank achieved: Mega-galactic Genius.
Phase 6 (Radiation)
You have scored 610 (out of 1670) points in 798 moves.
Rooms visited: 275. Rank achieved: Universal Hitch-hiker.
Ninja’d by Voltgloss. :)
I haven’t checked if all point awards corresponds 1:1 to all guru incants, but if that is the case the extra 30 points should be given in one lump and finding them should of course give us the missing incant #51.
the only optional thing that comes to mind is using the map — I remember Voltgloss never even activated it.
you can of course visit a bunch of rooms in the reactor but is anything really useful except the beeline to the rod?
I guess putting all the doors back where they should be at the end might get some points? That doesn’t seem to match anything else in Ferret though.
All points given out otherwise has been for reaching a location, in a few cases the location must also be in a certain “state” (like the Ice Cream Parlour with the fridge moved).
Updated scoring overview: https://i.imgur.com/v9xdNzW.png
I’m still sus the authors passed through a particular reactor room and gave it points, but it is one you can technically miss.
I visited every room on the grid but this was before points notification existed
There have been a couple fairly random rooms like that, like near the plum ticket one of the rooms midway the “maze” bit gives points; that’s a room you have to pass through, though
I just toured through all the reactor rooms without getting any extra points. Nor did I get any extra points for resetting the reactor to “all rods down” state before moving on to Phase 7.
We never got any results from turning the two knobs in the Control Room. Maybe they have something to do with this?
I guess as I type this I didn’t strictly test every single “edge room in the dark” that’s technically accessible from the reactor. I don’t know how you’d have *time* to visit most of those rooms though and survive; the timer for staying in the reactor areas without the Windscale Flakes death is rather tight.
If it’s not either of those, I’m flummoxed; there’s just so little *in* Phase 6 for there to be extra points hidden somewhere.
So when I asked if you thought this game was harder than Quondam, IIRC your answer was approximately, not the pre-train part, but maybe the part after the train was comparable… is it fair to guess that it has surpassed it by now.
(I believe in both these games I solved exactly one puzzle by watching in the comments and suggesting something clunky.)
I’m going to discuss this more at length in my final post.
The interesting thing is, from a density level, Quondam _is_ still harder. Literally every step can result in an enormous puzzle. Even in the late-game stuff Ferret has some easy-going parts.
However, there are some monumentally tricky game design decisions which don’t come up in Quondam; the red herrings in particular go in entirely the opposite direction (in Quondam everything is important) and it’s very easy in late-game Ferret to run into a scenario where you don’t know why you failed (like the phone code at the end, or the Mastermind puzzle).
for the code mavens out there, there’s two bits out of the long Guru section (see the spreadsheet if you want it all) that seem to need figuring out, I’ve pasted it as plaintext below.
79. The most remarkable episode had been in the escape pod. Only the memory of
80. a science fiction book had saved Darkins from starvation in the tiny
81. life-raft floating in space. He had recalled how an escape pod had
82. activated its survival beacon which had been traced by an automated
83. recovery drone, which, once it located life, automatically honed into range
84. and teleported the body to the nearest habitable planet. If only he could
85. remember the sequence of actions that was needed, maybe he had done what
86. was required inadvertently without realising the consequences. He did,
87. however, remember the piece of text that had led him to the solution:
88.
89. Shell rocks Home would have illuminated
90. Rues cocoa tune Slip could have sniffed it
91. Coone club Imports would have got it last
92. Lip rim paw Hole could have smoked it out
93. Yes, let wimp Order would have been spiffed off
94. Cure hero Pilot could have sensed the plot
95.
96. There was a common theme there somewhere. For the life of him he struggled
97. to find it. In the beginning there was a pod for resusitation, now there
98. is a pod for rescue, is that the link?
99.
100. The thoughts of the Guru so enunciated are an intimate description of your
101. recent times which form an allegory for life: birth, the adventure of the
102. journey of life and place of final rest, safe, free from disease. To reach
103. your destiny you will need to expostulate according to the following code:
104.
105. _4_55_91_17
106. 31____92_72
107. 93____84_51
108. ______48__6
109.
110. Unfortunately, not all of the code survived the ravages of time….
111. Lastly, for those with OCD, compare Phase 16 room manes with Blake’s 7.
So, because I’ve had a bit of a head start, I have puzzled out at least *something* that feels relevant regarding lines 89 through 94. I don’t know how to use the results yet though. I’ll ROT13 this below.
1. Guvf vaibyirf bar bs gur Sreerg nhgubef’ sniberq jbeqcynl gevpxf.
2. Naq nf yvar 96 fnlf, gurer vf vaqrrq n “pbzzba gurzr” urer.
3. Gubfr ner fbzr bqq jbeq/cuenfr pubvprf ng gur ortvaavat bs rnpu yvar, nera’g gurl?
4. Yvxr jvgu gur Yvorengbe ebbzf, gur chmmyrf urer ner nantenzf.
5. Naq rirel cunfr ng gur fgneg bs rnpu bs gurfr yvarf nantenzf gb fbzrguvat gung funerf n gurzr jvgu gur erfg bs gur nafjref.
6. Gur snpg gung nyy bs gur cuenfrf ersre gb gurfr cuenfrf nf vs gurl jrer crbcyr vf n pyhr.
7. Fb vf gur snpg gung nyy bs gurz ner qrfpevorq nf, va inevbhf jnlf, svthevat guvatf bhg.
8. Yvarf 89 naq 94 ner cebonoyl gur rnfvrfg barf gb trg. 92 vf uneqrfg nf vg qbrfa’g *dhvgr* svg jvgu gur erfg.
9. Gur nafjref ner nyy snzbhf punenpgref sebz n cnegvphyne glcr bs svpgvba.
10. Fcrpvsvpnyyl, qrgrpgvir svpgvba.
11. “Furyy ebpxf Ubzr” = “Fureybpx Ubyzrf”
12. “Ehrf pbpbn ghar Fyvc” = “Vafcrpgbe Pybhfrnh”
13. “Pbbar pyho Vzcbegf” = “Vafcrpgbe Pbyhzob”
14. “Yvc evz cnj Ubyr” = “Jvyyvnz Ubccre” (gur npgbe jub cynlrq gur qrgrpgvir Cnhy Qenxr va gur Creel Znfba GI frevrf)
15. “Lrf, yrg jvzc Beqre” = “Ybeq Crgre Jvzfrl”
16. “Pher ureb Cvybg” = “Urephyr Cbvebg”
Also note the texts of the embroidered sample and the elm trunk, which I think could be pieces of the same puzzle.
-> x sampler
————————–
\ /
| OVNER NA WYR OVN |
/ \
————————–
-> x trunk
The wooden trunk is heavy and about the size of an old-fashioned Dansette gramophone player. Engraved into one side of the trunk is the word AMGINE.
The latter one does not seem se very cryptic, but it might be a hint.
I believe the trunk is an ENIGMA cipher machine – not just because that’s AMGINE backwards, but also because the game recognizes the noun “enigma” as referring to the trunk.
Now, the trunk is locked with no clear means of opening it, so perhaps we’re not *supposed* to open it – but maybe it’s a hint that we’re being tasked with solving, by hand, an Enigma cipher for the final challenge? Which is certainly on brand, and also going to be extremely tough, because those are some *complex* ciphers.
Also I’ve Googled “ovner na wyr ovn” and keep getting hits for a poem that was in a 2003 science fiction/horror anthology that, I confess, I am quite curious about.
This feels maybe up the wrong tree, but I should not that if you include spaces the cross stitch message does get 16 letters, exactly the same as the four-by-four grid from the Guru message.
I tried sending an email to contact info for Black Petals magazine where the poem was published, to see if we could get a copy of it. If there is any success I will forward the information here of course.
I can’t guarantee I did it correctly or thoroughly enough, but I tested the numbers like they were simple rotations modulo 26 and did them for the sampler going forwards and backwards; didn’t get anything useful.
Another possibility would be the numbers referring to actual Guru number lines, although I haven’t had much time to mess with that idea. (It does include three of the lines from the anagram section that Voltgloss had the solve for; maybe there’s less obvious anagrams elsewhere?)
I’m also suspicious of the “2’s and 3’s” portion of the Guru narrative. It feels weirdly out of place to me while also being quite specific, in a way that has me thinking it could be a hint about “count[ing] in 2’s and 3’s”:
43. Darkins was an average family man, some would even say militantly dull. A
44. mousey wife, 2 mousey children, a suburban dwelling with 3 bedrooms, 2
45. cars, 2 jobs in his life, 3 best mates, 2 glasses of wine a day, his whole
46. life was counted in 2’s and 3’s.
“Na,” “Wyr,” and “Ovn” can all be found in an Ancient Welsh grammar. I think that “ovn” may be a variant of “ofn”; when I type “ofner na wyr ofn” into Google translate, it thinks it’s Welsh for “Fear that knows no fear.”
Do I think that a puzzle is likely to depend on the translation of a Welsh phrase variantly spelled? Probably not? I think the existence of the phrase elsewhere, in something that’s presumably unrelated (Chris Forbes appears to be from California and so is probably not on Team Ferret, and yes it is fairly obsessive that I went to the trouble of searching that), may indicate that this is not a code but a preexisting phrase? Or maybe both?
wow. that’s too exact to be coincidence.
glad we’ve gone from Blake’s 7 to obscure Welsh grammar
Poking around a little more, I found a Welsh pub whose sign is the heraldic motto “Ofner Na Ofne Angau,” translated as “Fear Him Who Fears Not Death.” Just as evidence that ofn/ofner really does mean “fear” in Welsh.
I can’t think that we’re supposed to have translated it though, and it could still be the key to some sort of cipher.
I have it confirmed from the authors that the cross-stitch is Welsh.
The whole “OVNER NA WYR OVN” thing is strange… as we don’t generally use the letter V in Welsh.
So, yes, “Ofner na wyr ofn” would definitely be more Welsh.
I read on the Wikipedia article on Welsh orthography that v was used for the /v/ sound in Middle Welsh (and also for a time in a spelling reform in a Patagonian Welsh-speaking community).
The writer might have wanted to conjure an archaic feeling by choosing the obsolete spelling, or there might be another reason – or it is not Welsh-related at all.
here’s the code assuming they’re referring to lines from the whole Guru message
105. _4_55_91_17
106. 31____92_72
107. 93____84_51
108. ______48__6
4. start of time as far as Bob was concerned. He had no option, he had to get
55. indicate this was a different planet, or worse, a different universe.
91. Coone club Imports would have got it last
17. small inheritance on his personal incarceration and hoped for the best.
31. area and its surroundings. Could he have received special training that
GAP
92. Lip rim paw Hole could have smoked it out
72. Alien presence was quite apparent. The automaton and cyborg were
93. Yes, let wimp Order would have been spiffed off
GAP
84. and teleported the body to the nearest habitable planet. If only he could
[51 which we don’t have the Guru message for yet]
GAP
GAP
48. impossible, then work on the possible. If there’s no exit then make one, as
6. chamber the unknown virus might make perishing the odds-on favourite but he
two things make this seem more likely than normal:
1. it includes the mysterious 51 with the secret points which we haven’t solved yet
2. it includes some of the anagram lines
3. the gaps are kind of weird for just “this is cryptography for a message but we’re leaving out some of the letters” but plausible for “figuring out which Guru lines go here based on some pattern is part of the puzzle”
Haven’t got any useful information messing around though. Tried a couple variants of “2s and 3s” or just using front or back words but no luck.
spending time at the reactor
still flailing
probably sending another message soon to authors, anyone have any questions they want to try?
I’m interested to know if the two knobs (that are otherwise unused and don’t have any obvious effect) are relevant to finding the missing Phase 6 points.
They sent this:
Front Passage
You are in a narrow passage cut into solid rock. Set in the western wall is a
steel door. There is a minute hole in a chromium disc set in the rock next to
the door. The room is lit by a strange iridescent glow from the rock walls
and ceiling. It is quite warm here.
Exits: –E- ——– —
Score increment of 10 points.
Phase 6 (Radiation)
Mode: Expert
You have scored 530 (out of 1670) points in 905 moves.
Rooms visited: 284. Rank achieved: Mega-galactic Genius.
Control Centre
You are in a brightly lit, partially derelict control centre set in solid rock.
Most of the apparatus has been destroyed, however some still appears viable.
There are three buttons, coloured red, orange and green; two switches, coloured
blue and yellow; two knobs, one green, the other red; one lever and two digital
gauges, one orange, the other blue. There is a steel door to the east.
Exits: –E- ——– —
Score increment of 10 points.
Phase 6 (Radiation)
Mode: Expert
You have scored 540 (out of 1670) points in 909 moves.
Rooms visited: 285. Rank achieved: Mega-galactic Genius.
End Passage
You are in a narrow passage cut into solid rock. There is a narrow exit to the
south. The room is lit by a strange iridescent glow from the rock walls and
ceiling. It is warm here.
Exits: NS– ——– —
Score increment of 20 points.
Phase 6 (Radiation)
Mode: Expert
You have scored 560 (out of 1670) points in 1003 moves.
Rooms visited: 286. Rank achieved: Mega-galactic Genius.
Cutting
You are in a rock cutting. There is a dark tunnel to the south.
Exits: NS– ——– —
Score increment of 30 points.
Phase 6 (Radiation)
Mode: Expert
You have scored 590 (out of 1670) points in 1028 moves.
Rooms visited: 307. Rank achieved: Mega-galactic Genius.
Back Room
You are in a small room. Set in the west wall is an armoured door.
Exits: –EW ——– —
Score increment of 50 points.
Phase 6 (Radiation)
Mode: Expert
At least we know it’s not a random reactor room. But it could be a random *edge* room to the reactor. Guess it’s time to methodically check those.
I hopped in all the dark rooms at some point way back, but I didn’t also methodically try to do exits from those rooms in an attempt to go farther. This looks like you make it to a dark room, then go north to make it to the secret room.
Since there’s also a north exit past that I’m wondering if there’s also some hintage for the endgame puzzle hidden in there.
OK! I finally had time to try messing around in the dark some more, and there’s at least some geography going on. I used an older version of the game (just because the picking-up-dropping-in-dark is somewhat broken in current build; there’s at least one bug related to darkness the authors admitted to so I’m fine doing this) and found this:
End Passage
You are in a narrow passage cut into solid rock. There is a narrow exit to the
south. The room is lit by a strange irridescent glow from the rock walls and
ceiling. It is warm here.
Exits: NS– ——– —
-> s
Nuclear Core
You are in a very warm room.
Exits: N–W ——– —
-> w
Nuclear Core
You are in a very warm room.
Exits: N-EW ——– —
-> n
You are in the dark.
-> drop orange pin
Dropped.
-> d
You are in the dark.
-> get orange pin
Taken.
-> drop orange pin
Dropped.
-> u
You are in the dark.
-> get orange pin
I can’t see anything like that around here.
every direction _except_ up loops, but going up leads to a new room
I have yet to test this anywhere else yet. If you need an old version of the game I have the first “complete” version at this link.
OK, there’s definitely a maze going past here.
from the dark, going up leads to a new room
then going up again leads to a new room (all other directions loop, except down which kills because you are going down in the dark)
then going NORTH leads to a new room (all other directions loop except down which kills)
so we’re definitely building a new map
add: so after entering dark, U;U;N gets as far as I can. You can go back south again and confirm from items it returns like normal, but you can’t go back down because you die in dark, and anything at the end loops. It is very possible you should be able to go down from that room but I haven’t been able to turn the lights on.
I am almost 100% sure the route is U;U;N;D because if you try to go down in the initial room of the dark maze, that is, you just loop back to the room you are at, you do _not_ fall and die. So going down after north is definitely not a loop.
oo, I’ve got a thought!
I don’t have the walkthrough lined up to test this, but if someone wants to:
what if the power grid at the reactor and the power grid at phase 1 are connected to the same source? We know that eventually the lights run out if you leave them on in phase 1. Maybe we should make sure to turn the red knob before leaving phase 1 in order to preserve the grid, and then when we get all the way up to the reactor there will be enough power the lights will actually work?
That is an incredibly evil possibility and therefore totally on brand for Ferret. I will try to test it tonight.
A simpler pair of thoughts, although perhaps you’ve tried this: Does turning the knobs at the Phase 6 Control Centre have any effect on these dark rooms? (Maybe not the *first* dark room, but perhaps after going up?) Alternately/in conjunction, maybe we need to let the reactor generate more power by raising enough control rods (without Chernobbling ourselves – I think the max we can raise before death is 15)?
I’ve definitely tested the knobs currently as is (not to say there isn’t some weird combo that makes them work, but the regular stuff wasn’t giving me any luck, even just walking in the dark all the way to that point and hoping the light would be on)
I have not messed with major control rod shenanigans. I got up to the first ding with what I was testing (I opened more than necessary)
I have tried multiple dark rooms now and they all seem to have the same U/U/N geography
Another stab in the dark (heh) thought: Maybe it’s somehow possible to turn the uranium rod into a light source?
-> get rod
Taken.
A terrible feeling of nausea radiates through your body.
-> n
Dark Tunnel
-> l
Dark Tunnel
You are in a gloomy tunnel cut in sheer rock, with a stairway leading up.
Exits: -S– ——– U-
-> u
Dark Tunnel
You are in a gloomy tunnel cut in sheer rock. There are stairways leading up
and down.
Exits: —- ——– UD
-> u
Dark Tunnel
You are in a gloomy tunnel cut in sheer rock. There is a stairway leading down.
Exits: N— ——– -D
-> n
Dark Tunnel
You are in a gloomy tunnel cut in sheer rock. There is a stairway leading down.
Exits: -S– ——– -D
-> d
Dark Tunnel
You are in a gloomy tunnel cut in sheer rock. There is a dark stairway leading
up.
Exits: —- ——– U-
slightly glitchy maybe — I had it provide a light source for only one room at one point along the run
ok, I think what happens is the rod is “charging” somehow with light and it can run out, that is, you need to hang out in the irradiated area long enough for it be glowing longer
otherwise the light will run out in the middle of your trek
don’t know how far I have time to go, but I went ahead and started checking side rooms one by one with the light, each one I have marked so far leads to a dead end.
Excellent, progress! Although the tunnel seems a dead-end – but maybe one particular edge room tunnel isn’t? Or perhaps fiddling with the knobs before going to the tunnel dead-end has an effect?
I note also the hint from the Ferret authors shows exactly 25 moves between reaching “End Passage” (with the control rod raised) and reaching the elusive score-boosting “Cutting.” That seems to set an upper bound on how far away from the rod’s box we need to roam.
one other upper bound is simply the radiation — for example, if you grab the rod, make a beeline for the NW corner, you have JUST enough time to pop into the darkness before the radiation nausea starts to set in
Basically you have seven moves, so some of the right-side-of-map rooms are probably out of the bounds of possibility
How about looping around to the south-center of the map (i.e., S;S;S;E;E;S from the rod)? Directly opposite from where we enter the reactor grid? I have no reason to suspect that spot particularly, other than symmetry – but, well, there *is* that symmetry.
found it
bottom, column 7
-> d
Dark Tunnel
You are in a gloomy tunnel cut in sheer rock. There is a dark stairway leading
up.
Exits: N— ——– U-
-> n
Dark Tunnel
You are in a gloomy tunnel cut in sheer rock. There is a dark exit to the
south, and a brighter exit to the north.
Exits: NS– ——– —
-> n
Cutting
You are in a rock cutting. There is a dark tunnel to the south.
Exits: NS– ——– —
-> n
Cutting
You are in a rock cutting.
Exits: NS– ——– —
also have added the Guru line to the spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Auc4ZD-p0yBGg6lNrHqPHYVagLm_IX2MHYglfvQAROY/edit#gid=0
there are no other secrets in that section
if the number code is still referring to that line in might be super-important anyway
Thought: which phase is each of the guru lines found? There are sixteen numbers and sixteen pre-guru phases, if it is one per phase we definitely have something there
getting everything set is somewhat irritating, so I’ve got a walkthrough here starting at “Facing Passage” that gets just a little past where the Guru 51 was:
s;w;put white in hole;get white;open door;w;
push red;push red;push red;push red;turn blue switch
push green;turn blue switch;
push red; push red;push red;push red;push red;push red;push red;push red
push red;push green;turn blue switch
push green;push green;turn blue switch
push green;push green;turn blue switch
push green;push green;turn blue switch
push green;push green;turn blue switch
push green;turn blue switch
push green;turn blue switch
push green;push green;turn blue switch
push green;push green;turn blue switch
push red;push green;turn blue switch
push red;turn blue switch
push red;turn blue switch
push green;turn blue switch
e;e;s;s;w;s;s;s;s;s;w;open box;get rod;e;s;s;s;e;e;e;s
u;u;n;d;n;n;n;n;n;n
I haven’t mapped this section throughly yet, but from what I read here it makes me wonder – is there any “point” at all in doing this (except for the +30 score and incant #51 of course)? Do we get out with better health status or something? It seems like the lift part of phase 2 which also was a long detour with seemingly no point except getting that extra +5 score. The lift bypass seemed to me like we found an unintended shortcut, is it the same thing here?
8 steps to get to the secret area, 8 steps to just backtrack. No change in health.
I really was hoping the secret area was intended as post-game and would give a meta-hint for Guru, but no luck.
I wonder if the originally intended purpose of this whole area was to let the player get safely back out of the Reactor Core. Like, if the rod’s location was one room to the south from where it is, then there wouldn’t be enough time to go get the rod and go back out of the Core through the entrance we used; you’d have the Windscale Flakes death first. So this whole “Cutting” area would then be a *mandatory* sequence, to escape the Core with the rod.
Maybe that was deemed overly difficult and the rod’s location moved slightly so that players didn’t have to suss this out – *unless* they are going for max points, like we now are? Perhaps the same explains Phase 2, how the whole Lift sequence where compass directions fail can also be bypassed (via the key in the dark cave) but at the cost of not getting full points.
I have a “final room save” — max points, underneath the necessary move limit. All we need to do now is figure out what SOLUTION(FINAL) is
Save file here
Updated scoring chart, presumably complete. Could do with some polishing though, but all the game logic should be there.
I have a mostly cleaned up “full game” FCF to share here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i_scnMz-4A2vUH9sVR5WxHwSlF2SLVSI6WlZlviZWGg/
Be in master/expert/guru mode, RESTART, perhaps SUPPRESS if you want to hide the spam and speed things up a a bit. It sometimes fails in one of the few places where I have not been able to make things deterministic. If it does, just try again.
The move count is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pyj_7sWT0YDax2doTT12v_yEhq3XDP-NGBlc2cJjCEI/
I am happy to hear about any ideas for improvement.
It annoys me that I/we do not yet fully understand the logic of the Zone of the Zombies section…
btw, the cyborg is attracted to the skull (if you’re carrying it there’s a message about that) so you can use it kill it with the mirror in a determinate way
since that takes more moves I just let the randomness fly
Thanks, that is very nice to know. I will probably add that to my “solution”, since I have such a big margin of moves anyway and I would like to get rid of all random elements.
Excellent work! I made some proposed tweaks to Phase 1 that should save a total of 16 moves.
Thanks, I have updated the file to almost your version (and the moves count table). I still avoid the get/drop “all”, to make it a little easier to find one’s way around in it (this way you can still search the text for an item name and find out *almost* all information pertinent to it). I could probably move that information to comments instead though…
I think I will make another version now with the skull.
(Back when I was doing phase 1 originally, I remember that version of Ferret required me to first try to put up the step ladder and then clear the debris, if I tried clearing the debris first it would not let me do it properly, but it might just be some confusion/misremembering on my part.)
Note that you save turns with using “get all” and “drop all.” I.e., “drop laser cannon, canister” takes 2 turns, while “drop all” for the same result takes only 1 turn. The same holds true for “get all.” So, to fully optimize, some use of “get all” and “drop all” appears necessary.
Yes, I have noticed that. I really think it is unintentional and perhaps will be fixed in a future release, but of course you are right that to make the most moves efficient script at this time we should use get/drop all where it is optimal.
I have made some further minor changes to the online FCF file, fixing a couple of small errors (unnecessary commands left in by mistake) I happened to find.
I also notice that my script very seldom (if ever?) runs into a problem with the cyborg, the problem that happens quite often is that the automaton does not behave as I wish it would. If I increase the “wait 3” to wait 30 or something it is a very rare problem, but that is obviously both inefficient and not a real solution to the problem. Is anyone able to control the automaton (better)?
okay! so we still have final puzzle to tackle! speculation from anyone is welcome!
I’m still strongly sus of the numbers in the code referring to actual Guru lines, because a.) 91, 92, and 93 are all included, and they’re ones with the anagrams and b.) 51, the weird mystery one, is included
Because gathering all the information was complicated enough in itself, it might even be something exceedingly simple like “the second or third word of each line”
Here’s the Guru lines with the missing 51 filled in. One thing I don’t have is the order as they appear by phase. My theory that there is one per phase is shot down though (two of them are in the plum ticket phase):
105. _4_55_91_17
106. 31____92_72
107. 93____84_51
108. ______48__6
4. start of time as far as Bob was concerned. He had no option, he had to get
55. indicate this was a different planet, or worse, a different universe.
91. Coone club Imports would have got it last
17. small inheritance on his personal incarceration and hoped for the best.
31. area and its surroundings. Could he have received special training that
GAP
92. Lip rim paw Hole could have smoked it out
72. Alien presence was quite apparent. The automaton and cyborg were
93. Yes, let wimp Order would have been spiffed off
GAP
84. and teleported the body to the nearest habitable planet. If only he could
51. near death experiences appeared to mitigate against the annual review. The
GAP
GAP
48. impossible, then work on the possible. If there’s no exit then make one, as
6. chamber the unknown virus might make perishing the odds-on favourite but he
An alternate thought I had, though haven’t made much progress on: If you list all of the anagrammed names in lines 89 through 94 in sequence (and with the anagrams solved), and put spaces between each name, there are a total of exactly 100 characters (including spaces). Per the “chart” below:
0123456789
0 SHERLOCK
1 HOLMES INS
2 PECTOR CLO
3 USEAU INSP
4 ECTOR COLU
5 MBO WILLIA
6 M HOPPER L
7 ORD PETER
8 WIMSEY HER
9 CULE POIROT
[the XYth character in the sequence is in the Xth row down, Yth column across. much clearer in fixed width font. the very last “T” is character 100.]
I tried replacing the 4, 55, 91, etc. numbers with the letters from this sequence and got the below, which doesn’t *seem* promising, but I put it here for consideration:
RIUI
S_LD
E_EB
__LO
one other comment, prior to the code there’s this paragraph
100. The thoughts of the Guru so enunciated are an intimate description of your
101. recent times which form an allegory for life: birth, the adventure of the
102. journey of life and place of final rest, safe, free from disease. To reach
103. your destiny you will need to expostulate according to the following code:
The “expostulate” is truly an odd word choice: to reason earnestly with a person for purposes of dissuasion or remonstrance. I feel like that might be a hint as to what to do but I’m unable to parse it.
Taking the numbers as RC coordinates with the Asimov grid (9×9) gives:
4____
D_Z_I
__E_S
__N_6
Zen is the ships computer in Blakes 7. Can’t see how to include the single digits and make any sense though. An evil twist could be using something like this solution with the ADFGVX grid – is it really a red herring?
what happened to 55-91-17 along the top?
oh, I get it, those are “black” spaces.
could almost read top-down as
4 DZEN IS 6
but that still feels wrong to me with all the black in arbitrary spaces
just in case this is meant to hint at a final number I did a test where I said every number from 1 through 10000 to see if I got a reaction in the endgame, no dice
Unlikely to be a number given their efforts to prevent brute-forcing. If we’re supposed to guess/deduce what goes in the gaps in the grid maybe using the blanks from the Asimov grid is a double-bluff, like the reverse phone number.
I went and checked which locations correspond to the guru incants with the numbers from the 4×4 square. It did not help me progress, but here they are in case someone else might find them useful:
4. Ice Cream Parlour
6. Circular Room
17. Pavement
31. Cavern Entrance
48. Indigo Room
51. Cutting
55. Violet Room
72. Control Room
84. Beach
91. Grizelda’s Chamber of Correction
92. Station Platform
93. Sub-basement
If you take the first letter from each name and enter them in the corresponding place in the square you get this nonsense:
I V G P
C _ S C
S _ B C
_ _ I C
One my hopes with something like this is not that you get a translated message, but that you get a pattern that can be used to figure out what the missing numbers are.
Having the gaps filled would help immensely
(Of course, it may be just unfillable, and one of those things where when you have it is possible to figure out with the gap.)
I mentioned testing all numbers from 1 to 10000. I haven’t been pasting source code because it has been totally hacky in order to just generate text files, but just for fun, source code in C:
int main()
{
int i;
int j;
j = -1;
printf(“restore finalroom\n”);
for (i=1;i<5001;i=i+7) {
j = j + 1;
if (j == 7) {
j = 0;
printf("restore finalroom\n");
}
printf("say %d;say %d;say %d;say %d;say %d;say %d;say %d\n",i,i+1,i+2,i+3,i+4,i+5,i+6);
}
return 0;
}
this gives numbers in batches of 49, that's underneath my "moves must be under 2500" limit on my save game, and then after 49 it restores the game and tries the next batch
don't want longer file than that to avoid giving ferret trouble
then I just cut and paste the whole thing, change loop parameters, repeat as needed
Has there been something to indicate that we should “say” something? I might have missed it!
I feel that I am not much help with the “code” currently, so I have been thinking of other things.
What do we have to work with here?
Items:
* embroidered sampler
* elm trunk
* identity card
* teleport bracelet
* …any other items that could be brought to the Quarantine Central?
The sampler and trunk seem very interesting, but they could be red herrings or even “bonus items” for when we have passed the final test / solved the code.
Location (result of TEST ALL):
* walls (four of them)
* floor
* ceiling
Undistinctive, and not very helpful?
There are also some verbs that have not been used in our full run so far, even if we exclude synonyms/variants and those that have seemed plausible at times during our explorations (e.g. ATTACK/FIGHT) – when will we DANCE do you think? Maybe most can be ruled out as just jokes or references to other IF games? I have been going through the verbs finding nothing obviously helpful, but perhaps in combination with something else.
> Has there been something to indicate that we should “say” something?
Nothing whatsoever! (Other than similar minimal places have used say, but I think no holds are barred here.) But trying something is better than nothing.
> But trying something is better than nothing.
Definitely! :) And I remembered we have “expostulate”, which sort of prompts us to say something.
studying the order-of-occurrence list a little. I should point out they appear in the game in alphabetical order!
80. a science fiction book had saved Darkins from starvation in the tiny
82. activated its survival beacon which had been traced by an automated
42. advances that could have been made while he was frozen.
32. allowed him to find the way through? Would he ever find somebody that could
all the up to where the anagrams start, and then they deviate from that
ok, this is based on the list K posted, and I added 51, but there must be a mistake somewhere due to a line number mismatch
but still, something noteworthy
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Auc4ZD-p0yBGg6lNrHqPHYVagLm_IX2MHYglfvQAROY/edit#gid=957177869
when looking at the lines in order of presentation:
17-4 both appear, and are adjacent to each other in the order-of-finding list
48-55 both appear, and are adjacent to each other in the order-of-finding list
91-92-93 all appear and area adjacent to each other in the order-of-finding list
the non-adjacent ones are close, I have them marked with x
72. Alien presence was quite apparent. The automaton and cyborg were x
64. analysis coming from? Darkins must be experiencing flash memory post-trauma
33. answer his questions and fill in the blanks? Those mazes and tunnels added
75. and radio-active mutation, it certainly belonged in the horror comics.
84. and teleported the body to the nearest habitable planet. If only he could x
18. Apart from hosting a malignant foreign body Darkins possessed a very vivid
78. architecture. It didn’t make sense.
31. area and its surroundings. Could he have received special training that x
28. barracks, safe-house or what? Too many questions. The strange place with
56. But the coloured rooms were more reminiscent of Ancient Egypt, maybe the
45. cars, 2 jobs in his life, 3 best mates, 2 glasses of wine a day, his whole
6. chamber the unknown virus might make perishing the odds-on favourite but he x
this feels not-coincidental and might indicate what the missing numbers are somehow
something else I just realized — the alphabetical order for all lines prior to 88 means that we can put them in the _intended_ order (as K’s list was just the score order in which was played, but there’s branches where things can be done out of order)
I have added a column in the spreadsheet accordingly, and it means the positions have changed a little for the ones that are separated (but not the ones already pairs or a trio!)
take the first letter of each of the lines in guru corresponding to grid. read top to bottom, left to right
sics
a_la
y_an
__ic
say _i___ claisanc
claisanc is “weed” in welsh
I used this site and some fussing about:
Every word in Welsh where the second letter is “i”
I rather naively tried “say (insert word) claisanc” for every single five letter word with no dice
ADD: works better in spreadsheet form I think
Spreadsheet link
includes both the welsh word list and the translations
not guaranteed to actually be a complete welsh word list, especially if we’re dealing with a place name or archaic welsh (the latter seemed to be like the cross-stitch)
I tested “claisanc” with every single one of the 100+ languages in Google Translate, other than Welsh these are the only ones that came up with a translation:
scots gaelic –> cymbal
polish –> claim
latin –> clamorous
italian –> classic
irish –> sound
gujarati –> arts
Welsh is of course still suspected given the cross-stitch has been confirmed by the authors to be in Welsh.
Have you just tried “i claisanc”? “y claisanc” appears to be grammatical (google translate says “the gladiolus”) and if “ofn” gets turned into “ovn” through old-timeyness, maybe “y” can be “i.”
I have to say I can’t find “claisanc” anywhere but Google Translate.
yeah, the only reason I’m highly suspicious is the cross-stitch.
(also, despite Google’s somewhat loose translation rules, the chance that some random word fragment actually translates to specifically Welsh is fairly low)
Might there be legitimate spaces between ‘say’, the second word, and ‘claisanc’? That would put the second word at three letters, the first one beginning with an i.
There are 9 3-letter Welsh words beginning with i. I’ve tried all 9 phrases both in Welsh and English and no dice. I have a feeling the right phrase will click with something else in the context of the game (as opposed to being more or less random).
I keep wanting to read the later halves of the anagram sentences as drug slang (which would make sense in the context of “weed”). It almost works, but not quite. If ‘spiff’ was ‘spliff’ I’d be certain, but as it is, I’m not so sure. Anyway, FWIW, maybe there’s a clue there somehow? The “common theme” referred to in the text immediately after those lines is thus far elusive.
The other thing that catches my attention is the science fiction book referred to in line 80. There should be some clue in the text as to what that book is, and the book should point to the phrase we’re looking for.
As an addendum, I tried a cursory search for a classic science fiction book with a title similar to “Fear that knows no fear.” Nothing significant turned up, but it seems possible that I may at least be on the right track.
It looks like some form of phonetic French… He lock five?
> take the first letter of each of the lines in guru corresponding to grid
Even though the “SAY” part is tempting, I think this could be the right way but still the wrong branch. The puzzle of the anagrammed names, with possible even the final #111 clue referring to them, is then wasted. If you apply the same ideas but with the anagram puzzle solved you get:
S I I S
A _ W A
L _ A N
_ _ I C
Which, I admit, does not do much, but I think it is a more promising path at this time.
I think that a strong indicator that the name anagrams might be important puzzle pieces is the unusual inclusion of the actor name William Hopper among the fictional names. It would be easy to instead find another fictional name to add to the group, but perhaps the puzzle maker needed a certain character in a certain position or a certain number of letters in a word and were not able to do it without going to actor names.
What if….
The code code is kind of ripped of at the bottom. each column indicates a single word, but we only get max four letters of each word.
So the code turns in to something like:
Say I Claim Sanctuary.
The M is then added to clai, in line with “to expostulate”, which means “to claim”. Sanctuary being a kind of meaningful completion of sanc.
that’s it.
the game has been won.
‘v pynvz fnapghnel’
Gur qvfbevragvat srryvat lbh ner rkcrevrapvat pelfgnyvfrf vagb n gbgny
frafngvba bs qvfpbzobohyngvba. Lbh srry, frafr, urne, lbh pna’g gryy juvpu, na
rgurerny ibvpr. Gubhtugf sbez va lbhe zvaq naq lbh ernyvfr lbh unir ernpurq n
cbvag bs pbzcyrgvba, na nyy-pbafhzvat crnpr creinqrf lbhe fbhy. Lbh unir
neevirq. Gur raq vf avtu. Jryy qbar, gur chmmyr vf pbzcyrgr, lbh pna fyrrc
crnprshyyl ntnva, ab zber gb or gebhoyrq ol gur shevbhf, srebpvbhf, oner-snatrq
Sreerg rehcgvat sebz lbhe sevtugravat avtugznerf.
Cunfr 17 (Vyyhzvangvba)
Zbqr: Theh
Lbh unir fpberq 1670 (bhg bs 1670) cbvagf va 2440 zbirf.
Ebbzf ivfvgrq: 769. Enax npuvrirq: Puvrs.
Wow! But also a bit anticlimactic to me. I was expecting more. But don’t we always? :)
I’m just glad it wasn’t something unreasonable that required knowing 18th century Welsh!
I did suspect the “SAY” thing just had to be right, no other decipherment I threw at it came close to something comprehensible, but it didn’t trigger for me that the missing text referred to was missing lines on the bottom rather than the blanks.
The journey has been the reward – I really enjoyed this. I hope there will be a similar game in the future of your blog, with no solution available and open to cooperative efforts.
And thanks to the Ferret authors for providing us with this great toy!
I’ve got a few games in the hopper of that description, yes.
if you’re feeling spicy you could even take a shot at Inferno now, while I’ve technically moved on I’d be happy to come back if there’s any breakthroughs
https://bluerenga.blog/tag/inferno-1981/?order=ASC
the only two bits to add I found from the new parts
1.) only one of the bottle does healing — that seems to be the only one worth drinking and the reason for the 4 bottles
2.) you can take the mold back to the metal and MAKE SWORD.I haven’t been able to use the sword on anything but I’d guess that’d be the next step.
not a lot of time today, but I went semi-nuclear and generated every single five letter character string that had an i in the second and fourth character, and tested all of them
the results, split into two files
my naive searches afterwards didn’t reveal any result but I didn’t make a program to rigorously search
it is faintly possible the end of the game is buried in there
The reason I did second _and_ fourth character is the possibility, if we had three words, that the one in the middle is backwards. This is because a.) it was arranged this way with the top-to-down code from phase 10 and b.) because ENIGMA is backwards on the chest
however, what I did not do is test multiple words — it should technically be possible to check every three word phrase with a bit more effort but I didn’t have the time this weekend to manage it
I did some work on the files with regular expressions in a text editor.
Methods
Processing files bgword.faf and bigword2.faf with TextPad version 8.1.2, 64-bit edition, on Windows 10.
Preparation phase:
1. remove all empty lines (replace “\n\n” with “\n”)
2. remove all restore sequences (replace “RESTORE FINALROOM\nRestored.\nQuarantine Central\n” with nothing)
3. remove all (semi-randomly occurring) lines with the standard room description (replace “A featureless, senseless, disorienting, isolating chamber.\n” with nothing)
4. remove beginning and ending line sequences (manually)
Searches performed on prepared files:
A) Any location where a line that starts with “SAY” is followed by a line that does not start with a single quote (search for “^SAY.+\n[^’]”). This is to find any time where the SAY command does not simply return a statement of what was to be said.
B) Any location where a line that starts with “SAY” is followed by two lines where the second line does not start with “SAY” (searches for “^SAY.+\n.+\n[^S]”, “^SAY.+\n.+\nS[^A]” and “^SAY.+\n.+\nSA[^Y]”). This is to find any time where the SAY command has more than a one line response.
Also, manual inspection of the very last lines of each file to make sure that the regular expression searches did not miss something there.
Results
No matches found for any of the searches.
Conclusion
None of the tested say commands lead to anything special.
Discussion
All searches have been tested with modified search strings to produce positive results, but there might be other errors in my search methods.
The slowest part here is the preparation of the files where we remove all empty lines. I suggest to do DIVIDE OFF and the dividing lines should never be created in the audit files.
We could run more rigorous tests to see if the response to the SAY command always matches what was to be said, but I currently do not think it is worth the effort.
I am slightly happy that we did not find anything this way, it would feel a bit like cheating on the exam at this stage. :)
Trying to pick up som possibly dropped threads here.
First, did you solve the rest of the notepaper crossword clues and I missed it? Perhaps more than #3 could be meaningful in some way?
> Must remember to reach out to Jeff with these ideas for clues for his wonky crossword for the Parish Magazine.
> 1. Hector can feel the pressure (8, 2).
> 2. Right in tout in large stream (5, 5).
> 3. Get away, morf back, too much heat on Independent Television (6, 4, 3, 3).
> 4. Top footballer, winning trophies (6, 4).
> 5. Bristling with fame, loves anchovies, participates (1, 6).
We were working on it here but then I think that we got distracted by the Amaurotic Ambulatory hint…
Second, I am revisiting the texts at the very end, after we have pushed the illuminated red button.
> The volume of rumbling increases as does an incidious vibration.
Misspelling of insidious, intentional?
> Cannot complete shutdown as program ‘sludgepest’ will not terminate. Would you like to terminate ‘sludgepest’ manually? Error, user requires termination not interrogation. Semantic overload. Who wrote this code? It’s rubbish. Abort sequence. Fail over. Fall over. Start again. Rebooting.
“Sludgepest” is a very specific and uncommon word. Could it contain a hint? It has a lot of anagram possibilities.
> As you drift back into the land of the living (if you can call this living) you are overwhelmed by feelings of inner knowledge, but also the need to, to, what is it, er, wait! As the Guru says, wait and enlightenment will follow. There is another sensation. You sense the need for a new beginning, to start over. You intuit that you will gain new knowledge by revisiting and reviewing your journey as in rereading an old diary can shine new light on past experiences and yield new insights. Anyway, enough of this woo, woo, the launch sequence appears to have failed but at least you escaped. But from what and to what?
This seems to hint to the just acquired guru mode, how it is reached and how it works. Besides what we already know it indicates that we should inspect the texts in detail for clues.
Let us take a look at the hatch logo again.
> Ferrigo Energy Utility Corporation.
> Cranborne Industrial Estate. Potters Bar. England.
> The world-renowned and fabled EMCCer.
> Use approved fuels only.
> Possibly some danger of death.
> Memorise all of the instructions before using this device.
> Only for use by certified officials with relevant qualifications.
> Warning: Health and Safety guidance is not to use
> any device that may cause injury. Therefore, avoid any
> machine with moving parts, or any machine that causes anything to move.
Could EMCCer be referring to the European Mentoring and Coaching Council? It seems like EMCCer usually would indicate a person, but from the logo text it seems to refer to either the FEU (feu is French for fire – hint about the timber shards?) corporation or the hatch/device itself.
The part that stands out to me in the logo text is “Memorise all of the instructions before using this device.” – which instructions could this be? We just put the timber in the hatch, close the hatch and push the button – have we found any instructions about this? It seems such a straight forward, uncomplicated procedure that Ferret would expect us to do it without any specific instruction.
The warning part, could that refer to what items we should not (or should we?!) bring along?
Then comes the long waiting part, with gradually more alarming descriptions. There is the ticking and the space-time continuum being increasingly torn apart. Just hints that we should keep waiting, or is there more information here?
> You nearly escape your skin as an extremely loud klaxon bellows behind your head, thereby verifying its manufacturer’s claim: “Loud enough to wake the dead”. Maybe the ticking was real after all, some form of alarm, possibly.
> The klaxon repeats its earlier trick, and so do you, followed by a disembodied voice intoning: “Red Alert! Red Alert! Routine surveillance has detected an automatic teleport rescue scan. The living contents of this vessel will be teleported to the nearest habitable planet or spacecraft. Locking on to scan. Prepare for automatic teleportation in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 seconds.”
This is a bit of a paradox – first we are dead, and then “living contents” are teleported. Did we wake from the dead and are now alive again? Is it not too much of a coincidence that the game quite bluntly brings both these things? Also see the section above about the guru mode hints, which also had some text indicating that passed (already then) from dead/unconscious to “living” and making a point about if it really could be considered living. Hmm.
If we should consider ourselves “living contents” it seems we were indeed teleported to some habitable place.
> You feel disoriented (what a surprise), very tired and the need for sleep….
This made me try “sleep” which gives the same odd response as earlier in the game (“What would you like to do with that?”), so I tried “go to sleep” which does *not* give the expected response. It turns out that the “go to” command probably has a bug in Quarantine Central, because it seems to always cause a program crash with the message “Validity Trap (GRD)”.
And then the last guru message…
> The Guru incants: 111. Lastly, if the end is opaque, compare Phase 16 room manes with Blake’s 7.
This is the very last message which we can only see if we have made it to Quarantine Central, so it can not be a hint on the ITV puzzle and the rooms being anagrams of B7 episodes.
Perhaps the most obvious interpretation then is that “the end” is the guru incants text, and the clue is that we should apply anagramming again to the lines 89-94 part. This could indicate that there is more to this section than what we have found so far.
But why “for those with OCD” then? Maybe it *is* about the ITV rooms after all, and Ferret is afraid that we have solved the puzzle without understanding the backstory of the cryptic room names and wants to make sure that we get how cool they are. :)
Or “the end” is related to the text we get out of the lines 105-108 puzzle, and we are to understand that we need to apply anagramming to some text that we get out of it.
And finally finally, we might assume that “manes” is a typo for “names”, but there has not been many typos in all of the previous amounts of Ferret text. Can we really believe that the authors would now make a (double) typo in the very last line that we see in the game, and which is also a strong candidate for being an important part of the final puzzle. Hmmm. If there is some steganographic technique at use in the 111 line text, this could be our clue to start looking for it.
Or could it be that the word is not misspelled? “Manes” could refer to (in plural) the (neck) hair of some non-human mammals, it is sometimes also used for long hair on a human. But it also has other meanings. It could be a part of a type of sword, but perhaps more relevant it could refer to spirits of the (revered) dead, from the same word in latin. Could the phase 16 rooms be considered to have some spirits? It does not really connect for me.
if you wait for excessively long, btw, you get a fun death
You appear to have been playing this game too long.
Looks like it’s time for early retirement.
Phase 17 (Illumination)
Mode: Guru
You have scored 1670 (out of 1670) points in -32768 move.
Rooms visited: 769. Rank achieved: Chief.
On the topic of possibly steganographically intentional typos/misspellings, guru incant #97 has another one I think. You know that English is not my first language, but I believe there should also be a c in “resusitation”. Though this seems to be a common misspelling, so prehaps it is untintentional after all.
*perhaps
** unintentional
I really should not write about typos of others…
Part of the reason I don’t fuss too much about typos in my write-ups is I will inevitably make a major typo in the very same post.
The guru incants also has a lot things to say about life and other things.
After the detective anagrams we read:
> There was a common theme there somewhere. For the life of him he struggled to find it. In the beginning there was a pod for resusitation, now there is a pod for rescue, is that the link?
The common theme could be the name anagrams, but perhaps more likely it could be something deeper in the code, to be discovered after we have solved the anagrams. What does the text try to tell us about the pods? Is it just hinting on looping the game over again, or is there something else to it?
And then we get the introduction to the 4×4 numbers square:
> The thoughts of the Guru so enunciated are an intimate description of your recent times which form an allegory for life: birth, the adventure of the journey of life and place of final rest, safe, free from disease. To reach your destiny you will need to expostulate according to the following code:
Enunciate and expostulate are both quite specific and uncommonly used words, right? Is the author just being poetic or is there some hint in them? Expostulate seems to indicate that we should disagree with something, maybe we have to solve the code to know why or how. I think that the Latin root of expostulate contains the meaning to demand for something, e.g. an explanation or a compensation. With the guru incants talk about 42 (and 43) perhaps we should demand the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything…
Not to rain on your parade too much, but “enunciate” and “expostulate” aren’t that uncommon in my opinion, although they are a bit odd in this context. (You are correct about the spelling of “resuscitation.”)
Oh please, do rain! :D
I am throwing everything in my head at the wall here to see what could possibly stick. Maybe something rings a bell with someone and triggers a progress event, while something else can be refuted and cease occupying my mind.
There is also this sequence, introducing us to the anagram lines:
> The most remarkable episode had been in the escape pod. Only the memory of a science fiction book had saved Darkins from starvation in the tiny life-raft floating in space. He had recalled how an escape pod had activated its survival beacon which had been traced by an automated recovery drone, which, once it located life, automatically honed into range and teleported the body to the nearest habitable planet. If only he could remember the sequence of actions that was needed, maybe he had done what was required inadvertently without realising the consequences.
Again, since we do not get the guru incants until we have reached guru mode, if this is a hint for a puzzle to be solved (and it sure seems like it to me) it should be for something we have not yet done. Which is slightly paradoxical since it seems we have already made it form the escape pod to the habitable place of the Quarantine Central, right? But all this hinting about a specific “sequence of actions” needing to be done seems very overkill for what we did (but compare again with the warning text of the ornate hatch logo!). Maybe there was once a harder puzzle here, or we were just lucky in our lateral thinking compared to the authors’ presumptions.
It really seems to me that there are two puzzles left that can/should/must be done in order – first the name anagram lines which should help us towards the “sequence of actions” solution, and then finally the “code” square to reach our final destination. In that case it seems it would be wise to focus on the first puzzle since it is likely that it could provide us with more to work with for the second. That is if we have not actually already done the first part but didn’t do it “the right way” so that we do not understand that we are getting hints about something we already solved.
Sorry for all the stream-of-consciousness ramblings here today, that was all, I have now dumped my brain of theories.
I have another deflationary take on the last line; I think saying “manes” instead of “names” is meant to be a hint that the names are anagrams. So I do think that this is about being concerned that you solved the puzzle without understanding about the room names, just by getting the cryptic clue (“Escape from” we figured out, “Independent Television” = ITV is well known in the UK and contextually hinted by the vehicle, and “hot” isn’t too hard given the rest–so it’s not so implausible to get this without any Blake’s Seven knowledge).
About the other clues, I think we thought 2 was “Trout River” and maybe 4 is “George Cups”? George Best could be “top footballer” and trophies could be cups, maybe. If, as in 3, there aren’t any definitions in the clues and the answers are hard phrases, these could be pretty hard to get. (My suspicion is that they may not be necessary; the other crossword seemed to be designed only to produce “SEVEN” to go with “BLAKE” from the vocabulary test, so it wouldn’t be too shocking to me if “Escape from hot ITV” was the only useful thing here.)
I think Trout River must be correct although I was expecting the answers also to be anagrams of Blake’s 7 episodes. This is probably unlikely as the answers to Q1, Q2 and Q4 are all 10 characters and only 4 episodes have exactly 10 letters – The Way Back, Redemption, Ultraworld and Headhunter – none of which “river” can be made from.
Wouldn’t the world famous EMCCer be Albert Einstein?
Perhaps it is a subtle indication of a F/V switch to be done at some point in the deciphering – farfetched, yes.
messing around with the Spreadsheet of Guru messages again.
the alphabetized (“find in order”) list seems frustratingly close to a pattern
There’s three missing
then the line 72
three missing
then the line 84
three missing
then the line 31
four missing
then the line 6
seventeen missing
then two in a row: 48, 55
then things go a little off the rails with 51 being isolated, then there’s pairs and a trio
the “life in 2s and 3s” and the reference to 17 in the text all seem connected but this is just too far off for me to make anything out of it
What I really would like is that the pattern works in a way that there are four obvious gaps and I can just fill those in and those are the missing numbers
Even if we don’t have an order that possibly might be enough to finish the puzzle.
I mean, the gap of 17 must mean you are on the right track, that can’t be coincidence.
For what it’s worth, 2, 3, 17 and (“the relationship of”) 43 are all prime numbers but I guess you’ve been down that road?