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Hadean Lands… are there dead ends?

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Several items can be used for creating different rituals. As an example, I used Orichalcum Rod to make Gaian Precipitate, but realized later that I needed it to make the aura impermeability ritual. There is no more Orichalcum to be found, so how do I get past the aura and into the Medical Wing?

Is this what the “reset” function is for? I haven’t tried that function yet because I wasn’t sure how it worked, or what exactly it resets. Does it…I don’t know….“replenish” items you might have used before the reset without losing the ritual(s) you created with them? What else does this function achieve?

     

Life is too short to drink bad wine…

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“Reset” does the same thing as what happens when you walk into one of those dark corridors on the map: you go back to the beginning and the world resets to its initial state (items are back in place, doors are closed, etc.).

BUT the twist is that your character remembers everything he knew before resetting: all the rituals, the location of all the items, the solutions to the puzzles… So if you reset and then type “go to nave”, you’ll automatically do all the steps necessary to go from the starting point to the nave (including getting the necessary items, performing the necessary rituals, etc.). Have a look at the help for the relevant commands (especially “recall” and “create”).

The ability to reset is not just a way to avoid dead-ends: it’s an essential part of both the story and the puzzles. Figuring out how to do everything you need to do with only that one orichalcum rod is one the game’s best puzzles.

     
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Thanks for the explanation, Kurufinwe! I looked, but I hadn’t actually found it explained anywhere else in detail. I take it you’ve played HL…have you finished it?

Regarding any particular reset strategy: Is it best to wait to reset until I just can’t get anywhere else, thus minimizing the number of those resets, or should I just go ahead and reset whenever I need to replenish an item needed to create a new ritual, or whatever? What strategy did you use?

I’m the type of IF adventurer that likes to gather up all available items and keep them in one central location so I don’t have to try to remember what rooms had what items, or even what those items are/were. Resetting the game will put them back in their original locations. Will using the “recall” function after a reset remember where all those items originally were, or will I have to go find them again?

     

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Kurufinwe - 01 November 2015 08:45 PM

The ability to reset is not just a way to avoid dead-ends: it’s an essential part of both the story and the puzzles. Figuring out how to do everything you need to do with only that one orichalcum rod is one the game’s best puzzles.

Wow, that sounds very well-thought-out and innovative.

     

The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka

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Mike the Wino - 01 November 2015 09:12 PM

Thanks for the explanation, Kurufinwe! I looked, but I hadn’t actually found it explained anywhere else in detail. I take it you’ve played HL…have you finished it?

Yup. I (and others) discussed it a bit in this thread.

Regarding any particular reset strategy: Is it best to wait to reset until I just can’t get anywhere else, thus minimizing the number of those resets, or should I just go ahead and reset whenever I need to replenish an item needed to create a new ritual, or whatever? What strategy did you use?

There’s no penalty for resetting, though the game does keep count (it took me 47 resets to complete the game). Do whatever feels right.

I’m the type of IF adventurer that likes to gather up all available items and keep them in one central location so I don’t have to try to remember what rooms had what items, or even what those items are/were. Resetting the game will put them back in their original locations. Will using the “recall” function after a reset remember where all those items originally were, or will I have to go find them again?

“Recall <item>” tells you where an item is (whether its original location or where you last put it). “Find <item>” takes you to it (taking whatever intermediate steps are necessary to get there).

     
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TimovieMan - 02 November 2015 02:53 AM
Kurufinwe - 01 November 2015 08:45 PM

The ability to reset is not just a way to avoid dead-ends: it’s an essential part of both the story and the puzzles. Figuring out how to do everything you need to do with only that one orichalcum rod is one the game’s best puzzles.

Wow, that sounds very well-thought-out and innovative.

It is. Most people, including (unfortunately) most people making them, are convinced that adventure games have run out of design space and that the only possible future gameplay-wise is either retreading old ground ad nauseam, or poaching mechanics from other genres. We badly need more games like Hadean Lands, Resonance, etc. to prove all these people wrong.

     
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Yes, Hadean Lands has some very innovative features. The author talked a little about the reset and recall commands in his KS updates before the game was released. I stand by what I said about him and his KS project, but Plotkin is an extremely intelligent and creative guy and I hope he will come up with more novel stuff.

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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I’m a little bit on the fence at this point in time about the reset feature. Given that my character can magically locate any item previously possessed, it would be nice to be able to acquire all items I lost at the reset. It can get tedious for example, where I need a ‘lunar item’ for a ritual, I know I had one but can’t remember what it was called. It’s a lot of busywork to get it back.

It’s pretty obvious that the function is there to ward off complaints about dead ends in a game with so many consumables, but at the moment I’m afraid of losing track of things so I still save/restore to prevent that happening rather than using reset. I know I’ll have to reset more later.

     
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Oscar - 17 March 2016 09:18 AM

Given that my character can magically locate any item previously possessed, it would be nice to be able to acquire all items I lost at the reset.

Except there are times when you don’t want that to happen, because you need to do things differently.

It can get tedious for example, where I need a ‘lunar item’ for a ritual, I know I had one but can’t remember what it was called.

I ended up taking notes for that. Helped a lot. (Also, RECALL THINGS lists all the items you’ve ever had; RECALL <ITEM> tells you where <ITEM> currently is.)

It’s a lot of busywork to get it back.

If you know what the item is called, just use GO TO <ITEM> and the game will take you there. CREATE <ITEM> creates it if a ritual is necessary.

Also, if you just want to not die and go back one turn, UNDO works.

It’s pretty obvious that the function is there to ward off complaints about dead ends in a game with so many consumables

Really not. It’s the game’s main mechanic (and an important part of the story), not a band-aid. You CANNOT solve the game without using it numerous times.

     
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Ah. “Recall things” helps a lot. Thanks.

I do have a specific question on a ritual:
It’s the planetary lens creation. I’ve got one of the lenses in a bound with silver coin on the gestalt shelf and done the invocations. The java spirit doesn’t want to pour, however. It says “You don’t want to go applying random chymic substances outside the bounds of a ritual.” I have no idea what I’m doing wrong here. Any ideas?

     
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Oscar - 17 March 2016 10:15 AM

Ah. “Recall things” helps a lot. Thanks.

You’re welcome. Hadean Lands is one of the very few recent games for which I’d really recommend that people RTFM. The tutorial at the start is not enough.

I do have a specific question on a ritual:
It’s the planetary lens creation. I’ve got one of the lenses in a bound with silver coin on the gestalt shelf and done the invocations. The java spirit doesn’t want to pour, however. It says “You don’t want to go applying random chymic substances outside the bounds of a ritual.” I have no idea what I’m doing wrong here. Any ideas?

(It’s been a while, so maybe I’m wrong.) Make sure you’re specifying the correct lens. You should have 2 with you at this point, and the game may be thinking that you’re trying to use the oil on the lens that’s in your inventory, rather than the one that’s in the bound…?

     
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Yeah, I’ve never seen the “rooms” or “things” command before in IF. It’s a good addition.

Hmm. It seems I don’t have the Binding of the Celestial Sphere anyway to finish the ritual. I have a ton of rituals but am lacking at least one item for them. I suspect the next one I need to do is
electrum phlogistication to ignite the white cord, but I’m lacking the yang oil. Bummer.

edit: I’ve got the BotCS but now I get this:

> invoke the Binding of the Celestial Sphere
You don’t know any such formula.

Grr!

     
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Just use SAY <NAME OF THE FORMULA>. Faster to type, and always works.

     
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> RECALL FORMULAS
You know an impressive list of alchemical formulae:
  the Binding of the Celestial Sphere
  the Marcher’s Sealing
  a phlegmatic sealing word
  the Ka Sealing
  the Phlogistical Catalysis
  a word of emulgence
  an isomorphic group
  an idempotent group
  the Chi Binding
  a word of anaphylaxis
  the Crystalline Tempering
  a Minor Animus
  a syllable of counterbalance
  a resonant tone
  the Anodyne Evocation
  a word of entension
  a word of culmination
  the Hermetic Sealing
  the Binding of Antipathy
  the categorical imperative
  the Lesser Phlogistical Saturation
  an elementary word of binding
  a word of essential nature
  a simple sealing word
  an unsealing mantra

> SAY THE BINDING OF THE CELESTIAL SPHERES
You don’t know any such formula.

> SAY BINDING OF THE CELESTIAL SPHERES
You don’t know any such formula.

> SAY THE BINDING OF THE CELESTIAL SPHERE
You don’t know any such formula.

> SAY BINDING OF THE CELESTIAL SPHERE
You don’t know any such formula.

Could it be a bug?

     
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Looks like it… Weird.

     
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OK, I’ve just tested it on my version. SAY BINDING CELESTIAL SPHERE works. Adding the OF THE doesn’t. So, erm, being lazy pays, I guess?

     

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