Adventure Gamers - Forums

Iznogood - 26 July 2013 09:46 AM

He he - when seeing the the letters mbfx I immediately remembered where I had seen a puzzle that required letters, and went there as soon as I was done in the caretakers room. And I also immediately saw the connection between the numbers on the key and the safe, so I solved that pretty fast.

I think it was a mean nice little red-herring, and of course me overthinking it - because it was placed in the very same room with the puzzle. Anyway, I haven’t been playing much lately (I did solve the quiz, though) but I’m getting right on it!

I have to confess, that even though I intended to follow your pace and play alongside you, then I simply couldn’t wait any more and have already played most of the upper part But I will still keep an eye on this thread, and add comments as you add new posts

A question to Iznogood and Becky:

I’m at the wine-cellar right now, and need to go back to Mustavio. Now, I can see at the map that there’s a road that leads from the cellar to the forest:

but I just can’t seem to find it (I’m getting back to the basement, or pantry via elevator). Do you remember if it’s possible at all to exit that way?

Although neither Becky nor Iznogood Diego the answer is yes there is. From memory you need to turn to your left (North) when outside and follow the path to a sign by the river where you’ll need to do something to get across.

diego - 04 August 2013 07:33 AM

A question to Iznogood and Becky:

I’m at the wine-cellar right now, and need to go back to Mustavio. Now, I can see at the map that there’s a road that leads from the cellar to the forest:

but I just can’t seem to find it (I’m getting back to the basement, or pantry via elevator). Do you remember if it’s possible at all to exit that way?

I believe so, the start of the path you can see on the map is here, which is also the path to the tree:

As Jobod said you need to do something to cross the river, but you can only do this if you have already talked to Mustavio about it (I believe), personally I hadn’t done that so I ran the long way, talked to Mustavio about the wine, and then went all the way around again to make it possible to cross the River.

The other question is how to get from the wine cellar to the start of the path, here I believe the fastest way is through the basement and the hole in the wall, going through the pantry to the elevator is a detour (though it will come in handy later).

The map seem to indicate the wine cellar is right next to the start of the path, but I don’t recall an exit directly from the wine cellar to the outside.

Edit: It might be a bit premature since you are still a long way from reaching the upper part. Even though the upper part is even more twisted and technically more difficult to navigate, then the map comes in real handy there, and you can always find the fastest way between A and B simply by studying the map, actually making the upper part much easier to navigate.

Thanx all! As for now, I wanted a confirmation that I can go that way, and will try to find it.

Iznogood - 04 August 2013 10:05 AM

I believe so, the start of the path you can see on the map is here, which is also the path to the tree:

Yeah, I’ve figured after staring at that map that the way is actually through the waterway Let’s see if I can find it (and if not, I’ll read your posts in detail )

It’s quiz time!

So, the first of the 3 trials - Allegiance. I forgot to take screenshots of quiz questions (they’re statues from “Non-adventure” quiz at #11). But perhaps for the better - as not to spoil the game, because the objective is to show certain knowledge of the surroundings, the Academy and its history. Like those plaques:

I must admit that I wasn’t going to explore the Academy again just for the sake of the quiz which meant good ol’ trial & error a bit. After a while

I got it done! Next:

No dice.

BTW, there’s a nice little touch when you’ve returned to the guardians, as the one whose trial you solved has turned his back, almost like in shame I might as well chat a little since I’m here:

Sure.

Zak is telling more of a Nightingale&WinterOwl; backstory. BTW, I’m at this part of the Academy because I’ve been looking for that door of the second trial. I thought it’s near the first and the third door, and totally forgot that I’ve already seen it earlier. (it’s actually right beneath the third trial, as hinted on that pic) I’m ashamed to say I’ve used “where to go” hint, and was kicking myself when I saw the familiar door:

No dice bridge

It seems the trial will have to wait. And whenever you’re stuck - it’s time to visit Mustavio!

BTW, I know how Lydia feels about broken pendant - I’ve broken my favorite drinking mug today Mustavio says he needs some parts to fix it, but I’ve also made a deal with him to inspect the crates & wines in the Academy for him in exchange for the figurines. I’ve already knew the crates whereabouts, so let’s find the wine.

Now I can’t remember what triggered Lydia to say this, but it makes Mustavio look bad. He isn’t, really!

Galloping Zak!

Ok, I can tackle this puzzle now. This wasn’t quite easy, although I had a general idea what to do. I feel like I’ve been also slightly lucky with this one, as I solved it within minutes. And then:

Water, water, every where…

This was an interesting puzzle, even considering the fact that I have no idea how one can come up with the two missing letters apart from trial&error;.

Intermezzo

I don’t know, but I can smell the wine!

I can see where A Vampyre Story got its inspiration from, with both Lydia and Mona refusing to carry heavy objects

And “Being John Malkovich” was another inspiration, it would seem. Lucky that Zak doesn’t suffer from claustrophobia, too.

Ok, there’re the wines. Let’s head back to Mustavio.

You can use the elevator to get to the pantry, but I’ve turned back as I’ve seen a shortcut on the map:

The map is a little misguiding - although, it does show correctly what you need to do - once I’ve pulled my hair for not being able to find the way to the forest directly via cellar, I’ve understood I need to go through the basement/waterway:

Finally!

GASP! Ok, let’s play some Minotaur Maze!

The object of the game is to get the green little fella to the exit and avoid the minotaur, by deducing some moving patterns. I can not believe it, but I totally forgot how to beat this one I’m not giving up!

TimovieMan - 04 June 2013 01:22 PM

Couldn’t you wait for a community playthrough? It’s bound to come up sometime after Obsidian and IHNMAIMS…

Or Shivers?

Jabod - 04 August 2013 08:23 AM

follow the path to a sign by the river where you’ll need to do something to get across.

UruBoo - 04 August 2013 10:00 AM

You will get to a pole and… the rest you will manage.

I don’t know how I failed to capture and mention one of the more beautiful animations so far - I’ve done that even before the “Mustavio trials”:

So, there’s a certain level of non-linearity, considering order of things. For example, I’ve already knew about the crates, and so the dialog turned a little unrealistic with Mustavio giving me the task, and then Lydia coming up immediately with the answer. Also, as I was looking this playthrough (only the parts I’ve already did) I noticed that if you access the wine cellar via elevator first (watch from 6:08), then the whole “Where are we” dialog occurs there.

Iznogood - 04 August 2013 10:05 AM

The map seem to indicate the wine cellar is right next to the start of the path, but I don’t recall an exit directly from the wine cellar to the outside.

That’s exactly what I was looking for, but I guess the map is correct in showing little exit spots. (although, there IS an opening in the upper right section of the room on the map)

diego - 04 August 2013 06:04 PM

It’s quiz time!

So, the first of the 3 trials - Allegiance…

I must admit that I wasn’t going to explore the Academy again just for the sake of the quiz which meant good ol’ trial & error a bit. After a while

It is a nice little quiz to show that you have been paying attention, fortunately I had, so I neither had to search the academy for clues, nor did I have resort to trial error, I could simply remember the answers

I was quite happy about this puzzle, after reading all the ‘clues’ it would have been a bit disappointing if it wasn’t used for something other then simply backstory. But this is also typical for Keepsake, pretty much everything you learn is a clue for some later puzzle. 

diego - 04 August 2013 06:04 PM

Ok, there’re the wines. Let’s head back to Mustavio…

The map is a little misguiding - although, it does show correctly what you need to - once I’ve pulled my hair for not being able to find the way to the forest directly via cellar, I’ve understood I need to go through the basement/waterway…

This part actually annoyed me a bit. The problem was that I had already tried earlier to cross the river to get to Mustavio and wasn’t able to do so. So when I had found his wine, then I didn’t even try to go this way but ran the long way, and then when given the objective I couldn’t see how that was possible, and first had to use a hint and then run all the long way around again. There is apparently a hidden prerequisite for this.

It is a nice animation though

diego - 05 August 2013 07:09 AM

But I think the turning the water one, was an even more beautiful animation. 

diego - 05 August 2013 07:09 AM

diego - 04 August 2013 06:04 PM

This was an interesting puzzle, even considering the fact that I have no idea how one can come up with the two missing letters apart from trial&error;.

This also surprised me a bit, you think you know exactly what to do and then..
But I’m not even sure if the two missing letters actually mattered, as I got it on the first try simply by random choice. Perhaps I was simply lucky?

diego - 05 August 2013 07:09 AM

The object of the game is to get the green little fella to the exit and avoid the minotaur, by deducing some moving patterns. I can not believe it, but I totally forgot how to beat this one I’m not giving up!

This one also gave me great trouble, and I’m ashamed to say, I had to use the 3rd level hint.

(Spoiler free explanation)
First I tried to solve it on my own, but I simply couldn’t see how it could be possible to solve it, it seemed 100% unsolvable to me.

So I pressed the 1st level hint, which really only told me what I already had deduced. A couple more tries and I had to surrender and get the 2nd level hint.

But I simply didn’t understand the 2nd hint!
I think I must have read it 10 times, tried some more moves on the board, read it again etc. But it was complete gibberish to me.

So I had to get the 3rd hint, and after being shown the first moves, and seeing it with my eyes instead of just reading the explanation, I suddenly understood the 2nd hint, and once you understand it, the game really isn’t that difficult.

In fact I don’t understand why it should be so popular among the students?
Once you have solved it the first time it doesn’t have much replay value, not even if the starting conditions are random.
(Okay it is an adventure game, and it is only there for our benefit, but they keep claiming it is popular among the students)

The game was popular according to Zak due to the fact that you got a prize if you were successful.

As I recall it he only mentions that as a side note, not as the reason for why it is popular.

Testing TV-out:

Perhaps I’d have more luck with the Minotaur Maze on a larger screen