The transcript is around 4500 lines long. (I was playing it like I was testing it, so lots of testing of directions and stuff.) I’ve mapped about 39 rooms and the recess was the last of those, so I certainly didn’t discover the bit that’s giving me a problem at the start of the game because I hadn’t discovered the step ladder.
The only part I haven’t explored is the area beyond the driveway, as I reasoned that I’d need a reason for doing so and I haven’t found the reason yet.
Give me a moment and I’ll try and cut down the transcript a bit, then send you a PM.
Thanks Garry - I’ve found and fixed the bug (an IF that should have been ELSE_IF). This is unlikely to affect other players as the circumstances of triggering the bug are very particular (naturally, you stumbled upon it immediately).
In your case, start again and, after you’ve finished feeling all the walls and trying to set fire to bunches of flowers (is this how you behave when you’re a guest in someone’s house?) you’ll be able to do that bit. It’s more or less the very first thing you need to do to progress at all, so you haven’t missed anything.
Well, just starting from the top, what bottles do you have, or have you seen?
You’ve definitely found a few that have not a whiff of the supernatural about them, but are there any that are borderline?
You haven’t met any out-and-out witches, of course, but there are some residents of Haelstowne who are fairly superstitious.
If this is ringing bells but you’re worried about repurposing something that might serve another purpose – don’t be, sometimes superstition is just superstition.
If it’s not ringing any bells, maybe you haven’t noticed that Edna’s been taking increasingly drastic steps to protect the Vicarage from your meddling with faeries?
You might have missed an object that showed up in your room this morning.
Solution coming next:
Take the large glass bottle from your bedroom, and empty it into the sink (trying not to think too hard about the contents.
Maybe, but I haven’t been able to replicate it at all or fathom any way that could happen from the code. It’s probably just Adventuron having a laugh; it does that sometimes.
The way that works (in theory) is that any command after the process has been completed will push the game to the next tick and make further events happen, not just EXAMINE. I’ll have another look at that bit and, if Adventuron has decided that it only works with EXAMINE then that is the way it shall be (who am I to argue with it?)
With Z: It just hadn’t occurred to me as I don’t remember it from old games. Mind you, I’ve also never encountered XYZZY is real life but I did put in a response for that, just to show I’ve been paying attention on this forum.
I’m on the second chapter/day, and I have overcoat, goggles, and boots. I have the shovel, but when I try to follow the hedgehog (which I found with the hints), I can’t get past the snow. The hints say I need the shovel, but when I use it, my hands are too cold. I have the gauntlets, but they only keep a little of the cold out. How do I pass the snow barrier?
Also, can you lock yourself out of victory? I say two things in the bottom of the hint menu of the first day that I didn’t know anything about and never did. Does that prevent me from winning? Something about a guy named Fred.
On your second question, no, you shouldn’t be able to lock yourself out of winning - the specific thing you mention in the spoiler block can be done at multiple different times.
For your first, increasingly spoilery hints:
The gauntlets in fact are not enough to keep your hands warm - you’ll need something else.
In fact you’ll need a pair of gloves - can you think of anyplace people tend to keep their cold-weather gloves?
Even if you were very thorough during the day, you wouldn’t have found them - think about anything you know that’s changed since then.
Solution is next:
Check the pockets of your overcoat.
Oh, and I dunno if it’s a dumb question, but I got stuck in the exact same place and also needed a hint, for what it’s worth!
I tried very hard to prevent any unwinnable states - so if you do appear to be in one at any stage, there will be a way out (or, worst case scenario, it’s a bug).
For those of you who finished the game, how long would you say it lasted? I’m writing my review and I usually categorize stuff into different length categories. I think this is 2-10 hours but it might be 10+ hours, especially if not using hints (I’ve played for many hours even relying almost entirely on hints). How long did you guys take?
Hmm, I played in beta, before there were many hints, so I had to hound Christopher for hints when I got stuck, which happened a fair amount and often involved waiting overnight. I also got stymied by a bug early on that led to a lot of extra faffing about. I’d say my playtime probably wound up a little higher than 10 hours, but if I were playing the final version with hints available, the 2-10 hour range would probably be right, though of course on the higher end.
Hmm, so it sounds like for all 3 of us it would 10+ hours if played with no hints at all, but 2-10 with hints. I suspect that most people will use the hints, so I’ll put 2-10. I definitely enjoyed the game overall. And yeah, it’s huge; I thought the first day was the whole game (take the photos and be done), and just that alone seemed overwhelmingly large to me.
No hints: definitely 10+. I used hints when I really couldn’t see a way out myself anymore, both in-game and from the author, and I think I could touch the ten-hour-mark with my fingertips.
