The Island: Spoiler Gameplay Question

Competitions
#1

An interesting game, engaging despite an almost garishly meager presentation. A number of vital elements are unfortunately quite hidden from the player-character and can only be discovered with cheap “take all” tactics (I usually don’t devolve to such ploys as a player, but in this case I felt I had no choice). Perhaps deliberately given the game’s taciturn style, no in-game hints or documentation are available. This was a serious problem for me because I found out the hardest way that Undo is not an option after investigating a certain statue; I had to restart from the beginning after that incident (though the game is brief so not much was required on that count). By the way and contrary to the contemporary consensus I’m not at all oppposed to Undo disabling-- if I know the author’s decision before I start playing.

In any case, I’m sufficiently enjoying the game that I’d like to finish playing, but am stuck at the Jetty.

[spoiler]Jetty
An ancient jetty. The old wooden structure is falling apart. The sea slops beneath it. You can go back west to the cliff side path.

take all
You see nothing suitable here.

x sea
The word “sea” is not necessary in this story.

Eh, okay. A thorough lack of motivation for my character is a general issue in this game, but seems rather piquant here. What, if anything, should I strive to accomplish in this area? After considerable guess-the-verb troubles (Raise winch? no, Use winch? no, Turn winch? no, Turn On winch? no, Pull chain? no, Raise chain… yes of course, a natural reaction to a winch) and a rather dramatic plot development to get here, one would think this area is quite important yet I can’t determine any way to proceed.

Furthermore according to the mural in the chapel I should be looking for a bell to ring at this point, but I can’t find anything even metaphorically resembling a bell in the game world. Instead of fiddling around in the Jetty, should I be working on some other puzzle elsewhere first? I found no apparent purpose to turning on the waterwheel, so maybe I missed something there.[/spoiler]

Any suggestions regarding how I should proceed?

#2

Have a close look at the altar.

#3

I’m stuck at the Jetty, too.

Firing the cannon seemed to do nothing; I expected it to destroy the wall that blocked the way east. I saw the altar carving, but I don’t see any candidate rocks to push.

#4

I don’t think it’s a spoiler to tell you that the mural tells you what you have to do at the Jetty.

Endosphere:

Searching will not reveal the vital elements but examining will. Sometimes you have to examine things revealed in the details of other examinations.

The blurb explains that the magic word “ftang” will enable the WALKTHROUGH command, which is not a walkthrough but a simple hint system.

Fabulich:

Restart and go back to before you fire the cannon. The cannon has no cannonball in it. You need to fix that.

#5

Thanks, fellas. I missed that hint enabler reference as well.

I thought the game offered a nice touch when:

One enters the Jetty after destroying the wall and finds the cannon ball has come to rest there.

#6

I’m stuck before that point.

What do you have to do with the three dials, that can be set to all the different animals? What’s the correct combination? The actual problem is that I can’t get beyond the statue; I assume the dials/animals have to do with the solution.

#7

Examine the mural in more detail.

#8

I can’t find anything to use for a cannonball. Too bad the “lumps of masonry” from the chapel aren’t implemented.

EDIT: I just found the cheat command on in the description on the Comp site, so now I can access the walkthrough.

The cannon ball is hidden in the ground floor of the tower.