To the developers re the clock puzzle in A3

[soopytwist]

"The Eagle has landed", the words spoken as the lunar modular landed on the moon. That was at 20:18 UTC (if you count Coordinated Universal Time as the time it landed and not whatever time it was in your own country - first stupid idea for this puzzle right there). So that would suggest XX XVIII is the answer to the puzzle...well no it isn't, it's the date instead - 20th July i.e 20 7...XX VII in other words, which IS the solution to the puzzle.

This is worse than that metal Isis puzzle a few years ago and it's "Big Bang" solution.

And by Isis I mean the Egyptian goddess Isis...not the other thing.

[Solais]

*takes notes about Isis and Big Bang for Talos 2*

[NoMercy Rider]

I have explained this before... but inputting the time does work, you just have to think outside of the box a little bit. The 24-hour clock is the indicator that you need to think a little bit beyond the simplest answer. If you input a time of 20:18 onto the 24-hour analog clock, where would the minute hand be? It wouldn't be over XVIII, it would be over VII, hence the answer of XX and VII. It was just a mere coincidence that the date of July 20th also works. Croteam didn't realize this until they notice all of us beta testers mentioning the date as the solution :P

However, I do tend to agree that this particular star is problematic. There should have been an alternative way to come up with the answer for folks that don't own a smartphone. Especially when the inevitable console release won't have the luxury of taking a screenshot and uploading it to a website.

[soopytwist]

Well okay. That'll be the confusion then - the 24 hour clock but with the date being the same as the solution. I guess they should have thought of that.

I would imagine they'd have to tweak things somehat for the console version with regards to the QR codes. Perhaps they could revise the clock puzzle also.

[Fearless Airlines]

There is another way to solve the puzzle that doesn't use any info from the QR code at all.

spoiler:

There are two numbers on the nearby rocks that lead to a solution as well..

[NoMercy Rider]

Originally posted by Fearbleed:

There is another way to solve the puzzle that doesn't use any info from the QR code at all.

spoiler:

There are two numbers on the nearby rocks that lead to a solution as well..

I remember when you proposed this as an "intended" solution, though we never got a response from the developers... well now we finally do:

Originally posted by AlenL:

Those are serial numbers from the original archeological site where the assets were photoscanned.

[Warlord]

Umm, 20:18 on a 24 hour clock changed into an analog clock with hands would put the hour hand at a smidge after 8 (VIII) and the minute-hand a smidge before 4 (IV). Neither of these are XX or VII.

Also, I must have had a bug, because that QR code and one or two others would not show the text when highlighted.

[checkers_of_shalmone]

Originally posted by Warlord:

Umm, 20:18 on a 24 hour clock changed into an analog clock with hands would put the hour hand at a smidge after 8 (VIII) and the minute-hand a smidge before 4 (IV). Neither of these are XX or VII.

Also, I must have had a bug, because that QR code and one or two others would not show the text when highlighted.

Yeah, everyone thinks that's a bug when it isn't. Specifically 3 in the entire game read blank until you scan them.

[Death Pony]

Originally posted by Warlord:

Umm, 20:18 on a 24 hour clock changed into an analog clock with hands would put the hour hand at a smidge after 8 (VIII) and the minute-hand a smidge before 4 (IV). Neither of these are XX or VII.

Also, I must have had a bug, because that QR code and one or two others would not show the text when highlighted.

1. It puts the hour hand at XX because it's 20 hours, and the minute hand goes to VII because that is between 15 and 20 minutes.

2. This particular QR code can only be read with a scanner. The message shows "The Eagle has landed" among other things, including this string of hex code:
31 39 36 39 2f 30 37 2f 32 30 20 32 30 3a 31 38
Which, when entered into a hex translator, reveals this:
1969/07/20 20:18

[Warlord]

Originally posted by Rnew:

1. It puts the hour hand at XX because it's 20 hours, and the minute hand goes to VII because that is between 15 and 20 minutes.

2. This particular QR code can only be read with a scanner. The message shows "The Eagle has landed" among other things, including this string of hex code:
31 39 36 39 2f 30 37 2f 32 30 20 32 30 3a 31 38
Which, when entered into a hex translator, reveals this:
1969/07/20 20:18

Alright about the QR code (which seems like a dumb implementation since it auto-reads every OTHER QR code in the game), but... Again, anywhere in between 15 and 20 minutes would never land near the VII on an analog clock. 15 is III and 20 is IV, or 3 and 4.

[NoMercy Rider]

Originally posted by Warlord:

Alright about the QR code (which seems like a dumb implementation since it auto-reads every OTHER QR code in the game), but... Again, anywhere in between 15 and 20 minutes would never land near the VII on an analog clock. 15 is III and 20 is IV, or 3 and 4.

It's best to just attach a photo to show what's going on. You are still thinking in terms of a 12-hour analog clock. I couldn't find a blank slate photo to use, but see the IMGUR link with my quick paint doodle. The number shown on the outer ring is what needs to be entered into the solution. (This clock pretty much matches up with the clock in the game, except that the outer ring is roman numerals in-game) Hopefully this picture clears up what is trying to be explained with words.

http://i.imgur.com/592kJDM.jpg

The outer ring specifies the hour, and the inner ring specifies the minute. However, for the puzzle solution, the number on the outer ring that the minute hand is closest to provides the answer. In this case XX and VII.

[bpais008]

Well Im glad I discovered the answer to this puzzle despite not having a smart phone. So thats the meaning behind those messages without text. Super.

I spent a lot of hours scouring everything in A03 that I could find, and never found a clue as to what the clock should read. I did find the numbers on the stone blocks, which I thought might be relevant, but checked another level to make sure they were unique to A03, and they were not, so that ruled that out.

I eventually decided that maybe, since there was one sure but tedious way to get the answer, and no clues that I could find even after probably 5 or 6 hours total (spaced out) examining the map, that maybe the assumption that there even WERE clues was a cleverly placed red herring, and that the only real way to solve the puzzle was to suck it up and start trying combinations. Ie, the sollution being simply persistence.

Luckly I decided to start at 7, and work my way clockwise. 7:20 to my delight worked. 13th try out of 552 possible combinations aint so bad.

I question whether putting a puzzle together that is not possible to solve in the intended way (apparently scan that code with a smart phone) for some people though, is a good design decision.

[checkers_of_shalmone]

There are some stone blocks with six-digit numbers in A7. I don't know if they have any significance yet.

[NoMercy Rider]

Originally posted by main_gi:

There are some stone blocks with six-digit numbers in A7. I don't know if they have any significance yet.

There is no significance. Those are catalog numbers from the real life artifacts. Whichever country (Maybe Greece?) at some point in history, etched those numbers into the artifacts so that they could keep a catalog of all artifacts.

These numbers were translated in game via the smart scanning technology Croteam used to scan in real-world objects.

[checkers_of_shalmone]

Originally posted by NoMercy Rider:

Originally posted by main_gi:

There are some stone blocks with six-digit numbers in A7. I don't know if they have any significance yet.

There is no significance. Those are catalog numbers from the real life artifacts. Whichever country (Maybe Greece?) at some point in history, etched those numbers into the artifacts so that they could keep a catalog of all artifacts.

These numbers were translated in game via the smart scanning technology Croteam used to scan in real-world objects.

Thanks for letting me know, it gives me closure. But while searching around, I found the same model of rocks with the same six-digit numbers. Sigh...tradeoffs of arbitrary puzzle design.

[Warlord]

Originally posted by NoMercy Rider:

It's best to just attach a photo to show what's going on. You are still thinking in terms of a 12-hour analog clock.

You know, I have never seen a 24-hour clock before.