How do you get to the secret room Sketch in the Puzzle level?

[Bongoboy]

The guide I seen doesn't help me. There is another text I found, which claims the following:

To go to another secret level, Ox must enter every room in the level. As each room is entered, the corridor that Ox entered from closes (each corridor can only be used once). Use the 3D map to see where Ox has been and predict if closing a corridor will block off other rooms. The diagrams at the beginning of the level show a 2D version of the corridors that must be traveled. Use it to plan Ox’s moves. The teleporter to the next level appears once Ox is “trapped” in a room. When Ox enters the last room, the teleporter to the secret level Sketch will appear. If Ox gets “trapped” before the last room, the teleporter to Skyway (Final Mayhem) will appear.

Does this mean you need to have taken every corridor once and when you arrive in a room "trapped"(meaning no corridor is there to leave it) the secret exit appears?

The "solution" to this on the Steam guides here doesn't help me at all.

Order
Underscore, z, x, s dots top, c, a, s dots top, z, t, s down dots, c, underscore, s down dots, x, t, underscore, a, z. Go through end level warp. As long as you went through every symbol room in that order you will enter secret level.

[Bongoboy]

Interesting. So I followed the video by symbols.

Weirdly there was once or twice where the symbol he took lead him into a tunnel... that looked different then the tunnel in my game here. But I continued to follow him, until a spot where he took a symbol/tunnel combo that was blocked in my game.

This should not be possible if both the original Playstation 1 game he played and the PO'ed Definitive Edition I play are exactly the same.

But, since I have a old guide here I just continued to run through the tunnels that where available to me. Until the spot where I became "trapped" and the Red Teleporter appeared. It brought me to... Sketch.

The old guide I have here states "The diagrams at the beginning of the level show a 2D version of the corridors that must be traveled." , it is possible that the rooms are not important but the corridors are. Maybe all you need to do is travel through those certain corridors so they become "locked" and then become trapped in a room to make the Red Teleporter spawn.

This is interesting, I made screenshots on the way I took, up until the part where the video didn't match where I could go. I think it is possible that Night Dive Studios messed up the location of the symbols, so the two versions are not 100% identical. That is the only explanation I have as to why I could not follow the video 100% by following the symbols.

I will sit down tomorrow, and try to follow the video not by symbols, but by which exit he takes, trying to figure out if I just screwed up or if the symbols really are different.

The other thing I want to try out is if there really is a certain order you have to take. If the guide I have is right then the riddle is purely to "close" the corridors the diagram on the floor in the start room shows you.

I will see, lol. Thanks for the help, I knew that video already but it did not state that it leads to the Secret Level.

[Bongoboy]

Yeah... I tried it yesterday. I exited the start room like he did in the video, then I watched what symbol the ball had in the room and what symbol the exit corridor had he took. As said, there was one exit that didn't look like what I had... but the symbols matched... which is weird.
I don't think I did make a mistake, I even made screen shots of every symbol. At the point where I could not use the corridor he went, I just ran through corridors available, weirdly I ended up in the secret level.

I think, as I wrote, the corridors are whats important. You have to have "closed" every corridor by going through them. I don't think the order you run through them is important, only they the trigger that closes them is engaged.
The other guide I have here states that you see a diagram at the start of the level that shows you how to walk.

[Bongoboy]

引用自 Eldin：

The order is absolutely important if you want that secret exit. Just closing them won’t do it.

You are wrong, the order is not important.

I just did a run, where at the start room I choose a teleport down that is not the same as in the video. My starting room was a total different one. Then I did what I describe below:

There are corridors that don't change the height and others that do change the height. This level has two elevations so the best you can do is first run a circle of corridors that don't change elevation on whatever elevation you are. Once that is done, use one of the corridors that change elevation and now run another circle through corridors that don't change elevation.
If you do it right you need to end up in a room that now only has one exit left. All you need to do now is run through all those elevation changing corridors until you get "stuck" in a room and then the Red Teleporter appears. It should lead to the Secret Level.

The only tricky part is the corridor between the two middle rooms. If you use those corridors that change elevation, it is hard to get that one corridor, so it is best to make sure you get that one for sure.

It would be interesting to see, if in the original 3DO/PS1 version it is like it is here, I assume yes.
If the order would be important... then you could screw up right at the start in the room with the 4 teleporters down.

[Bongoboy]

引用自 Eldin：

Well if true then ok. But also that method of following map is really confusing. Seen that method you are talking about but I couldn’t do it that way. I just know that doing the symbols in correct order if you are able to do it is a guarantee to get it after doing that level many times with Sketch exit and following video of Serious Cacodemon. Hopefully the method you are describing works for you though.

The "Riddle" is really simple: "Close" every corridor between two rooms without getting stuck.
All you need to do that really, is open the map, look out for where you went already(seen by the bright green on the map)and plan your route ahead that way.

[Bongoboy]

引用自 Eldin：

Yeah I tried but was stuck at the time. Maybe now if I try your way it won't be so bad. I think we are both confused for different reasons as it doesn't come easy. Anyways, I hope you figured it out and got to Sketch secret level.

The puzzle is actually not that hard. Corridors close when you run through, and the goal is to "close" every corridor.

The thing that makes it hard is that there is no real guide on what to do in the game, or that there is a secret level waiting. The other two secret levels are way easier to reach, I reached the first one out of mistake because I just played the level and used the first exit I seen, lol. That Elvis is also easy to find, because movement in the game is somewhat "slipperly" chances are that you bump into Elvis trying to take a closer look at him.

And then there are "Guides" that don't really know how to solve it but know that you have to run to the rooms in a certain order, which is true in some way.

But the focal point of the puzzle is not the rooms, it is "closing" the corridors.

引用自 Eldin：

If not hopefully everything provided will get you there. Found this game a bit archaic and cryptic at times, though fun. Most of the guide was from community help with adding additions to, especially from Nightdive devs with some classic cheats, as it just started as providing secret codes at first. Though all have been verified as working. Hopefully helpful for most people.

At this point, I ran that level at least 5 times. It is not a hard puzzle, if you know what to look out for.

Yeah this game is archaic and cryptic. Here is a list of some early influential FPS games with their release date:
Wolfenstein 3D - 1992
Doom - 1993
Doom II - 1994
Quake - 1996

The original PO'ed on 3DO was released in November 20, 1995, which puts it smack-dab between Doom and Quake.
Now Doom did not have "real 3D" as it basically emulated 3D on a 2D plane. Looking up or down would break the "illusion".
Quake on the other hand, which had "real 3D" where you could look up and down, would release one year after PO'ed released on the 3DO.

Which makes PO'ed the first "real 3D" Shooter ever. Funnily enough, I heard that they had issues porting it to the Playstation 1, mainly because of the size of the textures. The Playstation had a really small RAM, and looking at PO'ed Definite Edition... there are not that many textures!

So yeah PO'ed is archaic. It is a game from the dawn of FPS games. The first few titles(Hovertank One, Catacombs 3D) came out in 1991, the genre only really exploded with Wolfenstein 3D mainly because of the enemies you shoot in it. Doom which released in 1993 cemented that style of play further.

But I find, there are few games as inventive, as artistic and as crazy as PO'ed is. All the enemies, weapons and levels feel like they came right out of a wet nightmare. The only other game getting close in inventiveness and craziness is Duke Nuke'em 3D. Which is why I like Duke Nuk'em 3D too lol.
Just like a Parodius to a Gradius.

[Norbody]

It's really a terribly designed puzzle. The worst part is the fact that sometimes the doors open by just shooting them anywhere and others you have to hit the red dot. The solution isn't going through a corridor symbol once or not backtracking into rooms because I did both and still got through. Only certain entrances block off the doors so I'm not comprehending what the solution was supposed to be.

[Bongoboy]

引用自 Norbody：

It's really a terribly designed puzzle.

I disagree that the puzzle is terribly designed, it might be terribly explained.

引用自 Norbody：

The worst part is the fact that sometimes the doors open by just shooting them anywhere and others you have to hit the red dot.

I agree on the doors. All doors are basically 2 "tiles", some of them open up when you hit any of the two tiles, some only open when you hit the tile with the red dot.

引用自 Norbody：

The solution isn't going through a corridor symbol once or not backtracking into rooms because I did both and still got through. Only certain entrances block off the doors[/qujote]
You are wrong with the solution. Every corridor gets blocked off when you go through. The goal is to block them off all, meaning you have to have walked through each corridor once.

When you stand in a room there is a symbol in the center of the room. However when you look at the corridor entrances within a room, the symbol you see is actually the symbol of the room the corridor leads to.
Which means yes you can(and need to) backtrack into a room more then once.

引用自 Norbody：

so I'm not comprehending what the solution was supposed to be.

The solution is simple:

Walk through every corridor once, to make it be "blocked", once you block the last corridor the room you will end up in, will have the exit Teleporter to the Secret Level in it.

You can, however also just walk through corridors trying to get yourself stuck in a room as fast as possible, then the exit Teleporter appears too, but just into the last level not the secret level.