Tips & Tricks

[Ion]

Phoning Home is an exploration game, but it's also a unique mix of genres and mechanics. At times you will be faced with difficult puzzles that you may not have expected. So here are a few tips and tricks for your journey.

• Use your compass to find resources that you already scanned at least once. Before resources appear on your compass, you will have to find them. Watch for anything that looks out of the ordinary. Seeds for example are found in flowers, but not the small flowers between the grass, but big flowers that stick out.
  
• Gameplay starts slow for you to learn all the mechanics and to introduce the characters. But don't be fooled. There might be a dangerous surprise behind the next corner already. So stack up on power-ups like Hull Repairs, Power Cells and Fuel.
  
• If your storage for one ressource is full and you cannot collect anymore, try to craft some power-ups or tools with it to not leave valuable resources behind. You will not always be able to revisit a certain place.
  
• Be careful when you're getting close to lava or other sources of heat. Really. We mean it: be *very* careful! Try to find a path around a lava stream, not across it.
  
• After you met another small robot named ANI: take care of her. She will be helpful, a little bit annoying and sometimes hilarious, but most importantly you cannot win the game when you leave her behind.
  
• In cases of bad weather, ANI is very vulnerable. Look for shelter for her and disable her auto-follow for a while. You can roam around and look for new paths (and new shelters) while the storms are raging. But ANI really hates everything but sunshine. So make sure that ANI always has enough coating. When her UI interface symbol turns red, she has has run out of coating.
  
• ANI has her own opinion. Take everything she says with a grain of salt. She is NOT your tutorial guide. You've got to think for yourself and make your own decisions.
  
• When you think you're stuck, chances are you're not. Some of the puzzles are rather tricky, especially in the second half of the game. And mostly it's brains before hand-eye coordination that will save the day. So take a moment and assess the situation. Check the environment and what tools you have unlocked (or can unlock).
  
• Combine your tools and features. Maybe the Attractor PLUS the Teleporter might offer a way. There are times when you don't need the Teleporter for a long time, and then you will run into situations where you constantly need it to traverse the landscape or help ANI around.
  
• ANI will follow you through the portals you create with the Teleporter or world portals that you enter. That is, if she can reach them.
  
• You can toggle ANI's auto-follow mode (F) and her auto-attack mode (C). This may be necessary in certain situations to survive. ANI has her own mind and is sometimes very emotional.
  
• Save resources in the beginning. You will need them later in the game. In fact, your mission will depend on your ability to use your thruster and other tools.
  
• You can, but you don't have to fight all hostiles. It's often the better alternative to avoid confrontation and lure enemies into light traps.

[Ion]

If you have a problem concerning a certain savegame, you can send us your savegame this way:

1) Go to this folder:
C:\Users\XXX\AppData\LocalLow\Ion Lands\Phoning Home
and replace XXX with your Windows username.
2) Zip all the files in there and send them via email to [e-mail] describing your problem.

We will get back to you shortly.

[Credissimo]

I found ANI but she doesn't resond. I can interface with her but that's it. She doesn't follow me. So I left her behind to keep on going and now that I knwo I need her, she is soo far away that I don't feel like backtracking. Why would I? Just to be in the exact same situation again?

[RobDaHob]

The stuff on the ICEBERGS is to hard for many. People stop playing it... i DID

[veralorin]

=)

[Buddha]

Originally posted by Revoked:

The stuff on the ICEBERGS is to hard for many. People stop playing it... i DID

I agree it's ridiculously hard. I only managed it after watching video clips of other players.

[tuxdelux]

what is the auto-follow toggle on the gamepad controls? (update: left and right on D-PAD control attack and auto-follow)

how can I see when ANI is situated in a proper shelter? I am having a tough time keeping her protected from rain and sand storms (update: has an upward angle above head)

Rescuing ANI (skyscraper) : climb tower using holes in the flooring, scare away bird, repair ANI, create portal, fall to base of tower, create and enter portal, auto-follow ANI through portal

[Puggles2g]

ION thank you for giving me this game for FREE I am still one of CLOUDPUNKS biggest fans but im still a bit pissed about Nivalis but I love your work. Thank you for the game Phoning Home for FREE! Its AMAZING! Can you please make a game about a guy who wakes up on the street, has no memory of who he is, has to navigate a big city like Nivalis, to find out who he is and what happened to him. And maybe put a twist about him being ex-military and part of some experiment. Call it Pheonix-Rising : A tale of re-discovery.

There you go, my first game pitch and im half asleep and buzzin... lol