Level 8 Poisoned Halls Pitfall Room: WTF?

[SeasonsBlaze]

So I made it to the Poisoned Halls, and have encountered what has got to be one of the single most aggravating deathtraps I've encountered in a grid-style game.

When the trap activates (and there's no way not to trigger it), both doors lock and one tile has a light appear above it. For around 1-2s. Then you've maybe 8s to get to that tile before every other tile opens to instant death. Then another light appears, the tiles close, and you'd better book it! I'm not sure how long this repeats before you can leave, because...

If you aren't looking in the correct cardinal direction when the light appears, you will miss it. Completely. And you're $#@%ed. I can make 4 tile drops before I somehow cannot be turned right at *just* the right second to see the next light.

My question is...why? This isn't a timing puzzle. This isn't a skill puzzle. This is entirely luck. Yet it seems to be the only way to continue the game. And I've searched: not a single person appears to have tracked this puzzle's solution, nor even made mention of it. I tried my damnedst not to resort to searching, but after a dozen tries, you look elsewhere.

And when that fails, an overwhelming portion of the players just quit. Which is sad, cause the rest of the game has been great.

[.smx.]

Hi, well ... we never had any big complaints about this puzzle, in fact some of the testers and players even found it refreshing compared to the other puzzles. Some players use the "stop-time" mode feature to pass this puzzle, or they just save/load.

Anyways, I'll try to create some kind of a guide to solve this without pain for you, tomorrow morning. Maybe a floorplan with numbered "safe trapdoors" in every step. That should help :)

Have a nice rest of the weekend! ;)

[SeasonsBlaze]

Originally posted by .smx.:

Hi, well ... we never had any big complaints about this puzzle, in fact some of the testers and players even found it refreshing compared to the other puzzles. Some players use the "stop-time" mode feature to pass this puzzle, or they just save/load.

Anyways, I'll try to create some kind of a guide to solve this without pain for you, tomorrow morning. Maybe a floorplan with numbered "safe trapdoors" in every step. That should help :)

Have a nice rest of the weekend! ;)

Alright, so I guess I'll have to admit I completely forgot Stop Time even existed. I hadn't used it since the snippet at the beginning mentioning it exists!

I'll have to give it a shot. Thanks for the response, and apologies if I seemed a bit...hot.

[.smx.]

Originally posted by SeasonsBlaze:

Originally posted by .smx.:

Hi, well ... we never had any big complaints about this puzzle, in fact some of the testers and players even found it refreshing compared to the other puzzles. Some players use the "stop-time" mode feature to pass this puzzle, or they just save/load.

Anyways, I'll try to create some kind of a guide to solve this without pain for you, tomorrow morning. Maybe a floorplan with numbered "safe trapdoors" in every step. That should help :)

Have a nice rest of the weekend! ;)

Alright, so I guess I'll have to admit I completely forgot Stop Time even existed. I hadn't used it since the snippet at the beginning mentioning it exists!

I'll have to give it a shot. Thanks for the response, and apologies if I seemed a bit...hot.

No worries! :) I finished Divinity: Original Sin yesterday and its loooooooooooong and chore enging left me hot too, so I know how it is if a game you like has something that annoys you ;).

Keep us posted about your attempt with stop-time. If it doesn't work - I'll make you a step by step instructional to you can advance in the game :).

Cheers!

[vokiel]

I have the exact same question, this game was great until that dumbass room that keeps on killing you for absolutely random reasons. This is garbage at its best. You say testers enjoyed it? Yeah well that's just a lie.

[Cypeq]

I see no big problem with this design, it's a memory puzzle like several others just hit F9 and try again took me less then 10 attempts, at least it's short.
I enjoyed the countless new ways the game comes up with to try to kill you.
It was satisfying to get through 3 blinks without dying the first time I encountered it.

[mb3]

I finished that room second try, (Because you always die the first time, right?) Real easy trick...Once you make it to a safe square, quick save when you see the pits open and your safe, then you can just F9 over and over from that square looking for the next one, actually makes that room too easy.

[Edward Howton]

Old NES games were like that. Die over and over until you memorize the room and then hope your execution is perfect. It was a practice born out of the arcade machine era, where the goal was to extract as many quarters out of the player as possible. It's also a practice that eventually died out when people realized there was no slot to insert quarters in home consoles. Forcing a player to save and load because they happen to be looking in the wrong direction. mb3 above says he got it second try? I died twice before I ever noticed the flickering safety light. I also died in stop-time mode after seeing the fourth light, because apparently planning out my movement to reach the safe corner with the map open made time advance and I died while staring at the map. Really enjoyable experience, dying when time is supposed to be paused. Why not just delete my save file on the third crit?

It's not a puzzle. It's a slap to the face. Some people are into that, good for them, they can explain the bruises to their bosses tomorrow. Compare this with a similar Grimrock puzzle, with the intermittent spike trap floor. Multiple safe points with enough time to see them and all set up in a line so you don't get screwed because the last space spot made you turn the wrong way.

I really like Vaporum, the game itself is a refreshing concept, some of my playing difficulties have nothing to do with the game itself, which can't be helped, but this is objectively the worst puzzle I've seen so far. The 2x2 "door button hidden on the back of the other door" death pit was bad enough, but someone in the dev team is a vindictive sociopath who needs therapy and medication. Or at least, a gentle reminder that computers don't have coin slots either.

[-=SBF=- Sach1el]

I had no problems with this room, but I can understand some players and their frustration with it.

The most easy way to prevent the load scumming would be an electric noise coming from the general direction where the next light will appear.
It could louder and louder over a few seconds until the light appears, so that the player has enough time to rotate themself in the right direction.

that should help the player

[drusca]

use pause, it becames very easy. you have to use it for fights anyway.

[SeasonsBlaze]

Originally posted by drusca:

use pause, it becames very easy. you have to use it for fights anyway.

Never used it in fights or anywhere else.

Also, thanks guys but this thread is over a year old. I get the idea.

[Insertnamehere]

This is an extremely frustrating and annoying puzzle and I could really really have done without it! Otherwise I am thoroughly enjoying your game and going to buy Lockdown too (unless the Boss fight ist just tooooooo annyoing^)

[.smx.]

Originally posted by Insertnamehere:

This is an extremely frustrating and annoying puzzle and I could really really have done without it! Otherwise I am thoroughly enjoying your game and going to buy Lockdown too (unless the Boss fight ist just tooooooo annyoing^)

Have you utlized the "stop-time" mode in the game? It can be very helpful in making this puzzle more readable.

I think the boss in LD is much better designed and balanced than the one in Vaporum. :)

[Gilmoy]

Combine 3 features:
1. stop-time
2. camera pan (using middle-button drag)
3. save/load

With time stopped, use middle-drag to look around without turning.
Restrict yourself to pan about 80° left and right.
This gives you about 210° FOV (field of view), sufficient to see most of the room.

Avoid panning a full 90° left, because that becomes a rotate-left order, and time ticks once.

Using this, you can solve the room in 1 pass, with no missed lights and no falls.
I reloaded 1 time, and didn't save again in this room.

To fully exploit #3, you could arrive under each light, and save.
Then if you're facing the wrong 3 directions to see the next light, reload and turn around.

[Babbles]

Originally posted by .smx.:

Originally posted by SeasonsBlaze:

Alright, so I guess I'll have to admit I completely forgot Stop Time even existed. I hadn't used it since the snippet at the beginning mentioning it exists!

I'll have to give it a shot. Thanks for the response, and apologies if I seemed a bit...hot.

No worries! :) I finished Divinity: Original Sin yesterday and its loooooooooooong and chore enging left me hot too, so I know how it is if a game you like has something that annoys you ;).

Keep us posted about your attempt with stop-time. If it doesn't work - I'll make you a step by step instructional to you can advance in the game :).

Cheers!

THE WORST puzzle in that game is 'balance the weights' - which requires NO balancing at all, just random weights on pressure plates.

[Spocks Toupee]

Hate to necro, but was that map ever made, because I am completely fed up with this "Game" and am having ZERO fun now.

There's


FUN
Challenging and
Frustrating.
This game is frustrating.

Back in the 80s, when I was in my 20s, this would've been “Fun” or “Challenging”, but in my 60s, this is just frustrating.