Clockwork is breaking my brain

[Absolute Disgrace]

Anyone got some useful hints on this one?

[Stoney140]

In terms of a general hint for what your final aim is if that's what's causing you difficulty - you want to set up a three-way auto-cycle of lasers blocking one another (similar to some previous puzzles) so that each colour's connection is made briefly (enough to open the door but not enough to activate the fans) before being broken again, cycling between each.

As for actually doing it... it's a little hard to wrap one's head around all the interactions, and you might have a better time just playing around with a few different options using principles that feel right (that's definitely what I did!) until something clicks, rather than trying to totally logic it in advance then set it up.

Generally speaking, you want to set up each connector so that when it is connected to by a laser, it makes a connection of one colour, while also blocking the previous connection of a different colour. Think about how you might do this, considering how you've set up the puzzles with similar premises in previous puzzles

For a full answer, place each connector along the edge between two different colours. Connect it to the laser and receiver to its left, and just the receiver to its right.

[Absolute Disgrace]

Thank you! OMG i knew i was on the right track but no matter what i tried it just didn't click together. I tried so many positions and combinations to get it to click around like that but nothing I was doing was working. I tried something close to the solution but it failed so i went a different direction. I didn't see how close i was!

[Lavamantis]

I finally got this one too. By far the hardest puzzle in both games and DLCs!

I had to use morning-after-coffee brain. Nighttime brain wasn't good enough.

[SuperVolcano]

Originally posted by Lavamantis:

By far the hardest puzzle in both games and DLCs!

Funny how experiences differ. I found Clockwork fairly straightforward, but I have been stuck on Step by Step (the one next door to Clockwork) for two weeks and I'm losing my mind.

[kablahrz]

Originally posted by SuperVolcano:

Funny how experiences differ.

Yep. I found all three of similar difficulty, and solved them in rapid succession once I solved one of them (realizing the needed approach on waking up the next morning).

[Lavamantis]

Originally posted by SuperVolcano:

but I have been stuck on Step by Step (the one next door to Clockwork) for two weeks

Ha yeah that took a few retries too. Clockwork was so frustrating, most of TTP made me feel smart but that one level... def. make me feel dumb.

[Bonesun]

Originally posted by SuperVolcano:

Originally posted by Lavamantis:

By far the hardest puzzle in both games and DLCs!

Funny how experiences differ. I found Clockwork fairly straightforward, but I have been stuck on Step by Step (the one next door to Clockwork) for two weeks and I'm losing my mind.

Yeah. I'm with you on that. I eventually used a Prometheus spark to find out how Orpheus Ascending ended, and because I was curious to see what happened when you used a Prometheus spark, but I was annoyed with myself for doing so. So, I went straight back to Step By Step after seeing the Orpheus Ascending end video, and solved it within a few minutes. It isn't difficult really once you get it, but it took me hours to get there too.

In contrast, I solved Clockwork in less then 30 minutes. Not lightning quick, but much quicker than Step By Step.