heater puzzle (Deponia 3, "Goodbye Deponia")

So you're stuck on the heater puzzle... you've already clicked lots of buttons, and all the instructions out there only tell you how to solve it from the default settings... and you don't want to or can't load a save file to start over: this guide is for you. All three of you.

Introduction

It happens: you play for a long time without saving. You had no reason to anticipate being blocked by a mini game that doesn't have a "skip" button, but now bam! there it is, and you're stuck. After clicking for a while, you look for help online... but all the guides assume you're starting from the default settings. WHAT. NOW. Do you have to load an old save file and replay all the stuff you just spent a few hours working through, just to get the puzzle back to its default settings? Well, you totally could, cuz it'll probably go a lot quicker now that you know what you're doing. But the point is that now you don't have to if you don't want to, thanks to this almost entirely superfluous guide!

how to use this guide

Players who haven't clicked anything and are starting from the default configuration can choose any one of the 4 solutions below. Obviously YOU don't need more than one solution; the extras are provided for the benefit of players who HAVE clicked stuff and are NOT starting from the default configuration...

Look through the patterns involved with the solutions and see if any match the one that's holding you up in-game. These basic patterns are all symmetrical, so if yours is asymmetrical, you should either try to make yours symmetrical before searching the patterns, or check the 3 asymmetrical pattern groups at the end of the guide.

If you can't find your pattern anywhere here, try clicking a few buttons (in your game, that is) and then look through the guide again. Aim for symmetry if possible. If you feel like telling me about your unrepresented pattern, i'd be interested to hear it...just know that i only check the comments in March (long story), so it may be a while before you get any acknowledgement.

how to play

Each of the 5 Buttons surrounding the grid of lights toggles all 3 elements in its row, column, or diagonal line. For example, from the starting layout, which looks like this:


...pressing "Button on the Diagonal" (over there by the pie machine) creates this:

In the three cells affected by the Diagonal button, both reds have changed to blue, and the blue cell has turned red.

"Button on the Side" toggles the center row ( ↔ ). The Left, Middle, and Right Buttons toggle their corresponding columns ( ↕ ).

The Lever (lower left corner) flips the whole board horizontally, which would change the previous example to this:


When all 9 lights are blue, you win!

solution 1

pattern nickname	variation A	variation B	instructions
donut (variation A = default)			click: Middle Button result: pattern "capital H"
capital H			click: Button on the Diagonal result: pattern "z 1"
z 1			click: Lever result: pattern "z 2"
z 2			click: Button on the Diagonal result: 3 horizontal stripes

Next step: click Button on the Side to toggle center row.
Result: all lights are now the same color (variation A = all blue, variation B = all red).

Next step, variation B only: use Left, Middle, and Right Buttons to switch all columns to blue.

solution 2

pattern nickname	variation A	variation B	instructions
donut (variation A = default)			click: Button on the Side result: pattern "capital i"
capital i			click: Middle Button result: pattern "plus"
plus			click: Button on the diagonal result: pattern "slash ▞"
slash ▞			click: Lever result: a backslash (like pattern "slash ▞," but going the other way)

Next step: click Button on the Diagonal.
Result: all lights are now the same color (variation A = all blue, variation B = all red).

Next step, variation B only: use Left, Middle, and Right Buttons to switch all columns to blue.

solution 3

pattern nickname	variation A	variation B	instructions
donut (variation A = default)			click: Button on the Diagonal result: pattern "corner dots 1 ▚"
corner dots 1 ▚			click: Lever result: pattern "corner dots 2 ▞"
corner dots 2 ▞			click: Button on the Diagonal result: pattern "letter X"
letter X			click: Button on the Side result: 3 vertical stripes

Next step(s): use Left, Middle, and/or Right Button(s) to switch red column(s) to blue.

solution 4

pattern nickname	variation A	variation B	instructions
donut (variation A = default)			click: Button on the Diagonal result: pattern "corner dots 1 ▚"
corner dots 1 ▚			click: Button on the Side result: pattern "z 3 ▚"
z 3 ▚			click: Lever result: pattern "z 4 ▞"
z 4 ▞			click: Button on the Diagonal result: 3 vertical stripes

Next step(s): use Left, Middle, and/or Right Button(s) to switch red column(s) to blue.

pattern "curly brace"

pattern nickname	blue variation	red variation	instructions
curly brace 1 {			click: Right Button
curly brace 2 }			click: Left Button

Result: pattern "plus."
Next step: go to solution 2.

pattern "question mark"

group 1

blue ? A

blue ? B

red ? A

red ? B

If you see your pattern in group 1: click Left Button.
Result: a diagonal line, like a backslash.

group 2

blue ? C

blue ? D

red ? C

red ? D

If you see your pattern in group 2: click Right Button.
Result: a diagonal line, like a slash.

next step, both groups:

Go to solution 2.

pattern "bar chart"

So named because in its right-side-up orientation (as in blue 📊 A) it has 3 vertical lines of differing heights, much like the "bar chart" emoji i used in the table headers below.

group 1

blue 📊 A

blue 📊 B

red 📊 A

red 📊 B

If you see your pattern in group 1: click Left Button.
Result: pattern "z 1".

group 2

blue 📊 C

blue 📊 D

red 📊 C

red 📊 D

If you see your pattern in group 2: click Right Button.
Result: pattern "z 2".

next step, both groups:

Go to solution 1.

Link to my Deponia 3 walkthrough

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=891545311

[mishalunchbox]

Dear posterity: i just completely changed this guide, hopefully making it more helpful. I mention this mainly because i like to keep track of which comments are based on the old version without having to cross-reference dates. I'm just nutty like that, okay???

[mishalunchbox]

Thank you both for the feedback! I'm so glad this turned out to be worth the effort!

[Kyrocryptic]

Woah thanks! I just didn't get what that lever did, though it was a thing i need to press in the end.

[NgVt]

You're a life(time/sanity)-saver!