Resonance - Now on Steam!

[stu]

Spoiler

-   The “Lament Configuration” puzzle in Tortoise’s was truly hellish! Is there any other way than trail and error? After some time I really felt like Frank Cotton, messing with the box for several hours.

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Spoiler

didn't you use the ultra sonograph on the puzzle box? wow, that's hardcore.

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[an Urpney]

Spoiler

-   The “Lament Configuration” puzzle in Tortoise’s was truly hellish! Is there any other way than trail and error? After some time I really felt like Frank Cotton, messing with the box for several hours.

[close]

Spoiler

didn't you use the ultra sonograph on the puzzle box? wow, that's hardcore.

[close]

Spoiler

As I said - I felt like Frank Cotton in the first scene of Hellbound Hearts, spending hours working on that puzzle. Almost gave up several times, but in the end I didn't restore to online help ; ) Good thing noboty was at home at the time, as I was saying some really nasty things about the game : ) I've found the ultra sonograph much later in the police tech room. Will look for it on my current playthrough if I can get it by the time I have to solve the puzzlebox.

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[Vince Twelve]

Hey everybody!  I just got back from New York and had a blast at the release party, and then avoiding the internet for a few days!  The reviews have been great and all the feedback I'm hearing from players is very positive, so I couldn't be happier.

Wow Urpney, I never even considered that someone might solve that puzzle box by brute force.  That is hardcore!  Also, it's a totally optional puzzle! 

Urpney, responses to some of your other spoiler-heavy thoughts (not for people who haven't completed the game):

Spoiler

-   Why does Batra â€" leader of powerful secret organization runs his own errands (minor ones, like a random act of burglary) and uses his public name while doing undercover job? It’s kind of against being secret society : )
Yeah, I definitely thought of this, but for clarity and ease of understanding, I just brushed past it.  Though he isn't the leader, Reno pulls all the strings!
-   Ed acts kind of irrationally: why does he use the very last pair of priceless resonance devices to destroy the mainframe? Bomb placed somewhere there would do the job pretty well. No time! Use what you have I guess! Why does he shoot Anna no matter what she chooses in the vault? The idea is that he doesn't know what button she's reaching for.  All he sees is that she's reaching for the screen and isn't answering him when he calls to her.  It's supposed to tie into the theme of fate/predetermination and the meaningless of choices in the presence of a "cosmic" plan. Why does he even bother entering the vault if he still has the devices used to destroy the laboratory and knows how to build them? If you read Morales' journal, you'll see that Ed had stolen one single Resonance device, but had no way to make more without Dr. Morales' full research on capturing the Resonance particles.  He needed the contents of that vault.
-   Isn’t Tolstoy a surname rather than a name? Like in Leo Tolstoy or Alexei Tolstoy. There are ways to ask Ed about this in game.  His parents were book nerds and he hates his first name, hence he goes by "Ed"
-   The “Lament Configuration” puzzle in Tortoise’s was truly hellish! Is there any other way than trail and error? After some time I really felt like Frank Cotton, messing with the box for several hours. BTW, Tortoise himself shares some similarity (like his headgear and moustache) with Camerahead the Corny Cenobite â€" was that intentional? I can assure you that this was all unintentional! Also, as mentioned above, I meant for you to use the ultra-sonograph to solve this one.  You can get one in the morgue.  Much easier that way!  Also, you can skip this puzzle by black mailing Tortoise with the picture of Amul!

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As for my next game, I'm almost done with it!  I'll announce it soon and then release it in 2017.

[Stupot]

Spoiler

-   The “Lament Configuration” puzzle in Tortoise’s was truly hellish! Is there any other way than trail and error? After some time I really felt like Frank Cotton, messing with the box for several hours.

[close]

Spoiler

didn't you use the ultra sonograph on the puzzle box? wow, that's hardcore.

[close]

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As I said - I felt like Frank Cotton in the first scene of Hellbound Hearts, spending hours working on that puzzle. Almost gave up several times, but in the end I didn't restore to online help ; ) Good thing noboty was at home at the time, as I was saying some really nasty things about the game : ) I've found the ultra sonograph much later in the police tech room. Will look for it on my current playthrough if I can get it by the time I have to solve the puzzlebox.

[close]

Spoiler

I solved one side from just fiddling about and didn't have the foggiest clue how I'd done it, but then he kept saying how he needed to be able to see inside the box, so I left it alone until I figured out how to do that.

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[Snarky]

I also solved one side by random fiddling, then got stuck on the others without any idea what the logic of it was. But I figured I was just being dim, Eventually I had to look it up in a walkthrough. 

I got stuck a few other places as well (I suck at adventure games):

Spoiler

I didn't understand why I couldn't just go to the graveyard. All the other locations relevant to the investigation showed up automatically. I thought there was some other part of the game I had to complete first. Having to discuss a LTM first didn't really make sense to me.

I also couldn't figure out how to get the FTTN number from the Antevorta database, because I assumed I couldn't do it while the receptionist was there, so I was trying to find ways to get her to go away again. Talking to her about the mainframe (as Ray) didn't come to mind.

I thought I had to hack the security code on the police archive system, I didn't think to just have officer Johnsen do it for me. While in the other cases I felt I got stuck mainly because I didn't "read the designer's mind," so to speak, I really should have got this one. I had all the pieces of the solution, I just didn't have that creative insight. (Love the social engineering aspects of the hacking puzzles, by the way!)

I couldn't find the magnet in the police tech room. That seemed like just a pixel hunt. Gah! Only asking the other character for clues gave me any indication that there was anything there for me to take at all.

Finally, in the phone tracing puzzle, the tips from Bennett made me think I just had to keep the conversation going until all the dialogue options (both aggressive and interrogative) were gone, and I tried and tried over and over, but even with only the two-three that would always end the conversation left, it never worked. The walkthrough I found provided a sequence that worked, but I am still not sure what the logic of the puzzle is. One of the options will get him talking, but only if you've done certain of the other options first? What is the relationship there?

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Oh, and there was one thing I never figured out the use for:

Spoiler

The little note from Dr. Morales with a bunch of circles drawn together, and "Your uncle holds the key." What is it? What are you supposed to do with it? For that matter, I never figured out the relevance of the gravestone and the name "Rey," either.

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I didn't have that much trouble with any of the supposedly difficult mini games or logic puzzles, though. I think because they don't really require you to be particularly clever, just methodical.

I did come across one minor bug:

Spoiler

When you look inside the vault (trying to get the fuse), sometimes one of the other characters will appear inside the room. It seems to be when they're standing on the left edge of the room outside.

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All that said, I loved the game. In many ways it's as if you made a game with only my favorite things about adventure games: excellent design, a compelling story, low key humor, and plenty of varied, fair puzzles - all executed with impeccable polish. I was only half joking with the question about your next game, because I really hope that, having made your magnum opus, you haven't had enough of adventure game making. You know that "spare time" and "personal life" are overrated, right?!

But congratulations on how successful and well-received Resonance is, Vince. It's well deserved.

[an Urpney]

Wow Urpney, I never even considered that someone might solve that puzzle box by brute force.  That is hardcore!  Also, it's a totally optional puzzle! 

Well, I just solved the first side with ease, so I guessed it's what I'm supposed to do. Then, after about an hour, I realized I can't just randomly move the knob. So I began writign down what opens when I make a move. By this time I was sure that the puzzle bases on some invisible leavers that close some routes and open another. Combination of this and random moves allowed me to open another side. It was late. I went to bed. Had a dream about the puzzle. The next day I figured out something attaches itself to the slider and moves along with it on some routes.Solved it with this clue after another hours of frustration, curses and smoked cigs : )
Now I know I'm an idiot. With impossiboe achievement on my account.
And mixed feelings about myself ; )
Today I played it as it's supposed to be played - what a clever, nice, non-frustrating, intelligent puzzle!

Spoiler

- Yeah, I definitely thought of this, but for clarity and ease of understanding, I just brushed past it.  Though he isn't the leader, Reno pulls all the strings!
Still, I assume he's pretty important, judging by the vice-president scene in New World Order ending. And Reno looked more like Minority Report-esque kind of world observer, but that's just my impression : )
-  If you read Morales' journal, you'll see that Ed had stolen one single Resonance device, but had no way to make more without Dr. Morales' full research on capturing the Resonance particles.  He needed the contents of that vault.
Well, that's another point - last time we saw Ed, he was trapped in the vault. And next he's armed with gun and a resonance device and free - if Amul freed him, why did he let him have the device? And if he escaped all by himself - why did he leave the remaining devices for Amul to take? (yeap, I know, I'm moaning far too much for an excellent game Resonance is)
-   I can assure you that this was all unintentional!
Now this is pretty unexpected! Just look:
Hellraiser series' Lament Configuration (puzzlebox that opens gates to another dimension):

Hellraiser III Camerahead Cenobite:

Just look at his moustache!
Also, as mentioned above, I meant for you to use the ultra-sonograph to solve this one.  You can get one in the morgue.  Much easier that way!  Also, you can skip this puzzle by black mailing Tortoise with the picture of Amul!
Now I know ; ) Unfortunately one of the characters was blocking the bell and I had no idea I can summon Tortoise : )

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As for my next game, I'm almost done with it!  I'll announce it soon and then release it in 2017.

Hurry up! Pleeeeease?

Spoiler

The little note from Dr. Morales with a bunch of circles drawn together, and "Your uncle holds the key." What is it? What are you supposed to do with it? For that matter, I never figured out the relevance of the gravestone and the name "Rey," either.

[close]

Spoiler

You can use it on your "father's" grave if you didn't figure "te prometo" from the Javi's gift memory.

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Some minor bugs:

Spoiler

- You can pick up ultrasonograph in the tech room even if the doors are still locked
- If you swich to another character while Ray is logged into the mainframe, Ray disappears from the room (as the engine puts him in "mainframe terminal room"; you need to log out for him to appear again
- I get "all achievement unlocked" screen without geting "Perfect Score" one

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[Vince Twelve]

Thanks Snarky!  I've got no excuses for those places you got stuck or puzzles you had issues with, so I won't try to defend myself!  I should have added extra/better solutions and better hints!

Regarding the phone tracing puzzle:

Spoiler

The strategy there wasn't very clear and I would agree that this puzzle isn't very readable.  You are supposed to use aggressive options (avoiding the ones that piss him off too much or make him hang up right away) until his mood changes.  He says something like "Please believe me. I'm not a bad guy." and Ray says "Then prove it to me."  This is your chance to switch to interrogative and ask him some questions.  After two questions (I think) he says something indicating that you're wearing his patience down and you have to switch back to aggressive.  There are a couple ways you can solve it, but the gist is that you have to ask one of the two(?) interrogative options that gets him to mention Amul and Reno, and then ask the question that that unlocks.

I would like to have revised this more with a little more readability, but didn't do it well enough before the voice acting schedule caught up with me and it was locked in!  My bad!

[close]

And the thing you didn't find the use for:

Spoiler

How did you figure out "Te Prometo" without it?"  After Anna's recollection of her not-father's (uncle's) death, you have the B&W scene in the cemetery.  Use the key paper on the father's (uncle's) grave and you can make a rubbing which reveals the code.

[close]

Thanks for the feedback Snarky!  Always appreciated!

Urpney, thanks for the bug reports, and that is nuts about the Hellraiser thing!

[an Urpney]

And the thing you didn't find the use for:

Spoiler

How did you figure out "Te Prometo" without it?"  After Anna's recollection of her not-father's (uncle's) death, you have the B&W scene in the cemetery.  Use the key paper on the father's (uncle's) grave and you can make a rubbing which reveals the code.

[close]

Spoiler

From the ending of Javi's gift memory. Last sentence he says is "Te prometo" and it sounds pretty important (and I looked it up in google, so I remembered it too when I had to use it). But I figured out what I need to do with the piece of paper, so I did it as well.

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Urpney, thanks for the bug reports

My pleasure : )

Spoiler

and that is nuts about the Hellraiser thing!

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Spoiler

It really is! The box looked similar and when I learned that it's a puzzle box I was certain this whole room is a Hellraiser reference.

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[Snarky]

Thanks Snarky!  I've got no excuses for those places you got stuck or puzzles you had issues with, so I won't try to defend myself!  I should have added extra/better solutions and better hints!

Well, maybe if I'd got around to beta-testing the second third of the game (I assume the version that went out last fall stopped at the vault), you would have had feedback that those points were sticky for some players. But I, somewhat selfishly, decided that I'd rather experience the game in its fully finished state.    Anyway, some players are always going to fall off unless it's absolutely obvious, and I have no idea whether these are common roadblocks or just my idiosyncratic failures. (Except for the graveyard thing, which I've seen a few people mention.)

Regarding the phone tracing puzzle:

Spoiler

The strategy there wasn't very clear and I would agree that this puzzle isn't very readable.  You are supposed to use aggressive options (avoiding the ones that piss him off too much or make him hang up right away) until his mood changes.  He says something like "Please believe me. I'm not a bad guy." and Ray says "Then prove it to me."  This is your chance to switch to interrogative and ask him some questions.  After two questions (I think) he says something indicating that you're wearing his patience down and you have to switch back to aggressive.  There are a couple ways you can solve it, but the gist is that you have to ask one of the two(?) interrogative options that gets him to mention Amul and Reno, and then ask the question that that unlocks.

I would like to have revised this more with a little more readability, but didn't do it well enough before the voice acting schedule caught up with me and it was locked in!  My bad!

[close]

OK, I get it, and I thought that was what I was doing:

Spoiler

Every time I said something aggressive, Ed would immediately go on the defensive and be like "No.. n-no! I never meant... it wasn't supposed to be like this!" And I would take that as my cue to switch to the interrogative mode. And there his answers would always be much more confrontational, so I would switch back to aggressive straight away, alternating each time. And that seemed to work (he would stay on the line), but then at the end it wouldn't be enough. As far as I could tell, he never brought up the Antevorta duo (for example, when asked who he was working for, he would say "No one!"), though after the second time through the conversation I probably clicked through the answers pretty quickly. I guess I didn't push him with enough aggressive statements before switching to interrogation and asking one of the relevant questions?

It could be that the voice acting made Ed's emotional swings stronger and more immediate than you intended. Otherwise I thought the actor did a great job with the dramatic stuff in Ed's last few scenes.

[close]

And the thing you didn't find the use for:

Spoiler

How did you figure out "Te Prometo" without it?"  After Anna's recollection of her not-father's (uncle's) death, you have the B&W scene in the cemetery.  Use the key paper on the father's (uncle's) grave and you can make a rubbing which reveals the code.

[close]

Thanks for the feedback Snarky!  Always appreciated!

Spoiler

Yes, I was expecting to use it as an overlay on something, and probably the gravestone, but I don't think I even realized the B&W scene was playable. Didn't the text entry GUI cover it up? Like Urpney says, it just seemed like the one significant thing Javi had ever said in Anna's memories, and with only two letters in the first word it seemed like the obvious thing to try.

What a fucked-up thing to use as a password, by the way: "Remember that time I promised you I would never leave you, and then later I killed your father and you never saw me again, even though I was just a few subway stops away? That's the memory of me I'd like you to focus on. BTW, I'm your real dad and here's an invention to destroy the world. okbye!"

Interestingly enough, making Dr. Morales a bit of a bastard to his daughter actually makes the story more logical, since he's the one who gets her killed by giving her sole access to the research that got him killed. He must have known he was putting her life at risk. Was that intentional, or was he supposed to be a sympathetic character?

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Oh, I just remembered another place I got stuck/confused: When you need a certain file from the drawer in the Antevorta filing cabinet, I didn't realize that was a text entry box. I don't think the cursor blinks? So I spent probably about a minute searching for blank files and trying to figure out how to use the code I had on the drawer. And that was the second time I played that sequence! I swear, it's a wonder I ever manage to complete any of these games.

[Stupot]

Finally finished!  Took me 12 hours in total, according to Steam, but did have to resort to a walkthrough on two occasions (wire puzzle and phone tracing).
Absolutely superb work all round. Can't wait to play again!

Couple of very minor bugs, if i may.

Spoiler

1) In Ozzy's office, before I had even opened the curtain to speak to him, I was able to hover over the blank space on the floor where the empty pill packet would eventually fall. In fact I was even able to pick it up, despite the fact that it wasn't supposed to be there yet.

2) I "solved" the wire puzzle late on in the game, as I had earlier managed to get into the lab through the front door.  However, when I did eventually do the wire puzzle  and got the heavy door to open, I was still unable to walk through it into the lobby.

[close]

One question:

Spoiler

I never did manage open any of the 12 locked drawers in the police station. Was this an optional extra thing?

[close]

Thanks Vince and the gang. This was well worth the wait, and then some.

[Kweepa]

Oh, I just remembered another place I got stuck/confused: When you need a certain file from the drawer in the Antevorta filing cabinet, I didn't realize that was a text entry box. I don't think the cursor blinks?

The cursor blinks. I just played that bit.

[Vince Twelve]

No way to open those, Stu!  They were involved in a puzzle that was cut.

[Sslaxx]

No way to open those, Stu!  They were involved in a puzzle that was cut.

How much content was cut?

[Frodo]

Loving the game so far.  Love the story, and the characters, and the whole Long Term Memory \ Short Term Memory thing.   

But I've come across a bug that makes the game crash.   

I'm in the hospital with Anna.

Spoiler

Dr Morales has died, and we're discussing his jouneal.  Figured out the code to open it, found the note where Morales said not to trust the police.

[close]

It cuts back to Ed and Anna in the hospital... the lift doors open, and the game crashes.  I get this error message. 

[Vince Twelve]

Yeah, thanks.  We've had a few people point that one out to us.  We'll probably be releasing a new version eventually that fixes that and the other handful of bugs we've seen.  That one is definitely the most serious bug we've gotten, though.

Sslax: That puzzle wasn't really cut, but instead turned into something else:

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Bennet was going to get a paper crane in there, instead, we had him go to Edgetown to have that first meeting with Reno.

[close]

There wasn't much cut from the game, actually.  If you look at my original design doc and the final game, they line up remarkably well.  Two things that I wish we could have left in, but were cut:

Spoiler

The character of the police chief was going to be introduced the first time Bennet goes upstairs in the police HQ.  Then, after tracing Ed's cell, the police chief would catch you and hold you at gunpoint until Reggie would swoop in and save you, pointing a gun at the chief while you escape.  This would have given a heroic wrap up to the character of Reggie.  This was cut because I was already overworking ProgZ, and because these two scenes were non-interactive and only padded the game out more without adding meaningful gameplay.

[close]

Spoiler

I wanted to have a "new game plus" mode unlocked after beating the game.  When playing through this mode, we would see the extra bits during the game of Ed enacting his plan.  Calling Amul & Reno.  Setting the timer on the Resonance device before going to meet Anna on the subway.  Talking with Amul/Reno about the thug sent to scare Anna, allowing Ed to be the hero, etc.  This was cut for time and because you can basically get all this information by asking Ed about the right LTMs during that crane scene.

[close]

Edit:
Urpney, I forgot to answer one of your questions:

Spoiler

Well, that's another point - last time we saw Ed, he was trapped in the vault. And next he's armed with gun and a resonance device and free - if Amul freed him, why did he let him have the device? And if he escaped all by himself - why did he leave the remaining devices for Amul to take? (yeap, I know, I'm moaning far too much for an excellent game Resonance is)

Ed wasn't trapped in the vault.  There was another door in that room.  And if you look at the map of that floor in the thermal scanner, you'll see that the door led to another one of the ventilation shafts like the one the group used to get down into the supercollider.  The idea is that this other door is probably a much easier way to travel to and from the vault and is probably how Dr. Morales was getting in and out.  Ed was out of the vault faster than Bennet & Ray

[close]

[Frodo]

Yeah, thanks.  We've had a few people point that one out to us.  We'll probably be releasing a new version eventually that fixes that and the other handful of bugs we've seen.  That one is definitely the most serious bug we've gotten, though.

Is there any way to prevent the game from crashing, or do I have to wait for a new version?   

[Vince Twelve]

If you reload your most recent save and try again, it might work.  Try doing things in a slightly different order.  I haven't gotten this bug myself, but I know other people have managed to work around it.  Again, really sorry for this, we'll get it fixed eventually, but have to make sure any changes and fixes are extremely well considered so we don't have a Fez debacle on our hands.

[Tramponline]

Yeah, thanks.  We've had a few people point that one out to us.  We'll probably be releasing a new version eventually that fixes that and the other handful of bugs we've seen.  That one is definitely the most serious bug we've gotten, though.

Is there any way to prevent the game from crashing, or do I have to wait for a new version?   

The bug only occurs switching characters in this scene.
If you do not switch back to Ed and just stay with Anna seems to do the trick for now. Hope you've got a save where you didn't switch to him yet.

[Frodo]

The bug only occurs switching characters in this scene.
If you do not switch back to Ed and just stay with Anna seems to do the trick for now. Hope you've got a save where you didn't switch to him yet.

Ahh, thanks Tramponline.  That worked.   

[Stupot]

If you look at my original design doc and the final game, they line up remarkably well.

Will you be releasing this to the general public any time in the near future?