Board 8 > Outer Wilds is pretty damn good

(+) Yeah! (+)

And yeah the Ash Twin project is wild. so many like 'oh, fuck, so that's what's going on' moments between this, the sun station, and the probe tracking module

(No longer a spoiler for you really) (this stuff is just curiosity on what info you had when you solved it) did you find the information that is in black hole forge I think about how the towers don't need to align perfectly but can be off by a few degrees and that anyone that walks into the warp is immediately warped out? I think those were the hints that are supposed to tell you to run into the warp after the sand starts to come down (since that's when the center of ash/ember twins is overhead, aka when you can warp)

Yeah man, I read up on that especially after your nudge. I landed in the Black Hole Forge a while back, early on in the playthrough.

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We do not have much connection, you and I. Still, this encounter feels special. I hope you won't mind if I think of you as a friend.

Maybe my favorite line in the game. Hit me hard.

And yes, when approaching Solanum, my arms were covered in goosebumps. Can't remember the last time a game got a reaction like that out of me. Maybe endgame Mass Effect 3 over eight years ago.

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XIII_rocks posted...

Yeah man, I read up on that especially after your nudge. I landed in the Black Hole Forge a while back, early on in the playthrough.

"Landed on" is funny, I didn't realize you could get there that way. There is another, more intended way to enter Black Hole Forge that I didn't figure out until fairly late in the game

Yeah I brute-forced it a bit.

This is really frustrating btw - I got into the ATP twice, fairly easily, but now I'm ready to go for the end run I keep screwing up and getting blown into the air before I can touch the panel.

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I just played this for like 15 hours straight and don't regret it at all
Bawling
What a masterpiece holy shit.

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It's a very good game.

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Outer Wilds:

XIII_rocks posted...

What a masterpiece holy shit.

This topic really makes me want to replay it. The beautiful thing is everything is so intricately connected, even though I remember the biggest points (I could just finish the game if I want to) it's very difficult to remember all of that so it's like you can rediscover it anew.

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About as spiritual a journey as I've ever seen expressed in a video game.

I really wish I could recommend it to non-gamer and casual gamer friends, but the game mechanics and methods of progression are really complex. Wouldn't have it any other way, though. I really think the emotional impact would be lost if it were a cakewalk.

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CaptainOfCrush posted...

About as spiritual a journey as I've ever seen expressed in a video game.

This is a good way of describing it honestly

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I have a couple of questions, I guess for the sake of closure/clarity. Pretty sure I've got it but just checking

So:
The Ash Twin project was designed to create a time loop and was to be powered by a supernova.

Was the purpose of the time loop to send different probes (using the orbital cannon)? In that case, if it was a loop, how did it go to a different place each time?

Did the statues only activate because the Supernova happened 22 minutes later, powering the Ash Twin project?
And both me and Gabbro happened to be near a statue at the time to get roped into it?
Why do I start at the campfire, not the observatory?

Just a little short on some bits and pieces here.
And the more I think about it the more I think I don't have it

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XIII_rocks posted...

I have a couple of questions, I guess for the sake of closure/clarity. Pretty sure I've got it but just checking

So:
The Ash Twin project was designed to create a time loop and was to be powered by a supernova.

Was the purpose of the time loop to send different probes (using the orbital cannon)? In that case, if it was a loop, how did it go to a different place each time?

Did the statues only activate because the Supernova happened 22 minutes later, powering the Ash Twin project?
And both me and Gabbro happened to be near a statue at the time to get roped into it?
Why do I start at the campfire, not the observatory?

Just a little short on some bits and pieces here.
And the more I think about it the more I think I don't have it

The third mask was sending the data back in time with each launch/loop, prompting the cannon to fire at a different location each time afterward.

Yes, the ATP was activated because of the supernova, but it's worth noting that many loops were completed with just probe tracking module and not you/Gabbro at first until the Eye was discovered. When the eye was discovered, the remaining statues were activated and paired with whoever was nearby.

The campfire is where you were at the start of the ATP loop (despite pairing with the statue later).


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In that case, re the last question, why does the sun never go supernova if you wait before the statue gets you?
Sorry, I have trouble getting my head around time stuff sometimes.

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That's just a game mechanic to let you do the tutorial.
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XIII_rocks posted...

In that case, re the last question, why does the sun never go supernova if you wait before the statue gets you?
Sorry, I have trouble getting my head around time stuff sometimes.

Pretty sure that's just a game construct so that it doesn't explode while you're in the tutorial

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Ah alright I guess I can live with that

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OK so let me timeline this so I can be sure

-Nomai discover the eye of the universe is in my solar system
-Nomai crash land in dark bramble
-Nomai build civilization and start looking for eye
-Nomai discover weird time shit happens with black holes and white holes
-Nomai harness this to create Ash Twin project powered by Supernova, which would allow them to send a probe from the cannon to random parts of the solar system until eventually it finds the Eye of the Universe
-However they were unable to supernova the sun, then, later, Ghost Matter exploded out of the Interloper and killed them all. Unevolved Hearthians were OK as they were underwater at the time, then evolved later
-Thousands or millions or whatever years later, the Sun naturally goes Supernova (because the universe is reaching its heat death)
-This activates the Ash Twin project so those 22 minutes before the Supernova repeatedly loop, with the probe being sent to a different place each time.
-Eventually, after X number of loops, the probe finds the Eye of the Universe, which activates the Ash Twin project and wakes up the two living statues, tying the closest living creatures to said statues to it, one of which is me. Presumably the Nomai's plan would be to deactivate the ATP once they have the desired coordinates, to prevent the manufactured Supernova.
-Sidenote: their plan was ballsy to the point of absurdity - essentially wanting to kill themselves repeatedly (though they'd have no knowledge of it I guess) until the probe found the eye.
-Also guessing that the probe was programmed to never deviate from its coordinates once it finds the coordinates it wants (i.e. it will repeatedly fire at the Eye rather than looking all over like it did before).
-I find the Eye of the Universe using the vessel.
-Crazy fucked up quantum shit happens and then the universe dies as Chert said it was going to, with me having broken the loop but surviving because I now exist on a quantum level - like Solanum? - or because in the eye I'm "outside" the universe, or both(?).
-I end up in the eye of the universe. Jumping into the eye of the universe - the big orb that is created over the campfire - at the end creates, I guess, a Big Bang and restarts life. Not sure why that would actually happen though? Is it because the eye is being observed?
-Also not entirely sure why all the friends were there at the end apart from it being a beautiful scene, but I don't want to logic that one too much and am largely happy to have that be a thematic thing rather than a scientific one

Sorry for repeating myself, I just like laying things out like this and starting from the beginning. Anything big I'm missing?

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That seems like pretty much everything.

In terms of why it creates a big bang, yeah, it's due to you (as a conscious observer) entering the eye. The act of entering collapses the probability of the overall universe to a single point which then blows up and restarts. That's how I interpreted it anyway.

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You've mostly got it! Just one thing:
XIII_rocks posted...

-Also guessing that the probe was programmed to never deviate from its coordinates once it finds the coordinates it wants (i.e. it will repeatedly fire at the Eye rather than looking all over like it did before).

This one is actually not true. The coordinates were logged, but you can still see the probe firing in a different direction every time you wake up!

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VintageGin posted...

That seems like pretty much everything.

In terms of why it creates a big bang, yeah, it's due to you (as a conscious observer) entering the eye. The act of entering collapses the probability of the overall universe to a single point which then blows up and restarts. That's how I interpreted it anyway.

Also remember the Eye has a sort of intelligence, enough to create a signal for the Nomai to follow for the sole purpose of triggering the events that would lead to you finding and entering the Eye.

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Xiahou Shake posted...

This one is actually not true. The coordinates were logged, but you can still see the probe firing in a different direction every time you wake up!

Oh shit. Now you mention it, yeah.
So they just saved the eye coordinates and kept randomly firing the probe any which way

i take it there's no way to find said probe?

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JackMan posted...

Also remember the Eye has a sort of intelligence, enough to create a signal for the Nomai to follow for the sole purpose of triggering the events that would lead to you finding and entering the Eye.

And it didn't just use the Nomai to do this because it was...too early, I suppose? The eye wanted me to find and enter it at more or less the exact moment of heat death so as to maximize life, and going too early would almost be a waste of time?

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XIII_rocks posted...

Oh shit. Now you mention it, yeah.
So they just saved the eye coordinates and kept randomly firing the probe any which way

i take it there's no way to find said probe?

It's actually possible to find it and catch up to it, but I don't think there's anything you can really do with it

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XIII_rocks posted...

And it didn't just use the Nomai to do this because it was...too early, I suppose? The eye wanted me to find and enter it at more or less the exact moment of heat death so as to maximize life, and going too early would almost be a waste of time?

Basically. It's exact intentions aren't known, but it definitely needed a conscious observer during the end of the universe. If you take the core and go to the Quantum Moon, you 'live' there forever in an 'undead' state like Solanum. Additionally, if you go to the Eye without meeting Solanum, the planet at the end is black and has no sentient life on it, so I guess it needed you to have met Solanum in order to create new life in the new universe.

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Did you fire the probe into the eye?

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It is possible for this to happen to the probe

(spoilers, sorta, for something that can happen) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CWGrN_IAE4

WazzupGenius00 posted...

Did you fire the camera probe into the eye?

Don't think so, it was telling me I had no connection to the scout or something

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Paratroopa1 posted...

It is possible for this to happen to the probe

(spoilers, sorta, for something that can happen) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CWGrN_IAE4

I love that this is possible. So cool.

Also just saw a probably true theory that the Eye's signal to the Nomai was from somebody from the previous universe, and that the new signal would likely be the song created at the end.
God damn I rewatched the ending and want to cry again.

Fuck. This might be my favourite game ever. Idk. I need some time for it to sit.

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It's a travesty that I didn't play Outer Wilds in time to nominate it for GOTD2 and it's a travesty that it was snubbed/would have lost in round 1 anyway

CaptainOfCrush posted...

I really wish I could recommend it to non-gamer and casual gamer friends, but the game mechanics and methods of progression are really complex.

I dunno. I think the mechanics are quite simple (move and jump). The puzzles are all environmental and intellectual. There's no twitch or skill involved, until the end. The first person perspective might be confusing. But I would still recommend it more than other games.

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The ship/jetpack controls are a big obstacle even for many regular gamers, I dunno how easily they could pick up on those.

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Does the game ever explain Dark Bramble? I had assumed it was going to be more story relevant, but it just ended up being a scary place.

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I assume it's like the Ghost Matter. Its origin is "space".

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I don't remember the specifics but Dark Bramble grew from one of the bramble seeds that collided with another planet, and the bramble seeds that you see on other planets like Timber Hearth would have grown and overtaken those planets to be like Dark Bramble. We don't know where it came from though.

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I'm surprised at how many game players I've heard hating the controls (not on board 8). I thought they were the best flight controls I've ever used in a game--possibly the first time I've enjoyed a space or flight game's controls.

So easy to pick up, so easy to do exactly what I want. And you can hit stuff pretty hard and it's no big deal. And the auto-pilot is very convenient.

I mean, if someone hasn't played any first person game before, I'd totally understand not being good at these space controls...but surely most gamer people have played an FPS??

My only guess is maybe they only got as far as the toy spaceship in the tutorial? Which doesn't really feel like the rest of the game's flight.

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I dunno, I admit I did have a fair bit of trouble with Outer Wild's controls throughout. I don't think they're *bad* (in fact, I think they're pretty much designed how they need to be) but I do find them *difficult*.

XIII_rocks posted...

Also found an island on giant's deep with a red creature encased. I couldn't get inside it or interact with it, felt like a waste of time. There was ghost matter there though so I thought it might be something.

So I'm trying to to the Archaeologist achievement
Turned out I totally missed Feldspar's recording about reaching the Giant's Deep core and heading to Dark Bramble when I first went here. I wonder if that would have changed the order I did stuff at all.

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XIII_rocks posted...

So I'm trying to to the Archaeologist achievement
Turned out I totally missed Feldspar's recording about reaching the Giant's Deep core and heading to Dark Bramble when I first went here. I wonder if that would have changed the order I did stuff at all.

I missed this too, but when I went to Feldspar I was able to ask him about the Giant's Deep core anyway.

I have the archaeologist achievement and I know about some of the easier things to miss so feel free to ask me, there were three things I needed to look up and Feldspar's recording was one of them

Nah I just got it, don't worry. Last thing was in the Vessel - I didn't know you could go down as well as up in the main room. There was a recording there I missed.

Last two hours have been spent getting Hotshot.

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(Which is beyond asinine, wow)

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I'm so glad I recorded my playthrough of Outer Wilds, because I can go back and rewatch certain moments when I'm reminded of them. Just rewatched me getting Hotshot and... yeah, I forgot how annoying that was.

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I get in between the two parts of the station but it's impossible to keep it steady and eject, and when you eject you get fired in any random direction, it seems. And by the time you figure out where you are, the station is gone.

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Once you get close enough, you can lock onto the station and then match velocity. It's then a case of landing on top and quickly getting out of the ship and in before the force of the station flings you back out into space.

You can also face the entrance and eject the cockpit into it, apparently, but I never had any success with that.

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This was my successful attempt, for reference:

https://youtu.be/HkAsZf_amb0?t=1617

Or you can watch from 21:07 if you want to see all my unsuccessful attempts too!

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Yeah I knew about matching velocity. Whenever I tried to get out of the ship manually, it was impossible - gravity screwed with me.

I'll try again tonight maybe

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Oh yeah, you get pinned to the back of the ship, that's why I tried landing it on the roof instead, seemed to lessen the effect.

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Got it just now, via ejecting. Got lucky I guess. 2 day break probably helped. Felt easier once I got in the swing of things. First 4 or 5 attempts I crashed into the sun again, but the first time I actually got to the station this time I was able to make that final step.

Woo! Just one achievement left - beat the game in one loop.
So I'll need to start a new game. Do I have to delete my completed save file to get it?

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I played around getting the different endings and everything before deleting the file. Didn't want to say goodbye. Then the Anglerfish got me a couple of times so I guess I got to play a bit longer.

I'm so sad to be done with this.

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Watching the documentary now

I didn't know Masi Oka was the Heroes guy, wtf? That's a connection I did not expect

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