Jesus. The sense of discovery in this game is sublime.
I just solved one of the larger mysteries and it was insane.
I just solved one of the larger mysteries and it was insane.
The fucking Quantum Moon and its sixth location.
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Outer Wilds |OT| Life, the universe, and everything else all in 20 minutes!
- Thread starter Jawmuncher
- Start date
Get chills just thinking about this moment. What I would give to experience this game like it were the first time again.
Finally sat down to start this a couple days ago. After a couple extended binge sessions, I think I'm on the cusp of being done; between rumors and my own notes (been a couple years since I've broken out a notepad for a game!), I think I just have Dark Bramble, a return trip to the Quantum Moon now that I know the third rule, and seeing what happens if I pull the Ash Twin warp core.
I've been trying to think of what the game reminds me so much of and it finally occurred to me that it's The Witness, which itself was the first game in quite some time to put me in this specific kind of mood. It's just... intoxicating. The further I progress the less there is out in the world that I don't understand, and as those gaps in knowledge and experience rapidly fill themselves in, I can't help but feel melancholic that I won't be able to learn the world for the first time again.
I've been trying to think of what the game reminds me so much of and it finally occurred to me that it's The Witness, which itself was the first game in quite some time to put me in this specific kind of mood. It's just... intoxicating. The further I progress the less there is out in the world that I don't understand, and as those gaps in knowledge and experience rapidly fill themselves in, I can't help but feel melancholic that I won't be able to learn the world for the first time again.
Yep, The Witness is the perfect analogue. Gameplay could not be more different, but the reasons the game is good are very much the same.
I am playing Subnautica right now and while the gameplay is very different, I find the sense of discovery very similar.
Finished the game with a fantastic ending after receiving a small hint from a friend on how to enter
The ending I initiateed left me legitimately speechless, elated, sad, and hopeful.
Outer Wilds > Bloodborne for personal GOTG and I didn't even think that was possible!
the solar station.
Outer Wilds > Bloodborne for personal GOTG and I didn't even think that was possible!
I always jet packed through the Bramble past the three anglerish puzzle to avoid all sound, as I always was caught when I piloted my ship. He sat and watched, laughing and digging the idea despite finding it absurd. Still jumped to the Eye though and it was all it promised and so much more.
I played and finished Outer Wilds when it was released earlier this year... 2 parts of the game had stuck with me over the months though - the music and the ending.
I decided that over the Christmas period, I wanted to revisit the game and explore every part of every world, read every piece of lore and just enjoy the music... even as the supernova swept over me... time and time again.
I just watched the ending happen before me once more and now I am left feeling like this game is (as I originally thought) a god damn masterpiece. It's so unique and special that it deserves every accolade and I am genuinely excited for my memory to forget parts of it again so I can replay it for a third time sometime next year.
I decided that over the Christmas period, I wanted to revisit the game and explore every part of every world, read every piece of lore and just enjoy the music... even as the supernova swept over me... time and time again.
I just watched the ending happen before me once more and now I am left feeling like this game is (as I originally thought) a god damn masterpiece. It's so unique and special that it deserves every accolade and I am genuinely excited for my memory to forget parts of it again so I can replay it for a third time sometime next year.
The Witness is a top 5-10 game of the gen for me - which is noteworthy because I cannot tell you a "puzzle" game I have ever played. At least in that vein. I would put the Outer Wilds a little below that. I did not love the amount crafting aspect of No Man's Sky. That gameplay mechanic is not my favorite - though I can tolerate it.
With that said, would you (or anyone else kind enough to throw an opinion my way) strongly suggest Subnautica for me? I see statements like "I wish I could erase my mind and play it all over again," which is the type of thing I say for truly amazing games. I've also thought about Talos Principle but I'm less less inclined to play that, for reasons I don't even know.
Perhaps you already know: the soundtrack is on Apple Music and Spotify. While a bit repetitive, there are some pieces that transport me back to that game, including specific parts that were astounding to play through.
you definitely have to do a lot of crafting, so if that's going to be a turn off I'd have a hard time recommending it
I think this is going to be the first game that I bought on the EGS. Hearing the Giant Bomb crew talk about it makes it hard to say no.
Spent some time jetting around the solar system poking at the remaining few things I was curious about (glad I went back to the core of Timber Hearth), and I think I have enough knowledge to go for what I assume is the end of the game, but I'm finding that I'm kind of hesitant to. Not just in the usual "not wanting a good thing to end" kind of way, but also, like... genuine concern of what the ending will bring? I have suspicions of what's in store, but I'm walking around town again and listening to that Friday Night Lights-esque track that starts playing, and wondering what will come of all of this if I try to do what I think I need to do and cock it up. I've felt nervous going into the ending of games before, but rarely this specific kind of anxiety. It's hard to explain.
On a different note, I ran into something that strikes me as equally likely to be a glitch or an accidental glimpse of what's to come, and I'm just kind of amused:
I fired a probe inside the Ash Twin Project moments before the sun went supernova on my last loop, and after waking up, it was still sitting there. I can use another probe but I can't retrieve it due to duplicate signals. (I wonder if I'll have three probes now, lol.)
Edit: ...alright well there's a bit of an update on the above
On a different note, I ran into something that strikes me as equally likely to be a glitch or an accidental glimpse of what's to come, and I'm just kind of amused:
I fired a probe inside the Ash Twin Project moments before the sun went supernova on my last loop, and after waking up, it was still sitting there. I can use another probe but I can't retrieve it due to duplicate signals. (I wonder if I'll have three probes now, lol.)
Edit: ...alright well there's a bit of an update on the above
Loaded back in, still one scout hanging out inside the Ash Twin Project. As I got to the ship and suited up, I managed to mistakenly hit RB and fired an irretrievable second scout inside my ship. I was planning on returning to ATP and firing another scout right before the loop just to see what would happen if I recreated the same circumstances, so since I blew it by already firing a second scout, I decided to just fly into the sun, and...
...lol. Loved the kazoo credits. (Also the second time I've seen credits, since I jumped into the geyser pre-first-loop.)
This dumped me back to the main menu with "load last save" instead of "continue," and it looks like it's cleared out the duplicate scout situation, which is good because I was worried I'd need to use them going forward lol.
...lol. Loved the kazoo credits. (Also the second time I've seen credits, since I jumped into the geyser pre-first-loop.)
This dumped me back to the main menu with "load last save" instead of "continue," and it looks like it's cleared out the duplicate scout situation, which is good because I was worried I'd need to use them going forward lol.
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Anyone have suggestions on how to approach the game early on? I've only heard the best things, but about an hour in I'm just super confused and directionless, and that feeling is really compounded by how poor the performance is on my Pro. I'm not going to give up this soon, but I really have no idea what to do other than use the signal scanner to find the astronauts playing instruments, which isn't particularly enticing.
If you speak to the other astronauts there will be a dialogue option that basically says "What should I be doing here?" and they'll let you know about some hotspots on their respective planets to explore.
Considering everything else is so open I don't know what I'd even consider "starting" places to go beyond Timber Hearth and its moon. Try to clear up as much of them as you can first, maybe? Otherwise I might suggest tuning your listening device to Distress Beacons and tracking those down. They definitely lead to more expansive arms of the story.
Yep, I was in the same boat, the direction or lack thereof early on can lead to wandering around finding nothing. As they mentioned though ,going to the moon early should get you some good 'huh whats up with that' thoughts, and then talking to the other Hearthians from Outer Wilds on the various planets gives you at least a spot to explore on each world. From there, you should be reading the clues and figuring out what the questions even are, the game doesn't really spell them out.
If you need a more robotic approach (not a negative, it helped me a lot), the ship log in rumor mode will explicitly tell you what you have heard, where it leads, when you've fully explored a location, etc.You can use that to easily kind of checklist things and connect the dots (pretty literally, it's like an idea web layout) to other things that might relate.
It probably took me a full 2 hours or so to really start having 'ah ha!' moments where I felt like I had some direction beyond "well let's see what this says" just because of how I was playing the game, if that is you, trust me it gets better. Once you start to figure one thing out it will all start to make sense. It's possible to just touch on each mystery at a surface level and end up not feeling like you did anything, but they all solve each other in tandem in many ways, so what you learn solving one thing will really make others click.
If you need a more robotic approach (not a negative, it helped me a lot), the ship log in rumor mode will explicitly tell you what you have heard, where it leads, when you've fully explored a location, etc.You can use that to easily kind of checklist things and connect the dots (pretty literally, it's like an idea web layout) to other things that might relate.
It probably took me a full 2 hours or so to really start having 'ah ha!' moments where I felt like I had some direction beyond "well let's see what this says" just because of how I was playing the game, if that is you, trust me it gets better. Once you start to figure one thing out it will all start to make sense. It's possible to just touch on each mystery at a surface level and end up not feeling like you did anything, but they all solve each other in tandem in many ways, so what you learn solving one thing will really make others click.
Finished the game, and yeah, pretty handily my #1 for 2019, and an immediate addition to my list of all-time favorites. Loved every moment of it, and it had the exact type of ending I eventually came to hope for.
There are few things I love more than a game that encourages and rewards curious experimentation.
I fired a probe inside the Ash Twin Project moments before the sun went supernova on my last loop, and after waking up, it was still sitting there. I can use another probe but I can't retrieve it due to duplicate signals. (I wonder if I'll have three probes now, lol.)Loaded back in, still one scout hanging out inside the Ash Twin Project. As I got to the ship and suited up, I managed to mistakenly hit RB and fired an irretrievable second scout inside my ship. I was planning on returning to ATP and firing another scout right before the loop just to see what would happen if I recreated the same circumstances, so since I blew it by already firing a second scout, I decided to just fly into the sun, and...
...lol. Loved the kazoo credits. (Also the second time I've seen credits, since I jumped into the geyser pre-first-loop.)
This dumped me back to the main menu with "load last save" instead of "continue," and it looks like it's cleared out the duplicate scout situation, which is good because I was worried I'd need to use them going forward lol.
Looked it up and I guess I stumbled into the stuff that was recently patched in, except I wound up with only a duplicate probe and not a duplicate me. It's maybe a little tonally out of step with the rest of the game - something best suited for a postgame return than a first playthrough - but I did get a kick out of the conversation prompts once I went back to see it. Also did the obligatory second jump into the black hole to see if it'd continue the causality loop, which it did, with a different bit of dialogue to boot. I have the game running to see if there's any further unique dialogue if I go one loop deeper lol.
There are few things I love more than a game that encourages and rewards curious experimentation.
I've been trying to get into this game for a while, basically since launch. Here I go again, but it's still fucking horribly optimized and has half a second of input lag. I've almost given up hope, is there anything I can do to fix it? RDR2 runs better on my PC than this.
I really ought to go back and watch the ending again and fill out my final few ship log entries. I feel like I missed out on the ending a bit as I was hurrying through it.
What an absolutely wonderful game. Can't believe I didn't pick it up till now.
Quick question:
Quick question:
Does not meeting the Nomai on the Quantum Moon mean you can't beat the game? Does the Nomai not appear in the ending musical sequence, if you don't do this? I absolutely loved the progression to get there, but it felt oddly disconnected from reaching the Eye and finishing the game.
If you don't meet her on the Quantum Moon she won't show up and add her music to the new big bang. I believe that changes that final screen you get slightly too.
Been playing this game since release, but there's a few parts I'm stuck on. Trying really hard to avoid any and all spoilers, but with game of the year stuff I want to watch and listen to I am feeling obligated to wrap this up. Would anyone be willing to help give me vague clues to solving problems I've been beating my head against? Maybe I just need to explore other areas further or perhaps I'm just missing something obvious.
Here's the biggest roadblock currently
About a certain moon:
Here's the biggest roadblock currently
About a certain moon:
on the quantum moon I've obviously landed and I've also found the tower. Once inside I can figure out changing locations, but I can't seem to get the other 2 quantum rules to check off on the wall. I've done tower about using the camera to keep things persistent (which also had the gravity crystals?) and maybe I've done the other tower, I can't remember.
If you can ascend the Tower of Quantum Knowledge, you should then be good to go.
Hrm. Well, it's actually tied to multiple aspects of the game.
A certain moving rock and where exactly you land on the quantum moon makes all the difference.
Thank you both.
New roadblock?
I have no solved the 6rj location, but when I do what I thought was "logical" I ended up back at timber hearth?
So hey, random shoutouts to Outer Wilds, but at Giant Bomb, it won game of the year and least two of the members of that team said it was one of the best games they've ever played.
For a slightly bigger hint: Go to the museum and look at the transporting rock. Is there one of those elsewhere? That might teach you something on that very planet...
Further hint: ...and on Ember Twin there may be another quantum rock you can mess with. Remember the rules of quantum travel you are being taught?
Mostly giving it away: Go to the quantum rock underground in Ember Twin. Turn your light off and on. It will move you around the rock on the planet. This can also be used elsewhere to move your "location" when you're in the dark.
So, I'm not exactly sure what this means you're stuck on, but there is definitely stuff on tinder hearth that should teach you something about some of this.
For a slightly bigger hint: Go to the museum and look at the transporting rock. Is there one of those elsewhere? That might teach you something on that very planet...
Further hint: ...and on Ember Twin there may be another quantum rock you can mess with. Remember the rules of quantum travel you are being taught?
Mostly giving it away: Go to the quantum rock underground in Ember Twin. Turn your light off and on. It will move you around the rock on the planet. This can also be used elsewhere to move your "location" when you're in the dark.
Hey I didn't really consider that people looked as that half a day later as spoilers, so I've edited that out. I'm sorry, in any case.
But hey! GB are into Outer Wilds in general. It's talked about a fair bit in their end of year discussions.
I'm using the flashlight trick in the tower, but I'll get specific, so spoilers
I've talked to Solanum and read all the combinations of the stones. I jetpack up into the opening above us. I end up on timber hearth. Tried his vessel, but that just take me back to hollow...
Best spoilers?
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Yeah, I'm happy to see it on everyone's personal lists but still working through the many hours of diliberations podcasts.
Ironically I rushed through the Outer Wilds a bit so that GB wouldn't spoil me :D
But I agree with the personal lists. Outer Wilds was one of my favorite gaming experiences ever.
I think you got all of it.
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That's what I'm doing now. Want to hear the conversations, but have been plugging away slowly. I enjoyed puzzling it out, but time is not my friend it seems.
So I don't know if this is too spoilery but this is the only way I know how to respond to what you're saying here.
These conversations don't actually lead you to the end of the game. They're mostly filler for knowledge and noting how it's cool to meet a "living" Nomai and that she's alive in only one of her six lives. All of this with Solanum and the Quantum Moon is technically optional.
The actual path to the end of the game lies elsewhere, or at the very least doesn't necessarily require you to talk to her to end it. Different lessons can take you there.
The actual path to the end of the game lies elsewhere, or at the very least doesn't necessarily require you to talk to her to end it. Different lessons can take you there.
Maybe provide a picture of your rumour map if you want a really slight hint?
Oky, so, based on this, there is a bunch of things I could say, but let me say one major thing:
You have White Hole Station present on there. It's marked as having more to explore.
I really encourage you to explore everything you can there, even if that means flying right to the black hole and dropping in immediately. It's a charming place.
Follow-up if that doesn't do anything for you.
Just beaten this game.
I think I just had a religious experience.
honestly. this is my game of the year
I think I just had a religious experience.
honestly. this is my game of the year
so i want to know if i can get the intended ending with:
the advanced warp core taken from the ash twin project and the coordinates to the eye of the universe from the orbital cannon probe
i placed the core into the vessel and i put in the coordinates on the three panel thing, but that didn't seem to do anything. i'm probably still missing one important thing to bring to the vessel, but i could have also overlooked a very simple thing to do in the vessel in my panic! i'd just like confirmation so i know if i should keep looking for stuff or if i just flubbed moving shit around in there.
i've been to the quantum moon and talked to the nomai there, and i also jumped into the eye but that only spat me back out to a seemingly random south pole of the quantum moon.
also been to the sun station, the black hole forge, and the interloper.
if it's a big important thing i'm missing, i'd like a vague hint at what i should be directing my attention to!
i placed the core into the vessel and i put in the coordinates on the three panel thing, but that didn't seem to do anything. i'm probably still missing one important thing to bring to the vessel, but i could have also overlooked a very simple thing to do in the vessel in my panic! i'd just like confirmation so i know if i should keep looking for stuff or if i just flubbed moving shit around in there.
i've been to the quantum moon and talked to the nomai there, and i also jumped into the eye but that only spat me back out to a seemingly random south pole of the quantum moon.
also been to the sun station, the black hole forge, and the interloper.
if it's a big important thing i'm missing, i'd like a vague hint at what i should be directing my attention to!
Uh...honestly it sounds like you've done everything right. Once you input the correct coordinates, and you move the ball thing, the Vessel should take you straight away to the Eye of the Universe. Try again?
It's been a while since I played, but did you activate the engine with the control in the middle? Because if you didn't mess up the coordinates you're done once you start the ship up
Sounds like you did everything right but double check the coordinates you put in. Especially the one that looks like a C, I thought I did it right but when I checked again the top of the C was different than I thought.
i finished it
literally figured everything out on my own but needed help to make sure i just flipped the switch on top of the coordinates panel lol
teared up at the end. wow. what a powerful thing this is. definitely game of the year and absolutely a game of the decade contender.
literally figured everything out on my own but needed help to make sure i just flipped the switch on top of the coordinates panel lol
teared up at the end. wow. what a powerful thing this is. definitely game of the year and absolutely a game of the decade contender.
I beat the game and am sure I didn't even see a good third of the content. I love that. It's so rare to find a game that can still retain a sense of Mystery after it is finished.
I never unraveled the secrets of the quantum moon. I never fully explored most of the planets. But finding my way to the solutions in my own way was great. I really enjoyed my time with it.
I never unraveled the secrets of the quantum moon. I never fully explored most of the planets. But finding my way to the solutions in my own way was great. I really enjoyed my time with it.
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I just started this game, like really just started it. So I know this is premature, but I suck at flying, like constantly crashing. I just flew into the sun..
Seems like I'm gonna struggle with this game.
Seems like I'm gonna struggle with this game.
don't worry, you'll fly into the sun again.
try to use square when attempting to land. it kind of repositions you're ship a bit automatically. also paying attention the thrust gauge on the left and of course using auto pilot whenever the sun isn't in the way.
my biggest struggle was getting over the fact that l2/r2 are not thrust and brake. even after beating it i still have to remind myself.
Your left and right sticks function 100% like normal FPS controls. Your triggers are up and down. Make sure you use the landing camera, it's bizarre how many videos I see of people trying to land without it when you simply don't need to. Also, use autopilot. As long as you won't crash into the sun, it's great.
I just started playing this game via Game Pass since there's so much hype behind it, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish it. In the short time I played with it tonight, I had several terrifying experiences that triggered some space phobia I didn't realize I had. One of them was so rough I had to quit. Did anyone else feel the same way? How did you overcome it?
get a hang of auto pilot and matching speed with objects.
i finished the game but it was always seat of the pants with flying. Just work on getting good enough to get where you are going 🤪 Auto pilot is your best friend.
And you will die, a lot.
Crashing into the sun when you don't realize it's closer than you thought (it's got a lot of gravity)
Running into ghost matter
Forgetting to put your space suit on and walking outside (yes, I did this several times!)
Stepping on a cactus
Crushed by a cave (you'll see)
...and the list goes on. It's part of the experience.
Sigh... Wish I could say I loved this game, but I got absolutely stumped on the very last thing I had to do. Then I spent forever coming up with contrived solutions until I finally just broke down and looked it up.
It was entering the Ash Twin... How does the solution make sense? I mean I guess it sort of does, but in the Ship Log it says the warp pads work when the target is "overhead". The core isn't overhead, it's underneath. I'm pretty sure this is the only warp pad in the game that works this way. Every other warp pad takes you to a different celestial body that's directly overhead, but this one takes you to the core of the planet you're standing on... Why?? And to add insult to injury, I had already tried standing on that specific warp when the two planets aligned. I just didn't do it at the exact timing the game wanted, so I just got swept up in the sand. That made me cross it off my list as a solution, I thought you would always get snatched in the sand and didn't understand where it was supposed to warp me to anyway. Also, I just got supernova'd as I was punching in the coordinates, lol. Can't wait to wait for the sand to lower again...
It makes sense because it follows the rules laid out before you. I get that you're annoyed because you somehow misunderstood those rules, but it's pretty clear both where you're going and why at that point.
You also were did NOT stand on it when the two planets had aligned, as you can only do that when you're in the eye of the sand tornado, which is pretty clear. All of the towers are pretty clear about where they're going once you understand the system of them, and there is text all over that explains the ash twin project and that you need to use those towers to get to it, and that it's inside the ash twin. I guess what I'm saying is, if you didn't get the solution it's not because it's poorly presented, but because you simply weren't putting 2 and 2 together with all the hints out there, same as if you hadn't figured out like, how the gravity crystals work for example - the information exists and you should've seen it by then, but somehow you didn't.