Bump. It was too hard (puzzle 3)!
Thanks
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Bump, completed, man, I'm feeling good right now. Many thanks, Dog :D
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Man, puzzle 2 is hard.
Edit: was able to solve puzzle 2. Now stuck at puzzle 3.
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>>>>> SOLUTIONS <<<<<
The Last Puzzle
The text of the puzzle was in an imgur picture. You could find the 7 symbols of the imgur url in the links of the giveaways of the train with a totally random number of carts (= 7) after the epilogue. i.e. www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/npwiS/H/framed-collection
You have, in the order:
- P = Prologue: An elite identifier.
The Access ID you find in the binary code at the end is Antares spelled with 1337speak (4N74235). Antares is the brightest star of Scorpius. - 1 = Ch.1: A bright message.
On the holopad picture some letters have a different brightness. If put together, they spell Sadalsuud, the brightest star of Aquarius. - 2 = Ch.2: The northernmost key.
The northernmost location I gave you is the one corresponding to Beta Librae. Which is the key/password of the 1st puzzle: Zubeneschamali, the brightest star of Libra. - 3 = Ch.3: A dead man.
At the end of the chapter, Dog tells you a story about a dead friend of his. His name is Pollux, which is also the name of the brightest star of Gemini. - 4 = Ch.4: Elements.
In the 2nd puzzle, the elements you use for the numeric password are Al, Ta, Rf. Altarf is the brightest star of Cancer. - 4 = Ch.4: Sleeping Beauty.
On the ID card of the biologist that Libra had put to sleep, you can read her name: Ariel Hamal. Hamal is the brightest star of Aries. - 5 = Ch.5: A”colorful”anagram.
The Hex code of the colored strip in the frozen screens puzzle translates to thealbumcoverof“arealband”canhelpyou. “arealband” is anagram of Aldebaran, the brightest star of Taurus. - 5 = Ch.5: Quantities.
In the tesla disruptor puzzle, the symbols of the physics quantities in the order you’re given spell Alpherg, the brightest star of Pisces. - 6 = Ch.6: The brawn.
Referring to Access’ head of security, Leonard Regulus. Regulus is the brightest star of Leo. - 6 = Ch.6: The brain.
Referring to Access’ CEO, Virgil Spica. Spica is the brightest star of Virgo. - E = Epilogue: The first in line.
If you put together the first letters of each line of dialogue you spell Deneb Algedi, the brightest star of Capricornus.
You might have got it by now, the missing one and the solution to the puzzle was the brightest star of Sagittarius. I always used their common names, so the solution was:
Kaus Australis
The hint you had was the title of the puzzle on the ITH page, just for the brightest ones.
That’s it.
I reposted the solutions of previous chapters.
On a side note, I’m really disappointed by the fact that someone went to the extent of asking for help on reddit for solving the identification puzzles. Most of all when I was willing to help with those. I really hope none of these individuals got past the last puzzle. I’d hate to see them winning (not that I know who they are, sadly).
Anyway, it’s out of my control.
Thanks to everyone who participated! See ya!
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Wow, great riddle that last one!
I spent hours trying things, trying to catch clues in the italic text of other chapters, also looking at the html code of the ITH page, etc... Then I realized about the letters hidden in the train and started trying with a solution page for the ITH page (you know, itstoohard.com/puzzle/12345678/solution, as used in another riddle) and being 7 (and the obvious "totally random" hint) I though that the "which one is missing" was about the letter missing for the url. Without any further hint and having spent hours thinking I tried to bruteforce trying every letter a-z +0-9 into the different positions until after 4 full alphabet tries I just gave up. At some point I even googled for something like the brightest missing stars (found out about some huge supernova btw), since I figured the solution may had to do with "the brightest ones" and stars and space being the topic of the story. Never though about imgur... but anyway I don't think I would have figured it out completely.
Even with that it was fun! And it has led to me checking the forum more usually to not miss fun puzzles like the ones you prepared for this, so thanks! :)
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One of the biggest clues imo is from Part 2. One of the answers you give is Zubeneschamali/Beta Librae, the brightest star in the Libra constellation. From there, all you need is one data point (in my case, Virgil Spica=Virgo's Spica) to figure out what you're actually being asked and it's easy to brute-force the right answer from there.
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Yes, I solved that part of Chapter 2 and that got me thinking into "brightest one" = some star, but wrongly related it to "which one is missing?".
True that if I had noticed 2 or 3 names related to "brightest stars of X constellation" I could have bruteforced from there.
Still just ~15 people solved it, so I don't feel so dumb :P
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Thanks for the puzzle and story!
I also though that it got something to do with stars since it was mention here and there in the story.
But didn't connect "brightest" to it.
And then I thought it was pointing to missing puzzle not stated in the first line of code in the last hint.
I also stop searching clues in the story because other puzzles doesn't need it and tried to find "things" in the pictures. :P
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This was a truely fantastic puzzel journey. Sadly Doom 3 and System Shock blocked me finally from advancing but seeing the last puzzel I am sure I would have crashed my head against the wall multiple times.
Thank you so much for this journey, with all the twist and turns. I mentioned it to gordonshumway, but you guys could EASIELY take your storys and puzzel hunts and sell them. I saw "escape" games online with far less effort and finesse. Which makes the spoiling even more shitty.
Exactly this is why we cant have nice things. Greedy people will either collect games just to have them in the library OR cheat their way through puzzels (someone asked me to trade answers) only to win rare/unbundled games.
Great now I am more pissed then happy/sad since this awesome story is finished.
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So. We reach the final chapter. This last day finally comes to an end.
You can start HERE
You get two identification puzzles (I couldn’t think of anything better. I’m always mentally exhausted lately) and one last puzzle, at the end, after solving ch.6, after the epilogue.
In order to solve the last puzzle you need some elements that are spread throughout the story or puzzles of previous chapters (from prologue, to epilogue), but mind that you do NOT necessarily need them all. Actually just one is enough, if you have the right idea.
There’s a hint that points you at that specific idea.
The puzzle has also a text that can help you find those elements, you should look for it. Some are easier to spot than others.
I won’t give further hints for this last puzzle, unless everyone is stuck. I will help with the identification ones instead.
I will post the solution at the end.
GA’s:
Play the unbundled games, please.
Btw thanks to everyone who wasted their time reading walls of text and solving my puzzles. Even if nothing is perfect or totally original, I had fun writing the story and building the puzzles. I hope you enjoyed them a bit too. Cheers ;)
HINTS
Q1 Relatively recent game (2016). Brought to SG community's attention by a fairly recent event posted in the puzzle/event section of the forum. The game has a single, very very challenging, achievement.
Q3 Part of a renown sci-fi videogame series.
Q6 If you zoom in you can read the name of an area in the game. Featured in HC a few months ago.
Q7 Part of a renown sci-fi videogame series.
Q8 Narrative adventure, walking simulator. Featured in HB a few years ago.
I'd search for the text of the puzzle first.
SOLUTIONS
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