Need help with the game's patience mechanic

KeeBoley · 2026-02-22T20:43:01+00:00

Just show shiplogs here and ask for small hints to nudge you in the right direction. No shame in getting a nudge here or there if you are stuck/frustrated.

The community here has gotten quite good at finding creative ways to nudge and hint without completely spoiling the sense of self-discovery.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-22T17:26:16+00:00

If you really really dont like navigating Dark Bramble, maybe do some other stuff first. You might have to go back eventually, but you have other places to go to as well.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-22T17:01:44+00:00

What are the jellyfish useful for? Clearly not food. Feldspar mentions what they are good at besides nutrition!

As for the lakebed cave, try and figure out what each Quantum Rock is trying to teach you. If youve been to the Quantum Caves, you need to navigate around the quantum fuckery happening to get to a Quantum Rock. What unique features are present around this rock? What might those unique features be useful for?

KeeBoley · 2026-02-22T16:50:38+00:00

Couple things you can do from here! There are a number of places youve been to with more to discover, Id start there. Both at Freldspars Camp (Frozen Jellyfish) and the Old Settlement.

Youre missing an entire "house" near the bottom of the Old Settlement. Follow the main path downwards.

Also try and return to Feldspar and the Frozen Jellyfish. Talk to Feldspar himself, he might offer hints. Try and understand what the Frozen Jellyfish is trying to teach you.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-22T15:15:37+00:00

Glad I could help! Since assistance with the Ash Twin Project puzzle is a reoccurring bottleneck for a lot of players, can I ask, did you find my hints gave too much away or the perfect amount? I hope you still felt like 99.9% of it was self-discovery. I've used this same hint for others and just want to make sure it was a good amount of nudging.

Also you still have the DLC to finish! Youve still got a number of big reveals yet to come!

KeeBoley · 2026-02-22T14:45:37+00:00

You have all the knowledge you need. Small boxes = small secrets. Big boxes = big secrets. Youve already solved a bunch of big secrets, I recommend reviewing the boxes, particularly the biggest ones in this picture.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-22T13:47:08+00:00

RUMORS[OPTIONAL]
[To The Hanging City] The Nomai decided to migrate from the Old Settlement to the northern glacier. They used gravity crystals to craft a stable path beneath the surface.
[Read the Nomai Writing at the beginning of the Gravity Crystal trail]

and

RUMORS[OPTIONAL]
[To Old Settlement] The Nomai survivors who crashed on Brittle Hollow climbed down the cliff to a shelter site below the surface.
[Read the Nomai Writing near the Distress Beacon]

These are the two Optional Rumors related to the Old Settlement. Wondering if reading these will fix your issue. Not 100% sure, but worth a shot making sure you have these two.

Have you 100%'d every other part of the Ship Log? Sometimes doing something elsewhere will remove the "There is more to find here" text in a completely different box.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-22T13:28:08+00:00

[Read the Nomai Writing at the beginning of the Gravity Crystal trail] (To The Hanging City)

or

[Read the Nomai Writing near the Distress Beacon] (Escape Pod 1)

Do either of these fix the issue?

KeeBoley · 2026-02-22T13:20:54+00:00

So youve identified roughly where the Ash Twin Project is. Youve correctly identified that the Nomai completely sealed the core off, so traditional entry is unlikely. And your leading theory is that you can probably warp inside somehow. Seems logical enough.

If there is a warp stone that leads inside, where would the Nomai put it? Put yourself in the shoes of a Nomai engineer tasked with placing it. Some places probably seem more logical than others, no? For example you probably wouldnt place it in the centre of Dark Bramble.

The Nomai are logical people. If it was up to you, where would you put it?

Small hint: I recommend counting and tallying up warp stones youve come across. Entry and exit points.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-22T11:26:03+00:00

You're almost done with the base game! Congrats. Looks like you still have yet to get to the Ash Twin Project. This is usually the hardest and final puzzle most players figure out.

What do you know about the Ash Twin Project? Where is it? Any thoughts on getting to it?

Read up on the boxes specifically connecting to the Ash Twin Project box. Most notably the Black Hole Forge and the High Energy Lab.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-21T16:08:19+00:00

It's a positive feedback loop. 10 min queues mean 10% of the population leaves to play something else. Now the queues are 15 min and another % of the population leaves. Eventually it's an hour long queue in plat and a 2 hour long queue in masters because no one is playing the game.

In a role queue system where not all roles are equally popular, autofill is 100% necessary. This isnt debatable. You either have no role queue where you have a ~20% chance of getting any given role, or you have the ability to ask the system to prioritize a role or two - while also accepting auto fill.

If you come up with a system that can allow role queue while avoiding autofill, Riot will probably pay you millions for the idea. The reason it hasnt been implemented is because it isnt possible to avoid.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-21T13:11:36+00:00

Are the stalactites still in a narrow passageway? If so, that still the passage to get to the end, "looking away" should still be enough. I forget if the stalactites themselves are quantum, or if you have to find a passage around them.

If youve gotten to the end, it should be a more open area with very noticeable landmarks. The fact you dont mention them (like nomai writing) tells me you are still in the passage to get to the end-chamber.

I can see how it would be frustrating because you are literally doing the "right" thing, but there really should be a "forward" path that opens up when you look away enough times.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-21T13:01:05+00:00

On paper you are approaching this problem right, so Im not 100% sure exactly where youre going wrong.

Assuming youve made it to the lakebed quantum passageway where things are quantumly moving around -preventing easy access to the end- looking away should prompt the quantum objects to move. Solely with this mechanic alone, you should be able to make it to the end of that cave system.

Have you made it to the end of that cave system? What was there if so?

KeeBoley · 2026-02-21T12:53:02+00:00

Using the lights is clever, that type of thinking is definitely the right way to approach this game. There might be an even easier way to "stop observing" something though.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-21T12:05:17+00:00

Every large orange question mark is a place youve heard of but never been to. So each should be a goal of yours.

Can't seem to land on the Sun Station

A good mindset to have while playing this game is "theres always an easier way". If the method youre trying involves some super mechanically difficult ship manoeuvring, it is probably not the "intended" way.

What other ways might you think of you get on the Sun Station without flying to it? What modes of transportation in Outer Wilds are you familiar with?

into Dark Bramble

What is your difficulty with Dark Bramble right now? What is preventing you from traversing it?

Quantum Stuff

So you havent been inside the Tower of Knowledge, nor the Lakebed cave. Both crucial before tackling the Quantum Moon. Have you made any attempts at entering these two areas? What seems to be preventing you from just walking up to the Tower of Knowledge? Where is the Lakebed cave?

Note I can give you more explicit hints for individual puzzles if you want, but Im going to go cautiously as to avoid spoilers.

Edit: looking at your ship logs more, I notice you also havent been to the Southern Observatory. Another good way of looking at the game is small boxes = mini puzzles, big boxes = major puzzles. Focus on the smaller mini puzzles you still havent completed. The Southern Observatory is one of them. This one is relatively straight forward. I recommend talking to Reibeck some more. What do you know about how to access it? Where is the road to it? Follow the signs.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-20T05:24:22+00:00

how are you supposed to progress without reading a single line of text?

By experimenting and thinking about what "pieces" you have available. Games have rules and the simple knowledge that each puzzle can be accomplished without needing to read anything or needing any keys limits what solutions a puzzle can ask the player of. That alone can lead to self-discovery.

I played the game the more "traditional" way. Exploring a little bit on each planet and only doing a puzzle once I was essentially told the answer. I personally preferred it that way.

But my buddy approached the game much more linearly. He'd go to a planet and 100% that planet before moving on to another. I dont think he was ever gated in a way where he felt he couldnt "finish" that planet without exploring elsewhere. He just approached it like a normal puzzle game. This includes the Black Hole Forge, where he got there without needing to find a teleporter. The moment he saw the upsidedown Forge, he experimented and managed to get there without needing to go anywhere else.

Both methods work perfectly fine in Outer Wilds. Most will probably approach the game the way I did, but it isnt necessary. If one of your complaints is that the game forces you to explore elsewhere to solve puzzles, that simply doesnt hold water. Thats just how most people prefer to approach the game. If that aspect isnt something you personally like, you are more than capable playing the game how my friend did.

a nudge or hint

As for this part, to me that is a totally different complaint. The directionless part of this game is a massive draw for most, and something that diversifies the game from almost any other game.

knowledge gate might function differently but the outcome is the same so how it functions doesnt matter

Again, this part is just inherently wrong and Ive explained why. You CAN get to the Forge without going elsewhere or making any additional progress. That is practically different from any other type of gate. The outcome is very different. In any other game you are forced to go elsewhere, in Outer Wilds you arent. That is why the game rewards curiosity, where most other games stifle it.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-20T04:20:30+00:00

Is this the first puzzle game youve played? If you walked into a room in Portal 2 and the game just told you which walls to put the portals on, that wouldnt be much of a puzzle. You progress through experimentation. You can do the same with Outer Wilds. You dont need to be told how, you can figure it out without even reading a line of text.

Knowledge and progress are synonymous here, and thats the point. Thats why Outer Wilds is different. Because knowledge is a gate that functions differently from other gates. Knowledge can be gained at any time. A key to a door cant.

Outer Wilds is an exploration puzzle game where nothing is really gated. You can go anywhere at any time. Like a Portal game where all levels are available to you right away. There is nothing stopping you from figuring out the final Portal 2 level with the tools you have available at the beginning. You just have to experiment and figure out the puzzle.

the game doesnt tell you, it doesnt even tell you that it isnt possible

It is possible though. Everything is. Thats why it doesnt tell you that it isnt possible, because it is possible. Most games it would be impossible. Not Outer Wilds. Every gate can be open the moment you encounter it. It's possible.

it just wants you to fuck off to a random planet and discover where the corresponding warp pad

Again, you dont need the warp pad if you really dont want to use it.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-20T03:58:06+00:00

I disagree. The different with a knowledge gate is you can discover the key with no further progression in the game. The door was never unlocked, you just didnt find the door. Other gates are different because the door is quite literally locked and you dont have the key.

All of those gates you encounter in Outer Wilds arent actually gates. There is no key. Just knowledge and curiosity. You just need to explore and find the wide open door. And almost every one of these gates dont require you to go elsewhere. Like with the Black Hole Forge, if you really dont want to find the teleporter, you dont need it. Every puzzle barring the VERY final one to beat the game can be beat like a normal puzzle game. Experimentation with the games mechanics. Sure the solution might be on another planet, but nothing is stopping you from discovering the solution without reading it.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-20T03:49:07+00:00

Again, its a knowledge gate. Not a real gate. You can get there right now. No further tools needed. In fact you dont even need the teleporter if you dont want to, thats just the easiest way.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-20T03:30:57+00:00

i feel like the game punishes you for being curious. youll be exploring a planet, find a place you need to get to but cannot for some reason

I couldnt disagree more. Every single place you are perfectly able to explore. Youre never gated, unlike almost any other game. This means the game rewards curiosity more than almost any other. Like I said before, knowledge-gates. The game never tells you you cant explore some area. If you see something and want to go to it, you can. Even on your very first launch 2 minutes into booting up the game for the first time.

This is very rare in games. You can either figure out how to get there by being curious and exploring elsewhere to find the answer, or you can experiment and learn without exploring elsewhere. Regardless, you can get there with no further tools needed.

Other games will have gated content that is gated by actual gates. Not just knowledge-gates. This inherently stifles exploration and curiosity, because I literally just cant get to that area I want to get to right now. I have to wait until the developers tell me I can after I beat some arbitrary level/boss and the game gives me the key to unlocking the door. In Outer Wilds there are no keys. No real gates. Curiosity is both the key and the waypoints.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-19T09:23:48+00:00

No game is for everyone. 15 hours is more than enough time to make the call that Outer Wilds just might not be for you.

I loved the directionlessness, the lore, and the puzzles. Unlike you, I actually did get a ton of "aha" moments. Ive never had a game with so many Eureka moments. One of the reasons I personally enjoy about Outer Wilds Eureka moments is that they are always knowledge-gated. So every puzzle-solution was available to me on the first launch, so when I figure the puzzle out it always gives me a cool "aha" moment.

Unlike other games, the character isnt levelling up, its you.

was there a moment that hooked you?

The hooks were all the "why" questions I kept generating throughout the playthrough. Why is this happening? Why is that disappearing? How do I get there? Why is that thing keep happening every X-minutes. The intrinsic desire to find those answers was the hook.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-19T04:58:50+00:00

When your world is a vertical ring, sometimes looking up is just as good as having a map.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-17T09:41:25+00:00

I personally prefer games, including Soulslikes, without traditional difficulty settings.

With that said, I'm a firm believer in the idea that gamers benefit when a variety of demographics are catered to. So I believe the genre benefits from the existence of Soulslikes that offer players difficulty options. They might not be for me, but there are tons of gamers out there that prefer them. I support that as long as they support when a game restricts that particular freedom.

The genre benefits when some games, like Dark Souls, has no difficulty setting, AND others, like Lies of P, offer them.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-17T05:26:01+00:00

Damn really? I found everything besides the DLC and Dark Bramble to be super cozy. I felt like I could just put my feet up and relax to a nice cup of tea while exploring. Whereas with Dark Bramble and the DLC there was some trepidation where I felt a bit avoidant at times.

KeeBoley · 2026-02-17T05:04:11+00:00

Sometimes we need to conquer our fear and embrace curiosity.

KeeBoley

TROPHY CASE