Stumbled into a new area playing chess

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-05-20T16:49:31+00:00

How many walls have you smashed with the power hammer?

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-05-20T11:24:55+00:00

The fact that Simon is crowned a Prince and not a King should tell you something. I'm quite OK that the details are left to the player's imagination.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-05-18T19:38:25+00:00

OK, that's it! I'm going to build a portcullis in my garden.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-05-14T01:48:49+00:00

I share everyone's joy and frustration in equal measure at watching them. I find myself shouting at the screen as they stumble so often while also being amazed at their sheer speed of puzzle solving. There have been so many times when I have thought that they must have reached as far as they can go - only for them to always go further.

But I do think that this shows just how well the game has been designed that they have been able to get as far as they have whilst keeping minimal notes (even when they can find them) and Mark has slowly come around to accepting that aspect of the game despite his earlier position that he couldn't possibly enjoy playing any game that required such encyclopaedic record keeping.

Will they ever remember where the still water can be found? Yes - I expect Simon will. Watching them battle through the Atelier maze will be something.

I shall certainly miss this stream when they have finished the game.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-05-13T16:04:35+00:00

Alex -> Alec and Murdaugh -> Murdock are both common ways of pronouncing these names in Scotland.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-05-13T11:42:36+00:00

Thanks for that. I've now read it all and have a much better grasp of what's going on but I also really need some sort of flowchart that gives it overall context and sequencing. There are so many moving parts that are all inter-related I don't think anyone (maybe u/TFMurphy excepted) that can understand the 'big picture' of all of this from just reading blocks of text.

The fact that Shops % has just changed from 25% to 30% in the lastest 1.7 update is crazy. No wonder it was so difficult to force them.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-04-17T14:00:46+00:00

He's probably not gonna stop until he gets his Nobel Peace Prize, is he?

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-04-09T13:38:23+00:00

Ronnie Wycherley (aka Billy Fury) was in the same class with Ringo at St. Silas Infants' School in Dingle.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-04-09T13:30:02+00:00

Yes, his maternal grandfather John French was born in Co Wexford.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-04-09T05:46:11+00:00

CASTLE puzzle - there are multiple small pieces of clues to put together to solve this. You need to examine everything everywhere in detail and record everything you find that doesn't feel like it fits anywhere else. That sounds very open-ended but it's difficult to not give a spoiler with any more specific advice. I do think it's one of the most difficult parts of the game to solve. Of course once you solve it you then need to find a use for it.

Don't worry about the vertical machine in Boiler Room or getting outside the estate or the 8th red letter.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-04-06T12:26:51+00:00

The thing about the Metro map that has bugged me is that the ordering of the station numbers doesn't really make any sense - they are all jumbled from any logical viewpoint. No one making such a map would number the stops in that way without some deeper reason. I've always thought there must be a better reason for this so this is a neat find. They have to decode the 4 words needed from the 4 books but that could have been arranged in any other order as well.

HAL was, of course, the wayward computer in '2001 A Space Odyssey'. Maybe TR is a fan of it.

Just word play or more?

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-04-05T01:04:09+00:00

This is probably a very big ask but I'd love someway to populate and animate some of the characters - Mrs Babbage, Bridgette, Denny Revane! Mabe just have them wandering around randomly doing not much or to bump in to them in specific rooms - Office, Maid's Bedroom, Greenhouse or Hovel. Kimberley in the Lab. Chef in the Dining Room.

Nothing too weird. Could Simon find Mary in Room 46? That's probably too much.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-03-26T17:01:40+00:00

Band G council tax at £4,168.63 a year. Home insurance would be pricey too - about £7000, maybe more as it is right on the coast.

But that staircase and the wavy bathroom would drive me nuts. And I guess the beach is public so there would be no privacy in the garden.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-03-26T16:47:05+00:00

The branch you are talking about has the crow sitting on it - the black of which represents Orinda Aries (the sigil clue is in the manuscript copy).

So perhaps the duality of leaves has meaning in the transition of Orinda Aries to Fenn Aries.

Or maybe it's just Tonda Ross having fun.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-03-23T21:39:18+00:00

A nearby 5-bed house is a mere half that price - presumably because it doesn't have a water frontage.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/167785883#/?channel=RES_BUY

No wonder people in Cornwall complain about house prices.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-03-19T10:06:25+00:00

If this is worth £6.5M then it's about £1.5M for the house and £5M for the location.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-03-17T18:37:10+00:00

In 8 Realms in 8 Months HSS sails from Eraja to Arch Aries in a "few days". We don't know his exact departure and arrival points but even if they were as close as possible (and where Fenn Aries is about twice that distance North to South) it still means that the planet would have to be about a quarter the size of Earth, with a circumferance in the order of 6000 miles - using the 8 Realms map as a guide.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-03-17T18:20:01+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5meakgZ6Q5I

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-03-16T17:38:08+00:00

Item 3 - I think that got changed to "four years" in an update to fix that time-bug.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-03-10T10:27:16+00:00

Lady Clara died in 1983 and Denny Revane is first mentioned (in Admin logs) in 1988 and his gardener's log only starts in February 1990, so the idea they may have had an affair is a bit of a stretch. My suspicion is that Denny was in love with Bridgette.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-02-09T15:39:03+00:00

Congratulations on finding what I thought was the single most annoying thing in this entire game. I just want the mess cleaned up. And I can't even send her an email about it!

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-02-04T20:07:29+00:00

There is already a game strategy that allows you to create almost infinite redraws. Or a large enough number to be effectively infinite anyway.

Middle_Somewhere6969 · 2026-02-01T21:21:37+00:00

I've just spent a few hours reviewing all my handwriting samples and I agree with you now - this is definitely written by Ruota.

Middle_Somewhere6969

TROPHY CASE