Chief puzzle complains with Siege (Warning: Spoilers)

[KevinSig]

There were two particular puzzles in the game that I thought could have been better.

1st complaint: The seahorse puzzle
- I've got loads of issues with this one. First, getting Pyrite Guybrush into the chest is horridly done. I mean, the option of getting them into a staring contest doesn't always appear (I usually have to tell them to cooperate 1st). Plus, the way the camera angles are, its hard to tell the difference between when you normally distract them.

Finally, it isn't entirely clear that they take the artifact off island. Yes, this gets mentioned at the start of the conversation, but I wouldn't have minded a reminder when they got back. Something like: "Gee, for traveling away from the islands, it certainly didn't seem to take you long."


2nd complaint: The rubber tree
- Biggest complaint with this one, is that I didn't even know the rubber tree was even there. There was no reason for me to travel back to the island & I had to look to hints to find it. If only the game would have forced you into 'discovering' it when you find the artifact. (Tripping over the tree's roots after digging it up?)

That's it. My 2 chief complaints. Just thought I'd share.

Kevin

[guitarsareboring]

I actually found the seahorse puzzle to be disappointingly simple. The only slight problem I had was that I hadn't noticed there was an island in the corner of the map.

The rubber tree I sort of agree on, but if you get stuck the best thing to do is visit every place you've already visited to see if anything has changed. When those pirates were on that island I knew I needed to take something away with me. Plus when you kick the coconut earlier in the game it bounces off the tree. I didn't really notice that, but it *was* a hint for the player to come back to it later.

[bobdevis]

When you try to pick up the coconut, there is a scene that draws your attention to the fact that it is a rubber tree.
Also the rubber tree has a different color then other trees.
If you break the mast often, Winslow comments that you need something that 'gives way' more.

It is heavily implied you need to put something into the chest to be able to track it.
You can distract the pirates in 2 ways ("look there" and "game") and there is an open chest in front of them.
When you go to any small island and click on the sand, Guybrush comments that he "is not going to dig just anywhere for treasure".
That you can click on the sand at all is a hint.

[Avistew]

I found the rubber tree before I even went to Jerkbait island for the first time, so I disagree with that part. It was there, you just had to examine the coconut anytime you zent to the island (and it should attract your eyes, really) and you'd be well aware of its presence.

The Seahorse thing I didn't find hard either. It's not unusual for a line of dialogue to unlock new options (first you ask them to cooperate, then you can suggest how) and once I realised you could distract them it was pretty easy for me to figure out what to do (put something in the chest) and with what (the parrot, that would make noise).

However I did re-explore the whole forrest first since it looks like they come back from there after they bury the treasure. That's only after a while that I thought to go back to the 3 small islands (of course I went to the right one last. Stupid odds.)

[Shoelip]

Also, that rubber tree is huge, not like the bucket.

Buckeeeeet!!!!!

[The Commissioner]

I found all the puzzles in the game to be surprisingly logical and I had no problems with any of them. Maybe I'm just getting better over the years I've had adventure game addiction.

I realised quite quickly that the pirates would look in different directions depending on which place in the conversation menu the distraction option appeared and I had to get them both looking away from the chest.

Also when you ask the pirates what they are doing they SPECIFICALLY state that McGillicutty ordered them to bury the artifact far away from the Jerkbait Islands. From that I looked at the map and picked the right island first time, which was cool, but it meant I didn't have to check the other islands out - (but I did anyway just in case).

Plus, I did the coconut thing straight away and definitely thought that the rubber tree would come in handy later. I even had no problems pushing it over and then I immediately thought about going back to Spinner Cay and telling Anemone about it, which was correct too! I'm quite impressed by being in tune with the puzzles.

Also, the bucket was one of the first things I saw when going to the bait shop for the first time and when I needed to pick up the hot coals I definitely recalled it.. So I guess good observation of every detail, converstational remark and good recall are key to being a good puzzle solver.

I was stumped for a second with the DeCava singing stuffed animal, but then I remembered one of the hint comments I heard while Guybrush was walking around saying that the Voodoo lady locket must have some other purpose, and it all fell into place. I like the hint system because it's not obvious/too spoilery, but it helps subliminally.

[Woodsyblue]

I got the rubber tree one instantly. The fact that you have to go to that island to pick up the burred treasure, seeing the coconut bouncing off it, and that they used tree's for masts were all clues.

In fact I found that puzzle ridiculously easy.

The distracting the pirates from the treasure chest was one it took me a while to get. You are right, finding the staring contest dialogue option was a bugger!

[Lexi00]

The pirate puzzle, where you need to get them to bury your bird I found highly annoying. It's one of those puzzles that are hard for the wrong reason, I knew right away that I needed to place the talking bird in the chest but I had to figure out how the game would let me.

Having to do the stairing contest -then- the discraction didn't make any sence. Why did the pirates look away differently after the contest then just with a distraction? That puzzle was the one probelm I had.

Oh, and the thing with the fish eggs? Bad Telltale! Me no likely the red herrings! :P

[guitarsareboring]

Originally Posted by Lexi00

Oh, and the thing with the fish eggs? Bad Telltale! Me no likely the red herrings! :P

I like red herrings and general useless junk in your inventory

[Ezny]

Originally Posted by KevinSig

Finally, it isn't entirely clear that they take the artifact off island. Yes, this gets mentioned at the start of the conversation, but I wouldn't have minded a reminder when they got back. Something like: [I]"Gee, for traveling away from the islands, it certainly didn't seem to take you long."

Well they do 'borrow' your raft, so my first guess was they buried it on another island/isle..

[Ezny]

Originally Posted by guitarsareboring

I like red herrings and general useless junk in your inventory

Me too. As long as there's not like 4 or 5 of them..

[Lord-z]

A puzzle that I really hated was that you had to go up on the cliff and pour the molten pyrite down into the mold from the edge. That made absolutely no sense, and Telltale is, usually, very good at making jokes that, within the world of the game, makes sense. Guybrush can't walk over there, but he can walk up a mountain without it melting? It took me an eternity to figure it out, because I was looking for a way to recreate the mold closer to the grill or move the mold. A case of some of the talented people at TTG trying to squeeze a puzzle to much into a game. Happens to the best.

[Lockmort]

Originally Posted by Lord-z

A puzzle that I really hated was that you had to go up on the cliff and pour the molten pyrite down into the mold from the edge. That made absolutely no sense, and Telltale is, usually, very good at making jokes that, within the world of the game, makes sense. Guybrush can't walk over there, but he can walk up a mountain without it melting? It took me an eternity to figure it out, because I was looking for a way to recreate the mold closer to the grill or move the mold. A case of some of the talented people at TTG trying to squeeze a puzzle to much into a game. Happens to the best.

That puzzle made perfect sense actually and I got it right away.
You would have too if you would have just clicked on the cliff after the stuff fell down.
A case of wanting to go to fast without proper exploring. Happens to the best.

[feverfew]

For the rubber tree, those who played CMI should definitely know something about them. The first time I saw it, I was like "this is here for a reason". And it was!
Very logical for me, and I loved the bouncy mast sequence

[RockNRoll]

I didn't have to even consider looking up a walkthrough even once, which is a terrible sign for me. I agree the distracting-the-pirates puzzle was very poorly executed. Not a bad idea, though. You just couldn't tell that their orientation was even a problem before you stumble on the solution.

[Lord-z]

Originally Posted by Lockmort

That puzzle made perfect sense actually and I got it right away.
You would have too if you would have just clicked on the cliff after the stuff fell down.
A case of wanting to go to fast without proper exploring. Happens to the best.

Actually I did click on the cliff after it fell down. It is just the idea that Guybrush walked up the mountain without it melting and pouring it a a couple hundred feet down, when he couldn't walk what should actually, in practice, be the shorter way. In my mind, it makes absolutely no sense. Often when I have gotten stuck, it has been a really obvious solution that completely passed me by, me totally not seeing the forrest because of all the trees being in the way, but this, this didn't make a whole lot of sense, even within the gameworld.

[Farlander]

It is just the idea that Guybrush walked up the mountain without it melting and pouring it a a couple hundred feet down, when he couldn't walk what should actually, in practice, be the shorter way. In my mind, it makes absolutely no sense.

As I see it, it's getting AROUND the mountain versus getting straight on top of it.

Personally, I never saw anything illogial in that puzzle.

[doodinthemood]

1) the game has been out a day
2) you used hints

I wouldn't be too against this, if it's what you wanted to do, but you then made that fact public and used it to criticize the game.

Observation is a feat in monkey island games. It doesn't provide the most rewarding puzzles, but it provides the longest ones. The ones that people start hanging on, and it's in these pauses that you get to explore the game and end up getting the most out of it.

It sounds like you played this game with a mindset that would have been better suited to something else.

[jurg82]

Originally Posted by KevinSig

There were two particular puzzles in the game that I thought could have been better.

1st complaint: The seahorse puzzle
- I've got loads of issues with this one. First, getting Pyrite Guybrush into the chest is horridly done. I mean, the option of getting them into a staring contest doesn't always appear (I usually have to tell them to cooperate 1st). Plus, the way the camera angles are, its hard to tell the difference between when you normally distract them.

Agree. Thought first you needed to distract them with the cannon or tree logs somehow when the normal distractions didn't work

Originally Posted by KevinSig

Finally, it isn't entirely clear that they take the artifact off island. Yes, this gets mentioned at the start of the conversation, but I wouldn't have minded a reminder when they got back. Something like: "Gee, for traveling away from the islands, it certainly didn't seem to take you long."

Don't agree. It's quite obvious that they leave the island. They "borrow" your raft for gods sake.

Originally Posted by KevinSig

2nd complaint: The rubber tree
- Biggest complaint with this one, is that I didn't even know the rubber tree was even there. There was no reason for me to travel back to the island & I had to look to hints to find it. If only the game would have forced you into 'discovering' it when you find the artifact. (Tripping over the tree's roots after digging it up?)

That's it. My 2 chief complaints. Just thought I'd share.

Kevin

Don't agree at all. It's well known for adventure gamers that you need to explore things several times. You would then know that it was a rubber tree.

[jurg82]

Originally Posted by Lord-z

Actually I did click on the cliff after it fell down. It is just the idea that Guybrush walked up the mountain without it melting and pouring it a a couple hundred feet down, when he couldn't walk what should actually, in practice, be the shorter way. In my mind, it makes absolutely no sense. Often when I have gotten stuck, it has been a really obvious solution that completely passed me by, me totally not seeing the forrest because of all the trees being in the way, but this, this didn't make a whole lot of sense, even within the gameworld.

This is Monkey Island logic I'm glad TTG included that puzzle.