Did you use help?

There's a thread on how the availability of internet walkthroughs is responsible for the adventure game genre dying off. I disagree, but that's beside the point. The point is, it got me curious about how much help most people who played episode 4 had to use, so here's a poll on it. It's anonymous, so be honest.
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Comments

  • edited November 2009
    I haven't used any hints apart from episode 3, I didn't realize you had to get to the iron monkey, I assummed that was where they were keeping the cochlea.

    Oh, and episode 1 I had hints on minimum, first telltale game, and guybrush mentioned the weathervane near the idols, and since then hints have been off.

    Episode 4 was harder than the others, but I just perservered.

    lol GuruGuru. I think I downloaded that game awhile ago.

    It wasn't very good...
  • edited November 2009
    I always try not to use help unless I get really stuck. Episode 1 I was fine on my own, but got stuck getting the turtle in episode 2 (Guybrush didn't want to trust LeChuck with it and neither did I!) as well as making the fake one (kept looking for ways to keep it warm.) and got a little stuck on De Cava's pirate face in 3 (I was impatient and didn't hang around him long enough to notice he kept putting down the goggles...) in addition to unclogging the path to the monkey-cabinet. In 4, I got stuck twice (again), once on Sixth Sense and then again on the Shock. I had to look in the hints forum for those, and I still didn't get the Shock one until I tried it myself.
  • edited November 2009
    Fury wrote: »
    lol GuruGuru. I think I downloaded that game awhile ago.

    It wasn't very good...

    Are you talking about my name? If you thought Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask wasn't very good...I don't think we can be friends.
  • edited November 2009
    This game? None.

    A game such as Discworld 1 or 2? I used a walkthrough for the entire thing.
  • edited November 2009
    I admit, I went to the help forums for the jungle part in ch 4.
    It was 2am and I was set on finishing the chapter before I went to sleep. :)
  • edited November 2009
    I used the hints forum once on the second course, couldn't figure out the dipping of the bone in the sugar water.
  • edited November 2009
    I got really confused by the leg thing.
    I tried to put all the stuff on it in various ways and just got really bored after about 15mins so I checked a hint thing that really didn't help much. I just carried on randomly for another 5 mins 'til I got it right.

    That's the only time I used help this ep. I didn't use help for ep2/3, but I used help for the creature-noise thing in ep1 (mostly I think because I wasn't particularly enjoying the ep so it was easy to get tempted).
  • edited November 2009
    Are you talking about my name? If you thought Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask wasn't very good...I don't think we can be friends.

    2z6rxiu.jpg

    Guru-Guru-Naget-1.jpg

    No. I meant GuruGuru.

    It's not very good. You sorta kick these ball monster things and stuff. I played it for like 30sec. Then I deleted it from my DS.

    That's a japanese screenshot but a (E) version exists, it's in english.
  • edited November 2009
    Fury wrote: »
    No. I meant GuruGuru.

    It's not very good. You sorta kick these ball monster things and stuff. I played it for like 30sec. Then I deleted it from my DS.

    That's a japanese screenshot but a (E) version exists, it's in english.

    Oh my... I think you've ruined my username for me forever. And I use this thing freaking everywhere.
  • edited November 2009
    2 or 3 times when I was stuck or wasn't entirely sure how to do something. But I figured the rest out on my own and had fun doing it. Those were the best puzzles so far.
  • edited November 2009
    Oh my... I think you've ruined my username for me forever. And I use this thing freaking everywhere.

    It's about this group of magic witches, and they're all in their youth, and they summon familiars that are shaped like those cute ball things, and then it's sorta like a mix between a 2D platformer and those old golf sims. You set the power, direction, what type of kick you are going to use and your ball will roll along towards the goal, but there's also enemies to attack and coins to collect. And you have to get to the end in as few kicks as possible.

    It's awful.

    I think that generally, the more logical puzzles are, the less likely people are to use a walkthrough. It's like Hit the Road, most people I know used a walkthrough because the puzzles were so obscure.

    What I like about telltale games is that it is relatively easy to find every item you will need, as much as I like a good item hunt now and then, I love sitting down with a good puzzle and going "Right, I have everything, now lets think of something".

    Episode 4 did it perfectly. I hope Ep 5 is as good.
  • edited November 2009
    I think I looked for help once or twice in episodes 1 & 2, but did 3 & 4 entirely on my own. Either they are getting easier, or my mind is getting warped to the Telltale humour, or a bit of both :p

    With Sam & Max I used the "talk to Max to get hints" option a bit, but I don't really consider that "cheating" if it's part of the game. Mind you, I did have to come on here to find out how to do some things in S&M :(
  • edited November 2009
    This is the first time I used help so far, and it was on the shock bit:
    I got that it was something to do with static and the door and probably that the rug was something to do with it, but I was thinking in terms of inventory items and combinations, it just didn't even cross my mind to walk back and forth across the rug.

    I kept trying for about 30 minutes then got help on it.
  • edited November 2009
    In-game help is useless for the puzzles that stumped me: one was the caustic fluid puzzle, which I eventually found the requisite fluid by myself. The second was the infamous "shock" puzzle, which I had to go to the walkthrough.
  • edited November 2009
    I needed help 2.5 times, which is less than usual for me.

    First time was with Hemlock's case. I didn't know how to open the monkey cage, and even if I did, I don't think I would have figured the rest out. The solution was very strange. I was thinking I had to break the cat out of it's paralysis.

    While looking up that one, I stumbled upon something about the dart board. I may not have realized its significance if I hadn't

    The other time was with the 5th course, the shocking one.
  • edited November 2009
    I only had to find help once. For some reason, I wasn't able to figure out how to get that paw from the jungle beast. Everything else, I reasoned out or found by accident.

    Though there were a couple times in the earlier chapters where I was sorely tempted to visit the hints forum. I even went into it once or twice but I gained inspiration before actually clicking on one of the links.
  • edited November 2009
    No hints so far in ToMI. In Sam and Max I think I always used the hint function at least once per episode. ToMI seems much easier.
  • edited November 2009
    I needed help once in episode 4, for the static-carpet-puzzle.

    In episode 3 I needed no help at all.

    In episode 2 I needed help to find the bucket.^^

    In episode 1 I was unaware that I had to use the map with the well in the jungle, and only found out about it online.
  • edited November 2009
    I usually abhor walkthroughs. If I use them, I feel like I've been cheating.
  • edited November 2009
    I used a hint (
    Iron is good for the bones!
    ) for the moving the cat bit, but I did the rest without help.
  • edited November 2009
    Well, I choose "None, I did it all by myself," but that's not quite true. Actually, I played it the same way I played adventure games in the good ol' days: my sister and I and whoever else is around thinking of ways to solve each puzzle. It's really the only way to play adventure games, and I'm surprised the option isn't taken into account in the poll.

    The only difference now is that I have my computer in the living room on the TV, rather than all of us stuck in a tiny office staring at an itty, bitty monitor (of course, even my monitor now is bigger than my TV used to be).
  • edited November 2009
    I did search for a hint once! I
    Couldn't figure out how to use the rug, I KNEW i had to use it I just didn't know how
    But I did have some trouble, I thought the episode was great BTW
  • edited November 2009
    I think the series has been pretty easy so far, not that that's a bad thing. But in every episode there's always that one puzzle where I have no clue what I'm supposed to be doing for a while, after that it's usually easy sailing. I didn't use any help on this one and I don't think I used any help on the others. If I ever do end up using the walkthrough (which I hate doing) I always UHS Hints.
  • edited November 2009
    Tallin wrote: »
    Well, I choose "None, I did it all by myself," but that's not quite true. Actually, I played it the same way I played adventure games in the good ol' days: my sister and I and whoever else is around thinking of ways to solve each puzzle. It's really the only way to play adventure games, and I'm surprised the option isn't taken into account in the poll.

    The only difference now is that I have my computer in the living room on the TV, rather than all of us stuck in a tiny office staring at an itty, bitty monitor (of course, even my monitor now is bigger than my TV used to be).

    I admit, part of the reason I didn't include it is because I think of it, but it's also because I was only concerned with turning to the internet for help. As long as your puzzle solving was combined to your little group, I'd still consider it the same as not getting help.

    Also, I have to say that this is turning out pretty much exactly as I expected.
  • edited November 2009
    I never want to use any walkthroughs because that would feel like cheating and I get more satisfaction from coming up with the solution alone. I think I must be better at it now than in the past, because I had no problems figuring out on my own all of the puzzles in all the games Telltale have made without going to Internet walkthroughs.

    I really cringe when I see posts on here like "that puzzle was too obscure!" or "there wasn't any logic to it" or "I can't see the bucket!" because most of the time those were puzzles I didn't have problems finding the solution easily.

    Either that, or the hint system works really well... I keep it at the default level because I like hearing the extra dialogue. In chapter 4, the only time I got stuck was
    finding a taste for the sponge
    I couldn't recall any object I'd seen that fit the criteria, so I asked the Voodoo Lady and she said "Go to Club 41" and I found the answer there! (I'd totally forgotten about the mystrious "take the challenge" sign that was blocked with "coming soon" earlier). I like that because it was just a hint - it wasn't an explicit "do this step 1 and then step 2..." and it wasn't even one of those automatic hints that just happen - it was part of the regular dialogue tree.
  • edited November 2009
    it's a little embarassing, but there hasn't been a single adventure i played where i didn't have to turn to hints or a walkthrough at one point or another. except for tomi. so far, every puzzle has been logical in some way and proved to be solvable without hours of walking around and trying to combine random items. part of the reason might be that your choices are usually limited, and some solutions are literally punched in your face. but sometimes, you still have to walk around a little, or take a break, and then suddenly it dawns upon you.
    episode 4 did have a few weak spots, but they were still solvable without turning to external help (with that, i also mean the hint system).
  • Either that, or the hint system works really well... I keep it at the default level because I like hearing the extra dialogue.

    Oh, come on...! :rolleyes: Shame on you! :p

    But, by the way, may it be, that the default in this episode was the hints turned off? In episodes 1-3 I always had to go to the options to turn them down, but this time, I think, they already were...
  • edited November 2009
    Oh, come on...! :rolleyes: Shame on you! :p

    But, by the way, may it be, that the default in this episode was the hints turned off? In episodes 1-3 I always had to go to the options to turn them down, but this time, I think, they already were...

    That's odd. My graphics card blows (When I played BioShock, I once bluescreened five times in Fort Frolic alone because of the Nvidia driver acting up), so I have to play with the graphics set to 1 for the game to run decent, but after I set the graphics in Narwhal, they've remained at 1 in the other three games, and any changes I make to the hint settings seem to globally effect them all.
  • edited November 2009
    Only used it on Chapter 4.
  • That's odd. My graphics card blows (When I played BioShock, I once bluescreened five times in Fort Frolic alone), so I have to play with the graphics set to 1 for the game to run decent, but after I set the graphics in Narwhal, they've remained at 1 in the other three games, and any changes I make to the hint settings seem to globally effect them all.

    Hm... I had to reinstall my operating system between episodes 2 and 3. Maybe I just forgot that the settings didn't change from episode 1 to 2.

    OR I'm just going crazy-y-y-y-y-y!
  • edited November 2009
    I browsed the hints forum a little at certain parts, once or twice with feeding, and two other times with the courtroom.

    ... it was late. I didn't know what I was doing. D:

    Edit: I've used help with other chapters too, but not as much as this one because I wasn't so tired.
  • edited November 2009
    I always have hints off, but I max them out when I'm really stuck which happened once in ep 2 and 3, never in ep 1 and actually thrice in ep 4. I don't think they help at all though and I have never benefited of having hints on.

    I'd never use a walkthrough. I'd rather die.
  • edited November 2009
    I helped others? :P
  • I'd never use a walkthrough. I'd rather die.

    What a weird situation this would be... and the funeral eulogy! Man,I don't wanna know how you handle other issues in life... ;)
  • edited November 2009
    onitake wrote: »
    except for tomi. so far, every puzzle has been logical in some way and proved to be solvable without hours of walking around and trying to combine random items.

    I agree and I am torn between declaring the game too easy and praising it for being perfectly logical.

    I think there are moments where they could push puzzles a bit further like (chapter four spoiler)
    with the map that changes reality. It was dreadfully easy to get to the question mark and I am sure they could have made it such that you'd have to fold the map a few more times to produce the correct route. It's like the idea is there- the imagination is spot on. But then once you've solved what it is you have to do, there is no puzzle, no brain teaser, to keep you busy.

    What was I saying?

    I mentioned this elsewhere but I'll mention it here too: even with hints level at the minimum, I was getting hints. The Voodoo lady was very forthcoming with ideas about how to solve the feast puzzle and items in de Singe's lab gave the game away too. So as far as getting help goes, I felt like I was getting more than I wanted even without in-game hints or online walk-throughs.
  • edited November 2009
    Oh my... I think you've ruined my username for me forever. And I use this thing freaking everywhere.

    I just googled it and Guru Guru is also the name of a German Krautrock band. They're pretty freaky...
  • edited November 2009
    Woodsyblue wrote: »
    I just googled it and Guru Guru is also the name of a German Krautrock band. They're pretty freaky...

    Augh! You people are throwing me into an identity crisis!

    Must make it better...

    ...OH GOD SOMEONE MADE A PAPERCRAFT OF HIM.

    GuruGuruWeb.jpg

    And thanks to the N64's graphics, it's absolutely perfect!

    A brief history of the name: when I first played Ocarina of Time in middle school, I went crazy over the windmill song, so I started naming myself after Guru-Guru. The 214 has no significance whatsoever, I think I stole it from my friend's username way back then.

    ...though now that I think of it, my birthday (11/14) is exactly nine months after 2/14, meaning I could've been conceived on Valentine's Day... But who would subconsciously craft their username after their probable date of conception...right?
  • edited November 2009
    Ah the memories, the happy happy memories. Funny, I consider myself a bit of a Zelda expert and I didn't even know that guy had a name :S
  • edited November 2009
    Really? You must not've paid much attention to the Bomber's Notebook in Majora's Mask.
  • edited November 2009
    I played all the episodes with the hint system off, and I used help from walkthrough only once, in episode 4, with the static-carpet-puzzle.
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