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 Developed by Croteam, creators of the Serious Sam series, and written by Tom Jubert (FTL, The Swapper) and Jonas Kyratzes (The Sea Will Claim Everything), The Talos Principle is a first-person philosophical puzzle game. You are placed in the body of a robot, told to complete challenges for a partially-defined objective, and the resulting existentialism is part of the narrative rather than an unintended side-effect. The environments are vibrant and expansive, the music is rich and ethereal, and the levels are well-designed and rewardingly challenging. You also get to argue with the devil. I enjoy playing devil's advocate, so it should hopefully be worth my time trying the opposite. I'm going to provide post-commentary over a blind playthrough, keeping the speculation flowing while maintaining the puzzle-solving experience. I doubt there will be much opportunity for thread interactivity, but additional speculation is greatly encouraged. Spoilers should be kept entirely to yourselves, even if the game turns into a verbatim retelling of the King James Bible part-way through the second episode. Videos - If you experience motion sickness, I've taken steps to mitigate it by episode 3, so take it slow! Part 1 (Hub A-1): Initialising Child Program Part 2 (Hub A-2): Exhuming the time capsule Part 3 (Hub A-3): Setting the time Part 4 (Hub A-4): Crossing the streams Part 5 (Hub A-5): Breaking the sequence Part 6 (Floor 0): Provoking the wrath Part 7 (Hub A-6): Enlisting the serpent Part 8 (Floor 1): Arbitrary confinement Part 9 (Hub A-7): Crossing the Mediterranean Part 10 (Hub B-1): Iteration/Mutation/Evolution Part 11 (Hub A-*): I earned these puzzles Part 12 (Hub B-2): The most beautiful spot Part 13 (Hub B-3): A constant whirring sound Part 14 (Hub B-4): Teimwirk Part 15 (Floor 2): A surge in internet activity Part 16 (Hub B-5): All programs have a backdoor Part 17 (Hub A-?): Religious sigilism Part 18 (Hub B-6): Slowly and surely Part 19 (Hub B-7): Very rarely stable Part 20 (Hub B-?): A decade since my last jigsaw Part 21 (Hub C-1): Pre-baked opinions Part 21.5 (Demo): To think or to talk? Part 22 (Floor 3 & Hub C-2): On my own giant shoulders Part 23 (Hub B-*): Nifty nomenclature Part 24 (Hub C-3): Play to Learn to Play to Learn to... Part 25 (Hub C-4): The bystander's journey Part 26 (Floor 4 & Hub C-5): Mechanical intervention Part 27 (Hub C-6): Pressing the serpent Part 28 (Hub C-7): We're running out of time Part 29 (Floor 5 & beyond): Combine and conquer Part 30 (Hub C-?): Reality, who needs it? Part 31 (Hub C-* etc.): Hidden potential Part 32 (Finale): Datastream of consciousness Text files A-1: welcome.eml; athena6.txt; figure_it_out.eml    A-2: IAN.eml; athena_analysis.html; talos_principle.txt    A-2: error.log; the_human_machine.txt; ARGH_solutions.eml    A-3: AI_feedback.eml; team_leads.eml; straton_of_stageira.wiki    A-4: progress_repl.eml; mail_error.dat; beginnings.txt    A-5: EL.html; AI_citizenship.html; athena8.txt    A: athena12.txt; HIS1A_rome.html   A-6: LOL.eml; cicero.txt; chatbots.html; a_simple_principle.html     A-6: arkady_journal77.txt; post437_comments.html; classical_philosophers.lz19; progress_rep3.eml     Floor1: TRUTH.html; athena_chapters.txt; human_reproduction.txt    A-7: athena9.txt; singularity_discussion104.html; AMA.html    B: oxyrhynchus.html; book_of_osiris.wiki   B-1: osiris1.txt; got_it_lyrics.html; immortality.html    B-1: mutation.html; capacity.eml; evolution.html    A-*: talos.eml; human_blood.txt; archive_IMPORTANT.eml; #6_N**.img     B-2: science_magic.html; weight_loss_722.html; arkady_journal81.txt    B-3: progress_rep9.eml; osiris3.txt; justwar_excerpt.txt; body_and_soul.txt; soma.eml      B-4: osiris6.txt; chatlog_charlie_7.txt; arkady_journal84.txt    Floor2: README.txt; the_web.html; mathematics.eml    B-5: osiris7.txt; coming_soon.eml; blog24_alive.html    C: questioning_doubt_conf.txt; partition.eml; him.eml    B-6: osiris11.txt; REprogress_rep16.eml; choice_of_life.txt    B-7: chatlog_9787.txt; norwegian_blue.eml; osiris21.txt    B-7: second_thesis.txt; boundary.txt; robots.txt    C: heaven.txt; hell.txt   C-1: apocryphal.doc; Sarabhai982.jrnl; hope.eml    C-1: against_survival.eml; human_evolution.txt; einstein.html    Floor3: OsirisPassword.txt; contraries.dat; athena14.txt    C-2: family.html; lastdays.eml   B-*: orangutan.html; blake_archive_793.html; usernames.eml; #6_*N*.img     C-3: post437.html; third_thesis.txt; humblebrag.html    C-4: pets.html; arkady_journal99.txt; contraries.txt    Floor4: SacredNumbers.txt; athena16.txt; remember.txt    C-5: party_on_dudes.eml; progress_rep32.eml; philosophy_of_teeth.html    C-5: transcendence.html; matter.txt; build_a_universe.txt    C-6: faith.eml; thank_you.eml; human_soul.txt    C-7: arkady_journal108.txt; invention_of_borders.html; apocrypha9.doc    B-5: hippocratic_corpus.txt; chesterton_brain.txt; bronstein_brain.txt; neuroscience.txt     C-*: human_eye.txt; tetromino.html; preservation.txt; #6_**N.img    
CannibalK9 fucked around with this message at 15:18 on Jun 24, 2015 |
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Jan 25, 2015 08:53
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Reserved
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Jan 25, 2015 08:53
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 Part 1 (Hub A-1): Initialising Child Program welcome.eml; athena6.txt; figure_it_out.eml **If the video causes motion sickness, I'll take steps to mitigate it by episode 3, so take it slow!** CannibalK9 fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Jan 25, 2015 |
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Jan 25, 2015 08:53
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This game piqued my interest, but I'm a completionist and I feel I wouldn't have the mental acuity for some of the puzzles in this. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders! Great job with the first update. You have a good sense of pacing and a great voice for narration. During slower moments, you filled out the space with interest information. I'll be curious to see how you handle things once you've gone "blind." Apart from the obvious Greek references, the game also references the Hebrew creation myths. In Hebrew, ELOHIM is the name of God in the Garden of Eden. The word means "god" or "gods" but it also means "judges." It's curious that ELOHIM refers to Himself in the plural, e.g. the shapes are "the sigils of our name." He could be referring to Himself in a Trinitarian sense (the Christian triune Godhead), but He could also in fact be the mouth piece to an entire council of "judges." We did feel judged, didn't we? Also, this might be a stretch, but He could be referring to a hidden, divine name, using the shapes, similar to how God in the Hebrew Bible also has the unutterable name YHWH, the Tetragrammaton. Perhaps out of sheer coincidence, the name, when written in Hebrew script, looks oddly like a collection of Tetris shapes:  Based on ELOHIM's reactions to some of your choices, and on His stated intentions, it seems like the game will explore issues of free will and disobedience. Fitting for robots and humans alike.
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Jan 25, 2015 09:48
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I played through the game last week. And I can recommend it to anyone who likes puzzles. It's really good. And it's actually quite doable. If you want to 100% it, some puzzles are somewhat hard though. I hope this vague description doesn't count as a spoiler. cant cook creole bream fucked around with this message at 09:57 on Jan 25, 2015 |
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Jan 25, 2015 09:54
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I did this in one sitting and it made me sick. Don't do what I did. Really though, the FOV and the head-bobbing on this is a good combination for motion sickness in some people. If you play this yourself, try turning the bobbing off and adjusting FOV to 90. Also this game is absolutely outstanding, definitely one of the best games of last year.
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Jan 25, 2015 10:17
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Consider me intrigued. I have one request, though. In that one puzzle where you got shot, you first showed off an apparently unintended solution, and then went around the corner and showed where the other jammer was. My request is simply that from now on you first show off all (accessible) elements of a puzzle before you attempt to solve them. Otherwise you could (accidentally, in a blind playthrough) solve the puzzle before I have time to realize what the puzzle is about. I'm wondering if I should buy this. When I looked it up on Steam, I found they released a free teaser game alongside this one called Sigils of Elohim. It has a whole bunch of those Tetris puzzles, and they get quite hard. Solving them gives you codes to unlock small extras in the main game. The teaser game is free, so folks, give it a try if you want.
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Jan 25, 2015 11:54
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Rush_shirt posted:This game piqued my interest, but I'm a completionist and I feel I wouldn't have the mental acuity for some of the puzzles in this. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders! I figured either Trinitarian or the "royal we."
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Jan 25, 2015 12:23
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Fantastic! The game looks intriguing, and I really enjoyed the teaser demo they put out. Also, K9, I was remembering your Void LP on Friday, and thinking it would be great to see another work of yours. And now this! Woo 
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Jan 25, 2015 13:19
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Rush_shirt posted:Apart from the obvious Greek references, the game also references the Hebrew creation myths. In Hebrew, ELOHIM is the name of God in the Garden of Eden. The word means "god" or "gods" but it also means "judges." Couldn't really ask for a better first post. One thing I'm curious to see occur is a collision of creation myths, as the game seems to be cherry picking from the same source so far. I'm not a theologian, so I'll be depending on the thread a lot for some interpretations. Air is lava! posted:I played through the game last week. And I can recommend it to anyone who likes puzzles. It's really good. Yes, the unlockable devices seem fun, if the intuitive use of inter-component interactions keeps up I'll be happy. It's not a spoiler to say that the bonus collectables are harder to obtain. Though I've recorded the second area and it's creating a trend of the stars being harder to find than to obtain, I'm hoping it tips the other way as the game goes on. frozentreasure posted:I did this in one sitting and it made me sick. Don't do what I did. Oh heck, hadn't considered that, are you referring to playing or watching or both? In either case I'll mess with the settings, throw in a warning and adjust for part 3 onwards. Carbon dioxide posted:Consider me intrigued. That's a fair request, as the puzzles get harder I'll spend more time laying out my thought processes, starting with cataloguing all of the pieces. Though what to do if I find an entirely unintended solution I'm not sure of yet!
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Jan 25, 2015 13:32
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Note that Elokim* is inherently a plural word in Hebrew, and definitely can refer to earthly judges as well as G-d. The royal we is certainly a thing that is allowed when referring to this perspective of G-d, but on the other hand, the Sanhedrin (Jewish supreme court) would also pass legislation using "we" in the more traditional sense. So just from the name and use of "we", so far there's no way to determine whether this is a single robot creator/grad student or an entire Council/Robotics Department at a University. Elokim, incidentally, is not typically used when referring to G-d's mercy, and if it is, something weird/deep/mystical is being evoked. It's generally used when referring to the left side of the sephirot, with power/restraint, glory/dominance, omniscience/knowledge, etc. It's also sometimes used to refer to the universe itself, and the laws of physics. G-d as "Cosmic Mother Nature", so to speak. Either way, it's really weird seeing a self-described Elokim being quite so gentle. Loving and kind is fine, but gentle is... odd. * Yes, I'm one of those people who doesn't write the names of G-d, and use obfuscations. In this case, replacing an h with a k. Or technically, replacing the Hei with a Kei, which is a fictional non-existent letter sometimes written as a Qof, but I've also seen it written as a weirdly mangled Hei.
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Jan 25, 2015 14:46
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Great first video. I finished the game yesterday so can now watch without restraint. This is one of those games that really provoke thinking and analyzing things. Those gated-off places in the tutorial area are remains of puzzles from the public beta I think.
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Jan 25, 2015 15:36
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omeg posted:Those gated-off places in the tutorial area are remains of puzzles from the public beta I think. Nah. You'll know the Public Beta area when you see it.
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Jan 25, 2015 15:56
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frozentreasure posted:Nah. You'll know the Public Beta area when you see it. True, now that you mention it. Maybe those are just some cut things then that level designers didn't have time to completely remove.
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Jan 25, 2015 16:10
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This was definitely one of my games of the year for '14. I never finished it, but it is absolutely brilliant in design and its philosophy doesn't feel pretentious. I was not surprised when I learned this was being written, at least in part, by the guy who wrote The Swapper and FTL, because those games are really good sci-fi.
ViggyNash fucked around with this message at 16:53 on Jan 25, 2015 |
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Jan 25, 2015 16:50
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I am playing through this right now. Pretty amazing game. My only complaints are that it's a bit TOO long (if you're expecting something as short as Portal, forget it, this is easily a 20 hour game) as well as something else I will explain once it comes up.
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Jan 25, 2015 17:05
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Holy moly, I actually beat a recent game before the first LP started. That's new to me.
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Jan 25, 2015 18:05
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Is it kosher to ask about stars? Not really a spoiler since the game taunts you with them a few maps in, but obviously we're not there yet.
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Jan 26, 2015 01:06
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ViggyNash posted:Is it kosher to ask about stars? Not really a spoiler since the game taunts you with them a few maps in, but obviously we're not there yet. We've seen the first. I'm guessing CannibalK9 will get to the rest as he progresses in the game. So I guess we can discuss the stars we've seen already.
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Jan 26, 2015 08:33
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Carbon dioxide posted:We've seen the first. I'm guessing CannibalK9 will get to the rest as he progresses in the game. So I guess we can discuss the stars we've seen already. That's about it. Looking at the door in the temple and extrapolating (which feels safe enough in a puzzle game), every ten stars grants access to another hub world containing three grey sigils. So I'll probably have to collect everything before I can open or unlock the final area or thing, but more puzzles is prize enough in the meantime! Creating episode 2 has been bizarre. I've seen but don't really agree with the Portal comparisons, but since I'm aware of them I can't shake them out of my head. One of the main atmospheric devices in Portal is a sense of constantly being watched and evaluated, which at least affected how I played (I did far more ridiculous things when I thought there'd be an amusing comment on them). Elohim is doing the same, but instead I feel completely alone, like he has an eternity, or that all of his comments are predetermined. The apparent openness and sparser comments helps with this, and there's also an implicit feeling of insignificance. But at the same time I'm recording myself, so where I'd normally be trying to jump on everything and running into every corner I'm now trying to make it somewhat watchable, presenting a false sense of composure (contrast it with The Void where I had no problems attempting to climb every possible surface because the geometry seemed mostly arbitrary). Just a few thoughts... if Elohim becomes more dogmatic it might incite some rebellion.
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Jan 26, 2015 09:50
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I like to think of this game as the Android Hell that GLaDOS mentions in the original Portal.
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Jan 27, 2015 19:17
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Carbon dioxide posted:We've seen the first. I'm guessing CannibalK9 will get to the rest as he progresses in the game. So I guess we can discuss the stars we've seen already. Yeah, I hadn't actually seen the video yet when I posted. As we see them sounds like a good idea. Magnetic North posted:I like to think of this game as the Android Hell that GLaDOS mentions in the original Portal.  Consider this a thread name change request. ViggyNash fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Jan 27, 2015 |
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Jan 27, 2015 19:42
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I heard alot of good things about this game and will be following this lp, kinda weird knowing a philosophical game like this was made by the guys who made Serious Sam.
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Jan 27, 2015 20:13
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Giovanni_Sinclair posted:I heard alot of good things about this game and will be following this lp, kinda weird knowing a philosophical game like this was made by the guys who made Serious Sam. That was seriously my first reaction. It still weirds me out a bit. Btw, Cannibal, do you mind if I try to decode some of the "corrupted" parts of the text? For example, @ 14:20 in your video, you ask the MLA how old it is and it answers with a current date of June 27th 203f. If we assume that the year is broken and it's actually giving us the hex value of that data, and we assume that hex value represents a binary number, then the actual year is 8255. Also, it says the system has been running for [9999e] years, which if we assume is a hex value translates to 629,150 years. So the library contains 6260 years worth of information, and has kept (some) of it for almost 630,000 years. e: Although, if only the last 2 characters of 203f are corrupted, then it translates to 2063, which seems a more sensible number. In that case the library contains 68 years worth of info, which more sensibly fits the 47 petabytes of content (which I assume is historical/academic data/information) originally stored in the MLA. ViggyNash fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Jan 27, 2015 |
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Jan 27, 2015 20:29
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I parsed the 9999e as 9999 exponent (something cut off). Like the Portal 2 intro: " You have slept for nine nine nine nine nine nine ... "
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Jan 27, 2015 21:14
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Maybe 9999e represents some sort of integer overflow.
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Jan 27, 2015 21:32
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ViggyNash posted:Btw, Cannibal, do you mind if I try to decode some of the "corrupted" parts of the text? For example, @ 14:20 in your video, you ask the MLA how old it is and it answers with a current date of June 27th 203f. If we assume that the year is broken and it's actually giving us the hex value of that data, and we assume that hex value represents a binary number, then the actual year is 8255. Also, it says the system has been running for [9999e] years, which if we assume is a hex value translates to 629,150 years. Absolutely, as I've mentioned I prefer my secrets in plain view! It does seem that a lot is converted into hex, but just from scanning the files at the time some corrupted segments were clearly not hex values, so I'll be glad to try deciphering, even if it leads nowhere, once we're in the swing of things.  Part 2 (Hub A-2): Exhuming the time capsule IAN.eml; athena_analysis.html; talos_principle.txt error.log; the_human_machine.txt; ARGH_solutions.eml
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Jan 28, 2015 00:51
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I'm pretty sure QR codes that are translated by the game do say what the game shows. And terminals usually beep after you complete all puzzles in the level.
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Jan 28, 2015 02:34
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I was able to determine that one of the pictures depicts Achilles's sacrifice of 12 Trojan prisoners at the funeral of Patroclus. Not sure about the other one. Also, Uriel is an archangel and one of the few angels said to have been allowed to bask in the presence of The Creator. Whether or not our Uriel upholds this, we shall see.
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Jan 28, 2015 03:43
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It would be hard to scan the QR codes from your video because your crosshairs are right in the middle of most of them. I got the one that didn't show up though, because you did in fact get a good angle. I thought in the first video you edited in the text yourself. I clued in that the game does it automatically for you this video. I remember in 4th grade having to write a letter to my future self. I don't remember what happened to that letter, but I do remember having a very hard time thinking of anything to say other than wondering how much fun Super Mario 3 was going to be. INTJ for life, I guess.
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Jan 28, 2015 05:30
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Rush_shirt posted:
I dunno. I can't see any S pieces or 4 squares there. If motion sickness is a thing I'll have to take this in short bursts.
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Jan 28, 2015 08:44
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I stopped the first video after seeing enough to decide I want to play it myself but $40 is a bit daunting, from the bit I saw I was expecting around 20. Can someone tell me how big the game is? I may just wait for a sale.
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Jan 28, 2015 09:53
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Bruceski posted:I stopped the first video after seeing enough to decide I want to play it myself but $40 is a bit daunting, from the bit I saw I was expecting around 20. Can someone tell me how big the game is? I may just wait for a sale. I feel like I was blitzing through the game at a good pace and only started getting seriously stumped on the last ten puzzles or so, and I went for about 15 hours, which was just to beat the game without going out of my way looking for bonus stars. It is absolutely worth $40.
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Jan 28, 2015 10:01
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Veloxyll posted:If motion sickness is a thing I'll have to take this in short bursts. The OP used to mention that the motion sickness issue should be resolved in episode 3. It's still in the first update post but probably should be put back in the OP to warn new watchers.
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Jan 28, 2015 10:04
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Hey, CannibalK9, I have a question about the thread I wanted to ask privately but the only place i could find to contact you was youtube. I sent you a private message there, could you take a look? Liking the thread so far, I hoped someone would do one but was worried it would be some goofy guy struggling through and ignoring the story stuff.
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Jan 28, 2015 10:34
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Innovacious posted:Hey, CannibalK9, I have a question about the thread I wanted to ask privately but the only place i could find to contact you was youtube. I sent you a private message there, could you take a look? Haha, I could only find my youtube messages via URL, there's been a bit of discussion over the past few years. Your message is a wonderful thing, and well timed as it first comes up in A-3. I'll have to think of a decent way of incorporating it as it's a lot to go through all at once and the first reference is fairly sparse. Thanks for letting me know, I was all set to just skim past it. Also, motion sickness warning added to OP, cheers!
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Jan 28, 2015 10:55
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frozentreasure posted:I feel like I was blitzing through the game at a good pace and only started getting seriously stumped on the last ten puzzles or so, and I went for about 15 hours, which was just to beat the game without going out of my way looking for bonus stars. It is absolutely worth $40. Yeah. I got the demo and just spent an hour or so exploring the place (I *think* I got all the stuff, but that's not a matter for this thread). I was thinking it would be something nice but short, along the lines of Swapper or other puzzle games I've seen. The price makes more sense now and I think I'm in love.
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Jan 28, 2015 10:59
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And that's why the immediate comparison to Portal that basically every single puzzle game gets (especially first-person ones) is really stupid and problematic. Creates unfair expectations in the mind of someone hearing about it for the first time about every aspect of the game, particularly length and value. Antichamber had/has similar wariness over its $20 price tag, like anyone's wallet is going to be taking a massive hit at that price ("anyone", in this case, being people who can afford games as the luxury they are).
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Jan 28, 2015 11:05
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Interesting, the game is 20€ in here. First time in a long time I see the Euro price much better than the US one. Edit: seems it's so low because it's a "tier 2" price. Still weird because 95% games on Steam are priced at "tier 1" here (Poland).  Croteam/Devolver I guess 
omeg fucked around with this message at 12:08 on Jan 28, 2015 |
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Jan 28, 2015 11:59
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frozentreasure posted:Antichamber had/has similar wariness over its $20 price tag, like anyone's wallet is going to be taking a massive hit at that price ("anyone", in this case, being people who can afford games as the luxury they are). I see this sentiment a lot on the forums and it feels really disingenuous. You really can't fathom anything between "so poor buying videogames is unthinkable" and "$20 is nothing"?
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Jan 28, 2015 15:01
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