Type Help

Ahh gosh, I'm loving it, but i've gotten myself stuck right almost right out the gate. i've only just unlocked one 07 file, but everywhere else i'm getting confounded!

This is a masterpiece. Thanks for creating it!

ok, now just completed it, i only want to know:

who is A.T? is it even relevant?

and how you find the @'s real name?

amazing game btw

hey, i've almost completed it, i just can't realize from where you can find the final note? i know there is one thanks to the comments, but I don't understand where it comes from.

Unbelievably good! Got the twist somewhere in Act II but it still was pretty fun. Actually loved the cataloguing system. Unlike many other games of this type it felt intuitive and after only an hour I found myself typing these numbers and letters almost instinctively

I need a hint


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I am also missing one reference from 02-LI-5-8-9

it took me a second to realize what happened in 26 exactly, but then I looked back at the start and realized exactly what happened.

cbbe Wbua unf gur jbefg yhpx. V zrna frevbhfyl, ur znantrq gb nibvq gur phefr bayl gb gevc ba gur qrpx naq qvr nsgre uvggvat uvf urnq. yvxr lbh pna frr vg va 1 d 1 11, orpnhfr ur nyzbfg gevcf gurer, naq Gubeagba whfg pngpurf uvz fb ur qbrfa'g snyy.

Edit: Okay yeah no that makes sense. I connected the wrong dots.

V zvffrq gur svyr 10-RQ-8, ohg V qvqa'g xabj nobhg vg orpnhfr nyy gur svyrf jrer fubjvat 0 yvaxf gb haqvfpbirerq svyrf. Fb V nffhzrq V fbyirq gur tnzr naq fgnegrq ernqvat gur pbzzragf gb svaq bhg nobhg 00-svany-abgr naq jnf pbashfrq nobhg ubj crbcyr sbhaq vg. V ernq gur svany abgr naq gur qernz sebz pbzzragf, naq V qvqa'g xabj V zvffrq n fprar hagvy V glcrq uryc gb frr ubj znal svyrf V sbhaq naq frra 97, fb V unq gb ybbx guebhtu zl fcernqfurrg naq svaq gur zvffvat fcbg. Fb V thrff gurer pbhyq or n yvax sebz nal bgure fprar gb 10-RQ-8. Nyfb znlor vs V xarj V jbhyq trg n zrffntr nsgre svaqvat rirel fprar, V jbhyq ernyvmr fbbare gung V jnf zvffvat bar fprar rneyvre.

I absolutely loved playing this. I didn't actually make the final deductive leap into what was *actually* going on, but I loved uncovering all the pieces of the story using deductive logic (and the odd bit of trial and error). It was so fun to explore the mystery in little parts, and felt like a proper detective linking these insane characters and their stories together. I made a Google Sheets to track everyone and it was very satisfying.

In the end, I came to the comments here to read about other people's theories about the ending. It didn't satisfactorily resolve for me in the way I had quite wished it would - despite having unlocked 97%, I hadn't understood the specifics on *why* the events were happening as they were.

Thank you for making such a cool thing, and I wish for many more cool things like this in the future.

Fantastic game!

(Spoilery constructive feedback for the author below)

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1. I wish there was an easier way to `find` text not only across scenes but also within scenes.  Right now what I had to do each time is to first type the command `find ring` and then Ctrl+F and use my browser's search to directly highlight the instances of the word `ring`.  This felt janky because the game window kept shrinking/expanding (fullscreen switches) and the browser kept finding words in the itch.io comments.  I would really much prefer it if, after clicking a scene through the Find results, the searched word would be underlined in all its instances.

2. I felt that there were a few too many puzzles that required me to figure out the layout of the house itself -- characters going "upstairs" or "downstairs" and the reader expected to know where they end up, at least approximately.  The positioning of rooms was not fully intuitive (e.g. a kitchen below the dining room... until I learned about the dumbwaiter), and I found myself wishing for more help there.  I know @ says "I couldn't find any records of the layout, so I can only go off the names that I've found within the audio", but, I wish at least the player was more obviously told to write down the layout of which rooms are "upstairs" and which are "downstairs".

3. The name of the game isn't great (I'm sorry).

4. The time delay between deaths was very confusing and as far as I know it was simply left unexplained, which I found dissatisfying.  I loved the fact that the rate keeps going up, with more and more bodies dropping, but I couldn't find any explanation for why the deaths are accelerating.

I'll expand on this with very major spoilers in ROT13:  

V haqrefgnaq gung rnpu gvzr fbzrbar qvrf sebz gur nagvzrzr phefr ("gur cerivbhf ivpgvz"), gur arkg ivpgvz orpbzrf rvgure gur ynfg crefba gb unir gubhtug bs gurz be gur svefg crefba gb guvax nobhg gurz ntnva (abg pbhagvat guvaxvat nobhg vgf hasnzvyvne obql).  Rirelbar sbetrgf nobhg gur cerivbhf ivpgvz naq eryngrq zrzbevrf va gur zbzrag bs qrngu, ohg gur arkg ivpgvz jvyy fhqqrayl ertnva gurfr zrzbevrf gur svefg gvzr gurl guvax/gnyx nobhg gur cerivbhf ivpgvz (hfhnyyl unccraf guebhtu n culfvpny bowrpg gung erzvaqf gurz), juvpu gevttref gur "pbhagqbja" sbe guvf arkg ivpgvz'f qrngu.  

V qb abg ng nyy haqrefgnaq jul, va-jbeyq, gurer jnf n uhtr gvzr qrynl orgjrra gur qrnguf bs gur svefg srj punenpgref (Ehcreg, Uneel, Rir) juvyr gur ynfg qrnguf unccra rkgerzryl dhvpxyl nsgre rnpu bgure (Rqqvr, Znegun, Gbal).  V gubhtug vg zvtug or gur "culfvpny zrzbenovyvn" pbaarpgvba, ohg gung'f abg pyrna rabhtu naq snvyf gb rkcynva gur beqre (r.t. jul Gubeagba pnzr nsgre Ehcreg rira gubhtu Wbua jnf unaqyvat gur xrl), fb zl orfg thrff vf gung vg'f n pbzovangvba bs "jnf guvaxvat nobhg ivpgvz nf gurl qvrq" naq "vf erzvaqrq bs gur ivpgvz guebhtu fbzrguvat arj".

5. I enjoyed the large amount of red herrings, but I felt that there were a few too many of them near the end which were left unresolved in a way that doesn't exactly convince the player if they are or aren't connected, even by the time the final theory is completed.  Perhaps one or two of them should be blatantly deemed false by @, in one of the very last documents?  Just as a final confirmation.

This game is amazing.

V'ir fcrag gur cnfg unys na ubhe ernqvat gur pbzzragf urne gb gel naq svther bhg gur fbyhgvba sbe gur unatzna tnzr naq V unir gb fnl V qvfnterr jvgu gur abgvba gung gur "ynfg chmmyr" jnf gbb uneq, gubhtu V thrff V unq gur yhpx gb cynl gur nyernql hcqngrq irefvba. Nf fbba nf V ernq gur ynfg gjb ragevrf V jnf fb pbashfrq nobhg Wbua'f qrngu.

V fgvyy jnag gb xabj gur fbyhgvba gb gur unatzna gubhtu. gur hcqngr fnlf gurer vf bar naq vg vf qevivat zr penml.

Bgure guna gung V guvax 00-qernz vf n ovg gbb qvssvphyg gb svaq.

In the end I think it is kinda cool that some mysteries about the people here stayed mysteries (gur fbhepr bs Naavr'f zbarl ceboyrzf, vf Ivpgbevn certanag?, jung vf gbalf erny anzr) because that's the way a real murder investigation would have also ended. I still want to know the hangman solution though.

V nz fb pbashfrq nobhg ubj gb fbyir gur unatzna zvavtnzr. Vg qbrfa'g gnxr @f anzr (arvgure E abe Y), vg qbrfa'g gnxr n sbe Nzryvn, vg qbrfa'g gnxr R sbe Ryrnabe, vg qbrfa'g npghnyyl gnxr nal ibjryf (n,r,v,b,h). V'yy unir gb tvir hc ba gung bar hayrff fbzrbar pna uryc zr bhg.

Gripping experience. Spoilertown below.

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Made it to the end credits but somehow I still feel like I missed something. Are they a fakeout? (Some other people were mentioning a 98th entry and I have 97 with no other clues! It seems people also found @’s name but I have no clue how.)

I don’t understand the rules of the curse. (Is that what it is?)

The broad strokes seem to be: Remember the previous target, then after some time you’ll hear a thunderclap, die, and be forgotten.

(I had and continue to have a hard time with the time-delay aspect. I think it must be a part of it, otherwise @’s writing in 00-final-note doesn’t make sense, he wouldn’t be on death’s door — and that’s as close to a definitive answer as I can find. Time-delay: Is that why Eve died the way she did, not because of Edmund’s singing but because it took a bit for her remembering Thornton to kick in? Likewise for Damian, only dying in his sleep and not right after he remembered Helen?)

Other people’s memories change to fill the void, so Martha says she had a wedding for herself, that sort of ridiculous confabulation. BUT if someone does remember the last person, they die and the curse goes on? I can’t square that with all of the deaths.

Rupert remembers Amelia after hearing the player piano perform a piece, says her name, walks to the study, wonders aloud about asking Oswald about Amelia, dies. (Do you have to say the previous person’s name? Is it just that time delay?)

Thornton moves Rupert’s body and remembers that he’s dead, but the thunderclap only sounds for him when he’s muttering to himself in the kitchen. (He doesn’t mention Rupert by name immediately before death, only saying ‘He’s really dead…’. Otherwise, he just says “Mr. Galley” to when he talks to John in the Study.

Skipping forward, the other confusing part are the 3 final deaths.

Annie shoots herself and a thunderclap sounds at the same time. She does mention Oswald to John, but only by pronoun - before then, she says his name to himself, reading it out from the list Victoria made. Suicide didn’t work to stop the curse… Why?

Then John doesn’t remember Annie and doesn’t read the paper with her name on it, saving himself. The last time he said her name was before the combination gunshot/thunderclap, so he’s safe from the curse from that point. (Is he?)

Katherine eventually dies at home, some time after Annie. I guess because she’s the last person to… say Annie’s name? I don’t understand how John’s trick worked.

John dies, he has to just to square with the bodycount. All of the numbered/lettered people are dead bodies. But he doesn’t die by curse as he is pointedly omitted from @’s final list and we don’t hear a thunderclap on the recording. He must be the middle-aged man on the steps mentioned in the intro - and if he really didn’t die by curse, he must be the only publicly-identified victim mentioned in the intro.

But. I don’t get it! What does @ figure out? He knows the names of everyone hit by the curse, so he’s next in line after Katherine, right? Why does the last line in the final message say “God I hope this works” — he died, right?

Other side-mysteries:

I was convinced that there had to be a scene in the Garden mentioned by Oswald but seemingly no dice. I guess it isn’t bolded like the other locations, so that checks out, and Oswald is a walking red herring anyway.

It’s odd that there are two loose-end female characters, Amelia and Eleanor. I’m fairly sure that Eleanor is a red herring who died long before the start of the story. (I guess like, it’s ironic that despite Oswald’s theory, she and her mother end up the only Galleys who Katherine remembers.)

She’s given more attention than Amelia, who is mentioned just three times. No explanation given on why she’s at the head of the curse. Hell of a birthday present for poor old Rupert. I assume she’s also been dead for ages (I guess she had to be as you have to remember the dead to contract the curse), but that’s all I got.

Can we really not figure out Tony’s father’s name, or did @ just not realize at the moment he wrote the note? I certainly can’t.

Anyway I feel both like a smartypants for getting to the end and like a dumb-dumb for not understanding what is at the end. If anyone could shed some light on this for me, that would be nice. Thank you William for the game, well done!