I got the horses into the stable (possibly a bug here, as it didn't work first time around). I'm also missing the shovel and the book mentioned in other comments.
Viewing post in The Curse of Rabenstein jam comments
Hi Garry, I think the comments were contra-productive in your case as they brought you way too much ahead with thinking towards the goals as you actually have progressed. There are in fact more locations that open up as you progress, the church is such a location. My games are always based on progress levels, so sometimes you are doing the right thing but the time is not right.
Ok. Regarding the horses, I don't think it is a bug. You can't take the horses to the stable immediately. You first need to unlock the stable and then you need to be in the stable one time to check if there is enough room for horses / carriage. This process is pretty guided. After you did that you may take the horses to the stable and a little "cutscene" places you there together with horses and carriage. The progress is very linear. Anyway. From what I read, what you did not do is talking to the villagers in the Inn after you brought the horses to the stable. When you initially try to talk to them the reply is that this is not the right time, after you take care of the carriage and you need to wait for the coachman anyway, why shouldn't you? :) once you did that (a few hours pass) you might want to go to the church again. And from what I read you also might want to carefully examine everything on the graveyard. I usually wouldn't give that much advice on the project website, but here in the Jam entries, it's okay :)
Scream for help if something is not clear to you :)
I'm pretty sure I talked to the villagers again after taking the horses and carriage to the stable, but they're not very responsive. I'll double-check when I get home tonight. Are you implying that the coachman will return? I was presuming from the bloody cloth that he has met some horrible demise. The discussion implies that there is some impact caused by the passing of time. I've used WAIT and tried sleeping in the bedroom, but I don't seem to be able to get time to pass.
Incidentally, I did mention that I've examined and searched every noun in the game, including the graveyard. That's how I found the light source. Should I perhaps be examining something in the graphics that's not in the description?
Actually... no :D Do you still have the stable key with you?
when the horses are in the stable you can talk to the innkeeper again to get a different reply. if you try to talk to the villagers after the horses are in the stable, the innkeeper will ask you to give her back what belongs to her. If you do so, you may finally talk to the villagers. That is the trigger to progress, not just waiting.
You are with puzzeling just ahead of the story, that's why you're not getting the whole picture. Yes, the coachman won't return. But initially you don't know. And from a logical perspective, what you would do in that situation is asking for a room for the night, put the horses in the stable, and then ask again in the inn if somebody had seen the coachman. That's the idea behind it. You wouldn't search all the locations before you know that you're searching something, which is revealed later as you progress and then the items make sense :)
PS: if you found the torch, there is not more to do at this moment at the graveyard. there will be later.
When I checked my notes (I always take extensive notes), I had tried all the things you suggested. It appears that you have to do a few unrelated things in the inn in a specific order. After doing so, I have an empty bottle, but nothing else has changed. I'm fed up with examining and searching and using the same things over and over again, so I guess I'm going to have to give up on this one, otherwise I won't have time to finish the others. Sorry. Maybe I'll come back to it after the jam.
My outstanding issues are:
- How do I get water from the well (assuming that's what I'm supposed to do)?
- Where's the shovel?
- How do I get into the church?
- How do I force the passage of time?
hi Garry, no that’s not true unfortunately. You don’t need to do anything in the Inn in order. When you talk with the villagers before the horses are in the stable, you get a reply that the time is not right. After the horses are in the stable you can talk with the villagers, provided you gave back the key. If you’re still carrying the key, you are encouraged to give it back first. That’s the trigger and nothing else.
Your problem is that you’ve searched your way through the scenes without knowing what you’re doing and without a clear mission. The game tells you when you need to look after the coachman and when you need to search for certain things which then become obvious. There is NO shovel for you to grab now. You will know when you need one much later in game.
Actually all you had to do now is going to the church and ringing the bell. After your talk with the villagers a few hours passed and there is someone now in the church. To sum that up:
*water from the well: the missing link and the mission is unfold in the church. Yes, in the church you would have needed to search one time again. The problem is that you’re trying to solve microgoals which you were not told yet and that’s exactly why the missing item is at a place where you have not progressed enough to enter. Someone in the church tells you what to do. The whole progress of the game is very linear and logical. You’re the first person to struggle a bit with that. I understand though that adventures come always with expectations and when you’re expecting an oldschool adventure, Rabenstein is wrong for you. it’s about experiencing a story step by step.
*which shovel? You don’t need a shovel now. You need it later in game at a completely different place and when that’s the case you will know.
*entering the church: like I said, after talking to the villagers, all you had to do is ringing the bell. Since a few hours past, someone is there now
* there are a few „passages of time“ but you don’t force it. They happen while you progress and you know when you can trigger them. You can’t right now because you have not progressed enough.
In this game, it’s all about progressing. When you did something and triggered something, it could be that you can do things you were not able to do before. The logicial context is important. Why would you searching for a bucket if you don’t know you need water?