itch.io

That sounds about right! Might pass this bug report along to the PuzzleScript Plus dev as it seems to be an issue with PS+'s 'goto' command in particular, and how it interacts with user state history. Thanks for looking into that.

The itch.io desktop app allows you to download the game to play offline. Though as far as I know there's no way to do this directly from your browser (the downloadable option is removed when you set a game to be playable in-browser for some reason).

Currently no, I assumed the player wouldn't need to go there a second time haha. If it helps, all the Credits info is replicated in the Thanks To section of this itch.io page anyway!

Reworked the level one last time haha. The issue was narrowed down to an odd interaction that the '8' Totems have when a loop is introduced. While I couldn't find a nice solution for the bug itself, I've changed the level so that that particular loop shouldn't be able to arise anymore. Thanks for the bug report!

Thank you!

Thanks! Yeah Totem can feel quite daunting and open-ended at times. The solve method of that area is mainly focused around search heuristics (particularly in trying to narrow the search space as much as possible by identifying and placing highly-constrained or highly-constraining pieces first) rather than a step-by-step logical method, which is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. Glad you enjoyed your time regardless!

All done through PuzzleScript Plus's 'goto' commands! Very useful feature of the fork that vanilla PS cannot do, which enables for non-linear structures such as this one.

Hmm this one might come down to perspective. If you think of the input and output rays and how the input is transformed to the output, then the two terms make sense as-is. But then if you think about the ray itself turning then they are mixed up. I might have to rethink the wording to disambiguate it completely, thanks for letting me know!

Thanks :)

While not quite the intended solution, I don't mind this staying in the game because it's an interesting consequence of the ruleset. In fact, there was a potential Pylon-X5 level that made use of that mechanic, but didn't make the cut for the final release!

Keep an eye out for anything suspicious or slightly out-of-place in those Gardens!

The main menu itself is actually just a regular level, and the logo is made up of many smaller individually-made tiles. I wanted a main menu that didn't look like a PuzzleScript game, so I'm happy to hear the sega genesis/mega drive comparison!

As for the in-game menu, it's pretty much just a whole bunch of individual tiles that are populated on the screen, and some semi-transparent tiles everywhere to give it that 'darkened' effect. The player movement is disabled, and is instead transferred to the menu dots until the action key is pressed again.

Both are pretty hacky solutions, but gives the cool illusion of actual menus!

I think it might be possible through the itch.io desktop app, but I have yet to test that out myself.

Looks like a slightly incorrect assumption about the SPIRE rules. As a gentle hint, I recommend going back through some of the earlier levels while keeping an eye on the gate lights, and make sure you know what causes them to change!

It should just play from your browser. Perhaps click on the game to focus it and then see if the keyboard controls work for you then. If not, trying a different internet browser is another potential option.

Sorry to hear this happened, the engine's implementation of level transitions and win states has a bug, and can sometimes 'wrong warp' you to the incorrect level. Not sure what exactly causes this, but I have a fix on the way that should at least intercept when this happens so that it doesn't take you to the outro.

A minor hint: the lights on the gate can give you some valuable information on your goal!

This game uses PuzzleScript Plus which includes the feature of 'goto' commands. This allows you to define levels with a name, and the ability to add 'goto [level_name]' on the right side of a rule. In my case, the game just has a rule for every valid combination of 5 sigils, and a goto command to send you to the relevant level.

Yeah looks like the infinite loop bug, pressing undo should fix it. This level will be reworked soon to remove the issue.

EDIT: PYLON-33 has now been reworked in v1.8

Huh that's strange. There's a bug in the PuzzleScript+ engine where sometimes level transitions behave unexpectedly, so it might be a case of that sadly. Usually the 'wrong warp' tends to happen if you undo through a level change.

Hello! I think you have written down the 2nd sigil wrong in this case. You will instead want the "9"-looking sigil there, hopefully that will work for you.

There's potential to get into an infinite loop in that level I've heard. You should be able to use the undo key to get out of it!

EDIT: PYLON-33 has now been reworked in v1.8 to fix this bug!

(rot13, Totem and Glyph spoilers)

Lrnu! Gbgrz jnf qrsvavgryl vafcverq ol Purff (naq Hygvzn Purff sbe gur ynfg gjb cvrprf), naq Tylcu pnzr sebz gur vqrn bs gheavat Frg vagb n oybpx-chfuvat chmmyre. Tylcu-33 va cnegvphyne vf n ubzntr gb gur "svaq bar Frg bhg bs gurfr 12 pneqf" tnzrcynl bs gur pneq tnzr!

I've been looking forward to your playthrough! I'm very excited for this series :D

Thanks for letting me know, now fixed in v1.7 :)

Thanks for the kind words :)

The 'Help & Hints' area (upper-right exit of the main hub) might be able to help you there! It will contain hints for each Pylon type.

Progress is tracked only by Garden passwords and Monolith Fragment passwords, so no need to worry about losing progress! You can also get back to the hub at any time (outside of the Intro section) via the X Menu.

Congratulations!! Really happy to hear that you had a good time with the game.

Also thanks for letting me know about that bug, it's now fixed :)

Haha thank you! It was definitely a long journey to get it all working in PuzzleScript, but goes to show that it can be done!

Legitimately the most fun I've had with an enigmatic/hunt-style puzzle in a long time! Really loved that every part of it felt approachable, whilst also staying cohesive in theme. Just awesome work all around.

Also I'm delighted to hear that Ultraviolet Puzzle Challenge was an inspiration for this, it's a style that I'm really fond of so it's exciting to be on the receiving end of it for a change!

I really like the work put into the artstyle! The bite-sized puzzles were lovely to solve also.

Cool stuff! I appreciated the puzzle design gradually guiding the player to not take the most obvious route first, and instead imagine other uses for what is given. The final victory lap of sorts was also a satisfying conclusion.

Here you go:

https://www.puzzlescript.net/editor.html?hack=d7de4f0808d336a62f0eb431622538fb

Feel free to send over any levels that you create, I'd be delighted to see what others are able to create with this :)

I adored this game when I was younger, playing free Flash games on Newgrounds in my spare time. I was (and still am) completely enamoured by the atmosphere and fragments of story. I love the aesthetic of monolithic architecture dwarfing the size of the player,  and of stories that leave just enough to the imagination to continue to spark wonder even after completion. Even though it's quite a short experience, I think it manages to get across everything it needs to and nothing more.

More than a decade later, it still lives on in my mind; It seems that I never truly left Looming. 

Thank you for creating this :)

Thanks for the kind words!

I'm very glad that you're enjoying it! 

It's a bit of a PuzzleScript quirk that it doesn't remember progress within a level unfortunately. However, I've now updated the game to include checkpoints after each section, so when you come back to the page and select Continue it shouldn't take you too far back from where you were up to! Hopefully that helps :)

Brilliant. Thanks for letting me know!

Thanks a lot :)

https://parachor.itch.io/edgecase