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What do you do when you're stumped?

posted by Dave Grossman on - last edited - Viewed by 1.3K users

So, there's a common thing that people who play adventure games do when they start to get stuck, which is to methodically go through and try using everything in their inventory. I'm wondering what else people do when they're out of ideas -- for example, maybe you take your hand off the mouse and think, or you wander around through all the environments but don't click on anything, or you go back and talk to all the people again. (Maybe you immediately go look on the forums for a hint or call your brother-in-law for advice.) What's your approach?

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  • @Mel said: Swear*.

    My favourite answer.

  • I will usually check other locations, talk to more people .. go have a look around.. think about what I have to do..if i'm still stuck i'll have a break from the game and think about the puzzle then.. and come back to it.. a lot of the "did you do ..." play it again stuff was done when I was stuck.. theres a lot you miss when you just rush through the game

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    Mel in a clear thinking state of mind:

    1. Go back and talk to everyone:
    It works - hurrah! (why didn't you think to talk to that person again?)
    It doesn't work - Damn!>>go to step 2

    2. Revisit all locations, look for any items or hot spots missed:
    It works - Why didn't I see that the first time OR How in the hell did they expect me to find that?
    It doesn't work - Shit. One more thing and then I'm going to hints.>>>go to Step 3

    3. Try everything in your inventory on everything else in your inventory or on all of the hotspots and people you can think of:
    It works - What a pain in the ass! What was the point of that puzzle again?
    It doesn't work - F*#@.>>>go to Step 4

    4. Go to UHS or a walkthrough
    It works - I don't mind doing this a few times but if the whole game is like this, I may quit.
    It doesn't work - Uninstall.

    Mel in a stressed/tired state:

    1. Swear
    2. Go to UHS/Walkthrough
    3. Contemplate shelving game playing until I am out of said state of mind.

    In the first scenario I'll interchange steps 1 & 2 or do them at the same time thus bypassing Damn.

  • 1. Have I clicked EVERYTHING?

    2. Have I tried EVERY item?

    3.How far would I have to backtrack to double-check?

    4. Have I clicked every possible conversation branch?

    5. Have I blind-typed "plugh", "plover" and "xyzzy"?

    6.Did I chortle at my own cleverness for doing so?

    7. Is the game alt-tab friendly so I can check online for hints?

    8.Was it smart for me to manage to buy the one game that nobody has written a walkthrough for?

    9.Do I have a baseball bat and a place to put the CD/floppy shards?

  • have you ever get stuck on an fps game? heheh I did once in Doom.
    well for adventure games, I very much agree with Mel except the last resort of uninstalling... it can turns out to be a bug! and for Sam & Max, what better place to find or seek help than this lively forum (or maybe asking directly to Emily)?

  • I've been stuck in FPSs quite a bit, usually because of something escaping my notice, or a hard-to-find key, or jumping puzzles. (I HATE those)

    For instance, a couple days ago while playing Quake 4, I spent almost an hour in a room, simply because I somehow kept not seeing a big honkin' touchscreen that opens the door.

    (For those who have played it, it was the medical room where you first encounter the flying acid-spitty Strogg with blades for arms)

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    Shauntron Telltale Staff

    I used to get stuck in FPSs way more often because the textures and level design were all too similar, so I would run around in circles too much and give up. Starting around the release of Half Life, level design got a lot more varied and logical and I don't really get stuck anymore.

  • 1. Think about what I need to do next, logically.

    2. Revisit all NPC's and scenes. Repeat dialog and look for anything missed.

    3. Go to sleep... its 3 am already?

    4. Retry steps 1 and 2.

    5. Go online. Read walkthrough. Get mad at accidently reading the answer to a puzzle not yet encountered. Get more angry at realising the answer was either obvious or insanely twisted

    If all that fails and I'm still stumped... I try to put in disk 21... or disk 52... or disk 98...

    Or maybe I'll just skip that part of the game...

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