DLC - am I on the right track? (Spoilers)
I can't easily post my ship log, I'm playing on the switch and writing this on a plane 😂 but there are two question marks that I assume are two more forbidden archives. I got to the one down a well. I've still got a lot of questions though - this is going to be a long post 😂 maybe writing it all out will help.
I'm the person with aphantasia and crap vision who really, really struggles with 3D environments and noticing things visually and couldn't finish the base game (although I have gotten everywhere now).
I've actually done pretty well with the Stranger even though it's reliant on visual storytelling. But as soon as I'm in a dark environment and expected to know which way to go, I'm pretty much sunk. So there are a couple more things to try to figure out, but one of them involves a lot of darkness and I'm pretty much lost. Before I throw myself into it again and again, I'd love to know if I'm on the right track.
Here's what I think I understand of the story, so far (I could be way off):
The Owlks (I've seen that word, now I get it) built a ship to come investigate the Eye. One of them had a vision of it destroying everything and they collectively reacted badly, burning a building dedicated to it and doing something to shield it so it couldn't broadcast its signal / destroy everything. This was pre-Nomai because Bramble wasn't brambly yet. They've since lost contact with the shield device (although I guess it's still working since we can't find the Eye).
At some point they also decided to create what appears to be a dream world, and did a lot of experiments about how to access it. I walked away from my artifact and saw the architecture of that world, and found a reel that seemed to confirm that it's a simulation. They decided to live in the simulation full-time.
Also at some point they decided to destroy almost all the reels of their journey. They seem to have deliberately partially burned a few and left them for us to find, though.
There were 33 Owlks when they built the towers. One is missing from its alcove. I assume that one is in the sealed vault. I seem to be trying pretty hard to open the version of the vault that's in the simulation, which might open the real world one as well.
I kind of instinctively dislike the Owlks almost as much as I liked the Nomai. I'm not really sure why. But it does put me vaguely on the side of whoever is in the vault even though I don't know what they did or why it merited that treatment and not just, like, murder.
At some point when they made plans they put systems in place that would automatically move the ship out of the range of the supernova when the star died. That's some seriously good long range planning, but it makes me wonder why they didn't just go home.
I spent a while looking for codes but then I found codes and they didn't help. I figured out how to deactivate two of the seals using, basically, bugs in the code. That leaves the one that involves a raft.
I think I need to extinguish all the lights in the big house to go through the fireplace, I just get lost when I try. Hints about how to navigate in the dark would be helpful.
I haven't rafted around the simulation much so there's more to discover there. It's dark though and I can't remember what things look like so I get lost and miss things other people would notice. Hints welcome here as well - especially things that I've probably been to and not noticed. I've done the raft circuit.
I've only been caught by the residents once so far Playing with reduced frights because I'm twitchy by nature. I've seen them walking around on an island but haven't gotten close. I assume I also need to do that even though they'll probably catch me. And that it has something to do with the third archive. It's in the area that corresponds to the lowlands**. I think I'll probably need to get there by raft after the dam breaks, because I think they'll disappear if their lights are extinguished in the real world, but I could be wrong.**
My big questions (don't answer, but if I'm pointing waaaay off course, it's fine to let me know):
The stranger looks like an entire artificial environment. Did they assume they'd be living on it for a long time? Why do their buildings mostly (or entirely) relate to the simulation?
Why are there a million portraits and a couple of landscapes and that's all? They seem pretty nostalgic for their home planet - is there a reason they can't go back?
Why are there no children, if this was a generation ship? There are a few portraits that include children so I know this species does have them.
Why are there 33 people on it? There are no other bodies, just the mummies in their alcoves. It seems like they launched with all 33. That just seems like a weird way to conduct a scientific expedition, but also a weird way to create a space colony. I'm missing something.
Why is the simulation world so dark? Have its inhabitants lost their minds at this point / has their code degraded? It's been hundreds of thousands of years, right? Why are they so upset that I'm there?
Who or what will I find in the vault? I assume it'll be a mummy in the real world but the simulation version... Will we be able to communicate? Have they been conscious for hundreds of thousands of years in a tiny cage? Why are they so scary it required three different locks and when I try to open the vault light and memories pour out?
How did the Eye Signal get out for long enough for the Nomai to hear it?
Why did they leave reels with clues but partially burnt to lead the way to archives with more of the story?
What will happen if I end the loop and then go hang out in the Stranger? At least I can test this one 😂
OMG if anyone read this novel, thank you!