r/OrderOfTheSinkingStar

hi guys, i don't have a lot of money so i use to buy only on few ocassions but i loved this game since i saw the trailer... so i played the demo and after completing a few puzzles i decided to stop playing and leaving all the levels just for playing them when the game releases... but i'm not a guy who can afford a lot of games and i wanted to know i we have an idea about the prices, the game is going to have regional prices? thanks and have a great day

Currently levels can be solved by multiple characters each with unique abilities controlled by one player by switching between.

Are there any ideas or plans to make levels or campaigns to work with multiplayer?

For example players join the server for the puzzle (either randomized from the existing list, e.g. made by users or generated), then after join, each player controlling its own character.

This could open gamification possibilities for some rewards (based on steps, time efficiency), tournaments, speed runs, etc.

In a year where I will get to play GTA VI, The Duskbloods, and Ocarina of Time Remake, I keep on coming back to Order of the Sinking Star! Maybe it's because we know more about it, but I am dying to play it. I haven't been able to play the demo since I'm on Switch 2, so all I can do is continue to watch interviews, gameplay, etc to satiate the hype. Anyone else right there with me?

I´m 6 hours and 10 minutes in and completed 104 puzzles. I know for this reddit that I´m just missing 1. I´m so sad the experience is coming to an end already. It´s very addictive and so clever!

I finished the North section first and then moved on to the East, as the recording suggested. I'm still not sure whether that last missing puzzle is here or somewhere in one of the other directions, but I'll find out soon enough.

Either way, the demo has been absolutely amazing. I've paid good money for games that gave me far less.

Not sure if this is a spoiler, so marked just in case.

Why does the dialogue suddenly stop halfway through the heroes section? Is it because it's just a demo and unfinished? Or is there simply not dialogue? (Or potential third option, my game is glitched?).

https://preview.redd.it/2puoqmqn9x9h1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=ccdfd22f28364cdd1b52d51a4e38eb830e79de80

Going to call this Puzzle 90 as I have 89 solves before this puzzle.

I have absolutely no idea how I am supposed to kill the 3 goblins or w/e they're called. Mirror guy doesn't seem to do anything in this level except push a rock over so the Teleport Mage can get over to the bottom right corner but this assumes Teleport Mage has already killed the 3 goblins which afaik he literally cannot do.

I don't even know how to search the solution to this puzzle because none of these puzzles seem to have names.

From the Discord:

>DEMO EXTENSION - PART 2 - PLAY IT UNTIL JULY 31 🎮
We're giving you even more time to play the demo 🥳 Thanks to your continued support, we're keeping the demo available until Friday, July 31 -- so you have a whole month to continue playing the demo! 🙌

That's all. I'm quite surprised. Sokoban might not be my thing cause I seem to be getting brain fog on every single puzzle. Would probably take me another 3 weeks to finish the demo.

No wonder Jon said the demo was 50 hours.

Has anyone else reached the departed area yet?

I think I remember Jon claiming the demo was around 50 hours long, but I'm pretty sure I'm done even after phase 2 at around 9 hours of playtime. Loved the demo and I'll be buying it on release, but unless I'm missing something the claim was excessive. The length was fairly generous regardless.

Too much yapping, I could do without a teen drama during my puzzles.

That said, I like having multiple characters with different mechanics that have to work together. I'm a sokoban enjoyer and this one plays like a LEGO game, but without all the overwhelming collectibles. I seriously dislike the teleportation dudes mechanic, it just doesn't feel fun.

Alao, too much yapping, seriously I'll play on mute if this stays.

I'm not sure if I like the overworld puzzles, I almost believe these should become available way further into the game. Also the diffefent areas feel like 3 different games and I hope the final release fits everurhing together elegantly.

Finally, TOO MUCH YAPPING

As we know, the demo was extended until Friday June 26, but we may still be able to keep playing it indefinitely.

The trick is to avoid steam to update the game, and to launch it directly from the .exe instead of from Steam.

I've done this with at least other game, The Entropy Centre Demo, which had a timed demo (in another steam next fest event), and after it expires, the game updates itself, and renders it "unplayable" from steam... It only shows an uninstall button.

But you can avoid that, and keep playing anyway! And this should work for ANY demo, not just OotSS!

The steps are:

1. Avoid steam to auto update games.

Go to Steam > Settings > Downloads. And be sure that under Game Updates > Game update timing, it is set to "Only update at game launch". iirc you can even set the option to individual games, so you can still auto-update your other games and avoid some of them update, but i just set the global option anyway.

2. Launch the game from windows explorer itself.

To easily open the files, just go to the game listing in steam, right click it, select Manage > Browse local files, and it will open windows explorer, where you can simply run the .exe directly, and keep playing!

Note that this should work for any demo.

And also, avoiding updates may not be strictly necessary, and even if the game lock itself (in steam) past the date, you maybe could still launch it with the .exe, BUT since the demo could have an update to patch itself past the date, so it no longer works (even the direct .exe), I prefer to simply avoid updating the demos, so I can play them as long as i want!

Personally, I'd avoid to update OotSS right now, even before friday, in case it gets an update that would patch this before then, although it is unlikely.

I guess we will find out on Friday if this works.

I am still contemplating the Trader, but here are my initial impressions:

https://preview.redd.it/n065g5kg7u9h1.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aa068aef107f1d85f6ba16e5ada8e6a918bc2a0c

# Introspection, seeking

For me this character represents personal development, introspection, seeking, reflection (pun intended), possibly of the author himself.

https://preview.redd.it/s7td2w0j7u9h1.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=215fec4b6a340deae9ad3588b24e0d50ecdf821b

He literally says: "As a boy, I peered ahead into the dazzle of my own becoming, squinting to see what lay in wait down one pathway or another."

We can observe different phases and aspects of his personal voyage, his Odyssey.

He states that one, if not *the* motivations was that: "I caughts a glimpse of my soul by the light of a distant mirror..."

# Trade

I think the term 'trade' may have both the literal meaning of Trader, merchant, one who trades goods; and one's own trade, the metaphor for ones own profession, for example being a game designer or even the path of a seeker/learner.

The voice mentions the 'Old You' would have settled with an earlier mirror but he says his standards are higher now. It means he is getting farther and farther in his search, voyage, perhaps getting to deeper truths.

https://preview.redd.it/tkzhu7mbau9h1.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c00a58d5b9ab23b0bb481d61093ddd3871776b71

# Symmetries

There are many references to symmetries.

He starts in a green, mild area, midday, but then progresses through the duality of cold/icy to warm/desert. He also mentions being past the middle of his life, looking back and going forward: "Today I turn back and see my choices by their shadows, stretched in the long light of the past; the post-noon sun calls me forward, drawing me with warm and lustrous rays.

There seems to be a kind of tension between taking the mirrors back, as possessions, and using them to move forward. It is related to the tension between showing off progress to other people, or doing something for yourself, with "no witness but yourself* (one of the audiologs also raises this question)

https://preview.redd.it/u82khj5bbu9h1.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e782e968cdbdcfec83d2d79d983bf44ba02e0b0e

At one point when there are already 2 traders, with pretty opposite paths, revolving around money ("I don't carry around a bunch of gold, like you."). Maybe this is a reference to how a person can choose to do their *trade* for money or for artistic purposes. But there is no judgement, just different values. It feels to me a bit like Jon Blow saying that finally his plans are coming to fruition.

https://preview.redd.it/aqrv5zt9du9h1.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a05d0911f4eac1db6afe90d96be04b261a5be7d

In another puzzle there is a tension around focus: seeing fine, and seeing blurrily (being confident and unsure).

https://preview.redd.it/yrk2c24jcu9h1.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=afb7d683986c9d1210ebbd23ba2626f52865da74

There are also mentions of feeling lightness, heaviness, being better worse, etc., I'm sure there will be many more examples of symmetries.

# Mirrors, copies, infinity

With the mirrors he can make infinite copies of himself and explore all possibilities, timelines, aspects of himself. Again, the first quote about different pathways. This way it can be both interpreted as a literal journey, with choices being made with the current state as a result, or just like in the quote, just placing mirrors, and peering into possibilities. I am not sure if there is a 'bottom' to the search. The search itself is the destination, total exploration.

https://preview.redd.it/cocuvh8y7u9h1.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=87538c4430563b6636ee2cc6436565e8a68b8089

When he says, he is looking for a mirror in pristine condition, maybe he is referencing looking for a new possibility he has not explored before. The early mirror are scratched, probably they were used many times as the earlier stages are used more frequently to get to more distant, branching paths. He keeps coming back, always looking for the 'newest' mirror.

He has gone Inception on himself, but instead of getting out, he keeps going back in.

https://preview.redd.it/dh5yk6pi9u9h1.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cef30021a65f3595fc9609e68f6b1ae74357d0f1

Every new discovery is changing him and he fears that the further he goes the more he will change, irrevocably or get lost/addicted to the search.

https://preview.redd.it/ao834fk5bu9h1.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2c1bc4e52f0df6e5e2527b6512852cbe6e990873

# Misc

There was one level with the two thieves that hints at other characters having possibly used the mirrors.

I find it interesting that the mirrors are at an angle. Of course the mechanic would not work otherwise, but thematically it makes me think if there ever will be a setup or mirror where he can look at himself directly.

https://preview.redd.it/3ksj1w53du9h1.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d8af0ecd46617e938fa210ed5876876bf0d4ce45

A fun tidbit: when he spoke about leaving his wife and child, it immediately made me think of the statues in The Witness:

https://preview.redd.it/dfdarqkodu9h1.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c46c65e282a0e65edd3e51dc3c6a330154e16b93

"If you want, you'll bring your son a gift greater than any you ever brought back from a courtesy voyage."

https://preview.redd.it/w6tyxpavdu9h1.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9418a40ba1e3491c0e3093e84faca2a3b123cf5b

"If I don't want?"

"The you won't want."

https://preview.redd.it/m2hhlliidu9h1.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fc581d668587ed9f1150c4f98f7619e56748e0c