Venetian Snares showing off his use of Renoise
You can readily hear his use of 7/4 time
HORSES' MUSIC-DOGS
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A member registered Jun 02, 2017 · View creator page →
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A hermit cat has black magic.
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My pixel art base
In Nano Banana Pro: "Realistically render a 3d model of this entity, CRYSTAL MAN. His head is purple faceted crystals and from his back grows a curious crystal lantern. his torso and arms are being taken over by stiff metal. he has fuzzy white fur and walks on little pink hooves."
Upscaled to 8000px in Fluently XL Lightning.
Thanks for the further explanations. I do believe you've provided enough info to squash the bug.
It required a little fiddling, and it may affect some obscure scoring outcomes, but they should at least calculate properly.
The singlemost issue I believe was that the STEW AVERAGE function, initially used to generate the STEW QUALITY for the item description, relies on how many BOWLS OF STEW you have...but, let's say you submit all 8 STEWS to the BLACK TABLE, without ever "investigating" the average, your average would then be defined by a numeric 0 for STEWS IN INVENTORY. Basically a divide by zero error.
STEW AVERAGE now runs at BLACK TABLE SCORING and divides by [INACCESSIBLE], and I'd say works as one would expect. I will re-upload it imminently.
Thanks again, eagle-eyed HANDCASTLE.
Interesting find. Not sure how I would replicate it, or what it means. Which score was 0, this is important, your STEW QUALITY or your TOTAL MEAL SCORE? Do you also mean that it forced you the BAD STEW END? (e.g. weevils in the rice, etc)
There's a bunch of things which go into the scoring of both STEW QUALITY and TOTAL MEAL SCORE, even into negatives[?], so I guess what I wonder is it seems during your playthrough, you got a "0 score" response, but it feels unnatural, perhaps like you should have already achieved a score of anything but 0?
STEW QUALITY can be affected greatly by ingredient count, total spices etc, or cooking it over an unearthly fire. Max is 100 iirc.
BLACK TABLE RESULTS are based on your guests, their liveliness/worldstate, and especially THE HERMITS own being NOT CURSED. Max is 10,000 iirc, but there's a remark just in case someone scores higher!
LEWIS TREATS are freeze-dried meat over COLD FLAME. You can improve their quality by using TREAT MEAT iirc, freeze that and a few basic MEAT and they stack (or something).
SPICES or TREAT are added to FLOUR before it is added to MEAT, then MEAT is cooked in BOILING OIL. Better MEAT freeze dries into better LEWIS TREAT, I believe. Better LEWIS TREAT is worth higher XP.
I apologize for the inconvenience, nothing leaps out from the scripts on a quick look.
How did it crash in the TOWN HOME? The bed reacts to GLAIVE, as does the WEEPING EYE, and you mention teleporting perhaps playing into it.
Something perhaps like...it thinks you have the GLAIVE but don't? Or expects the GLAIVE but lacks it?
I wish I could see all the flags and dissect your save state. If you wanted to email the ".lsd" file of that save I could look deeper into it.
As for long projects, I allow myself a generous ebb and flow. For HOME GAME 1, as a sort of experiment I said, "I'm going to work on a game all month", did so, and then stopped.
For HOME GAME 2 I spent a number of months developing it out of events which were unfolding in my life. The game sequences came to reflect my daily experiences, and I was not only swamped and stressed but so low on "ideas" that I had to keep waiting for new things to happen to me before I could come up with the next story beat. It was a clear example of turning life experiences into story, but it was happening in real-time, not in hindsight. I wasn't sure how it would end because it was ongoing...but it did end, and I finished the game/moved.
At my new HOME I drew a map of the space and said I would spend the next few years developing something epic out of it, and herein time finally slowed down some. I had experiences to draw upon and ideas in stock, but no rush. There was currently no impending disaster in my life, so eventually production slowed and I variously spent a lot of time not working on the game at all. I played through a bunch of exciting and ambitious games in the meantime, and gave much thought to how I could scale my own game up. All of a sudden, some of the more grand ideas seemed much more within reach.
Eventually trials caught up to me again and I felt fairly certain HOME GAME 3 was shoehorned into a fixed BAD ENDING, which was depressing. The game took a backseat until I could reorient my life again. Eventually I was able to channel those newest events into the game, pushing it through to the conclusion and cementing the possibility of a good ending. I didnt want to have to actually "invent" a good ending! By striving for believability, I find I'm sometimes left feeling unimaginative; I need to see or experience something myself, to convey it to others. I couldnt just imagine a good ending.
I think if you have stories to tell, finding the time to develop them has to be based around your lived day. If youre too busy to work on a project, then it will take a backseat, but thats not a bad thing, since you return with more fuel for the creative fire.
For me, notebooks become a portable world-of-the-project, and my notes absolutely helped me keep the ideas in order, the scale intact and the details manageable. I tried to always be jotting things into the notebooks, even if I hadnt touched the project itself in months. My phone was also used for many additional notes, and I eventually found some of them quite surprising since I had over time forgotten many decent ideas.
I always enjoyed the previews you shared of your game-work. The lighting was always thoughtfully considered and the natural realism of the areas (grasses, streets, stores, pathways etc) strikes me as authentic. I like the mix of isometric and top-down, also, it's no small thing to create entire scenes in bare pixels, but you mix the elements up in an interesting way. Probably hard to get away from personal touches as you develop your sprites, your hand is visible in their style.
I just think that given the emerging tools of image generation, if a traditional artist, eschewing a kneejerk response to the topic, were to put their mind into learning it thoroughly, could only improve their art, by exploring visions of what their art *almost* was/could have been/could still become.
I draw with pen and pencil and pixel art with mouse. Image generation gives me a huge SATISFACTION. It is like a magic spell, it is just fucking fantastic!
This can only allow me to realize my visions more clearly, and I am glad to be able to examine my own ideas through a heretofore INACCESSIBLE method.
(2005 unfinished R'lyeh Pixel Art; adjusted 2025 via Seedream 4.0)
Just dont avoid the future while it happens around you! It is very simple to enjoy the tools art is evolving to create itself with.
Photoshop was once spat upon as a non-art solution for non-artists. Now digital art is an entire industry. Ai moves towards this end regardless of the "philosophy" of creation.
All the digital artists who said Photoshop wasn't real art can now say something else isn't real art.
The walkthrough really lays bare a decent Order Of Operations, so hopefully it will help people achieve better ENDINGS. Playing through them all again recently was a thrill, and I squashed a couple of bugs, to boot.
A couple rare events only become apparent in NEW GAME+, or by revisiting the text adventures as THE HERMIT.
Thank you so much for playing it and I hope you had some surprises along the way. Cheers and thanks again for the art also
Edit: If you run ANEW at THE MACHINE, you can start over with all your gear...might be a means to reach a better ENDING.
[CONTINUED FROM PART 8]
HOME:
Now we shall start filling out the SIGIL LIST by visiting everywhere we can, starting with TREAT SHACK.
Travel to 223.
-------
223 [TREAT SHACK]:
Buy TREATS and return HOME.
-------
HOME:
Travel to 232.
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232 [JAR PIG]:
Buy JARS and return HOME.
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HOME:
Travel to 133.
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133 [THE BLACK MORASS]:
Return HOME.
-------
HOME:
Travel to 233.
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233 [BACK OF THE MACHINE]:
If you have retained BARE FEET, you may "walk on water" at any populated OASIS out in the TEXT DESERT, otherwise you may peruse the functions of THE MACHINE. If you have not yet run GATE or set STAR to 3 and AXIS to 5, you may do so now. Setting them correctly will place THE LONE STAR on the horizon.
Return HOME when you see fit.
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HOME:
Travel to 132.
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132 [A LOST GRAVE]:
This is your own grave, far into the future, when it is the barest memory and long untended. Use the GLAIVE to remove the thick stems and claim DRIED SEED. In the copse of dead trees lies a broken gravestone. Check it until prompted to dig it up, and reclaim LOST LOVE. Nearby, a WOODEN SPOON was left as an offering. Claim it and return HOME.
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HOME:
Travel to 321.
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321 [A LOST GRAVE]:
Gather the BELOVED REMAINS and set about digging many holes as deep as they'll go, until you exhume LOST LOVE.
Return HOME.
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HOME:
Travel to 231.
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231 [A LOST GRAVE]:
An ENDING is potentially available here.
You begin upon a stump, observing an EMPTY GRAVE. You may notice a GHOST CAT nearby. If you so desire, you may now bury your LOST LOVE back in her EMPTY GRAVE. If you then re-examine the stump, you will sit and observe for a few moments, until a sad and empty ENDING...("HAPPY FAMILY").
Apart from that, return HOME.
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HOME:
Travel to 131.
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131 [LONE STAR]:
An ENDING is potentially available here.
You may light a campfire, also.
If you used THE MACHINE properly and set STAR to 3 and AXIS to 5, the LONE STAR will be on the horizon. If you fill the CRAVEN CARVING with sufficient SOULS and present it to HORSES, elsewhere, he will travel to 131 and wait in the cool night air for the moment. Your arrival means he will offer to open a GATEWAY to a rare ENDING...(see "CARCOSA", above).
Apart from that, return HOME.
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HOME:
Our next destination is RITUAL PENTAGRAM, but before that, we will need a BLACK CANDLE. Unequip gear to reduce your DIVINING to 50 or so, and the CLOT DOOR will become visible once more. Pass through it to THE BLACK MORASS.
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133 [THE BLACK MORASS]:
Dip LOST LOVE into THE BLACK MORASS to produce BLACK CANDLE.
Return HOME.
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HOME:
Bring all of the following when you travel to 323:
LOST LOVE
DEAD BONES
BELOVED REMAINS
TOWERLUNG
MORTIFUNGI
BLACK CANDLE (+ MATCHES)
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323 [RITUAL PENTAGRAM]:
Interacting with LOST GIRL will tell you something of how her RECOLLECTIONS are going. She should be feeling more herself now, since we recalled them all.
You can examine LEWIS, to no avail. He is simply gone.
Place LOST LOVE under LOST GIRL.
Place DEAD BONES at the indicated spot.
Place BELOVED REMAINS at the indicated spot.
Place TOWERLUNG at the indicated spot.
Place MORTIFUNGI at the indicated spot.
Place BLACK CANDLE in the center and light it.
Place YOURSELF, lastly, in the SUN CIRCLE, and commit to THE RITUAL.
You are bound by the results of THE RITUAL, triggering CURSE 7:
You are CURSED/NOT CURSED.
OMENS are now at 7.
NEW SIGILS CONNECT TO PATIO MAGIC.
-------
CURSE 7/NOT CURSED 7:
Advance through the RITUAL RESULT and inspect GIRL and LEWIS to see how they fared...
Interact with the MIRROR for RIPPLE EFFECT #13: THE RITUAL.
You are sent HOME.
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HOME:
If everything went well up until now, you will have reverted LOST GIRL back to GIRL, as well as manifested a healthy LEWIS.
Explore your HOME to find them.
These are your last chances to really wrap things up, collect what you want, achieve the ENDINGS hinted at thus far, etc.
Whenever you are ready, travel to 312.
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312 [RED CLOCK]:
If you played HOME GAME 2, this will be a familiar sight, and the mechanism isn't dissimilar this time around.
Because you collected all 4 MUGS, you may PLACE THEM atop each of the 4 PILLARS.
Go ahead! See STARS streak by in their distant beauty.
You may now CAST! UNFORSEEKEN to induce a reaction from the RED CLOCK. The RED CLOCK yawns open! Pass through.
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222 [???????]:
The RED CLOCK no longer tells time here, so you must travel SOUTH. This empty place is actually down below the DEAD YETI at 222. Follow the path until you come across the hugely oversized PEARLESQUE KEY which the DEAD YETI threw away once he reached the surface.
Continue SOUTH to find a TELEPORTER HOME.
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HOME:
Travel to 123.
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123 [BLACK TABLE]:
An ENDING is potentially available here.
At BLACK TABLE, you can serve up dinner for the people you know best! If you collected the STEW BOWLS which were hidden away in [INACCESSIBLE], you now have the opportunity to make delicious meals and achieve an ENDING to the game.
To produce a STEW, in COMBINE MODE, you need to BOIL OIL in your CAULDRON, add FLOUR to SPICE, add SPICE FLOUR to TREAT, add TREAT FLOUR to RAW MEAT, cook TREAT MEAT in BOILING OIL, add WATER to CAULDRON, add 4 VEG to CAULDRON, add MEAT to CAULDRON, add SALT to CAULDRON, add SPICES to CAULDRON. Then disable COMBINE MODE, and use the CAULDRON OF STEW. The WOODEN SPOON will appear nearby, so switch back to COMBINE MODE and use the SPOON on the CAULDRON!
Properly prepared, your STEW will have a maximum rating of 100 out of 100! Fill as many STEW BOWLS as you would like GUESTS AT BLACK TABLE.
You may LEAVE THE TABLE if you need to prepare ingredients still, but otherwise, take a shot at making a STEW and see how it turns out.
Provide the finished STEW at the desired TABLE PLACES, take your own spot and ENJOY A HEARTY STEW!
This is a more complete ENDING, and gives you a readout of statistics, as well as a THANK-YOU FOR PLAYING.
Thank-you for playing.
If you are satisfied with your STEW ENDING, let us continue.
LEAVE THE TABLE and return HOME.
-------
HOME:
Before it is too late, do not forget to bring a ??????? STONE from the SHED to the CRYSTALIZED TREE in the back yard. This puts the TREE in a state of FLUX. You may then use a poweful TOOLCUBE PULSE to make the TREE vulnerable, and use the GLAIVE to FELL THE CRYSTAL TREE!
For this act, you gain the CRYSTAL SHARD, the basis for the most powerful weapon in the game.
Having completed this, and now that you have the PEARLESQUE KEY, travel to 222.
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222 [???????]:
Open the PEARLESQUE GATES and take the stairs down.
-------
??????? [???????]:
You encounter CRYSTAL MAN.
CRYSTAL MAN leads the way.
Good luck, CRYSTAL MAN.
Save your game, if you so wish.
CRYSTAL MAN will not ascend the staircase, because it is not in the direction of IT.
IT is back, beyond the doors of this tower.
Exit the tower.
-------
LOST ERA:
SHORT-FORM: Navigate a lush text-adventure grid, in an attempt to further the goals of CRYSTAL MAN and reach the IMMORTAL KINGDOM.
WALKTHROUGH: You begin at the base of the YETI TOWER. It is the year -XXX,XXX,XXX.
SOUTH, SCAN, SOUTH, SOUTH, SCAN, SOUTH, WEST, DOMINATE NEST 1, WEST, SOUTH, DOMINATE NEST 6, SOUTH, DOMINATE NEST 7, NORTH, ENGAGE, LOOK FOR SEAMS, RECEIVE FIRST CRYSTAL SEAL, NORTH, EAST, GET AGE, NORTH, NORTH, DOMINATE NEST 5, NORTH, NORTH, OBSERVE, FOLLOW TRAIL, RECEIVE SECOND CRYSTAL SEAL, EAST, EAST, EAST, SOUTH, SOUTH, SAVE AT WHITE PILLAR, EAST, EAST, EAST, NORTH, EAST, DOMINATE NEST 1, WEST, CLASH FOR AGE, EAST, SOUTH, DOMINATE NEST 3, EAST, SOUTH, METEOR STORM, DOMINATE NEST 2, WEST, NORTH, DOMINATE NEST 3, WEST, WEST, NORTH, DOMINATE NEST 1, SOUTH, SOUTH, SOUTH, SOUTH, HARVEST NEST 8, EAST, SOUTH, SOUTH, OBSERVE, INSPECT TEMPLE, RECEIVE THIRD CRYSTAL SEAL, WEST, WEST, NORTH, FLYING POLYP 1, RECEIVE CRYSTAL CLAY 1, NORTH, NORTH, GET AGE, WEST, WEST, WEST, HARVEST NEST 4, WEST, WEST, SOUTH, HARVEST NEST 6, WEST, SOUTH, DOMINATE NEST 7, EAST, NORTH, NORTH, GET AGE, NORTH, NORTH, METEOR STORM, DOMINATE NEST 5, EAST, SOUTH, SOUTH, GET AGE, SOUTH, SOUTH, DOMINATE NEST 7, EAST, EAST, SOUTH, FLYING POLYP 2, RECEIVE CRYSTAL CLAY 2, EAST, EAST, EAST, EAST, EAST, EAST, NORTH, NORTH, DOMINATE NEST 8, EAST, CLASH FOR AGE, EAST, EAST, APPROACH, INVESTIGATE, RECEIVE FOURTH CRYSTAL SEAL, WEST, WEST, WEST, WEST, WEST, SCAN, SOUTH, SOUTH, SCAN, WEST, WEST, WEST, WEST, METEOR STORM, WEST, SLOT ALL 4 CRYSTAL SEALS, SAVE AT IMMORTAL GATES, WALK THROUGH GATES.
-------
IMMORTAL KINGDOM:
CRYSTAL MAN leads THE HERMIT through the empty streets of THE IMMORTAL KINGDOM.
You eventually reach THE ALTAR.
-------
THE ALTAR:
Allow yourself a few moments, and if all has been done correctly (e.g., CRYSTAL TREE FELLED, CRYSTAL SHARD and CRYSTAL CLAY gathered), CRYSTAL MAN will take the shard and produce for you the CRYSTAL BLADE.
You are trapped here, and so must travel NORTH to entreat with THE ALTAR.
You may enter into conversation with it, or threaten to kill it, which skips the conversation entirely. In any event, you will undergo ETHEREAL TRAVEL as THE ALTAR transports you to a pocket realm more suited to destroy you.
If you have the CRYSTAL BLADE, simply fight your way to any of the EYE PILLARS, and start swinging! Your CRYSTAL BLADE will annihilate the defenses of THE ALTAR, as well as the CRYSTAL LORDS who defend the EYE PILLARS. As a bonus, when you strike each EYE PILLAR with the CRYSTAL BLADE, it will teleport you to the next pillar, making a rapid destruction of THE ALTAR not only possible, but inevitable.
If you do NOT have the CRYSTAL BLADE, you must use the GLAIVE, PONCHO and INNERSELF MASK to navigate to each of the 4 EYE PILLARS and destroy them.
Once all 4 EYE PILLARS are destroyed, THE ALTAR begins to go a bit haywire, and you must make your way back to the bulk of it. Begin your attack upon arrival, and do not let up until THE ALTAR is defeated.
An ENDING cutscene will initiate when you are victorious, and you will (most likely) arrive back HOME.
Under some circumstances you may perish alongside THE ALTAR and be lost forever!
-------
HOME:
Welcome HOME! Everything is pretty much better now.
You may not have realized it, but visiting THE ALTAR was the 27th SIGIL you needed to visit, to complete this crucial task on your TO-DO LIST!
Check the fridge or RECALL your TO-DO LIST and if you have done everythying properly up until now, you will have finished your TO-DO LIST entirely.
Congratulations!
...
...You suddenly have a terribly uneasy feeling.
...
...It seems as if you'll have to find new goals, triggering CURSE 8:
You are CURSED/NOT CURSED.
OMENS are now at 8.
-NO- NEW SIGILS CONNECT TO PATIO MAGIC.
-------
CURSE 8/NOT CURSED 8:
You may resume enjoying your HOME LIFE, as it were.
Clean up whatever outstanding issues or tasks you feel like.
Add LEWIS and GIRL to your party, along with CRYSTAL MAN, to have a full party of 4 people!
You may elect to pursue the various OTHER ENDINGS now:
STEW ENDING, CARCOSA ENDING, SNORGLE ENDING, HAPPY FAMILY ENDING
To "fully" conclude the game, however, you must travel to THE MACHINE and run the ANEW function, as hinted at by GIRL.
-------
233 [BACK OF THE MACHINE]:
ANEW costs 16 POWER to run as a function, which means you'll have to supply a power level of 4 ASCENDED SHOULE.
The 4 ASCENDED SHOULE in place, shutters closed, you may run the ANEW function and RESET THE SIMULATION!
Go for it!
...
"WELL, THEN."
...
"SIMULATION SUCCESSFULLY RESET...PROBABLY."
Whether you can tell or not, already, reality has been RESET COMPLETELY. All the important game flags have been reverted, and you are then returned to THE MACHINE terminal function list, which presents you with an unusual opportunity: you can run GATE right now, and LEARN GATE LORE very early. You can also run AXIS and preset it to 5 from here.
That said, enjoy the functions as they apply to this empty space, and hit ESCAPE to log out of the terminal to ENTER NEW GAME +!
-------
NEW GAME+:
This is an experimental playthrough mode wherein you retain most of your inventory, and most of your KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS, meaning you can, from the outset of the game, jump straight to almost any point in the game, and try to reach ENDINGS quickly. There is at least 1 ENDING VARIANT which is only possible in NEW GAME+!
The previously unknown RIPPLE EFFECT #0 is also revealed to be "You reset the simulation by using THE MACHINE."
Each time you run ANEW and reset the game, NEW GAME+ becomes 1 point harder, with enemies doing 1 extra point of damage upon contact. This quickly becomes very difficult. Your current iteration of NEW GAME+ is listed at the end of your INVENTORY SCREEN!
One of the loftiest goals in HOME GAME 3 is to play through such that you acquire EACH: NOT CURSED 1-8 as well as CURSED 1-8, as well as the B VARIANTS of CURSED/NOT CURSED 6. It really requires some juggling to collect both aspects of the game into one file!
-------
Thank-you for reading this first draft of the HOME GAME 3 walkthrough. I really hope you can benefit from it, and find your way through the game if you get stuck, or else find new content you may have otherwise missed out on.
I poured everything into this game, and I hope you gain a sense of how I put it all together when you read this guide.
The game is vast and open-ended, and this guide is but one pathway through the trials therein.
I hope you carve your own path here and in life.
Thank-you so much for stopping by.
Without you, nobody is here!
- HORSES (December 19th, 2025)
[CONTINUED FROM PART 7]
HOME:
If you haven't yet DIVINED the TO-GO MUG in the downstairs KITCHEN, do so now. That should be all 4 MUGS collected!
It is also worth buying the WASP TRAPS from the JUNK DEALER at the end of the driveway. You bait it by using ROTTEN MEAT in the world while the WASP TRAP is in your inventory, and then use the WASP TRAPS to place them in the back yard.
Now, the way forward is quite flexible and open to you. Which of the CURSE 5 OR 6 destinations will you visit first?
For our purposes, we shall visit 332, LOST LIBRARY.
Travel to 332.
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332 [LOST LIBRARY]:
Now, after all the commotion, is a chance to simply rest and read some. Take your time browsing the shelves for tidbits of information, there are over 100.
Key NOTES are on:
LONE STAR, STEW BOWLS, THE RITUAL, JUNK DEALER, RUBRA TONIC, TOOLCUBE, WASP TRAPS, FREEZE-DRYING MEAT, FOUL FUMIGANT, 2 BURIED TRUTHS IN TOWN, SUMMONING BLOOD TABLE, CRAFTING IMAGINARY IDOL, GHOSTS AND LAVENDER, TAPROOT, CAULDRON, CLOY COMBUSTIBLE, CRAVEN CARVING, APPLE ORCHARD SOLUTION, etc.
When you are ready, return HOME behind the sliding bookcase.
-------
HOME:
For our purposes we shall now engage GIRL and track down all of her RECOLLECTIONS, beginning with her reference to "fragrant fruit", THE APPLE ORCHARD.
Travel to 113.
-------
113 [APPLE ORCHARD]:
A note in the LOST LIBRARY hints at the ORCHARD SOLUTION: no like-trees should be touching each other. There are thusly a number of solutions, but all require that you make sure no trees are dead and no tree abuts a like-tree. A voice will resound, daylight will return, and you will have many APPLES to eat for free SANITY.
You may also DIVINE two ??????? STONES nearby which may be dug up with the SHOVEL.
LOST GIRL is here, so speak to her for RECOLLECTION #7.
Return HOME when you are done.
-------
HOME:
LOST GIRL mentions someone screaming into the wind, hinting at ABYSS.
Travel to 322.
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322 [ABYSS]:
Collect BELOVED REMAINS nearby, and speak to LOST GIRL for RECOLLECTION #6.
You may HOWL INTO ABYSS, for what it's worth.
If you have dug up BURIED TRUTHS, each shall reveal a secret statistic of your playthrough, and if you have dug up ALL 7 BURIED TRUTHS, you will get a special condensed output of your current play totals. You will also gain the ability to review your 7 BURIED TRUTHS, under THYSELF.
Return HOME.
-------
HOME:
LOST GIRL is reminded of where you both used to live.
Travel to 122.
-------
122 [OLD HOME]:
Proceed through to the kitchen and find LOST GIRL for RECOLLECTION #5.
Return HOME.
-------
HOME:
LOST GIRL is reminded of a graveyard.
Travel to 121.
-------
121 [COLUMBARIUM]:
Proceed NORTH to a small building with a little tree nook on the left side. LOST GIRL is hiding here and speaking to her gives her RECOLLECTION #3.
Speak to her again to EGRESS and return HOME.
-------
HOME:
LOST GIRL is reminded of forest campfires, so head to the RAIL TRAIL.
Travel to 313.
-------
313 [RAIL TRAIL]:
Traipse deep into the woods to the old campfire spot, and find LOST GIRL at the DEAD CAMPFIRE. Lit or unlit, speaking to her gives her RECOLLECTION #2. Speak to her to EGRESS or else return HOME.
-------
HOME:
LOST GIRL is reminded of your first HOME.
Travel to 666 (that is, 3 BLACK SIGIL).
------
666 [DEATH SHACK]:
Exit the DEATH SHACK and speak to LOST GIRL, overlooking darkness. She gains RECOLLECTION #1, and if you have gathered all her RECOLLECTIONS, it will state that she is FEELING MORE HERSELF LATELY.
Speak to LOST GIRL to EGRESS and return HOME.
-------
[CONTINUED IN PART 9]
[CONTINUED FROM PART 6]
HOME:
Now that you have the CANE from the DRUID, you may notice that the powerful PULSE from TOOL CUBE will be affecting the CANE, upstairs in the ART ROOM, placing it in a state of FLUX. Equip enough gear that your FORFEND is at least 400, and the PULSE will last long enough for you to bring a ??????? STONE to the CANE and leaving it caught in FLUX. You may then CRYSTALIZE it by bringing to it a TREAT from the SHED.
Receive the CRYSTAL CANE, equipping it to reach around 160 DIVINING.
Since THE HERMIT was TUNED back in the TEXT DESERT, he has not had anything equipped on his feet, which means one of two things:
- Firstly, the next time you travel to THE BACK OF THE MACHINE, and out into the TEXT DESERT, you have the opportunity to "walk on water" at any OASIS with a population, if you have retained BARE FEET.
- Secondly, if you use your HEAVY BOOTS at HOME, you will slip your BARE FEET into them and likely ASSEMBLE YOUR OUTFIT, completing one of the main TO-DO LIST tasks of the game. You cannot undo this, e.g., remove the BOOTS back to BARE FEET.
Continuing, you now reach the point where you can catch up on any tasks neglected until now, but for our purposes here, we are on the cusp of CURSE 5.
Whenever you feel ready to proceed, approach GIRL IN BED and trigger CURSE 5:
You are CURSED/NOT CURSED.
OMENS are now at 5.
NEW SIGILS CONNECT TO PATIO MAGIC.
-------
CURSE 5/NOT CURSED 5:
GIRL is now LOST GIRL. Speak to her in bed, and she will move to the front of the house. Argue with her fruitlessly until she scarpers. You hear your phone receive a text, upstairs, and it is also now fully charged. Respond to GIRL and reclaim your PHONE.
Checking your PHONE in your INVENTORY, you receive bevvies of texts from GIRL. You may ARCHIVE or DELETE them in varied sequence, gaining opportunities to OFFER HELP. OFFER HELP when you can, ARCHIVE and DELETE her texts until the opportunity arises again. Eventually she will ask for a pick-up and hint at her location as one with "centipedes", hinting at the CENTIPEDE DOOR in TOWN.
To rescue GIRL, take the MIRROR to TOWN HOME and then head directly EAST, take the LADDER up to the DITCH, and then exit the NORTHERN hole to find the small path and stairs to the CENTIPEDE DOOR.
LOST GIRL misses LEWIS a lot and wants to come HOME.
LOST GIRL joins your party, triggering CURSE 6:
You are CURSED/NOT CURSED.
OMENS are now at 6.
NEW SIGILS CONNECT TO PATIO MAGIC.
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CURSE 6/NOT CURSED 6:
Collect the VESSEL OF FILTH and it will disappear HOME.
If you haven't yet opened the CENTIPEDE DOOR, do that now, using a CENTIPEDE KEY bought from PAWKY.
Now it is time to return HOME, but you may consider staying a while to get a head start on killing every NPC in TOWN, that you might collect their SOULS in the DEATH TOWER.
/!\ Note also that LOST GIRL appears in various locations, such as the TOWN HOME. If you see and speak to her at these places, she will gain a RECOLLECTION of her past self (RECOLLECTION #4) and be on her way back to becoming GIRL again. /!\
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HOME:
If you have released the CENTIPEDES from behind THE CENTIPEDE DOOR, then they will be arranged variously at HOME, and can be tackled as you feel. They are relentless enemies once provoked, and occasionally attack in pairs. Slaying them nets you lots of AGE, and clears HOME somewhat of creepy crawlies.
Now that LOST GIRL is back HOME, you can speak to her to learn a tidbit about where her next RECOLLECTION may be found. You have also just opened the SIGIL ROUTES to CURSE 5 and CURSE 6, which is 12 different locations, effectively doubling the amount of destinations you had previously.
Before any new SIGIL destinations, however, we shall take a detour through the BLUE DOORS at HOME, into BATTLEFIELD 2.
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BATTLEFIELD 2:
Your goal is to accrue a boatload of AGE while collecting a few important items before making your way to the doors of the DEATH TOWER. You will also find a rare NPC here to commune with.
Start by collecting one of the nearby LORDSTOPS before heading SOUTH, and find some colorful line of AGE BONES to devour. Your PONCHO will repel some demons and lure others, but the white pedestals reverse the effect. Use these alternatingly, to travel unimpeded. It is a vast and complicated map, so I can't direct you precisely, but bear in mind you mostly want to circle counter-clockwise, until you arrive at the DEATH TOWER, but notable locations you may reach are as follows:
GROWTH BRIDGES:
There are a couple of pedestals where you may deposit AGE to GROW A BRIDGE, much like in the first BATTLEFIELD.
- One bridge simply links two zones.
- One bridge leads back to the starting zone, near the leftmost LORDSTOP.
- One bridge leads back to the starting area, near a BLUE SIGIL
- One bridge leads from the end of the level back to the starting area.
- One leads to a small HOME AWAY FROM HOME with DIVINED SPICES and a RED SIGIL. Claim the DIVINED SPICES and bring the RED SIGIL to the RED GATE, which is found at the very end of this level. Behind the RED GATE is the BLACK SIGIL, which opens the BLACK GATES to the DEATH TOWER.
TELEPORTER:
At the end of the level, if you continue circling around the DEATH TOWER, the eagle-eyed may spot a RED TELEPORTER pulsating behind some dead trees. You can only reach it via a hidden path "behind" the DEATH TOWER, to the right of the teleporter. This drops you immediately at DIVINED SPICES, which you may collect. Continue WEST, and you will see the DEATH MYSTIC.
DEATH MYSTIC:
The DEATH MYSTIC is the oldest thing in the BATTLEFIELD, remembering, in fact, the times before it even was. You may pose to the DEATH MYSTIC a handful of questions, and ponder the responses. If your DIVINING is high enough, you will notice the BONES directly in front of the DEATH MYSTIC are in fact LOST LOVE, which you may claim.
Make your way to the DEATH TOWER, and enter.
If you haven't yet used the MIRROR to travel HOME, do so now, and it will enter into the MIRROR rotation. You should net around 22,000 AGE on a thorough trip through BATTLEFIELD 2.
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[CONTINUED IN PART 8]
[CONTINUED FROM PART 5]
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THE SATANIST:
Within a small derelict shack lacking all amenities, a haggard and unkempt man is worshipping Satan.
Entreat with him how you see fit, ultimately inclining yourself towards showing an interest in the swamp. He has a task for you, wherein you shall gather for him 3 RAW MEAT, 20 TOWERLUNG and 10 MORTIFUNGI. All 3 may be found out in the swamps. RECALL your PONCHO and use the TOOL CUBE PULSE in conjunction with the white pedestals around the swamps to REPULSE enemies alternatingly, to give yourself space. With the ingredients in hand, return to THE SATANIST.
As he sets about his own work, he tasks you with more: you are to use a sharp instrument to fetch ICHOR of OCULORDS, SWAMP PRICK RESIN and 4 TUNGUS TONGUES.
He also supplies you with a BLUE SIGIL, now available outside of his SHACK. You will use it to open the way to the PRISON just NORTH-WEST of THE SATANIST.
Follow the white walls until you enter from the NORTH via a small BLUE GATE. You may rest in a TENT, if you'd like.
INNERSELF MASK laughs to itself, locked away nearby.
Through the wall to the SOUTH, you may glimpse one of the DARK HEARTS OF THE WOODS, as well as a pedestal and a LORDSTOP, but you cannot reach these yet.
WEST in a field of TOWERLUNG rests the GEYEANT. If you awaken it, you are curiously asked about your relative smallness. Very nearby is a SKULL SWITCH on the wall, which opens an IMPRISONED PURPLE SIGIL, as well as RELEASES TUNGUSES.
Continue to entreat with the GEYEANT and he will both begin to follow you as well as enable you to SUMMON GEYEANT to your location in the BLOOD SWAMP. He will also begin to fling you about on request, throwing you up and to the right a few squares. You may immediately use this to enter the cell of INNERSELF MASK to claim it as your own. A BLACK SIGIL will allow you to exit the cell. INNERSELF MASK removes certain kinds of enemies from your sight entirely, but makes LORDS extremely aggressive, enabling them to pursue you more effectively while you wear it.
Now that the GEYEANT can fling you about, use it in the vicinity of his small field of TOWERLUNG to be hefted NORTH, into an INACCESSIBLE zone which contains a DARK HEART OF THE WOODS, the GLAIVE lodged inside. Attempting to withdraw THE GLAIVE sends it elsewhere into another HEART, killing this one, while also softening a CLOT DOOR situated NORTH-EAST of here.
Exit the white-walled PRISON, bearing EAST to the tents of SWAMP HUSKS, then NORTH until you find a small walled-off diamond-shaped zone with a red teleporter, a CLOT DOOR, and BELOVED REMAINS. Gathering the BELOVED REMAINS or not, the CLOT DOOR will not yet open, so you must in any case head EAST to a large circular, heavily walled-off zone covered in red tentacles. RAW MEAT hops about, to top up on, if you'd care to collect it. The large walled-off zone has a RED GATE, and once again the RED SIGIL is on the other side of the GATE itself. Use the GEYEANT to fling you over the RED GATE. Attempting to withdraw THE GLAIVE works on this occasion, killing a second HEART and further softening the nearby CLOT DOOR.
With your GLAIVE, PONCHO, and INNERSELF MASK all in-hand, you must now set out to acquire the materials for THE SATANIST.
While the creatures are spread out variously, here are some tips for each target:
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SWAMP PRICK RESIN:
Directly SOUTH-WEST of where you just successfully reclaimed THE GLAIVE, it lies behind a PURPLE GATE. The PURPLE SIGIL was, until recently, held captive by THE GEYEANT, allowing him easy access to the SWAMP PRICK. The SWAMP PRICK has almost 70,000 HP, making it an endurance battle, and once you wake it up you have to put it down or it won't stop harassing you. Killing the SWAMP PRICK and interacting with the corpse nets you SWAMP PRICK RESIN.
Note also this space is guarded by around two-dozen HOLERS, which are best carefully slain one at a time, prior to your battle with the SWAMP PRICK. They will cause you to drop your GLAIVE, and make the fight much more perilous.
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ICHOR OF OCULORDS:
You need both INNERSELF MASK to see them as well as TOOLCUBE PULSE to interact fully with SWAMP VISIORS and to combat them.
You can initially find the SWAMP VISIORS clustered around the DEATH TOWER itself, in the center of the map. As they are killed off, however, they respawn just EAST of the SWAMP PRICK, so if you start at the center of the map and slay them while bearing WEST, you should encounter a steadier supply of fights. Killing sufficient of them will net you ICHOR OF OCULORDS.
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TUNGUS TONGUES:
INNERSELF MASK also attracts the TUNGUSES, and they will likely find you first! They often attack as a sort of group, having made their way to you at similar rates, and once slain, their TONGUES may be removed with THE GLAIVE. You might otherwise find them "caught-up" in the BULLSEYE-RINGED region, for example.
They are initially found emerging from their prison cells as far NORTH or SOUTH from the DEATH TOWER as you can go.
Killing them all and interacting with their corpses nets 4 TUNGUS TONGUES.
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/!] NOTE ON LORDS: With the INNERSELF MASK now frequently worn and active, LORDS will never stop hounding you, and can become a recurring foil for your efforts. It is worth hunting down the two LORDSTOPS situated in the swamp, that you may SEQUESTER LORDS upon contact and make your journey more tenable. /!\
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While your GLAIVE and THE GEYEANT in tandem afford you new options to pursue out in the swamp, we will begin by returning to THE SATANIST with this new mess of materials.
Upon your arrival, give him the BLOOD, RESIN, TONGUES, whereupon he will task you a final mission:
Retrieve each a STALK OF BLUE/RED VEINROOT.
An effective journey for the BLUE and RED VEINROOT STALKS, starting from THE SATANIST SHACK, is as follows:
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VEINROOT must be cut down with your GLAIVE and then held in the hands, physically taken back to THE SATANIST SHACK and thrown into the bonfire out front. Their introduction will yield a color-change in the bonfire, signalling it is ready for the next of the two VEINROOT STALKS.
- RED VEINROOT: Directly WEST of THE SATANIST SHACK, you may now use your GLAIVE to cut your way into the smaller of two unhealthy forests in the swamp. This small wooded zone with a single tent also bears a number of ROTTEN STALKS which you can remove to acquire SAVORY SEEDS. NORTH of this smaller forest is the 3rd DARK HEART OF THE WOODS, as well as a LORDSTOP.
SOUTH of the smaller forest is a second, larger one, with a greater number of TENTS as well as some SPICES. The RED VEINROOT grows in the WESTERN portion of these larger woods, in the middle of a field of red weeds.
- BLUE VEINROOT: SOUTH-WEST of the RED VEINROOT, or else just EAST from the central DEATH TOWER, the BLUE VEINROOT is in the middle of a field of red weeds.
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Once the BLACK FIRE burns outside of THE SATANIST SHACK, inform him personally, and then meet him again out front.
He sets to finishing his creation, and ducks back indoors for a moment. Follow him, and then return outside to collect the completed CRAVEN CARVING.
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/!\ NOTES ON THE CRAVEN CARVING:
The CRAVEN CARVING is a moderately powerful piece of equipment, but the true power within lies in that it functions as a key item in achieving one of the ENDINGS of the game. Most NPCs you slay out in the world (TOWN, etc.) will end up in the second DEATH TOWER, the one which connects to the BLOOD SWAMP. Here, their SOULS are vulnerable to your CRAVEN CARVING, but you can only devour them if you have a SOULCHARGE left, as well as have the CARVING itself equipped.
Imbue SOULCHARGES into the CRAVEN CARVING at the BLOOD TABLE for 1000 AGE each!
You may, at your leisure and likely over time, return to the DEATH TOWER and consume over 30 NPC SOULS! This means everyone in TOWN, the SOILED camp, the CANNIBAL camp, PAWKY, etc.
When the CRAVEN CARVING is BRIMMING WITH SOULS, it will be ready to have the power within unleashed, but only HORSES knows how to do it. If you fill the CRAVEN CARVING and subsequently engage HORSES such that he moves to 131 (A FIELD/LONE STAR), you may present him with it and gain access to a rare and desolate ENDING...("CARCOSA")
/!\
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THE SATANIST, now departed from this realm, leaves us on our own out in the BLOOD SWAMP.
Before you return to the DEATH TOWER or HOME, make sure you finish up any activities you may have missed:
- Collect the BLOOD MUG and DIVINED SPICES from the CRUSADER CAMP.
- Collect the BELOVED REMAINS above the CLOT DOOR, and slay the 3rd DARK HEART OF THE WOODS to unlock it. You do not need to return HOME through it just yet.
- Collect the SAVORY SEEDS from the smaller NORTHERN woods.
- Collect the SPICES from the larger SOUTHERN woods.
- Collect RAW MEAT if you pass it and lack it.
- Top up on AGE at the BULLSEYE-RINGED region, as well as fill up a few JARS OF OIL from the centermost blister-cluster known as BIG OIL.
At this point, satisfied with your level of completeness, you should return to the DEATH TOWER.
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DEATH TOWER:
Ascend and purchase HOOD & HAT COMBO for 5000 AGE if you have not already.
Repair the MIRROR for 10,000 AGE.
...Have you found the second SECRET MIRROR yet? Claim the ITEMS beyond it, DIVINING the HERMIT MUG and claiming the 8 [INACCESSIBLE]. Top up on FLOUR.
Return HOME via MIRROR or via THE BLACK MORASS by using the CLOT DOOR in the BLOOD SWAMP.
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[CONTINUED IN PART 7]
Sounds like you're right at the edge of 7 then. IIRC there are 12 BELOVED REMAINS, so you can feed TOOL CUBE 10, use 1 for the RITUAL, and keep 1 for your inventory. Maybe it's possible to overfeed it? I'm investigating for now.
In 313, you can get B.REMAINS by gifting GHOSTS some LAVENDER. There's one at ABYSS. One by CLOT DOOR in B.SWAMP. Two are at 111. One by CENTIPEDE DOOR.
CURSE applies inverted crosses, yes. Or, the cross of St. Peter, if you'd prefer.
THE HERMIT does at no point wear pants, making the CRYSTAL ARMOR kind of a barbarian-looking garb (Conan, He-Man) with a cloak. The PONCHO is knee length and goes overtop of whatever.
Of course you can do fanart, I'd be interested to see such a thing. Here's one of my own more mundane visions, but yours need not adhere to this as such. I like that THE HERMIT "@" could look unique to different people.
If CHIPPIE is slain physically, e.g. by GLAIVE, you can resurrect it with DEATH'S REMEDY, that it might be lured to the TABLE for SACRIFICE.
It is a little "tricky" to lure the CHIPPIE over, you need to hold SEEDBAG and have some SEEDS within. They will follow you to the TABLE.
I'm glad you're enjoying it, there's much to do crammed into HG3!
Herein lies another thread for questions you may have.
Walkthrough for reference.