Stuck in Schizm

[lipsum]

In the balloon land, I'm stuck with some sort of a gas pump inside the tunnel. I couldn't figure out what to do, and how. Any help would be appreciated.

[Trunkyo]

Schizm is an insanely hard game! :crazy:

Did you see the image of Dr. Bremmer near either of the two gas machines? She mentions, "One gas ... two times stronger than the others..." This means you need to press the correct lever on both machines in order for the heavier gas to fill both sides of the airship. (Her appearance is random, you might not see her immediately.)

How the machines work is as follows:
Each of the ten levers on a machine releases one unit of gas each time you (i.e. Sam) press them. When you press on any combination of levers and then push the button in the center, a meter gives a reading of the total amount of gas dispensed. The very next press from a lever will fill the airship.

This means, for both machines, you need to press the levers in a certain combination, press the center button to get a reading, and from that reading, deduce which lever dispenses the heavier gas you need to fill the airship! (Simple, huh???) :crazy::frusty::shifty:

Trial and error won't work for this puzzle, because if you guess the wrong lever on either pump, the whole puzzle resets and the correct gas lever will be randomized! :frusty:

There is only one effective way to solve this puzzle, and I doubt anyone could come up with the solution on his or her own! :(

1. Pick one of the machines. (You'll repeat these steps for the second machine. ;)) Start with the lever on the top, press it one time only, go clockwise and press the second lever two times, press the third lever three times, and so on, until you've pressed the tenth lever ten times.
(This means you should have pressed all of the levers 55 times in total.
1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10 = 55)

2. Press the button in the center to get the reading. The meter consists of two rings that, together, display the total amount of gas dispensed.
The tricky part here is how to read that meter! Each notch on the outer ring represents 12 units of gas, and each notch in the inner ring represents 1 unit of gas. (So for example, if the outer ring was on the fifth notch, and the inner ring was on the third notch, the total would be 63 units of gas (5 x 12 = 60; plus 3).

3. Because you pressed the ten levers 55 times, there should be only 55 units of gas measured. But since one of the levers dispenses a gas that's twice as heavy as the others, the amount of the reading will be higher than 55! Let's say the reading was 63, like in the example. This means, by simple arithmetic, 63 - 55 = 8, meaning the eighth lever is the one that dispenses the heavier gas. Press that lever to fill the airship.

So following this pattern, if the reading is 56, (56-55=1) -> press lever 1
if the reading is 57, (57-55=2) -> press lever 2
etc.
if the reading is 65 (65-55=10) -> press lever 10

You'll know if you've pressed the right lever if you see a short cutscene of one side of the airship being inflated. Repeat steps 1-3 and you should see the other side of the airship being inflated. You should then be able to board the ship!

Hope this helps, and good luck with the rest of the game! :D If you need any more help, please post in this thread again.
T.

[lipsum]

Thanks for your hints, my friend! Apparently I'll have to cancel everything for this weekend and try your solution.... I'll let you know how it went.

[lipsum]

my friend, this is one of the most frustrating puzzles I have ever came across during almost 10 years of Adevnturing. I followed your very clear instructions, but got completely lost between the two machines, with occasional glimpses of a delfating fish skeleton. I gave up after the umpteenth trial. Would it be too rude of me to ask for a saved game from immediately right after the solution? I thank you for your kind assistance, whatever your answer may be.

[Trunkyo]

Hello lipsum! :D

Hmm, that's strange... I didn't think it was possible to get lost between the two gas machines, they're just on opposite ends of the same short corridor! :crazy: (So the airship also deflates if you take too long in filling both sides? I don't think I've experienced that.)

Because of the game's non-linearity and the fact that you play two different characters, it's difficult to provide a saved game without knowing Hannah's progress in her portion of the game (and what items she has picked up) before you switched to Sam (the second character at the balloon field).

I'd first recommend that you try solving the puzzle again on your own before asking for a saved game. If you are still desperate :frusty:, I can offer two options:

1. Send your saved game to me by e-mail (PM me for my e-mail address) and I can send it back to you with the gas puzzle completed
2. I can send you a saved game with ONLY the gas puzzle completed (meaning you would have to replay ALL of Hannah's portion again :crazy: )

Let me know what you decide, OK?
T.

[lipsum]

Is there any particular order the levers have to be pressed? Is the top one (12 o'clock) is numbered 1 or 10? Does it matter? I keep getting results over 65 (like 73, 71 etc.) - am I doing something wrong?

[Trunkyo]

I just replayed the gas collector puzzle, and I forgot to mention above that, in reading the gas meter, don't count the notches at the very top because they represent 0 units. :o Start counting from the "1 o'clock" notch and continue clockwise for both inner and outer rings.

As long as you've pressed the levers correctly, the gas reading should be in the range of 56-65 and never be higher than 65.

As for the levers, it actually doesn't matter which one you start at, either lever (12 or 1 o'clock) could be designated as "lever 1" and the next lever clockwise should be "lever 2", etc. What IS important, is keeping track of how many times you push each lever. Remember, lever 1 should only be pushed 1 time, lever 2 should only be pushed 2 times, etc. all the way up to lever 10 which should be pushed 10 times.

If you still need help, please let me know. :)