This is not an “essay.” It’s really my notes as I play a kind of game I enjoy. It is an imaginary-world puzzle game
Edanna is a “world” in the larger system of worlds that is Myst III: Exile. Exile can easily be made to work on a Mac, something that cannot be said of many imaginary-world puzzle games. For those familiar with the term, this is not strictly speaking a “walkthrough.” A stumblethrough, perhaps?
Edanna is a “world” in the larger system of worlds that is Myst III: Exile. Edanna can easily be made to work on a Mac, something that cannot be said of many imaginary-world puzzle games. For those familiar with the term, this is not strictly speaking a “walkthrough.” A stumblethrough, perhaps?
There are three things that are most crucial to solving these kinds of puzzles: 1. Take notes and 2. Save games frequently with a naming sequence that works for you. 3. Figure a way to get hints when you’re stuck.
Edanna (This is one person’s route through Edanna, so not strictly a walkthrough. May give away too much if you’re solving the puzzle on your own, but might be helpful when you’re confused or stuck or simply curious. This puzzle is absolutely fascinating, if sometimes frustrating. To my mind, it is entirely on the same order of the original Myst. A game, it turned out, that was perfect for an iPhone. That’s what introduced me to these worlds.
Edanna, like my all-time favorite, Alida, is a fantastic world as well puzzle. It introduces an element I don’t personally love: visual confusion of where you’re going into the mix. It deliberately disorients you visually, so you don’t always know if you’re going left or right.
But it has fascinated me, entertained me for many hours. I gotta take my hat off (exposing my quite bald head) to the folks who made this game.
I am posting this now, before I’ve completed the puzzle. Maybe you’ll find the solution to something you’re so stuck on that you’re ready to just go do something else. Maybe not.
ENTRY SIDE of Edannas
Single path up first spiral –> open second spiral with SunFocuser Flower –> down second spiral staircase to –> Giant Banana, along vine, –> FOREST, AREA #1 SquidBulb A (ON, no controls) –> Follow path along platform-like vine, come to bulb (unlit), which, when pressed, becomes ON SquidBulb #1 –> through Yellow Cleft arrive at Yellowish Branch Bridge, cross bridge, down blue tunnel arrive at FurledLeaf and Lantern #1.
Can swing two directions:
Left: currently closed off by Bridge
Right: to RabbitTrap; by lifting trap & rolling berry two steps, then returning to bridge, use handle to get rabbit to cross bridge, that then collapses. This makes LEFT swing possible –> Forest Area #2 (Middle Island)
After Swing (Edanna MIDDLE SIDE of ISLAND), past where bridge was: another Lantern opens Frond, leads BACK to (on right of path before it ends) to Yellow Cleft entrance to Forest Area #1. Find new pages:
ELSE (within Area #2) –> Yellowish Path down to Trapped Bird, to another controllable Bulb, at Mural. Then come to fork.
LEFT: Down to green forest, down, down, down, go past another lightable Squid Buld, then past Saavedra message video, then leads to frond (open only if light is on it)
RIGHT: Down Staircase past Iris on right to Middle Iris to final Iris at bottom
As I recall, there should be one more lightable SquidBulb down one of these two paths. Haven’t yet found point of pointing light at the Iris that doesn’t open the Frond.
| Controllable objects | ||
| ENTRY | ||
| ViewFlower at Entry | Moves | So far, vision only: See Linking Book to New Age |
| Bush at top of hill | Moves | Allows SUN to hit ViewFlower |
| ViewFlower overlooking canyon | Moves | With Sun directed, Opens 2nd Spiral Staircase |
| FOREST AREA #1 | accessed via 2nd Spiral Staircase | |
| SquidBulb A | Always On | Near beginning |
| SquidBulb #1 | Off initially -> On; Once on it stays on | Lights, shows squid, presumably turns POWER on |
| MIDDLE FOREST (#2) | Accessed by Lantern #1 to open Frond #1 + getting Rabbit to break bridge + Swing #1 | Return to Area #1 via Frond opened by pulling Lantern #2 |
| SquidBulb after Trapped Bird, near Mural | Off initially -> Then On; Once on it stays on unless bulb near Green Staircase is on | Lights & shows squid, presumably turns POWER on |
| SquidBulb down Green staircase | Off initially -> On; Once on it stays on; goes OFF if SquidBulb near Mural is on | Lights, shows squid, |
| First Iris to Right of Staircase | Initially off | With Sun directed, not immediately clear where it directs light |
| Middle Iris (at end of Staircase) | Initially no light on it, can see Frond from here | With Sun directed, Opens Frond #2 to FarSide Forest |
| Bottom Iris | Starting point of light
Focuses Light on Iris to left or right |
|
| FarSide Forest | Accessed via using Irises to focus on Frond #2 | Return to Area #1 ??? |
| Iris On the Far Side of the chasm | Would focus on Tendrils ? of BirdTrap Pod, but is NOT lit. | |
| SunFlower | Would focus on SquidBulb, perhaps bursting it, but must pre-set, then get back to Area #1 | |
| Fan Frond movable tall plant | Changes light | ??? |
| 1st puff pod (just before entrance to Blue Tube of Giant Purple Plant | puffs pollen in the air | |
| 2nd puff pod (right up near Giant Purple Plant) | puff pollen in the air that the flies around the antennae of the Purple Plant seem to react to. | |
| Giant Pollen Puffer with sharp points | Puffs pollen in the air | |
Let’s see what’s on Far Side of Frond at Base of Mushroom Stair:
up 3 steps to slightly above Sharp Horned Stump, able to step
RIGHT through whorl tube lit by small mushrooms toward sea to another Swinging Vine, to Lower Level via Vine 2 –>
Left –> to Valley of Giant Purple Plants
at 4 or 5 steps in, can go off to side away from 1st Giant Purple Plant (to left if coming from entry point) –> can go to Giant Purple Plant
–> into Blue tunnel to innards of plant to Giant Puffer with sharp points (difficult to get back out from here)
Right –> steps Up (w/ Green Light), Lifting Frond –> Back to Swing Vine
if continue up Mushroom Stair: -> to SunFlower ( shows SquidBulb, not seen previously; no apparent control over SunFlower –> up Stairs –> to Another Iris, which CAN be pointed at Pod the holds the Bird, but does NOT have light pointed at it.
Apparently, using the Universal Hint System site, I have to free the bird, perhaps before I cross over yet another leaf crossing to the third area on this world (where the purple plants are). Here’s what they say to consider in trying to free the bird:
Clue reminds of Venus Fly Trap seen on Atrus/Saavedra’s desk in earlier world.
I needed the further clue that these three bulbs connected to each other and these together are the solution to freeing the bird.
FLOWER:
sees SQUIB BULB
Haven’t figured it out yet. ROOT SQUIB it would seem, should be filled last and no hints of another way it might work. So no go with playing with order of filling other two SQUID ORBS.
got this clue about the SACS ( assume this = SQUID BULBS ) but don’t understand it:
further clue that what I want to do is get liquid and squid from one bulb to next to end up at the bulb by the BirdTrap’s roots.
That suggests turning off one of the other one’s is the answer, but I thought I already did that. Oh well, I’ll try again.
The hints leave out the critical detail that the light of SunFlower must be focused on the SquidBulb (#1 ?). The terrain is very confusing so I’m trying to map it.
Starting from the Flower:
From perspective looking at the SunFlower we can go:
LEFT Up Stairs to IRIS that can be pointed at SunFlower
RIGHT down thru passage-way
to Top of Mushroom Staircase
MIDDLE of Mushroom Staircase path leads to Swinging Vine to LOWEST LEVEL of ISLAND.
DOWN leads to FrondBridge to FAR SIDE. [Perhaps I’ve got it backwards and FrondBridge is really leading back to MIDDLE FOREST (Crossing FrondBridge, UP path past Saavedra video machine, over bump in log, to SquidBulb (#3) at Base of Green Stairs. Continuing up leads to mural.
–> Into the Yellow cleft –>
–> Up the long ramp –> over hump with fern behind it –>> We’re BACK at ENTRANCE to INTERIOR.
This means that this is probably the Entrance Squid who’s always on and not directly part of the puzzle. Back into the INTERIOR we go…
But when I do, the part of the Interior surrounding the Rabbit Hutch, is completely cut off from me, meaning I can’t get to the Irises anymore??? I thought I did get to the Irises from the flower. (I started back from the Landing Point of Edanna to check this out: No, the Irises aren’t in the only area I’m cut off from, The Rabbit Trap.
So now I’ve tried taking the spiral plant ride, then found my through the hole in the rock (near the ViewFlower w/ a view of the eaglets). This doesn’t bring me to the Interior, but to another area I’ve visited and believe I’m done with (SunFocuser flower that was used to get the 2nd Spiral Staircase to grow; thoroughly investigated; J’nanin )
Note to Self: I haven’t looked at Saavedra’s log books for a while. They have sometimes held clues
9/15/2012 I went back through my notes and discovered where the Irises are. OK, their the Right Fork from the Mural. I think I need to get one of these three irises to point at the sunflower and the sunflower to then point to the filled SquidBulb.
9/16/2012: Starting from what I’m calling SquidBulb #1, i.e. the first SquidBulb that can be lighted by pushing it’s button. It’s currently on. I’m going to see if I can get the Irises to aim at the SunFlower so that it can point to the bulb and burst it.
I can light the two Irises, but I don’t believe I can get to the SunFlower because it’s not in Middle Forest, but in the Far Side Forest, and the leaf is closed when the light isn’t on. Hmmmm…
No. The Irises and the SunFlower are all Middle Forest! That’s confused me up to now.
Note about Mushroom Staircase: Mid-level (at multi-horned log, but directly opposite it, through hollow log, get to Swing. This leads to the Purple Plants.
No, it isn’t, but at the place i come toward to Purple plants, but take, instead, the 7 or 8 steps up, I can come to the Red Leaf that’ll raise me to a new vine (and then goes away) so I could get back to the Irises having left the last one pointed at the SunFlower.
Nope: The leaf just brought me back to the Swinging Vine on one end and the Mushroom Staircase at the beginning. Not back to the START yet.
Still, I think this is the solution: My notes suggest going to bottom of Mushroom staircase is the way out.
VICTORY! By setting the FarSide Iris to point to the SunFlower, then getting back to the Middle Forest where the other Iris’ are, I was able to FREE the BIRD. Not sure what’s next…
One thought on “Edanna Notes”
Comments are closed.