Speaking of DS charm, Hotel Dusk had a puzzle that broke my brain. Not because it was hard, but because years later I learned that it (seemingly) had a literally impossible solution, a solution that the DS hardware was physically incapable of. I thought I was going mad for a bit. Let me explain- - ThreadSky

madscientist212.bsky.social • 9 days ago

Speaking of DS charm, Hotel Dusk had a puzzle that broke my brain. Not because it was hard, but because years later I learned that it (seemingly) had a literally impossible solution, a solution that the DS hardware was physically incapable of. I thought I was going mad for a bit.

Let me explain-

Reposted from Wario64

Nintendo has filed a new trademark for Hotel Dusk: Room 215 in Japan www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintend...

"Nintendo also filed a new trademark for the Western logo for Another Code five years before Another Code: Recollection was announced, implying it could be repeating the process here."

Comments

quandtuniverse.bsky.social•5 days ago

this puzzle is *really* annoying to get past on an emulator haha but that's how i learned you had to swipe in the exact middle (the timing can just get a little wonky when not on an actual DS)

oneofthegoodpauls.bsky.social•9 days ago

I think I know exactly which one you mean and won't spoil it of course since you're typing it now, but same here. Spent hours not trying a clearly spelled out solution because I "knew" the system didn't work that way

madscientist212.bsky.social•9 days ago

LOL. Yeah I didn't know about that hardware limitation till years later, so while it was a little curious to me that I was doing something I'd never done before (or after) it didn't initially stand out to me as much. Must have been wild going into that puzzle already knowing the limitation.

oneofthegoodpauls.bsky.social•9 days ago

At the time I mistakenly thought that was a limitation of ALL capacitive touchscreens

madscientist212.bsky.social•9 days ago

There's a bit in Hotel Dusk where you're trying to flip up a couple breaker switches, one on each side of the screen. But as soon as you flip one up and try to flip the other, the first switch will trip again. So you just keep on flipping them up and having them tripping, stuck.

madscientist212.bsky.social•9 days ago

If you don't figure out what you're supposed to do, a character in the game gives you a hint and suggests you try flipping both switches at the same time.

So you hold your stylus in one hand, grab the DS thumbstrap with the other, try this, it works!

Simple puzzle, barely worth noting, right?

robertskitch.bsky.social•9 days ago

And here's me (a DS Lite owner) doing a web search to find out what the heck a thumbstrap is. Had no idea that the OG DS came with a loop in the strap the could slip over the thumb and be used as a stylus for analogue control.

madscientist212.bsky.social•9 days ago

Well, it did stick out in my mind in that it was the first and ONLY time I ever remember using multiple points on the DS touch screen.

Later, when I was reading about the Nintendo 3DS, I learned a *new* feature of it was the ability to recognize multiple touch points.

The DS couldn't do this.

madscientist212.bsky.social•9 days ago

But how was this possible? I remembered that puzzle in Hotel Dusk. I had played through the game multiple times. I knew for sure, absolutely certain, that there was a puzzle with a solution that required touching and swiping the screen on two points at the same time.

madscientist212.bsky.social•9 days ago

Yet literally everything I read online said that this wasn't something the DS could do. It could only recognize a single touch point at a time. The puzzle solution should have been impossible.

Well, it turns out it was possible, but only because the devs were absurdly clever.

madscientist212.bsky.social•9 days ago

While the original DS can only recognize one touch point at a time, if you try and touch it two places at the same time, it doesn't respond to that as if you're only touching one of those two points. It doesn't perceive it as you touching EITHER of those points, actually.

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply