The Balloon World

Sam

The Compass-puzzle

Sam has landed far away in a world of balloons. He tries to get in contact with Hannah and when he fails he records his position and commentaries.
At the bottom of the screen you see something that looks like a compass but with strange symbols. Zoom in on it.
Note down the sign the hand is pointing to and which direction it is. The sign is different every game. You have to find them all without saving in between.

Turn around and enter the room. There is a big round plate. Zoom in on it. You find the same symbols as on the compass but placed differently. Click at them and you'll hear their names in the Argilian language. Check the compass to see the corresponding direction. Take a note of the signs and direction and give a phonetic description of the sound so you can recognize it later. On the picture at right you can see my notes but we all hear differently so make your own notes.

There must be something more to it than this. Maybe their are some more compasses. Go looking for them. For each compass you find note down the sign and direction and the order in which you find them. There are five in total. Here are some hints how you can go.
F means take a step forward, L and R means turn left or right.
L, F, R, F, L, F, R look at compass two and note down the symbol and the number 2.
R, F, F (you see a gondola) F, L look at compass 3 and note down the symbol and the number 3.
R, F, L look at compass 4. Note dome the sign and the number 4.
R, F look at compass 5, Note down the symbol and the number 5.

Now you have found all five compasses.

Turn right and look at the mission-log. Click at it and you'll see and hear Dr. Frances Bremmer rapport. She says that Susan has taken a balloon and gone alone to base 2 but is not heard from for 12 days. From the beginning they were 32 in her team, now only 4 remains. He also mentions that Angela Davies has found something important at Bosh Tunnel and that the gas-collector doesn't function properly.
Walk the whole way back to the round blue plate. There you find another mission-log. This time it is Dr. Hovis and he tells you there is danger ahead and that you should leave this place immediately.

Zoom in on the round plate and click at the symbols in the order that you found them,.
Have you done it rightly the center part opens and shows nine pearls. Pick then up to get them in your inventory.

A new balloon

Now it is time to leave this balloon. Go to the gondola you saw earlier. Click at it to sit down. Click at the handle to take off.
You land at another balloon a bit further away.

Turn around and take a step forward. Look left. There is a big round plate looking like a Dart-board with a lot of unknown symbols.
Walk all the way to the other side of the balloon. Go left to the border and look down. You can see a fishlike balloon but it is empty. If you could fill it you might be able to use it.
Turn around and walk to the crossroad in the balloon.

Gas-collector puzzle

Look left and right. On both side you see similar machines. A big round plate with a smaller one to the right.
Go to one of the big plates. Two pipes lead from the center-button. The right one goes to a small balloon the left one goes to the flat fish-balloon you saw outside. The hand in the center-button is pointing to the right indicating that the gas first is lead to the small balloon. Click 15 times at one of the handles. Then click the center-button.

You are automatically turned to the small plate. It has one outer and one inner ring with 12 markings in each just like a clock. Let us name the markings from 1 to 12 as on a clock. Look at the hands. The black hand in the outer ring is pointing to 1. The grey hand in the inner ring is pointing to three. You pressed the button 15 times. 15=1x12 + 3. Each time you press the hand in the inner circle is moved on step. When it has moved 12 times the hand in the outer ring moves 1 step.
If you press 50 times the outer hand would show 4 and the inner hand 2. 50 = 4x12 + 2. Just multiply the mark on the outer ring with 12 and add the mark on the inner ring.
Return to the big plate and press the same button. The hand in the center-button turns to the left and you can see the gas going into the fish-balloon but then it goes out again and the balloon is as flat as ever.

Turn around an go to the other machine. Before you get there Frances Brenner appears in an optical effect. She talks in broken sentences.

"... one gas can be used ...
... two times stronger than the other gasses in the collector that gets it from the atmosphere.
... collector is unstable so you can't know which pipe carries the correct gas ...
... measure lifting power ...
... just one try because the pattern changes each time...
... I wish I could ..."

You can't test by taking one pipe at the time because the pattern changes. But you could be smart and find a method to find the heavier gas in one try. Number the pipes from 1 to 10. Start where you like but remember your choice. I did as shown on the right picture.
If you just click once at each pipe and then at the center-button the small plate will show 11. You have sent 10 portions of gas but one is twice as heavy as the others. You can't decide though which pipe holds the heavier gas.
But if you fill 1 portion from pipe 1, two portions from pipe 2 and so on until you have filled ten portions from pipe 10, then you know that you have filled 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10=55 portions.
Press the center button and check the weight-meter. It should show more than 55 since one gas is heavier. If the meter reads 56 then the heavier gas must be in pipe one. If the meter reads 65 the heavier gas is in pipe 10. (65-55=10)
When you have decided which pipe contains the heavier gas return to the big plate and press the corresponding button and the gas is transferred to the fish-balloon, This time it rises half way and stays there. Now you must do exactly the same thing on the other gas-collector. But be careful, because if you fail you must redo everything from the beginning.

The fish-balloon

If everything is correctly done the fish-balloon is filled and you can see it mooring at the platform.
Go there and enter the fish-balloon. When you can't go any further turn around and go forward into the steering-cabin.

There are two chairs. Turn left and look at the chair. Take the CD.
Turn around and look at the other chair to sit down. Look at the maneuvering panel. There are three groups of symbols similar to those you saw at the big blue plate when you landed.
Exit the fish-balloon and go all the way through the balloon and zoom in on the plate.
Your pointer is turned into a claw and the CD in your inventory is highlighted. Click at the plate and the CD is placed in the middle and one of the sectors is highlighted.

Click at the three symbols in the highlighted sector, one at the time. Each time two other symbols are highlighted. Note down what they look like and if they are found on the upper or lower part of the plate. Then return to the captain's chair in the fish-balloon.

Save your game.

Now you must enter the symbols on the controls.
Move the left handle until the first of the three radial symbol is shown. Move the indicator on the arc to the corresponding upper symbol on the plate. Move the right handle to the lower symbol on the plate. (Look at the leftmost picture above.)
Do the same with the remaining symbols. (Look at the middle and right picture above.)
When all is correctly done, press the middle button and take off. (Hopefully you are mooring at the right place. If not return to your saved game and try again.)