Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes On the Subject of Simplicity and Cohesiveness

On The Subject Of Simplicity And Cohesiveness

SYNOPSIS.

Simplicity: freedom from complexity, intricacy, or division into parts: an organism of great simplicity.

Cohesive(ness): cohering or tending to cohere; well-integrated; unified: a cohesive organization.- dictonary.com

On The Subject Of Sarcasm

BASICALLY: [ENTER INSULT HERE].

Hey, welcome to my first ever guide, and probably my last guide. Not going to lie, I'm sarcastic and a bit rude and mean, but hey, you'll get used to it. The point of this guide it to help players (experts and defusers) work through the manual without cutting it down into simple bits. Probably repetitive compared to others, but this is based off my work with others and how I've worked through the different modules and sets (sections). I will be covering Tips on Exotic Bombs, so if that's what you're here for, you're in luck! Sit tight and hold on, and off we go... Straight into the firey pit that happens to be a recently exploded bomb. Whoops.

On The Subject Of Disclaimers

R E A D.

All of these methods are ones I found that work for me personally. They are not guaranteed to work for you, and there's no need to force them to work for you.

This guide doesn't follow the manual's page order. I may resort it so that it does, if it's of popular demand.

This guide also doesn't cut it down to lists and complete easy-peasy lemon-squeezey. If that's what you're looking for, detour to the direction you came in from.

On The Subject Of Wires

WIRES MAKE KNOTS. BE CAREFUL.

This section covers all three wire types.

Simple Wires (Wires)

From what I've seen and done compared to others, most people like to list the number and colors off to an expert to move on. Since these are the simple wires, I prefer to get them done off the bat, because sometimes you need extra information. Because of this, I suggest...

Defuser: List the number of wires.

Expert: Scroll through the list and ask the necessary questions.

Defuser: Kill the required wire.

This is a faster method than the previously listed because a majority of the time, the Defuser is caught up doing the other modules and doesn't have too much time to waste on flipping over to the module. Not only this, but miscommunication (miscom) and general forgetfulness can be a pain. This also frees up that Expert to work on other modules if needed. It takes about three seconds, if the Defuser supplies the necessary information.

Example

Defuser: Six wires.

Expert: Yellow?

Defuser: Yes, three. (This eliminates the first two steps because step 1 (S1) requires no yellow, and S2 requires just one.)

Expert: Red?

Defuser: None.

Expert: Last.

Complex Wires

Since I still like to use the diagram, this section is only going to cover ones you should be super familiar with that you can name them off the bat. I will not be simplifying the diagram.

So for complex, there are three basic ones that are an instant cut:

No light, white, no star.

No light, red, star.

No light, white, star.

If the Defuser is able to leave those out when listing the others, it helps speed the process of solving the module. For bombs in and past this section, most people will name batteries, last digit (of serial), and if they have a parallel port off the bat. Most people. I've seen people split work, but normally the groups I'm in do them one by one (unless it's like the 11 mods, 5 mins, 1 strike ordeal, of course). This is all dependent on your and your Defuser's/Expert's/(s') style. Remember to hash out this with your partner(s) before starting the bomb to avoid miscom.

Sequence Wires

Please excuse me if I seem ridiculously angry here. I just recently finished the Exotic in regards to this and it s u c k e d.

Sequence wires (aka ABC wires) are a pain the butt for most if not all Experts. (I literally have the pairs burned into my head from the Exotic. H e l p.) However, from aforementioned Exotic wire burning, I noticed a pattern. I have posted about it in the General Discussion forums and will repost it here...

Originally posted by scriptm8:So a friend and I have been cracking at the Exotic Wire Sequences (ABC Wires [7....3?, Snip Snap]) for about a good few hours now, and I noticed a small pattern that may or may not assist in doing the ABC wires on your own:

- The wires never go to seven, hardly ever hit the sixth.

Because of that...

- RED is backwards ABC (CBA) for the first three before it flips to AC/B/AC pattern until the sixth (any).

- BLUE is B/AC/B and drops the C on fourth, going back to B for fifth and BC for sixth.

- BLACK is any (which EVERYONE remembers, how can you not?) before going to AC/B/AC/B (last B being the fifth).

I think as long as you can remember what you're number is on your current set, then you should be fine. Feel free to test this and let me know if it worked for you (even if you don't use it alone).

On The Subject Of Buttons

BATTERIES. BATTERIES, BATTERIES, BATTERIES.

Half the time, the CAR or FRK indicator may be present, but it's never lit. So here's barebones what to remember:

Detonate with 2/+ batteries is an immediate press/release.

Yellow is a press/hold.

Everything else is case-by-case, but be sure to go through the list anyways.

On The Subject Of Symbols/Keypads

COMMUNICATION. IS. KEY.

Seriously. You can't do symbols without hashing with your Expert(s)/Defuser about what to call what. Here's a list of what I've used with friends:

æ AE

Ӭ Backwards Euro

Ҩ Loop-de-loop

Ҋ Backwards N

ϗ Curly H

ϰ Harry Potter

Ԇ Unfinished 3

Ϙ Lollipop

Ѯ Alien 3

ƛ Lambda

Ω Omega

¶ Paragraph Symbol

¿ (Upside down) ?

Ϭ Smushed Six

Ͼ C with a dot

Ͽ Backwards C

҂ Not Equal

Ѣ TB

Ѭ Spider

Ѧ AT

Җ XI

Use whatever works for you and your Expert(s)/Defuser though. My list is just a basis for what I use when I do my sessions with my friends.

On The Subject Of Simon Says

SIMON CAN GO [NOT NICE WORD] HIMSELF.

All you need to know is that Simon needs to be done first, because at no strikes:

Vowel

RED > BLUE, BLUE > RED

GREEN > YELLOW, YELLOW > GREEN

Basically, they flip flop.

No Vowel

RED > BLUE, BLUE > YELLOW

GREEN > GREEN, YELLOW > RED

Basically, Green stays the same and Y/R/B cycle counter clockwise.

This is SUPER helpful to know during Blinkenlights (7.1, 5 Simon in 1:30).

On The Subject Of Who's On First

WELCOME TO THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. HOW MAY I HELP YOU?

All I can do here is suggest what to say as the Defuser/Expert when listing/reading off the words and phrases. Here's what I use:

Screen Words

You's and Variants Thereof

U: U (pron. you), the letter.

YOU: You, the word.

YOU ARE: You are, separately.

YOUR: Your, the word.

YOU'RE: You're, apostrophe.

UR: UR (pron. your), the letters.

Lefts and Rights

LED: Led, L-E-D.

LEAD: Lead, L-E-A-D.

READ: Read, R-E-A-D.

RED: Red, the color.

REED: Reed, R-E-E-D.

LEED: Leed, L-E-E-D.

Basically, a lot of quick-fire spelling.

The's and Variants Thereof

THERE: There, T-H-E-R-E.

THEY'RE: They're, apostrophe.

THEIR: Their, E-I-R.

THEY ARE: They Are, separately.

See and Variants Thereof

SEE: See, S-E-E.

C: C, the letter.

CEE: Cee, C-E-E.

Label Words

You's and Variants Thereof

U: U (pron. you), the letter.

YOU: You, the word.

YOU ARE: You are, separately.

YOUR: Your, the word.

YOU'RE: You're, apostrophe.

UR: UR (pron. your), the letters.

UH's and Variants Thereof

UH HUH: Uh huh, U-H-H-U-H.

UH UH: Uh uh, U-H-U-H.

UHHH: Uhhh. U-H-H-H.

Either pronounce it clearly or spell it is my suggestion to this.

Lastly is just What and What?, which you just define by with and without a question mark.

On The Subject Of Memory

NUMBERS DO NOT EQUAL MATH HERE.

So for memory all I can suggest is pencil/pen and paper for the Expert and to learn the differences between numbers/labels and positions being said.

EXAMPLE

One and First, Two and Second, etc etc.

One being the label, First being the position, etc etc.

That being said, S1 is always (display/position) 1/2, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4.

S5 is always (display/label) 1/1, 2/2, 3/4, 4/3.

On The Subject Of Morse Code

NO ONE CARES ABOUT DITS AND DAHS.

Work out a method that works for you and your partner(s). I've seen dot/dash, dit/dah, short/long. Pick whatever works for you.

Concerning First Letters

- . . . is B (6).

. . - . is F (1).

. . . . is H (1).

. - . . is L (1).

. . . is S (5).

- is T (1).

. . . - is V (1).

Concering Bs and S'

. is E (1).

. . is I (1).

- - - is O (2).

. - . is R (2).

. . . . is H (1).

. - . . is L (1).

- is T (3).

The next three you'll need are all different for the Bs and S'. The ones listed are the letters you'll need to just put to memory. Good luck.

On The Subject Of Mazes

DOTS. DOTS EVERYWHERE.

For this, you need to sort out which directions you're using and how you want to do it. Most commonly, my friends and I use X,Y coordinates (columns/rows), the first circle, position of the white, and the red triangle.

EXAMPLE (Reference the first maze on the manual)

1,2 is the maze.

2,3 is the white dot (player's location).

6,3 is the red triangle.

Solving would be R, D, R, U, R, R.

On The Subject Of Passwords

LETTERS AND DICTONARIES.

Basically all you need to remember is what the words can start with.

A, B, C, E, F, G, H, L, N, O, P, R, S, T, W.

There are no X, J, K, or Z in any of the words, so ask your Expert/Defuser if they want to leave those or include them. Leaving them out tends to help the most, but it's up to you.

Most passwords you can learn to remember and do on your own. I did Rainbow Table (9 passwords, 4 minutes, 1 strike) with two minutes left.

On The Subject Of Needys

QUIT YOUR WHINING YA BABY.

The lever and gas are pretty self explanatory, so I'll be giving a method or two for the knob.

On the Subject of the Knob

Both methods I've seen (and used) use the six on the left side only.

Method One

-/x/x || 0 1 1

x/x/x || 1 1 1

That would be a down position, read up/down, left/right.

Method Two

x/-/x || 2

-/x/- || 1

That would be a down position.

This is done by figuring out the number of lights. 4 is Up, 3 and 5 is Down, 1 and 0 is Left, and U shape is Right.

On The Subject Of Exotic Bombs

WELCOME TO THE TIP SECTION. > Shake jar.

7.1 - Blinkenlights: Refer to Simon Says method and good luck.

7.2 - Applied Theory: Refer to Complex Wires method and hope you know what you're doing. I recommend an Expert for just-in-case scenarios.

7.3 - A-maze-ing: You're not doing this without an Expert. Hope you find one that's good at reading off directions fast and you can follow them.

7.4 - Snip Snap: Prepare to cry. Now refer to my ABC (Seqence) wires and attempt it.

7.5 - Rainbow Table: Memorize passwords. You can definitely do this on your own.

7.6 - Blinkenlights II: Try to remember morse codes but have someone ready to give you frequencies. That's a pain to remember.

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=537239866

On the Subject of Simplicity and Cohesiveness