Puzzling Places - Beta (Major Update!)
Added 2021-02-17 16:00:04 +0000 UTCWe've got very exciting news!
Last week, we migrated our original Puzzling Places [Prototype] to Oculus's new App Lab platform under a new name: Puzzling Places - Beta!
Today, we’re launching Puzzling Places - Beta v4.1, our biggest feature and content update to our free preview app yet, which will now be the main app to play Patreon puzzles with moving forward.
Watch our new trailer! - https://youtu.be/osm3lw0uDNk
Update v4.1
The update includes a total of 6 puzzles to play (one new freebie!!), ranging between 20 pieces all the way to 200 pieces, with new and immersive soundscapes, new audio regions, updated environments, and more.
Puzzling Places - Beta now includes:
- Ice Cream Stairs - (20 pieces)
- Boat Josefa - (100 pieces)
- Devil’s Slide Bunker - (100 pieces)
- Tsuruga Castle - (100 pieces)
- Tatev Monastery - (updated to 200 pieces)
- Market Square in Gliwic - (200 pieces) <- new freebie!
Feature-wise, we’re continuing to develop new ways of making the puzzling experience better.
Today, we’re launching:
- Groups. Grouping provides a way for players to organize the pieces into stacks, reducing clutter and creating a more zen puzzling environment.
- Remastered Audio and new SFX. We’ve revamped the apps entire audio library with new sound effects, immersive soundscapes, and regional audio locations. Each puzzle is it’s own little world.
- A new Puzzle Finale Event. Reaching the puzzle’s final piece is always a moment of great anticipation, excitement, and relief.
- Settings Menu. Players now have a way of customizing the app to their liking by choosing to puzzle with reference photos, change locomotion settings, as well as other minor adjustments.
- A full list of changes, bug fixes, improvements can be found on our Changelog.
Patreon Puzzles
Moving forward, we will be retiring the Puzzling Places - Patreon app in order to streamline and simplify things into one app: Puzzling Places - Beta.
Downloading and installing your Weekly & Monthly Patreon puzzles using the same SideQuest <> Patreon integration works just like before, the only difference being that you’ll be using the Beta app listing on SideQuest instead of the Patreon one.
For Oculus App Lab players that do not have SideQuest installed, you can also download the puzzle files and manually install them in the steps outlined here.
If you have puzzles downloaded and would rather not re-download them, you can also manually transfer the puzzle files from the Patreon app into the Beta app (in the steps outlined here). Note: We have updated all the Patreon puzzles with small improvements such as new scales (bigger puzzle pieces), new ambient audio (no more flies buzzing around!), and better environment colors, so we do recommend for you to download them again.
All your puzzles’ savegames remain in your Quest even if you delete or redownload the puzzles from Patreon. This way, you can rest assured that all your hard-earned progress finishing the puzzles will not be lost. However, if you do ever want to backup your puzzle savegames, we’ve outlined the steps for that as well.
Moving forward
Our plans are to launch the full-feature Puzzling Places app on the Oculus Quest Store later this year. Until then, we will continue developing and updating the Puzzling Places - Beta app through Oculus’s App Lab and SideQuest listings.
Comments
Agreed. I loaded the game wirelessly through Sidequest App Lab, but am not sure if I can get future puzzles the same way. I don't have a PC any longer.
2021-03-05 21:46:02 +0000 UTCthanks for pointing that out! We'll look into that and see if there is anything on our end we can do to ensure it works with & without wire!
2021-02-21 09:47:17 +0000 UTCThe most confusing part is you state that SideQuest works, well you're supposed to be able to install things wirelessly now through SideQuest, but that doesn't work properly for a lot of things (at least for me), so you still need to use the link cable, or manually move the files. If you specify that, confusion solved.
2021-02-21 03:09:14 +0000 UTCHey there, make sure you're downloading the attachments with BETA in their name. The directory they get installed to Quest > Android > obb > com.RealitiesIO.puzzlingPlacesBeta. If you're using SideQuest, you can have the puzzles install directly from Patreon as described in this video tutorial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0jJ4OJtSa0&feature=emb_title Next week, we will be updating all the install instructions, as they became out of date with the big update last week. Sorry for any confusion, but all the puzzles on Patreon do work and are downloadable via SideQuest
2021-02-20 20:54:12 +0000 UTCWhat directory are you guys placing the downloaded zip files in? Do you need to unzip them? This is a huge hassle, wasted a bit of my time. I have only gotten new puzzles to work while connected through the link cable, and some aren't installing at all.
2021-02-20 20:49:45 +0000 UTC🤯🤯🤯👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Ryan Wayne
2021-02-19 03:43:55 +0000 UTCHi Charles, we're in the midst of updating our Install Instructions, but the process is essentially the same as it was before but with a different app: - go to the Puzzling Places - Beta app on SideQuest - click on the Patreon button - Choose a puzzle you'd like to play, and click on the attachment with the "BETA" in its name (we will delete the non Beta attachment shortly). - There should be a pop up dialogue that comes up in SideQuest asking for you to accept it. Once you do, the download + install happens automatically. Feel free to send us a DM if it still doesn't work. Happy to help you troubleshoot!
2021-02-18 15:30:30 +0000 UTCI cannot figure out how to install the older puzzles into the new beta app. I've installed the new beta via sidequestvr. It works fine. I cannot figure out how to install puzzles like the Straus Monument or the Locomotive below. Can someone list the steps?
2021-02-18 15:24:13 +0000 UTCHey Petey, not 100% sure if this works on Mac, but on Windows you can click on the Patreon link in the description and it will just load the Patreon page instead of opening the small window. Then you can download all puzzles without the window closing again and again (check out Azads how to video: https://youtu.be/b0jJ4OJtSa0?t=118 ) You could also just download them directly from the website and move them all onto the Quest at once (see Method 2 here: https://www.realities.io/puzzling-places-instructions )
2021-02-17 19:25:22 +0000 UTCA question to realities.io or anyone else on SideQuest and Mac: Can you download puzzles easily, or is it really finicky for you too? My workflow is appalling, I'm hoping there's a better way. I'm on a Mac, to get the puzzles I open SideQuest, press the Patreon button, I get a frustratingly small non-resizeable window, whose contents reload from scratch every time, I then have to scroll, wait, scroll, wait, down a very long page to manually find the next puzzle (where each post is over a screen's height of varying-format text, and the images sometimes take a while to appear, so it's very easy to miss a post). Then I click on the zip file and the window closes, and I have to start again for the next one. If the download jams (rare but happens), or the upload to the headset fails (because it goes to sleep after a while), I can be hunting for the next one already, and then I need to check my errors and go back in, this time hunting by zip file name, to retry them. Downloading just a handful of puzzles can take over an hour of effort and frustration. I'm very open to suggestions! Hopefully I'm doing something wrong!
PeteyPak
2021-02-17 18:26:57 +0000 UTCif you already have the puzzles installed you can just move them all from one folder to the other, detailed instructions are here: https://www.realities.io/puzzling-places-backups
2021-02-17 17:45:16 +0000 UTCSorry for the confusion! With the update you can now use the Beta to play the the Patreon puzzles, so the Puzzling Places - Patreon app isn't necessary anymore and will be taken offline soon. Hope that helps!
2021-02-17 17:43:04 +0000 UTCAny chance of getting to download the puzzles in groups (or even the whole lot at once) instead of having to go through them one at a time?
PeteyPak
2021-02-17 17:41:28 +0000 UTC
