Do precocious robots having adventures count as "steampunk", or do you need a big elaborately twirled moustache and a parasol before you can call yourself that? Tandemark's point-and-click puzzle adventure game J-Tubeus: Steam Adventure stars J-Tubeus, a bowler-hat wearing robot who wheels around his city of brass and steam sporting a boombox, because it's the cutest thing, that's why. On a morning like any other, however, his morning stroll is rudely interrupted when he finds himself kidnapped and tossed in a cell, and even the most optimistic fellow around couldn't think of a whole lot of good outcomes for that scenario... especially when the kidnapper is one of the city's most wanted! To play, just click to interact when the cursor changes, and drag items around the screen in puzzles. While there is no ability to turn off sound effects apart from music, you can control the audio of both simultaneously by clicking and dragging on the little audio bar at the bottom of the screen. If you need a hint, click the little question mark lightbulb in the bottom left corner!
It reminds me a bit of Little Wheel, thematically at least, all twee robotics and fantastic sense of style. For a robot that doesn't speak, J-Tubeus has a ton of character and personality that come out in the way he moves and emotes. The environment design is so incredibly detailed that it's a shame it tends to look a little grainy when in movement or zoomed out, which can make picking out objects from the busy backgrounds harder than it should be. Most of the puzzles you'll encounter are fairly simple... reassemble pipes or wires, or figure out the proper order to use items. They're not particularly difficult, but at least one of them, the key puzzle specifically, is more frustrating than it should be due to the way it will force you to start the entire painfully long sequence over if you fail too many times. J-Tubeus has such a wonderful, whimsical vibe about everything from its art to its animation that it feels like some Rube Goldberg-esque puzzles would have been a bitter fit, both in style and fun.
J-Tubeus' main issue, however, actually feels like its directly related both to how painstakingly slowly he moves, and the fact that you can't cancel actions or animations. When you're trying to solve a puzzle, watching J-Tubeus creep around the screen at a snail's pace is frustrating enough without having to watch the same failure animation over and over as you try multiple solutions. As a result, it's an incredibly charming and clever little game that feels rough around the edges, and with some more streamlining it would be an absolute joy to play instead of the fun yet somewhat bumpy ride it is now. Still, J-Tubeus: Steam Adventure is so creative and quirky that it's well worth checking out, and we can only hope for more adventures somewhere down the line.
For the key puzzle the reset on failure is tedious but you don't have to fail.
I think you can try as many keys as you want but if you try one that you have already used to open a previous door then you break that key and have to start all over again. Just make a note of which keys you use and don't try any of those in later locks.
stuck on scale level
to jamie.malekoff:
At what level do you get stuck?
Awwww...so cute!
For the scales level
You need to make the scales add up to 100 and use an item to fix the power.
You weight 50 so you need weights which add to 50
The are two pieces you can use to fix the power, one of these is needed to get weights adding to 50
Stuck on the ventilation level. Have oiled the cogs and moved the grate in the floor, but am stumped with red numbers and angles buttons -- geometry is not my forte.
Ugh, I'm in the same position as jcfclark.
I've tried using the least common multiple (90) and adjusting the degrees so that the fans leave the widest amount of space in the hole as possible (well I think I did, anyway), yet nothing seems to be working. :( :(
jfclark,
Through trial and error, my successful solve was
0 degrees, 45 degrees, and 261 degrees. I was trying to get the greatest amount of space in the hole in the wall possible by stopping each fan so that the blades did not block the hole. I had to adjust the final fan so that the broken blade was what ended up nearest the hole.
I hope an actual logical answer for this puzzle is posted soon. I would appreciate it.
how do i use the buttons in the ventilation room? the top two sets of buttons seem to have no effect, and whatever number i set, he just shakes his head.
litkinsey54,
Have you
oiled the cogs of the machine to the right and used it to move the extended platform all the way to the left?
@ lizkinsey54
I was having the same problem until I realized that
J-Tubeus is shaking his head because he can't reach the buttons.
Move the platform all the way left.
Do NOT move it all the way back to the right. I did and it got stuck again and I didn't have the container for the oil any more. :(
Am I the only one stuck in the elevator?
I have all the buttons, but the 6 is in the wrong place and I can't move it.
POP
I tried rotating the pattern, and it worked (but for a completely different reason).
651
4
732
top row, bottom row, and diagonals add up to 12
Stopped playing and closed the game, then went back to try to solve the Ventilation Level. I chose the 'Game' option from the menu, and it started from the beginning. Went back to menu and chose the 'Level' option, and nothing was open except the Home level. I did not try the 'Reset' option -- should I? Is there a "save" option that I missed when I closed out?
In my comment above, I meant to say "Restart" option, not "Reset"
Cable Tunnel is an infuriating level. I know exactly what I am supposed to do, but there are too many issues with getting it done. The robot gets in the way at either end, the lighting is too poor to follow, and the overlapping of some of the cables is impossible to determine. I like the art and idea of the game, it reminds me of Machinarium, but this particular puzzle was poorly constructed.
jfclark,
I quit the game earlier this evening. When I returned to it, I first read of your problem and immediately selected the level section on the home screen. My progress was there. I can only assume that choosing the game option will reset your progress. If this is the case, that is quite the bummer. I hope restarting will not be too problematic for you. As for the restart section, I have only used that from the in-game menu; and it restarted the level for me.
got it now, thanks!
@shjack180:
100% agreed on the Cable Tunnel level! Absolutely infuriating, and largely because the art just isn't large enough in the game window. (Unfortunately, full-screening the Flash, for those who know that trick, does nothing to help; that's the size it is.) I zoomed in in Flash, which helped some. But because I don't have the best vision, being an old fogey, I wound up also having to
track down a video playthrough
in order to pass the level. Even with that edge, I still couldn't tell which cables to put where without zooming in, which just reinforces my feeling that it's a poor combination of level design and artwork size.
However, I've been working on a walkthrough as I've played through the game. It should be ready to post within the next couple of hours!
@the Jack: Sweet, a walkthrough! Fortunately, I beat the game. Even passed the cable level somehow. I took a screenshot of the end result in case I wanted to play through it again, without so much trial and error. Looking forward to seeing the logic behind the solution in the ventilation level in your walkthrough.
Was anyone else a bit disappointed in the ending?
I was kind of hoping we could capture the baddie and maybe get a reward for turning him in
I so badly wanted to give this game five stars when I started, but only gave it three halfway through. The concept was nice enough, but its execution of puzzle solving was poorly done. I found the hint system inconsistent. Varying between too revealing and too vague and between necessary and unnecessary when it came to looking for clues. The art complemented the mood and theme of the game nicely, but it also got in the way of one of the puzzles. It came off as a bad copy of Machinarium to me, sharing some weaknesses, adding its own, and not capitalizing on much of Machinarium's strengths, such as consistency in puzzle solving and quality story telling. I still mostly enjoyed it. I just think it could have been a lot better.
@shjack180: Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this looks a LOT like Machinarium. I seem to be having more difficulty than usual, though, trying to get through the levels. Don't know if I should take a break or keep pressing through.
I want to enjoy this game, I really do, but the interface is too obstructionist. I click on an object to pick it up, and he strolls over and does so. I click on something to use it on, and its the wrong thing, so he drops it, strolls over to that thing, interacts pointlessly ,and strolls back. It does not take long for this to get tedious. I appreciate the setting, like the genre, and it really does look like something I would love, if it wasn't for this major issue. Part of games like this is exploring and trying things to get a handle on what you can do so you can leverage it towards your puzzle, but that entire process is mucked up.
Uf. I've never hated spoiler tags as much as I do right now...
The walkthrough is mostly finished, but I have (SO. MANY.) more tags to wrangle in it, and I need some sleep. Sorry, all... but it should be up Tuesday morning sometime, hopefully.
No problem Jack and thanks in advance for the walkthrough.
to shjack180:
Good for you. We are glad that you came to pass the level of fan room. It's really difficult level..
Eeeee! Fine game with nice atmosphere.
to Mystify, shjack180:
Thank you for your feedback. We think carefully about your vote in order to take this into consideration in our new games.
to shjack180 (about of Machinarium):
When we were developing the game, we certainly knew about Machinarium. But we did not want to make a copy of Machinarium. Our game is just similar to Machinarium. We did the main character robot, because we like robots. We chose the genre - puzzles, because it's easy to program. At the heart of the graphic style - steampunk, because we like this style. Similarity of our game on Machinarium is not special.
to shjack180 (of disappointment in the ending):
We did not want to kill or capture the villain, because we have to have big plans for him.
Loved the art, ambiance, and music. The puzzles were okay. My main beef with the game is that the robot is so painfully slow in carrying out commands. Especially in a puzzle game where experimentation is important in finding solutions, an enforced 10 second delay between tries makes the whole thing really tedious.
Tandemark,
Ahhhh, more to come from Tandemark with big plans for the villain. Sweet! Looking forward to it. Just, please, no more too hard to see puzzles like Cable Tunnel :p
walkthrough please :)
Angles for the 4th level:
120
45
234
to Paul:
We (Tandemark) posted a walkthrough on youtube. Also thanks Tricera Gamez for the video of a walkthrough.
tandemark, video walkthroughs are too fast for me. I prefer text walkthroughs. :)
Slow Slow slow.. Its too slow. I would love to play it but I am just not this patient. Sorry to the creator. But if it could speed up a bit. It would help tremendously. I get to the third level three times I have tried to play. I LOVE THESE GAMES. just cannot be this slow.
Oh Yes.. The hints I have not been able to get but one hint. I love these games. I wanted to give it a thumbs up. was looking forward to it. Sorry.
First Fan is
The angle, so that there is no blade visible in the middle hole
No, seriously, that's easy
0 degrees...
Second Fan is similar
45 degrees
Third Fan is
The angle so that the broken blade is visible
Ok, 252 degrees, did you manage Machinarium?
to iceebear:
Slow? Hmm ... You know, we tried to make a very attractive graphics in our game. This certainly requires computer power. But we highly optimized graphics and code. As a result, when tested on an old netbook with Atom is not less than 30 fps in difficult places.
So we think that the reason for slowing down may be many large banners on the web page.
But still, we thank you for your feedback, because it gives us a direction to improve games.
Hi Tandemark. I think they're referring to what I mentioned in my review... that J-Tubeus himself moves VERY slowly, so it takes a very long time to do anything, especially since you can't cancel actions. :)
@Tandemark, I'll echo icebear and Dora's comments - I'd love to love this game - the graphics are beautiful and I really like the concept. But... the robot move so *slowly*. It's like his battery is running down! The lack of an inventory, meaning that he drops the item that he is carrying to cross the room to repeat the action that he has done loads of times before is driving me crazy, and, I'm sorry, but I'm not patient enough to carry on playing :-(
to Dora, Toonster:
Ok. We will think about what we can do about it.
This is a good news for the players: we did the robot faster.
Thanks to everyone who gave feedback about the game.
Update