Submachine Network Exploration Experience, I didn't know just how involved fans of the series were in discussing its mysteries and mythologies. Like the various alternate reality games involved in the marketing of Lost, the Exploration Experience gives fans of the series the chance to delve into the Submachine world like never before.
As the Exploration Experience declares from the outset, "This is not a game." There are no puzzles to solve (at least, I don't think there are), and no definite endpoint. Rather, it's your chance to explore the vast reaches of the Submachine network. Fans of the series will recognize the teleportation devices that whisk you from one area to the next, and once you find some location codes you can be on your way. Some locations will be familiar, while others are brand new, possibly foreshadowing areas in Submachine 7, coming out later this year (note the buried lead!).
In addition to finding location codes, you will also find notes describing theories about the Submachine. These have been gleaned from the Pastel Games forums and are written by fans of the series. Some of the locations even seem to be constructed to affirm certain theories. It's a great way to get fans involved in the series while providing more mysteries to ponder.
Throughout the Exporation Experience you will find all sorts of little clues and hints that possibly give some idea of what is going on. The design is such that more areas could easily be added, and Matuesz Skutnik has indicated that is his intention. If you are a fan of the series, the Submachine Network Exploration Experience offers all sorts of arcana to sate you until the next chapter is released.
Play the Submachine Network Exploration Experience
We've been here covering the entire Submachine series since the very beginning with reviews and walkthroughs for all of them...Outside the main storyline, and yet still another great Submachine, is a game created for the band Future Loop Foundation:
- The original Submachine
- Submachine Remix (extended version)
- Submachine Zero: Ancient Adventure
- Submachine 2: The Lighthouse
- Submachine 3: The Loop
- Submachine 4: The Lab
- Submachine 5: The Root
- Submachine 6: The Edge
- Submachine 7: The Core
- Submachine Network Exploration Experience
- Submachine: 32 Chambers
- Submachine 8: The Plan
- Submachine 9: The Temple
- Submachine: Future Loop Foundation
Walkthrough Guide
(Please allow page to fully load for spoiler tags to be functional.)
I decided to put my typing where my mouth was and have written a walkthrough explaining how to find the rooms in the subnet as it currently exists (June 10th 2010). A lot of thanks goes to Raxas v2.1 in the Submachine forums for compiling a list of rooms and clues - I put them in "walkthrough order" so that the reader can add the numbers they find to a list and explore them in the order they are added (I didn't copy Raxas's text, I just used his numerical guide to make my walkthrough-style guide in my own words). My advice will be VERY brief - there's a lot to cover and I'd be taking all the joy out of your explorations if I covered everything. I'll also be listing the nodes by custom names rather than their numbers, so not to spoil the numbers (people who want the numbers spoiled can go find the other lists posted in this very thread. Let's get to it!
Exploration
The Computer
Code: 000 (000 - Computer List)
Get out of bed and head down to the computer. This part should be familiar to you if you've already played the Submachine games, and it doesn't hold many new surprises, but you'll want to check the computer for a list of codes. I won't reproduce it here. We'll start by going to those rooms and exploring them before moving on to the clues within.
Cross Room
Code: 076 (000 - Computer List)
There is a close-up picture and three theories here. Two new codes can be found: one under the cipher teleporter and one formed from the bottoms of the three theories. You can also turn on the projector in the bottom room to no obvious effect.
New Codes:
304
875
Monitor Centre
Code: 541 (000 - Computer List)
Two rooms, including a code to the left and four monitors that can be viewed close up, one of which (bottom left) includes a second code scratched into it (in its bottom right corner).
New Codes:
218
757
Linked Rooms
Code: 628 (000 - Computer List)
This room contains a device on the right that teleports you into a strange, "red" room. The odd thing is that if you come back here after leaving from the red room, you will return to it instead of the furnished room. There is a theory here, along with a strange number 7 along with three lights, the light on in the bottom left. A panel gives you the code for "THIS" (229). Or does it? As a matter of fact, the game is actually telling you to take this area's number (628) and subtract 229 from it to get a new code. There is nothing to be found in the red room.
New Code:
399
Mechanical Room
Code: 642 (000 - Computer List)
While this room is quite interesting, it only includes one clue, the letter "C". As far as anyone can tell, this is supposed to be a clue to go to room 100.
New Code:
100
The Lighthouse Basement
Code: 304 (076 - Panel in left room)
Welcome back. If you poke around in the path up the ladder, you will find that FI = 342. This is otherwise a dead-end.
Cells
Code: 875 (076 - Found at the bottom of the theories)
This odd room initially appears to contain only a single theory document, but if you look closer you can find two codes, both in tally scratches on the wall. One is in the second room, top-right. The next is in the third room, bottom-left. If you haven't realized yet, you can mouse over them to get the numeral versions at the bottom of the screen.
New Codes:
232
580
Chime Room
Code: 218 (541 - Panel behind chair)
You'll find a few familiar relics in this room, despite it being all-new, but perhaps to keep you from going mad thanks to the chimes, there's only one simple thing to find: another panel.
New Code:
006
Defence Network
Code: 757 (541 - Visible in monitor)
You can find a theory here on the left, along with a code above the door to the right.
New Code:
185
Stalagmite Room
Code: 399 (Derived from the equation THIS - 229 in regards to room 628)
I'm just boring names from Raxas now. There is a computer here with a "Report" (which I think is just an in-character theory) that nevertheless is followed by "1111 - this". Doing the math, that gives us...
New Code:
712
Sub-Bot Chamber
Code: 100 (642 - Probable meaning of "C")
New information here, very intersting... Read the monitor on the left for more, with schematics on the right. You can also find a panel on the right reading "THIS + FI". We'll have to work that out later (First Equation).
Cave
Code: 232 (875 - Tally, room 2)
This room contains a lenghty fan timeline for the backstory, along with a picture of a sign saying "KENT FALLS". If you click the nearly empty sheet of paper rather than the theory papers, you get a new code, as well.
New Code:
550
Viewer Ruins
Code: 580 (875 - Tally, room 3)
This room contains a viewing device that displays a sped-up version of the video from the end of The Lighthouse. After a VERY long wait, a code shows up on the screen. If you look carefully, you can find some scratchings near the cave-in to the left that say "THIS + TI" (Second Equation), though you will almost certainly need to mouse-over to get it coherantly.
New Code:
411
4D Loop
Code: 006 (218 - Panel)
This room loops very oddly, which is understandable once you read the theory included within about the Subnet being a 4th dimensional space. You can also find a panel with a new code on it.
New Code:
404
Gem Generator
Code: 185 (757 - Above door)
This room contains a theory about wisdom gems, and features a panel barely visible behind a number of cans of compressed gas. The panel reads "TI = 322".
Radio Bunker
Code: 712 (399 - Theory doc)
This room has a radio but the clue is actually at the periscopes to the left, where you can find one number in the bottom-left corner of each scope.
New Code:
258
Lighthouse Base
Code: 550 (232 - Empty sheet)
A lot of familiar sights here, but in the rubble to the left, you can also find a tab that says "THIS + 122".
New Code:
672
Sideways Chamber
Code: 411 (580 - Very long wait after video)
This room has two panels and one theory, if you poke around the weird structure enough (when you climb the ladder that actually goes "up", you can go left from there).
New Codes:
317
553
Bells Room
Code: 404 (006 - Panel in bottom left corner of one of the 4D-rooms)
This room contains several bells, along with a theory regarding them. Make sure to hit all the bells (except, unless temporarily for fun, the one above your teleporter) to unlock something in a later room. You'll also notice a broken bell. With our leads exhausted, our best hope is to take that as one last code - X being "10".
New Code:
010
Nazca Room
Code: 258 (712 - Periscopes (bottom-left))
A theory, along with another code can be found here. The code is out of the way, go left twice and find the small hole in the ground, then check the inscription aside the carving.
New Code:
947
Collapsed Reality
Code: 672 (Result of equation "THIS + 122" for room 550)
A doc here suggests the Submachine is meaningless, and thus it appears to have fallen apart right on Mateuz' drawing board. There is a panel here ("1227 - THIS"), along with the last beige light (7).
New Code:
555
Transport Dock
Code: 317 (411 - Panel)
The codes here are all in the string of photos found at the bottom of the ladder.
New Codes:
806
461
The Root
Code: 553 (441 - Panel; 1 removed from Submachine 5 legacy code, intentionally as it is a different section)
Confusing. Nevertheless, this offers several opportunities for advancement. Let's poke around. There's a theory upstairs, a panel that reads "THIS + 439" and a third "lights number", this one another straight line with an 8 on the left. But wait! The panel around this light is beige, not gray, and while that does match the paint in here, you will later find that this is a new set of lights entirely. Make a note. Well, we know what to do with a "THIS +" equations, now don't we!
New Code:
992
Generator Chamber
Code: 010 (404 - Probable meaning of the "X" platform)
For some reason, you begin this room away from your teleporter. Move the can nearby to uncover a new lit panel with a number (6, this time with the centre light active). You'll also discover a theory on the right.
The Basement
Code: 947 (258 - alongside lower-floor carving)
If you poke around here enough, you'll eventually find a repair bot's report on the damage you did here earlier. It includes a new code, and another on a panel.
New Codes:
923
777
The Loop
Code: 555 (672 - Panel)
The Loop is no longer fatal, don't worry. It features a "theory", but look carefully. The sign-ee is a familiar name you may recognize from previous Submachines - Raxas' guide suggests it was fabricated by Mateuz. You might want to check this one out.
Cliffside
Code: 806 (317 - Photo third from bottom)
The cliff from Submachine 1, except the transporter is working. Is this set in the past? The last of the horizontal lights can be found here, this one (the right) being 6.
Lighthouse Sewers
Code: 461 (317 - Photo at bottom)
Oh great, this place again. If you can find the red room, you'll find another set of triangle lights, this one with an 8 in the bottom right. You can also find a 9 with three horizontal lights set in a random tube. Don't get lost.
The Ruins
Code: 992 (Derived from equation THIS + 439 in regards to room 553)
Lots to see here, not much to find, except a panel that says "KI = DI - GI". See "The Final Equation" for details.
Padded Cells
Code: 923 (947 - report)
If you poke around this FLF environment enough, you'll find a third triangular light (top, 3) and will discover you can only get back to the teleporter if you head left, not right.
Bunker
Code: 777 (947 - Panel)
If you head right, you'll find a panel informing you that "RI = CCCLII" or 352. There is also a photo with some scratched lettering on it, but no one seems to be able to make out anything distinct.
All right, that's it. Puzzle solving time.
First Equation
Derived from equation THIS + FI in regards to room 100, where FI is 342 from room 304, you get 442.
Deep Pit
Code: 442 (First Equation)
This room has a new code, but it is very hard to see at first. Climb all the way up the ladder, then look closely at the artifact for roman numerals, especialy with your mouse in hopes of finding mouse-overs. Here's a hint: it's near the bottom of the screen, on the side facing the rope, but near the edge.
New Code:
103
Ruins Entrance
Code: 103 (442 - Hidden on the artefact)
This room contains an secret regarding Submachine Zero... If you look closely on the catwalk near the teleporter, you'll also see that DI = XXXIV, aka 34.
Second Equation
Derived from equation THIS + TI in regards to room 580, where TI is equal to 322 from room 185. That makes 902.
Defence Network Roof
Code: 902 (Second Equation)
You will find another viewer here, similar to one of the previous rooms. It shows a video after a few seconds of static, somewhat recapping Submachine 1's special edition, also known as the less famous version (where you choose to continue exploring, rather than escaping, as is the only option in the original Submachine). At least, that's my reading. After another pause, you'll get a new code.
New Code:
241
Ancient Zone Searchlights
Code: 241 (902 - End of video)
A theory can be found here, along with a new panel hidden on the side of the searchlight that indicates "NI - THIS".
The Triangle Lights
Reading the triangle lights top (923), left (628), right (461), we get our next code: 378.
Obelisk
Code: 378 (Triangle lights)
If you poke around the dark patches at the bottom of this impressive structure, you'll find another theory and another panel, this one detailing that "B1 = 5 / B2 = 7".
The Gray Lights
There are several sets of horizontal lights so far, but the gray lights form a new code: 966.
Altar Rooms
Code: 966 (From the number lights at 461, 010 and 806, respectively)
This room contains a panel ("NI = 842") and another that says "A1 = 8 / A2 = 4".
Third Equation
By combining NI (842) from the Altar Rooms and the equation from The Ancient Zone Searchlights (241), you get NI - 241 = 601.
Submachine Zero Ruins
Code: 601 (Second Equation)
There's a new beige light here, the second number, 3. Beyond that, the only thing here is a theory doc.
The Beige Lights
The beige lights form a code: 837.
Radio Bunker
Code: 837 (Beige Lights)
This room is playing a number of apparently real radio stations (or recordings thereof) and contains a panel reading "C1 = 9 / C2 = 2".
The ABC Code
If you take the A1 = X / A2 = Y codes and put them together, such that your numbers are formed from A1-B1-C1 and A2-B2-C2, you get two new codes: 859 and 472.
The Archives
Code: 859 (ABC Code 1)
There are a lot of, well... "things" in this room, including a book that contains all the messages displayed in the Submachine series, even the hidden ones from 6. You can also find a panel that reads "GI = XCV" (95).
Lounge
Code: 472 (ABC Code 2)
This room features a panel that explains that says "RI + KI". It also has a radio, that according to Raxas, plays either a real radio station or clips from it.
The Final Equation
All right. The code in the Lounge tells us RI + KI. We know from room 777 (Bunker) that RI is 352, and from room 992 (The Ruins) that KI is DI - GI. DI is found at room 103 (Ruins Entrance) and is equal to 34, while GI is found in room 859 (The Archives) as 95. 34-95 = -61, -61 + 352 = 291. Let's give it a whirl...
The Sanctuary
Code: 291 (The Final Equation)
Head to the left. You can search this one yourself...
Reference - Collected Unknowns:
DI = 34 (103 - Panel on side of catwalk)
FI = 342 (304 - Panel)
GI = 95 (859 - Panel)
KI = DI - GI (992 - Panel) [34 - 95 = -61]
NI = 842 (966 - Panel in leftmost room)
RI = 352 (777 - Panel)
TI = 322 (185 - Panel (obscured))
A1 = 8 (966)
A2 = 4 (966)
B1 = 5 (378)
B2 = 7 (378)
C1 = 9 (837)
C2 = 2 (837)
Reference - Legacy Codes
These codes are left-over from Submachine 4 and 5. Only some of the old codes work, listed below.
The Lab
Code: 001 (Legacy code from Submachine 4)
Yup, it's the lab again. If you ring the bell here and, apparently, have also rang the bells at 404, you will open the gate to the right, which leads through a few rooms but is otherwise a dead end. Shoot!
Dome Room
Code: 043 (Legacy code from Submachine 4)
Hm, this room just contains another bell! Might as well hit it in case it opens something like the gate from 001. Let's move on.
Ancient Zone
Code: 104 (Legacy code from Submachine 4)
Empty! I guess they can't all be winners.
Tomb Trap
Code: 770 (Legacy code from Submachine 4)
Still empty here, though the old code is still hanging around. Good old thing. Useless, but good old.
Passageway
Code: 747 (Legacy code from Submachine 5)
Very strange. This room actually has a key you collect and use on the door to the left... but as far as anyone can tell, there's nothing there! Perhaps we're missing something...
Reference - Jumping Randomly
There are three other rooms not connected to the others, either forwards or backwards.
314 - Pi Room
666 - Hell
815 - The "Lost" crash site.
Posted by: Black Drazon | June 10, 2010 10:12 PM
This covers Mateuz's June 19th edit. It covers only the new content, which does not interfere with the flow of the original walkthrough...
Exploration
The gist of this update is that it ties in what I originally called "Legacy Rooms" into the subnet proper. There are also a few new legacy rooms. One of them can be found in the starting computer list, so let's go there first.
Lighthouse Dugouts, B
Code: 551 (Computer List, also found in 462)
You remember this room. The code to the other half of the chamber, which also hasn't changed, can be found on the left (THIS - 89). Another code, can be found attached to the theory.
New Codes:
462
747
Lighthouse Dugouts, A
Code: 462 (Result of equation "THIS - 89 in regards to room 551)
Uh... whoops. Understandably, there is not much to be found here, but a panel seems to have kept a steady grip. Unfortunately, it only points back to the other half of this room, above. Thankfully, a new code can be found on the left, if you hover over the block in the background. It does not seem to be otherwise readable.
New Codes:
104
Passageway
Code: 747 (551 - Theory)
If you've been reading the walkthroughs, you know this infamous room, which has an infinite hallway you can unlock with a key. The code is not actually there, though. Rather, the code can be found by mousing over the arrows just to the right of the teleporter, in letter form (where A=1, B=2, etc). There is no real explanation for how you find these letters, it's not really a good clue.
New Codes:
452
728
Ancient Zone
Code: 104 (462 - mouse over glyph)
A fair amount of new content has been added here in the update, including a bell with the number II on it and a panel far to the top-right of one of the screens. The codes below are listed in reverse just to speed the walkthrough up a bit.
New Codes:
800
002
Statue
Code: 452 (747 - right arrows)
The ending of Submachine 4, now with a panel stuck to the statue reading "DCCLXX", or...
New Codes:
770
Bonus Room
Code: 728 (747 - left arrows)
Submachine 4's Bonus Room. Here you can find updated versions of the pictures from the original bonus, along with new and old info. The old is a collection of Submachine 2 notes about Einstein, the long-forgotten cat, and the second is a code, EEB. Going with the A=1/B=2 code, that's...
New Codes:
552
The Ship
Code: 800 (104 - panel)
New information can be found in the ladder's former pipe, reading "WX=23 / WY=688"
Pit
Code: 002 (104 - bell platform)
This simple room contains a panel that reads "THIS + WY". We know WY from room 800, leading us to...
New Codes:
690
Tomb Trap
Code: 770 (452 - panel)
The Tomb Trap hasn't changed at all from Submachine 4, which is to say, it still contains the code for the Dome room in the shapes on the wall.
New Codes:
043
The Root
Code: 552 (728 - letter panel)
The Root has changed considerably, but the code you want is on a panel near the front, which reads "THIS - WX". We have WX thanks to room 800.
New Codes:
529
Looping Trap
Code: 690 (Result of equation "THIS + WY" in regards to Room 002)
This room from Submachine 4 contains the third green light, reading six, and a theory
Dome Room
Code: 043 (770 - shapes on wall, exactly like Sub4)
A bell is here, not that there's any sign what these new bells do, if anything, and the second green light: a leading 5.
Basement Section
Code: 529 (Result of equation "THIS - WX" in regards to Room 552)
This room from Submachine 4 has the last of the green lights, a 9 in the middle position.
The Green Lights
The green lights, like the ones before, combine to form a new code, or rather, a new legacy code.
Submachine 4 Final Room
Code: 596 (Green Lights)
This room contains a theory, the old exit switch (inoperable) and a new code in place of where it originally wrote its own.
New Codes:
001
The Lab
Code: 001 (596 - on wall)
This room hasn't changed from my original walkthrough, down to the bell to the left that opens the gate, although it's possible the new bells (along with the ones from 404, from the original release) factor in to whether or not the gate can open. There is still no way down the pipe here. As things stand, this a very curious end of the line.
Posted by: Black Drazon | July 14, 2010 6:15 PM
I figured I could convert my own notes into a walkthrough for the new rooms; it happened to be the most productive use of a free period I could think of! (I'm using the room names assigned by the good people who upkeep the Submachine Wiki rather than ones of my own fabrication)
Exploration:
A new co-ordinate has been added to the computer list, so that should be your first port of call:
The Ouroboros Tunnel
051 - (000 Computer List)
The theory in this room contains quite a few co-ordinates, but they're all ones that can be accessed from other rooms. The two new codes are at the far left of the location, deduced from the symbol on the wall.
The Twins Room
523 - (the left hand side of the symbol in 051)
Here's a first for the Subnet; an inventory based puzzle! It's not particularly tricky, but it gives you access to a whole bunch of theories. The code in this room can be found by examining the statues; more specifically, their feet...
The Looping Sphere
917 - (the right hand side of the sybmol in 051)
This loop is somewhat more confusing than most of the others you'll encounter. In order to power up the screen and read the theory in this room, you'll have to work with wisdom gems, either by removing the one powering the portal and using it to boot up the monitor or (recommended) stealing another from another location in the Subnet and using it here. Either way, if you don't read the theory, you won't spot the clue to a new co-ordinate at the bottom of it...
The Broadcasting Center
277 - (count the strokes on the bases of the statues in 523)
This is a very impressive location (I do recommend looking out of the windows) and, although it doesn't clue to anywhere new (the theory notes two locations that are accessible through other means), you will want to grab that key...
The Clockwork Room (area 2)
011 - (use "smartguy-4989" at the bottom of the theory in 917; 5000-4989=011)
As much as I'd like to argue that the pins on the noteboards correspond to location codes (some of them do, honest!), the room on the right at the end of the corridor contains the only two proper clues, one old, one new...
The Defense Network (area 2)
128 - (add up the numbers on the panel in 011)
The only clue in here can be found on the panels surrounding the main monitor displaying this location's theory.
The Broken Clock Room
987 - (follow the directions on the screens in 128 - from "start right", go to the screen on the right and so on)
This is easily my new favourite room in the Subnet, but still. The clue here is "Protocol Accordant Retreat = THIS - QI"; make a note of it, since we'll find out what QI is in a minute...
Further Exploration
The Laboratory Key
With the key found in 277, you can open the door in 001 (known from Sub4 to be "The Lab"). Here you will find a device linked up to an unpowered screen; to proceed, you'll have to power up that monitor...
The Void
613 - (power up the monitor in 001 using a wisdom gem)
The clue here is at the very, very bottom of the ladder...
The Ziggurat (area 2)
157 - (found on the note at the bottom of the ladder in 613)
There is a plaque here like the ones scattered elsewhere in the Subnet, blending in against the wall.
The QI Equation
The clue "QI = THIS + 475" in 157 gives the value of QI, which can then be used with the hint in 987 to produce the final co-ordinate:
Murtaugh's Room
355 - (the plaque in 157 puts the value of QI as 632, so the clue in 987 becomes 987-632=355)
This is the end of the new batch of rooms, although were you playing this properly there is a clue here to the final room of the game. I shall not say much more so as not to spoil it...
Posted by: Sruixan | September 23, 2010 12:29 PM