Obsidian/QA Guide
This guide describes the shortest path through Obsidian for QA purposes. This contains heavy spoilers, skips several optional puzzles, bypasses ways of finding solutions, and is generally not very fun, so only do this if you need to quickly progress through the game to test something.
Press space bar to skip transitions
You can press the space bar key to skip most point-to-point transition FMVs. This greatly reduces the amount of time needed to complete the game.
Forest Chapter
Turn right and go forward to start the opening credits sequence.
After the title, look down and go forward to continue the credits sequence and reach the campsite.
Turn left and go forward the tent.
Open the right sleeping bag, then open the journal.
Power on the journal and click Continue. While in the journal, you can click Back to go back to the previous page.
View the following journal entries (you don't need to play the videos, just open them)
Open all 3 videos.
Projects
Open the following:
Downloaded Speech Prep (First entry in left column) DREAM-spider (Second entry in left column) DREAM-red tape (Fifth entry in left column)
Turn off the journal, leave the tent, and turn left. You should hear Max scream. Go forward to start the Bureau chapter.
Bureau Chapter
Look down, click the elevator button. Go forward to the information desk.
English versions: Turn left, then go forward, then turn left again and go forward twice to reach the bookshelf area.
Non-English versions: Turn left, then go forward, turn right, go forward twice, turn left, and go forward-left to the bridge repair booth. Talk to the vidbot to get the document. Take the document, back away from the vidbot, turn left, and go forward 4 times to reach the bookshelf area.
Once in the bookshelf area, turn left, go forward, then forward-left to the ladder on the left side. Pan up, then go forward to climb the ladder. Go forward, turn right, and press the button to ride the elevator to the library.
Library (English version)
Turn right, then go forward once, then forward-right to the aisle with "STU-TRO"
Turn right and open the top-right cabinet, labeled "TOSS-TRAN"
Press the double-up button 4 times and the up button 5 times to locate the "TRADESMAN" document, and take the document.
Back out of the filing cabinet, turn right, then go forward-right, turn left, and go forward 3 times to reach the light carousel.
Library (Non-English versions)
Turn right and go forward 3 times to reach the light carousel.
Light Carousel to Cube Maze
Pull the lever right, then turn right twice and go forward twice to start the cube maze.
Cube Maze
Take your cards from the vidbot greeter. The way the cube maze works is you can enter any outer room, but must have cards to transfer into another room.
Assuming the maze is laid out as:
| 0 (Goal) | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 6 | 7 (Main Entrance) | 8 |
the fastest path is 1, 2, 5, 8, 5, 2, 1, 4, 3, 0.
Paths which would result in getting stuck include:
- Stuck from west room: 2 -> 5 -> 4 -> 7 -> 8 -> 5 -> 4 -> 3 -> 4
- Stuck from south room: 7 -> 4 -> 5 -> 2 -> 5 -> 4 -> 7 -> 4
There is no way to get stuck from room 5. There would be if the max card limit worked the way the scripts are set up by going 7, 4, 5, 4, which would cause a card overflow if you tried exiting through room 7, but doing that just gives you a fifth red card.
Anyway, once you reach room 0, talk to to the vidbot to stamp the document, then back away, turn left, and go forward to exit the maze.
Turn left, go forward twice, then forward-left, then turn right and go forward twice to return to the carousel. Pull the lever to the right twice, then turn right twice and go forward twice to enter the Immediate Action area.
Immediate Action
Go forward to approach the booth. Turn left, then go forward-left to the clock puzzle.
Turn the middle dial to the right 4 times, then the bottom dial to the left 3 times, and pull the lever to fix the clock.
Turn right, then go forward-right to return to the booth. Turn left, and talk to the vidbot to submit the document.
Turn right once and you'll be contacted by the rebel. Turn right again and go forward 3 times to return to the carousel.
Pull the lever to the left once, then turn right twice and go forward twice (ignoring the rebel) to reach the phone puzzle.
Phone Puzzle
Drag the red line on the left slider all the way to the bottom, the line on the middle slider to 1/4 way from the bottom, and the line on the right slider to 1/4 way from the bottom, then push the red button to enter the balancing rock room.
Drag the mountain downward so that it faces you, then turn around and go forward twice to enter the sky face.
Finale
Turn left, go forward, turn left, go forward, turn right, and go forward-left to approach the ladder base.
Turn right, pan up, go forward to climb the ladder.
Go forward-right, then forward to the information desk. Turn right, then go forward to step on the information vidbot. When it finishes yelling at you, go forward 3 times to start the Spider chapter.
Spider Chapter
Go forward twice, then turn left, and go forward-left to approach the pylon. (If you get an assert here, click Ignore).
Look up, then go forward twice to start the air puzzle.
Air Puzzle
Look down, then click the ball to enter the ball. Click the console in the center to start the air puzzle.
The goal of the air puzzle is to push the balls so that all 3 light squares except for the middle are filled. The simplest way to do this is to "rotate" the balls around the side clockwise, that is, use the outermost blowers to push a balls around the edge until you're ready to do otherwise.
First, push all of the balls to the edges and rotate them until all of the balls are in an "L" shape on the bottom edge and left edge.
Push 1 ball to the top-right, then push it down to the fourth row, then push it as far left as it will go. Then, push the left-most column up, and the bottom-most row left. Repeat this process 2 times so all 3 of the light spots on the fourth row are filled.
Push 1 ball to the top-right, then push it down to the second row.
Push the other ball in the second row as far right as it will go, then push the left column up once and the bottom row left.
Push the ball in the second row as far right as it will go, then push the left column up once. Repeat this process 1 time so all 3 light spots in the second row are filled.
Push the left row as far up as it will go, then push the top row as far right as it will go.
Push the right column down once to position a ball in the middle row. Push the middle row left twice.
Push the right column down once to position another ball in the middle row. Push the middle row left once.
Go backwards twice to return to the main puzzle area. Look up to look at the tornado.
Drag the gun and release it to fire a projectile. If the tornado is in a bad position, you can look away and look back to randomize its position until you get an easier one. Shoot the tornado to finish the puzzle, then turn around and go forward to enter the control room.
Look down and drag the card into the second slot on the panel.
Turn around and go forward 4 times, then forward-left once. Turn right, go forward once, then turn left, then go forward once to return to the front of the spider.
Turn left, go forward-right, then go forward-left to the left pylon. Look up, go forward twice, and wait for the cinematic to complete to start the metal puzzle.
Metal Puzzle
Go forward-right twice, then forward once, look left, then go forward once to enter the lab.
Drag the first red vial into the left container at the top, then the third yellow vial to the right container. (Note that there are currently 2 bugs with this: The click area of the vials is MUCh larger than it should be, so you may have to drag from the left of the vials to drag the correct one, and it may get stuck after pouring the vial. If the second bug happens, hit Esc to go to the menu and Esc again to leave it and it should fix itself.)
Press the button to react the components. Take the orange container, then look right twice and go forward to leave the lab. Go forward once, then turn right and put the container in the reactor. Turn left, go forward, turn right twice, press the button, and wait for the cinematic to complete.
Turn around and go forward-left, and then forward to return to the control room.
Look down and drag the card into the third slot.
Turn around and follow the steps from the end of the previous puzzle to return to the front of the spider.
Turn left, go forward-right, turn right, and go forward-right to approach the right pylon. Look up and go forward twice to start the fire puzzle.
Fire Puzzle
This is a timing puzzle and there is no simple way to do it. You have to click the sun to start a series of lightning bolts that must contact the spikes on the ground when the tree is touching them. Holding the mouse button down will pause the corresponding tree limb, allowing you to adjust their timing.
You probably want to solve them in order, i.e. get the second one timed until you can click the sun and have it hit both of the first 2 spikes, then adjust the third until it can hit 3 in a row, and so on until all 5 are solved.
Once all 5 are hit in the same activation, the tree will burn. Turn around and go forward to return to the control room.
Look down and drag the card into the fourth slot.
Turn around and follow the steps from the end of the previous puzzle to return to the front of the spider.
Turh right and go forward-left twice, then turn right twice, and go forward-right to approach the pylon. Look up and go forward twice to enter the oil puzzle.
Oil Puzzle
Go forward-right to approach the dowser. Set the coordinates to 038.1 and press the button to solidify the castle.
Back away from the dowser and go forward twice to go to the wave puzzle.
To solve the wave puzzle, you need to get the waves in sync. Moving your mouse over any wave will pause all of the waves, so the easiest way to complete the puzzle is to wait for a wave to overlap a seam in the grid and fix the seam, then line it up with other waves in the same row.
Once you're finished, the water cube will come out of the ground.
Turn right twice and go forward twice. Turn right twice and approach the dowser again. Enter the coordinates 133.5 and push the button.
Turn left twice and go forward to return to the control room.
Look down and drag the card into the first slot.
Control Room Connect-The-Dots
You need to connect the dots into a spider shape. Each dot only connects to 2 other dots so just click around. You can look down at the panel for the approximate shape.
Once the spider shape is completed, turn around and go forward 4 times to start the Inspiration chapter.
Inspiration Chapter
Turn left, go forward twice, and press the red button. Turn right twice and go forward-left to enter the plane. Go forward to enter the propulsion room.
Propulsion Puzzle
Go forward to look at the animation and then click it to modify it.
Move the frames to the positions shown in the image
Click outside of the frame to finish the puzzle. If it animates correctly (and you can hear the engine running) then back out, otherwise click the puzzle again and correct the animation. Once the engine is fixed, turn right twice and go forward, then forward-left to the pilot's seat.
Look down and click the key. Complete the takeoff sequence as instructed.
Click the middle planet to go to the Church of the Machine. Back out of the pilot seat and go forward to enter the church.
Church/Robot Puzzle
Turn right and forward-left twice, then forward once to enter the robot.
Using the 4 buttons in the upper-right, set the robot to the program:
Left, Forward, U-Turn, Forward, Right, Forward, Left, Left, Left, Right
Pull the lever on the bottom-right and wait for the robot to finish. Click outside of the screen to exit the robot.
Turn right twice, look down, and take the chip.
Turn right twice, go forward, turn left, go forward-right up the stairs, turn left, and go forward to return to the plane.
Turn right, and click the "INSERT" slot to place the chip.
Turn right and go forward-left to enter the pilot seat.
Look down, click the key, and follow the takeoff sequence instructions again.
Click the third planet to go to the Statue. Back out of the pilot seat and go forward to enter the statue.
Statue/Canvas Puzzle
Turn left and go forward to enter the gallery.
Go forward once, turn right, then go forward 4 times. Turn left and go forward twice to enter the painting room. Go forward-left to look at the printer.
Press the yellow button until the pieces are in a square shape.
Drag the piece at the bottom-center to the right so that it aligns against the right edge and the bottom of the image has two "normal-sized" squares.
Drag the "odd-shaped" piece at the right-center toward the middle so that the fat part of the piece overlaps the center, causing the image to form a normal-sized square in the lower-right.
Drag the upper-right piece down to the bottom-edge so that the image forms an "L"
Drag the lower-left piece right until it overlaps the bottom part, forming 2 normal-sized squares connected diagonally.
Drag the 2 triangles composing the top-left square on to the bottom-right square to remove it and clear the canvas.
Press the green button.
Pull the lever in the lower-left part of the screen to cast the painting to the frame.
Click the right part of the screen to back out to in front of the painting.
Turn right twice and go forward 4 times, then turn left and go forward twice. Turn right and go forward to enter the plane.
Turn right twice and go forward-left to enter the pilot seat. Pull the red lever and flip switch D1 to start the non-regulation flight puzzle.
Non-Regulation Flight Puzzle
Open the cover next to A3 and flip switch D2.
Open the cover next to B3 and flip switch D3.
Check the cover for C4. If clicking it reveals a red light, then open the cover next to C3, otherwise (i.e. the red light is at A4), open the cover next to A3. Flip switch D4.
Open the cover next to B3 and flip switch C4.
Open the cover next to A3 and flip switch B4 to start the Conductor chapter.
Conductor Chapter
Turn right and go forward twice to start the bridge puzzle.
Bridge Puzzle
Press the following combination on the keypad: Up x3, Left x7, Right x4, Up, Right x3, Down x2, Right. (Credit: http://www.gameboomers.com/wtcheats/pcOo/obsidian.htm#pathways)
Go forward.
Look down and drag the orange container out and drop it.
Turn right twice and go forward 4 times to activate the toggle puzzle.
Toggle Puzzle
There are 8 fake switches and 8 real switches. If you click a fake switch, all switches reset and the fake switches will visibly move to new positions. You need to click the 8 real switches in a row without hitting a fake switch.
Click the lever to play the ending cinematic.
Click the lever again for the good ending, or wait for the bad ending.
Obscure Test Cases
Obscure test cases from the 'The Obsidian Realm' fan site.
- INTRO
- Walk the reverse path from the camp after the credits?
- Visit the Obsidian structure before Max disappears?
- BUREAU REALM
- Ring the bell more than once?
- Go through the Red Door?
- Look up from the Atlas Statue info kiosk?
- Visit Sources more than once?
- Visit Bridge Repair more than once?
- Visit Reception more than once?
- Visit Bureau Hygiene more than once?
- Give different answers to Rebel Control?
- Grab the blue books when approaching the library?
- Go to th e broken ladder in the library?
- Give Max a "No" answer on the filing terminal?
- Play Guess an Animal more than once?
- Try twisting the lightbulb in the bureau too tightly?
- Witness the growing impatience of the Entry Card Vidbot?
- Talk to all the Vidbots in the cubicles?
- Try to enter the center cubical without having enough cards to leave?
- Complete the Cubical Maze without first acquiring the document?
- Talk to the Entry Card Vidbot after solving the Cubical Maze?
- Solve the Celestial Clock without having a stamped document, or one at all?
- Sit on a bench and wait a year? (Not advised)
- Try to leave the lightbulb area after being contacted by the rebel?
- Call all the different Faces with the phone?
- Climb the lattice on the right side of the Atlas Face?
- Look at the Vidbot who asks you what you're doing?
- SPIDER REALM
- Lift up the Spider's leg with the pulley?
- Talk to Max below the grate?
- Explore the North, South, East & West sections of the factory?
- Ride the gondola to the platform and play with the levers?
- Enter a balcony after its puzzle was completed?
- Complete the topographical map in the Oil Balcony's castle?
- BISMUTH REALM
- Looked up at the Frame when you were on top of the hand?
- Listen to the description of the empty and filled Frame at the Statue?
- Check out the concept art of the different realms in the Gallery?
- Press the yellow button and give Bismuth one of the pre-selected canvases?
- Examine Bismuth's book in the Church of the Machine?
- Explore behind the red curtains in the Church, or the hall of statues?
- Looked at all the frescos in the Piazza
- Visited the Piazza balcony and play the board game?
- FINAL REALM
- Leave Max's prison after he calls out to you?
- Visit Max at the Crossover Chip more than once?
- Listen to The Conductor rather than Max re: the switch?