flanerie.org

Hey, sailing isn't as difficult as it looks.

More soon if I survive the RETURN TO WORK.

This is Bailey. He lives over the road and comes to our garden for his breakfast.

Sailing was great fun, although I don't think I am ready for cold weather sailing - that's a nutters' game.

We are still very much beginners, but of all the novices on our holiday, we were the only ones to go out in asymmetrics from day 1 - everyone else was messing around in training dinghies.

We even progressed as far as spinnakers, although for my part only accompanied by sheer terror. It simply makes no sense to have that much sail atop a tiny boat.

It was not until our final day that we capsized and only then because of a moment of gross negligence by Sally at the helm.

Verity had a great time in the kids' club, gaining a bunch of confidence the swimming pool and even going on a speedboat. She wants us to live in Greece all the time, so I had to give her a little speech about how work pays for holidays.

Today I fly to India on a tour of showrooms and factories. The schedule is gruelling but it should be an interesting cultural experience.

I will be based in New Delhi, but will visit Jodhpur with two overnight train journeys, and also Jaipur. The only time I ever hear Indian trains mentioned is when one crashes and the news reader reports, with a slightly raised eyebrow, that 50 passengers that were in the carriages were killed, plus a further 300 who were riding on the roof!

We did manages to squeeze one day off into the schedule, which will be in Delhi.

I am flying on Swiss via Zurich, which will be useful as I have a theory that CERN caused a very large piece of Switzerland to disappear last week but the media is subject to a news blackout. Short of waiting for Toblerone to disappear from the supermarket shelves, a fly-by is the only way of checking.

Back on the 23rd.

Welcome to my walkthrough for Submachine 5: The Root

A link to the game, and a bunch of similar games, along with plenty of walkthroughs can be found at http://flanerie.org/games

If you find my walkthrough useful, please go to http://flanerie.org/games and click on a few of my ads by way of thanks. Thanks.

---

This walkthrough is deliberately wordy so that you can find the answer to the bit you are stuck on without accidentally seeing further ahead. It is also presented fairly sequentially.

To start the game, spin the valve wheel, then spin the two valve wheels, then spin all four valve wheels.

Dorm
You find yourself in the dorm. On the floor is a piece of paper. Click it to add it to your inventory. To the left is a hatch. Left again is the bathroom. To open the hatch click on the two handles left and right, then click on the central lock. Head down it.

Tip: there is nothing else on the dorm level.

The Lab
You are now in the Lab.

Go right to find a door marked portal. The button opens the door, but don't bother with it yet. Instead walk left to find a computer. Press on the button on the computer to switch it on and you will see three items on the screen. Click on each in turn. Notice that the paper and pencil automatically update themselves as you read them. Other useful notes will be added as you progress through the game.

The two notes tell you that you need to collect three wisdom gems to activate the machine at portal location 747. You are also told to go to the root at 552. Finally you are shown what a wisdom gem looks like, although you should recognise this from earlier submachine instalment

Tip: the object is this instalment is to find the 3 wisdom gems and activate the machine. All of the action takes place at portal location 552. If you are stuck at 552, try again. And again.

Portal
Go right twice, through the door marked portal, and right again to find a hatch in the floor. Open it in the same was as the Dorm hatch and head on down.

At the bottom walk right to find a portal. The location, the Lab, has code 001. The Corridor has code 747 and the Root is 552. Head over to the Corridor to check out the end point of the game - some kind of machine with slots on the wall for 3 wisdom gems.

Once you have played around there, it is time to go to the Root, portal code 552.

The Root
From the portal there is a footbridge to the right. There is also a room down - click just to the left of the portal machine. At the bottom you will find a secret, one of five in the game

Tip: the other objective in the game is to find the five secrets

Back to the portal and head right three times to find a hole in the wall. Enter the hole and continue right in the tunnel. Where the tunnel moves from rock to brick you will find a lead casting. Pick it up, then head right again.

You find some electrical equipment and a panel on the wall. Go right again and you find a ladder down, but going down stops abruptly due to a lack of light. If you trace the wires back it is clear that the electrical panel is the key to further progress. If you are stuck here, keep searching for the answer.

If you are still stuck, there are two broken machines on the floor. The left hand one has a black lead going into it. Where it connects to the machine is a plug which can be removed by clicking on clips left and right. It is tricky to see but look closely and you will be able to remove the plug. Click on the panel to expose some connectors, then click on the plug to connect it to the wall panel.

The way ahead is now illuminated.

At the foot of the ladder is very little. Walk to the right to find an electical panel with a button in the centre. Pressing it doesn't achieve anything yet. Go right again to find a ladder in the floor. Go down the ladder, then right to find a panel bolted onto the wall, with no way of opening it.

Head back up the ladder then right to find a coil holder (from earlier Submachine instalments) and a ladder up. Go up to find a small speaker on the wall. Click on the cover to remove it. I haven't yet figured out what else to do with this.

Go left to find a room with three boxes on the wall, one of them with a cover on. You can't open it, so back out and go left to find an observation room containing a panel with a screen and four buttons, and a chair.

Under the chair is a wrench. Pick it up.

The wrench opens the panel that was bolted to the wall, which was down the ladder in the floor. Go there and undo all four bolts, and you will find a rusty key.

That key opens the locked wall box and inside that you find Cipher Plate 1.

Tip: if you are stuck at this point, remember you have two unused items - the cipher plate and the lead casting - and you have two rooms with buttons that haven't done anything yet. It is the cipher plate that matters here.

Head back towards the start of the root, where there was an electrical box on the wall with a button in the centre. Insert cipher key one in the left-hand slot on top of the box. Press the button and you will jump to another room with a ladder down and the cipher box on the wall.

Go down the ladder and right to find a room with a chair and a coil holder. Right again to find a bath with C6H8O7 x H2O written on the side. Right again finds a bunch of hanging taps.

There is nothing to do here so go back to the cipher box. Take out the cipher plate and put it in the other slot and press the button.

Another jump and another ladder down. Go down to find a ladder down and a room off to the left. Go left to find cipher plate 2. Exit the room and head down the ladder to the bottom.

To the left is a small chamber. The metal plate to the left can be moved to reveal a small panel on the wall. The wrench will remove the bolts to reveal the second secret.

Go back right then right again to find a strange machine will a large wheel on it. You can turn the wheel if you like. The is nothing else here of note, but when you exit left, your paper and pencil will be updated with 'charger in (0,1)'

Tip: the cipher box has two slots and you have two cipher plates. At the moment you at cipher location (0,1) which means that nothing is in the left slot and cipher plate 1 is in the right slot. There are seven possible combinations of plates - you have already been to (0,0) which is where you started in the Root, (1,0) and (0,1). Go investigate the other four.

Now, head back to the cipher box and go to location (2,0)

Cipher (2,0)
The is an unlocked hatch in the floor which can be opened by clicking. Go down the hatch to find a grate and a panel with two buttons and a dial. The dial is pointing left and pressing the top button will make it move to the right. The bottom button will make it move left again.

Head back up and go left to find another hatch, and left to find a third. All have the buttons inside. At the third hatch there is a panel on the wall with a button a light on it, but you can't do anything with it yet.

You can activate all three hatches by pressing the top buttons, but nothing will happen. In hatch 2 you can pick up a coil.

Go left from hatch three to find a large vertical pipe with three covers on it. To the left of this is a brick wall.

With nothing else to do it is time for the next location.

Cipher (0,2)
Head down the ladder then go left. There is a black disk on the wall. Go left to find another one, and left again for a third. Finally, left again to find a large vertical pipe with a valve on it. Turn the valve.

If you activated all three panel in the three hatches at (2,0) then you will hear a hiss and a bang. If you didn't, go back to (2,0) ativate all three hatches using the top button then come back to (0,2) and spin the valve.

The loud back was the vertical pipe that was to the left of the three hatches to go there to investigate

Cipher (2,0)
The three covers on the large vertical pipe have been blown off. One of them has knocked a hole in the brick wall.

Go through the hole to find wisdom gem 2. Go left to find a staircase going up. Head up to find a room with an ornate chair. If you know the earlier Submachine games then you know there is a secret on the chair. If you don't, there is a secret on the chair. That is the third.

Go back down and through the brick wall and back to the cipher box. Go to the next location, which is (1,2)

Cipher (1,2)
There is a door in front of you. Go through it to find a wheel on the wall and a retort stand.

Go right to find another door. Through it is a room with an entrance to another room. There is an ornate thing on the floor. There are three small holes in the wall, left, centre and right in each is some kind of device.

Tip: the wheels turn the devices. Play around with them to figure which wheel turns which device. Also try to figure out what the correct position for each device is.

Back out of the room and go right to find another door. Go through it to find a wheel on the wall and nothing else. Go right to find yet another door. Go through to find a wheel and a chair. Go right to return to the cipher box.

So, three wheels and three holes in the wall. The correct combinations are: left hole is the wheel with the retort stand, centre hole is the wheel with the chair, right hole is the wheel with nothing else.

The correct position is so that the flower-like things touch, which for the three of them is pointing left for the left hole, pointing up for the centre and pointing up for the right.

Get them all in line to open the ornate object on the floor to find a metal box.

Now go to the last location.

Cipher (2,1)
Go right to find metal bars blocking progress to the right. Go up the ladder and go both left and right to find panels on the wall. Pressing the button on the panel makes the light switch from left to right, or vice versa. Get both lights on the right and you will hear some movement - the bars have shifted, opening the way to the right.

Go right, and again to find a ladder down. Go down to find your progress blocked by lack of light. Retrace your steps to get back to the cipher box - you will need to press the buttons again to move the bars.

Your paper and pencil will update to say 'missing lightbulb in (2,1)'

So look out for a lightbulb.

Tip: at this point we are looking for a lightbulb and we have a coil we haven't used yet. We also have a metal box that can't be opened and a lead casting that has not been used. Focus on the lightbulb first.

Search the cipher locations to find a lightbulb - there are plenty on the walls, but they are protected by wire. One of them isn't. It is at cipher (1,2).

Get the lightbulb and take it to (2,1) and place it on the wall. You can now proceed down. There is a tunnel to the left which leads to a chamber with hieroglyphics on the wall. You can make them light up, but only one in each column at a time. Looks like we need a code.

Time to work on the metal box.

Metal box
Return to the bath at (1,0). The sign on the bath is the chemical symbol for acid. Climb onto the bath and drop the metal box in.

It will dissolve to reveal a wisdom gem, but the bath is still full of acid. Use the wrench to open the outlet pipe. This will drain the bath, allowing you to pick up wisdom gem 1.

Now for the coil.

Coil action
There were coil holders at (0,0) and (1,0) but plugging in your coil won't have any effect - it needs charging. Check your notepaper - there is a charger at (0,1) so go there, insert the coil and turn the handle to charge it up. Three turns are reqired for a full charge.

Now go to (0,0) and insert the coil. Charge will flow into the holder and you now have to figure out what has changed.

It takes a bit of searching, but the answer it at (2,0) - the panel on the wall above hatch 3 now has a green light on it. Press the button to get secret 4.

Remove the coil from location (0,0) and plug it in at location (1,0). Again you have to figure out what has changed. This time the answer is at (0,2) - the black discs on the wall now have symbols on.

They will be different each time you play, but they are recognisable hieroglyphics like the ones at location (2,1).

Your paper and pencil will make a note of them for you, so head over to (2,1) and make use of them.

You need to light up the hieroglyphics on the wall in the same order they were shown no the black discs at (0,2)

If you do that correctly, then turn the screw at the bottom, a hole will open up in the floor.

Go down to find a chamber with a carved dog - familiar from earlier instalments. Use the lead casting to lift the large stones. You can take it out once a stone has risen and use it again.

You reveal a hole in the floor - go down to find wisdom gem 3.

Gems
You now have all 3 wisdom gems. Head back to the portal at (0,0) and dial up location 747 to get to the corridor.

Enter the machine to the right, insert the 3 wisdom gems on the wall, then pull the control knob to activate the machine.

You get the closing sequence of the game and then the chance to visit the secret location, where you can 'spend' your secrets in learning a little about it.

Roll on submachine 6!

If you found this walkthrough useful, please visit http://flanerie.org/games to click a few ads by way of thanks. Thanks.

Okay, I made it back.

Here is what I have been up to:

Sunday - flew London to Zurich and Zurich to Delhi. Landed around midnight and got to bed around 2am.

Monday - up at 8am, visited two rug suppliers and looked at around 500 rugs. I was rug-blind by the end of it. Pukka Indian cuisine for lunch and dinner, then the overnight sleeper train to Jodhpur, which takes around 11 hours. We were in first class, which means four people sharing a cabin, rather than 20. Indian rail first class bears no relation to airline first class.

Tuesday - arrived in Jodhpur, went to hotel to freshen up, quick breakfast then off to visit a factory. It was hot and dusty, but not as bad as Indonesian factories. Back to the hotel for a whole two hours of free time. The hotel is owned by the King of Rajisthan and is a very decent gaff. Then off to dinner at the palace, also owned by the King and the place that Liz Hurley got married. Tidy. Drank Indian red wine, which was highly quaffable.

Wednesday - visited another factory and spent all day there apart from lunch at a fancy hotel. Owned by the King, of course. Took the overnight train back to Delhi and had dinner in the carriage, provided by the wife of the factory owner. Home cooking is a big thing in India and is generally preferable to restaurant food. Walked the length of the train with one of my hosts to see how it changes as you move from first to second, then third and general. It is surprisingly unhorrific, with the lack of AC the only thing that makes 'general' unpleasant. According to the Foreign Office website, taking a train in India is a very stupid thing to do, but I think it's okay.

Thursday - arrived at 6am, and went to our host's house for a refresh and a home-cooked breakfast. Visited a doormat showroom, then a furniture factory. Had dinner at the best chinese restuarant in India. It was certainly good, but I have nothing to compare to.

Friday - visited three showrooms and had planned for the afternoon off but overran and didn't finish till 8pm. My colleague came down with the obligatory Delhi belly, so we skipped the hosted dinner and had simple fare at the hotel.

Saturday - visited Jaipur, departing at 6am. Supposed to be a 4 hour drive each way, but it was seven hours there and five hours back. Lost the will to live in the back of a people carrier. Saw wild monkeys and working elephants. And a factory and a showroom.

Sunday - visited a showroom and had three hours off in the afternoon, which we used to tour Delhi. Saw a few obligatory sights and went inside the lotus temple. Dinner at a western restaurant which poisoned me. Spent most of the night admiring my bathroom.

Monday - yet more bloody showrooms, then back to the hotel to pack and check out. Airport at 11pm, a night at 40,000ft and suddenly I am home, smacked up on Imodium.

What I have learned:
- driving in India is beyond prior imagination
- there are even more cows than you expect, but no cats
- real Indian food is a lot better than the ersatz curry we get in England
- eventually all rugs become one blurred image

When I was in Delhi my hosts talked about Uttar Pradesh as if it was bandit country. How bad could it be?

Then I noticed this article yesterday in El Reg:

The chief executive of Graziano Transmissioni India was yesterday beaten to death by a group of former workers when a meeting called to settle the dispute which led to their dismissal "turned sour", as the Guardian puts it.

Lalit Kishore Choudhary, 47, was attempting to resolve an extended industrial dispute at the car parts factory, in Uttar Pradesh state, which "led to the dismissal of hundreds of employees". However, when the parley got nasty, "the unemployed men began vandalising the machinery, turning on Choudhary when he tried to reason with them".

Company board member Ramesh Jain told the Hindustan Times: "Around 125 dismissed workers armed with iron rods barged into the factory and went on rampage. When Lalit tried to pacify them, they assaulted him with rods."

Police cuffed 63 former employees of Graziano in connection with Choudhary's murder, while a further 73 face charges of disturbing the peace. Dozens injured during the fracas were admitted to hospital.

Demonstrators, meanwhile, have blamed "outsiders" for the tragedy. One (presumably former) worker told the Hindustan Times: "We were demonstrating peacefully to get our jobs back. Outsiders may have assaulted the CEO leading to his death. Firing by the guards agitated workers and they clashed with the staff."

The silver case is mine, on the head of a porter at Jodhpur railway station. I reckon the two cases weighed forty kilos. They set off at quite a lick too, although I guess when your neck is being crushed, getting there in a hurry is probably wise.

[found at Waitrose]

This recipes would work equally with rhubarb or tart apricots.

Makes 10 portions and is for a 28x18cm baking tin. Scale the ingredients for other tin sizes.

Ingredients:
200g cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp caster sugar
4 medium eggs
175g unsalted butter
175g dark muscovado sugar
200g self raising flour
400g ripe plums, stoned and roughly chopped

Method:
Preheat oven 180C. Grease and line a 28x18cm shallow baking tin with baking parchment, making sure that the paper comes higher than the rim of the tin

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese until soft. Add the vanilla essence, caster sugar and one of the eggs, and beat using a hand blender under smooth.

In a separate bowl place the effs, butter, muscovado sugar and flour. Beat for about 2 minutes until creamy.

Spread half of the creamed flour mixture onto the base of the baking tin, the pour half the cream cheese mixture over it, spreading an uneven swirl through the base mixture. Scatter with half the plums. Spoon the remaining flour mixture on top, add the rest of the cream cheese mixture and scatter with the rest of the plums.

Bake for 45 minutes until risen and just firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin before cutting. Serve warm or cold, with ice cream.