The Silent Hill XXXXX XX XX XXXXXX XXXXXX XX XXXXXX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XXXX XXXXX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX XXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX XXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXX XXXX Version 1.6 XXX (C) Wong Chung Bang (David Newton) Written 25/04/2002 wongchungbang@hotmail.com ------------ Introduction ------------ There are too many Silent Hill FAQs already, so I decided to dedicate one solely to the puzzles that people on the message boards were having problems with. There are no spoilers about the game plot in the FAQ - just full solutions and extensive explanations of the puzzles and their locations. For each puzzle, first a clue to how the puzzle is solved is given. Then, a larger, more obvious clue is provided. Finally, the full solution is given for those who are hopelessly stuck. --------------- Version History --------------- v1.6 - Added a few more minor puzzles: Drain, Valves, Vines, Paintings. v1.1 - 25/04/02 - Two small but major changes. 1) Fourth picture in Zodiac is Aries, not Taurus. 2) Order of names in Grim Reaper's List corrected. v1.0 - 23/04/02 - Original version. ----------- Puzzle List ----------- This version of the FAQ covers the following puzzles: The Piano ('Birds Without a Voice') The Key in the Drain The Valves The Plates The Vines The Zodiac Puzzle The Grim Reaper's List The Paintings --------- Solutions --------- 1. The Piano ------------ Location: The School --- Clue 1: You don't have to be able to read music to complete this puzzle, but the poem on the wall has something to do with it. --- Clue 2: Each verse of the poem corresponds to a note you must press. Take note of the poem's title, and also the colours of the birds in the poem. --- Full Solution: You can only press a few keys on the piano, and some of them are broken (they make a 'click' sound rather than a tone). If you read the poem's title, "A tale of birds _without a voice_", then you can tell that it refers to the broken keys. They are C#, D, G, A, and A#. If you can't read music, here's a diagram. The broken keys are bracketed. (C#)D# F# G# (A#) ________________________ | |X| |X| | |X| |X| |X| | | |X| |X| | |X| |X| |X| | | |X| |X| | |X| |X| |X| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |__|___|__|__|___|___|__| C (D) E F (G) (A) B The # symbol is pronounced 'Sharp', if you're interested. And, musicians, I know that A# should really be 'B flat' but the computer doesn't have a 'flat' key. What were they thinking of? Anyway, all the verses describe birds that are either black or white. Keys on a piano are also black or white, so the colour of the bird in each verse corresponds to that colour of key. Here is the full poem. --- "A Tale of Birds Without A Voice" First flew the greedy pelican, Eager for the reward, White wings flailing. Then came a silent Dove, Flying beyond the pelican, As far as he could. A Raven flies in, Flying higher than the dove, Just to show he can. A Swan glides in, To find a peaceful spot, Next to another bird. Finally out comes a Crow, Coming quickly to a stop, Yawning and then napping. Who will show the way, Who will be the key, Who will lead to The silver reward? --- I'll take each verse one by one. The first verse (the Pelican) is a white key. 'White wings flailing' indicates that the Pelican did not get far. Therefore the first note is the furthest back white key, which is D. In the second verse, the Dove flies 'as far beyond the Pelican as he could'. This is the white key furthest away from the Pelican at D - this key is A. A Raven is flying above the Dove in the third verse. There is only one black key (in fact, only one key) above the Dove, and this is A#. The fouth verse describes a swan flying in 'next to another bird'. There's only one white broken key you haven't pressed yet, and it is G, which is next to the Dove at A. You only have one key left to press now - C#. The reason for this is that the crow (a black bird) came 'quickly to a stop'. C# is the furthest back broken key, and it is also black. The last verse, despite sounding good in my opinion, means nothing about the puzzle other than you get the Silver Medallion for solving it. So the order is: D, A, A#, G, C#. When you enter this, you'll get the silver medallion. --- 2. The Key in the Drain ----------------------- Location: Nightmare School --- Clue 1: You can't get the key from where it is. You have to wash it down and collect it somewhere else. The valve turns on the water. --- Clue 2: The water flows down the wrong drain at first. You have to use an item found elsewhere in the school to block the drain. --- Full Solution: There is a pink rubber ball in the store room. Use it on the drain to block it, then turn on the water to wash the key down the drain. Now go all the way down to the courtyard and take the key from the drainpipe in the northwest corner. It opens the North door of the northeast classroom on the second floor (even though it says "2NW" on the tag). --- 3. The Valves ------------- Location: Nightmare School --- Clue 1: Each valve moves the gates, but each one does something slightly different. --- Clue 2: You have to align the gates so that no bars are blocking your way. The right valve moves the right gate two spaces and the left gate one space, the left valve does the opposite. --- Full solution: From how the puzzle is laid out at the start, turn the right valve to the left twice, then the left valve to the right once. --- 4. The Plates ------------- Location: Nightmare Hospital --- Clue 1: Look at the list on the wall, and some items in your inventory. Notice a connection? --- Clue 2: The note on the wall shows a sequence. The plates in your inventory (if you don't already have them you can find them around the hospital) are used to form this sequence. --- Full Solution: You're given a list (the note on the wall beside the door). It reads: "Clouds flowing over a hill. Sky on a sunny day. Tangerines that are bitter. Lucky four-leaf-clover. Violets in the garden. Dandelions along a path. Unavoidable sleeping time. Liquid flowing from a slashed wrist." Each of these clues refers to a colour - the order is... White, Blue, Orange, Green, Purple, Yellow, Black, Red. If you now look at the door, you can see that four colours are already inserted - clockwise from the top: white, orange, purple and black. This is every second colour in the sequence. You have to insert the four plates you picked up around the hospital in the correct places to form the sequence mentioned above, reading clockwise. The characters on the plates have nothing to do with the puzzle. Therefore, the order is: White Red | Blue Black-------Orange Yellow | Green Purple Once you have entered the plates correctly the door will click and you will be able to open it. --- 5. The Vines ------------ Location: Nightmare Hospital --- Clue 1: You need two objects from around the hospital to pass the vines. --- Clue 2: You have to burn the vines by covering them in something flammable, then setting light to them. --- Full Solution: To get past the vines, use the flammable liquid (isopropyl), then the lighter on the vines. Both can be found around the nightmare hospital. --- 6. The Zodiac Puzzle -------------------- Location: Nowhere --- Clue 1: If you thought it had something to do with months, you're wrong. The number corresponds to the picture, not the star sign associated with the picture. --- Clue 2: Look closely at the picture. What link is there between the number and the picture? --- Full solution: You are given four examples, and you have to follow the pattern and put in the correct numbers for three more pictures. The examples you are given are: Aries: 4 Cancer: 10 Libra: 2 Pisces: 0 There is a connection between the number and the picture. The most obvious way to think of it is: What does Cancer the crab have ten of that Pisces the fish has none of? The answer, of course, is limbs. Cancer has ten limbs, Pisces has no arms or legs, Libra has two 'branches' that could be considered limbs (this confuses most people), and Aries has four legs. Now it should be relatively simple to work out that Saggitarius the centaur has six limbs, Taurus the bull has four, and Gemini the twins have eight limbs between them. Enter, from left to right, 6-4-8 on the panels to receive the Stone of Time. --- 7. The Grim Reaper's List ------------------------- Location: Nowhere --- Clue 1: The poem on the slate is indicating how to open the keypad coded door at the other end of the corridor. --- Clue 2: Remember the list of names has to be 'lined up in order of age'. --- The poem on the slate reads as follows. --- Names engraved on a lithograph. The Grim Reaper's List. Yes, the headcount is set Young and old lined up In order of age. Then, the pathway opens Awaiting them, the frenzied Uproar, the feast of death! --- Now go around to the door and look at the Grim Reaper's List itself, which reads: 35 Lydia Findly 60 Trevor F. White 18 Albert Lords 45 Roberta T. Morgan 38 Edward C. Briggs The numbers at the left hand side are the ages of the people on the list. If 'lined up in order of age' as in the poem, you get the list: Albert Lords Lydia Findly Edward C. Briggs Roberta T. Morgan Trevor F. White It's obvious that the word ALERT is spelled out by the first initials of the people on the list. Key this into the nightmarish keypad next to the door (and you have to be really good at making survival horror to make a keypad look even remotely frightening) and the door will unlock. --- 7. The Paintings ---------------- Location: Nowhere --- Clue 1: You can't do anything with the paintings when you find them, but using an item will reveal something. --- Clue 2: Look at the titles of the paintings. You can use an item on the pictures connected with what both titles have in common. --- Full Solution: Use the camera on both of the paintings. The flash will reveal hidden symbols on them. These symbols match the patterns that you have to enter into the doors to progress. --- ------------- Closing Words ------------- Send any comments, suggestions or further questions to wongchungbang@hotmail.com