Heath
Robinson Solutions:
William Heath
Robinson (1872-1944) was a London-born cartoonist and
illustrator, best known for his drawings of odd
contraptions. The children’s books The
Adventures of Uncle Lubin
(1902) and Bill the Minder (1912) -
both written and illustrated by him - were considered to
mark the starting point of his career as someone drawing
peculiar machines.
Appendix A:
This is for
those of you who wish to give the Expert’s Challenge a
go. Appendix A simply describes how to complete the
challenge and claim the Expert’s Platinum Medal.
Appendix A is added as a way of emphasizing that this
task is completely voluntary. Skipping the challenge
will not in any way affect the progress of the level.
Pickups:
Flares, Manna from Hexham, Manna from Heaven,
Gold Key, Demon Dollar,
crowbar, Tantalum Key,
Rancid Meat, Copper
Key, Blue Diamond,
Green Triangle, Red
Square, Yellow Star,
Thinking Cap
+ 1 Secret (the
Expert’s Platinum Medal)
Enemies:
None
Main
Objective: Obtaining
the four underworld shapes that will open the gate to
the Millinery store, in which you will find a thinking
cap for Demon Smalls.
A year or so
later we find Lara back in the familiar surroundings of
the Demon Heights museum. This place is quite large, so
for further reference we will be calling this hall
Art Gallery 1 (for lack of a better name).
Turn around (S) and just before the stairs
leading down have a quick peek into the right corridor.
What you’ll find here is the Millinery. With a
bit of luck we’ll find just what Demon Smalls needs
there. Four shapes are missing from the receptacles
flanking the closed gate and these are exactly what we
need in order to gain access to this unique little
store.
The area beyond
the portcullis at the end of the corridor is “closed
for refurbishment”, so until we find the required
underworld shapes there’s no reason for further
exploration in this area. Opposite of the Millinery
corridor there are some stairs leading down to another
room which is also closed off.
Hop across the
barrier and go down into the dark room where Demon
Smalls is pondering on what to do with this latest
invention. He won’t be of any help to you, so just climb
onto the wooden crate where he stands (the crate is
labelled “W. Heath Robinson Equipment”). Face the
pillar in the dark corner S/W and do a standing
jump up there to gather some
flares. You’ve done
all that needs to be done here for now, so return back
up the stairs to Art Gallery 1.
Go to the far
N end and at the junction turn right (Art
Gallery 2 is located to the left, but
we’ll get back to that later). Head up the
stairs and you’ll come to a room with an inactive water
pump and a couple of tourists enjoying the sights and
marvels of the museum. First of all go behind the block
to the left (the one with the connecting
pipes) and pick up the
Manna from Hexham (these are the
equivalent of small medipacks). In this room there’s
nothing else to do right here and now, so run up the
next flight of stairs.
On top you’ll
reach a new junction. Off to the left you’ll see an open
doorway and before that some platforms suspended by thin
poles with multi-coloured shapes swirling around them.
We have some other business to attend to, so for now
we’ll just ignore that and come back here later on.
Turn right and
enter the first room on the right-hand side. Here you’ll
encounter a demon immersed in an intensive study of
“Demon Today”. Seems he’s got quite a bit of time on his
hands and quite frankly there’s nothing really for you
to do in this room either. I just wanted you to take a
mental note of it. Leave and continue right; straight
ahead you’ll see a closed portcullis.
Go up the stairs
to the left and continue all the way to the top, from
there head out through the only possible exit. You’ll
eventually come out on a ledge. Left and down is the
hallway you came from (the far end of it that you
haven’t explored yet), there’s another ledge running
along the opposite wall and through the window on your
right you’ll barely get a glimpse of the Floating
Platforms Chamber (which I briefly mentioned
earlier).
Run to the far
end of the ledge. The ghoul painting is transparent and
apparently there’s a passage beyond it. Let that be the
hint you need and hop through the painting. Continue
along said passage, which ends abruptly with a hole in
the ground and a chain running through it. Run into the
hole, press Action to grab the chain and slide down into
the Weight Watchers Chamber.
Just so that I
have said it already: this is NOT a spa, so don’t
feel tempted to hop into any of the
lava-filled trenches
running along the walls. That’s not something you’d walk
out of alive, so consider yourself duly warned.
Now that we’re
here, let’s try to keep the required backtracking to a
minimum and have a look at the demon perched upon the
pedestal. The poor thing: having 16 tonnes stuck to his
head seems to be weighing him down a bit. Also there’s
the matter of that diamond receptacle on the left-hand
wall. It’s hardly a coincidence that the demon is
holding sticks with diamonds attached to the ends, but
how can we make him budge with that heavy weight on top
of his head?
Stand directly
in front of the demon, draw guns and fire to shatter the
weight. By this action the tile underneath the demon
pedestal rises and you’re free to push it up against the
receptacle on the wall, fitting the diamond perfectly
into the empty shape.
Turn around and
go through the now open portcullis, down the stairs
towards the lava pool.
Hop onto the window sill right, go to the end and grab
the Gold Key
and Manna from Hexham
from the pedestals. Return to the Weight Watchers
Chamber the same way you came.
We’re not done
here quite yet. As you might have noticed there are two
chains in the room: the one where you came down and
another one leading up through a second hole. Climb the
latter, backflip to the floor above and follow the
winding passage to a small room. The only other doorway
leads to what appears to be a dead end. So what exactly
are we doing here again?
Look at the two
statues by the W wall. What they have in common
is that they’re both lifting a bowl over their heads.
The difference is that a fire is burning cheerily in the
bowl held by the right statue, but not in the other one.
How does one light a fire without a flame?
The statue with
the burning bowl is standing on top of an ornate tile.
Do you see any similar tiles nearby? Good. It’s located
in the corner just left of the statue with the unlit
bowl. Now all you need to do is to move that statue onto
the ornate tile.
Once you’ve
solved that one you’ll hear a trapdoor opening somewhere
in a nearby location. Head out through the nearby exit
and do remember to turn left just as you pass the
doorway: there are some
flares for you to pick up on top of the
stairs (very easy to forget about those). That
done head down the stairs and at the end you’ll find an
open trapdoor (this is indeed the one that you just
opened, so not a dead end at all then).
Stand at the
edge and look down to spot a jump switch. Position Lara
directly across from the switch, hop back and run into
the hole while pressing Action. This should cause her to
grab the switch on her way down and a painting lowers to
reveal a secret alcove to the right. Climb into the
alcove and grab the
Demon Dollar.
You’re now
standing in Art Gallery 2 and just off to the
S/E you might be able to catch a glimpse of Art
Gallery 1 (so you’re not that far away from the
starting point). That’s in fact the exact direction
we’re headed now. Do not enter Art Gallery 1
though, just pass by it and head directly for the stairs
in the corner that will lead you back to the room with
the water pump.
Place the dollar
you found a little while ago in the slot underneath the
Anubis death mask hanging on the opposite wall. This
will get the water pump going. As you will also see from
the cutscene the unemployed demon from earlier goes back
to work, ultimately leading to the rising of a nearby
portcullis.
Time to see if
we can find said portcullis. Head up the stairs in the
corner, go right again on the next floor and pass by the
room with the demon you just saw in the previous
cutscene. At the far end (in the small room with the
stairs leading up) you’ll find the portcullis. Go
through there and of course the portcullis closes again
as you pass by, leaving you with no other options than
that of going forwards.
Forwards in this
case means towards a large pool filled with scorching
lava. The metal
bars going across to the other side does help a lot
though, with qualities resembling that of your average
zip-line. Put simply: stand at the edge of the
lava pool facing
the other side, press Action and off you go. It doesn’t
matter which pair you use and they also work both back
and forth. In addition you can use them as many times as
you like, but frankly it’s only necessary to do so this
once.
Cross through
the transparent ghoul painting in the top right corner
and follow the dark passage to the next room. The gate
closes behind her (this is becoming quite a habit by
now), meaning that there better be a way of opening
that gate you see in the far left end of the room. Pick
up the flares
and the crowbar
from the pedestals to the right.
Now focus your
attention on the demon on the pedestal. He holds one
diamond stick in each hand, but the receptacle seems to
be located on the wrong wall and you can’t turn him
around either. What to do?
The crowbar is
the solution. Use it to pry the Gem Holder off
the wall (yes, this is actually possible) and
pick it up. Bring it with you to the light grey section
of the S wall and insert it there (stand in
front of the wall and press Action twice). Now you
can push the demon on the pedestal up against the wall
so that diamond fits into the empty slot.
The gate in the
corner opens and Bob is your uncle. At the end of the
dark passage you’ll find yourself standing behind
another one of those transparent, ghoulish works of art
and you’re overlooking the room with the water pump.
There’s a
similar passage on the wall to your left, just at the
same height as well. A coincidence? I think not. To
reach it you have to do a carefully left-angled running
jump, just barely tapping Action to land gracefully
inside the alcove. There’s nothing here but a lever,
which happens to lower a painting over at the opposite
wall, revealing a gorgeous blue diamond.
What a tease-
there’s absolutely nothing you can do to reach that
tempting diamond from where you stand. Well, unless you
have found a magical spell that can make her fly.
Anyways, you’ll have no choice but to go about it the
hard way. Drop down to the floor and head up the stairs
like so many times before.
Still faithfully
ignoring the left section, head right and keep going
upstairs to the top (you’ll notice that the
portcullis at the end is open again, but this doesn’t
matter as there’s no need to go through there a second
time). Eventually you’ll reach the twin ledges above
the first floor.
This time around
jump across to the other ledge and go left, in the
corner you’ll find another dark passage. Follow it to
the end and near the bottom of the stairs you barely
spot the alcove with the transparent ghoul where you
were earlier. You now find Lara at the edge of another
opening overlooking the water pump room, seeing it from
the opposite side this time.
Turn left and
carefully do a standing jump to the ledge you see,
landing her just next to the column. About halfway down
the ledge there’s a jump switch on the wall, you might
have seen this already (it was barely shown in
the water pump cutscene, among other things).
Pulling it down lowers a second painting in Art
Gallery 2, which we’ll get back to in due
time.
Right now we
have far more important things to do, such as claiming
that beautiful blue diamond. Walk to the end of the
ledge and, standing directly next to the elevated tile
with the column, do a so-called semi-banana jump
(i.e. a long running jump with a sharp angle, in this
case to the left). If all goes well she should land
just inside the open alcove. Great job! You’re now free
to claim your prize: the
Blue Diamond
(which naturally happens to be the first out
of the four underworld shapes you’re looking for).
Drop down to the
floor and we’re done with all the business that needs
doing in (and in regards to) the water pump room.
You’ll still need to go upstairs again though. I did
tell you that you were done with the water pump business
and I meant every word of it: you’re also officially
done with the right wing of the first floor. What this
basically means is that this time around you’re going
left.
On the
right-hand side you’ll find the Floating Platforms
Chamber (creatively named after the four
semi-floating platforms taking up most of the space in
this room). There are two keyholes on the wall to
the right: one blue and one yellow. We already have one
key, but so far no luck on the other one.
Notice the
sloped floor leading down to the platforms. Everything
has a reason and this is no exception. Line Lara up
across from one of the platforms (doesn’t
matter which one), standing at the highest point of
the floor (just where it starts going downwards).
Do a running jump towards the nearest platform, pressing
Action in the very last moment to grab the edge of it.
Pull up and hop
across to the next platform. Walk to the edge and from
there on a simple standing jump should be enough to land
her on the N ledge. Go through the crawlspace,
finding a pedestal holding the
Tantalum Key on
the other side. Return outside, drop down to the floor
and make good use of your two keys. The painting high up
on the wall lowers, revealing a secret alcove with a
very useful pickup resting safely on a pedestal.
We need to get
up to that alcove and the first step on the road is
going back up to the floating platforms. Same procedure
as last time. However, instead of making your way over
to the ledge with the crawlspace turn around and
standjump with a grab to reach the nearby window sill.
This requires
another semi-banana jump, not quite as difficult as the
last time though. Position Lara as close to the open
alcove as possible and do a long running jump with a
sharp right angle (and a slight tap of Action).
Once there you can retrieve the second underworld shape:
the Green Triangle.
Stand at the
edge and look down onto the floating platforms. Position
Lara across from one of them, walk backwards twice and
do a standing leap into thin air. With some fortune and
good skills put to use she’ll land just onto a platform.
From there you can safely drop down to the floor, not a
slice of health lost.
Turn N/W
and head through the doorway to the next room. In here
you’ll find a spectre swirling between two mirrors. The
room itself doesn’t hold anything of greater interest so
just continue through the next doorway. Turn right and
go to the wall with the ghoul painting, passing a closed
portcullis on your right-hand side.
When you reach
the wall you’ll find not just one, but two paintings.
Look at the hands of the ghouls in the paintings- don’t
they just seem to form around something? Well, I thought
so and if you turn to look at the pillar opposite of the
two paintings you’ll find a jump switch. Pull it to hear
the sound of a portcullis rising very close to where you
stand- you’re free to explore the next area.
Of course the
portcullis slams down behind Lara the moment she enters
the room, so there’s no way but forwards from here on.
The portcullis behind you won’t rise again until you’re
done with a couple of trials, so we’ll focus on gaining
access to the area beyond the portcullis across the
room.
As you might
have figured out already the demon pedestals and
diamonds have everything to do with it. For each demon
you have two receptacles, but only one of those two
receptacles can be used and your task is to find the
right one. Get it right and the portcullis across the
room will rise. One single mistake and Lara won’t make
it out of this room alive.
NOTE:
Before getting started,
remember that you must not under any circumstance save
the game halfway through the puzzle. This is also
mentioned in the readme file added to the level folder.
Flanking the
portcullis you have two blue faces. Look at their eyes.
Now have a close look at the demons, or rather: their
eyes. They’re all looking towards either the left or the
right wall. The best way of seeing where each demon is
looking is to view them in profile (i.e. from the
side). Push the pedestal up against the wall that
the belonging demon is looking at. The pattern is as
follows (when standing at the
back of the room looking towards
the portcullis with the blue
faces):
1- left
2- right
3- right
4- left
Head through the
open portcullis and all you’re left facing is a
lava
pool running
around the corner. The chequered tiles in the
pool are of the
kind that will sink around half a second after you step
onto them, so apparently you’ll need to move quickly. To
add a bit of comfort I can say that it’s not all that
difficult, once you know where to start off and what
tiles to use.
Sideflip right
with a slight left angle and immediately standjump to
the next tile. From there run straight ahead and jump to
tile # 3. Upon landing run with a sharp left angle to
the edge and jump to the fourth tile (which is
right at the corner).
From the corner
tile hop to the tile diagonally across from you, making
sure to steer Lara a bit left in mid-air Quickly veer
left, go to the edge and leap with a quick tap of Ctrl
into the alcove in the wall ahead. Congratulations, you
made it!
Of course you
have to get back as well, but that’s a different story.
First of all grab the
Rancid Meat
from the pedestal and a camera shot shows a portcullis
rising in a familiar location.
Now for the
getting back part. Standjump to tile # 7 (the
last one you hit before
jumping into the alcove
earlier) and immediately standjump to the tile just
at the corner. Ideally you need to land approximately a
step away from the leftmost corner, which will most
easily allow you to do a standing jump to the next tile.
The moment Lara
lands run with a very sharp right angle and jump at the
end to land at the fourth tile. A running jump is too
long to reach the second-to-last tile, so a standing
jump will do. Finally runjump to the last tile and
immediately sideflip right to land on safe grounds.
Phew!
Save your game
and head back out to the room with the demons and
diamonds. There’s that portcullis you saw rising
earlier, you’re officially free to go.
Head back up the
stairs on the left, through the room with the spectre,
to the Floating Platforms Chamber.
Go right and up the sloped floor, turn right again and
you’ll see a doorway. That’s where we’re going next, so
head down the stairs and follow the whitish ramp to the
room at the bottom.
In this room
there’s a white demon and a red one, the latter has a
hook attached to his forehead and stands on what appears
to be a treadmill of sorts. Stand in front of him and
stick the rancid meat onto the hook. Apparently starved
the red demon starts running in a futile attempt of
reaching the meat and a painting lowers in a different
room, revealing an alcove with a tempting red glow to
it.
That’s in a room
we haven’t visited yet, but we’ll get back to that a
little later. There’s still one more thing that needs to
be done first. Go up the stairs S/W and you’re
back in Art Gallery 2. Turn right
and you’ll find the two hidden alcoves revealed by some
jump switches you pulled earlier. The rightmost alcove
contained (as you surely remember) the Demon
Dollar that you found before, but the left alcove still
remains unexplored. Up until now that is.
About halfway
down the passage look up to see some alcoves high on the
wall. You can’t reach these yet, so just be patient and
keep going forwards. Soon enough a fly-by camera is
triggered, giving you a good view of a large hall with
more of those sinkable chequered tiles littered around a
lava pool. And just when you thought you were done with
the hard stuff…..
Actually it’s
not really as difficult as it looks. It just takes a lot
of patience and a bit of precision, toppled with a dash
of good timing. First things first: there are three
tiles you need to focus on right now. Two of them are in
plain view, the third one around the far left corner.
Walk to the
edge, save the game and do a standing jump to land on
the first tile. Keep running, jump and roll in mid-air
to land Lara on the second tile facing the passage she
came from. Immediately sideflip right to the final tile
and once there keep jumping straight up and down while
pressing Action. This way the tile won’t sink and she
should eventually grab a ladder up on the wall above.
Climb around two
corners to the right and go all the way to the top.
Backflip to land on another tile- only that this time
the tile won’t sink. Quite the contrary in fact: it
rises, enabling Lara to turn around and do a long
running jump into a passage in the wall.
To her immediate
right there is a button and a sign on the wall saying
“Expert’s Challenge Only”, with an arrow pointing back
towards the lava hall. It will take you to the only
secret this level has to offer, but beware: it’s not
called an Expert’s Challenge for nothing. This is by far
the hardest task in the game (way worse
than the arduous task of
retrieving the rancid meat)
and not for the faint of heart. Consider yourself duly
warned.
For a full
description on how to complete the Expert’s Challenge
refer to Appendix A at the bottom
of this walkthrough and return to this part once
you’re done. The rest of the level follows below.
Follow the
passage around, hop across the gap with the chain and
claim the Copper
Key from the
pedestal. Climb the chain down to the ground and look
around. Remember the high alcoves I told you to notice
upon entering the lava hall? Well, now you’ve just been
up there and you’re once more back in the passage behind
the lowered painting in Art Gallery 2.
From Art
Gallery 2 go N/W and follow the
passage to a room with some paintings on the right wall
and a mirror suspended by a pole. We’ll be back here in
a little bit, so just leave the room and continue W.
In the next room you’ll find something called “Demonica
Divinorum Rays”, bound to “induce hypnosis in the
feeble-minded” (evidently so).
Continue to the
next room which contains a power generator of sorts.
First of all head into the alcove in the right wall to
retrieve the Red
Square. Only one
underworld shape to go. The power generator seems sadly
inactive, so go over to the N wall to find a
button. You can’t access the button due to the glass
case surrounding it, but you do have a key in your
inventory. Use that in the keyhole and voila: button
available for use.
Pressing the
button gets that generator going and somewhere in a
different room a ray of light is reflected off the
mirror to hit a demon’s eye in one of the paintings. A
second painting lowers to reveal the final underworld
shape.
Go back past the
hypnotized demon and through the doorway across the
room. From the hallway outside head left and left again
to reach the room you saw in the previous cutscene.
Climb into the centre alcove of the right wall and
collect the Yellow
Star.
Drop down to the
floor and have a look at the paintings again. Doesn’t
that painting at the bottom look oddly familiar? Press
the button at the back of the torchlight right of the
painting, a third ray of light shoots out and you can
pick up the Manna
from
Heaven from the
pedestal that was hidden behind the bottom painting.
That’s about all
we need to do here and now we have the four underworld
shapes as well. Leave the room, head S and go
back to Art Gallery 2. Continue S
to the far wall, go left and enter Art Gallery
1. Keep heading S and turn right into the
Millinery corridor. At long last you’re ready to
place the underworld shapes in their rightful places,
gaining you entrance to the Millinery.
Head down the
passage and just past the ghoul painting a load screen
pops up. Enter the next room and spend some time
marvelling at the beauty of the Millinery itself
and all the amusing items displayed in it (I
just love those little
demons cleaning the floor).
Go to the far
right side and through the open doorway. Head around the
wall ahead (doesn’t matter on which side)
and pick up the Thinking
Cap from the
pedestal. We’re not quite done yet though, so return the
way you came and have a last look at the Millinery
before leaving (halfway down the hall and through the
doorway on the left-hand side).
Head through the
hallway and you’re back where you started. Go straight
ahead and down the stairs to the construction site where
Demon Smalls is waiting. Stand behind him, go to the
inventory and select the Thinking Cap. Press Enter and
Lara hands the cap to him. You have successfully
completed the mission, so feel free to sit back and
enjoy the final cutscene.
APPENDIX A- THE
EXPERT’S CHALLENGE
If you choose to
go through with the challenge, do so at your own risk.
Push the button and a glass door opens out in the lava
hall. Do a running jump back to the tile you came from
and look around the right corner to find the door you
just opened.
Do a running
jump with a sharp right angle to land on the first
gilded slope, just past the door you opened.
If Lara lands on
the slope facing upwards: simply backflip twice to
bounce across the second slope and land on the third
one. Jump forwards from the third slope, angling her to
the right and pressing Action so that she’ll grab the
ladder on the wall.
If, on the other
hand, she lands on the first slope facing down towards
the lava: jump to the second slope and then towards the
third, but roll in mid-air before landing on the third
slope. From here jump with a right angle towards the
ladder as described above.
Position Lara as
far to the left as possible and three climbs down from
the top of the ladder. Backflip to land on a fourth
slope (you have to land on the slope
facing downwards), jump to a chequered tile,
then to the next one and jump with a sharp angle to land
Lara on yet another slope. Follow up with another jump
to a slope and with a left angle to the very last one.
From there backflip to a safe ledge.
You’re all but
done yet, but now the prize is within reach: the medal
you’re looking for is located on a pedestal to the far
right. Do a running jump to the white platform near the
left wall and you’re ready for the real challenge.
Reaching that
pedestal at the far end of the room looks so easy and
yet: if there’s any word that can be used to describe
the challenge that lies before you, “easy” would not
even come close to being one of them. If you’re getting
cold feet you can climb out of this through the passage
in the left wall. If not: well, all the best of luck.
Precision is the
key here, which explains why it’s so difficult. It’s
often a matter of luck as much as skill.
The first and
easiest part is to do a standing jump to the first
chequered tile and then a running jump to the second. Be
careful to avoid the
burner on your left-hand side. Sideflip left
to the third chequered tile. Now the going really gets
tough: you need to reach the slope to your left, but
there’s a burner
in front of it. You might have to apply a few of those
jumping-straight-up-and-down-moves while waiting for the
burner to
stop before sideflipping left to the slope.
Again there’s a
difference between landing face-down and face-up. If you
land facing upwards you simply need to backflip to land
on the chequered tile you just came from. If you land
facing downwards you’ll have to jump and then apply a
mid-air roll to land facing the slope you just bounced
off.
You need to
backflip again to land on chequered tile # 2, this so
that you’ll be able to jump back to tile # 3 with enough
room to do a running jump to tile # 4. Unfortunately
there’s a burner
in front of the latter as well, so this requires quite a
bit of timing and truckloads of luck.
Once you’ve
reached tile # 4 swerve right and jump to the final
slope. Jump forwards again and Lara should have landed
safely on the platform with the pedestal. If you’ve
reached this point you can give yourself a huge pat on
the back, save your game and pick up the
Expert’s
Platinum
Medal.
Ok, you have
successfully completed the challenge and claimed the
prize. Now what? Well, for starters you have to get back
to the white platform the same way you came. The comfort
is that it’s not nearly as difficult as what you’ve just
been through. The two burners that gave you such a hard
time before have both been deactivated.
Stand on the
left side of the pedestal facing the last slope you
jumped from. Do a running jump to the chequered tile in
the corner, veer left and jump to the slope behind the
inactive burner. Jump to land on the next chequered
tile, hop to the third one (angling Lara
slightly
right
in mid-air) and do a running jump to the
last chequered tile. Immediately standjump to the safe
platform.
You have
officially completed the Expert’s Challenge. Climb up
into the passage in the wall ahead, head up the long
flight of stairs and once you reach the top, drop down
into the passage below. At this point you should find
Lara back by the button that enabled you to access the
Expert’s Challenge. From here on you can just return to
the part of the walkthrough where you left off for the
challenge and continue from there.
