Generation Cures - make it better

Puzzle 4: THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE

Background Story

While traveling to the Caverns of Biyu, the hero learns that a friend and former classmate, Artemis, has fallen victim to the plague and is fighting for her life. It seems that with each step on the journey, the gravity of the epidemic strikes closer to home.

With increased concern, the hero arrives at the caverns and meets the skilled apothecary Juro who has developed numerous life-saving curatives by combining the herbs and fungi that grow within the ancient caves. Juro has made little headway in finding a cure for the plague. However, now that the hero has brought samples of the plague microbes, more testing can be done.

Juro demonstrates his Difference Engine, a machine that allows him to combine elements from the thousands of ingredients within the Caverns of Biyu to create new molecules designed to neutralize a disease microbe. Juro encourages the hero to try it, which leads to Puzzle 4, the Difference Engine, in which players manipulate shapes to create a new molecule targeted against the plague microbe.

Game Play

Using Juro's Difference Engine machine, players manipulate layers of molecule fragments until they match, and then fuse these fragments together to create whole molecules. The game has three levels; in each one, players must link four fragments together to make a complete molecule.

As each level begins, the screen shows a receptor molecule fragment on the right side of the screen. The fragment is divided into layers with shaped receptors (e.g., flat, angled, convex, concave). A second fragment slides on from the left with receptors on both ends of its layers. The player must flip and switch the layers of the second fragment so that they will fit into the receptors on the right.

For each step, the player can either flip a layer horizontally by clicking on the end of that layer, or switch the positions of two layers by clicking in the middle of each one. Each move will cause the left fragment to slide closer to the receptor fragment. The player must correctly configure the moving fragment by the time it reaches the receptor.

NOTE: Not only must the shapes of the fragment ends and receptors match, but pay attention to the lengths of each layer as well!
Players can attempt a level as many times as needed to complete it. If a player fails to link four fragments in the eight attempts allowed, the level ends and the player receives any points earned for successfully linked fragments. As players advance to higher levels in the puzzle, the molecule fragments will be comprised of more layers and a greater variety of receptor shapes. Players can replay levels that have been completed to earn more points and improve their high scores.

Follow-Up Story

By successfully completing all levels of Puzzle 4, the player has created a cure for the plague. The hero's caduceus undergoes its final transformation, growing wings to take the form of the classic symbol of alchemy, and of the medical profession.

The disease is not yet beaten, however. Though a curative exists, it requires a mix of ingredients so rare that Juro can only fabricate a tiny sample. The hero will need to take this sample back to Maester Sulis. With luck, she'll be able to use her alchemical prowess to transmute other materials into sufficient doses of the curative to treat the world's population.

Before moving on, the hero makes a donation to help rebuild the rope bridge on the path to the caverns, and then sets off on the long journey back to his alma mater.

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