Secret
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Item
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Function
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Reveal in-game bonuses
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Secrets are extra elements in the Submachine series which are not necessary for completing the game. They usually serve to reveal bonuses that add to the game lore and help to answer questions and draw connections between the characters and events in the series.
In Submachine: Legacy, the secrets are renamed to be called Micro Stabilizers.
Submachine 2: The Lighthouse[]
Description
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Red marble
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Amount
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20 (Sub2), 7 (Sub2 sketch)
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In Submachine 2, secrets merely function as an achievement. They also make an appearance in the sketch of Submachine 2, where they also only make an appearance as an achievement.
Submachine 3: The Loop[]
Description
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Note
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Amount
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4
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These "secret notes" can only be found in the HD version of Submachine 3. They are considered secret because they are out of the way of main gameplay in Level 0.
Cycles[]
The rooms reset every other cycle.
The compass will reappear soon.
If I only knew which cycle I'm in...
Marks on the paper[]
He said to mark this paper every time I pass it.
Lost companion[]
Never stroll away from the center.
Never.
I had a companion once.
She said she wanted to check how far do these rooms go.
I've never seen her again.
I've been here before[]
I've been here before!
I remember those damn looping rooms. If I could only remember what was that all about. Some machine unlocking further connections, a compass showing me coordinates! Yes! It was all about the coordinates! But there is no compass in here now.
What to do?...
Submachine 4: The Lab[]
Description
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Blue marble → Secret pictures
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Amount
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21, 22 (online)
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In Submachine 4, there are 21 secrets. After getting all 21 and heading to the lucky room, the player can view 5 pictures and short statements from Mateusz Skutnik about the making of Sub4.
In the SD version there are 22 possible secrets, the 22nd available in the Annex. This secret and the location were removed in the HD version.
Here is a list of the pictures and statements. The SD version's pictures are listed below the HD version's pictures.
View from my window[]
"This is a view from my window.
I knew that I'd use it in a game one day, because it was quite inspiring. So, the idea of the rooftops merged from this almost instantly when I thought of the sub3 ending sentence, stating that you should arrive at the lab, or somewhere nearby.
On the roof, where else..."
Work place[]
"This is my work place. It's nice to have a lot of space on your desk, which is large enough for two computers and all that junk from watercolour painting (in case you don't really know - I create graphic novels, mostly in watercolour technique). Besides that there's plenty of room for other useless stuff that magically appears on the desk right after I finished cleaning it up."
Einstein[]
"A transdimensional black cat, known as Einstein since Submachine 2: the Lighthouse. Well, maybe not exactly, but still a good inspiration."
Shipyard[]
"Isn't that just beautiful. I live near a shipyard and have a chance to go in there from time to time, and the place is huge and deserted and full of such machines, old pipes, valves etc. Maybe I should go there with my camera and make like 1500 photos and compile them into one huge game. No, wait, someone did that already. Ever play 99 Rooms?"
Typewriter[]
"It's my typewriter. Maybe not quite like that one in Submachine 2, but it was the main inspiration for putting an old typewriter into the game. As you can see a lot of things that appear within Submachines can be found in real life somewhere around me. Unless it's a transdimensional portal that teleports you between different sections of the Submachine world. Doh!"
Online version pictures[]
Submachine 5: The Root[]
Description
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Bronze marble → Secret pictures
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Amount
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5
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In Submachine 5 there are five secrets in the form of bronze spheres. After completing the game, a screen with the options of returning to the main menu or going to the secret location appears.
The secret location is the same lucky room as in Submachine 4, and the 5 secret pictures take a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Sub5. They also give a look into the next game.
Here is a list of what is found inside the lucky room in Submachine 5:
Introduction[]
"Welcome to the secret location!
"It's called 'secret location' not because it's hidden, but because You can use here those secrets that You have found during the game. This is a section with author's commentaries (Mine :D). I will explain some aspects of this game that are quite interesting (in my opinion). If You run out of secrets but would like to continue discovering this area - You can always go back to the submachine to look for more secrets, just go left and hit the appropriate button. There are 5 secrets in this game."
The computer[]
"You know that I like to mess with point and click rules of gameplay. Here goes another one. You have a computer that is turned off. In all other games You'd now have to find a power cord, turn the electricity on, know the password to access the computer and find a CD or disk with some useful information on it."
"But not here. You just push the power button and - voila! Information at Your fingertips, just like in real life :D"
How many combinations?...[]
"As we can clearly see from the picture above - we didn't get to see all of the root location. Just a tiny part. We've found two of those cipher plate thingies, and that gave us the opportunity to visit six locations. But wait a sec. Weren't there six of them plates in the beginning?"
"Who can tell me how many combinations we'd get from six cipher plates? Anyone?"
"A lot..."
3D puzzle in 2D environment[]
"Now this is something that I was thinking about for a long time. Since submachines are two dimensional (you can go up, down, right and left) how can I add more depth to the situation? some 3D puzzle? And behold there it was my humble attempt on creating that. You actually had to imagine going around the central room in order to set the puzzle to the right position. With a grid of 9 rooms. You can go around forever, and there is one room in the middle. Kaboom."
Sweet memories...[]
"In case You didn't notice this puzzle that opens door to part of Sub2 section (and believe it or not, but those doors appear in the original Sub2!) is almost the same as in Sub1. You've got three switches that have to be set to the right positions, then a valve that overheats a pipe, which explodes and the puzzle is solved. Does that mean I'm running out of ideas? Is this the end of my creativity in this field? Naah, that resemblance was intentional."
Submachine 6?...[]
"You have found all five secrets. Congratulations!! that means You are a submachine addict and that You probably want to play more of them. You can rest assured that I will most definitely construct Submachine 6 hopefully this year (2008). Where did we go with this giant room like cart? I want to show You the outskirts of the submachine net, and it's defense systems."
"Satisfied? :D"
"Once again thank You for playing and You rule!"
Submachine 6: The Edge[]
Description
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Secret rooms
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Amount
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5
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The secret system in Submachine 6 is different from previous Submachine games. This time around, secrets are in the form of hidden rooms that either have a note, picture, or a map.
Purpose[]
"I was sent here by Murtaugh. Of course, who else."
"My objective was to disable the defense systems, so the invasion could reach the core of the subnet."
"I know that I wasn't the first one sent out here. I know there were at least 5 people before me."
"And as hard it might be to hear, you have to hear this:
Just as I wasn't the first here, you probably won't be the last."
Murtaugh's game[]
"I never thought that playing Murtaugh's game would lead me here.
"I never thought I'd have to make a choice. I was just following his orders. Right now it's too late for me to change sides.
"For you as well, probably.
"But, if you have a chance...
"Find Liz. She will guide you.
"If he's the explorer, she's the solver.
Thoth[]
"Thoth
"Patron of: knowledge, secrets, writing, and scribes.
"Appearance: A man with the head of an ibis holding a scribe's palette and stylus. He was also shown as a full ibis, or sometimes as baboon.
"Description: Thoth is an unusual god. Though some stories place his as a son of Ra, other say that Thoth created himself through the power of language. He is the creator of magic, the inventor of writing, teacher of man, the messenger of the gods (and thus identified by the Greeks with Hermes) and the divine record-keeper and mediator.
"He was also a measurer and recorder of time."
Broken portal message[]
"Portal prototype 2/32
"Portal prototype developed for transportation of maintenance units between different sections of the subnet.
"The prototype came into contact with human factor and was reverse-engineered in order to transport humans.
"Primary function deleted.
"As a main factor in the infestation spread the portal was considered a failure."
Map of the human infestation[]
Submachine 7: The Core[]
Description
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Brown token → Secret pictures
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Amount
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5
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In Submachine 7 there are 5 secrets that take the shape of brown tokens.
The tokens can be used in a secret location called the super secret bonus section. Inside there are 5 screens that the 5 tokens can be placed inside, showing a secret. The screen system works one-at-a-time like in Sub5.
Greeting message[]
"Welcome to the Super Secret Bonus Section
Congratulations on finding this place
You can read my commentaries on creation of this game...
...If you found the tokens that is...
Mateusz Skutnik, December 2010"
Drawings[]
"Those drawings were done by me while studying architecture, back in the day, about 12 years ago. I held onto these because they seemed nice and I thought I might use them for something one day. Well what do you know, they ended up in Submachine."
Tributes[]
"You can find many references and small tributes to things I like in Submachine world.
- Blue energy lines are a homage to TRON;
- dimension layers -> Night Watch by Sergiei Lukyanienko;
- the mushrooms -> the Amanita Desing Studio; and so on...
You can try to find more and comment about them. ;)"
Fluorescent life[]
"Deep sea or deep cave forms of life have one thing in common: fluorescence.
It appears in environments lacking the sunlight. Besides being a nice eyecandy that concept fits in perfectly within the submachine universe."
Garden at Versailles[]
"That naturally is a real garden. It's Versailles, near Paris in France. The gardens of Versailles occupy part of what was once the Domaine Royal de Versailles, the royal demesne of the château of Versailles. 48̊ 48´ 29̋ N, 2̊ 6´ 30̋ E"
Great things ahead[]
"Murtaugh's karma portals are shattering this dimention, as I am shattering your expectations of what submachine really is. In this episode I feel I pushed the story further than in any previous one. We're speeding things up, there are only 3 episodes left to go...
Great things ahead of us. Happy holidays everyone.
Mateusz Skutnik, Dec 15th, 2010."
Submachine 8: The Plan[]
Description
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Green marble → Secret notes
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Amount
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5
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Secrets in Sub8 are presented as hidden pieces of texts unlocked via small green marbles throughout the game. There are a total of 5 secrets in Sub8, and therefore five short messages unlocked in the secrets hub, which can be found on the main menu once at least one secret sphere is obtained. They include the following:
Regrets[]
Murtaugh: "If there's one thing I regret - it's the fact that of all people I sent to the edge no one ever came back. Not a single soul. That will haunt me for the rest of my life..."
Liz: "I know."
Loops and knots[]
- "Have you ever been to the place called the loop?"
- "Yes, of course."
- "See, this knot is just like the loop. Well, maybe not exactly, but it serves the same purpose."
- "In that case... What is so important in layer 5?..."
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
Not sociopath[]
- "Why does this sociopath only talk to Elizabeth?"
- "Your question is wrongly put. You wanted to ask: why doesn't he talk to us. The answer is simple: he doesn't see us. Does that make him a sociopath? Not necessarily. But that does mean he's focused."
Impossible[]
- "But that's impossible! He can't be in different dimensions at the same time!"
- "Impossible? What does that even mean?..."
Dimensions[]
- "Doesn't he understand that his karma portals are shattering this dimension?"
- "This dimension? You mean the third one? You know that's not even the original dimension, right? What do you think is more important - the origin or the flawed copy?" |-|
Submachine 9: The Temple[]
Description
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Yellow marble → Secret notes
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Amount
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5
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After the game is finished, there is an option where the player can continue playing. In the 8th layer, there is a secret area containing a karma portal to the Nataraja room, a location where there is a golden statue of Shiva as Nataraja. The secrets can be put (in an ascending order) into four of Shiva's hands and one on his crown. Each placed secret opens up a green karma portal where the player can find each unlockable in a one-room location somewhere around the pyramid and the temple.
Layers[]
- "There are seven main layers of reality."
- "Yes, that's common knowledge."
- "But there is another layer. The one often misinterpreted as the layer of time."
- "If it's not time, what is it then?"
- "That's the layer of Light. You see, when you move through the field of atoms frozen in time, the friction causes them to emit visible light. It's everywhere you move. It's not a guiding light. You're the one who's guiding that light. Where you will go is entirely up to you."
History[]
- "How is it possible, that people are still coming through the loop and trying to turn off the defense systems? After all these years..."
- "What would you have me do. Destroy his creation? Destroy the whole section?"
- "I don't know... Maybe..."
- "You're talking about destroying our history. What next, book burning?"
- "No, of course not. But maybe... A sign? That it's no longer necessary to shut down the defenses?"
- "And what about those in the eighth layer?"
- "I stand corrected..."
Where all intertwined[]
"Murtaugh never said it was about revenge. But by then he was well used to not being understood. Back then they didn't yet have seven-layer bullets.
The only option was to meet him at the knot. The place where all dimensions intertwined to become one. Then and there, they waited.
And when he appeared, Murtaugh was finally able to see what has happened. He fell to his knees. She came to him, sat down beside him and they started talking.
The bullets never reached them."
Fate of the third[]
"After the second enlightenment Murtaugh dedicated his life to restoring the chaos. While the main layers flourished under his word, the third dimension remained broken.
Murtaugh was originally from the third layer, therefore there was nothing he could do to bring it back to the unbroken state. He often spoke about it as being a thorn in his heart. This was consuming him until the day Shiva gave him comfort of knowledge of the future.
Murtaugh was already dying, and just before he drew his last breath - the light came to him and showed him what was to come. We believe he stayed in that moment forever."
The explorer and the healer[]
"If he's the explorer, she's the healer. If he's the child, she's the older sister. When he couldn't understand, she knew that it wasn't his fault. When he fell, she picked him up. When they wanted to kill him, she explained.
When he died, she carried his words. When she died, we buried her alongside him. They remain together in the light of Shiva. Your journey is almost at its end.
Congratulations. You've reached the highest level of understanding possible to a one-dimensional mind. If you want to leave the structure, Shiva will guide you. Just follow him."
Submachine 10: The Exit[]
Description
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Red marble → Secret messages
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Amount
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5
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The secrets can be used in a secret location in the defense system corridors called the S3C area. Inside, five of the secrets can be used to disable the red lasers protecting the secret screens, and the remaining five can be used in the corresponding pedestals to activate the screens so that a secret message appears on each of them.
Not alone[]
Are we alone in the Submachine? Well, yes, but you can always feel somebody right beside you, doing the same things you do in the Submachine. Just one sub-layer away. That's comforting, isn't it?
sunshine_bunnygirl_17[]
What happened to sunshine_bunnygirl_17? Don't worry, I took care of her. I transported her to the first layer, she's taking care of Einstein when I'm not around.
Sub-layer infinity[]
Will I ever come back to the Submachine? Well, of course. There are more people still trapped there, my mission is to navigate the sub-layer infinity to find them and bring them home.
It's all real[]
Is Submachine real? Or just a dream? Well, if Submachine is only a dream, I still haven't woken up from it. I mean, as far as I know, it's real, all of it.
Thank you[]
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for playing Submachine, for finding all secrets and sticking around for as long as you did. For me this journey lasted 10 years, I know that for some of you too. Thank you and see you in the next game!
Mateusz Skutnik