page.summary

According to legend, a forgotten civilization once mastered the power of gravity, which they used to travel across the Milky Way, in search for alien life. Eager at first to share their wisdom, soon they became aware that most alien life forms were not ready to receive this great power...
So an enigma was devised to test the intelligence of alien societies, a puzzle marvelous yet so obscure that finding it would be a challenge in the first place. Thus the Gravirinth were born, each hidden into the most promising solar systems.
In the next millennia, few Gravirinth were ever found, and even fewer yielded their secrets, a rare moment of great joy where two civilisations found they were not alone in the vast cosmos. In the Solar System too had once a Gravirinth been found, but its location was lost to mankind...
...until Xeno, the Exoarchaeologist, arrived. Will the Gravirinth reveal its mysteries?

Features

A deep labyrinth of spatial puzzles;
an exoarchaeology space expedition at the outskirts of the solar system;
a carefully hand-crafted, minimalist and mysterious atmosphere;
special features:

	
for experienced puzzlers: harder bonus levels; 
	
for explorers: some very well-hidden or almost unreachable orbs.



Release notes

Schedule
page.title major update: January 2020, solving performance issues.
page.title was first released after February 28th 2019 and made freely available on June 21st 2019.

Development log
Accessible at [Gravirinth Log|gravirinth-log.html].

Trailer
${VideoImage("nq4ljKWdwsU",{
	folder:"images/gravirinth/",
	name:"gravirinth-trailer",
	ext:".png",
	title:"Gravirinth - an exoarchaeology expedition (trailer)"
})}

How to play
Read the instructions below beforehand or skip them in favour of page.title's interactive tutorial!


	

		
Navigate the page.title with ${Hyper("ArrowKeys")}. Step on gravity beacons to change your specific gravity! The controls change accordingly.
		
		
		

			
Pick any number of blocks with [[down]]. Place them strategically  with [[up]] to overcome obstacles!
			
			
			

				
Blocks also have their own specific gravity! Push blocks in your way or throw them horizontally to a higher platform!
				
				
				

					
What if two specific gravities collide? An unstable gravity field materialises, keeping everything in place. Untangle the collision, and it eventually vanishes!
					
					
					

		
Base communicates with you though a low-bandwidth intercom. In this way general tips and orientation hints may be given.
		
	
	

		
Finding the elusive fourfold orbs requires persistence and inventiveness. Try your best!
		
		


Additional Controls

	

		
Your progress is reported continuously to base, so you may retrace your steps whenever you've done anything wrong. Press ${Control("undo")} on your exopad.
		
		
		

			
A special record of your progress is created whenever you reach a save point. Press ${Control("restart")} on your exopad to go back in time! This should work even if you quit the game for a while.
			
			
			

				
At the end of the expedition, Press ${Control("action")} on your exopad to call rescue, unless you prefer to collect any still accessible fourfold orbs...
				
	
	
	
${Hyper("Instructions/Game")}
${Hyper("Instructions/Community")}

Credits
${Hyper("GameCredits/Authorship")}
${Hyper("GameCredits/Music")}

Game Engine
Made with @puzzlescript (the performant @jlpsfork) and [game-bar]!
The ${Anchorl("source",'http://puzzlescript.net/editor.html?hack='+Config("page.source"))} is open, may it inspire you!

Special thanks
To @JackLance for develping @jlpsfork without which the game would not be playable in most devices!
To @LeSlo for outstanding help during beta-testing!

F.A.Q.
What does the name page.title mean?
page.title is a combination of the words Gravity and Labyrinth. It was coined by contemporary exoarchaeologists, because the  extrasolar name is unknown.

How deep is the page.title?
As far as the sonars can tell, the page.title is composed of a multitude of interconnected chambers of various sizes. Depending on how a chamber is defined, this number may vary, but probably more than 32. Some puzzles span multiple chambers, an some chambers comprise multiple puzzles.

How many fourfold orbs can be collected in page.title?
Certainly more than 12. The exact number eludes most exoarchaeologists.
The ultimate purpose of the fourfold orbs within the page.title is unknown, although it may contribute to a more accurate classification of alien life traits such as inventiveness and persistence or simply reward exploration.
 

What inspired page.title?
The exoarcheology theme was inspired by Michio Kaku's Future of Mankind.
The game mechanic emerged naturally, drawing elements from [pmgrp] (basic platform mechanics), [whirlpuzzle] (idea of rotation and space theme) and [tiaradventur] (inventory, narrative system, management of a large word map), whose source codes are openly available.
Specific gravity is also a central theme of William Chyr's [Manifold Garden|https://manifold.garden].

How is page.title ambitious from a coding point of view?
The features below make a great game experience and are a puzzlescript coding challenge:

	
a large animated world map;
	
a message selector, for storytelling and strategic hint placement;
	
fourfold orb inventory banner, trailing along with the field of view;
	
progressively revealing and activating unseen areas.
	
	
Altogether, page.title's map contains 5734 tiles, laid by hand.
	
Custom sound effects were linked to the puzzlescript engine, as well as a message console for storytelling and naming different map rooms.
	
${Hyper("EditorialUse")}