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I Wanna Lockpick

A strange puzzle game about matching colored keys and doors. · By LAWatson

KeyTool level sharing thread

A topic by MathCookie created Feb 22, 2023 Views: 1,582 Replies: 29
Viewing posts 1 to 11
(4 edits)

SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE GAME AHEAD

Hidden in the Bug Reports/Feature Request topic (starting from a reply by SOILEDit), LAWatson posted the personal level editor they used for making and testing levels for the game: https://www.mediafire.com/file/ukqihpluddgve62/KeyTool.zip/file

To open it once you’ve downloaded it (on Windows; I’m not sure if the structure is the same elsewhere), go to wherever it’s downloaded, open the KeyTool folder, then open the “About KTool + Setup” file and follow instructions from there. If the application throws an error when you try to open it, make sure you’re opening it from within the extracted KTool folder; it won’t work anywhere else. If it still throws an error, I’ve heard that downloading https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 might help fix it. Once you’ve extracted the files into a new folder, I recommend copying the “sample maps” and “skins” folders and the “How to make levels” file over to the folder of the extracted files; the “About KTool + Setup” and “how to make levels” files will give you the information you need to know when it comes to playing and making levels.

Now that that’s out of the way, I’d like to share three levels I’ve made using KeyTool. I’ll give a tooltip (what the text on the bottom of the screen would say if this was a puzzle in the actual game) and some hints (encoded with ROT13) for each one; these hints won’t be “here’s part of the solution”, but rather questions to get you thinking about the puzzle in a better way. To play these puzzles, download their files, then open them within KeyTool. You’ll need to open the files using KeyTool to play them; opening the files themselves won’t work since KeyTool can’t be opened from anywhere other than within the extracted KTool folder. That unfamiliar grey blob in each puzzle is the goal; when you touch it, it will turn green, indicating you’ve won the puzzle.

Some control changes to keep in mind:

R still works to reset the puzzle, but as far as I’m aware, KeyTool does not have an undo option.

Shifting the Lens of Truth between normal view and I-View is done with Q in KeyTool, not S. Do NOT press S; this is a “save” function that makes it so when you restart, you’ll restart in whatever position you last saved in. This is useful for testing IWBTG levels but not for testing Lockpick levels. Someday I might make a puzzle that uses this as a mechanic, but unless otherwise stated, do NOT press S in these puzzles.

There's a bug where destroying a Combo Door while on the wrong Lens view (i.e. destroying a Combo Door without any imaginary copies while in I-View) will cause the door to be destroyed and apply its spending cost without destroying a copy of the door. This bug only seems to apply to Combo Doors, not regular or Bicolored Doors. Be careful in puzzles where I-View is used!

____________________________

“Counting to 10”:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K_92ScLC6H_0XRZeHjCCAML222VfscNQ/view?usp=drive_link

Tooltip: “If counting to 10 is so easy, why did I give you all these negative Master Keys? Whatever strategy you come up with for this puzzle, you might want to prepare for it before you blast your Master Keys away…”

Hints:

1. Checyr Xrlf ner pyrneyl gur vzcbegnag pbybe urer, naq gur Znfgre Xrlf ner hfrq gb znxr pbcvrf bs gur qbbef ba gur hccre-evtug, ohg pna lbh svther bhg jung ebyrf Plna naq Benatr cynl va guvf chmmyr?

2. Pbafvqre gur ahzoref sebz 1 gb 10 frcnengryl. Ubj ner lbh tbvat gb trg lbhe Checyr pbhag gb rnpu bs gubfr ahzoref? Gel gb hfr nf srj Znfgre Xrlf nf lbh pna ba rnpu bar.

3. Erzrzore, gur svefg hfr bs rnpu qbbe vf “serr” nf sne nf Znfgre Xrl hfrf ner pbaprearq.

____________________________

“Shaft of Balance”:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U7l2_S_hMrZhgBcD7H5ee8VV8wtelG11/view?usp=drive_link

Tooltip: “The royal advisers who built this shaft centuries ago claim that only those who have achieved inner balance can pass through it. I’m no expert on that kind of spiritual stuff, but I think I get the idea of the kind of balance you’ll need to make it to the bottom.”

Hints:

1. Ybbx ng gur qbbef va gur funsg ba gur evtug. Jung qb gurfr qbbef gryy lbh nobhg gur nzbhagf lbh’yy arrq gb unir bs Juvgr, Oyhr, naq Oynpx Xrlf?

2. Gurer’f fbzr zbqhyne nevguzrgvp tbvat ba jvgu rnpu bs gubfr guerr pbybef. Jung qbrf gur zbqhyne nevguzrgvp gryy lbh nobhg gur nzbhagf lbh’yy arrq gb unir bs gubfr xrlf?

3. Tvira gung gur bayl jnl gb qhcyvpngr qbbef vf ivn fjvgpuvat lbhe Znfgre Xrlf gb artngvir jvgu gung qbhoyr Znfgre Oynfg qbbe, juvpu qbbef ner gbb rneyl va gur chmmyr gb or tvira nqqvgvbany pbcvrf? Uvag: gurer ner fbzr qbbef gung ner gbb rneyl gb or qhcyvpngrq ba nyy guerr cnguf!

4. Juvpu qbbef va guvf chmmyr pna or qrfgeblrq ivn Znfgre Xrlf? Gurer zvtug or zber cbffvoyr gnetrgf guna lbh guvax.

____________________________

“Orthogoldal”:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KUdLX74gBb8EIDOIC27OydAW2jmQS8nE/view?usp=drive_link

Tooltip: “There are two dimensions of Master Key around here. Real Master Keys can only break doors with real copies, and Imaginary Master Keys can only break doors with imaginary copies, regardless of what the spending cost of the doors are. Yep, Master Keys of one dimension are useless on doors of the other dimension. Definitely.”

Hints:

1. Guvf chmmyr vf fbeg bs fcyvg vagb sbhe cnegf onfrq ba rnpu gvzr lbh trg n arj fhccyl bs Znfgre Xrlf, fb vg znl uryc gb pbafvqre rnpu dhnegre bs gur chmmyr frcnengryl.

2. Va gur frpbaq dhnegre, lbh bayl trg bar Vzntvanel Znfgre Xrl. Jurer qbrf vg unir gb or fcrag? Jung qbrf gung gryy lbh nobhg jurer gur Erny Znfgre Xrlf unir gb or fcrag?

3. Lbh fubhyq unir -1 Benatr Xrlf bapr gur frpbaq dhnegre vf pbzcyrgr, naq lbh arrq gb unir 0 Benatr Xrlf gb pbzcyrgr gur guveq dhnegre. Ubj ner lbh tbvat gb trg evq bs gung artngvir Benatr Xrl?

4. Vs lbh unira’g svtherq vg bhg lrg, gur gbbygvc unf fbzr fnepnfz arne gur raq. Jung unccraf vs lbh qb hfr n Erny Znfgre Xrl ba n qbbe jvgu na vzntvanel pbcl be ivpr irefn?

5. Rnpu bs gur sbhe pbybef unf vgf bja ybtvp va gur sbhegu dhnegre. Pbafvqre ubj gb trg evq bs rnpu pbybe frcnengryl, gura jura zhygvcyr pubvprf nevfr, pbafvqre gur raq tbny bs trggvat gung -1 Oynpx Xrl naq hfvat hc nyy lbhe Znfgre Xrlf va nqqvgvba gb oynaxvat gubfr sbhe pbybef.

____________________________

Those are the only three puzzles I’ve made for now, but I’ll post any more I make in the replies to this thread. If you make a puzzle with KeyTool and want to share it, post it here too.

P.S. To LAWatson: in that first devlog, you said that if the fans make any good puzzles, you'll put them in Part 2 in some sort of community puzzle area. Is that offer still on the table? If it is, and these puzzles are good enough to get in but need a few tweaks (such as changing the proposed tooltips or changing a few numbers), feel free to make those tweaks to make the puzzles better.

I will remember this thread and will be making about a billion puzzles of my own. !!!

While I haven't actually beaten "1 to 10", I feel like I have found two separate ways to shave off a master key usage. Unfortunately they can't be done together.

If it still throws an error, I’ve heard that downloading https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26999 might help fix it.

Important: Choose the x86 one, that's the one that makes it work.

No ideas for puzzles yet, so for now I'll just be playing these ones.

also theres a lockpick discord server that has a ktool level thread https://discord.gg/ATC6zc5695

I personally prefer slower and more permanent forums such as this one and I don’t particularly like the fast-paced and temporary (i.e. you usually don’t go back and look at old posts) nature of Discord, and when it comes to sharing custom levels, I think a forum like this, where a level sticks around once posted (whereas it basically disappears into the past on Discord), is a better place to put them.

Another version of the count-up idea, this time down and mechanical. SPOILERS. Though this is far more lenient.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aeCT-0ti2mw-qqPQixH8zjHQ6s0fML5a/view?usp=shari...

(2 edits)

(Spoilers for "Counting to 10" and "Countdown's revenge"; use ROT13 to decode)

Gubhtu lbhe chmmyr vf hygvzngryl gur fnzr chmmyr nf zl irefvba (fnir sbe znxvat vg rkcyvpvg gung bayl bar hfr bs gur erfrggvat qbbef vf npghnyyl urycshy),  V guvax lbhef qvq n orggre wbo ng ivfhnyvmngvba; culfvpnyyl fubjvat gur pbhagvat sebz 1 gb 10 ivn gur checyr qbbef vf fbzrjung htyl, juvyr lbhe irefvba znxrf gur pbhagqbja srry zber angheny.  Vs lbh unira'g nyernql cynlrq Pbhagvat gb 10, gura Pbhagqbja'f Eriratr vf n irefvba jurer vg'f n yvggyr uneqre gb svther bhg jung fgrcf lbh npghnyyl arrq gb qb orsber lbh trg gb gur npghny chmmyr bs svthevat bhg rnpu vaqvivqhny ahzore, naq fvapr Pbhagvat gb 10 vf bar bs gubfr chmmyrf jurer Ybpxcvpx'f zrpunavpf ner zber bs n pbng bs cnvag sbe n zngu chmmyr, V guvax vg'f svggvat gung svthevat bhg jung gur tbny vf vf cneg bs gur onggyr, nf gung'f ubj bgure chmmyrf yvxr guvf jbex. Gung orvat fnvq, V qb guvax vg'f orggre vs gur chmmyr pbhagf hc vafgrnq bs qbja, fvapr gur uvture ahzoref unir zber pbzcyvpngrq zvavzhz-Znfgre Xrl fbyhgvbaf.

Developer

Another version of the count-up idea, where you only have to count up to one number.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Za9gBN7sp4Sqv_nsXWGb3A4kaYEsv3j5/view?usp=shari...

Wow, that's a big number. I honestly don't know how to do this one; solving these count-up levels tends to be trial and error/intuition based, and with a number this big, it's unrealistic to do the trial and error method. Perhaps I'll figure out a trick to this at some point, but there's a decent chance I'm not gonna figure this one out.

Developer

I went and crunched the numbers on it, there are technically quite a lot of solutions, some even doing better than the given Master Key count. There's a lot of layers to unpack, but there is a general strategy for this problem which, while not giving the perfect sequence (as there are several), will still give you something good enough to solve it.

(3 edits)

Well, that was maddening.

The good news is I can definitely solve other puzzles of this kind assuming similar tolerance levels. However, you said there are more optimized ways to solve this level, and I don't know if anyone could find the most optimal solution on purpose.

I need a special cipher to encode the solution. Convert 939482453 to binary, then execute the resulting instructions as green=1, purple=0

Right back atcha:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hh5D_eK1zYRdEfNniZyFKqmhYT3Jw-3N/view?usp=shari...

Developer

Was about to blow a gasket, but then I realized the common denominator and went back to chill mode. Employed the exact same strategy I used for my own version of the puzzle and it managed to get me exactly enough to solve your variant.

An easy way to actually wreck these puzzles is to make the blast doors combo doors with one extra one lock. I tried that, but didn't bother to solve or save the level because pain.

I'm back, and I made the level you feared!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CzkiYlgZ6qBw_JTzdzQALTW01TVKVFPG/view?usp=shari...

um,can i just take the text for the file and paste it here? or should i make a bunch,zip them into a file,then upload that to itch?

I’d recommend using Google Drive, MediaFire, or something like that to make a link to the file (I guess you can paste the text if you don’t know how to use such services), but feel free to share even if you only have one puzzle. 

Question for the community: Should entirely new levels get their own threads? I'm thinking yes if the puzzles are pretty in-depth, but what about simple puzzles? Here's a level I made I called Complex Chamber that might not be engaging enough. SPOILERS FOR WORLD 11. Should this level get its own thread? Should "Missing Context" get its own thread? So many questions!

I created this thread with the intent of it being the place where all KeyTool levels were posted, but then the creators of Division Derision and By Deduction made their own threads, so now we’re in a curious spot. I’d say that as long as this thread isn’t a sticky, it’s fair to make your own threads for more substantial puzzles, but probably not for something like Missing Context since it’s an offshoot of Counting to 10. If this thread is ever made into a sticky, that would be a message from LAWatson that this thread is the right place to post levels, while if it’s not, I’d say it’s a message saying that there doesn’t need to be a single thread to post levels and bigger ones get their own threads.

As for your level, I’ll comment on it once I get around to playing it.

(2 edits)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rnsfv3Mn-TJU7t78_z8Qn8KTovt0yXqAW8CfWQTkltI/edit?usp=sharing

Im putting all my levels here

That Google Doc is not freely accessible; I had to request you for access to view it. Since you put this in a level-sharing thread, you should probably make it so anyone can view this doc.

oops sorry

does it work now

No, it’s still private.

(1 edit)

does it work now

Yes, now it’s available.

(3 edits)

I might try to build a puzzle around the third image in the 10/3/22 devlog. It probably won't be anything like the actual puzzle, but I think it's still going to be interesting.

The links to your levels in the OP don't work anymore

Has it been fixed now?

Yes, thank you!