Professor Tim here. Welcome to my subterranean machine-making lab. We've got gazzilions of gadgets lying around this place. And you won't believe all the things you can do with them!
The first thing you want to do i Sign In. Once you've written your name in my Inventor's Registry, I'll be able to keep track of which puzzles you've solved. And anybody else who wants to play can sign in under a different name. That way I can keep everyone's progress separate.
Now... can I make a little suggestion? If this is your first time here, you might want to start off on my Guided Tour. It's a quick and fun way to get the hang of playing puzzles. It shows you how all kinds of things work - picture buttons, menus, and all kinds of machine parts. And the whole thing is automated! No kidding. Check it out.
Okay, so let's say you know a little about The Incredible Machine 2, and you decide to launch right into Puzzle Play. You've got 150-plus puzzles waiting for your solutions. And guess what. They're all built out of stuff I had lying around the lab! So don't be surprised if some of the puzzles are a little weird. And if any of the parts confuse you, don't sweat it. Just go to the Tutorial Puzzles, and look up the puzzle that names the part in question. You'll get a good example of how the part works, and a simple puzzle that teaches you how to use it.
But hold the phone! there's more! You can also build your own Incredible Machine 2 creations! Just take a trip over to Professor Tim's Workshop, and you'll have full run of the place. Every single part in the game is at your disposal. You can build puzzles just like the ones in the game. Then you can try them out on your friends. Give them away as birthday presents. Send them out over bulletin boards. You name it!
Oh yeah! And one more thing. The best way to get the hang of building your own puzzles is to follow me on a crash course Walkthrough I'll take you through all the steps in the puzzle making process. We'll build a machine, add music, put in hints, create a solution, write a goal, save it, and - voila! - you've got a puzzle!
SIGN-IN WINDOW
The Sign-In Window comes up before you enter the game. It lets you register your name, so the game can keep track of which puzzles you've solved and your selected preferences. It also allows your friends to sign in separately, so there's no confusion as to which puzzles you've solved, and which ones were solved by another player. Choose "Guest" as the sign-in name when you don't want to keep a record of the player's progress.
The dark blue window displays the name of the selected player. To add a new player, click on this window and type the player's name.
The light blue window displays a registry of all the players who have signed in so far. Rudy is printed in red. He is the selected player. Click on any name to activate that player's personal game records.
Click on the green Help question mark to get more info about using the Sign-In Window.
Choose Done when you're finished. This will take you to the Main Menu.
Later on, when you want to let a friend play your game, or if you want to sign yourself in under a different name, just click on "Sign In" from the Main Menu and repeat the registration process.
MAIN MENU
The Main Menu offers a variety of ways of playing and building, and lets you personalize your game play by signing in. Check out the options described below. You can come back to this menu from any place in the game by clicking on the Game Options picturebutton located just above the Parts Bin.
Upper row left to right:
- Puzzle Play: Solve puzzles built by Professor Tim.
- Professor Tim's Workshop: Change or build new puzzles.
- Head-to-Head: Take on a friend in a puzzle-solving contest.
Lower row left to right:
- Guided Tour: Learn how to use parts, run the game, and build machines.
- Sign-In: Each user registers his or her name so the game can keep track of which puzzles each player has solved.
- Tutorial: Professor Tim walks you through the process of building your own puzzle.
Right area:
- Computer icon: Player Preferences (see below)
- Stop icon: Quit game
- Question mark icon: Help icon
PLAYER PREFERENCES
To bring up the Player Preferences Menu click on the picture of the computer located on the right side of the Main Menu. All the preferences or ON when you start the game. Turn off the ones you don't want by clicking on the buttons. Here's what each button does:
- Ambient animation shown: Use this button to turn the ambient animation on or off. When the red button is lit, the ambient animation is on. (Ambient animation is all the little wiggling and twinkling that parts do while they're just sitting there. Shutting it off won't affect the way parts work).
- Scenery displayed: Click on this button to hide or show the scenery. Turning this off will also turn off the backgrounds. Note: some puzzles use a lot of scenery, and will look a little empty if you turn it off.
- Back ground on: Use this button to turn off large background extras like wallpaper, tiles, and blocks of color. When the red button is lit, the backgrounds are in the puzzles.
- Hide info handles: Use this button to hide or show the Info Handles. An Info Handle is the little magnifying glass that appears when you put the cursor over a part. You can click this handle to get information about how the part works.
- Sound effects on: Turning the sounds off will speed up some of the parts, but the game won't sound as cool.
PUZZLE PLAY
When you're ready to take on any of the 150-plus puzzles created by Professor Tim, click on Puzzle Play from the Main Menu. You'll find all kinds of brain-teasers that vary in difficulty from Tutorial Puzzles (which teach you how to use various parts) to Really Hard puzzles - which can be mind-numbingly nasty! When the screen comes up, you'll get the nifty control panel. Check out what each of the picture buttons does.
Puzzle Play Control Panel:
- Floppy icon: Load a puzzle (see below for Loading puzzles)
- Guitar icon: Music options (see below for Music Menu).
- Globe icon: Look at gravity, pressure, and adjust background color (see below for the gravity for the gravity menu)
- Broom icon: Remove unlocked parts. Click on the broom to sweep all the parts you placed on the screen back into the Parts Bin. This will return the puzzle to its original state.
- Question Mark icon: Choose this, then click on any part or picture button for which you need information.
- Hand icon: Click on this to turn on/off hints. As soon as you hit the picture button, a hand will appear on the playfield for each hint built into the puzzle. Click on each pointing finger to get a clue.
- Light bulb icon: if you've solved a particular puzzle, a light bulb will become visible when you revisit it. Click on it to see Professor Tim's solution.
Parts Bin:
- Flag icon: Click the green flag to start the machine. The flag turns to a waving checkered flag when the puzzle is running.
- Remote icon: Click on this to show or hide the Control Panel on the left.
- Puzzle piece icon: this brings up the Main Menu and shows you that you're in Puzzle Play.
- Machine Parts: The large vertical area displays the parts available for the current puzzle along with the number available of each part. The arrows at the bottom allows to scroll in the parts bin.
- Tree icon: brings up and puts away the scenery.
To solve Puzzle #1 all you have to do is put the superball under the eight ball. then click the green flag to start the machine. After you have solved a puzzle, a menu pops up and allows you to go back to the same puzzle, replay the solution, or go on to the next puzzle.
Handy Handles
Each part in the game comes with two or more Handles. These handy little pictures are your key to controlling the part and the role it plays within the puzzle. To check out the Handles for any part, just pull it out of the Parts Bin and drop it on the playfield. Then set your cursor over the part.
- Recycle handle: click on the trash can to put the part back in the Parts Bin.
- Flip handle: These curved arrows allow you to flip the part. Some parts can be flipped several different ways.
- Size handle: this double arrow means the part can be stretched or shrunk when you click on the arrow and drag the cursor. Click the cursor a second time when the part has been stretched to the designated length.
- Programming handle: This little computer handle means the part is programmable. There are twelve programmable parts in the game. Click on the computer handle to bring up a window that will let you set the quantity, appearance, behavior, or state of the selected part.
- Info handle: this magnifying glass handle gives you information about any part, including how the part works and ways of using it.
Two handles found only in Professor Tim's Workshop:
- Checkered flag handle: this handle lets you program a solution to any part.
- Padlock handle: this lets you lock down parts.
Those Amazing Programmable Parts
Professor Tim has put together a dozen programmable parts to give your puzzle-building a whole new dimension. By clicking on the computer handle beside any of the parts, you can bring up a special menu that allows you to change the part's look or behavior. Go ahead... see how tricky you can make your puzzles by programming these parts into strange and surprising solutions!
Captain Z Super Phazer
Program the number of blasts this toy phazer will fire.
Fireworks
Program these fireworks to display explosions in three different colors.
Pool Ball
you can program a different number onto each pool ball you put on the screen, and put together your own pool set.
Toaster
Use this toaster as a timer by programming it to make light, medium, or burnt toast.
Egg Timer
Program this egg timer to go off after the desired delay. Time starts when the top button is pushed in. When the time is up, an arm pops out, bumping anything in its way.
Balloon
Choose between four zany looks for this programmable balloon. All four designs behave the same.
Mel's House
Mel Schlemming's suburban house can also be programmed to be a log cabin.
Mel Schlemming
Program Mel to walk, run, or stand still until he's bumped.
Boxes
This box is really five boxes in one. Program it to be glass, wooden, wicker, metal, or cardboard. Use it to catch falling objects. Each box is a different size.
Message Computer
Program this computer to display any letter in the alphabet, numbers 0-9, and a bunch of cool symbols. Line up a whole bunch of them side by side to spell out a message.
Laser Plug
It can be programmed to be activated by laser beams of any color.
Color Block
This is the only programmable scenery part. Choose between 44 vibrant colors for creating your backgrounds.
Programmable Ball
Here's a nifty little toy! You can program this ball to change mass, elasticity, density, friction, and appearance. click on the computer handle and use the programming menu to see how each change affects the ball! See what kinds of weird things you can make it do by changing its "physical state". then use your discoveries to create unpredictable puzzle solutions!
Use the arrows to the right of the ball image to scroll through appearance options.
Use the MASS slider to increase or decrease the ball's mass. the greater the mass, the more force it will have when it hits another object.
The ELASTICITY slides allows you to raise and lower the ball's elasticity. the more "elastic" the bal becomes, the more bouncy it will be. At zero elasticity, it won't bounce at all.
Use the DENSITY slider to change the ball's density. The more dense it becomes, the more it will be affected by gravity. At zero density, it will float into the air.
Use the FRICTION slider to change the ball's friction. the higher the friction, the lessthe ball will roll or slide across surfaces.
Click DONE when you're happy with all your selections.
Leaky Bucket
Program the rate at which the water leaks out of the bucket. the faster the leak, the heavier the bucket is when you start the puzzle.As it leaks, it grows lighter. This will allow you to use it as a timer when you add a rope and hitch it over a pulley to another bucket. the heavier bucket will lift the lighter one.
Ropes, Pulleys & Steel Cables
Use a rope to tie objects together,hang things in the air, or hoist things off the ground with the help of a pulley. you can cut the rope using hedge trimmers or tin snips.
For example here's how you would use rope to hitch the teeter-totter to the Mandrill Motor: select the rope from the Parts Bin, click it on the lower end of the teeter-totter to tie it on that end, click again on the pulley to make the rope pass through it, and click on the Mandrill motor to attach the rope's other end. When the ball drops on the high end of the teeter-totter, it will flip and, through the connected rope, activate the Mandrill Motor.
Ropes attach to the Teeter-Totter, Leaky Bucket, Lava Lamp, Pulley, Boat Cleat, Phazer, Mandrill Motor, Trans-Roto-Matic, Laundry Basket, Balloon, Tipsy Trailer, Roto-Trans-Converter, Bucket, Hot Air Balloon, Match-on-a-spring, and Remote Control Bomb.
The steel cable works jst like a rope, except it's much stronger and can only be cut with tin snips.
Belts
Use belts to hitch any two "rotating parts" together. Belts can only be stretched a limited distance. Make sure the parts you're trying to connect are close to each other. if the two rotating parts are too far apart, use gears (if available) between them to cover the distance.
Building further on the previous example, the image below shows how to activate the conveyor belt with the Mandrill Motor, using gears between them.
Belts attach to Large Gears, Small Gears, Pinwheel, Conveyor Belt, Mouse Motor, Generator, Electric Motor, Trans-Roto-Matic, Roto-Trans-Convertor, Jack-in-the-Box, and Mandrill Motor.
Power Supplies
Some parts, such as the electric mixer, require power. Place a power supply, such as an electric outlet, on the playfield. Place the electric mixer next to the electrical outlet, If the mixer has been plugged in, a plug will appear over on e of the outlets attached to the switch. If a part has not been plugged in properly, the outlets will be empty and the part will not work when the machine is run.
the power supply sources are as follows:
Generator
This generator comes with its own outlet. Use it to supply electricity to power parts by connecting the generator's wheel to a rotational motor (like the Mandrill motor, the mouse motor, or the electric motor) by adding a belt.
Electric Switch & Outlet
Plug any of the electrical parts (such as the toaster, can opener, or fan) into this electric outlet, then drop something on the switch to turn on the power. Or bump up on the switch if it's upside-down.
Electrical Outlet
This electrical outlet has juice running to it all the time. Plug any electrical part you want to operate.
Solar Panel
This solar panel comes with its own electrical outlet. Shine a light on the panel, then plug in any electric part you want to operate.
Laser-Activated Plug
When a laser beam of the right color strikes this laser-activated plug, it will provide electrical power to any part plugged into the outlet. It can be programmed to be activated by laser beams of any color. But if the plug is blue, for instance, it will only accept a blue laser beam.
Lasers & Accessories
See the image below? That's Professor Tim's special laser-powered gadget for making cooie dough. Here's how it works: the red and blue lasers are powered by an electric outlet. They shoot beams into thelaser-mixer, which spits out a single purple beam, which bounces off both angled mirrors into the laser-activated plug (which has been programmed to accept only purple laser beams). When the beam hits the plug, it provides energy to the outlet, which starts up the cookie mixer!
Lasers
Lasers come in three colors - red, green and blue. When a laser is plugged into an outlet (and the switch is on) it will fire a beam. Laser beams can also be used to pop balloons, ignite fuses and light the candles and Aladdin's lamp.
Laser Mixer
This laser mixer will blend together the colors of any laser beams passing through it. For instance, a red beam and a blue beam will become purple. The purple beam could then be used to provide energy to a purple laser-activated plug.
Angled Mirror
This angled mirror can be used to deflect and change the direction of laser beams. It can be positioned in four different angles.
Laser Detector
This laser detector can receive laser beams of any color. When a beam strikes the black eye, the green light turns on. If the beam is broken, the red light flashes.
Laser-Activated Plug
When a laser beam of the right color strikes this laser-activated plug, it will provide electrical power to any part plugged into the outlet. It can be programmed to be activated by laser beams of any color. But if the plug is blue, for instance, it will only accept a blue laser beam.
Music & Sound Effects
Click on the guitar icon on the control panel of the game play screen for the music and sound options to appear.
In the upper section you can change the music for any puzzle. Scroll up and down through the list of music selections using the arrows on the right. Click on the musical note to start a song over at the beginning. If you want to turn the music off, click on the switch.
In the central section, just for fun, you can check out the sounds of various gadgets in the game. Nothing you do there will change anything in your puzzle. Push the POW button to start the sound.
In the lower section, use the arrow to raise or lower the volume of the music. Click on the question mark for help with any of these features. Click on DONE when you've completed all your sound and music selections.
Gravity, Pressure & Background Color
Click on the globe icon on the control panel of the game play screen for the gravity menu to appear. This panel is mostly just informative. More information on gravity and pressure settings below in the section "Professor Tim's Workshop
Check out the gravity settings for the puzzle you're working on. You can only adjust the Gravity in Professor Tim's Workshop.
Use the arrows in the center to scroll through your choices of background color. the color shown in the window will be selected when you click on DONE.
Take a look at the atmospheric pressure of the puzzle you're working on. You can only make an adjustment in Professor Tim's Workshop.
Loading Puzzles
You don't have to play Professor Tim's puzzles in order if you don't want to. The Load menu lets you pick out any puzzle in the game. Click on the floppy disk icon on the control panel of the game play screen for the list of puzzles for the chosen skill level to appear.
Light bulbs are off if the puzzle has not been solved. Light bulbs glow when a puzzle has been solved. Use the arrows to scroll up and down through the list of puzzles. Press the LOAD button (or double-click a puzzle title) to load the selected puzzle or press the CANCEL button to leave this menu without making a selection.
Click on the upper right image (MORE PUZZLES) to bring up the Load Selection Menu.
Choose puzzles from any of the seven categories in the Load Selection window. If you're just starting out, you might want to check out the Tutorial Puzzles (click on the picture of Professor Tim at the chalkboard) - they'll teach you how various parts work and help you get used to the game. Then, as you become more and more of a techno-wiz, you'll be able to handle harder and harder puzzles (upper row from left to right, ranging from 1) easy to 2) medium to 3) hard and 4) really hard puzzles). You can also load in any puzzles you built yourself by clicking on the picture of Professor Tim in his chef's hat. Pick Head-to-Head Puzzles (click on the picture of Professor Tim and his cat) to hold puzzle-solving contests with a pal.
PARTS BIN HOT KEYS
B
= BALLS
W
= WALLS
P
= PIPES
I
= INCLINES
A
= ARCHES
O
= POOL STUFF
G
= GEARS & BELTS
R
= ROPES
F
= FLAMES
E
= ELECTRICAL
L
= LASERS
M
= MOUSE CAGE
C
= CRITTERS
If you want to copy one of the parts on the stage, just put the cursor on it and click the right mouse button. A duplicate copy will go wherever you move it. Set it down by clicking the left mouse button. In Professor Tim's Workshop, parts can be duplicated as many times as you want. However, in Puzzle Play the number is limited to the quantity in the Parts Bin.
