The Silent Hill
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XXXX Version 1.6 XXX
(C) Wong Chung Bang (David Newton)
Written 25/04/2002
[email protected]
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Introduction
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There are too many Silent Hill FAQs already, so I decided to dedicate one solely
to the puzzles that people on the message boards were having problems with.
There are no spoilers about the game plot in the FAQ - just full solutions and
extensive explanations of the puzzles and their locations.
For each puzzle, first a clue to how the puzzle is solved is given. Then, a
larger, more obvious clue is provided. Finally, the full solution is given for
those who are hopelessly stuck.
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Version History
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v1.6 - Added a few more minor puzzles: Drain, Valves, Vines, Paintings.
v1.1 - 25/04/02 - Two small but major changes.
1) Fourth picture in Zodiac is Aries, not Taurus.
2) Order of names in Grim Reaper's List corrected.
v1.0 - 23/04/02 - Original version.
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Puzzle List
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This version of the FAQ covers the following puzzles:
The Piano ('Birds Without a Voice')
The Key in the Drain
The Valves
The Plates
The Vines
The Zodiac Puzzle
The Grim Reaper's List
The Paintings
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Solutions
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1. The Piano
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Location: The School
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Clue 1:
You don't have to be able to read music to complete this puzzle, but the poem on
the wall has something to do with it.
---
Clue 2:
Each verse of the poem corresponds to a note you must press. Take note of the
poem's title, and also the colours of the birds in the poem.
---
Full Solution:
You can only press a few keys on the piano, and some of them are broken (they
make a 'click' sound rather than a tone). If you read the poem's title, "A tale
of birds _without a voice_", then you can tell that it refers to the broken
keys. They are C#, D, G, A, and A#. If you can't read music, here's a diagram.
The broken keys are bracketed.
(C#)D# F# G# (A#)
________________________
| |X| |X| | |X| |X| |X| |
| |X| |X| | |X| |X| |X| |
| |X| |X| | |X| |X| |X| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
|__|___|__|__|___|___|__|
C (D) E F (G) (A) B
The # symbol is pronounced 'Sharp', if you're interested. And, musicians, I know
that A# should really be 'B flat' but the computer doesn't have a 'flat' key.
What were they thinking of?
Anyway, all the verses describe birds that are either black or white. Keys on a
piano are also black or white, so the colour of the bird in each verse
corresponds to that colour of key. Here is the full poem.
---
"A Tale of Birds Without A Voice"
First flew the greedy pelican,
Eager for the reward,
White wings flailing.
Then came a silent Dove,
Flying beyond the pelican,
As far as he could.
A Raven flies in,
Flying higher than the dove,
Just to show he can.
A Swan glides in,
To find a peaceful spot,
Next to another bird.
Finally out comes a Crow,
Coming quickly to a stop,
Yawning and then napping.
Who will show the way,
Who will be the key,
Who will lead to
The silver reward?
---
I'll take each verse one by one.
The first verse (the Pelican) is a white key. 'White wings flailing' indicates
that the Pelican did not get far. Therefore the first note is the furthest back
white key, which is D.
In the second verse, the Dove flies 'as far beyond the Pelican as he could'.
This is the white key furthest away from the Pelican at D - this key is A.
A Raven is flying above the Dove in the third verse. There is only one black key
(in fact, only one key) above the Dove, and this is A#.
The fouth verse describes a swan flying in 'next to another bird'. There's only
one white broken key you haven't pressed yet, and it is G, which is next to the
Dove at A.
You only have one key left to press now - C#. The reason for this is that the
crow (a black bird) came 'quickly to a stop'. C# is the furthest back broken
key, and it is also black.
The last verse, despite sounding good in my opinion, means nothing about the
puzzle other than you get the Silver Medallion for solving it.
So the order is: D, A, A#, G, C#. When you enter this, you'll get the silver
medallion.
---
2. The Key in the Drain
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Location: Nightmare School
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Clue 1:
You can't get the key from where it is. You have to wash it down and collect it
somewhere else. The valve turns on the water.
---
Clue 2:
The water flows down the wrong drain at first. You have to use an item found
elsewhere in the school to block the drain.
---
Full Solution:
There is a pink rubber ball in the store room. Use it on the drain to block it,
then turn on the water to wash the key down the drain. Now go all the way down
to the courtyard and take the key from the drainpipe in the northwest corner. It
opens the North door of the northeast classroom on the second floor (even though
it says "2NW" on the tag).
---
3. The Valves
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Location: Nightmare School
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Clue 1:
Each valve moves the gates, but each one does something slightly different.
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Clue 2:
You have to align the gates so that no bars are blocking your way. The right
valve moves the right gate two spaces and the left gate one space, the left
valve does the opposite.
---
Full solution:
From how the puzzle is laid out at the start, turn the right valve to the
left twice, then the left valve to the right once.
---
4. The Plates
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Location: Nightmare Hospital
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Clue 1:
Look at the list on the wall, and some items in your inventory. Notice a
connection?
---
Clue 2:
The note on the wall shows a sequence. The plates in your inventory (if you
don't already have them you can find them around the hospital) are used to form
this sequence.
---
Full Solution:
You're given a list (the note on the wall beside the door). It reads:
"Clouds flowing over a hill.
Sky on a sunny day.
Tangerines that are bitter.
Lucky four-leaf-clover.
Violets in the garden.
Dandelions along a path.
Unavoidable sleeping time.
Liquid flowing from a slashed wrist."
Each of these clues refers to a colour - the order is...
White, Blue, Orange, Green, Purple, Yellow, Black, Red.
If you now look at the door, you can see that four colours are already inserted
- clockwise from the top: white, orange, purple and black. This is every second
colour in the sequence. You have to insert the four plates you picked up around
the hospital in the correct places to form the sequence mentioned above, reading
clockwise. The characters on the plates have nothing to do with the puzzle.
Therefore, the order is:
White
Red | Blue
Black-------Orange
Yellow | Green
Purple
Once you have entered the plates correctly the door will click and you will be
able to open it.
---
5. The Vines
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Location: Nightmare Hospital
---
Clue 1:
You need two objects from around the hospital to pass the vines.
---
Clue 2:
You have to burn the vines by covering them in something flammable, then
setting light to them.
---
Full Solution:
To get past the vines, use the flammable liquid (isopropyl), then the
lighter on the vines. Both can be found around the nightmare hospital.
---
6. The Zodiac Puzzle
--------------------
Location: Nowhere
---
Clue 1: If you thought it had something to do with months, you're wrong. The
number corresponds to the picture, not the star sign associated with the
picture.
---
Clue 2: Look closely at the picture. What link is there between the number and
the picture?
---
Full solution:
You are given four examples, and you have to follow the pattern and put in the
correct numbers for three more pictures. The examples you are given are:
Aries: 4
Cancer: 10
Libra: 2
Pisces: 0
There is a connection between the number and the picture. The most obvious way
to think of it is: What does Cancer the crab have ten of that Pisces the fish
has none of?
The answer, of course, is limbs. Cancer has ten limbs, Pisces has no arms or
legs, Libra has two 'branches' that could be considered limbs (this confuses
most people), and Aries has four legs.
Now it should be relatively simple to work out that Saggitarius the centaur has
six limbs, Taurus the bull has four, and Gemini the twins have eight limbs
between them. Enter, from left to right, 6-4-8 on the panels to receive the
Stone of Time.
---
7. The Grim Reaper's List
-------------------------
Location: Nowhere
---
Clue 1: The poem on the slate is indicating how to open the keypad coded door at
the other end of the corridor.
---
Clue 2: Remember the list of names has to be 'lined up in order of age'.
---
The poem on the slate reads as follows.
---
Names engraved on a lithograph.
The Grim Reaper's List.
Yes, the headcount is set
Young and old lined up
In order of age.
Then, the pathway opens
Awaiting them, the frenzied
Uproar, the feast of death!
---
Now go around to the door and look at the Grim Reaper's List itself, which
reads:
35 Lydia Findly
60 Trevor F. White
18 Albert Lords
45 Roberta T. Morgan
38 Edward C. Briggs
The numbers at the left hand side are the ages of the people on the list. If
'lined up in order of age' as in the poem, you get the list:
Albert Lords
Lydia Findly
Edward C. Briggs
Roberta T. Morgan
Trevor F. White
It's obvious that the word ALERT is spelled out by the first initials of the
people on the list. Key this into the nightmarish keypad next to the door (and
you have to be really good at making survival horror to make a keypad look even
remotely frightening) and the door will unlock.
---
7. The Paintings
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Location: Nowhere
---
Clue 1:
You can't do anything with the paintings when you find them, but using an item
will reveal something.
---
Clue 2:
Look at the titles of the paintings. You can use an item on the pictures
connected with what both titles have in common.
---
Full Solution:
Use the camera on both of the paintings. The flash will reveal hidden symbols
on them. These symbols match the patterns that you have to enter into the
doors to progress.
---
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Closing Words
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Send any comments, suggestions or further questions to
[email protected]
