Five Pebbles (region)



Five Pebbles is a midgame region mostly characterised by sterile bio-mechanical cells, humming transformer arrays and dimly lit access shafts in a unique zero gravity environment. It is the second destination to which the guides the player when playing as  or  after visiting LttM.

Overview
Five Pebbles is the largest region in the game and is divided into several different sub-regions. The region connects only to The Exterior via two gates, one at its base to Underhang and one at the top to The Wall. Five Pebbles is completely unaffected by Rain; it is possible to survive in the region indefinitely without hibernating. inhabit certain parts of the region and can sometimes block forward progress. Some optional areas are also infested with Proto Daddy Long Legs and have intermittent zero gravity, requiring precise movement and timing to progress. There are also three large chambers throughout the region featuring a rotary gravity-distorting effect, which makes them challenging to navigate.

Tips

 * Unfortunate Development is an entirely optional subregion and can be circumvented by taking the bottom left path in the first large room encounters while travelling upwards from the gate.
 * It is also possible to avoid Recursive Transform Array by taking a shortcut through the center of the map.
 * Creatures inside Five Pebbles return to shelters once the timer runs out, which can be exploited to travel through the region without encountering hazards.
 * and s can be thrown midair for a boost of speed in the throwing direction.

Unfortunate Development
Unfortunate Development is both the shortest route and most dangerous route from Underhang to General Systems Bus. Unfortunate Development is infested with Proto Daddy Long Legs that cover nearly every surface, and is made only more dangerous by the sub-region's intermittent zero-gravity, which turns on and off periodically. Safe travel is assisted by elastic, blue, ropelike tendrils which stretch from wall-to-wall, and can be grabbed by holding upwards. Slugcat cannot jump from these tendrils. It is common for players to enter Unfortunate Development on first playthroughs due to its placement in the region.

When playing, Unfortunate Development is more challenging due to increased amounts of proto DLLs. The player is also discouraged from entering as one of two entry paths is blocked by proto DLLs. The area is somewhat easier when playing due to the slightly decreased amount of Daddy Long Legs and proto DLLs.

Recursive Transform Array
This subregion consists of a collection of large, dimly lit zero-gravity rooms containing high voltage transformers that kill Slugcat on contact. Travel through this subregion is considered much safer than travelling through Unfortunate Development, although it is also a longer route. Two must be passed to access this sub-region.

Memory Conflux
Memory Conflux is a grid of mostly sterile white uniform chambers, some containing arrangements of bio-mechanical tendrils, fronds, and red latticed matter being tended to by small white spiders. These arrangements can be disrupted by crashing into them, but cannot be permanently damaged and will slowly knit back together over time. The lower right of the subregion leads into to Unfortunate Development, where similar rooms are infested with proto DLLs and also features intermittent gravity. Navigating empty rooms can be challenging at first due to the lack of throwable items or mid-room poles for changing directions.

General Systems Bus
General Systems Bus is the smallest subregion in Five Pebbles and contains no lethal threats. In this area, flickering symbols and patterns are projected across the background walls, dart across the rooms, and long red tendrils spark and wave in the zero-gravity environment. Faint music can be heard in this subregion which increases in volume until reaching the central chamber, where the region's iterator,, can be found. When entering this chamber, and when playing as or, the player's Karma is upgraded to the highest level, and the mark of communication is given. This allows the player to understand and view dialogue from Five Pebbles,, and all.

Zero-Gravity Controls
Five Pebbles features zero-gravity movement which is unique to the region. The player is unable to directly accelerate in zero-gravity using the arrow keys; movement is largely dependent on leaping off of poles or walls, although the player can maintain some slight influence on their momentum through rotation.


 * Pole-grab: Unlike with standard controls, the player can grab onto poles if they press a button parallel to the pole's direction (i.e. up or down for vertical poles, and left or right for horizontal ones). The player will not climb onto or let go of the pole when using the up/down arrow keys.
 * Rope-grabbing: Several rope-like objects can be grabbed onto much like poles in regular controls, by holding up while going past. Just as with poles, the player will not let go of these if they press the down arrow key.
 * Leap: If the player is touching a wall or holding onto a pole or other object, pressing the jump button while holding a given direction will cause the player to leap in that direction.
 * Crawl: The player can press up against a wall by holding the button towards it and crawl along it. The player can even round corners this way if they are careful. The player's speed will be very low while doing this, however.
 * Throwing: Throwing rocks or spears will slightly boost the player's speed in the direction that the object is thrown. This can be especially useful for avoiding last-minute hazards while moving quickly. Note that objects can still only be thrown left or right, regardless of the player's orientation.
 * Tail-Boosting: The player can influence their momentum by a small amount by throwing their tail about via rotation. Though this tends to be a slow and clumsy way of adjusting one's trajectory, it can be useful for situations where the player loses nearly all momentum in midair. By rotating quickly and then stopping, the player will whip the slugcat's tail and gain some slight momentum in the direction that their tail was moving. Other methods of tail-boosting exist, such as wriggling back and forth repeatedly.

Visual Map



 * Download all full sized .png visual maps here.

Interactive Map
Made by Henpemaz