The Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript

The Cups & Balls Puzzle

 

Again, it
is much more complicated to explain the solution than to solve the puzzle
itself.Take a moment to familiarize
yourself with the set up.There are two
cups, at the bottom of the cabinet, under the round mechanical plate.There is a red dot on the left cup,
indicating that we must put only red balls in this cup.So we will call it the RED CUP.Similarly, there is a yellow dot on the right
cup, indicating that we must put only yellow balls in that cup.So we will call this the YELLOW CUP.

 

Now look
at the round mechanical plate above the two cups.If we pull the chained handle on the right,
the plate will start rotating clockwise, and several red and yellow balls will
slide down from the upper left side of the mechanism and fill the holes in the
outer edge (or rim) of the metallic plate.Note the two interlocking rings, with holes of their own, in the top
half of the plate.Let’s call the
smaller ring on the left "RING 1" and the larger ring on the right
"RING 2."(See Picture
below).Note that you can drop the balls
into the Red and Yellow cups only by moving them through RING 2.Moving the balls through RING 1 only returns
the balls into the outer edge of the round metallic plate.

 

Examine the two arc-like, gold-colored buttons,
in each of these two rings.Clicking on
the button at the TOP of RING 1 will move the ring (and the balls in its holes)
clockwise, while clicking on the
button at the BOTTOM of this ring will move the ring (and the balls in its
holes) anti-clockwise.The set up in RING 2 is the direct opposite
of this, in that clicking on the button at the TOP of RING 2 moves that ring
(and the balls in its holes) anti-clockwise, while clicking on the button at
the BOTTOM of that ring moves that ring (and the balls in its holes)
clockwise.Finally, note that the puzzle
is set up so that the balls will alternate between the cups as they drop, i.e.,
the first ball to go down will automatically drop in the RED CUP, the second
will drop in the YELLOW CUP, the third will drop in the RED CUP again,
etc.So it is very important that you
line up the balls in alternating colors as well, so that only the red balls
will go into the RED CUP and only the yellow balls will go into the YELLOW CUP.

Now that we have figured out the set up, let’s solve the
puzzle!Please, keep in mind, however,
that the order of the balls filling in the metallic plate might be randomly
generated by the computer.So they might
turn up in a different order for you than they did for me.Just be sure to drop the red balls in the RED
CUP and the yellow balls in the YELLOW CUP.In fact, you must drop a total of 7 red balls in the RED CUP and 6
yellow balls in the YELLOW CUP.If you
miss, and a ball goes in the wrong cup, don’t worry.Just click on the "Exit" icon, step
away, and then come right back and start the puzzle, to find that the puzzle
has been reset for you.Here is how it
worked out for me.

As I started the puzzle, I found a red ball was already
in RING 1, before I even pulled the chain.So I clicked ONCE on the top button in RING 1, to move the red ball into
RING 2.I then clicked THREE times on
the top button in RING 2, to move the red ball down and into the RED CUP.I then pulled the chain.As the metallic plate started rotating, a
yellow ball immediately slipped into RING 1.I then waited for a red ball to appear in the metallic plate’s outer
edge, just above the yellow ball in RING 1.As the red ball appeared, I clicked ONCE on the top button in RING
1.Thus, the yellow ball moved into RING
2, while the red ball slipped into RING 1 right behind it.I then clicked THREE times on the top button
in RING 2, to deposit the yellow ball in the YELLOW CUP.

 

I then waited again, this time for a yellow ball to
appear in the metallic plate’s outer edge, above the red ball already in RING
1.As the yellow ball appeared, I
clicked ONCE on the top button in RING 1, thus moving the second red ball into
RING 2 as the second yellow ball slipped into RING 1 behind it.I then clicked THREE times on the top button
in RING 2, to deposit my second red ball into the RED CUP.[Note:Don’t worry if, let’s say, a red ball slips into RING 1 instead of the
yellow one you were trying to get in there.Use the button at the bottom
of RING 1, to move the ring anticlockwise,
just as a yellow ball appears in the metallic plate’s outer edge.The yellow ball will slip in the empty hole
in front of the red ball you just moved away.Thus, you don’t have to start all over.By clicking repeatedly on the button at the bottom of RING 1, you can
even return the wrong ball to the outer edge of the metallic plate.Be careful in using the button at the bottom
of RING 2, however, because if pushed repeatedly at a time, it will just move
the ball clockwise only to still drop it into one of the cups, when you might
have been trying to just move that ball back to RING 1.]

Note also that the metallic plate tends to stop rotating
after a while, so you will have to pull the chain on your right, from time to
time.After dropping 6 balls into each
cup (first in red, then in yellow, then in red again, etc.), when you drop the 7th
red ball in the RED CUP, both the
cups will go down and then come back up again, as the "Exit" sign
in the lower right-hand corner of the screen disappears.This means that you have solved the
puzzle!At that point, click on the
wooden lever sticking out from the bottom right portion of the cabinet.The camera will automatically pan to your
right, and you will see a wooden platform come up.

Step onto the platform, turn around and pull the lever in
the floor, on your right.A short cut
scene will follow, as the platform serves as an elevator to take the hero down into
what we will call the Workshop Cellar.The cut scene will end, focusing our view on the lever on the floor,
showing that it is now on our left.Turn
right and take a step forward in this Cellar.Look to your right, and click on the gray wall cabinet, to open it and
find the same kind of mechanism inside that you had just used upstairs to
summon the platform elevator.But you
don’t have to solve a puzzle here.If
you click on the lever at the bottom right of this cabinet, the camera will
automatically pan to your right and show that the elevator has gone up.Click on the lever again, and the camera will
pan to the right to show that the elevator has returned.But there is no need to fiddle with this
mechanism at all.Apparently, it was put
here only to show us how someone approaching from the other side of the Cellar
would be able to summon the elevator to take him up into the Manor.

Step forward to your left, and the camera will
automatically pan down further to your left, as the hero will comment,
"Ah, what’s this?"Click on
the ground, to clear away some of the dirt and reveal a set of marks.Bring out the Short Broom from your
Inventory and click on the marks, to reveal a similar set of marks above the
one already exposed.Take out the incomplete Sheet of Paper, from
your Inventory, and place it on these marks.Now bring out the Charcoal Crayon, and click on the Sheet of
Paper you just placed on the ground, to trace the marks onto the Sheet of
Paper.Pick up the Sheet of Paper,
and the hero will inform you that we don’t have a key yet to decode these
marks.Open the Inventory and attach
this Sheet of Paper to the Portfolio.Thus, we will finally be able to see the marks but, as the hero warned
us, we don’t have enough information yet to decipher them.

 

Step forward into the Cellar, turn right and click on the
door.Listen to the hero’s comment, and
note the round gray plate in the upper part of the door.Bring out the Sun/Moon Medallion from
your Inventory, and place it in the gold-colored round slot, on the right side
of the gray plate.Bring out the
Crescent-Moon Medallion from your Inventory, and place it in the
gold-colored crescent-shaped slot, in the top left portion of the plate.The door will swing open, but it is dark
inside.So bring out the lantern
("Lamp") from your Inventory and step forward, to come down a set of
stairs.

Turn slightly to your right and step forward.Then turn slightly to your left, and step
through the Iron Gate.Turn slightly to your left again and step
forward, to reach an arched doorway leading to a lighted area.Step through this doorway, look down on the
ground and pick up the Precious Stone.As the hero finishes his comment, look up at the door leading to a
well-lit stairwell, in front of you.But
if you click in this direction, the hero will decline to go there.So turn left and click on a door that is
slightly ajar, to open it completely.Step through this door, and the camera will automatically pan to your
left.As the hero finishes his comment,
click on the metal plate in the door, but it will squeak and the hero will
advise us to be more discreet.So bring
out the Oil from your Inventory, and click on the plate to oil it.Now click on the plate again, to open
it.A cutscene will follow.

By the end of the cutscene, the hero will be out of that
room and decline to go back in there.The stairs to the King’s castle are on your left, and the way back up to
the Workshop Cellar is on your right.So
turn right and take two steps forward. There is no icon to allow you to go down the
passage in front of you.So turn
slightly to your right again, and step forward.Turn slightly right again, to see the foot of the stairs leading back to
the Workshop Cellar.Note: It
would be a good idea to SAVE your game here.Click in the direction of the stairs then,
and a cut scene will follow, taking you to yet another new day at the Manor.

Day 4 – (25 September
1522)

 

Francois I had given his Signet Ring and a Sheet of
Paper.As the cut scene ends, open your
Inventory and attach that Sheet of Paper to the Portfolio.In the close up that follows, the right page
shows the marks you had traced in the two Cellars.The left page is the King’s sheet, which is
in fact the key to the marks on the right page.But we need to take care of something else before deciphering these
marks.So go down to the Kitchen and
find Saturnin sitting on the table in front of the fireplace.Approach the fireplace and a cut scene will
follow.

As the cut scene ends, go back up to Babou’s
apartments.As you approach the door to
her Sitting Room, turn left and pick up the Key from the mannequin.Enter the Sitting Room, and the camera will
automatically pan to your left, focusing your view on the Venetian
cabinet.Bring out the key (that you
just retrieved from the mannequin) from your Inventory, and click on the
keyhole in the top center of the cabinet, to start yet another puzzle.

The Cupboard Puzzle No. 2

As you can see, this puzzle is similar to the one we
solved in Leonardo’s Bedroom on the second day [i.e., "The Cupboard
Puzzle No. 1"].Once again,
take a moment to study the set up and get comfortable with it.Thus, note how the cabinet is divided into
five vertical columns and four
horizontal rows.The keyhole (indicated by the green cell
marked "K" in the picture
below) appears at the top of the central section, i.e., in Row 1, Column 3.Again, there is a rectangular compartment
under this keyhole, just as there was in Leonardo’s cabinet. But instead of the large diamond-shaped socket
we had in that puzzle, there is a colored
circular pattern (in Row 4, Column 3) under the compartment, in this
puzzle.Thus, this pattern is our
Reference (indicated by the green cell marked "R" in the picture below), in this particular puzzle.

Again, there are
eight other cells on either side of Column 3 (i.e., the 16 unmarked white cells
in the above picture), and we find a variety of patterns in these cells.The objective, once again, is to make the same
pattern appear in each of these sixteen cells as the one that appears in our
Reference/Fixed cell.

Note that we
have sixteen Control Knobs in this puzzle.I have labeled the four control knobs at the TOP as T1, T2, T3 and T4; the
four at the BOTTOM as B1, B2, B3 and B4; the four on the LEFT
side of the cabinet as L1, L2, L3
and L4; and, finally, the four on
the RIGHT side of the cabinet
as R1, R2, R3 and R4.Thus, we must click on these Control Knobs to set the pattern in each
of the sixteen cells in columns 1, 2, 4 and 5, to match the pattern that
appears in the Reference/Fixed cell.Once again, the Control Knob at the Top of a column adjusts the four
Knobs under it; the Control Knob at the Bottom of a column adjusts the four
Knobs above it; the Control Knob on the Left side of the cabinet adjusts the
four Knobs to its right; and the Control Knob on the Right side of the cabinet
adjusts the four Knobs to its left.

Again,
I am not sure if the computer sets the patterns for the sixteen cells randomly
in each game, but this is how it worked out for me (and, hopefully, it will for
you too).I clicked

(1)Once on R1.

(2)Twice on R2, and once on L2.

(3)Twice on R3.

These first three steps
set the correct pattern in all four cells in the T3 column.I then
clicked

(4)Twice on T1, and once on B1,
to set the correct pattern in all 4 cells in the T1 column.

(5)Twice on T2, to set
the correct pattern in all 4 cells in the T2
column.

(6)Once on T4, and once on B4,
to set the correct pattern in all 4 cells in the T4 column.

 

Thus, as soon as I finished Step 6 above,
the left desk drawer opened.

Click
on the document inside the drawer, to find that it is the Letter of
Introduction that you had given to Babou on the 2nd day.Pick up the gray sheet (on the left of the
letter), place it above the letter and click, to find that the letter contains
a secret message.A cut scene will
follow, bringing the hero back out in Leonardo’s Study.He will refuse to go back into Babou’s
apartments.So go down to Saturnin who
is still in the Kitchen.Click on him
and you will be presented with two topics.You don’t need to buy anything from him, but click on that choice
anyway, to find that no bargaining is possible anymore because of the guards
outside.Click on Saturnin again, and
the dialog will automatically follow.

The Four Signs Puzzle

It’s
time to use the King’s key to decode the marks we found in the two
cellars.So go to those two pages in the
Portfolio.Examine the key on the LEFT
page.Note the numbers 1-4 around the
symbol in the upper left-hand corner of the page.Note also that this one symbol is in fact a
combination of four symbols, each adjacent to a number from 1 to 4.Thus, each symbol represents the number that
is closest to it.We find the symbols
representing the numbers 5-8 and 9-0, in the same way.

Look
at the marks on the RIGHT page now.There are four rows, each of which begins with a circular drawing on the
left, followed by two or three symbols.Note the image of a heavenly body inside each circular drawing.So let’s refer to each drawing by the object
in it.Thus, going from the top to the
bottom of the page, we have the SUN, the STAR, the MOON and Saturn, i.e., the
PLANETS.

Pick up the Blood
Stone, from the right of the Portfolio, and it will appear as your cursor.
Click on the first symbol after the Sun drawing, on the right page; and
then, click on number 1, on the left page.Since this is a correct match, a white space will appear at the end of
the row.Click in this white space, to
see number 1 appear in it.Click on the second symbol now; then on
number 2; and then, on the white space.Since this is also a correct match, number 2 will
appear in the white space.Finally,
click on the third symbol; then on number 0;
and then, on the white space, to see number 0 appear in it.Thus, you will now have 120 in the
white space at the end of the first row.Proceed in the same way for the other rows, to obtain the following
results:

Row 1: SUN —————– 120

Row 2: STAR————— 240

Row 3: MOON ————–60

Row 4: PLANETS
———- 310

 

Turn
to the next page in the Portfolio: "Plan
of Cloux Manor – First Floor."The
circular drawings we just saw in the previous page now appear in the four
corners of this Plan.It is much easier
to identify the heavenly bodies in these drawings, however, because of the
sketch of those bodies (the Sun, Star, Moon or Planets) next to the
drawings.Note how each circular drawing
is divided up in 360 degrees.The four
main degrees (0, 90, 180, and 270) have been marked for our convenience.Note the two arrows around each circular
drawing.If you move your cursor over
them, a gear icon will appear on each arrow.Clicking once on either arrow will move the dial (along the inner edge
of the circle) by 10 degrees.Based on
this information, set the dials in the drawings as follows:

SUN (in the upper-left portion)
———— 120

STAR (in the upper-right portion) ——— 240

MOON (in the lower-left portion)
———60

PLANETS (in the lower-right portion) — 310

As
you adjust the degrees, a gray beam from each drawing will move across the
Plan.If you have set the correct values,
the four beams will overlap and a red "X" will mark the
juncture.Move your cursor over this X,
and the Text Field will show that "The
Manuscript is hidden somewhere in front of the entrance to the manor."Close the Portfolio and the Inventory, to
hear the hero’s comment.Click on
Saturnin, to be presented with two topics, the first of which we have already
addressed.So click on the second topic,
to learn the secret: you must subtract 10 from the Stars and 10 from
the Planets, and add 10 to the Moon.So go back to the "Plan of the Cloux Manor," in your Portfolio, and make the
following changes:

STAR (in the upper-right portion) ———240 to 230

PLANETS (in the lower-right portion) —310 to 300

MOON (in the lower-left portion)
———60
to70

The
gray beams will now overlap at a slightly different point.Move your cursor over the new X, and the Text
Field will show that "The
Manuscript is hidden in the chapel."

Close
the Portfolio and the Inventory, and click on Saturnin, to be presented with
two topics again.Click on the first
topic (the key to the chapel).Click on
him again to address the second topic (why Leonardo entrusted him, rather than
Melzi, with this secret).Then go
upstairs to Babou’s Sitting Room.She
will start speaking as soon as you approach her, and you will get a choice of
two responses.Although neither will
affect your Conscience gauge or Bonus points, pick the SECOND response ("I
shouldn’t have lost my temper…") because it will give you a choice at
the very end of the game that you won’t get otherwise.Click on Babou again, for another exchange of
dialog.

Go
down to the small hallway, and step into the corridor.Turn left, to see a guard in front of the
Main Entrance.We don’t want to be
caught, so turn right and step forward in the corridor.Use Babou’s Key to unlock and open the
Chapel door on your left.Enter the
Chapel, to hear the hero’s comment.Turn
slightly to the left and pick up the Sceptre.Now click on the golden Lily (under the Cross),
to hear another comment by the hero.Bring out the King’s Signet Ring from your Inventory and put it
in the hole under the Lily.Now bring
out the Sceptreand put it
through the ring, to open a door below.Pick up the Manuscript by Leonardo Da Vinci from this
opening.Click under the Lily, to
retrieve both the Signet Ring and the Sceptre, in one
swoop.Then turn to the wall on your
right, and click in the empty picture frame (to the left of the door), to hear
the hero’s comment.

We
are done in the Chapel and must contact the King’s messenger now.So go back upstairs and enter the Balcony
(across the corridor from Leonardo’s bedroom).The camera will pan to your right to show the guards below, as the hero
makes a comment.Step forward in the balcony.Try to pick up some pebbles from the floor to
your left, but the hero will decline to do so, because you already have
some.So bring out the Pebbles
from your Inventory, turn right and study the movements of the two guards
below.Note that the guard stationed in
front of the Main Entrance doesn’t move at all.There is another guard to his left, however, that goes back and forth
along the side of the house.Wait until
he starts moving towards the house, and then throw the Pebble between the stationary
guard and the Main Entrance.Thus, with
both guards now moving towards the house, turn quickly and step into the
Stairwell.Then turn quickly to your
extreme left, and take two steps; and then, turn left again and step forward,
to arrive in front of the moveable bridge.

We cannot cross
the bridge, however, because a guard is stationed there as well.So step to the right of the bridge.Turn left, pick up the brush off the boat and
place it on the ground, to your right.Click twice on the boat (first to hear a comment by the hero, and then
to get in it).You can reach the Dovecot
now in one of two ways: (1) go to the Mill across the canal, get out of the
boat, and walk over to the canal across the Dovecot; or (2) take the boat to
the Bridge, then down the canal to your right to reach the Dovecot.A guard is stationed before the Dovecot also,
so you will still have to get out of the boat on the ground to the right of the
canal.Thus, either way, you will arrive
at the same spot.As you do, bring out
the Ladder from your Inventory and place it across the canal.Then bring out the Pebbles, and throw
one on the fixed bridge to your left.As
the guard moves in that direction, cross the canal and enter the Dovecot.

Turn
right to note an object barely hidden by the three sacks against the wall.Pick up the Sheet, to find the Mona
Lisa painting behind it.Pick up the
Mona Lisa, and the hero will make a comment.Pick up some more Pebbles from the
ground, behind you.Go up to the loft,
and a black bird will arrive at the window.Bring out the King’s Signet Ring and click on the bird, to hear
another comment by the hero.Meanwhile,
the guard should have returned to his post before the Dovecot.Wait for him to turn his back to you, and
then bring out the Pebbles from your Inventory and throw one at the
ground floor window behind you.The
guard will come into the Dovecot, and you will get a choice of two approaches
to return to the Manor.