RHEM Hints

So exactly how am I supposed to distribute the water?

• 1 of 29: First, if you don't know how the controls work, read these hints:
  • How do I work the water tank instruments?
• 2 of 29: Have you experimented with the water transfer controls and checked the readouts to see how much water is transferred each time?
• 3 of 29: You can also figure this out by pressing the buttons on the tank-related panel that's past the Round Building's upper west exit (location P on my Annotated Map).
• 4 of 29: The main tank starts with 6,400 units of water, and the other three tanks all have 0 units.
• 5 of 29: First, try to figure out how many units of water each of the smaller tanks needs in order to get their floating bridges up to where you can pass through the tanks.
• 6 of 29: Transfer water once from the main tank to tank 2, then go check out tank 2's readout.
• 7 of 29: It got 1,600 units, but the door at the top of the ladder still won't open!
• 8 of 29: Did you notice a number painted on the tank wall near the door as you approached?
• 9 of 29: It seems that tank 2 needs to have exactly 1,200 units of water in it in order for you to pass through it.
• 10 of 29: But you can't set exactly how many units are moved in one transfer operation. You need to figure out how that works before you can go on.
  • How can I figure out how much water a transfer operation will move?
• 11 of 29: So now the puzzle is this: How do you transfer water using those transfer rules in only four moves so that each of the three smaller tanks will have exactly the number of units it needs to raise its bridge to door level?
• 12 of 29: This is kind of like the famous water jugs problem that you may have encountered from other sources of classic puzzles.
• 13 of 29: The process is complicated by you not knowing at first how many units of water the other two tanks need to get their bridges to the right level.
• 14 of 29: So first concentrate on getting exactly 1,200 units of water into tank 2.
• 15 of 29: Remember that moving water from the main tank to a smaller tank means that one fourth of the main tank's contents will be moved. 1,200 is not one fourth of 6,400, but instead is one fourth of 4,800. Give you any ideas?
• 16 of 29: Have your first water transfer be between the main tank and tank 1. That'll put 1,600 units in tank 1 and leave 4,800 units in the main tank. (Note that tank 1's symbol is the upper left one on the distribution block, so turn it to connect the upper left and lower left symbols, then yank the lever.)
• 17 of 29: Now that the main tank has 4,800 units, transfer water from it to tank 2. That'll put exactly 1,200 units into tank 2, allowing you to climb its ladder and go through it.
• 18 of 29: When you do, you'll come to tank 3, which has the number 800 painted on its side. That means you'll need to get 800 units of water into it.
• 19 of 29: Return to the water transfer controls and think about how it would be easiest to get 800 units into tank 3.
• 20 of 29: 800 is half of 1,600, and half of a small tank's contents are transferred when you go from one small tank to another.
• 21 of 29: So your third move should be to transfer water from tank 1 to tank 3 (the upper left and upper right symbols on the distribution block).
• 22 of 29: Now you can travel through tanks 2 and 3 to reach tank 1 and learn that it needs 1,100 units of water to allow safe passage.
• 23 of 29: Return to the distribution block and plan your last move.
• 24 of 29: Tank 1 has 800 units currently and needs 1,100 total. Where are the other 300 units going to come from?
• 25 of 29: They have to come from the main tank since you can't alter the quantities in the other two tanks without blocking your path. But the main tank has 3,600 units, and one-fourth of that is 900, which is too much to add to tank 1!
• 26 of 29: It looks like you're stuck, but the water transfer rules also state that if one fourth of the main tank won't fit into the destination tank, then only one third *of* that one fourth will be transferred. That means that one third of 900 units will transfer, which is 300. 300 plus 800 equals 1,100, which is just what you need.
• 27 of 29: So go ahead and transfer water from the main tank to tank 1 (upper left and lower left symbols on the block).
• 28 of 29: Now you can go through all three smaller tanks to get to the entrance to the main tank.
• 29 of 29: Here's the water transfer steps in summary. If the above hints confused you too much, just hit the reset button on the nearby green machine and then do these four moves:   1: main tank to tank 1
  2: main tank to tank 2
  3: tank 1 to tank 3
  4: main tank to tank 1

• Show another hint
• There are no more hints.

• Up One Level