I have officially released all planned text walkthroughs for The Talos Principle. If you have recommendations for future guides, I would love to hear it! As always, if you find a particular description that is confusing, let me know in the comments. I am always looking for ways to improve these guides.

Lots of folks like to watch video walkthroughs, but I prefer text-only guides to quickly search through and also allow me to figure out some parts for myself. I hope there are others like me out there. In later revisions, I may come back and take screenshots of the completed puzzles for particularly difficult challenges.

Final Guide List:

http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=354777976
http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=355116461
http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=355579339
http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=356434276
http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=356944004

Most of the controls in The Talos Principle are pretty straightforward and you should discover them in normal play of the game. However, there are some "Advanced" controls that are not mapped by default, but may be helpful to play the game. Below is a table describing all controls, along with suggested key mappings to controls that are not enabled by default. You can view the controls by going to Menu -> Options -> Keyboard and Mouse -> Configure Keys.

ALTERNATE USE & ZOOM KEYS
These custom controls are easily missed, since they don't have key bindings by default. These two controls can be configured in the options menu. Alternate use (I set to right mouse button) allows you to pick up a connector without losing previous targets. Zoom (I set to 'z') allows you to zoom into far away objects.

LINE-OF-SIGHT (LOS)
Like the name implies, line of sight means that you have a direct sight line to the target. This is crucial in Talos, since you need beams to go across large expanses without hitting any obstacles. The line of sight indicator in the HUD works wonderfully for placing connectors in the perfect spot. For the rest of the walkthrough, I will be abbreviating this as LoS.

JUGGLING
The art of juggling is essential for countless puzzles in this game. All it requires is at least two items that can interact with a single object (energy gate, turret, mine, etc). At first glance, it may seem that one item will be tied up with disabling the object, but you can use two items to "juggle" your way out of the predicament and still hold onto both items. Instead of giving tedious instructions every single time you need to juggle, I will just use this phrase and you should know what to do. Here is a visual description of the process.


USE THIRD PERSON MODE
This is especially handy when trying to locate stars. Going into third person mode and looking down while jumping can afford you new views over walls, potentially revealing a well hidden star.

RECORDER NUANCES
While the recorder is a very useful tool for solving puzzles, it has quite a few quirks regarding the ghost objects and player left behind during replay. Here is a list of various nuances (feel free to send me any other additions to the list):

• Player will NOT collide with ghost objects placed during the recording.
  
• Player can target ghost connectors to transmit beams. This effectively doubles the available connectors in a puzzle.
  
• Any activated fans placed during the recording WILL blow the player around.
  
• Most objects in the world (fans, doors) will not impede the ghost player movement during playback. Mines and turrets CAN destroy the ghost player.
  
• Ghost boxes may not be interacted with in any way. You can not jump on top of ghost objects and you can't stack boxes on ghost boxes.
  
• Ghost platforms can be interacted with by placing items on top of it, including the player.

BOX + MINE = FREE RIDE
While not painfully obvious, you can stack boxes on top of mines and beam blockers. With mines, you will need to approach them from above or disable them first before stacking a box (otherwise you will die, obviously). This allows you some free transportation and get you to hard to reach areas.

PRESSURE PLATES
Any object in the world that can be picked up (aside from the paint bucket and axe) can be placed on a pressure switch to activate it. This includes fans, which are easy to overlook. There are a few puzzles that at appear to have too few objects at first glance. A detached fan just might be the answer.

LOCK YOURSELF IN
Don't ever be afraid to close an energy gate behind you to progress further into the puzzle. It may be uneasy to lock yourself in, but it might be essential to free up an extra item to solve the puzzle.

THINK VERTICALLY
It might be easy to think of the world from the ground level only. But in latter levels, especially ones with multiple beam colors, you may need to think vertically to avoid beam conflicts or obtain LoS.

PUT YOURSELF IN THE RECEIVER'S SHOES
Sometimes it can be really tricky to figure out the optimal place to put a connector. In these situations, try walking to the connector and stand in front of it. From this new vantage point, you can see all the areas that have direct LoS to the receiver. Thus allowing you to have a better idea where to place that connector.

RED HERRINGS
There are a few puzzles that have some nasty red herrings thrown in to distract you, particularly in the latter puzzles. There may be a beam receiver that never gets utilized or an energy gate that never gets opened. If you are stuck in a puzzle, try to take a discretionary look at all items and objects to determine whether or not they are essential to the puzzle solution. They might just be a distraction.

JAMMERS AND PRESSURE SWITCHES, OH MY!
In certain puzzles, there is a series of gates activated by pressure switches. If you have a jammer handy, you can effectively disable two gates with one item. Stand on the pressure switch with jammer in hand, aim at the next energy gate, and look down until an outlined jammer shows up on the pressure switch. Drop the jammer and, if done correctly, the jammer should have the pressure switch activated, while also disabling the next gate (or turret, or whatever).

WHO IS URIEL_4?
During the course of gameplay, you may have noticed some recurring authors to the various QR Codes. One name to carefully look for is Uriel_4. Whenever you see a QR Code from him, there is a star nearby. Often times, the words that he writes are a direct hint for the steps required to obtain the star.

BLOCK PUZZLES
These Tetris-like puzzles in the game can be the most aggravating challenges or the most inconsequentially easy challenges, depending on your luck. There is really no solid strategy other than "throw crap at the wall" and hope it sticks. With these puzzles, especially the larger ones, there are often multiple solutions. The best word of advice I can give is pick a random block and place it in any of the four corners. From there, try to work your way outward to the opposite corner. If things aren't fitting, try backtracking, only resetting if you know it won't work with the first block placement. You may find yourself with one block remaining, but the only void is in a different shape. You may be tempted to reset the puzzle at this point. I suggest trying to swap out various blocks to see what works, you may just uncover the necessary void in a different spot and solve the puzzle.

SIGIL COLORS
While not made obviously clear, the different sigil colors serve different purposes and are associated with different puzzle difficulties. See below:

• GREEN - Located within easy difficulty puzzles, used to unlock other worlds.
  
• YELLOW - Located within medium difficulty puzzles, used to unlock objects.
  
• RED - Located within hard difficulty puzzles, used to unlock floors in The Tower.
  
• GRAY - Found within the star level puzzles, their purpose is a mystery *wink wink*

Three Endings
Yes, you heard that right, there are three separate endings in Talos. In order of difficulty, from easiest to hardest, the endings are Transcendence, Ascension, and Transformation (aptly named by yours truly). When you see the credits roll by and a new game begin, you may think you will have to play the entire game to view the other endings. That is not so. You can unlock all endings on a single profile by simply loading a backup save that was prior to activating the final ending.