The Orbital Probe Strikes Spaceship Before Launch - Outer Wilds

[@JohnTK]

The game was like “in case you didn’t notice that the probe trajectory changed each loop, here’s a little hint for you that you can’t ignore:”

[@denneledoe873]

It's SUCH an easy hint to overlook or take for granted even though it's right in front of you every single loop.

[@Gordon_Workshop]

Hey, you're the second me!

[@basementdustproductions1069]

I don’t think it found the eye on that loop

[@znefas]

well, yeah, it found 4

[@jsinghgjsinghg5322]

It found someones eyes all right

[@blackbirdsnake3107]

I mean if he had the coordinates on his bird computer maybe

[@eatatjoes6149]

Maybe the real eye of the universe was the random spaceships we destroyed along the way

[@deviloon8611]

@@eatatjoes6149 beat me to it ;-;

[@Baphelon]

One of many of my favorite details about this game is how even you waking up is a hint. Every loop you see the probe fire, and eventuually you think "man, everything else is always the same... But why does that seem to always go in a different direction..?" That, plus you blinking to potentially allow you to catch the Quantum Moon phasing in and out, they really make the most of every second

[@ardent3830]

My favourite moment in my entire playthrough was when I woke up, blinked once and the quantum moon appears over giants deep, blink the second time and it’s RIGHT OVER ME in timber hearth. I was so shocked that when I scrambled to capture a recording I switched off the program and didn’t get anything 🥲

[@asspills]

Shit, man.. That's a good ass point.. Damn

[@ZachHixsonTutorials]

Wow, never thought about the blinking = quantum moon thing. That's a really cool detail

[@alexsimper4153]

wait, why does it change every loop? Is it because the eye changes position kinda like the quantum moon?

[@ZachHixsonTutorials]

@@alexsimper4153 no, it's because they don't know where the eye is. The plan was to fire the probe, then if it hits the eye send the information back using their time-travel-memory tech. If it doesn't hit the eye, then it fires a different direction and tries again the next loop

[@ROCKER5008]

Your ship: * exists * Probe Launcher: ENGAGING TARGET

[@davecrupel2817]

😂

[@MegaChickenfish]

"A shooting star! Make a wish!" "Ey that shooting star is getting real close...."

[@misted_rain]

the comedic timing of it hitting the ship right as you got out of the lift is everything

[@Cat-On-Wabdermelon]

It is comical

[@beebfajeejy]

part of me wonders if it's intentional that on the off-chance it fires at the ship, it hits it with the exact timing to destroy it right as you get to it, assuming you woke up and immediately went for it.

[@DoctorTex]

Slate: Ready to get this beauty off the ground? Hatchling: I'd like to get it *OUT* of the ground, first.

[@SuperCoolrandomguy]

I mean I does fire in EVERY possible direction

[@Tanya_Of_The_Evil]

It can fire in every possible direction, you can even rejoin in on his trajectory, but it's a none collision object

[@cking4869]

Come to think of it, you'd think the fact that all the planets in this solar system will always been in the same spot at the time of launch would prove a pretty big blind spot for where the probe can actually search. Why, you'd think being right next to Giant's Deep would mean half of all space is obscured to it

[@ScienceRules118]

Depends on how much it can use gravity assists to change its trajectory in the long run.

[@santiagosenoran1217]

Yeah, maybe making the cannon orbit dark bramble would have been smarter although who knows if they had the time to build it anywhere else

[@santiagosenoran1217]

Still I find fascinating how this game has such a solid foundation of it's physics and rules that we discuss the same things the nomai could have been discussing

[@DoctorTex]

@@santiagosenoran1217 Giant's Deep's massive orbit line helps it gain the most options. They built the cannon on the surface of the planet, using the tornadoes to lift the pieces into orbit. Most of Giants Deep Is just clouds, which wouldn't really obstruct it since it's firing at a million mph every time. And lastly, why the FUCK would they ever wanna go back to Dark Bramble?!

[@santiagosenoran1217]

@@DoctorTex that's an amazing answer. I love it

[@thesheeark2818]

Scared the shit outta me, was not expecting it like that. But that looking up and around at the next loop as you CAUTIOUSLY inch forward to the ship has me rolling because SAME

[@z54964380]

The Nomais in the afterlife be like "Get wrecked fish ppl lol gg ez"

[@mateo0123]

Nomai: "let's mine somewhere else so the hearthian fishies aren't affected" also Nomai: "ORBITAL PROBE GOES BOOM STRAIGHT INTO TIMBER HEARTH"

[@GreatJinjonator]

@@mateo0123 "Protect Hearthians!! Except this one, fuck this hatchling in particular."

[@samc_cherterita]

Orbital Probe Cannon really said “I’ve had enough of YOU!”

[@quantumblauthor7300]

​@@mateo0123 nomaian empathy doesn't extend into hypothetical timelines

[@davecrupel2817]

God dammit XD

[@Hyoiza]

the timing is almost comedic BAHAHA!

[@wyattgamble1369]

Had this happen to me naturally on a first playthrough. It's so funny looking back but I shit myself when it happened.

[@tonyj.montana3205]

How did this happened to you on your first playthrough since in your first playthrough you don't have the launch codes and it takes way more time for you to get them that for the probe to get to T.H. ?

[@wyattgamble1369]

@@tonyj.montana3205 It was during my first full playthrough without knowing anything about the game. Technically I had died a crap ton already so I was able to go up the elevator immediately. I still had probably half of the solar system to explore though, I just knew a bright blue light slammed into my ship at mach 10.

[@DatingTV]

@@tonyj.montana3205 There's a big difference between first playthrough and first loop.

[@NAJALU]

Same! I had NO idea what happened and just sat there dumbfounded.

[@TheMillyBays]

0:12 Freeze frame *record scratch* Yup that's my ship. You're probably wondering how I got into this situation.

[@Dark_Dragon3366]

I think it’s closer to 0:13 but yeah

[@dpurut]

you can really feel the shocked reaction through the camera movement😭😭😭😭😭

[@wx7fm]

I am now thinking about the first time played the game and died before pairing with the statue. I always thought that that reality was doomed since the Hatchling would die the same way every loop and no one would pair with the statue. But now I’m wondering if the probe could hit Timber Hearth in just the right way which causes someone to go near the statue. Probably Hornfels coming down from the observatory to see what the ruckus is about. Imagine that. A whole new reality where Hornfels is the one who has to unravel the mysteries of what’s causing the loop. They probably would get aggregated that the one person they can talk to about it who remembers is Grabro who just does nothing

[@Monkey_man130]

i jumped in the underwater cave first loop before the statue lol

[@rhyshoward5094]

Unfortunately I'm pretty sure that the first run prior to activating the statue is sorta outside the lore of the game in a way, because the ash twin project which activates the orbital probe cannon can only send information 22 minutes back in time, and yet the ingame timer only starts when you activate the statue, meaning there can be in theory like an hour long gap between the first time the probe cannon fires in a run and the ash twin project activation. I mean that doesn't take away from the game at all and the whole idea is super cool, just sometimes game design has to take precedence over story telling.

[@robertbcardoza]

You are already stuck in the time loop. The hatchling has done his launch day millions of times. It’s just the finding of the eye which triggers the statues and their conscious continuity between loops.

[@wx7fm]

@@rhyshoward5094 I know how the game is designed. I was talking from an in-world perspective

[@wx7fm]

@@robertbcardoza Yeah, but I meant linked to a statue

[@hvvnsent]

imagine this happening to someone on their first loop 💀 Probably thinking its part of the story

[@Dan0RG]

I'm pretty sure that's impossible, the probe always launches in the same predetermined direction on the first loop (the direction in which it finds the Eye).

[@sutirk]

If i remember correctly, the probe is scripted in the 5-6 first loops. Only then it is random

[@hvvnsent]

@@Dan0RG first loop as in the first time it actually loops is what i mean. Technically second loop

[@speedude0164]

I actually didn't know that about the probe. I guess it makes sense since in-universe the Eye is always at the same place at the start of each loop.

[@janthran]

@@Dan0RG no, the loop in which it finds the eye isn't one that we actually witness. the initial launch can go in a number of pre-programmed directions, but can't hit timber hearth like the random ones that kick in later.

[@daxt3rdefluff255]

I love the little camera jump when it happens, I can feel the “woah what!”

[@jenswaring1682]

Imagine getting killed by the probe before you even activate the statue

[@Laezar1]

I mean in universe you wouldn't remember it but it probably happened many times lol, and in term of gameplay I believe the first loop has a fixed trajectory specifically to avoid that

[@alexandremasclet5553]

Impossible because the statue was activated in the loop where the eye was found, the first loop we play is the one where the eye is found, we just don’t know it

[@coal9205]

"Get probed four eyes!"

[@Xahnel]

Considering how many people this has happened to, it has to have a set percent chance to land there the split second before someone rushing for the ship would take off.

[@N8crafter]

it's just a matter of timing really. the probe just travels from GD's position at the start of the loop to TH in the same time the player takes to ride the elevator. both of those distances are going to be the same, so the only factor is how fast the player is in getting to the elevator.

[@LuccDev]

@@N8crafter Maybe, but on the other hand, given all the possible directions this can happen, it seems strange that it strikes timber earth on this exact specific location

[@RpTheHotrod]

@@LuccDev You could say that about every possible location, though.

[@bjbarlowe]

@@LuccDev it could hit timber hearth in other locations too in different loops. It’s just coded to pass through all other objects other that the ship.

[@santiagosenoran1217]

@@LuccDev it probably happened a lot but you won't notice unless your ship suddenly explodes I think

[@ragadropenger8623]

Shipless suitless run

[@TrophyJourney]

I cried laughing at your mouse twitching reaction to it 😂😂😂

[@sirgrem2988]

If there were any Teardown physics in this, it would have literally obliterated the tower, Slate, and the nearby crater area. Would have been a terrifying experience for most of the inhabitants (or is it a normal experience for most of them?)

[@Jayseph13]

they would be shocked but it wouldn't matter as 22 mins later they'd all be de3ad and the loop would restart ]

[@JurisLLM]

That really would be the darkest timeline

[@WackoMcGoose]

Hatchling: "The launch pad is FLAMMABLE?!" Orbital Probe: "lmao that's the least of your problems this loop"

[@wx7fm]

Everyone says that the hatchling awoke on the first loop after the probe found the eye, but there could have been any indefinite number of times after that in which the probe killed the Hearthian in between

[@WackoMcGoose]

Considering the fairly even distribution of probe launches when you eventually see the full chart of them, it's practically a certainty. ...Although why there aren't two (or rather, three) _obvious holes_ where the launch vector would have been intercepted by Giant's Deep (huge shadow), Timber Hearth (small shadow), or the sun (medium shadow), is probably handwaved in the lore somehow.

[@wx7fm]

@@WackoMcGoose slingshotting around their gravity wells maybe?

[@rence234]

Hatching: where the ship? Orbital probe cannon: gone... Reduced to atoms

[@thexlonewolf671]

This has never happened to me, but one time, it did get pretty close. I was afraid the ship was going to blow up, lol.

[@WackoMcGoose]

"You will not go to space today." Also, by the lore, there's a statistical certainty that not only was the ship hit, but _the Hatchling themself was smited_ at least a few times in the nine million loops before the game begins.

[@rohe1790]

Just the thought that technically this could happen to anybody on their first loop is funny to me

[@criskooo2802]

Time to find a shipless AND suitless way to beat the game

[@niteowl9491]

the timing as you come up the elevator, so good!! LOVE this game for so many reasons, and these weird one-off 1:100000 events are one of them :D

[@johngavin3180]

The most important questions of outer wilds, they're not what is the eye Or what is the eye's purpose, or any other myriad of questions. No, the most important questions are WHERE IS MY SHIP!? and HOW DID MY SHIP GET "THERE"!?!?

[@samc_cherterita]

And the Universe said “Actually, you won’t go to space today.”

[@jackdog06]

Imagine this was someone’s first loop

[@malfolin]

Orbital strike inbound.

[@wx7fm]

I wonder if there is a chance that this could happen on the first loop before you paid with the statue. The game would say “You died” but it’s actually probably the only way you could die before pairing in which you aren’t doomed to die the same way every loop. You’d just not remember it

[@GeorgeN-ATX]

I think I saw someone say they somehow died before pairing from fall damage.

[@GeorgeN-ATX]

I believe they said the ending was different but from what I remember it sounded more or less similar to what happens when the warp core is not in and you die.

[@wx7fm]

@@GeorgeN-ATX Oh yeah, no it is definitely possible. I did it in my first playthrough by jumping into the geyser without knowing fall damage existed, hahaha. It is almost identical to the ending where you disable the warp core and die, except the Kazoo music plays I think. I was just musing that like, dying that way is the only way to not doom the universe. If the hatchling died any other way before pairing, like I did, then the hatchling would continue to die the same way every single loop. But if the way the hatchling died before pairing was getting splatted by the probe, then when the next loop occurred, they would get another chance to get to the observatory since the probe would fire a different direction the next loop.

[@wx7fm]

@@GeorgeN-ATX I explained some other thoughts I had in my other comments. Let me copy and paste them here "Everyone says that the hatchling awoke on the first loop after the probe found the eye, but there could have been any indefinite number of times after that in which the probe killed the Hearthian in between" "I am now thinking about the first time played the game and died before pairing with the statue. I always thought that that reality was doomed since the Hatchling would die the same way every loop and no one would pair with the statue. But now I’m wondering if the probe could hit Timber Hearth in just the right way which causes someone to go near the statue. Probably Hornfels coming down from the observatory to see what the ruckus is about. Imagine that. A whole new reality where Hornfels is the one who has to unravel the mysteries of what’s causing the loop. They probably would get aggregated that the one person they can talk to about it who remembers is Grabro who just does nothing"

[@galichet18]

Before you go into the loop, the probe is sent to the eye (that's why you can link with the statue)

[@RazHalGuhl]

0:12 THAT FRAME. And that was at this moment he knew... he fu*ked up.

[@theuntitledproget2648]

Well I guess the fire I go maybe I get a better thing the next round

[@jamber985]

0:12 “Woah my spaceship looks so cool- AAAAH”

[@turrinnno]

I saw it happen in another video. I can't believe that there's such a low possibility of it happening and it happens to TWO people while recording!

[@DaveLH]

Proof that the Nomai's oh-so-brilliant scheme to find the Eye had one teeny-tiny flaw...

[@Laezar1]

it's not a flaw though, it's just a failed trajectory. you can still end up shooting behind the planet because gravity can affect trajectory. There might be a few blind spot realistically but then they'd have collected an immense amount of data with only a few blind spot in them which pretty much tell them the few trajectories where the eye has to be so it's not a bust even if that happens. (assuming the sun station worked obviously, which it didn't and that's definitely more of a flaw =p)

[@HeyImMax_]

it was so funny that after you respawned, you looked up to make sure it's not flying towards you again

[@javile24]

it would be so interesting if this event had to happen at least once in a game, so you could notice since the begining that the probe changes its direction in each loop

[@BrFAB]

Nomai jumpscare

[@DavidDavyDavidson]

It is astonishing they made a sound effect for this occurrence given the slim odds of it ever happening.

[@Nudgarrobot]

In a tragic kind of way I feel like this highlights a flaw in the Nomai's plan-- If, by some phenomenal feat of unlucky timing, the eye were occluded by a celestial body from the system at time of the launch, the Eye would never have been found regardless of the number of loops. What if straight through our launch pad **were** the only path to the eye? Just seems an unfortunate possibility.

[@Bronimin]

if physics were rendered better the probe would be affected by the planets gravity fields and curve around them, no blind spots.

[@GeorgeN-ATX]

@@Bronimin Everyone should definitely check out some 'making of outer wilds' type videos. The developers actually did program in extensive gravity simulation, apparently they even considered programming gravity time dilation (the thing that makes astronauts a few seconds younger than everybody else by the time they're back compared to before they left). Stuff in the game would actually get out of sync and weird if the game ever lasted longer than 22 minutes due to floating point errors and other computer stuff.

[@timothygooding9544]

@@Bronimin knowing the game that likely happens, its just that the probe is extremely fast

[@RipleySawzen]

It doesn't have to fire at the exact same time in the orbit. It could fire later on, like when it's halfway around Giant's Deep. Of course, there's no need for it to do this once it's found the Eye, which is the first loop we experience.

[@IdiotVermin]

​@@GeorgeN-ATXsince the player is programmed as being the center of the universe, if you fly really far away from the solar system, the floating point rounding gets bad enough that the entire solar system will go out of sync before the 22 minutes are up

[@kainsuna]

you can tell bro was shook by that camera movement

[@johngavin3180]

Slate: Hey hey bud. You're back earlier than I thought. Hearthian: That's because the shuttle got ORBITAL STRIKED BY THE DAMNED NOMAI CANNON!

[@mangounit9678]

imagine if this happened on the first loop and landed somewhere more convenient so they didnt even have to get the launch codes...

[@eliteclasswarrior94]

Now you can spend this loop exploring the village

[@AlexanderLoaizaGameDev]

Exactly this happened to me when I had an idea to find the eye. Wasn’t the right idea, but I felt like it didn’t want me to find the eye.

[@hoody4414]

The best part was the end, when you look at the sky several times just to make sure it wasn't about to happen again. "We good now? Can I go back to exploring? Yes? Great. Thanks." 😂

[@lwhent]

0:15: "Oh no! My ship blew up! I should probably tell Slate and Gossan."

[@Allacara]

You think the chance of it hitting your ship is the same chance of it finding "The eye of the universe"

[@RidgeXR_2]

"Nope, no eye of the universe here"

[@AlkimiusGaming]

you can feel the jumpscare on this poor guy

[@notjebbutstillakerbal]

Looks like you're not going to space today, and not just from the engines pointing the wrong way.

[@Pomodorosan]

What? I've only ever seen the probe be shot away from the timber hearth. Never anywhere close to towards it.

[@xivit]

Yes, it's actually a physical object that exists in the game's world and not just a sparkle in the sky

[@Pomodorosan]

@@xivit That's not at all what I'm bringing up.

[@lunarwings4481]

I think if you had stolen the suit from the Zero-G cave (I don't actually know if you can take it out of the cave but it's the only suit besides the one in your ship) you might be able to repair it Unless the repair trigger is tied to entering your ship....

[@lunalumafly]

if the ship actually blows up theres no repairing it

[@hiaaf6105]

you cant steal it

[@Dan0RG]

If they managed to parkour into the ship, they could've gotten the regular spacesuit. That's pretty much the only way they could've done anything productive that loop.

[@morganjenkins8464]

@@Dan0RG nah, the suit is connected to the right side thrusters. when the ship blows up all sections, except the rear with the no longer functional computer, get detach from the central body. You would need to find the right section for the suit, no parkour required... probably.

[@chuckled125]

you don't have to have the suit to repair either

[@ziadconnolly057]

i would have looked around/in the planet for the satellite

[@drakelordiscool]

Imagine that happening on your first loop 😂

[@IndirectCogs]

Time to meditate

[@generalrubbish9513]

You are NOT going to space today

[@lwhent]

I didn't even know what happened at 0:13 that made the probe crash into the launchpad before the protagonist could get in it. Very funny🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂

[@spring.on.neptune]

ship got sent to the shadow realm and then immediately the universe died lmao

[@lucasbuttalicka4521]

I’m so confused right now. This happened to me when I just started playing I got the launch codes then sat down next to slate and cooked a marshmallow then died. Except I managed to get past the goat thingy with three eyes so I had to do it all again but the blue ball didn’t happen. So this is just a random event.. that can happen at any time including the first time you play and confuse the hell outta you

[@Polydueces]

I actually look up to see its direction for this exact reason lol

[@KazmirRunik]

You can get another space suit from the zero-G cave

[@Eidako]

It won't let you remove it from the cave. Main character takes it off when you get in the elevator.

[@leonsubbotsky6087]

Yep, you staying in the village this loop.

[@ashraf-1067]

Go to sleep traveler, you will resume your space journey in the next loop 😂

[@DaveLH]

So who programmed the Probe's autopilot, Slate??

[@crowsenpai5625]

I mean we know the Probe cannon was calibrated by 2 very… enthusiastic Nomai with little regard for safety.

[@amythistfire5042]

Maybe you should explore timber hearth this loop

[@TaiKomarinsky]

I had one time it shot directlyi at Earth but i did'nt manage to find it around.

[@greymatter5492]

skill issue tbh

[@Strix2031]

"sigh" *Jumps in campire*

[@callmegoats]

Born in the worst timeline.

[@Gna-rn7zx]

a 1 in 9 million shot!

[@hasx18]

no *_signal source_* here thats for sure

[@seantaggart7382]

Nomai: WHOOPS

[@cosmadroli7916]

the comedic timing of the spaceship just disappearing with a loud explosion is way too funny hilarious they didnt prevent this from happening

[@pauls4704]

It can do that?

[@brholanda]

Spoilers!! I don't remember if this info is on the game, but why does the canon keeps shooting the probe in random directions if it has already found the eye's location?

[@kalash9467]

Because it was still connected to his own statue once it found the eye, there was no one to deactivate the statue of the probe once it got the location

[@ahmed4363]

Extremely oversimplified, Spoilers Nomai build probe cannon, launch into space. Build Ash twin Project, make statues activate when probe finds Eye of the Universe or The project fails. If the statues are active they can then disable the cannon from launching (so it would have technically never launched) Hatchling wakes up, Cannon launches. Finds eye, Activates ATP. No one to stop cannon in next loop so it keeps firing

[@BloodRose-75]

Pfttt OHHHHHHHH NOOOOO, I’ve been close but never that close 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@prometheus-ii7030]

The universe said you should explore Timber Hearth some this loop instead.

[@TheGuardDuck]

Should put this on the Reddit sub, if you haven't before!

[@captnluuj2915]

This happened to me yesterday but the ship did not explode

[@srduncanbyu]

i was expecting it and it still jumpscared me!

[@HuffdrewPaint]

I wonder which number attempt that was...

[@nnelg8139]

You will not go to space today.

[@SAIHTAM20Y]

Spoilers: Bro went like: is the sixth location In timber hearth?

[@ACMaNNeN99]

I mean it kinda is scripted in a way. Makes sense in the game

[@nery2981]

Yeah i wondered if this could happen

[@austinplatt]

I think it’s broken…

[@DragonaxFilms]

This game is a masterpiece 😂

[@SilentSputnik]

Holy SHIT

[@euzie13]

i'm scared

[@PanBeliara]

なにそれwwwwwwww

[@PoRRasturvaT]

Bullseye!

[@BEMCECE]

no fucking way lol

[@sfrcloudy6414]

WIW tgats scart