Operational Briefings - Recommended Paths to Progression
Part of what makes Transliminal special is discovering its many secrets, quest lines, and hidden mechanics through sheer exploration and playing the game organically. However, the early game can be unforgiving if you don't know what to prioritize.
This walkthrough eases the learning curve and shows you how to achieve things that may not be immediately obvious. It is designed to guide you along the most direct paths to progression and get you started with essential equipment to ensure your success and avoid too much backtracking.
After Victor lands in The Halls, players will have a few immediate priorities. These items are the foundation for everything that follows.
The Backrooms can be a dark place. If you don't want to get frustrated fumbling in the dark, finding the Flashlight should be your number one priority.
The Cheap Orange Flashlight can be found inside of drawers & cabinets. And rarely on metal shelves.
The mere fact of being in the Backrooms has a deleterious effect on Victor's sanity. Listening to some music will allow players to control Victor's state of mind.
After collecting the Cassette Player, audio tapes will begin to spawn in drawers, cabinets, boxes, and elsewhere. At this time, players should be trying to collect as many cassettes as possible. The number of collected cassettes determines if certain areas and items will appear, allowing progression.
In most levels the Compass just spins in circles. But sometimes it picks up on a strong electromagnetic field and points the way to it.
Find it in drawers.
Victor entered The Backrooms with not so much as his wallet on him. And that jumpsuit he's wearing doesn't have any extra pockets. The character's Capacity rating starts at 1, which means you can carry 1 of most things.
The Backpack adds +2 to capacity and increases the maximum quantity of each item held to 3. It also allows Victor to carry 6 Almond Waters.
The Sketchbook may be found on the Hotel Reception desk, a MEG Recruitment table in Level 1, a gazebo table, a bookshelf, or elsewhere.
All of the pages have been torn out, leaving plenty of space between its bindings to collect the torn-out pages and carry other important documents.
With your essential gear in hand, it's time to pursue the items and objectives that will open up the rest of the game.
The Phase Emitter is a powerful tool and weapon that can dissolve walls and defeat entities. It is also a key item in the Navarro's Legacy questline. And it powers a fast travel system that it can unlock. But more immediately — once it is collected, the Electrics Key will then have a chance to spawn.
As soon as you get the message to investigate crawlspaces, head to Level 0 and try to find one of those square elevated passages on a wall there. If you're lucky, the center of the passageway will open up revealing a small crawlspace area below.
In this room you will find Doctor Novarro's Project Colander: a Particle Emitter Module attached to a test bench and a computer.
If you have not collected the Sketchbook by this point, it will be on the table by the computer. Along with a note taped to the monitor informing Victor what to type into the computer. However, the emitter is missing its power supply — a Novarro Phase Ultra-Capacitor.
On the other side of the room there is a Duller entity that is seemingly dead, hunched in the corner. Between his legs is the Capacitor to power the Module.
Plug the Capacitor into the module and run the initialization sequence on the computer. Once the Phase Emitter fires, it can be collected.
Equip the Phase Emitter and choose to leave by either shooting the walls with the Spiral artwork to leave by way of an Exit Door, or shoot the Floor Barricades to fall into a random level.
Now that you have the Phase Emitter, the Electrics Key will spawn on Key Racks located in closets and small rooms in Level 0, or side rooms in Level 1 and Level 2.
The Electrics Key will open the gate that was previously blocking the entrance to Level 3: The Electrics in the Level 2 Pipes.
This is really the first time you need to leave Level 0.
The best way to get to The Pipes is to find an Elevator and press 2. You may also get there by falling into it.
Once in The Pipes, the Compass will stop spinning. Follow it — shooting any Smilers and Death Moths you come across with the Phase Emitter — until you reach a metal gate. Interacting with the gate while holding the Electrics Key will cause it to open.
Once in The Electrics, the Compass will once again point to the same location. Follow it. Shoot any walls, bars, or fences that get in your way with the Phase Emitter.
Once you reach the Heart of Electrics, you will find a lever inside of a round cage.
Pull the lever to anchor yourself to this location. It will suck a large chunk of health out of Victor. See if you can find some Almond Water in the nearby refrigerator to restore a bit of health.
On a nearby workbench there is a blueprint document showing the 7 slots in the Gateway Device which Phase Emitters can slot into. Start by installing your currently held Phase Emitter into Slot 1 of the Array.
Once the Gateway is powered, you can use the console to select any level you have visited before and teleport there.
With Survival enabled, Victor must manage several vital statistics or face serious consequences. Neglecting these stats will drain Health and can kill you just as easily as any entity. This walkthrough covers how to stay alive, where to find food and water, and how to eventually build a self-sustaining supply chain.
Almond Water is the single most important consumable in the game. It restores Hydration and is a key ingredient in nearly every crafting recipe. Start collecting it immediately.
Almond Water can be found in refrigerators in Level 0, Level 1, and Level 4. It also appears randomly in lockers, on tabletops, and in various other locations throughout the Backrooms.
Almond Water is also available from vending machines, which can spawn randomly in levels if you have at least 3 coins in your inventory.
Victor's Capacity rating starts at 1, which severely limits what you can carry. Find the Backpack as soon as possible — it adds +2 to Capacity, usually raising it to a total of 3.
With higher Capacity you'll be able to carry more Almond Water, more Batteries, and enough supplies to make longer expeditions without running dangerously low. Keep looting drawers for batteries — since after collecting the Backpack you'll be able to carry more of them too.
To fill up on food, head to the Level 1 parking garage. In one of the many side rooms you'll find a garden with raised planters. This is your best early source of raw ingredients.
In the raised gardens you can find:
• Memberberries — Used to craft Pale Jam, which becomes an ingredient in powerful recipes.
• Backshrooms — Used to craft Shroom Powder, a base for teas and tonics.
• Sepia Grain — Used to craft Stainmeal and Yellow Wheat, the foundations of bread recipes.
To actually collect raw ingredients like Memberberries, Backshrooms, and Sepia Grain, you need the Medicine Pouch. Without it, you can see the ingredients growing but cannot pick them up.
The Medicine Pouch is a small deer skin bag, soft enough to carry delicate items without damaging them. Find it in containers throughout the Backrooms.
To craft anything, you'll need access to a Workbench — and the right upgrades installed on it. Workbench Upgrades like the Mortar & Pestle, Bunsen Burner, and Chemistry Set each unlock different categories of recipes.
You'll also need to fill the recipe pages of the Sketchbook by collecting all of the torn-out Recipes found in drawers, on shelves, and elsewhere. Without a recipe, even a fully upgraded Workbench won't show you what you can make.
Once you're able to store all of the different ingredients, you can start crafting at any Workbench to produce filling breads, hydrating beverages, and more. Here's a recommended crafting progression:
• Stainmeal — 1x Almond Water + 1x Sepia Grain. Simple, no equipment needed. Restores Nourishment and a bit of Health.
Grinding raw ingredients into base materials opens up the recipe tree:
• Shroom Powder — 1x Backshroom. A base ingredient for teas and tonics.
• Yellow Wheat — 1x Sepia Grain. Essential for all bread recipes.
• Pale Jam — 1x Memberberry. A key ingredient for high-value foods.
• Sporetella — 1x Almond Water + 1x Green Mold Spores. Used in Mold-based recipes.
This is where you start making the good stuff:
• Smooth Loaf — 1x Almond Water + 1x Yellow Wheat. Solid nourishment and health.
• Sticky Toast — 1x Almond Water + 1x Pale Jam + 1x Yellow Wheat. One of the best foods in the game — excellent Nourishment, Sanity, and Health.
• Bloom Bread — 1x Green Mold Spores + 1x Stainmeal. Strong nourishment, slight infection risk.
• Mold Cake — 1x Almond Water + 1x Sporetella + 1x Yellow Wheat. Highest nourishment of the cakes, slight infection risk.
• Nut Fungus Tea — 1x Almond Water + 1x Shroom Powder. (Also requires Bunsen Burner.) Restores a little of everything.
• Antiseptic — 1x Carpet Fluid + 1x Pool Water. Reduces Infection.
• Disinfectant — 1x Almond Water + 1x Carpet Fluid + 1x Pool Water. Greatly reduces Infection.
See the full Crafting System & Recipe List in the Items & Equipment documentation for all recipes and their effects.
Once you've unlocked the Heart of Electrics (see the Early Game walkthrough above), you gain access to the Grow Box — a planter with 6 plots where Victor can cultivate Memberberries, Backshrooms, and Sepia Grain without ever leaving the hub.
Each crop grows a bit each time Victor rests anywhere. Different crops require different amounts of rest cycles to mature. When harvested, each plot produces 3 of the planted consumable.
Eat well, drink often, rest when you can. The Backrooms don't care if you're tired.
This should get you started and allow you to be free to explore the game more thoroughly. From here, the Backrooms open up considerably. Consider pursuing:
Good luck out there, wanderer. Stay sane.