THE HIDDEN GARDEN SERIES

Levels by Jon Heywood (Inchdix)

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

Note: It has been nearly four years since the Hidden Garden series was completed, and there have been no levels released by this talented builder since then. My main purpose in writing a detailed walkthrough for these levels at this late date (to complement the very helpful outlines provided by Monika) is to revive interest in the series and hopefully to entice Inchdix out of retirement.

Also, the levels are interlocking as are the levels in Celtic Folly, and they're intended to be played as a unit, so please note that all five levels in the series must be installed in order for you to play.



LEVEL 1: THE HIDDEN GARDEN

The level begins with a lingering flyby through a jungle clearing and into a building, when Lara suddenly comes sliding down a slope toward the sunlight where she's met by a friendly monkey. Step forward and slide down into the clearing. Explore the outside area a bit before moving on. First go to your right and locate the small medi-pack on the near side of the irregular mound, then continue south and note the closed door and large metal gate in the entrance between the pillars to your left. This and other metal gates you'll see here serve as portals to the other levels in the series. As you make a clockwise circuit you'll see a square hole in the ground that's blocked by a trap door. At the south end of the clearing is a deep pit with a large structure built into the far wall. You could go down and explore further, but there's nothing to do there at present (and also no apparent way of getting back up), so continue around the clearing past a couple of trees and a small pool.

There's another square hole in the mound on this side, also blocked by a trap door. To the north (near the west edge of the clearing) is a smaller building with an entrance on the east side. Enter and go down the ramp until you reach some steps with a blocked alcove on your left. Here you'll trigger a flyby that takes you through a lava-filled area below and stops at a trident on a pedestal that's obviously your next goal. Continue down the stairs and wind around to your right. Walk, don't run, to the edge and take a running jump across the gap. Hop back to grab the edge, shimmy to your right as far as you can, safety drop to the sloped rock in the lava below and back flip to a stable ledge. Turn around to face east, then shoot the bat that has probably been alerted by this time.

There's an opening SE you could breach with a running jump. However, this was not intended by the builder and will result in your becoming stuck with no way out. Instead, stand on the highest point of the ridge running along the ledge you're standing on, face slightly left of due east and take a standing jump into another opening that's very difficult to see even with a lit torch. Turn to your left and pull down the wall switch to open a door in the south wall outside. Go back to the opening, put your back against the east wall and take a standing jump through the opening and slide down to the ledge. Standing on the ridge, face slightly left of due west and take a running jump to the sloped rock in the center of the lava. Slide a short distance down the other side and jump off onto a ledge along the west wall. Shoot the bat, then turn left and walk out to the SE tip. Take a running jump SE to a ledge along the south wall and step into the doorway you just opened.

Turn to your left and crawl until you reach another wall switch. Pull it down to open the door to your left. Enter, squeeze past the rubble, turn right and run up the stairs toward the pedestal in the next room and take the TRIDENT from it. Look in the SW corner for a small medi-pack, the SE corner for some flares, and the NE corner for some crossbow arrows. When you've collected everything, exit this room and use the crawl space to return to the south doorway. When you can stand up, turn left and go to the wall. Jump up, grab it and climb four rungs. Back flip into the passage behind you, turn around and run up the ramp past the open doorway (which must have lifted when you picked up the trident).

Hop down to the floor below, note the closed gate ahead, turn to your right and take a running jump and grab across the gap. Pull up, run forward up the stairs (the door in the alcove is still closed) and ramp and return to the bright outdoors. Make a hairpin turn to the left and locate the passage in the dark NW corner. Follow the passage down some steps until you reach an opening overhead. Turn around and find the ladder, jump up to grab it and climb to the top of the shaft. Don't pull up, but back flip from the top into an upper passage for SECRET #1. Turn around, vault up onto the block and pick up the crossbow arrows, the flares and a large medi-pack. Turn and jump back to the ladder.

Climb down and drop to the passage below. Hop back twice to release a spike ball above you, then sprint forward up the ramp as the spike ball tumbles down harmlessly. Turn around and walk carefully down the ramp, as you get a fixed camera when you near the edge. Take a running jump across the fire trap and climb the ladder to your left. Pull up and run up the winding ramp into a new room. Note: I experienced a strange phenomenon here where the lights went out as I was climbing up the ladder. Lighting a flare does nothing to help. The only way to see what you're doing is to hit the look key, but the problem is that you can't walk or run and use the look key at the same time. If this happens to you, go past one of the spike traps as described below, exit through the east doorway, slide down the slope and pick up the flares at the bottom for your trouble, hop down into the spike ball passage and repeat your jump to the ladder. Going up the second time, I experienced normal lighting.

As you step into the room the far door in the east wall opens. If you step onto the depressed square in the center of the room the door slams shuts, so pick up the shotgun ammo and go back to the west entrance to re-open the door by stepping on the trigger. Pick up the flares in the NW corner, then time an easy run past one of the spike traps in the far corners of the room. Pick up the small medi-pack in the SE corner and exit through the east doorway. Jump over the slope (unless you didn't experience the "darkness" bug and want to go down for those flares) and continue along the passage until you reach a ledge overlooking the outside clearing.

Turn right and head west along the ledge, and you can see the flares on a limb to your left. Take a running jump there and claim your prize. Turn to face the trunk of the tree and take a standing jump to the next limb ahead and to your right. Walk out to the higher part of this limb near the end and take a running jump east to the right-hand side of the roof. Grab, pull up and turn to your left. Enter the opening and pull down the wall switch to open a door below you saw earlier. Reverse roll, run to the south end of the roof and safety drop to the ground. Have fun dealing with the welcoming ahmet, using the only weapons at your disposal--your pistols.

When it's dead, go between the massive pillars in the east structure and find that the door to your left is now open. Run up the ramp into a room with a fountain and a closed door in the east wall. You can see the second trident beyond the grate in the north wall. Jump into the water and pull the underwater lever in the east wall to open the door above. Pull out of the water and go up the stairs. Don't turn right at the junction, or you'll slide down into a fire trap. Turn left instead and approach the trident, which is now protected by a flame blower. Wait for the flames to subside, run forward and grab the second TRIDENT, and hop back quickly before the flames return.

Return to the fountain room and go back outside. Now it's time to explore that area to the south. Walk past the tree on the left side and you'll stumble down a fairly steep slope. There's a wooden walkway down below, so hop down to it and follow it around to the end. Hop back and grab the edge, and shimmy to your right. You'll discover to your amazement that you can shimmy along an invisible triangle. Continue until you're over the top of the steps, then release and sustain minimal damage upon landing. Turn around and run toward the west end, noting the closed door on your right. Run up the ramp into another fountain room and pick up the small medi-pack just inside the entrance to your right. Jump into the water and swim into the east opening for some revolver ammo. Surface, pull out of the water and exit this room. The path to your left is blocked by rubble, so go back to the outside area.

Locate the hanging vines to your right, next to the steps. They obscure a passage, so go inside and pull down the wall switch. This opens the door to the north that you saw earlier, so reverse roll, go back outside and cross over to the open doorway. Follow the passage up to a couple of closed doors. Turn around and activate the jump switch high up on the wall in the SW corner to open the doors. Enter a larger room with a shallow central pool and fountain. Turn left and go up the steps. There's a hole in the ceiling with another jump switch. Activating it opens a door in the north wall in the larger room. Go there and find openings to three side rooms.

Enter the east room and shoot the two wooden boxes for crossbow arrows and the TORCH. In the north room is a box containing a small medi-pack. There's also a face tile to push (which lights a burner in the anteroom) before proceeding to the west room for some more crossbow arrows in one of the wooden boxes. Go back to the east room, retrieve the torch and light it on the burner. Go out to the main room and light the burners on either side of the closed east door. When the door opens, go inside blue]for SECRET #2 and take the CROSSBOW from the central pedestal. One of the vases in the corner contains more crossbow arrows for your arsenal. (The sconces in here won't light up, so don't bother trying.)

Go back up the stairs to the west. Use the ladder to climb up the shaft. When you pull up and step forward the exit door opens obligingly, and it also shuts abruptly behind you. You're in the alcove that you saw very early in the level, so hop down to the stairs, turn right and exit the building. Make a hairpin turn to the left, enter the dark passage in the NW corner and follow the same route as earlier, along the spike ball passage, up the ladder and the ramp to the spike trapped room, and out to the ledge overlooking the clearing. This time, follow the ledge all the way west, taking standing jumps over slopes where necessary, until you reach the west wall. Step back a bit, face SW and take a standing jump to the ledge around the corner. Run around the next corner to the next short ledge and face south. Take a running jump to the roof of the small temple and run to the other side. Take a standing jump to the nearest limb and locate the shotgun ammo on an adjacent branch.

Take a running jump to the nearest branch of the next tree SE, turn right and walk to the trunk. Stand on the ridge at the highest point, turn left to face due south and jump up to grab the higher limb above. Pull up, turn around, jump over to the next tree NW and pick up the revolver ammo. Return to the previous tree south and continue with a running jump to the next tree south. Turn left, take standing jumps to get around the trunk to the east branch, and walk out to the SE corner. Facing SE, take a running jump to the slope in the cliff face, slide down and grab the edge. Release to drop down onto a stable ledge. Turn to your right and jump down to the ledge SE. Take a standing jump across the gap and run onto the roof of the structure. Pause to pick up the shotgun ammo on the other side, then walk over to the highest part of the west edge facing the crack in the south wall. Take a standing jump and grab, and shimmy right along the crack and around the corner. Release and drop down into the alcove.

Turn to face NW and take a standing jump to the ledge around the corner. Take a standing jump forward to the next ledge, and you find yourself tantalizingly close to the temple entrance. Face SW and take a standing jump down to a ledge in front of a crawl space. Crawl through, stand up and face NW. Save your game here, because the next jump is a little tricky. Make sure you have enough head room and take a standing jump around the corner to the next ledge. One more standing jump will bring you to the temple entrance. Go inside and go over to the south wall. Crawl under the grated flooring, then run along the trench and pick up the large medi-pack. Turn around and go back out. Locate the Poseidon statues near the south wall. Affix the tridents and watch the flyby as the area is flooded and the large gates open in the area below (this is the portal to the next level in the series, so don't go there until you've finished here). At the end of the flyby you hear the sound of the nearby doors opening in the north and east walls, releasing two ahmets.

Try to kill the ahmets from your relatively safe perch. (One may be hiding while you're gleefully shooting the other; if so, go down and flush it out.) When the coast is clear, go down and enter their lairs for a small medi-pack and some crossbow arrows. Leave the temple via the large east entrance and dive into the water below. Swim to your left and enter the doorway you opened with the wall switch earlier. Follow the passage into a room you visited earlier. Swim to the roof of the central structure and pick up the large medi-pack and shotgun ammo, then use the air pocket above. When you've caught your breath, you'll have plenty of time to locate the hole high up in the south wall. Swim along the narrow passage until you reach a well-lit room where you'll find the first HORSEMAN'S GEM on the other side of the central pillar. Use the air hole here if you need to, then swim back out after picking up the flares. Exit the larger room through the SW doorway and swim back to the outside area.

Surface for air and then swim through the ivy-covered south opening. Turn left past the switch and follow the passage up until you emerge on dry land. Pull up into the crawl space on your left and follow the passage when you can stand up. The inaccessible opening to your right when you reach a bend in the passage is what you'll use to make the return trip. You'll next pass a hole on your left, where you'll find a wall switch. If you were to go down and throw the switch, you'd see a cut scene of an underwater door closing that you've previously opened. The builder explains that the only purpose for this switch is to enable you to open this door if for some reason you didn't to so before the area was flooded. So leave this switch alone and continue around the bend. You'll soon come to an opening overlooking a deep lava room.

Step forward to attract some bats, then hop back into the passage while drawing your pistols so you can kill them in more confined quarters. Then step forward to the edge, facing slightly left toward the sloped pillar ahead. Take a running jump and grab the edge of the slope, pull up and slide a short distance down the other side, jump off and grab the pillar ahead. Shift to the right and around the corner, then climb up until Lara's hands are just below the crack. Take a rolling back flip and grab the edge as you slide down, release and grab the lower ledge. Climb down one rung so that Lara's feet get "set" in midair, then shift right and around the corner. Continue to the other end of the wide pillar, then climb up and pull up onto the ledge. More bats appear.

Walk out to the NW corner of the ledge and face slightly left of due north. Take a running jump to the next pillar, then turn left and take a running jump west. Run into the room and turn left to go to the SE corner. Pick up the TORCH and approach the flaming pedestal in the center of the room. Don't step on the square on which the pedestal rests, or you'll be set aflame. Light the torch and go to the back of the room to light the two burners on either side of the pillar. Drop the torch and take a standing jump from the stairs to the east pillar in the lava room. Turn to face SE and take a running jump to the ledge. Walk forward to the south edge, angle slightly to the right and take a running jump toward the south wall, curving to the right so that Lara will land on the slope and slide down backwards. Grab the edge and release to land on a ledge at the lava's surface.

Turn around and take a running jump and grab over the lava to a block. Pull up, turn to your right and enter the doorway that was opened when you lit the two burners. Hop down onto the corner ledge and turn to your right. Save your game here. Standing slightly right of center, place Lara's back against the wall and take a running jump to the sloped rock ahead. Keep the jump key depressed so that Lara jumps off without sliding and grabs the ceiling. Monkey swing to the ledge in the far corner, release and pick up the LASER SIGHT for SECRET #3. Turn around, jump up and grab the ceiling, monkey swing just past the apex of the sloped rock (18 swings is just about right) and release to jump off the slope to the ledge in the SE corner.

Turn to your left, pull up onto the block and take a running jump slightly left of due north to a ledge in the lava beyond the cracked pillar. From there take a running jump NW and pull up into the north alcove to locate a wall switch. Pull it down to extinguish the flames around the gem pedestal. Turn around and jump to the sloped pillar south. Take a running jump and grab the wide pillar ahead. Shift to your right, climb up and pull up onto the ledge. Turn around and take a running jump NW to the next pillar. Turn left and jump into the room with the pedestal. Take the second HORSEMAN'S GEM and jump back to the pillar. Turn left and take a running jump and grab to the opening in the north wall. Pull up, follow the passage and slide down into a familiar place.

Turn left and use the crawl space to return to the partially flooded passage. Swim back to the flooded open area and get some air if necessary, then swim through the west doorway and turn right just before the fountain room. The passage that was formerly blocked by rubble is now accessible, so swim inside, surface and run up the long winding ramp. You'll come to a closed door with a gem receptacle on each side. Insert both of the Horseman's Gems to open the door to a small room with five wall switches. Go ahead and throw them all. Going from right to left, the first two give you no clue as to what you've done. The middle switch opens a portal gate elsewhere, the fourth switch opens a nearby metal gate to give you a shortcut out of here, and the final switch opens another portal game.

If you wish, you can drop down through the hole in the floor and check out the room to the north, where you'll need to find and bring back here four Golden Vraeus artifacts. You'll spend the next four levels collecting these, so go back to the main room, use the ladder in the south face to climb back up to the room with the switches, and exit through the room with the Poseidon statues. Dive into the water outside, swim forward and enter the underwater portal gate south. Turn left, swim through the opening and follow the passage until you run into the warp trigger that takes you to the next level.

The Hidden Garden

by Jon Heywood/Inchdix

This is an unauthorised walkthrough by Monika Pietsch.

It has all the important pick-ups and items mentioned.
It will not contain all pick-ups, all enemies and maybe not all the secrets.
This walkthrough is meant as a guideline to get you to the end of the level, even so there might be other ways too.

Level 1

Walkthrough

You are in a garden with trees and monkeys. Collect a small medi-pack.
Enter the building on the west side. Drop down into the lava room.
First find a switch to open a door. Go there and use the other switch. Then go over to the room with the pedestal and take the 1. Trident.
When you are back in the place with the trees go to the left side. In the corner is a corridor. There is a Spiky Boulder Trap. Go up. There is an open door. It closes, when you step into the middle.
Pick up the blue Shotgun-Ammo, go back and now walk along the side, pass the Spike Trap. The slope takes you back in to the corridor before the Spikes Trap. Jump over it and go to the outside and jump to the tree on the left, take the flares and to the left to the white building.
Pull the switch. This opens the golden door underneath. When you get down there is an Ahmet waiting. Go in and pull the switch in the fountain. This opens a door. Behind the door on a pedestal is the 2. Trident. Watch it, the Trident is guarded by emitting fire.
Go outside and to the left side where there is another area down below. Go down. You can go to the west side and get some Shotgun-Ammo out of the fountain. Rocks block the entrance into the building.
Now you go to the south side and enter an opening. Pull the switch. This will open the door opposite. Enter that door. Pull a switch and this will open the door to a room with a fountain. Use a high up switch. This opens a metal door. Go in and shoot the wooden boxes. Push a button switch in the middle room to light a burner. In the right one you find a Torch. Use it on the two burners outside the other metal door.
The door will open. Inside you find the Crossbow and a Secret.
Go to the corridor on the left. Climb up and leave. You come out in the building where you went down into the lava room. Go up the corridor on the right. Make your way to the roof of the white temple. Jump to the tree ahead. Collect some ammo.

1. Choice: jump over to the left tree and jump and grab a branch to go up higher. Jump to the next tree and from there to the nearest branch in front of the brown wall. Take a running jump to grab a slope. Make your way along the cliff and over a tree and so on till you reach the room with the 2 Neptune.

2. Choice: climb up one branch higher. Collect blue Shotgun-Ammo. Make your way to an opening in the wall. Jump over. Then comes a tricky jump towards a column.
A long running jump (hop back 3 times) will do it, but be prepared to try several times.

When you have made it, enter the room. Go and get for a large medi-pack and red Shotgun-Ammo. Then use the 2 Tridents. Two doors will open and 2 Ahmets will appear. Kill them. Go into their rooms and collect things.

The 2 Tridents made the waterfall start and now the place down is filled with water.
Dive and go to the left. Get the large medi-pack and red Shotgun Ammo. Look for the air hole. Get up and out and take the 1.Horseman’s Gem. Swim out of this place and go the other side. You come to a lava room. Make your way to the pedestal with the
2. Horseman’s Gem. Start towards the blue sloped block. At the pedestal room take the Torch and light the 2 burners. This opens a door down on the left of the room. Get down and you find the Lasersight there. Use a monkey bar to swing over.
Then make your way over to the switch and pull it. This will stop the fire around the 2.Horseman’s Gem.
Climb up again and take the 2.Horseman’s Gem.
Jump to the left and leave this area. When you come to the open area swim to the door with the fountain. Now you can get pass the rocks. Walk up and you are at a place where you use the 2 Horseman’s Gem. This opens a door with 5 switches behind it.
Pull them. 3 doors open One is the exit and others, which you can’t use just now (one is the entrance to “Firewalk” inside the white temple and one is the entrance to “Obsidian Heights” up a slope on the right side of the pool).
Dive into the water and swim just forward and you will enter the 2.level “Emerald Lake”.