Puzzle of the echo mountains.
This is one I think Jeremiah might appreciate, because developing it would be more of a challenge for him than seith. All it would require is some scripting/programming for the quest requirements themselves.
As Tilo journey's across the aisle of Periclave, the path leads to what looks like a perfectly still lake. On the distant other side, you see the other side of the road you stand on (or the remnants of it) . Upon stepping into the lake, it is evident there are some shallow spots, but there are also very deep sections and something seems to lurk in the deeper waters. Swimming or falling in would be too dangerous.
Looking around, you see several gullies that cut through the surrounding mountains. Letting out a squeak, it is evident that the sound reverberates into a distinct echo loop for a good 30-60 seconds. Also, the surface of the water ripples with the sound over shallow areas, but is still in the deeper sections.
The puzzle is discovering what 3 songs or melodies echo through the mountains strong enough and long enough to keep the water ripples visible (all the way to the deeper part of the river) so you can then cross safely. As the player works through the game(either before or after discovering this area) they have acquired a few different songs and harmonies that can be played on the lute. If the 3 piece melody ends too soon, the player can stay on the shallow spot they're standing on and replay the 3 tunes to get the echo effect going again for a while.
Jeremiah would have to likely try and compose 3 separate distinct tunes that when looped together, made for a really nice melody. The player would get the benefit of solving the puzzle AND unlocking an 'easter egg' bonus song.
As an alternative method, the player coulc collect pebbles or small acorns on their journey (possibly also used as sling bullets) and toss them in the water, slowly crossing the river by watching the waters reaction. Small splash is shallow, more voluminous SPLOOSH is deep water. It would get the player across, though with less of a feeling of reward.
What this would require in terms of game assets:
First and foremost, creating the lake and surrounding area. Since this is a still lake/pond the water would not need to be heavily animated like seawater would. As well the ripples and movement could be simple textures and animated sprites that ddance across the lake and fade. Even in modern games, effects like this are done to shortcut the work it takes to create water. And if there is already any water effects built into the game (light distortion, splash particles, swimming/drowning animations) then this would reuse many of those.
Jeremiah would need to create the 3 distinct melodies, and then create a version pairing up the three properly. If the sound engine has the ability, layering or triggering the "echo" effect should be a simple script or audio subroutine (i may be VERY wrong though, especially if Unity is not as keen on audio stuff).
You wouldn't even need to necessarily show all of what lurks in the deep water, just show movement and maybe render a large creepy eye or tentacle or mouth.. hehehe. In Elder Scrolls Online, if you try to swim out tooo far into deep water the "slaughterfish" attach you and quickly drain your health. The visual effect is just seeing shadowy fish like things moving under the surface and splashing all around your character as they take damage and scream in pain. Really, it works great and doesn't use much in terms of rendering (splashing, animated shadows of fish).
I could see players messing around here (even after figuring out the puzzle) just seeing how different lute melodies work off one another.
mixing and editing and having fun with it.
apologies, I confused myself with the seed/bird puzzle... yes, the weight of a bird settling on the trunk to eat the seeds would do the job for sure.
