Someone replied to your reddit post about this 6 minutes ago.

have the same problem, cannot find any solution]

Originally posted by hannes-r:

have the same problem, cannot find any solution]

If using a mouse, this should help. Some find using a controller is even easier, and a trackpad much trickier. YMMV.

1. Face the device, and when the cursor has a solid circle inside its circle, press the left mouse button to bring your view "into" the machine so it can be interacted with.

2. Aim the cursor at the device control handle until you see that solid circle inside the circle on the handle.

3. To move the handle (and thereby change the aim of the device from one piston to another), hold down the left mouse button after you're engaged with the handle, then move the mouse itself, swinging it to the right or left to move it to the corner (and piston) you want to interact with.

4. To interact with the handle in order to unlock or lock the large piston the handle is connected to, do not hold the mouse button after you've swung the view to the piston you want to interact with, just move the mouse over the handle until that solid circle appears inside the cursor circle, then left click.


This should help you interact with the device as intended.

I had the same problem, but being much more aggressive with a side-to-side and up-and-down sweeping motion while holding down the left mouse button did the trick.

I feel lucky I never had this issue

If you are using a controller (an XBox Elite Series 2 in my case), you need to ensure that you are not in Free Roam navigation mode, instead you need to be in Point-and-Click navigation mode. Use the left side of the cross-shaped button between the two joysticks to do this. Then you can use the mouse, holding down the left button to move the piston control lever round to activate the other pistons. I found that the lever will not move from the bottom left position directly to the bottom right position, so I had to go clockwise instead. You can then change the navigation mode back to Free Roam.

Originally posted by Yggdrasil:

If you are using a controller (an XBox Elite Series 2 in my case), you need to ensure that you are not in Free Roam navigation mode, instead you need to be in Point-and-Click navigation mode. Use the left side of the cross-shaped button between the two joysticks to do this. Then you can use the mouse, holding down the left button to move the piston control lever round to activate the other pistons. I found that the lever will not move from the bottom left position directly to the bottom right position, so I had to go clockwise instead. You can then change the navigation mode back to Free Roam.

Moving the pistons with the instructions in my Sept. 1st, 2020 post should work for everyone in either Free Roam or Teleport navigation mode, because once a player interacts with the dais, they are locked into accessing only the piston controls, not moving anywhere that would use the nav modes at all.

Originally posted by Halloween Jack:

Originally posted by Yggdrasil:

If you are using a controller (an XBox Elite Series 2 in my case), you need to ensure that you are not in Free Roam navigation mode, instead you need to be in Point-and-Click navigation mode. Use the left side of the cross-shaped button between the two joysticks to do this. Then you can use the mouse, holding down the left button to move the piston control lever round to activate the other pistons. I found that the lever will not move from the bottom left position directly to the bottom right position, so I had to go clockwise instead. You can then change the navigation mode back to Free Roam.

Moving the pistons with the instructions in my Sept. 1st, 2020 post should work for everyone in either Free Roam or Teleport navigation mode, because once a player interacts with the dais, they are locked into accessing only the piston controls, not moving anywhere that would use the nav modes at all.

Just trying to help.......:-)
And I must say that Obduction is the best game ever :-)

@Yggdrasil Did you play Vikings by PLARIUM? I apologize to the Obduction community I couldn’t find a way to private message Yggdrasil. I ask because I was in a Clan named Yggdrasil in Vikings, War of the Clans. The name is so uncommon I had to ask.

I'll comment that Yggdrasil in Norse religions is the sacred tree of life, the center of the universe, so you'll see that a lot in games involving Vikings.

True. Obduction though is a bit removed from Norse and the Vikings that is why I was struck by it.

Was stuck in top right piston position and couldn't move the ring it was driving me crazy as the mouse or the pad on my laptop didn't work so as a last resort I tried my xbox controller and it worked perfectly allowing me to get all four pistons working.
I hope this helps.

SOLVED - I actually worked with Cyan support (who were GREAT btw) and sent my save files and videos of the behavior of the piston couper control not repositioning - it turns out at that you can only reposition the coupler when the target piston is out of the frame of the reticle (viewfinder) of the coupler. Otherwise when you click and drag, the cursor does not move. If there's interest I will post a video. Hope this helps!