How do I hop these two tables on The Path To Higher Learning?

Question

In Quantum Conundrum, on the level "The Path To Higher Learning", there is a multi-stage puzzle.

In the first stage you have only the slow-motion battery available, and there's an area you must get across where you can drop two tables:

I cannot for the life of me figure out how to jump across this gap; the nearer table is always below the far table, and this gap gets larger as they fall.

I have tried hundreds of times to jump as SOON as the near table gets low enough to land on, but every time I just smack into the far table when trying to jump to it, as it's already too high above me. I'm using slow motion, naturally.

The voice-over is no help, telling you only "Intriguingly tricky!" and "Take a leap of faith! Time is on your side."

I've jumped all over this damn puzzle and nothing works. I can tell that I have to solve this puzzle first because 1) He tells you explicitly to avoid one of the other areas until you get the right battery and 2) I clearly need the fluffy battery (which is visible on the other side of this gap where I'm trying to go) in order to solve the other major puzzle area.

What am I missing here? Is this jump REALLY so tricky to execute that I could have failed at it hundreds of times? That seems unlikely and seems like uncharacteristically pretty poor design, but I can't for the life of me figure out what else I can do.

Answer 1

This part was very difficult for me as well. I had to stop playing for a few hours out of frustration.

However, there is hope. The way I managed to do it was to slow time and jump onto the first table as soon as I was able. From there, I jumped toward the second table, returning to Normal dimension in midair. This speeds the fall of the second table enough for you to land on it.

Just make sure to slow time again to allow yourself the time needed to jump from the second table to the platform.

It took me a few tries to get the timing down, but once I got it, the rest of the level was a breeze.

There is supposedly another option in the form of a second, much lower platform across the gap where you can find another DOLLI that can launch you up to the top, but I have been unable to confirm this yet.

Answer 2

It isn't actually that hard once you think about it.

Here's the correct, easiest and fastest solution:

1. Press the button to have the DOLLIs emit the tables.
2. Slow time such that the first table is low enough that you can jump on it.
3. Jump off the table and return time to normal long enough for the second table to be below you and then slow time.
4. Jump across to the planks.
5. If you miss the planks or the table's too low, keep going for the far wall as there is a platform below you. On this lower platform is a button which will emit furniture from the lower DOLLI to lift you back up.

This doesn't take some people all that long to figure out and here's video evidence:

This solution involves shifting mid-jump, a technique that will be needed more as the game progresses. Also, as a tip for the fastest time run, at this point you have all the tools you need to head right for the exit, despite what John de Lancie says.

As an alternative, to avoid one of the tables and just to find another way around, you can:

1. Press the button to have the DOLLIs emit the tables.
2. Slow time.
3. Hop down onto the pipe coming out of the left wall just below the button.
4. Let the far table drop until it just about lines up with the lower platform in the distance.
5. With a running jump off this narrow pipe, you can just make it to the far table.
6. Jump across to the lower platform here and use the DOLLI below to get up to the top.

This is the technique I used on my first run through as the best solution didn't jump to mind. I got it in only a few tries and never thought to look for something better and easier until I came back later. For fewest shifts, this approach can complete this section of the level with only 1 shift which puts you at far less than the goal when you reach the end.