Thanks. Yes, one of the ages has a series of puzzles including orbs, three of which must be solved before getting access to the fourth and last one. These puzzles are what I consider “classic Myst” - you are presented with a machine and need to use deductive reasoning to understand how it operates, and inductive reasoning to figure out what you need the machine to do. In two of these puzzles, the task is made harder by an annoying layer of intentional obfuscation, such as when the controls and the observable result are in different locations. (This Myst tendency, along with color puzzles, is what I mean when I say “dated”.) Even so, I think the first three puzzles were of enjoyable, standard difficulty. The puzzle you mention is probably the fourth one, where I had a good idea about what I needed to do, but where the exact solution eluded me. I ended up semi-bruteforcing it, which I’m a bit annoyed over. Looking back at the solution, I should have been able to figure out the role of colors in that particular puzzle and let that help me find the correct configuration.

Thanks, they tend to make me ask myself if it’s me or the puzzles that are dumb. Probably a bit of both.