Return to Unfiction unforum
 a.r.g.b.b 
FAQ FAQ   Search Search 
 
Welcome!
New users, PLEASE read these forum guidelines. New posters, SEARCH before posting and read these rules before posting your killer new campaign. New players may also wish to peruse the ARG Player Tutorial.

All users must abide by the Terms of Service.
Website Restoration Project
This archiving project is a collaboration between Unfiction and Sean Stacey (SpaceBass), Brian Enigma (BrianEnigma), and Laura E. Hall (lehall) with
the Center for Immersive Arts.
Announcements
This is a static snapshot of the
Unfiction forums, as of
July 23, 2017.
This site is intended as an archive to chronicle the history of Alternate Reality Games.
  

The time now is Wed Nov 13, 2024 9:31 pm
All times are UTC - 4 (DST in action)		 View posts in this forum since last visit
View unanswered posts in this forum
Calendar
 Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » ARG: We Lost Our Gold
My Ep 5 Solution
Moderators: rose
View previous topicView next topic
Page 1 of 2 [22 Posts]   Goto page: 1, 2 Next
Author Message
ccl28
Veteran

Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Posts: 103

 		My Ep 5 Solution
Here's my solution to episode 5. I still have some loose ends to tie up, but not many. This will be written as a series of posts so I can do a bit at a time.

BACKGROUND
Everyone agrees that episode 5 should come after episode 3. If you look at the solutions for episodes 1 & 2 (which are obviously correct), each episode is a series of clues that connect spatially (start at point A, go to point B, then point C, ...). Episode 3 is somewhat harder to decode, but the pattern fits. Using a NYC subway map, you can interpret the clues as they relate to subway stops and attractions near subway stops on the orange, yellow and blue lines.

We have to accept a hard truth to make sense of episode 3. That truth is that the group splits up. This is hard to accept for two reasons. First, psychologically this is tough because it means we have to do four times the work (or five times if you count the parrot). Second, could we not just follow one path to get to the 'final' destination? The second point is only valid if you believe that clues lead you directly to the treasure's location. I believe that the path sketched out by the group is the real clue (code of codes).

INITIAL PATH
I'm not going to write a full solution to episode 3 because you can piece it together from posts on the main thread (some posted my me). However, we need a starting point for this episode. At the end of Episode 3, I have the following:

Captain - travelling SE on the B train near Coney Island
Mulligan - travelling SE on the D train near Coney Island
Crothers - travelling SE on the Q train near Coney Island
Black Tom - Travelling W (not E) on the A/C train near the Hoyt Station
Parrot - Dropped off the D train somewhere in Brooklyn

(To be continued)

PostPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:14 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
ccl28
Veteran

Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Posts: 103

 		INITIAL POSITIONS

Mulligan -> "Last place 5 years in a row."
Based on where the D train ends, this most likely puts Mulligan on the end of W5th street. If you take lucky SANDwich to mean beach, he's on the end near the beach.

Crothers -> "15 WPPT Championship Bracelets" & "Nice hat, where's your legs?"
W15th between Mermaid (legs) and Neptune (nice hat)

Captain -> QQ
Means he took B train to the end and took Q train 2 stops.

Tom -> Doggie Academy & JJ
Tom got off at the Jay Street Station. Doggie Academy is in that area.

PostPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:04 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
ccl28
Veteran

Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Posts: 103

 		THE KEY
In the last episode, the key to decode the clues was the NYC subway map. In this episode, it's NYC bus maps. Here are the clues:

Crothers says "Fair is Fair". Read fair as (bus) fare. Crothers is dealt 65 in the first hand. In poker, 65 is known as a bus pass:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_playing_card_nicknames

Once you have the key, this episode is solvable. You have to dig through all the numbers and find ones that map to bus routes near the character's current location. Some are well hidden, but if you look at all possible routes at each location, then the possibilities are limited.

MAPS:
http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/busbkln.pdf
http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/busqns.pdf
http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/manbus.pdf

PostPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:11 am
Last edited by ccl28 on Tue Apr 12, 2011 12:54 pm; edited 1 time in total
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
ccl28
Veteran

Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Posts: 103

 		THE FELT
I'm skipping to the end for a moment to confirm the use of the bus maps. In this first image, you can see part of the Queens bus map:



Note "Hell Gate" between Ward's Island and Queens. At 6:43 the Captain says "Fills me with fear it does." Now overlay the felt with the bus map and you get:



Now counter rotate the image so the the skull is once again oriented correctly:



You'll notice that the Queen and Six line up with stops for the Q and 6 trains. In addition, I believe you can make a case for the face-down cards being in the correct place. For instance, the Holy Mackerel is in the water.

I'm using this marker as a general heading for the bus routes in this episode. I also believe this is the gates of hell referred to in a later episode.

PostPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:38 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
SpiceCowboy
Veteran

Joined: 06 Aug 2010
Posts: 70

 		I just want to say, I'd stopped following this board for a while. Lots of bravado, not a lot of convincing work. ccl28 and merelyviral, you guys have seriously impressed me.

I hope you are on track and find the gold, and I look forward to hearing how you did it. Please take pictures!

PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 3:53 pm
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
ccl28
Veteran

Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Posts: 103

 		BLACK TOM'S PATH
I am going to begin with Black Tom's path because it is the easiest one. The only hard part is realizing that he was travelling west on the blue line and not east. To associate a clue to Black Tom, you look for changes to his cards, chip stack, percent chance of winning, chip total (when he makes a bet), or commentator remarks during his turn.

TOM CLUE 1:
Tom is dealt a JJ. The 'J' is for the Jay Street Station.

TOM CLUE 2:
When Tom bets at the flop, the chip total becomes $2,734. Centered above the '2' is a '6' of spades. Read this as 62. Tom takes the 62 bus.

TOM CLUE 3:
Tom turns his JJ into QQ and his % to win goes to 69%. He gets on the 69 bus.

TOM CLUE 4:
When Tom changes his JJ to QQ, the commentator says "He traded his jacks for queens." The B62 intersects the Q69 at Jackson Ave and Queens Blvd. These types of confirmations are are all over ep 5. Until you find them, it's possible you are completely off track.

The Q69 may be the last bus for Tom in this episode. The Q69 passes by Hell Gate. Perhaps he took the Q100 (his % to win goes to 100% when he wins). It's also possible that he takes the Q69 to St. Michael's Cemetery. I believe St Michaels is the cemetery in ep6. St Michael is archangel Michael and the cemetery in ep6 has a statue of the archangel Michael.

PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 7:47 pm
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
ccl28
Veteran

Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Posts: 103

 		CAPTAIN'S WPPPT INTERVIEW

Before I start to sketch the Captain's path for this episode, it's important to realize his WPPPT interview is anachronous. The clues in the interview are clues 41, 42, and 43. These are the ones mentioned in ep4. These clues aren't used at this point in the video. It's still unclear to me how to transpose the clues to their correct location, but one of the clues is clearly used towards the end of this video.

Clue 41:
"I can't count on all me fingers..." Since they have 8 fingers, this clue is either 8 or more than 8.

Clue 42:
The story about the Turtle submarine.

Clue 43:
"Good luck hit the end of the line. Lady luck went the other direction and I'm up to me collar in turds." This is referring to the end of the 7 train in flushing. There are a number of buses that end at this point as well. The captain transfers at that point later in the video.

PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:38 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
ccl28
Veteran

Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Posts: 103

 		I have a feeling that they will release a video when the treasure is found. It seems like there is space for a ninth video in the center of their episodes page.

SpiceCowboy wrote:
I just want to say, I'd stopped following this board for a while. Lots of bravado, not a lot of convincing work. ccl28 and merelyviral, you guys have seriously impressed me.

I hope you are on track and find the gold, and I look forward to hearing how you did it. Please take pictures!


PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:58 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
ccl28
Veteran

Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Posts: 103

 		THE CAPTAIN AND MULLAGAN

These two are together. You can see them holding hands at the beginning of the poker hand. At the start of the hand, The Captain says "You're the dealer that dealt me seven duce four hands in a row." (7 + 2) * 4 = 36. They get on the B36.

During his preflop bet, Mulligan says "I call, I call for sure!" He transfers to the B4 at Shore Pkwy.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:05 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
michnyc
Boot

Joined: 21 Sep 2010
Posts: 39

 		Where are they holding hands?
Nice work, I hope you can solve this.

Nice work to Merelyviral too.

Anyhow, I do not see them holding hands. Mulligan is dancing in place at the table next to the Captain. All I see is the Captains left hand on the table.

Also, doesn't the Captain say, "you're the dealer that dealt me seven duces, four times in a row (7x2) x 4=56 which coincidentally, when the Captain and Crothers make a side bet, Crothers winds up with "i just have the 5 and 6 of diamonds, fair be fair."

Good luck again, to all.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:01 pm
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
ccl28
Veteran

Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Posts: 103
michnyc wrote:

Anyhow, I do not see them holding hands. Mulligan is dancing in place at the table next to the Captain. All I see is the Captains left hand on the table.


To be fair, at 1:04 it looks like The Captains right hand is on the table and Mulligan's arm is under his. I still think it means that they are together on the map at this point.

As an Easter Egg, at 2:09 you can see Mulligan holding a 3s, which he presumably give to The Captain in the next hand.

michnyc wrote:

Also, doesn't the Captain say, "you're the dealer that dealt me seven duces, four times in a row (7x2) x 4=56 which coincidentally, when the Captain and Crothers make a side bet, Crothers winds up with "i just have the 5 and 6 of diamonds, fair be fair."


At 1:13, he clearly says seven-duce. This is logical as seven-duce is the worst hand in poker.

PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 7:32 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
michnyc
Boot

Joined: 21 Sep 2010
Posts: 39

 		Mass Transit
Well, I cannot make out the 3's Mulligan is holding, I thought it was a 6 or something.

I meant to say that the Captains right hand was on table but am still unable to see if their arms are linked.

Other than buses and trains, does MTA "run" any other modes of transportation within the 5 boroughs? Those golden doubloons are what those kiosks give as change when using the subway.

PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 2:39 pm
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
Brick
Boot

Joined: 15 Oct 2010
Posts: 16

 		Re: Mass Transit
michnyc wrote:
Well, I cannot make out the 3's Mulligan is holding, I thought it was a 6 or something.


I'm pretty sure it's the 5 of Spades. By looking at different frames, you can make out 4 of the 5 spades, as well as the positions of the numbers in the corners of the card, so I think this is pretty definitive.

The idea that Mulligan gives the card to the Captain is interesting. I've never understood why Mulligan later shows his cards to the rest of the table. I suppose it could just be that cheating is what pirates do when they play cards, though that feels like an inadequate explanation for that scene.

michnyc wrote:
I meant to say that the Captains right hand was on table but am still unable to see if their arms are linked.


Exactly what is going on in that segment is hard to say. Maybe it's just that Mulligan is listening to music and is oblivious to the fact that he is brushing up against the Captain's elbow?

PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:31 pm
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
A Pirate
Guest
ccl28 wrote:


michnyc wrote:

Also, doesn't the Captain say, "you're the dealer that dealt me seven duces, four times in a row ...."


At 1:13, he clearly says seven-duce. This is logical as seven-duce is the worst hand in poke r.



And in the end the Captain needs either a 2 or a 7 to win, and is begging for one now.



I've wondered whats going on there too, i suspect the same puppeteer may be required to manipulate both puppets in this scene, so they look joined together.

PostPosted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 6:40 am
 Back to top 
ccl28
Veteran

Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Posts: 103
Brick wrote:

I'm pretty sure it's the 5 of Spades. By looking at different frames, you can make out 4 of the 5 spades, as well as the positions of the numbers in the corners of the card, so I think this is pretty definitive.


Ah, sorry. I meant 5s. It's been a while since I looked a this. (It's also the last hole card that The Capt shows.)

And since we can use math in this situation, there is at least a 94% chance that the 5s in Mulligan's hand is related to the Capt's hole cards in the next hand. (There is a 3 in 52 chance of Mulligan randomly showing a card that happens to be one of the Captain's hole cards in the next hand. This is ignoring the fact that some cards in that first hand are excluded as they were chosen as clues.)

PostPosted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 8:31 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
Display posts from previous:   Sort by:   
Page 1 of 2 [22 Posts]   Goto page: 1, 2 Next
View previous topicView next topic
 Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » ARG: We Lost Our Gold
Jump to:  


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum
You cannot post calendar events in this forum



Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group