unforum

[JustCurios]

Question

[Nightmare Tony]

Just my own opinion, but I consider using the ROT method to be a mere stylistic. The ARG I helped PM did not use any form of ROT or Vigniere but instead used an ancient language that tied in with the storyline proper.

I Love Bees also did not use ROT puzzles, far as I know.

Its a style thing. There are many puzzles, many tools to use.

read in the humor section about the purest evil puzzle, the unholy saga of where.gif. Its a hoot.

[JustCurious]

But if I do not make ROT puzzles, will this make the game attract less people?

[The Watcher]

Not at all.

I think a fundamental element of an ARG is puzzles. What kind is up to you.

[JustCurious]

Ok.
What kind of puzzles would you like to see in future ARG's?

[Nightmare Tony]

The sky is literally the limit. The typical style was for several websites with hidden puzzles inside of them. I Love Bees broke the mold by sticking to a SINGLE website and a blog. It also blew some minds when the payphones tactic began.

I would suggest studying the past games, the archives on here. Also, two movies that helped define the genre IMHO are The Game and Midnight Madness.

Overall, I think it boils down to the same thing I always strive for in my job, which is designing and programming arcade games.

Make it fun.
Make it so the players WANT to keep playing.
Give them a fair shake.
Think for ALL levels of players, from first timers to seasoned vets.
Give rewards along the way for good behavior.
Make your learning curve dependant on your target crowd.

But ALWAYS keep #2 in mind there

[JustCurious]

Ok so I was thinking in making a ARG without ROT puzzles and ascii code.
Would any of you be interested in playing?

[colin]

[QBKooky]

ROT and that type of puzzles are old standby's - they're nice, not really challenging to solve, and let people have a little fun. However, people LOVE original ideas in ARG's. Here'd be my hints for puzzle-making.

1. Make sense. Think, "What kind of puzzle would this character make??" You might have an awesome puzzle idea, but if your character is a 10-year-old, it won't make sense at all. Similarly, give a REASON why your trapped A.I. would know those quotes from Gilligan's Island (for example).
2. Don't make it unsolveable.
3. Challenge players, but be prepared to hint if it takes them TOO long (for example, don't wait a couple days and then hand them the answer, but maybe having a planned out... like, after a week we'll give you this hint, this bigger hint after two weeks, and if you don't get it in three there'll be a blatant hint. Of course, not all games work on this vague of a timeline. But allow some solve-time.)

[Alzheimers]

It all comes down to what kind of puzzles you would expect in the game's universe. For example, in a universe featuring prominent computer-based entities you would expect more Mathematical puzzles. ROT, vignere, morse. etc.

In a universe featuring prominent Dieties, cults, and masionic conspiracies you would expect more historical themed puzzles. Biblical allegory, ancient runes, and language puzzles would be more common there.

In a universe with ghosts, mysterious strangers, and shady government organizations you would expect more logic-based puzzles. Cryptograms, riddles in poetry, and steganography would be the most likely candidates.

These are just gross generalizations, but they're just to make a point. Puzzles have to reflect the universe that the story takes place in. It would make no sense, for example, for a ghost's poem fifty years ago to share it's secrets in Binary. Just like it would be anachronistic for a sophisticated AI from the future to communicate in norse runes.

To be honest, my favorite puzzles (both to solve and create) are the ones that appear to be one kind, but are really another. Sometimes, feeding the observer a reddish fish while dangling a rather easy symbolic twist just out of view is the most fascinating. Of course, this isn't to say it should be easy once the theme is cracked. Rather, the direction the solve should go in shouldn't be apparent right away -- half the solve should be figuring out what kind of puzzle it *is*.

This is why community efforts are so rewarding -- as [SPEC] is posted and clues are reminded of, teamwork plays a huge role in finding the solutions. WIKIs, chat rooms, and these forums all play a major role in seeing past the layers of deception to what's really important in a puzzle. If it's easy to see at first glance what kind of puzzle it is, the PM hasn't done their job.

*Unabashedly a huge fan of theunraveling -- never got a solve, but never stopped trying. May one of my puzzles someday compare favorably.*

[The Watcher]

[JustCurious]

Thanks Alzheimers, you kinda answered my question.

[JustCurious]

Ok, I've been searching for cryptograms and I need more info on them. Do you guys have any idea where can I find info on this?

[bill]

[JustCurious]

Yeah , but do you know a site that explains more about cryptograms.