Apart from my brushing up with max, i also have a pasion for design and fundementals of what makes a game and of course the unique games. As i have my big job soon there wont be much time for high end projects as dedication can vary along time. Although i have been working on this side project for a few months now, but first i want to try something out on you all. A small extract out of "Brian Foremans Diary" The numbers which were on a pieace of notepaper found in Howard Carters Journal. 0-1-3, 0-1-25, 0-1-52, 0-1-52, 0-1-19, 0-1-44, 0-1-13, 0-1-62, 0-1-8, 0-1-3, 0-1-27, 0-2-27, 0-2-40, 0-2-25, 0-2-41, 0-2-55, 0-2-35, 0-2-4, 0-2-10, 0-1-21, 0-1-76, 0-2-22, 0-2-28, 0-2-33, 0-2-19, 0-2-2, 0-2-40, A clue from me: A Name Can Lead You But The Rest Is Meaningless. I will give 2 days for people to have ago after the 2 days or if someone cracks it ill explain a bit of my design theory. Also this does tie in with how the game will work.

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0-1-3, 0-1-25, 0-1-52, 0-1-52, 0-1-19, 0-1-44, 0-1-13, 0-1-62, 0-1-8, 0-1-3, 0-1-27, <- Pretty sure this is a mistake 0-2-27, 0-2-40, 0-2-25, 0-2-41, 0-2-55, 0-2-35, 0-2-4, 0-2-10, 0-1-21, 0-1-76, 0-2-22, 0-2-28, 0-2-33, 0-2-19, 0-2-2, 0-2-40,

I'm guessing it should be A door to heaven that all can see but it's written hearven.

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Original post by Nytegard Quote: 0-1-3, 0-1-25, 0-1-52, 0-1-52, 0-1-19, 0-1-44, 0-1-13, 0-1-62, 0-1-8, 0-1-3, 0-1-27, <- Pretty sure this is a mistake 0-2-27, 0-2-40, 0-2-25, 0-2-41, 0-2-55, 0-2-35, 0-2-4, 0-2-10, 0-1-21, 0-1-76, 0-2-22, 0-2-28, 0-2-33, 0-2-19, 0-2-2, 0-2-40, I'm guessing it should be A door to heaven that all can see but it's written hearven.

Ah thank you for spotting that Nytegard, sorry about that, that shouldn’t be there. I'm guessing you figured it out then, which is good as my game idea relies on riddles and coded messages like this.

My idea is to create links from real world to in game.

For example you come along a NPC and refers you to transcripts posted on the games website or articles posted over the internet. Each code/riddle leads to another until you find a great unveiling but I wont spoil that. This idea is pretty deep and I thank all who had a go and also Nytegard for solving it. The game is set in a fantasy/real world setting although the settlements and style of living maybe be fantasy like they still refer to books, articles on the internet and other mysteries of real life. If I could get some feedback on this basic idea would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

What if a player can't access a specific book or the text of an online article you reference is altered?

Ah good, yeah i was thinking about this. Although i think anyone who has the internet could access internet articles maybe not books though. Could be within book names or the books ISDN number could give clues. I could see people looking on amazon.com.

I started to look at the idea of when Bungie did this with Halo they had users on a treasure hunt through the web to gather clues and such for more info on halo before release. Im guessing its stopped now but would keep playes occupied for hours on end.

I guess it would target alot of the detective types players aswell as puzzel solving.

Im a big supporter that all information needed to solve a puzzle should be within the game itself. Especially if its one of the main game design aspects. Unless the focus is that the player knows he will have to go searching for information and articles and critically think in that way. Not that it is a bad idea. I think its great to make someone go out and search for clues and riddles. But who is your "hypothetical player". You shooting for an older crowd I would assume. Maybe roughly 17+ male/female. Really loves solving problems and complex riddles. Some things to consider is what benefit does the player get after they figure out a riddle. Will there be ingame goodies and such for them as they move through it. Or is it self gratification. Do you wish your game to be more nitch market or more broad spectrum of players. If so you should consider the implications of how this riddle theory will fit into it.

anyone want to explain how the riddle was solved?

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Original post by Funkymunky anyone want to explain how the riddle was solved?

Spoilers for those who want to work it out themselves:

I think that each row of 3 numbers represents a letter, the first number is meaningless though, the second number is the line from the text and the thrid number is the character in from the left, most likely explaining why the text was posted as a picture and not just as text, couldnt risk the alignment getting messed up.

Not sure if I could actually play such a game, but I'm a fan of the idea. I've even thought of similar things for online RPs, though the effort required seemed a bit much.

Especially if you send the player through all kinds of things - not just the internet. Books, movies, and whathaveyou - so long as there are things they can do in the game while they wait for the book to arrive in the library or whatnot.