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nGord

Checkered Base

How well can you count?

Checkered Base
nGord, Jan 5, 2017
You, Divya, meko and 10 others like this.
    • lichtfuerlau
      Urghh! 11x11x11 !!! :eek::cool::oops::eek::p:cool::mad::):(:p;):rolleyes:o_O:p:confused:;):(:cool::D

      Ah.... I guess you' ve built it in 9x9x9.


      Ok. The challenge is clear... pure psychological strategies are here the best joice. I think we should talk about you!;)

      Hmmm... Ah... thank you for the hint.:)
      Jan 5, 2017
      Reply
      Astral_Mage and nGord like this.
    • lichtfuerlau
      WoW! I trying to rebuild your level but I can't find the locking mechanism. ....

      I got it !

      12x13x12 are possible.

      Very impressing. Well done.
      Jan 5, 2017
      Reply
      Astral_Mage and nGord like this.
    • Gepeto
      I really wonder how to solve this... :eek: Any hint?
      Jan 5, 2017
      Reply
    • nGord
      @lichtfuerlau - Thanks for playing, commenting, and rating! I'm glad you found the hint. It takes the puzzle down from near impossible (or very time consuming) to relatively easy.

      By the way, there are 14x14x14 possibilities to the order of the sliders. But most people can subtract one from the list as position 0-0-0 is not likely the solution. ;)
      Jan 5, 2017
      Reply
      Astral_Mage and lichtfuerlau like this.
    • nGord
      @Gepeto - I've shared some hints in the Caption tab. :)
      Jan 6, 2017
      Reply
      Astral_Mage, Gepeto and Frenzies like this.
    • Rating:
      4/5,
      Gepeto
      I can't believe I have found! That's such a satisfaction... But actually I think I would have given up without the hints.

      I first view the number 646 on the top but I have to say that deobfuscating sounds more like a perception than a logic step. For sure the obfuscation steps is easier than the deobfuscation ones. Perception drove me to try the alternative right number for the initial "4"; Reflection for the first part has been led by the third hint and the word "base" helped me guess another point of view. But it was really hard to find! The pleasure/surprise to find was intense but short comparing to the frustration to search. I guess this is what happen in the cracking world :)

      I don't know if it is possible but by adding rails to the sliders the metal bars would for sure stay inside the "house". As is, I've seen the bars going beyong their supposed boundaries.
      [​IMG]

      In conclusion, that's a hard headache based upon simple (but non obvious) principles. Deciphering leads to an intense joy but not as intense as if I have found without the hints (I suppose) :)
      Jan 6, 2017
      Reply
      Astral_Mage and Chuckthulhu like this.
    • Rating:
      5/5,
      Chuckthulhu
      I agree with @Gepeto's review for the most part, but I'm rating it a 5 for 2 reasons:
      1- The hints: I really liked the hints, the way they were ordered and revealed everything was very nice and allowed the player to stop if you felt like it but then, I also learned a lot!
      2- The title: I laugh every time I think how revealing it is!
      Thanks for the level @nGord!
      Jan 6, 2017
      Reply
      Astral_Mage and Gepeto like this.
    • nGord
      @Gepeto and @Chuckthulhu thank you for your reviews!

      I noticed the ghosting slider problem and thought I had fixed it. At least my final tests did not produce the problem so I shipped the product. Now if I try harder I can reproduce the problem, but I think it is rare enough that I do not need to re-upload a fixed version. But that is another reason why we create, right, to learn from our mistakes. :oops:

      I'm glad you found the hints helpful and handy to progress to your level of comfort. I agree that there isn't much to the level if all it is is to position three sliders. So, yes, the satisfaction of deciphering the code is short if hints are needed. I'll make the next one less obtuse. ;)

      Thanks for the footnote of liking the title. That really made me happy. :)

      Thanks for the support guys!
      Jan 6, 2017
      Reply
      Astral_Mage and Gepeto like this.
    • BlackPanzer
      Very clever indeed! I had to read some spoilers though cause I couldn't read the "hint" on the roof. I really like this kind of levels! - I am rating it with 4 stars because what I thought I read as the hint was not the actual hint.
      Feb 11, 2017
      Reply
      nGord likes this.
    • nGord
      @BlackPanzer - thanks for trying it out, leaving me a comment and a rate! I'm glad you enjoy puzzle levels! :)
      Feb 11, 2017
      Reply
    • MekoFire
      Really nice level! I really enjoy riddle levels and this one was a challenge! - I did have some problems reading the text on the wall but overall really nice.

      I was wondering why have you used water here?
      Feb 15, 2017
      Reply
      nGord likes this.
    • nGord
      @MekoFire - Thanks for letting me know that you like the level! That makes me happy!

      The answer as to why I used water was simply to make the code more difficult to read. This is an amateur creator move, I am sorry. I thought the level alone was too easy so I kept trying to make it harder and harder. But that was wrong of me. Now looking back it doesn't look as nice and it actually made the level too hard and not in a fun way. I learned my lesson (hopefully) not to complicate a level and try to hide stuff as it usually makes the level less fun. :( Thanks for the question. :)

      Since you like riddle levels, I'll let you in on a secret: I've been tagging levels based on a code as "code." You can find all these levels by searching for the tag on the Levels page. [Under the Tag Cloud section there is a search box. ;)] If you ever find a level that I haven't tagged yet, please let me know. I'm sure I have missed some.
      Apr 21, 2017
      Reply
      MekoFire likes this.
    • MekoFire
      I liked that it was so compact though. The only thing that I would change would be the hint (I would make it a bit more clear what the hint is - then you can trully make the riddle as hard as you want!) :)
      Apr 21, 2017
      Reply
      nGord likes this.
    • Rating:
      5/5,
      delator77
      A difficult code puzzle for me ... I'm a person who loves Meko-challenges but I must admit that without the help of @Gnord in a private conversation I would never have deduced (unless I made a trial and error of 14x14x14 jajaja:confused:) ... aesthetically it seemed a compact level that resembles a chessboard and the water coating gives a touch of elegance ... For my frustration not to deduce would have given 4 stars, but the dedication of @nGord to help me(I appreciate it so much:oops:) add the fifth star:D ... THANK YOU !!!:thumbsup:
      Apr 21, 2017
      Reply
      BlackPanzer and nGord like this.
    • Rating:
      5/5,
      laurence.gr
      :
      Very cryptic and fun, I'm glad that I've stumbled upon this level.
      If someone would solve this by brute force, that would be time-consuming as he must try all 286 combinations.

      Since I can't determine the first character, I've tried each possible positions for the first draggable :)
      Nov 13, 2017
      Reply
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    Page 1 of 2
  • Album:
    First Levels by nGord
    Uploaded By:
    nGord
    Date:
    Jan 5, 2017
    View Count:
    3,974
    Comment Count:
    22
    Tags:
    code breaking
  • This is a basic code breaking puzzle. In case you could use a hint, here are a few:
    The code itself if a bit of a puzzle as it is obfuscated by the checkered pattern and under the water. You can thank @chemi for the word of the day: obfuscated means to deliberately make more confusing in order to conceal the truth.
    The code is written with metal blocks on the roof of the building.
    So depending on the orientation, the code can also be read from left to right towards B or away from B.
    The proper direction to read the code is as it is seen on the card image, i.e. towards B.
    Well if I told you that I think you'd find the puzzle too easy. I've heard people read it as 6-1-5 or 5-1-9 and even 6-4-6. One way you can look at the code is to strip out all the checkered pattern. I think then you'll at least see that the first character is not the same as the last character and there seems to be a gap between the first character and the second two further implying some difference. The keyword here is "character." Does that help?
    The first character is not a number, but a letter.
    The code is: b 16.
    Well the title is Checkered Base and the description is "How well can you count." The building is checkered with metal blocks and their purpose is to make the code difficult to read. The word Base coincides with the counting bit as it is used to indicate a number system.
    Counting from 0 to 9 is considered counting in base-10 as there are ten characters/symbols. Base-16 is counting from 0 through to fifteen more characters/symbols: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F.
    The code is the name of a numbering system. It also has three characters that correspond to the three draggables.

    So the title is Checkered Base, meaning that the code on the roof of the building, b 16, represents base-16. Even without knowing how to count in base-16, you might be able to infer that after counting from 0 through 9, 'A' may represent 10 and 'B' would represent '11.' Thus the draggables need to be pulled out 11-1-6 positions for B to reach the win.

    Another possible approach is that given that the draggables pull out thirteen spaces, the code may count higher than 9, so then the 'b' may be easier to deduce.

    Finally, if one does happen to guess that the last two characters are 1 and 6, there would only be eleven tries at the first draggable to get lucky with the solution.
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