The Furious Angels
Staff and News => News and Announcements => Topic started by: Tbone on October 22, 2010, 01:26:37 am
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Now that I got that out of the way...
WE WENT LIVE WITH THE CHALLENGE!
I sent off a couple of emails, did all 560whatever PMs (5 at a time, every 60 seconds), and submitted it to several fan sites.
So far it has been a huge success! At the time of typing this, a thread was organically started on the RP section and already has over 320 posts (33 pages)! The thread is here, but don't post in it:
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=216980
A bunch of us were on TS and have kept up with the discussion, silently of course. It's been very rewarding so far! As to how far people have gotten after 320 posts, I believe 3-4 people have ACCIDENTALLY gotten past the galaxy viewer and THAT'S IT! Lots of compliments so far - a lot of people thought it was Bioware, etc.
We're going to let this thread run its course and see if other threads get started. Tomorrow evening we'll see where we are and where to go from here. Options including anywhere from creating another thread anonymously to changing our sigs to the cypher and flooding the thread once a majority of people know it is us.
As of now, however, do NOT post anything anywhere. Please let this naturally run its course and don't get involved yet! THANK YOU AHEAD OF TIME! And enjoy the read!
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43 pages now. We have one or two who have gotten to the prime pyramid but haven't gotten past it. Pretty good - so far the challenge has held up for 5 hours without anyone cracking. And still no one knows how they can get past the galaxy viewer other than frantically clicking for hours. This batch is pretty much gone to bed. I expect we'll have a whole new group working on it tomorrow. It does look that by tomorrow night, the cat will be out of the bag and we can start having more fun with the release. We'll see!
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Looks like Frettz was our first to complete it on page 44. Still no one knows about the galaxy viewer. It'll be interesting to see how this manifests tomorrow.
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Page 45. Our name has been mentioned.
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Hopefully this manifests itself in the general discussion; its almost too bad that this ended up in the RP section, only because such a small amount of people see it.
Would it be a bad idea, in the middle of the day Friday, to have FaintSignal post a thread in the main discussion forums if something hasn't already been posted in there?
Fun thing to note: It's the second anniversary of the SWTOR forums today. There may be more traffic today than the usual Friday...
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50 pages! I have an alt account that I could give tbone or who ever the info and they could make a thread in general if deemed necessary.
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New thread went up in General Discussion this morning, then it got moved to website support and feedback (wth?)
Yotogi, Tbone, You may want to look into this:
"Just a little tid-bit. if you go to google and search for http://followthesignal.net/ then click on the cashed version. there is a contuine to part two button.... my guess is that the clickable console has a code to it (possiable it has to do with TWOEIGHTFOURTHREEONE ) and an order that you click the console in? anyway the cashed version goes on to a
http://followthesignal.net/Phase4BetaEmbedded2.html which is nolonger a valid link "
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Some people are mentioning problems registering an account on the website?
"You are not authorized to carry out this operation"
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New thread went up in General Discussion this morning, then it got moved to website support and feedback (wth?)
Yotogi, Tbone, You may want to look into this:
"Just a little tid-bit. if you go to google and search for http://followthesignal.net/ then click on the cashed version. there is a contuine to part two button.... my guess is that the clickable console has a code to it (possiable it has to do with TWOEIGHTFOURTHREEONE ) and an order that you click the console in? anyway the cashed version goes on to a
http://followthesignal.net/Phase4BetaEmbedded2.html which is nolonger a valid link "
I just visited the cached version and it looks harmless. You can't actually advance to part 2.
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Some people are mentioning problems registering an account on the website?
"You are not authorized to carry out this operation"
I was just going to post this as well. It looked like two registered so it's working for some... not sure if they're doing something wrong? I know Dag tested it before we went live and he registered a new account.
Didn't see Dag post the link to this so here's the second thread.
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=217076&highlight=signal
All in all though, great success so far. Only one guy (kyote) seemed upset about it our of the dozen or so that completed it. Where do we go now that a thread has all the answers?
PS, Lits owes me $10 because I guessed Frettz would be the first ;) I win
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Some people in the general discussion thread are deeming the Galaxy Map puzzle as a bug because it isn't clickable at all times. Obviously, it isn't, but if we're getting press in the first ten pages of the thread saying its a bug, people might actually assume that it IS a bug.
Are you sure one of us can't post in the thread now, saying that it is, indeed, not a bug? People are definitely linking this to us now, so there's no more need for anonymity. Obviously, I'm not going to post in either thread until we get the OK.
Of course, I unfortunately wasn't at the meeting last night, so I'm not privy to the game plan past the first 18 hours, so if this was discussed, I'll certainly move along.
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People are frustrating to listen too without intervening. They argue its a bug, this whole thing is just an advertisement, that you can sign up without going through it at all, etc etc. Just let it keep playing itself out. I love, though, that in the general discussion thread. People told them where the answers already were (the other thread) and no one listened. They all did it for themselves again.
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Some people are mentioning problems registering an account on the website?
"You are not authorized to carry out this operation"
I was just going to post this as well. It looked like two registered so it's working for some... not sure if they're doing something wrong? I know Dag tested it before we went live and he registered a new account.
Didn't see Dag post the link to this so here's the second thread.
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=217076&highlight=signal
All in all though, great success so far. Only one guy (kyote) seemed upset about it our of the dozen or so that completed it. Where do we go now that a thread has all the answers?
PS, Lits owes me $10 because I guessed Frettz would be the first ;) I win
That Kyote guys seems lik a douche anyway.
I say let them marinate in it for a little bit more. It's friday, we might see a lot more going on.
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Hehe, some people are pissed that this wasn't some uber reveal from BioWare. Not even 24 hours in and we're already making enemies! :D
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Just spent the last hour and a half reading all the posts on the original swtor thread.
I can't help but have a constant smile on my face!
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i tend to agree with ana on the "no bug" front.
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Well done Yotogi :)
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Amazing job... I'm gitty reading this thread.
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Yeah, why did that get moved to the Website forum?
Someone mentioned that in IE they had to click the little bar to get the pop up to register, but when they did, it restarted their challenge. We need to look into that.
I'd like to start another thread in the general discussion as "## Incoming Transmission from a faint signal?" using one of our members' accounts that isn't associated with us yet.
And if everyone can be around tonight, we'll look at where to go from here.
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There's also 31 posts on the visitor message board of FaintSignal. Heh.
And yes, I wanted to include text on the console when you clicked at the wrong time, but Yotogi said it would take too long to do. Hopefully we can get that implemented soon.
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Just to be clear, adding the "clicked on wrong time" text would have taken to long to add by last nights deadline, however it is something that I think I can put in by the end of the night.
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5 new applications posted through the challenge already. Just sayin'.
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New thread went up in General Discussion this morning, then it got moved to website support and feedback (wth?)
Yotogi, Tbone, You may want to look into this:
"Just a little tid-bit. if you go to google and search for http://followthesignal.net/ then click on the cashed version. there is a contuine to part two button.... my guess is that the clickable console has a code to it (possiable it has to do with TWOEIGHTFOURTHREEONE ) and an order that you click the console in? anyway the cashed version goes on to a
http://followthesignal.net/Phase4BetaEmbedded2.html which is nolonger a valid link "
I might be able to kill the google cache from google's web developers site. But, I can't do it until I get home in an hour or two.
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I tend to agree with ana on the "no bug" front.
Killthequitted just posted it...
"The message before you get to the star map says tick tock 90 tick tock 270. Tick tock implies it has something to do with time, and 90 and 270 are degrees of the circle. 15 and 45 on the clock respectively. I have a feeling it opens up at those times, I doubt it's a bug. Flash doesn't tend to continue functioning, playing audio and showing movement, but not let you click something. And I doubt the transmission before the map is superfluous, yet most seem to ignore it."
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Also...
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=217085
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We tried creating a sleeper thread of our own in the General section but it was quickly linked to the other thread and locked. We will get creative this evening.
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It's a little after the fact now, but why on Earth would you think that the players from MxO would not immediately recognize "Anamodiel" as the O.P. of that thread?
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It's a little after the fact now, but why on Earth would you think that the players from MxO would not immediately recognize "Anamodiel" as the O.P. of that thread?
wow... yeah... /facepalm
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Hi Anamodiel,
I moved the thread because the General Discussion forum is used for general discussion of the game itself, not for general forum actions and interactions. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact the Community Team at bwacommunitysupport@bioware.com. For all other inquiries, please use the Contact Us page.
Thanks again.
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Good Lord....
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First guy I looked up just finished. This seems to be going well. Tons of compliments and "I'd so join these guys" so far.
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You guys are so incredibly awesome! I can't express how excited I am about all of this.
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OK, so I'm running through the challenge for fun. I'd like to give you the feedback of a dude with average intelligence and high google fu. Here's my conversation with Lithium just a second ago:
[11:14] cpantle5789: hey man you there?
[11:14] cpantle5789: <-- it's likwidtek
[11:14] : hey, working, but I'm here. What's up?
[11:15] cpantle5789: I'm running through the challenge just for fun. At the spinning star map part with the tick tock 90tick tock 270 part.
[11:15] cpantle5789: I just followed it around and clicked like a maniac and it went through but I'm trying to replicate it.
[11:16] cpantle5789: I reloaded and now it's not doing it. Is that a bug? by design? I wasn't actually able to figure that part out.
[11:16] : do you want the answer or just a hint?
[11:16] cpantle5789: I guess a hint. I mean my hunch was...
[11:17] cpantle5789: that 90 270 was some star wars standard of time
[11:17] cpantle5789: that would give me a clock position
[11:17] cpantle5789: and I have to wait till that position to click it
[11:17] cpantle5789: but I couldn't find anything online about starwars time.
[11:18] : yeah, it has to do with position... but the position of the map is irrelevant.
[11:18] : there is a reason we display the little clock in the console
[11:18] cpantle5789: I mean I know you find the dot that makes sound
[11:19] cpantle5789: ok yeah weird. go ahead and tell me the answer.
[11:19] : 90 and 270 refer to angels on an analog clock
[11:19] cpantle5789: I mean I was able to get passed just by floowing the dot around and clicking it over and over
[11:19] cpantle5789: took a while but it worked
[11:20] : ie. 15 and 45 minutes past the hour.
[11:21] cpantle5789: so I just got lucky that it was 45 after.
[11:21] cpantle5789: rofl
[11:21] : it's not really trivial, and 99% of people get by on luck... we've dicussed changing it
[11:21] : but could never agree on anything
[11:21] cpantle5789: Yeah, honestly that's somethign I'd vote to change
[11:21] cpantle5789: even reading on the forums
[11:21] cpantle5789: everyone thinks it's a bug.
[11:21] cpantle5789: It's a total random thing
[11:22] : yeah if you do a search you might be able to pick up on the thread. I'm not sure where it's at
[11:22] cpantle5789: I would just add more hints to the voice thing that says 90 270. Because there's NOTHIGN that makes me think angles.
[11:22] cpantle5789: I'll bump the thread.
[11:22] : kk
In my opinion tick tock 9 0 tick tock 2 7 0 is hardly enough of a clue to jump to 90 degrees and 270 degrees and wait until 15 or 45 after to click the dot. From the looks on the forum, people are saying it's a bug. I thought the exact same thing.
Also, the wording in the very first part of the challenge, "“where it all began…in a Violent display, lIght meets dark…GrEat
power still remaiNs hERE”"
If I remember, when the challenge was first made there was text on the official SWTOR website that said almost these exact words referencing Tython. I think they took it down. Honestly I just googled that phrase and ran across this article: http://www.swtor-life.com/community-news/mysterious-transmission-from-faint-old-republic-signal/591/
Are people struggling with that part? That one isn't as much of a big deal but yeah, I think they took down the original reference text.
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Maybe just adding more to the voice part of that hint saying you must wait for the right time window to warp to that sector or something. Would make it click in their head a little easier.
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Please, don't ever post my real name (ie. s/n) like that again.
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My mistake.
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I just finished the challenge.
You guys did such an amazing job. It's so good.
I have no idea how the number sequence puzzle work but a quick search on the SWTOR forums solved it for me. Aside from the notes from above, everything else looked and worked great as well as made sense.
awesome. :)
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Maybe we need to add a blank face small clock with rotating hands... nothing that would notate it as a clock but something where they could look at it and see the spinning arms and match it with the 45 and 90 degrees.
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Pretty good idea, Broin! But I think only one hand would be needed - the minute hand ;)
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Maybe when you click the digital clock you get a small overlay with a standard clock face. Or it changes one of those spinny circles to an analog clock.
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Tbh, I dont need it need to be changed... People always get distracted by things they shouldnt even consider...
The voice keep saying follow the signal, follow the signal, follow the signal.... Thats all I did... I followed the signal thru the white dot and found my way home.
If people pay more attention and thoughts into it and focus on the display and the challenge itself, then they might figure out the tick tock reference to a clock.
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The problem now is I would say 5% of the 5% of people who get through the challenge actually know how they got past that map. I feel like that's a design flaw on our part rather than only a small percentage of the population is intelligent enough to get it. Ideally, we should be seeing maybe 25% get past that part of the challenge, with 100% of them understanding how they did it.
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Tbh, I don't need it need to be changed... People always get distracted by things they shouldnt even consider...
The voice keep saying follow the signal, follow the signal, follow the signal.... that's all I did... I followed the signal thru the white dot and found my way home.
If people pay more attention and thoughts into it and focus on the display and the challenge itself, then they might figure out the tick tock reference to a clock.
I agree man and I did the exact same thing. But I got lucky. I got it in 2 rotations. You expect someone to sit there and follow it for 25 minutes possibly?
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But I got lucky.
That's the thing. It shouldn't feel like luck. The solution should be obvious once the user solves it.
I think we need to somehow reinforce the concept of "9-0" and "2-7-0" being a reference to a circle, either visually or audibly. Currently it seems like we're using the wrong method to give them the right idea.
Maybe add a compass or sonar-like graphic to the ship console, in addition to the digital clock. Something circular with numbers at each 45 degree interval around the perimeter. This will give the user a little more information to make the connection between those numbers and how they translate into "time".
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I was thinking of adding a muffled "DEGREE" into the scary voice as well, but I thought that might be TOO obvious...
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I was thinking of adding a muffled "DEGREE" into the scary voice as well, but I thought that might be TOO obvious...
Don't want to hold their hand entirely. :)
I just think we could do a better job of helping them make the right connections with the information given.
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Maybe add a compass or sonar-like graphic to the ship console, in addition to the digital clock. Something circular with numbers at each 45 degree interval around the perimeter. This will give the user a little more information to make the connection between those numbers and how they translate into "time".
HA. Awesome. I was thinking of a sonar/radar-sweep idea too... now I feel unoriginal. :P
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Alright so I guess I'll weigh in on this (again).
Here are your options:
1. Change the recording to say 15 and 45 instead of 90 and 270.
(This along with the "tick-tock" will make them think of the clock, which will make them think of time, which they will then be able to solve correctly)
2. Change the coding so that if a player haphazardly clicks the mouse a thousand times at random that it actually disables the mouse for 29 minutes (<-- just an example)
(so what does this do? It keeps those who click at random from ever accidentally clicking on the star and not knowing why it worked and then thinking it's a bug. Second makes the riddle that much harder to solve.
Now if it were up to me I'd implement both.
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I actually like that idea Yotogi, but here is how I would refine it:
1. Remove the 'clickable cursor' on the 15 and 45. Always keep it the standard non-obvious cursor. (Or display the click cursor when you hover the right spot... but it should remain that way all the time.)
2. If you click more than twice (in a minute) start a lockout time or add an additional '1 minute' to an active lockout timer. Add some RP text to the
monitor that flashes red and says 'wrap overload: x minutes to recover' or something...
3. Change audio to 15 and 45. Or any other 2 random times.
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2. If you click more than twice (in a minute) start a lockout time or add an additional '1 minute' to an active lockout timer. Add some RP text to the
monitor that flashes red and says 'wrap overload: x minutes to recover' or something...
Yeah we'd have to iron out the specifics but that overall effect is what is needed.
As for No.1, I'm fine with having the cursor never change to indicate you can click on it.
And yes, if we add the times that the star is clickable to the recording then we can move away from using 15 and 45 to something more random.
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Only you would be looking for ways to make it HARDER...geez, man...
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Only you would be looking for ways to make it HARDER...geez, man...
Well to be honest the challenge isn't that hard to figure out, especially with all the information out there on the web and it having inear progression. I like these new change ideas.
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Only you would be looking for ways to make it HARDER...geez, man...
Well to be honest the challenge isn't that hard to figure out, especially with all the information out there on the web and it having inear progression. I like these new change ideas.
The rest of the challenge is probably where it should be. The map is what I'm talking about being too difficult - especially for being so early on in the challenge. We need to make it a bit more intuitive rather than muddy it up further. If we can make the answer more discoverable, we won't have the problem of people spam-clicking and will not need a lockout (especially considering that you know the first thing people always do is click on it a few times).
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FWIW, each time I got to the "click on the star" stage, the time was eitehr 16 minutes past or 46 minutes past (or thereabouts). Aside from changing my system clock :D I had to wait ~30 minutes before the star was clickable.
The whoe idea of "follow the signal" meant that I kept my mouse hovering over the star.. following the signal literally... until it became clickable.
As I said, I did that twice as I had to come back to the challenge later, so I had to go through the process again (and was unlucky enough to have to wait about ~25 mins again). A login and "stage manager" which will load you to the correct part would be great. We did this with a previous challenge.
This would also save frustration on browser crashes etc, or if you hit refresh (would allow you to re-hear the intro for that stage, if there is not already a button to do so).
You would always be presented with the current stage of the challenge for your username.
A little login at the beginning of the challenge in the cockpit would do it - presented as a "pilot synchronisation" or something...
EDIT: I also liked the idea in MxO challenge where there were different challenge questions presented from a bank of questions. For example, the first question is always the same answer, so someone can find the "code" online without thinking about the cipher. Just make different codes from the cipher so they really HAVE to at least figure out how to decipher it. This has to be linked to the username of course, to be consistent, but will also make it more personal.
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I didn't think the map was hard. I thought the tic-toc and the 90 and 270 was pretty obvious.
Though maybe there should be a little note on the loading screen that says, "If you are short on brain cells for having not updated your flash player since version 9.0 something, please do so before continuing!"
That would have saved me a-lot of time =P
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I didn't think the map was hard. I thought the tic-toc and the 90 and 270 was pretty obvious.
Though maybe there should be a little note on the loading screen that says, "If you are short on brain cells for having not updated your flash player since version 9.0 something, please do so before continuing!"
That would have saved me a-lot of time =P
Unfortunately, updating your flash player had no baring on your ability to pass the challenge. ;) It was a timing issue, not a technical issue.
EDIT:
Also, if this is going to turn into a bug review / update conversation, I'd prefer it go here so it can be consolidated with the Challenge v2 informations: http://thefuriousangels.com/index.php?topic=6727 :) Thanks!
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The problem I had was the mouse pointer would become clickable for me but clicking did nothing. I thought I was doing something wrong so I followed it around some more. Finally messaged Tbone asking if I was missing something and as I was typing my message to him I realized that I might need to update my flash player.
As soon as I updated my flash player the problem was resolved and I was able to continue.
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The problem I had was the mouse pointer would become clickable for me but clicking did nothing. I thought I was doing something wrong so I followed it around some more. Finally messaged Tbone asking if I was missing something and as I was typing my message to him I realized that I might need to update my flash player.
As soon as I updated my flash player the problem was resolved and I was able to continue.
LOL see. It's just not intuitive. I had NO IDEA how I got passed it either. I assumed it was a bug also.
I think changing 90 and 270 to 15 and 45 is the best bet. I wouldn't disable anything with the mouse. However after every X failed clicks I would put up some RP text from the navigation computer. Something like"
"Unable to initiate hyperspace jump. Please check the hyperdrive motivator internal Chronometer for jump window"
The feedback will assure the player that it is not a bug.
References:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Hyperdrive_motivator
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Paralight_system
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Hyperdrive
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For some reason, I am not able to access the link posted in the first post here. I get a message that I do not have permission....odd.
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The problem I had was the mouse pointer would become clickable for me but clicking did nothing. I thought I was doing something wrong so I followed it around some more. Finally messaged Tbone asking if I was missing something and as I was typing my message to him I realized that I might need to update my flash player.
As soon as I updated my flash player the problem was resolved and I was able to continue.
LOL see. It's just not intuitive. I had NO IDEA how I got passed it either. I assumed it was a bug also.
I think changing 90 and 270 to 15 and 45 is the best bet. I wouldn't disable anything with the mouse. However after every X failed clicks I would put up some RP text from the navigation computer. Something like"
"Unable to initiate hyperspace jump. Please check the hyperdrive motivator internal Chronometer for jump window"
The feedback will assure the player that it is not a bug.
References:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Hyperdrive_motivator
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Paralight_system
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Hyperdrive
I know this is totally egotistical but I really think my idea above here will totally fix that puzzle.
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The audio would be the hardest thing to fix. I agree we should maybe have a message so they don't think it's bugged.
So I think we should...
1. Replace the digital clock readout with either a rotating hand or the blip graphic with the word "Chronometer" above it.
2. We add an error message to the console if they click at the wrong time:
"Unable to initiate hyperspace jump. Please check the hyperdrive motivator internal chronometer for appropriate time window."
This should get them to look at the chronometer, know that it is time-related, and then think about the clues (90, 270) to figure out the right time or when the hand is in the right position.
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The audio would be the hardest thing to fix. I agree we should maybe have a message so they don't think it's bugged.
So I think we should...
1. Replace the digital clock readout with either a rotating hand or the blip graphic with the word "Chronometer" above it.
I agree. Replace the digital clock with an analog clock.
2. We add an error message to the console if they click at the wrong time:
"Unable to initiate hyperspace jump. Please check the hyperdrive motivator internal chronometer for appropriate time window."
Fully agree!
This should get them to look at the chronometer, know that it is time-related, and then think about the clues (90, 270) to figure out the right time or when the hand is in the right position.
I think when they hover over the star/planet at the wrong time it will highlight the angle of the minute hand of the analog clock RED. When they hover over at the wrong time it highlights the angel of the minute hand GREEN.
What do you think?
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I think when they hover over the star/planet at the wrong time it will highlight the angle of the minute hand of the analog clock RED. When they hover over at the wrong time it highlights the angel of the minute hand GREEN.
What do you think?
Might be overkill, but I'm not necessarily opposed to it.
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I think we all agreed that nothing about tick tock 90 tick tock 270 made people think ANGLE. I think highlighting the current angle of the clock would replace switching the audio from 90 270 to 15 45.
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I think we all agreed that nothing about tick tock 90 tick tock 270 made people think ANGLE. I think highlighting the current angle of the clock would replace switching the audio from 90 270 to 15 45.
Actually, they do think angle. Most people think they have to click the star when it is at a certain angle. The problem is that tick tock doesn't make them think of an angle of a clock hand.
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What do you think about adding faint images of some sort during the White background with Lit's bedtime story. Or something....