Word!

And now back to topic.

Bwahahahaha!

(This is on-topic ... honest.)

Even as most people have already read the stories in Stormfront the new password is out.
stormbreaks

Any help with the puzzle would be appreciated (The numbers 6 and 8 seem to be special as they, when entered, are slightly shifted upwards)

... I wonder if that's for something other than Storm Front... Can I get a link in to the new one?

http://www.shadowruntabletop.com/coming-soon/commcode/
stormbreaks

I also wondered that, but I can't figure out the puzzle and have to buy groceries now.
Good luck with it.

EDIT: Ninja'd

Aye, too tired to try right now; gonna have to do this in the morning...

Some things I noticed. Maybe it will help someone else.

- 6 and 8 are special (when they are entered in the result fields they are shifted upwards)
- Its impossible to avoid 6 and 8s (Lei Kung starts with
- All of the people who you need to contact can get both a 6 and 8 into their code except Slamm-01 (can get either an 8 or 6, not both)
- Connections which go outside of the picture sometimes wrap around and com back from the other side. But that might be a coincidence
- Its impossible to creat 7 digit numbers without them overlapping (Haze and Slamm-0 will always overlap for example unless Slamm-0 goes into a loop)
- Has the grid any significance or is it just there as visual aid?

PS: Wouldn't FastJack and Turbo Bunny have the same number? Assuming that there isn't some piece of logic in there that I am missing.

The issue withe the 6 & 8 being shifted is a font thing afaik (Berling Antiqua).
I have been trying it with the following rules:

1. No link (dot to arrow) can be used more than once.
2. No going off the page.

That said, I can make it work for everyone except Haze & Slamm-O!

The only try I have made yet was with:

Haze: 2389505
Kane: 5385553
Lei Kung: 8556040
Slamm-O!: 5752099 (broke Rule 2 to do that)
Turbo Bunny: 5097018

Didnt work

I feel the problem is with Haze and/or Slamm-O!

Ideas?

I am beginning to believe there is some trick to this. Even with constraints like not visiting a node twice for each number and not following edges across the outer boundaries, the number of possible combinations becomes fairly large. It would not be a problem to generate regular expressions for the graphs, then generate all seven-digit numbers which fulfill those expressions and let a script test all the possible combination, but having to resort to such measures sounds wrong when all previous tasks were logic puzzles.

I still think 6 and 8 are special and that it is not only a font issue.

Three days and still no cigar? Do we really have to brute-force the thing?

No, it's workable without brute force (gah, that would be pure evil).

But if you want to blame somebody, blame the guy who said my last puzzle was easy. =i)

Maybe 6 and 8 don't count and paths are not allowed to overlap. Or they can only overlap at 6 and 8ths.
I have to try this tomorrow.

You can define a number for Haze and Slamm-0! without using twice the same link nor going off the page. Haze would be 239185 and Slamm-0! would starts with 575099. Two different 9 may be reached at that point, resulting in either 5750998 or 5750996.

Using only these rules however makes Kane, Turbo Bunny and Lei Kung numbers undecided. Kane number would be either as 5938555 or 5938553, Turbo Bunny 5605301 or 5609701, and Lei Kung 8156040, 8555604 or 8556040.

Not using twice the same link implies you cannot solve all the characters featured on the chart, since Fastjack and Turbo Bunny, and Jenny and Lei Kung start with the same node. This may hint at a solution where the direction from which you reach a node is significant.

There also may specific rule for the arrows which do no start with a dot (9 to 8 above /dev/grrl/, 9 to 3 and 3 to 8 between Clockword and Turbo Bunny). I'm also wondering about Kane starting link, which is a line, not an arrow.

Haze is missing a number and I have no idea how you get from 8 to 5 in the first place.

Sorry, it shoul have been 2391895. Go up to 2, go left to 3, go down to 9, go down to 1, go up to 8, go up to 9, go right to 5.

Sure, rubber hose cryptanalysis always works

But maybe you want to provide us with a tiny little hint?

@Nath: My idea was not using the same node twice for for each person. That reduces the first two commcodes to two choices, but later it gets more complicated...

Heh.


Hm. I'll admit that I've come up with clever, cryptic clues to offer, but I've seen the movies where the heroes get what the villain thinks is an impossibly cryptic clue, so I know how that goes. =i)

I'll definitely give you that each number circle should have two dots on it, and those circles that don't are ones I should have put a dot on and missed. Each dot should be across from an incoming arrow. [EDIT: Except for the 5 just below Lei Kung and the 8 between Riser and Clockwork. Those should only have one dot.]

Otherwise, everything you need to solve it is there. I'll offer that there are three different clues (of varying subtlety) that should each lead you to the right answer.

So, yeah. I was bored tonight and printed the thing out.
With ruler and pen I traced all possible commcodes (I think)

Too tired to brute force them, though, so here's the list :

There is a 3 which goes over to a 0, but without an arrow, so a dot on both ends. Commcodes containing either one are marked with a - break and a question mark.

Oh, and yeah, the 6 and 8 thing? Totally font-specific. It has to do with baseline and x-height. Disregard it, it is very likely not a hint.

there are two 8's between Riser and Clockwork and both are missing an exit arrow, does this count for both?

Yes. And I totally didn't miss that when I looked earlier. I was ... um ... being succinct and efficient. Yep. Not air-headed at all. Not me, nope.

how about the zero in the jenny square?

Either there's an algorithm for finding which exit to use, or each square is not correctly put and must be re-arranged puzzle style.

*sigh* Yes.

Now I'll go see if I have any emergency dignity left in my sock drawer ...

Those sound reasonable, especially with Aaron's comments about the number of dots and arrows. Although with only those rules I can only get 5 numbers for Slamm-O. If I also assume Dev-grrl needs 9 then 8, Salmm-o looks easy enough to figure out.

Anyone else surprised Jenny's number isn't 8675309? I didn't see any way that combination was possible.

Also, I'm not sure if the dot coming from the middle of nowhere and leading to the one in the lower right is important or not.

Ok that was pretty sneaky and tough

Rather than let you know how to do it as its a pretty good puzzle here is the link:

http://www.shadowruntabletop.com/coming-soon/fractures-4/

Yeaaaah. That won't work. It's password protected if you haven't entered the correct commcodes.

quickly before i post the solution then, is there anywhere i would find the password, i assume in a cookie or some such.

Congratulation.
Is there any special announcement at the end or just the stories? Compile a post for Sengir btw. for his collection.

You could just spoilerize a few hints

A clue for those who want it


And the codes for those that are real lazy

To be honest, even when looking at the solution I have no idea how you get them...
Maybe its too late. I have to try tomorrow to understand it.

Well, at least, I had three of the codes correct. I have no idea how to reach the other two, though.

As for the compilation: It's just more Storm Front. Maybe interesting for the people who haven't read it yet.

Thufar_Hawat did it without using any of the clues in the puzzle. Which goes to show that players will never do exactly what you expect. =i)

<-*This guy*

I'm...definitely curious on why they want to keep the stories going, despite Storm Front already being out. For completionists' sake, I guess?

Some people might not want to buy Storm Front, some might wait for the dead tree version, but they will still like to read the stories.

Some people might like the challenge of the puzzles.

Some people might decide to buy Storm Fornt after reading the stories.

Etc.

Eh, it's been my plan to get the dead-tree version from the start, but right now I has no monies to do so.

And trust me, I'm not complaining about the stories still being released, as they tide me over until the day comes when I DO have the funds.

Of course, if there IS something at the end that isn't exclusive to just Storm Front, that'll be fine too.

So, after the puzzle are hidden more texts from Strom Front? The book that everyone already has? What's the point?

'Everyone'.

Who?

Exactly.

But yeah, it was only meant as information for the people who are puzzling AND have the book
So they miss out on nuthin' and all.

Not everyone has the book yet, like me.

I also haven't read any more of the text than was necessary to cobble it together.

If you're still having trouble with the puzzle, here's a hint.

OK, with those two I finally managed to figure out the first step, though I'm still lost on how to decide which paths to take on the new "item". Use each path once? Use the outgoing edge across from the incoming one!

The usual update on page 3. Sadly nothing new for those who already read SF. And Trigger-13 appeared for the second time, so the net gain is even less...

Special ordered from local RPG store, situation resolved. Still reading.

Would anybody like to see the puzzle that didn't make it to the Hidden Stories site?

...

Indulge me.